I'm nearly 30 (whew that was tough to say). And maybe I am having a slight problem with it, because I really enjoyed my 20's. It was a good decade for me, because there were more laughs than tears and more smiles than frowns. There of course were years I wasn't proud of (2006 and 2009), but then other years I couldn't have been happier about (2002, 2003 and 2008). So in preparation for the next decade of my life, I picked up a brand new book: 101 Things To Do Before You Turn 40 by Kristin McCraken (Recommendation per Jessica's post).
Now, I know what you're thinking. Aren't you already in way over your head with your current 101 Things to Do Before You Die list? Well, maybe. But there is always more than enough room for improvement and accomplishment and I thought I'd take a closer look at this list. And by closer look I'll be listing the items and then adding my own snarky comments. I didn't realize it when I got the book, but it seems to be geared towards the Sex and the City crowd. So not all of the items pertain to me (at least not yet), but it's fun to take a gander. However, due to the length of the list and the number of snarky comments I want to add. I'll be breaking this into 3 posts and will try to have this done before I turn 40.
101 Things To Do Before You Turn 401) Quit Your Book Club
Whatever, I've actually been searching for book clubs to join. What's wrong with drinking wine and talking books. Nothing. That's what.2) Bridge the Baby Chasm
3) Admit to Everything
4) Throw an Oscar Party
I actually totally want to do this. Consider it added.5) Make Out With the Best Man
Does it have to be the best man at that wedding? 6) Eat the Worm
No. Not Happening. However, I did try Durian. That should more than meet this requirement.
7) Build a Nest Egg
8) Take Your Parents Out to Dinner
Done!
9) Date a 25 Year Old, one last time
Cause it worked so well last time???
10) Put a lid on it
I could stand to curb my gossiping ways, but I'll wait till like 39 to attempt that one.
11) Karaoke
You haven't lived till you have seen our rendition of It's My Life. It's kind of epic.
12) Host
13) Scuba Dive
I'd love take lessons!
14) Document Your Life
I've started working on building my family tree and scanning all my old family photos. I'm concerned that I'm related to a person who used to rock a handlebar mustache. 15) Stop the tchotchkesI'm still in the process of trying to get rid of my junk, but I could stand to simplify my stuff.16) Serve on a juryI would love to be on a jury. I actually got called twice. Once I wasn't selected and once I was called for state where I didn't live. But, I'd be totally down for this.
17) Play Poker
I can't lie. My mouth does this weird grin and I attempt to suppress it. I cannot bluff or keep secret (I give away the answer to Clue), so I'll stick to gin rummy.
18) Musically Upgrade
19) Yell at Someone
20) Remove it
Yes, this item actually has a to do with unwanted body hair.
21) Loose the snooze
I cannot wake up when my alarm goes off. I sleep through everything. I have to start my alarm hours before I wake up and consider myself lucky if that works. I'm sure I have some sort of sleep disorder, but I'm too scared to have it looked at. I don't want to have to sleep with a bunch of people watching me.
22) Pierce something other than your ear
How about your ear cartliage?
23) Strain Your Brain
24) Rent the Classics
Quit reminding me - 75 done and 25 left.
25) Pay off credit card debt
26) Think outside the box
This item has to deal with dying your hair professionally rather than from a box (or koolaid or lemon juice). I think I started dying mine when I was 18. This has resulted in shades covering the hair spectrum (purple and orange were in there). I'm totally OK with having my hair professionally done.
27) Do Something Romantically Cheesy
28) Drop $50 on a bottle of wine
Done!
29) Date a musician
I crush on musicians a lot. Famous musicians even more. Famous musicians with skinny ties way more. Sigh.
30) Drive cross-country
31) Control the future of your face
So's your face.
32) Say No.
33) Ride a Harley
I feel like I've been a bad blogger lately, please forgive me as I blame it on my new recent obsessions:1) Liberty of London for Target collection. I may have gone a bit out of control. First there was the lovely (wouldn't this look great on a cruise ship) tiered dress, the (way too cute to be for just boys) boxer shorts, and the (use this as an excuse to organize my place) storage containers.
