2 February 2015

20 before 20


I turn 18 on March 2.  and I've realized that there is a bunch of books I want to read before I turn 20 and should have read in these last couple of years but never got around to. Those books are mainly classics that 'everbody' should read. That is why I'm going to make a list of 20 books I really really want to read before my 20th birthday. If you have any additions or books you think I should read just let me know in the comments! 

This is actually also my 200th post! I like that it's a list I will use 2 years from now instead of some other post! 

1-5. Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
I've read Pride and Prejudice multiple times, I've started reading Emma once and I tried listening to the audiobook of Sense and Sensibility. I would say it's about time I finish the remainder of her novels - especially since I have the most gorgeous boxset of her books. 

6. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
I absolutely love the newest movie adaptation (with Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried) and I've watched it multiple times. I also won a gift card to a bookwebsite a couple of months back where I ended up buying the Penguin clothbound edition of Les Mis so I can't not read it now. 

7-8. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
I've had these two books on my shelf for quite a while and they're just collecting dust. I've also heard great things about them so I want to see - or rather read it - for myself. I also find it intriguing that they're sisters. 

9. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
I've watched one of the series (one of the really long ones) a couple of times and I've watched a couple of different movie adaptations. I've also stumbled across a pretty edition of Oliver Twist that is now just collecting dust on my shelf so it may be time to read it

10. The Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
I never read Narnia as a child, I watched the movie adaptation for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe multiple times but I've never actually read the books. My father gifted me a gorgeous edition of the entire series so now I just have to sit down, enjoy the artwork and read the books - I'm really looking forward to it.

11. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
This is another one where I've watched the movie adaptations a couple of times and found it quite intriguing. It's also quite sad with the ending and all but I figure you have to have some sad endings once in a while. Anna Karenina is also quite a beast so it may take me a month or two to read - I hope I'll enjoy it!

12. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
I bought a beautiful edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray when I was in Dublin back in September so now all there's left is to pick it up and read it! My teacher has also been raving about this one which makes me want to read it even more

13. The Hobbit by J.R. Tolkien
Even though I did not enjoy the Lord of the Rings trilogy I really hope I'll enjoy this one. I have a Danish edition so I might end up buying an English one if I really enjoy it. 

14. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
This is quite embarrassing but I have the entire series (the first 5 books at least) sitting on my shelf and they have been there, unread, for a whole year. I've not even open the first one yet. I don't know if I want to read the entire series before I turn 20 but I will at least have read the first one. 

15. A Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
A couple of years ago I borrowed A Catcher in the Rye from the library and I think I read the first chapter or so and I just never continued it - I have no idea why. I will, hopefully, enjoy it once I pick it up again since I have no recollection whether I enjoyed it back then or not.

16-17. Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell
I've wanted to read 1984 for a couple of years now and since we watched Animal Farm a couple of months back and we've just had about the Russian Revolution in history class I'm more motivated to read Animal Farm as well - which is why both of them is on this list

18-19. The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Grimms Complete Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm
Last year I received two of the Barnes and Noble leather-bound editions - Sherlock Holmes and Grimms - but I've not gotten around to reading them yet. Both are bricks but I can't wait to dive into them! 

20. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
We actually have to read this for school, so I'm cheating a bit with this one BUT I've wanted to read it for a while and I'm totally stocked that we have to read it in school!

That was my 20 before 20, do you have similar lists?

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