Reading A to Z: F is for Frankenstein

The Mary Shelley classic book Frankenstein is another one that I had to read back in the 8th grade. I remember enjoying it somewhat at the time. But I can't tell you too much about it anymore. I do remember that it was the mad scientist who was actually named Frankenstein. People often confuse him with his monster, as he was a monster in his own right. And the book was written as a direct result of a challenge between Mary Shelley, her husband Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and John Polidori to see who could come up with the scariest story.

Frankenstein's monster is probably one of the most recognizable characters in movies and TV shows. People usually think of Boris Karloff's famous portrayal in the film adaptation from 1931. It is not quite how Shelley described the monster in her book. But it is now the standard from which people design their Frankenstein-inspired characters.



Comedic interpretations of the character also came into play. Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein and Young Frankenstein by Mel Brooks are two classics in their own right.


Having watched many of the classic films lately, I have been inspired to try to read Frankenstein again. I want to remember the real story and see how the film portrayals stand up to it. There is also a challenge getting underway in which a group of us will be reading one book a month from the Top 100 list. May 1st begins the month of Frankenstein. Visit Reading the Top 100 Novels Together blog to get started!

Reading A to Z: E is for Edgar Allen Poe

As a child, I was quickly drawn into the macabre worlds of V. C. Andrews and Stephen King. I had a thirst for the stories of horror. I remember seeing a book in my Scholastic book orders about Tales of Terror by Edgar Allen Poe, so I begged my mother to let me have it. Not being one to deny her daughter the love of reading, she allowed me to purchase it. I remember being a little confused by the language, as it wasn't the more modern and colloquial way of speaking present in the other novels. Yet, the strange stories were absolutely intriguing to me.

In high school English class, I remember reading "The Cask of Amontillado" and being surprised that it was a Poe story. From that point on, I started to collect a few more books. As an adult, I could pretend to be so impressive by having Poe's books on my shelf. I would pull them out here and there to page through the poetry.

And then I met The Man. He impressed me at the party with his knowledge of the finer literature. The first time we hung out, he told me all about going to visit a Poe museum and how he was a total freak for him. He would play readings of Poe on the iPod while we were driving long distances. He seeks out antique Poe books while we are perusing the used bookstores.

Because of him, I have found myself delving deeper into the world of Edgar Allen Poe. My hard and fast rule is I must read the story before seeing the movie. (I stayed up really late one night reading "The Pit and the Pendulum" prior to watching the Vincent Price classic. It turns out the two were quite different!) And now that I have been paying more attention, I can see the parallels in so many other stories and movies.

I am glad that I am rediscovering the original master of horror on a new level. It's just good stuff.

There is a new movie coming out in May that stars John Cusack as Poe. I have seen the trailers and it looks like it should be decent. The Man, of course, wants to go see it. We shall see how it goes....

Read Edgar Allen Poe's complete works for free on the Kindle by clicking on a book cover below.



Or, for those of you who prefer to hold a physical copy, start your own search by clicking the box below.

Top 100 Books by Leisa L. Watkins

When people talk about the greatest books of all time, they often cite one of the Big Lists by companies such as Random House or Time Magazine. These lists often somewhat overlap, but can change from year to year or vary slightly from list to list. Leisa L. Watkins on Wealth, Wisdom and Success took it upon herself to use mathematical means to create her own Top 100 list of novels, based on the frequency with which each book appeared on six major lists. She provides permission to reprint her list, which I am going to do for you below. Following each title is the number of lists it occurred on, based on her research. Her original post is from November 2007.

Books that I have at least attempted or read parts of will be italicized. Those I have read in full will be in bold. 


How many have you read?

1. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald (6)
2. ULYSSES by James Joyce (6)
3. 1984 by George Orwell (6)
4. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger (6)
5. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac (6)
6. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck (5)
7. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller (5)
8. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov (5)
9. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley (5)
10. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh (5)
11. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner (4)
12. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee (4)
13. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien (4)
14. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce (4)
15. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell (4)
16. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf (4)
17. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison (4)
18. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess (4)
19. GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell (4)
20. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner (4)
21. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway (4)
22. A PASSAGE TO INDIA by E.M. Forster (4)
23. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding (4)
24. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London (4)
25. DAVID COPPERFIELD by Charles Dickens (3)
26. EMMA by Jane Austen (3)
27. TESS Of The D’URBERVILLES, Thomas Hardy (3)
28. THE SCARLET LETTER by Nathaniel Hawthorne (3)
29. WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte (3)
30. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers (3)
31. SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut (3)
32. JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte (3)
33. BELOVED by Toni Morrison (3)
34. ANNA KAREINA by Leo Tolstoy (3)
35. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway (3)
36. NATIVE SON by Richard Wright (3)
37. ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (3)
38. NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad (3)
39. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad (3)
40. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry (3)
41. THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford (3)
42. HERZOG by Saul Bellow (3)
43. THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahame (3)
44. U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos (3)
45. FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce (3)
46. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser (3)
47. WOMEN IN LOVE by D.H. Lawrence (3)
48. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton (3
49. THE WOMAN IN WHITE by Wilkie Collins (3)
50. THINGS FALL APART by Chinua Achebe (3)
51. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller (3)
52. MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather (3)
53. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner (3)
54. THE MAGUS by John Fowles (3)
55. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving (2)
56. DON QUIXOTE by Miguel de Cervantes (2)
57. TOM JONES by Henry Fielding (2)
58. WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy (2)
59. MOBY-DICK by Herman Melville (2)
60. MADAME BOVARY by Gustave Flaubert (2)
61. WINNIE THE POOH by A(lan) A(lexander) Milne (2)
62. GREAT EXPECTATIONS by Charles Dickens (2)
63. THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV by Feodor Dostoevsky (2)
64. TRISTAM SHANDY by Laurence Sterne (2)
65. LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa M. Alcott (2)
66. VANITY FAIR by William Makepeace Thackeray (2)
67. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen (2)
68. IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME by Marcel Proust (2)
69. THE AMBASSADORS by Henry James (2)
70. THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand (2)
71. GRAVITY’S RAINBOW by Thomas Pynchon (2)
72. THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin (1851-1904) (2)
73. DUNE by Frank Herbert (2)
74. A TOWN LIKE ALICE by Nevil Shute (2)
75. ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll (2)
76. CLARISSA by Samuel Richardson (2)
77. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams (2)
78. A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving (2)
79. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas (2)
80. THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY by Henry James (2)
81. OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck (2)
82. ALL THE KING’S MEN by Robert Penn Warren (2)
83. GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by James Baldwin (2)
84. CHARLOTE’S WEB by E. B. White (2)
85. ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe (2)
86. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT by Feodor Dostoevsky (2)
87. THE STAND by Stephen King (2)
88. REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier (2)
89. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves (2)
90. HOWARDS END by E.M. Forster (2)
91. TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald (2)
92. THE RAINBOW by D.H. Lawrence (2)
93. BLEAK HOUSE by Charles Dickens (2)
94. ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand (2)
95. ABSALOM, ABSALOM! by William Faulkner (2)
96. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE by Henry James (2)
97. AUSTERLITZ by W. G. Sebald (2)
98. THE TRIAL by Franz Kafka (2)
99. WISE BLOOD by Flannery O’Connor (2)
100. FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley(2)

Thanks to my high school education, I have read more than I probably would have picked up on my own. A couple of these I have read again and again. Others I have started and don't know that I will ever finish.

Again, this is just one of a multitude of lists. I do hope to bold face more of them as time goes by.

Read the original post here.

~ Compiled by Leisa L. Watkins

2 Free Kindle Books for Easter

Tomorrow is the Easter holiday. To help you prepare, or to provide a bit of escape and entertainment, here are a couple of Easter freebies I found today for the Kindle. Please note that they are free as of the time of this posting, but prices can change at any time. Always verify the "Kindle Buy" price, and not the Prime price prior to your purchase.

If you have no Kindle, no worries! I don't either. I use the free Kindle reading apps for my Droid and laptop.

Puzzlebook: 20 Easter Puzzle Quizzes

The Grabarchuk Family is known for their interactive puzzle books for the Kindle. The colorful quizzes start out easy with one * and work their way up to the hard ***** puzzles. The games are appropriate for children through adults. And based on my experience with a previous puzzle book of theirs, I can verify that the interactive features do work on the Kindle apps.

Get your Kindle copy here.

The First Easter

The first Easter had nothing to do with egg hunts and bunnies. Reengage with the true meaning of Easter by enjoying a retelling of the biblical story, accompanied by beautiful plates of drawings.

Get your Kindle copy here.

Reading A to Z: D is for Daphne du Maurier

In the 8th grade, I was one of the lucky ones who got to choose my reading book from a special list. One of the books that I read and that became one of my all-time favorites was Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. The other one was Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.



I fell madly in love with that book. I have read it numerous times, since. I have watched the Alfred Hitchcock movie dozens of times. It became a family favorite. We had almost a family phone tree, so that when it was on, my father, my uncle, my grandmother and I were all notified.

I am also a huge Hitchcock fan. So, when I found out that his movie The Birds was actually based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier, I started to seek out more of her books. I found Jamaica Inn at an antique store. That one was also turned into an Alfred Hitchcock movie. In fact, it was Maureen O'Hara's first starring role. (I wrote an article about the Hitchcock-du Maurier connection. You can read it here.)



