Wow, I've been absent from the blog for an embarrassing amount of time. All that I can tell you is that I've been busy. Since I last wrote, I've accomplished two of the items on my 101 Things To Do list: earned my driver's license and relocated to Texas. So much is changing right now that it makes my head spin a bit. I'm trying to focus on how much fun I'll be having instead of how scary the job market is right now. I'll write a longer post soon the details my driving test and where I'm currently living.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is the second novel I chose to tackle for my 50 Book Challenge. Written in a memoir style, the book explores the life of intersexed Cal (known as Callie in childhood) and his ancestry. I have really mixed feelings about this book; I don't know if I recommend it. I can't really say any more about it without spoiling it for you. Middlesex won the Pulitzer so it's definitely worth picking up if you are looking for a more serious read.
Bitter is the New Black tells the story of Jen Lancaster, a self-proclaimed narcissistic ex-sorority girl who is climbing up the corporate ladder when she finds herself suddenly laid off. Her missteps as she struggles to keep her head above water are enough to leave a lesser person begging to move in with her parents, but Lancaster relates her embarrassing moments in a hilariously self-deprecating way.
Overall, I loved this book and found it to be a perfect escape at the end of the day. Lancaster has more memoirs, including one called Such a Pretty Fat that I know I'll be looking for once I complete this challenge.
As part of my 101 things, I've decided to participate in a 50 book challenge. This list I'll be following is heavily borrowed from the lovely Lemon Soda because she included books that I've intended to read in the past in addition to books that I've never heard of. I replaced her choices that I've already read with classics that I've somehow never had to read for school.
1. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger
4. Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver
5. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
6. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
7. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
8. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
9. Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser
10. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
11. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
12. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
13. Germs Guns and Steel by Jared Diamond
14. St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
15. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
16. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
17. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
18. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
19. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
20. To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
23. Sex, Drugs, & Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman
24. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman
25. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
26. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
27. Perfume by Patrick Süskind
28. The World According to Garp by John Irving
29. Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin
30. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
31. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
33. Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
34. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
35. The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien
36. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien
37. The Two Towers by J.R.R Tolkien
38. The Return of the King by J.R.R Tolkien
39. Dracula by Bram Stoker
40. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
41. The Magician’s Nephew by C.S Lewis
42. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
43. Let the Right One In - John Ajvide Lindqvist
44. The Diving Bell and The Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
45. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
46. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
47. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
48. Wittgenstein’s Mistress by David Markson
49. This Is Not a Novel by David Markson
50. It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be by Paul Arden
In an effort to follow through on the things I intend to do, I present to you my list of 101 things I will accomplish in 1001 days.
3. Write a movie script
4. Start grad school for library science
5. Get online store running
6. Learn to quilt
7. Visit NYC
8. Buy Ipad
9. Volunteer at children’s charity
10. Take guitar lessons
11. Throw a dinner party
12. Finish art journal challenge
13. Build a piece of furniture (with plans from KnockOffWood)
14. Take a computer class
15. Travel out of the country
16. Learn a song on the piano
17. Finish my reading list
18. Wear smoky eye makeup in public
19. Ride in a helicopter
20. Buy a child a bicycle
21. Volunteer or work at a library
22. Teach a Bible class
23. Invest
24. Attend a cultural festival
25. Walk or bike to work
27. Throw a baby shower
28. Pay a stranger’s ticket at a restaurant
29. Attend at least 5 concerts
30. Go on a blind date
31. Find the perfect birthday gifts for my mom, dad, and brother
32. Decorate new apartment
33. Have professional photos taken
34. Attend a professional sporting event
35. Attend a film festival
36. Write out and stick to a budget
37. Participate in a craft fair
38. Develop a signature style
40. Ride in a boat
41. Keep the blog going
42. Write a letter to someone I admire
43. See a professional musical
44. Discover 10 new-to-me bands or singers to love
45. Register on the bone marrow donor list
46. Learn how to fix my hair in a fancy up do
47. Bake a cake from scratch
48. Take a dance class
49. Say yes when invited to go out despite feeling lazy at least 10 times (borrowed from Lemon Soda)
50. Take pictures in a photo booth
51. Attend a concert festival
52. Participate in an open mic night
53. Master my sewing machine (with help from Ruffles And Stuff's Sew Basic tutorials)
54. Get a passport
55. Drink water at work
56. Create an exercise routine
57. Walk in the rain
58. Create a designated craft area in my home
59. Take a photography class
60. Buy from a school fundraiser
61. Have a garage sale
62. Watch Casablanca
63. Learn to crochet
64. Learn to solder
65. Grill out
66. Donate clothing
67. Find a church
68. Mail birthday cards to my OK friends
69. Make a font out of my handwriting
70. Sit through a scary movie
71. Ride a Ferris wheel
72. Organize my closet
73. Sell 10 hair bows
74. Go to Disneyworld
75. See an Improv comedy show
76. Swim in the ocean
77. Visit New Mexico with my mom
78. Celebrate my birthday in a big way
79. Plan a family Christmas party
80. Become CPR and First Aid certified again
81. Tutor a child
82. Learn to whistle a tune
83. Make a fancy coffee drink
84. Attend an opera
85. Take a yoga class
86. See a volcano
87. Visit Washington D.C. (future home of politician little brother)
88. Make a pizza
89. Go to a flea market
90. Master an image-editing program
91. See a stand-up comedian
92. Give blood regularly
93. Send my parents on a trip to Branson
94. Buy a pair of fabulous heels
95. Learn to make the perfect glass of lemonade
96. Volunteer at a soup kitchen
97. Visit Nashville again
98. Do an outfit challenge
99. Record a song
100. Join a knitting circle
101. Start a book club
Start Date July 24, 2010
End Date April 20, 2013
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