Read any good books lately?

Check out my nifty new bookshelf widget over there.  It certainly adds a literary je ne sais quoi to the blog.  In addition to the 8 or 9 must reads, I intend to update it with my current literary selection.  Unfortunately, I am not reading anything at the moment. So far this year, I have read 3 classics and 1 novel novel:

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - I can not believe that I had never read this before.  The description of the turn of the century meat packing plants putrescence is mind boggling.  And the trials that poor Jurgis persevered is enough to make one cry.  It makes one wonder how are grandparents every survived in the land of milk and honey.  Sinclair had me until the end when the book turned into a socialist manifesto.

Anthem by Ayn Rand -  With Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead being 2 of my favs, it was quite a pleasure to discover this compact, imaginative future portrait.  It was like Rush's 2112 without Geddy, Neil, and Alex.

The Pearl by John Steinbeck - After reading Grapes of Wrath, I have a new appreciation for Steinbeck's writing.  Another compact tale of society's injustice.

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton -  a posthumous pirate tale that should have stayed posthumous, matey.

And as for the required reading (I expect my kids to finish this list before they're driving), in no particular order:

1. The Source James Michener - for anyone who likes history/archeology

2. Exodus/Mila 18 Leon Uris - for my people

3. Tropic of Cancer Henry Miller - for those who want to live life

4. Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand - for those who want to control their own destiny

5. Good Earth Pearl Buck - for those who value things

6. The Tontine Thomas Costain - the single book (well, 2 volumes) that turned me onto both stocks and/or gambling

7. Catch 22 Joseph Heller - for those with a sense of humor

8. Life of Pi Martel - for those with an imagination

9. Skinny legs and All Tom Robbins - for those who love words

10. Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett - for those who love a good epic

11. No Exit Sartre - for those who love to exist

12. The Phantom Tollbooth Juster - for the kid within, who loves words


13.  Maugham/Hesse - for spiritual odysseys 

14. Hemingway/Fitzgerald/Orwell - for just great writing/storytelling

15. a smattering of Dumas/Hugo - for the francophile within