2) Tuesday Night Television - The official best night of TV with: Lost, Southland, The Good Wife, and American Idol. I can't get enough.3) I just finished a delightful new book: I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing but True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother, and Friend to Man & Dog by Diana Joseph.Did I buy this book because of the title? Why yes, yes I did. But quotes like this, "Most of my issues aren't that unusual among those of my race, class, gender and level of education - white, middle, female, college - and these issues include low self-esteem, panic and anxiety attacks, unresolved anger toward my mother and general bitchiness", made me keep coming back.4) Girl Scout Cookies. Specifically those Lemonades. Delicious.5) Vacation Planning - One month and one day until Greece and Turkey. Yep, I'm already writing lists and buying cute little dresses and creating checklists. Also am planning birthday trips to the Pacific Northwest and maybe a visit to some islands near the end of the year. Yes, I will be very annoying.I promise I'll get back to the heart of the matter in the next couple of days. Any new things you have been obsessed with?
After several discussions and rolling of the eyes, here is the official list of books I need to read before I die. Through constant prodding and harassment of my blog readers and friends, I was able to compile a list of favorite books to read. So, now it's time for me to list the rules of my reading rainbow challenge.
100 Books To Read Before I Die Challenge:
1) Even if I've previously read the book, I must read it again (the books I've read below are in red - I've officially read 21% of the books. Lot of good it did me).
2) A writeup of each book is required on my blog including a rating
3) If a movie was made based on the book, I must watch the movie as well
4) There's no order in which the books must be read, but even if I do no like the book, I must finish it
5) Scary books may be read during a sleepover
6) Drinks acceptable during reading challenge: Wine (red)/Coffee (black)
7) I am not required to read only books on the list. This is a supplement to my other reading.
100 Books To Read Before I Die
1. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden 2. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving 3. Good Owens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett 4. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham and Edmund Morris 5. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis 6. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett 7. Eye of the World by Robert Jordan 8. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice 9. Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice10. These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder11. Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher12. Last of the Breed by Louis L'Amour13. The Gunslinger by Stephen King14. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie15. Dune by Frank Herbert16. Homeland by R.A. Salvatore17. The Art of Learning by Josh Waizkin18. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig19. Life of Pi by Yann Martel20. The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav21. Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman22. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell23. The Road by Corrmick McCarthy24. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett25. The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien26. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen27. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque28. Shogun by James Clavell29. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller30. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger31. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton32. Dracula by Bram Stocker33. 1984 by George Orwell34. It by Stephen King35. A Trace of Memory by Keith Laumer36. Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain37) Twilight by Stephanie Meyer 38) Sextrology: The Astrology of Sex and the Sexes by Starsky and Cox 39) Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier40) Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan 41) The Guide to Getting it On by Paul Joannides and Daerick Gross Sr. 42) Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert 43) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold44) My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult 45) How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie 46) Survival of the Savvy - High Integrity Political Tactics for Career and Company Success by Rick Brandon and Marty Seldman 47) The Brooklyn Follies: A Novel by Paul Auster 48) Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang 49) The Curse of the Mogul by Jonathan A. Knee, Bruce C. Greenwald, and Ava Seave50) The Bell Jar by Slyvia Plath51) All the President's Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein52) Microserfs by Douglas Coupland53) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger54) Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes55) The Poison Wood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver56) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon57) The Lost Memorirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James58) Bed Number Ten by Sue Baier and Mary Zimmeth Schomaker59) One for the Money by Janet Evanovich60) Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin61) Angels & Demons by Dan Brown62) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand63) Exile by R.A. Salvatore64) Sojourn by R.A. Salvatore65-67) Dragonlance series: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman68) The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss69) The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand70) Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown71) Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton72) Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton73) What Color is Your Underwear? by Sam Lloyd74) Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak75) The Book of Joe: A Novel by Jonathan Tropper76) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Lucia Graves77) The Dav Vinci Code by Dan Brown78) A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive by Dave Pelzer79) Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell80) The Lizard King: The Essential Jim Morrison by Jerry Hopkins81) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee82) Frenchman's Creek by Daphne DuMaurier83) The Uninvited by Dorothy Macadle84) Now, Voyager by Olive Higgins Prouty85) The Moneychangers by Arthur Hailey86) Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult87) Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult88) Rock Star by Jackie Collins89) The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory90) Dirt by Stuart Woods91) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling92) Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest by Stephen Ambrose93) The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien94) The Client by John Grisham95) Angels by Marian Keyes96) Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton97) The Camel Club by David Baldacci98) Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
99) Open for add'l book
100) Open for add'l book
So, what do you think about this list? Does anyone else want to take part in the reading challenge? We could totally have a book club!
