Required Reading

Back when I was in high school, I came across a list of books and authors that frequently appeared on AP English (advanced placement) tests. (AP tests could/can be taken by high school students to qualify them for college credit hours on some subjects, depending on the college. I never took one, myself.) Anyway, this list consisted completely of well-known classic literature, and it became somewhat of a goal of mine to read every book on the list. At the time I found the list, I had already read several, and in the years since, I have gradually read more and more of them, though I'm not even halfway done. I know I have this list somewhere, but I haven't looked at it in a while since I hadn't been reading lately. I think it's time to find it.

A few weeks ago, I happened to watch Tess of the D'Ubervilles on PBS, a Masterpiece Theater production based on the book by Thomas Hardy. I wasn't familiar with the book or Thomas Hardy, but after reading a thread on Ravelry started to admire the handknits in the movie, I found out that Thomas Hardy was also the author of Jude the Obscure and Far From the Maddening Crowd, both of which I have heard of (and feel certain are probably on The List, but I have yet to check that). Because I enjoyed Tess so much, I decided to try one of these books, and I had a suspicion that they would be on the public domain because of their age. I was right!

There is a website--www.gutenberg.org--called Project Gutenberg that is a library of books (mostly classics, all pretty old) that have went into the public domain, so you can download (for free) and read them. I read the few Jane Austen novels I'm missing this way as well as a few other random books I've come across. Both books (as well as Tess) by Thomas Hardy are there, and I finished reading Jude the Obscure last week. I enjoyed it a lot, but it was pretty darn depressing (like Tess). I'm just starting Far From the Maddening Crowd today since finishing Silas Marner by George Eliot, which was a quick read after Jude. Perhaps that one was on The List, too...

This website is an awesome resource and I plan to read many more books this way. It may not be ideal for a lot of people to read books this way, but it doesn't bother me much. And they're free (unlike Barnes and Noble) and instantly accessible and without late charges (unlike the library). Another cool reader-friendly website is www.librarything.com, though I admit I haven't used it much.

I'm pretty happy 'cause at this rate, I'm going to meet my 12-book goal for the year by March.