What's On Your Nightstand?

5 Minutes for Books has a monthly carnival simply asking what books have your read and or planning to read?

I have been one crazy reading momma this past month and will note my top 3.

-100 Years Of Solitude by: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I just finished this book yesterday and let me tell you, that I felt like I was getting on Space Mountain at Disney World for the first time. There were so many characters and twists and turns that it took almost half way through the book to realize that I shouldn't focus so much on the characters themselves but the story as a whole. Just as I was getting pretty settled in with the story, the end started that proverbial roller coaster climax that had me going where I couldn't put it down. Then it came crashing to a screeching halt and ended.

The plot itself is so thick that there's no way I could do a brief summary here. It's basically about this little town way out somewhere in Central America (maybe?) and the Buendio family and their fascinating lives.

This book has been noted as one of the greatest American novels of all time. I'm thinking more of a Greek tragedy myself. I would certainly suggest that it should be some kind of required reading for English majors.

-Memoirs of A Geisha by Arthur Golden

I loved this book! I loved learning more about the Japanese culture and the storyline of this Geisha. I am kicking myself for taking so long to read it.

This is a story about a fisherman's daughter who is sold into slavery in hopes to then be trained to be a Geisha. It talks of her hard struggles of just getting to that point of being a Geisha and then striving to be the best Geisha she can be and finding her love along the way.

-Life of Pi by: Yann Martel

I went into this one also not knowing exactly what it was about but hearing many great things about it.

The basic synopsis is it's about a boy who becomes ship wrecked and is now trying to survive in the Pacific Ocean in a life raft with a Tiger, a hyena, a zebra, and an orangutan. He becomes the longest survivor to ship wrecked. It's all about a survival, instinct, and faith.

I was really fascinated by the philosophies and zoological thoughts that kind of intertwined together in this book.

Here's a few reads I plan for the rest of the month and into next-

-The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

-The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

-Little Women by Louisa May Alcott as the start of the Classics Reading Challenge I'm doing. Can't wait to read this one again.