from the dust shelf

Back when my friend's live journal was still "live" (because it's not anymore, haha), she posted an entry of a list of books that have been going around blogs and live journals (so they say; I've only seen it so far on hers.  Then again, I don't normally bloghop).  You copy/paste the list on your own blog then mark with an asterisk the books you've read, bold the books you haven't finished yet, italicize the books you bought and never read and just keep on your shelf to collect dust, then add three more books that aren't on the list.  It's a super long list, I tell you. 

Anyway, I started to comply and realized I had a lot of books I bought, haven't finished and are just on the shelf, collecting dust.  So instead of completing that list for my blog, I started a different list, entirely for myself, of all the books in my possession that I have yet to complete.  I also made a list of books I should read again because I don't remember what's in them anymore.  Then I made a separate list of books I would like to read again, because I'm that kind of bookworm, an avid reader with favoritism haha.

I'm posting the lists here, mainly to shame myself into reading them.  I was also thinking you guys can help: if there's any book you highly recommend I read (or chuck out altogether), let me know so I can arrange the order in which I read them. 

And, by the way, did I lend any of you my copy of Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being?  I can't seem to find it and, wouldn't you know it, I haven't finished reading that yet.  Yes, I may have attention deficit disorder.  Especially when you consider I'm still trying to finish The Return of the King.  But it will happen, mark my words.

Books I have to read before I buy another book, so help me God:
(in the order I'm reading them right now):
1. The Return of the King by JRR Tolkien
2. Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami

(in the order I found them on my shelf)
3. The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien by Oscar Hijuelos
4. The Woman Who Lived in a Prologue by Nina Schneider
5. In Every Sense Like Love by Simona Vinci
6. Music, In A Foreign Language by Andrew Crumey
7. Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
8. Trouble by Fay Weldon
9. When She Was Good by Philip Roth
10. Gulliver's Travels by Johnathan Swift (but this is my sister's not mine)
11. Dragon Song by Anne McCaffrey
12. The Copper Beech by Maeve Binchy
13. Setting Free The Bears by John Irving
14. Lilac and Flag by John Berger
15. The Winged Seed by Li-Young Lee
16. Deception by Philip Roth (some people think I've finished this already, because I was bringing this around for such a long time.  ADD rearing its ugly head)
17. Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
18. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (I borrowed this from my friend I think 7 years ago and I should be ashamed of myself)
19. Ain't Gonna Take Nothing For My Journey Now by Maya Angelou
20. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
21. the other stories in Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth
22. Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
23. The Plains of Passage by Jean Auel
24. Animal Farm by George Orwell (also my sister's; she only reads fiction for school)
25. A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving (which they made into the movie Simon Birch)
26. The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy (which Appleby lent me around 4 years ago, so super sorry)
27. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
28. The Group by Mary McCarthy
29. Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
30. Hong Kong Rose by Xu Xi
31. Taltos by Anne Rice
32. Sabbath's Theatre by Philip Roth
33. The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
34. Bulletproof Diva by Lisa Jones
35. Our Gang by Philip Roth

Books I should and want to read again (but only after I read all 35 aforementioned books):
1. Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
2. Slaves of New York by Tama Janowitz
3. So Far From God by Ana Castillo
4. The Cider House Rules by John Irving
5. I'll Take Manhattan by Judith Krantz
6. The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
7. Vision Quest by Terry Davis
8. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
9. The Valley of the Horses by Jean Auel
10. The Mammoth Hunters by Jean Auel
11. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
12. Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
13. Dancing On My Grave by Gelsey Kirkland
14. Interview With A Vampire by Anne Rice
15. The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
16. The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
17. Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

Oooh, wish me luck.