The Century Club Reader

Turning a New Page

2011-07-04T06:35:00.002-04:00

I start a new job today that requires me to commute and travel so get ready for the reading and updates to move along a lot faster. Enjoy the great summer day!

#98: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

2011-06-27T09:45:00.000-04:00

I'll give away a little secret here - The Bible is not on the list of the Top 100 novels of all time. You could make a case for it, I'm sure, but that's a post for another blog. At #98, we get as close as we'll come to The Bible with Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible.

This is the first book on the list that tells me it's a New York Times Bestseller which I assume is supposed to impress me. We'll see about that.

I'm sceptical of this one, especially since it looks to be a little on the religiousy side, but it can't be worse than The Scarlett Letter, right?

Here we go with #98!

#99: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

2011-06-27T09:35:00.000-04:00

Book #99 is by Kurt Vonnegut. I've never read anything by Mr. Vonnegut before but I do remember seeing a number of his books around my old place in university - my room mate was a philosophy major so I guess he was on his reading list.

I read this book in a few hours while on a plane. It was really good. I like Mr. Vonnegut's writing style - his character development was really unique. This book is worthy of being on this list - I might have even put it higher.

After setting aside book #100, I'm back into this list - onto #98!

Let's Do This Again

2011-04-29T21:17:00.000-04:00

Ok, ok. The excuses are over.

The Scarlett Letter does indeed stink but I'm going to start it again and this time, I'm going to finish. I have the next eight or so books on this list sitting on my night table...the pressure is on.

I'll report back after the weekend with my progress report.

All About Libraries...

2011-03-23T19:47:00.000-04:00

I've been in a library. In fact, two out of the last three books I've read have been from the library. I know where they are. I know what they do. I have a library card. I'll check books out of the library when they are too ridiculous to buy. You'll know which ones those are.

Test

2011-03-21T23:16:00.002-04:00

GAM8X3GSUDE6

#100: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

2011-03-21T22:42:00.000-04:00

The first book (or should I say the last book) on the list is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I'm not ashamed to say I've never heard of this one. I decided to make the purchase of the first novel in the series a little more personal than buying it on-line so I went out to my local Chapters, signed up for an irewards card (something tells me I'll be buying a few more books) and picked out a nice new copy of The Scarlet Letter.

I don't think I would be reading this book without the Century Club Reader Challenge.

It looks old.

It looks to be written in English that isn't what I'd hear on television.

This should be interesting.

The Century Club Challenge

2011-03-21T16:28:00.001-04:00

I re-discovered my love of reading two years ago when I was commuting to work three hours each day on public transit. I started my commuting days listening to my iPod but after I went through five different sets of ear buds in three months, I switched to reading and I haven't regretted it once. I love the worlds authors create for me and the excitement each time I near the climax of a great story. I've read a number of biographies, novels, how-to's and even some teen series (unbeknownst to me at the time).

One thing made the reading experience tiresome and that was the constant surveying of friends and family of what I should read next. While most offered great suggestions, it was always a leap of faith to assume I was going to like what they liked. Don't get me wrong, most were great (Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne Series & Stephen King's Under the Dome) but others were terrible (most notably Stieg Larsson's trilogy).

I decided to do something about it.

And I think I've finally bitten off more than I can chew.

I'm going to read the top 100 novels of all time. And I'll write about it all right here.

Finding the list wasn't scientific in any way. I simply Google'd the top 100 novels of all time and found a list that didn't put The Da Vinci Code as #1. I believe the list I'm going off of was the result of a large on-line survey where readers and the public alike were asked to rank their top ten novels. I'm pretty happy with the list - a nice blend of old and new, Russian, Spanish, English, American, Canadian (and other) authors, books I've never heard of and only a few that I've already read. While I'm happy with the list, I know some will have issue with it. That's fine. It's subjective. This blog will be too but that's what opinion is all about, right? The goal here isn't to critique the list but to read through some of the best pieces of literature of our time and have some fun doing it.

So, please add this blog to your RSS Reader, subscribe via email and/or visit often. We'll read through the Top 100 Novels of All Time together and see where that takes us. You may have joined the Century Club in university but this one is a little safer and certainly more enlightening.

Enjoy!