I’ve always been a reader. However, I was never good at reading books that were assigned to me in school. I love to learn but I hate being TOLD what to learn.
So, whenever books were assigned to read (Beowulf, The Scarlet Letter, etc), I opted for the Cliff’s Notes.
I can honestly say that I was in college before I read an entire novel that was assigned to me (Here’s looking at you, Heart of Darkness).
With that said, it’s obvious that I missed many of the “classics” growing up. While my classmates were grappling with “Call of the Wild,” I was neck-deep in Stephen King and Pat Conroy. I’ve made a concerted effort over the last couple of months to read some great novels of the past.

This is my top 10 novels I am most looking forward to reading:

10. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood: I’ve read her “Handmaid’s Tale” and “Oryx and Crake.” She is quickly becoming one of my favorite novelists. If you haven’t read those two I just mentioned, make it a point.

9. All those danged Harry Potter books: I’ve tried in the past, really. I tried reading the book, listening to the audiobook, and watching the first movie. It just didn’t take with me. Now that I’m not so fundamentalist, I’ll give it another crack. But I still don’t see what all the fuss is.

8. Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky: I hear it’s pretty good. I started reading the Brothers Karamazov a few years back but quit.

7. The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer: A novel based on the true story of Gary Gilmore. Count me in.

6. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole: Don’t know a whole lot about this but I hear good stuff.

5. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe: Tracy insists that I read this. So I will.

4. Ulysses by James Joyce: I can’t say I’m really excited to read this. But it seems to be highly regarded.

3. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: I love these types of stories.

2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Any author referenced by Sheryl Crow has to be good, right?

1. Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy: I love Dystopian novels. This looks to be a great one.

Who has read any of these? Should I bother? What books do you need to read?