Finally! I didn't know if I would actually get to this point, but I have my (kinda) completed book list. I must read all of the books on this list in order to have accomplished reading the greatest books of all time.75) The Book of Joe: A Novel by Jonathan Tropper76) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Lucia Graves77) The Dav Vinci Code by Dan Brown78) A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive by Dave Pelzer79) Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell80) The Lizard King: The Essential Jim Morrison by Jerry Hopkins#79 on the list was a book I suggested so and I'm pretty pleased it made on the top six ("I can't do five, so just deal with it"). I'm probably most intrigued by the biography of The Doors singer, Jim Morrison. Don't get me wrong, I love drug-addled tortured poets (bonus points if they wear leather pants) as much as the next girl, but I've never really been into The Doors like other people I know. So, we'll see how that goes. 81) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee82) Frenchman's Creek by Daphne DuMaurier83) The Uninvited by Dorothy Macadle84) Now, Voyager by Olive Higgins Prouty85) The Moneychangers by Arthur HaileyMy mom's list. She calls "The Univited" the scariest book she's ever read. Great. Just. Great. However, I'm glad that To Kill a Mocking is on this list. Another yearly read of mine, but I left it off mine cause I figured someone would have it on there list.86) Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult87) Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult88) Rock Star by Jackie Collins89) The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory90) Dirt by Stuart WoodsI know nothing about any of these books. Which is really surprising cause I think I've swapped more books with her than anyone.91) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling92) Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest by Stephen Ambrose93) The Hobbit by JRR TolkienThis may be it. I have avoided everything Harry Potter from the beginning. This means no movies, no books, no rimmed glasses, no scarfs....oh who am I kidding. There are always scarfs. But seriously, I am very torn on Harry Potter. I've avoided it past the initial crazes and I would have to read the first three books in order to properly understand the nuances of the Harry Potter scene.94) The Client by John Grisham95) Angels by Marian Keyes96) Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton97) The Camel Club by David Baldacci98) Siddhartha by Hermann HesseI've read three of the books on this list. And one of the books on my list shares an author (Marian Keyes) with this list. In fact the list picker was the one who introduced me to the loveliness that is Marian Keyes. I'm leaving the last two spots open for books that may come up between now and 2048 when I finally finish reading the books on the list. I'll be posting a complete list and start thinking on how I'm going to attempt to complete it. Woo hoo! So, I managed to get nearly 100 books from my friends and family. I'm pretty excited to read some of these books (and somewhat nervous to read some of the other ones), but I think it'll be pretty interesting and I'm sure I'm going to find some lovely books. However, please continue to send me your favorite books in the comments! I'm never one for turning down a book suggestion.
Lookie what I just got in the mail today, my new Holga camera! Crymson has been a huge fan of her camera the past year and I was too jealous not to have one too (even though green is my best color).And if you're looking at this and wondering why someone would buy a non digital camera anymore. Here's why:
1) It takes square pictures
2) It's super cheap (well if you ignore film processing costs)3) The pictures look like they came out of my dreams
4) There's no rules with taking pics. Creativity is encouraged. Double exposures? Sure! Light Leaks? Even Better!!
So, get excited to see my photo experiments coming up.
