# My goal for the new year is to read 50 books. Help me out? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155 "2002-12-27T14:19:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/41 "2002-12-29T11:47:37Z")
Second the Hop on Pop. Would recommend Kim by Rudyard Kipling as possibly the greatest book ever written. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/42 "2002-12-29T11:56:44Z")
I would add **Atlas Shrugged** and the **King James Bible** to the list. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/43 "2002-12-29T14:03:34Z")
Hey, Jadis, I’ll join ya! 🙂 I’ve returned my last batch of library books for the year so I can start afresh 😃 I’m in the middle of reading Dorothy Allison’s **Cavedweller** right now. And I highly recommend her **Bastard Out Of Carolina**. Harrowing story…:shudders: ---
**Author:** ![Manach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Manach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/44 "2002-12-29T14:34:11Z")
Good idea for a goal, I nearly reached a similar target this year. My top five books I read would be Fields without dreams: Defending the Agrarian Idea – Victor Davis Hanson Why the West has won – Victor Hanson Fast food nation My American Journey - Colin Powell Sleep Thieves - Coren ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/45 "2002-12-29T17:29:32Z")
If you’re just trying to make it to 50, Dr. Suess has many good books (especially if you’re trying to make up for lost time after too many big thick novels) 😃 I second the Chesterton. And Dave Barry’s _Big Trouble_ for a fun read. And the Vonnegut–_Cat’s Cradle_ may be his best, but he’s written a lot of interesting stuff. I just finished, and enjoyed, _Timequake_, his “last novel”; though it’s not exactly a novel, it _is_ good Vonnegut. I assume you know that Orson Scott Card has written many other good books. In the same category as John Irving, I guess (modern mainstream fiction with both humor and depth), I could recommend Garrison Keillor: _Wobegon Boy_ Michael Malone: _Handling Sin_ Clyde Edgerton: _Walking Across Egypt_ Jim Kokoris: _The Rich Part of Life_ Anne Tyler: _Saint Maybe_ and just about anything by Robertson Davies ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/46 "2002-12-29T17:49:24Z")
**Trinity** by Leon Uris. It is a long novel and it took about 150 - 200 pages to get into it. After that I was hooked. It is my favorite novel. I’ve read it three times and each time it haunts me for months. (Set in Ireland) **The Tracker** by Tom Brown (non-fiction). This simple book changed my life. I’m a teacher. READ THESE BOOKS!! [sub](quiz on Friday)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/47 "2002-12-29T17:59:20Z")
**Jadis** do you suppose you should start a new thread (next week) to keep track of how people are doing with the 50 books in 2003 challenge? That way we could keep track and see what others are reading… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/48 "2002-12-29T18:13:25Z")
Try… **The Decameron** and **The Thousand Nights and the One Night** transl. by Sir Richard Burton ---
**Author:** ![ruralrage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@ruralrage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruralrage)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/49 "2002-12-29T18:25:48Z")
Oh yeah, i forgot one good one. Read “1984” and “Animal Farm” by George Orwell ---
**Author:** ![ruralrage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@ruralrage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruralrage)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/50 "2002-12-29T18:27:17Z")
i meant two good ones… ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/51 "2002-12-29T19:00:24Z")
Has anyone mentioned **Confederacy of Dunces** by J.K. Toole? (hope i got the name right). Excellent, funny. My entire lab group read it, and was in hysterics discussing it. Aaagh! My valve!! ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/52 "2002-12-29T19:14:09Z")
Anything by **Pat Conroy**. My favorites are The Great Santini and Prince of Tides. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/53 "2002-12-29T19:27:28Z")
**elfkin477** , I’ll definitely start a new thread next week…I’m going to take a little time and sift through all of the great suggestions in this thread and compile a list for myself, then hopefully hit the library to get my first round of stuff. If y’all want to share what’s on your list of stuff to read, you can…and we can check in with each other occasionally to see how we’re doing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/54 "2002-12-29T23:28:28Z")
**Gazelle** – I’ll second _Prince of Tides._ **Jadis** – I’ll admit to having a somewhat snarky sense of humor, and am trying to think whether the _Straight Man_ recommendation falls into that category. There is a preface (prologue, intro., I forget what he calls it) to it – if you like that, you’ll like the book. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/55 "2002-12-29T23:56:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jadis \* > \*\*\* **Watership Down** , Richard Adams > \*\* Oooh! May I suggest [The Book of the Dun Cow](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0062509373/qid=1041205649/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-8916298-4328655?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Walter Wangerin, Jr. It’s been a while since I read it, but I _really_ enjoyed it. I’ll second the Gaiman recommendations - I read _Stardust_, _Neverwhere_ and _American Gods_ - this past summer and thought they were all superb. For non-fiction, you might try some of Richard Feynman’s books. He has a couple of auto-biographies, as well as science-oriented books. [Amazon.com list](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Feynman%2C%20Richard%20P./103-8916298-4328655). I just re-read _What Do You Care What Other People Think?_, in which he recounts his experience on the presidential commission to determine the cause of the Challenger space shuttle explosion. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/56 "2002-12-30T02:05:16Z")
Jadis- in response to your hijack- where? Feel free to contact me off the message boards so as not to compromise the integrity of the boards. I’m @yahoo. ---
**Author:** ![aaaaaarrgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@aaaaaarrgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaaaaarrgg)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/57 "2002-12-30T03:08:50Z")
on vonnegut: cat’s cradle = amazing, also not too long so it won’t take too long timequake = longer, but not a difficult read, very conversational…i reccommend it i also reccommend the hitchiker’s trilogy (actually 5 books i believe) by douglas adams: the hitchiker’s guide to the galaxy, the restaurant at the end of the universe, life, the universe, and everything so long and thanks for all the fish don’t panic they’re fun and mostly short-ish and a joy to read if you’re a steinbeck fan you must read grapes of wrath if you haven’t also i strongly reccommend the tolkien books listed previously and forget their childish reputation and the terrible film adaptations, the harry potter books are actually very very good. utopia is not that long a book and really very interesting i dont know…i’d like to join in the challenge but i dont know if i have time for it (we’ll see!) ---
**Author:** ![keira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@keira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keira)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/58 "2002-12-30T03:09:26Z")
Read James Joyce’s **Ulysses**. You’ll get more bragging rights with that one book than with 50 others. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![aaaaaarrgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@aaaaaarrgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaaaaarrgg)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/59 "2002-12-30T03:13:04Z")
oh and nick hornby has some great books- high fidelity, about a boy were both made into movies…right now i’m reading ‘how to be good’ and it’s pretty good ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155/60 "2002-12-30T03:32:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by aaaaaarrgg \* > \*\*oh and nick hornby has some great books- high fidelity, about a boy were both made into movies…right now i’m reading ‘how to be good’ and it’s pretty good \*\* And his book about being a football (soccer) fan, Fever Pitch, will be interesting even to people who know nothing about football. Sports Illustrated recently put it in their top 10 books on sports. For a book about an English football fan to get this rating in an American magazine speaks volumes about the book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-goal-for-the-new-year-is-to-read-50-books-help-me-out/145155.md?page=4)