As the years have gone on, I have always kept an eye out for more Daphne du Maurier books. She had a great sense of suspense and macabre. I am sure I am not the first who thinks of her as an earlier female version of Stephen King. I see elements of her in his writing, now that I have read more of her works. In fact, I believe I once read that he considered her one of his inspirations or influences or something like that. Her short story collection Don't Look Now is the one that first made me realize this about her.



But I refuse to purchase a brand new copy of her books. She is a classic author from many decades ago. There is something magical about holding an older copy. My most cherished ones are two that belonged to my great-grandmother. One of them later went to my great uncle. Another one went to my grandmother and then my father. I received both of them after my father passed away. In fact, I was starting Rule Britannia the night that my father passed away. I haven't touched it since, but I would like to read it very soon.



Which Daphne du Maurier books have you read or do you recommend? Does she remind you of any other writers? As always, you can click on any of the book covers for more information.

Reading A to Z: C is for Cabot

I first discovered Meg Cabot because of The Princess Diaries series of books. Yes, this is the same series upon which the Anne Hathaway movies are based. While I did enjoy the movies, I think I liked the book series better. The two existed separately from each other, much like in a parallel universe. Yes, these are technically young adult books, but who cares? I could zip through one in about an hour.



My BFF and I were then in a serious chick lit phase. It started with the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella (didn't care for the movie) and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (another technical young adult series with a decent movie adaptation). BFF then came across The Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot. It was a similar concept to the Shopaholic series in that the main character, Lizzie, has an uncomfortable problem that often gets her into trouble. In this case, she talks too much. She manages to sweep a wealthy, beautiful man off of his feet, despite her foibles, and fulfills all of our fantasies. Believable? Not so much. Enjoyable to read? Yeah, I enjoyed them. Again, it was the kind of chick lit that I could read in about a day and was a welcome distraction from life.



Meg Cabot has written many other books, as well. I have not yet gotten into the Heather Wells mystery series, which features a former pop star who has put on some extra weight since leaving the limelight who accidentally gets thrust into solving a murder. Size 12 Is Not Fat looks like a good read. I saw it used at the local Barnes and Noble, along with several others. I am feeling a large purchase coming on.



So, check out this author if you are interested in some lightweight and entertaining chick lit. I also recommend her various young adult series. Click on any of the book covers above for more information.

Reading A to Z: B is for Bryson

Bill Bryson is a funny guy. I am ashamed to admit that I have only read one of his book, A Walk in the Woods. In fact, I reviewed it at the end of 2011. Read that review here. But I loved his humor and honesty about his failed attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail. I recently read a book about the Barefoot Sisters, two women who hiked most of the trail in their bare feet. They alluded to his book in their own adventures, actually meeting some of the same people on their journey. I was happy to know what they were talking about.


He has numerous other books available. One that I often see in bookstores is A Short History of Nearly Everything. It's a humorous look at the evolution of science and civilization.



The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is another book often seen being featured at local bookstores. This memoir takes a humorous look at happier times, growing up in the 1950s. You also get to meet an earlier version of Stephen Katz, his friend who accompanies him, sort of, on the Appalachian Trail. 



A third one of Bill Bryson's books that is on my must-read list is Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States. I love languages. I love the evolution of words. I love to learn where idioms and phrase came from and how words have been derived. While this book has as humorous approach, it will still be educational. 



Bill Bryson has several other memoirs that he has written, about himself and life both Stateside and abroad. My goal is to eventually locate and read them all. I am sure they will be fast and entertaining reads.
Feel free to click on any book cover above for more information and to find more of Bill Bryson's works. If you have read any of his books, please let me know what you think of them and recommend!

Reading A to Z: A is for Austen

Jane Austen may not be the most original A name for books, but she has penned some of my favorite stories. I had to read Pride and Prejudice in high school and also fell in love with the A&E series starring Colin Firth. I aspired to be an independent woman like Elizabeth. And who wouldn't want to end up with a man like Colin Firth? I mean Mr. Darcy? Mrs. Bennett makes anyone's crazy mom seem almost normal. And I love the relationship between Elizabeth and her father. It reminds me of the relationship I had with my own father.



I next read Sense and Sensibility. I had actually seen the movie first, and again fell madly in love with it. That was my introduction to Kate Winslet, also. I read the book while lying in the grass one summer and was impressed at how closely the movie actually followed the book. The unrequited love that Elinor and Marianne have for their men is heartwrenching and familiar. 



Mansfield Park is all about the naughtiness that Fanny Price and her cousin Edmund get themselves into as they grow into adulthood. Fanny finds herself experiencing new feelings when the glamorous Crawfords come to town. I love the relationship that the cousins share, especially as they navigate these unfamiliar waters.




I am ashamed to say that these are the only three that I have read. I have started the others, but then always get distracted from finishing them. I often try to see the movies and immerse myself in the stories that way. But when I read, I love the language and how it rolls around in your mouth like a bunch of marbles. They are some of the most romantic stories I have ever read, and don't have to include a lot of smut and sex. Timeless classics that will stand the test of time.