Thursday, January 07, 2010

Books and Music 2010

Dear Lovers of Books and Music,

This year, as in the past, I've decided to keep a record of the books I've read and significant pieces of music that I have listened to. I am not a fast reader, so this list won't grow quickly. However, I like keeping a record. My goal last year was to read a book a week. If you want to count, you will find that I did accomplish my goal, although, I had to search my memory to pull one last book out of the hat. (A children's book, but a book nonetheless.)

I'm rather committed to keeping most of my reading on a classic level. I am trying to catch up on the best of literature. Plus, I really do prefer books that have a lot of substance, even when I miss some of the points, which I often do. Other readers sometimes help me understand, and for their insights I am grateful. Regrettably, I don't have too many musician friends to help me with my musical passion.

Books

Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
Beowulf by Anonymous, Translation by Robert Kay Gordon
Manga Messiah published by Tyndale House
A History of God by Karen Armstrong
The Shack by William P. Young
What Now? by Ann Patchett
The Runaway Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini
The Lifted Veil by George Eliot
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
The Niagara River by Kay Ryan
Japanese Children's Favorite Stories compiled by Florence Sakade
The Illustrated Anansi compiled by Philip Sherlock
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer
Cinderella Tales from Around the World compiled by Ila Lane Gross
The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
We Make the Road by Walking by Myles Horton and Paulo Freire
Dracula by Bram Stoker
American Mind Part II by Allen Guelzo
American Mind Part III by Allen Guelzo
Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Tinkering Toward Utopia by David Tyack and Larry Cuban
The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens
Silas Marner by George Eliot
The Castle by Franz Kafka
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
The Amazing Mrs. Polifax by Dorothy Gilman

Music

L'Enfance du Christ by Hector Berlioz
The String Quartets of Shostakovich
Love's Twilight by Anne Sophie von Otter
Dvorak Symphony #9 conducted by Arturo Toscanini

4 comments:

cadh 8 said...

Wow, that is impressive! 52 books last year!

Beuwolf is one of my favorite books. I dont know why. I guess there is something so ancient and nordic about it that I liked. And the classic good versus evil is also good. Did you ever see the movie 13th Warrior? It is loosely based on Beuwolf and is a great movie.

brd said...

I love Beowulf also. It is an interesting study of the span of life, the strength of youth and the strength of age. There is a short section that talks about a man who kills his brother. The father grieves but can find no resolution for his grief. I have been thinking about blogging on that subject.

I haven't seen that movie. I'll have to check it out.

Yes Beowulf has that sense of, as C.S. Lewis would say, "northerness" that is very enchanting.

Piano Music said...

We have such similar tastes in music! And I love your list of books! Thanks! Beethoven Sheet Music

brd said...

Thanks Piano Music. I like your site.