Scheduled Reads for the rest of 2011

Although I may be ahead of schedule in my 50 book challenge, I still have much more reading to get my other challenges completed, I thought I'd record them here so I would remember.

September Maisie Dobbs (British Challenge; Historical Challenge) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (British Challenge)
October Finish Vanity Fair (British Challenge; Historical Reading) The Scarecrow of Oz (Gilmore Girls) Dr. No (British Challenge) Sherlock Holmes-A Study in Scarlet (British Challenge)
November The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Nordic Challenge) The Girl Who Played with Fire (Nordic Challenge)
December The Moonstone (British Challenge) Ironweed (Gilmore Girls) Valley of the Dolls (Gilmore Girls) Candide (Gilmore Girls)

Through-out the rest of the year
These will be easy to do as I can read them during school and have just been waiting until I assign them.


5 essays (Essay Reading Challenge)
"Why We Crave Horror Movies"-Stephen King and others
2 Short Stories (Gilmore Girls)
1. "Snows of Killimanjaro" Ernest Hemingway
2. "The Trial" Franz Kafka


Horns by Joe Hill OCT 

(Geek Girls on Goodreads...I downloaded it on the Nook so we'll see if I like it enough to finish reading, I'm a little leery of the premise)

Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley NOV
(Chunksters on Goodreads...co-discussion leader so gotta keep that one on the table)

Stiff:The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach OCT
(Gilmore Girls on Goodreads...read it before, will love to read it again with a group)


Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell by the end of the semester

(borrowed from senior lit teachers to see if I like his writing...)

It feels good to have everything lined up and in order! Now, off to do some paper grading before the tiny person wakes up!

50 Books in a Year: Book #20 The Graduate

"...and, here's to you Mrs. Robinson, Jesus loves you more than you will know...oh, oh, oh..."

~Simon and Garfunkel

"Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?"

~The Graduate

          A couple of Saturdays ago, I found out that my husband had never seen The Graduate...never!
          He downloaded it on Netflix and I watched him watching it, thinking of the first time I saw the movie.
          I was thirteen and used to babysit for this lady, who, at 23, seemed wayyyyy older and wiser than I. One night, as she was leaving, she flicked on the TV, channeled the remote for HBO and said, "The Graduate is coming on in about an hour. If you haven't seen it, you definitely should. There is this scene with a stripper and some tassles, WOW!" Being the curious girl I was, I fed her daughter dinner, got her ready for and put her to bed and called my friend over (seriously The Graduate isn't a movie you should watch alone!). It was easy for me to understand why this movie became a classic, why Dustin Hoffman is considered one of the greatest actors that has ever lived, why Simon & Garfunkel are pure genius and why Mrs. Robinson is the ULTIMATE cougar. However, watching it again as a grown-up (seriously, are there any thirteen-year olds who "get" The Graduate?), I understood so much more than the tassle scene. Did you know The Graduate is about love and obsession?
          Most importantly, my thirteen-year old self had no idea about the true emotions Benjamin Braddock was feeling. I did not know what it was like to truly have your life before you. Your life after college is the first time that you can do whatever you want, you can go to grad school, take a job in your major, join the Peace Corp, do nothing...and, man oh man that's frightening and paralyzing and meaningless and overwhelming. No wonder Benjamin allowed himself to be entrapped.
          Anyway, so I thought all of this while watching the movie and realized that I'd never read the book, I'd bought the book used several years ago, but never read it. I got it out and began reading and didn't stop until I was finished. It is that good.

PS. I read this book last week in one day, when I didn't want to read in of the other books on my list!