52 1001 Books in 2011

I am about on track, I have read a quarter of my target, but I need to up my game as I know I'll slow down.

A lot of my books have come from the Bookcrossing's 1001-library, which has really helped as I am not in the U.K.  In all, it has been a good run so far, no really bad books.  I didn't enjoy The Mysteries of Udolpho as much as some of the others, but that has more to do with the genre than the book.  It is good to knock off some of the books which have been on my radar for a while.  Not sure what is up next, I have a quite a stack in front of me right now, but as I also have reports to write, I may not have much time over the next 2 weeks.

1. The Day of the Triffids

I remember seeing bits of an old BBC adaptation as a kid. Really good one to kick off the year with, a sci-fi book that proposes a possible future, one that i n today's GM world is actually not that unimaginable.

2. The Big Sleep

I found Marlowe's fast talking style very fun and entertaining, and will look out more in the series.

3.The Amazing Adventures of Kavelier and Clay

Also very good. 2 very different cousins come together and create The Escapist, a comic book hero who fights the Nazis.

4.The Story of Lucy Gault  

One of the best I have read recently. This is a beautifully written book, Lucy's story unfolds slowly, but in a very moving way. 

5.The Graduate

As with some of the other books I have read recently, it is odd reading the book when you know the film so well. There is a lot of dialogue in the book, so you can see how it was easily adapted.

6. The Mysteries of Udolpho (Oxford World's Classics)

Second time lucky, actually read this in a few days after having given up on it last time. Very melodramatic, lots of poetic descriptions, but actually rather fun at times. 

7.The Pigeon

The Pigeon is a day in the life of a 50-something-year-old man. His monotonous existance, one of his own choosing and making, is thrown out of kilter by the appearance of a pigeon outside his room. The pigeon disrupts his routine, causing him to consider leaving his sanctuary forever. Thought-provoking. Nice to read a short 1001 book! 

8. Felicia's Journey

A very dark book, the sad story of a pregnant Irish girl searching for the father of her child, with not much to go on except he was working at a lawnmower factory near Birmingham. One day she is offered help by the catering manager of a different factory. Good read, sinister and sad though. Sensitively written, as was The Story of Lucy Gault by the same author.

9. Effi Briest

A girl marries her mother's former suitor and is taken off to live far away. A chain of events are set in motion, almost inevitably, and as upstanding Prussians, they can't avoid the rules that society makes them play by Very well written, very sad. 

10. The Monkey and the Monk

This is the journey of the monk Xuánzàng who is sent to the West for Buddhist scrolls to bring back to Chang'an (modern day Xian). The journey is full of obstacles, traps and dangers that the travelling band must come through to reach the West.

This is a book which is easy to recommend, first to those interested in religion in China, secondly to sinophiles, but, perhaps most importantly, for those wanting to read a good story full of colour, drama and great characters.

11. Through the Looking Glass

As with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, it is the combination of words and images that make the book so memorable, so charming. This is a book to amuse children and adults alike, great fun and deservedly a classic. 

12.Platero and I

A man and his donkey, musings on life in southern Spain. This is a collection of anecodotes and shows the close relationship the narrator has with his faithful Platero, a donkey with a lot of feelings.

13.Invisible Man 

A young black man and the struggle for equality.