{"id":155,"date":"2009-01-29T09:37:07","date_gmt":"2009-01-29T16:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/2009\/01\/29\/155\/"},"modified":"2009-01-29T09:37:07","modified_gmt":"2009-01-29T16:37:07","slug":"ten-books-to-read-before-you-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/2009\/01\/29\/155\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Books to Read Before You Die"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nCurrent mood:\u00a0\u00a0cheerful
\nCategory:<\/strong> Writing and Poetry<\/p>\n


\nThat\u2019s a headline grabber if ever I saw one and being a former journalist I can\u2019t resist a good header…so I perused this\u00a0list as compiled by a recent Harris Poll and yeah it\u2019s pretty good: The Holy Bible<\/em><\/strong>, Gone with the Wind<\/em><\/strong>, Harry Potter<\/strong><\/em>, The Stand<\/strong><\/em>, The Da Vinci Code<\/em><\/strong>, To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em><\/strong>, Angels and Demons<\/em><\/strong>, Catcher in the Rye<\/strong> <\/em>and Atlas Shrugged<\/em><\/strong>.
\nFrankly my dear I don\u2019t give a damn about some of them \u2013 but Catcher in the Rye<\/em><\/strong>, To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em><\/strong> and Atlas Shrugged<\/em><\/strong> would be high on my list. Others\u2026not so much, which of course got me thinking, what are my top 10?<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to hear about yours \u2013 but since I\u2019m here, let me start. In order of chronological influence:<\/p>\n

1. The Outsiders<\/em><\/strong> by S.E. Hinton because this is how you feel when you are 14 years old. Stay Gold, pony boy.<\/p>\n

2. For the Term of His Natural Life<\/em><\/strong> by Marcus Clarke. A searing, unforgettable portrayal of an Australian convict\u2019s life. Rufus Dawes is a remarkable character and Clarke\u2019s research is impeccable and yet, humble. This book shaped my urge to place the reader right there. I wept right through this the first time I read it. I still do.<\/p>\n

3. Waffles with Everything<\/em><\/strong> by Polly Horvath. This whimsical yet perceptive book is how you feel when you lose a parent. You can take my word on that.<\/p>\n

4. The Secret Life of Adrian Mole Aged 13 \u00be<\/em><\/strong> by Sue Townsend. The most subversive, hysterical novel you will ever read. You can take my word on that, too. Written during Thatcher\u2019s era in Britain, it rips her to shreds but I\u2019m betting she got a laugh out of it, too.<\/p>\n

5. On the Road<\/em><\/strong> by Jack Kerouac. Come on, he\u2019s dead and he\u2019s still sexy as hell. Besides, we\u2019ve all loved a train wreck at least once in our lives.<\/p>\n

6. My Place<\/em><\/strong> by Sally Marshall. An Aboriginal woman dissects her people\u2019s displacement. Brilliant and lyrical.<\/p>\n

7. Monkey Grip<\/em><\/strong> by Helen Garner. A gut wrenching examination of love and addiction. Give it to somebody who is in love with a drug addict. An extraordinary novel.<\/p>\n

8. Joe Wilson and his Mates<\/em><\/strong> by Henry Lawson. One of the two greatest Australian writers who ever lived, the other being Banjo Paterson. I really couldn\u2019t choose between them\u2026sneaky way to mention \u2019em both, eh? P.S. I named my cat after Banjo\u2026<\/p>\n

9. The Mill on the Floss<\/em><\/strong> by George Eliot. I love everything she has ever written but I busted my literary cherry on this one\u2026the only English language book I could find in Athens, the year I went to school in Greece, age 15.<\/p>\n

10. The Lovely Bones<\/em><\/strong> by Alice Sebold. If you have lost a loved one, this will give you hope and an explanation you can live with. I believe her definition of heaven. If Hollywood ruins this one, heads will roll. I will see to it personally.<\/p>\n

So how about you? What\u2019s your must reads? I really want to know!<\/p>\n

Aloha oe,<\/p>\n

A.J.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\nCurrently\u00a0listening:
\nTonight Not Again\/Live at Eagles Ballroom (CD & DVD)<\/font><\/strong><\/a>
\nBy\u00a0Jason Mraz
\nRelease date:\u00a02004-08-24<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Current mood:\u00a0\u00a0cheerful Category: Writing and Poetry That\u2019s a headline grabber if ever I saw one and being a former journalist I can\u2019t resist a good header…so I perused this\u00a0list as compiled by a recent Harris Poll and yeah it\u2019s pretty good: The Holy Bible, Gone with the Wind, Harry Potter, The Stand, The Da Vinci […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-category-writing-and-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ajllewellyn.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}