A good read

Remember that game we used to play as kids? The one where the participants sit in a long line, the first person whispers something in her neighbor’s ear, and then that person, and each subsequent person, is tasked to repeat what they heard, on down the line. Perhaps that’s what happened here. Except this is online, copy-and-pasting, no whispering needed.

Here’s what I know: BBC, via a poll, voting and a television show, determined the 100 best reads in the UK. Here’s the telephone-game aspect, though: There are at least two versions of the list floating around; logically, only one of them conforms to the BBC list.

I’ve decided I will complete this list starting with the official BBC list.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you love.
4) Strike out the books you have no intention of ever reading, or were forced to read at school and hated.
5) Reprint this list on your own blog.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s [Sorcerer's in USA] Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love in The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls in Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie

I count 38 titles above that I’ve read and marked as bold.

 

I am totally unmotivated to do anything productive. After a great morning of playing dress up with Ivy and making sesame noodles, I put her down for a nap, took a shower, and have been on the computer. I should get some painting done, but I think I'll go lie on the couch until she wakes up.

Then we're off for a fun day of shopping for baby gifts for Bailey and Evelyn. We're also going to try out the Soft Play area at the EP mall again. She didn't like it last time.

We're going to spend the evening with the Johnsons who have their sweet girl home finally.

I wish this bathroom would paint itself. And I kind of hope it rains on Saturday, so I don't have to go to the Lakefront Days Parade.

Writing

Every morning when I open Outlook, I am sad when no one has updated their blog.

Here's our latest: Ivy is walking a lot. She's learning to go down the stairs. She talks to herself all day long.

I'm trying to scrap book a bit when she sleeps. Or paint a little here and there. Lately, anytime I say anything, I can hear Dr. Seuss reciting lines to me. "Here and there, funny things are everywhere." That's what we've been reading lately.

Eating Woes

Last night, we were at Applebee's. Ivy had grilled cheese and broccoli. She was close to being full, but I was trying one more bite of broccoli with her. Evidently, she WAS done. In an effort to get the broccoli out of her mouth, she puked.

Eating all week has been a challenge. We figured out what the problem is. She won't eat from me. She will only accept food from Daddy. I can give her a spoonful of whatever. She just scrunches up her face. Give that exact spoon to Jeremy, and she's starving.

Stepping Up

Ivy is venturing out on her own and taking steps. Last night, she did about three in the living room. Two separate times at ECFE this morning, she did 4-5 steps. We've been saying it for a long time, but I really do think she's on the cusp of walking.

It's a miracle

Seeing as how I've been so exhausted the last few weeks, we decided to night wean Ivy. I planned to sleep in the basement, so Daddy could listen to her cry when I didn't go in to nurse her at 1 am.

Ha ha ha!!

No need. She's slept through the night all week. That's right! 7 pm - 7 am. Straight!!

Changes

We are having a baby!! Number Two is set to arrive at the end of February. We talked and talked about trying for another home birth but ended up with the midwives at St. Francis. I haven't felt sick a bit yet, although a little tiredness is setting in late in the afternoons.

Nothing else much is going on. I spent most of last week in Osakis hanging out with my fam. Ivy & I finally went to Fairy Lake. It's nice, but not really any  nicer than any other beach we've been to. And we saw all the cousins at Stu's on Friday. New Little Ryne is adorable!!

Our friends Amy & Jeremy welcomed Bailey this week, too. She's 9 weeks early, but doing very well. Just needs to get some growing done. She's sweet and precious.