To the Lighthouse...

So far, finding the novels to read next has been half the fun. As I've mentioned, I just moved to a new city. While on an unrelated errand, I stumbled upon the local bookstore. Wandering the shelves, I came upon a title on my list, Virginia Woolf's classic novel, "Into the Lighthouse."

I opened the brown paper bag and proudly readied it on my nightstand, willing it to be read. But, two weeks later, I'm still only on page 50.  The prose is gorgeous... It immediately feels different than the books I've read in recent years. However, somehow, I'm struggling to get through it.

I finally contemplated why that is. It somehow reminds me more of poetry. It's indulgent! With how busy my mind has been on work and moving and everything else in life, it's been too much of a challenge for me to quiet my mind enough to appreciate all the context.

I'm not sure how I'll solve for this, but now that I understand the issue...

What I learned from 1984...

I loved 1984. It was easy to understand what all the hype around George Orwell's almost 70 year old novel was about. The story was dark and cautionary; but filled with just enough hope for a better world. It was also interesting to see how it had influenced modern dystopian literature (which I'm such a fan of). There are numerous articles that draw parallels between 1984 and the today's supped up reality, so I won't go into it here. However, I really enjoyed the article written by the The New York Times, "Why '1984' Is a 2017 Must Read" and the parallel's made to the recent presidential inauguration. Hmmm...food for thought...


So, the book was great... But, it took me a while to figure out what lesson I'd gleaned from it. At first, I was a little disappointed that it had served only as entertainment. But then...some days later...I was sitting on the subway when I saw the billboard for an art festival in my up and coming neighborhood. And, it hit me then. I had wanted to attend the art festival, but had decided to work on decorating my new house that weekend instead. I knew it then. The lesson was to get off the train...Stop focusing on making the machine move forward and, instead, stop and enjoy the beauty and art around me. Be human.

So, I decided to find time to explore and wonder at the art instead of checking things off my to do list. And, my heart thanked me for it. Setting up my Alexa could wait for another weekend.

Thirty five started out like any other day...Just kidding.

It was actually an extraordinary birthday. An extraordinarily anonymous birthday. I woke up in a beautiful beach side hotel room in the Hamptons. The weather was perfect for the end of a long sunny summer - warm and salty, but a bit overcast and menacing; with waves too rough for swimming. I had lemon ricotta pancakes and bacon on the balcony with my husband, overlooking the stormy seas and then spent a few hours of solitude with a cocktail and a book on the beach while hubby prepared for the wedding with the groom.

The highlight of the day was watching two dear friends exchange marriage vows, followed by celebratory revelry with many old and new friends. While I received lovely calls and messages from my family throughout the day, there was just a bigger event at hand than my birthday. And, I actually love'd that. My favorite birthdays have been spent anonymously. There is a something magical about having a unique and special day, without the pressure of being the center of attention. Remind me to tell you about the anonymous birthday I spent in Brazil sometime...

About 1984. I felt that old familiar jolt of excitement I only get upon opening the door to a new and unexplored world - "It was a bright day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

Happy Birthday to me! Cheers!

So what are these 35, life and perspective changing novels I'll be reading this year you ask? Good question... The good news is that there are lots of publications that have attempted to sort through the 129,864,880 (thanks Google) books that have ever been published...And, that's also the bad news...Where to start???

I scoured the web and reviewed dozens of lists. I asked my friends and family what their favorite novels were. In the end, the one that felt most authentic was Marie Claire's Books To Read Before You Die. I don't care for the morbidity of the title, but I really liked that it had such a variety of novels - classics like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Jane Eyre" next to modern literature like "Beautiful Ruins" and "The Shining." It also felt like a little bit of fate that it happened to have exactly 35 books on the list.

I did want to customize the list a bit, so I incorporated feedback from others as well as from Time Magazines All-TIME 100 Novels, New York Times 100 Greatest Novels and Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime.

Below, in no particular order, is my starting list of the 35 stories I'll let lead me through my 35th year...

1. 1984 - George Orwell
2. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
3. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R Tolkien
4. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
5. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
6. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
7. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
8. How to be a Woman - Caitlin Moran
9. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
10. Ulysses - James Joyce
11. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
12. Darkness at Noon - Arthur Koestler
13. Sons & Lovers - D.H. Lawrence
14. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
15. To the Lighthouse or Mrs. Dolloway (TBD) - Virginia Woolf
16. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
17. Beloved - Toni Morrison
18. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
19. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
20. Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
21. The Shining - Stephen King
22. A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking
23. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
24. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
25. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
26. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
27. On the Road - Jack Kerouac
28. The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
29. One Day - David Nicholls
30. Alias Grace or The Blind Assassin (TBD) - Margaret Atwood
31. Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
32. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
33. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
34. Are You There God? It's me Margaret - Judy Bloom
35. In Cold Blood or Breakfast at Tiffany's (TBD) - Truman Copote

I'm off now, but tomorrow is the big day! My 35th Birthday!

Where to start? Well, as often happens, the answer cosmically fell into my lap. Even before I had a chance to finalize my book list, I just happened to be invited to an event - literally over one of my favorite bookstores in the world... Strand Books. When I first moved to New York, over 8 years ago, I lived just blocks away and I popped in frequently. Thanks for the helping hand, fate!

So, of course, I popped in for a little exploring. I took the opportunity to marvel at the colorful trinkets, fun book themed totes and "miles of books." Book stores can be so magical. They are best spent without a timeline or agenda.

I found my way to the "Banned Books" table. I was excited to find a strong representation from my list displayed on the table. How intriguing...

And, there it was - 1984.

No matter which list I reviewed, 1984 is constantly listed and I knew it would make my list. Done! Now, we're off to the beach for the wedding of one of our dear friends. I'll be bringing my book to the beach!

Blink. I'm 35. Well, I will be this Sunday anyway... I have a pretty good life by all accounts... Having just bought my first condo, New York City is my playground. I'm married to a wonderful man. I have a successful career. I have a wonderful family and group of friends. I have my health. No kiddos yet, but maybe soon...

Sometimes though, in recent times, I find myself struggling to find my identity and just enjoy life. My soul is bogged down; exhausted and bored. I feel like I'm living a fabulous life, that I'm missing.

As my 35th Birthday gift to myself, I want to do something special to awaken my senses and bring back the sparkle. A simple plan has formulated as I've been reflecting about what brings me joy. In my 35th year, I will tap into my great childhood passion of reading and writing by setting out to read 35 books this year...and blog about it.

I don't know exactly which books will be on my reading list quite yet, but I know they will be among the best even written - a mix of classic and modern. The types of books that make you laugh, cry and teach you something of the world... Stay tuned!