Yep, I am continuing to detail my pursuit of putting together the list of 100 books to read before I die. I have almost the entire list complete, so now it's just putting the complete list together and figuring out how I'm going to attack it. Here's the next to last post on the process of putting the list together. Then there will be the one with the complete list and then my recaps. So, yeah, my blog may have a lot of book talk in the future. Woo Hoo!See Books 1-36See Books 37-49See Books 50-54
55) The Poison Wood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver56) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark HaddonThese were from blog commenter My Life is Random. She had previously given me three books to add to the list and gave me two other ones that had been suggested for her. Jessica also had The Curious Incident on her add'l list so this one was a must.57) The Lost Memorirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James58) Bed Number Ten by Sue Baier and Mary Zimmeth Schomaker59) One for the Money by Janet Evanovich60) Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin61) Angels & Demons by Dan BrownMy friend had a harder time preparing this list as everytime she came up with a book, I had to tell her that it was already on the list. She included Pride and Prejudice in her top five books which makes this book the most popular book of my list authors. 62) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand63) Exile by R.A. Salvatore64) Sojourn by R.A. Salvatore65-67) Dragonlance series: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman68) The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss69) The Fountainhead by Ayn RandOK, so there are more than five on this list but technically five of the books are part of a book series. One of my other book list authors already included the first book in the Forgotten Realm series by R.A. Salvatore, so this list author decided to continue the series going. And when I may have called him a nerd for including books that have the word Dragon in the title, he ever so politely reminded me of my own Vampire-centric reading list of late and that his books are on the best seller lists so lots of people like them.I actually have The Fountainhead in my bookshelf waiting to read, but it looks rather daunting with it's small type and excessive pages. I picked it up on recommendation of the list author and after seeing it mentioned on Gilmore Girls. Yes, that's right I'm not afraid to admit that several of my book purchases in the past have been at Rory Gilmore's recommendation. That'd be a fun list to do to read all o the books mentioned on Gilmore Girls....but I have too many lists right now that I can't complete. Let's not add another one.70) Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown71) Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton72) Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton73) What Color is Your Underwear? by Sam Lloyd74) Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice SendakThis list is from the youngest participant at three months old. He's the son of the author of the previous two lists and I'm happy to report that two of the books listed are ones that I purchased for him. And besides a well rounded list will need to include books from all age groups. Plus it gives me an excuse to watch the movie Where the Wild Things are.
What do you think of the list how it's shaping up? I've been really digging getting the lists from everyone and am looking forward to checking some off the list. Any books that you are surprised havent' been listed yet?
Time for a moment of disclosure, the list below is mine. It might seem odd to include my own picks on a list of books I want to read before I die (see previous posts here). However, I constantly go back to my favorite books and read them again at different points in my life and each subsequent reading gives me a different perspective. Sometime it's like I'm reading it for the first time and I fall in love with it all over again. Plus it's my list, I can do whatever I want. :)Without further adieu, here are my five favorite books50) The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
I can't tell you why I love this book so much. When you consider the autobiographical nature of the book and the later suicide by Plath, the book takes on a haunting tone. But it's just so honest, it's hard to ignore.51) All the President's Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
I just love the dedication that Woodstein showed. They kept looking, even when everyone told them they were wrong.
52) Microserfs by Douglas CouplandThis book made me pick up almost all of the other Coupland books looking to find the same joy I after I finished. I haven't found it yet. This book is just so quirky, nerdy and funny just like I feel I am.53) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The most recent book I read that made it to my list. I blew off friends to finish it within hours and was inconsolable for days afterwards.
54) Rachel's Holiday by Marian KeyesOK, some people classify this as chick-lit and yes it may have several of those characteristics. But it's so stinking funny and honest as it deals with addiction and recovery while set in my dream destination of Ireland you can't go wrong.
I've got a bunch more books to add to the list. We're almost to the final 100! This is last call if you have any books to add to the list, please leave it in the comments to make sure I read it before I die.
I'm nearly 30 (whew that was tough to say). And maybe I am having a slight problem with it, because I really enjoyed my 20's. It was a good decade for me, because there were more laughs than tears and more smiles than frowns. There of course were years I wasn't proud of (2006 and 2009), but then other years I couldn't have been happier about (2002, 2003 and 2008). So in preparation for the next decade of my life, I picked up a brand new book: 101 Things To Do Before You Turn 40 by Kristin McCraken (Recommendation per Jessica's post). 
