What's On Your Night Stand?

I mentioned earlier that I planned to give you a low down on the method to my madness of how I go about choosing what books I read and why. I figured there was no better time to do that then this months edition of Whats On Your Night Stand? hosted by 5 Minutes For Books.

98% of the books I read come by recommendations from other bloggers/word of mouth. I admit I am a mainstream reader and read what everyone else is reading. I've read so many great books in the last few months just from reviews of other bloggers or simply going through other peoples to read piles. I also feel that I have to catch up with previous top reads from the past couple of years, as I really slacked off in the reading department. Having no T.V. other than watching DVD's these past few months, has tripled my reading progress.
I also have joined the Classics Book Club and have broadened my horizons by re reading some oldies but goodies and reading some oldies that I hadn't read before. I'm trying to read at least 2 classics a month. This month was Little Women.

There was a meme type list going around facebook a few months ago that had 100 books listed that asked you to cross off how many you have read. Most of the books were classics and some that are modern classics. I had read quite a few of the classics listed, but didn't feel that they really counted since it was so long ago. At the time I did the meme, I could only honestly list 23 of the 100. I felt really ashamed with that number and have made a goal to read at least 50 of the 100 on the list this year. I'm at 39 now. I will say that some of the books on that list I have no real desire to read War and Peace- uhm thanks but no thanks.

Now for what's on the nightstand for June-
-Everyone is Beautiful- I'm on the waiting list at the library and crossing my fingers I get it before next week so I can join 5 Minutes for Books on the discussion.

-Atonement by Iwan McEwan

-The Great Gatsby - I'm debating on whether I want to read this one for my classics read, as there's so many others that I know are better. I did read it in high school and think that may be that's good enough.

-The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night Time Written from the perspective of a high functioning autistic boy.

-Undress Me In The Temples of Heaven -A travel memoir to China that didn't go as planned.

-The Grapes of Wrath -Classic read of surviving the dust bowl.

That should get me through the month of June. I can't wait to see what everyone else is reading.

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.