Baroque “low-pulp” pop-culture

May 4, 2007 at 4:19 pm · Filed under Pop Culture

Got this off Forsoothsayer’s blog, who got it off CairoGal.

Instructions: Look at the list of books below.
*Bold the ones you’ve read
*Italicize the ones you want to read
*Leave the ones that you aren’t interested in alone.

1.The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2.Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3.To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4.Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5.The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6.The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7.The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10.A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11.Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12.Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13.Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16.Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21.The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22.The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23.Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
5. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26.The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) (does some of it count?)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32.The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33.Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (George Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40.The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47.The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48.Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49.The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50.She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51.The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54.Great Expectations (Dickens)
55.The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62.The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With A Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Helen Fielding) (couldn’t get myself to finish it!)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73.Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75.The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78.The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100.Ulysses (James Joyce)

50/100. I guess that makes me extremely predictable. Looking at the list, I read a lot of these books for school, and I read 90% of what I did read before I finished highschool.
My favorite reading genres are most definitely fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction.
I haven’t read a good book in a very, very long time. I’m currently reading “The Battle for God“, which my brother actually bought from last years bookfair.






  • Mohamed Fawzy

    Wow! you are so much literate Roba!
    for myself, I consider most of readings I did are related to my studies and work,…geeky. i.e. Economics, Finance, Taxes….. No literature or art is there.
    Usually I read the English subtitles comes with DVDs. I did this in the whole Friends series and it provided me with so much glossary. Otherwise, I read internet pages in English more often, and in my work, everything is based on English. I used to visit CNN website to read some topics :)

    But in the last two years, I have downloaded so many e-books though. Here’s a list of them, may be you would be interested in any, so I can send it to you :)

    *Bold the ones you’ve read
    *Italicize the ones you want to read
    *Leave the ones that you aren’t interested in alone.

    1 . 10 Characteristics of Successful Salespeople
    2 . 10 keys to successful trading
    3 . 10 Minute Guide to Conducting a Job Interview
    4 . 101 Romantic Ideas
    5 . 30 Minutes Miracle
    6 . 300 Excel Tips
    7 . 38 Ways To Win An Argument
    8 . A Basic Guide for Valuing a Company
    9 . A Comparison of Dividend Cash Flow and Earnings Approaches to Equity Valuation
    10 . Accounting for Managers
    11 . Addison Wesley Exploiting Software How to Break Code
    12 . Advanced English Grammer Practice
    13 . Advanced Visual Basic 6 Techniques – Wiley
    14 . Advertising for Results
    15 . American Accent Training
    16 . American Idioms Dictionary
    17 . An Introduction to Market Risk Measurement
    18 . Applying Expert Techniques to Maximize your Profits – Bill Williams
    19 . Apress Beginning Ubuntu Linux From Novice to Professional Mar 2006
    20 . Auto Repair for Dummies
    21 . Bank Reconciliation Microsoft Dynamics Gp 9 0
    22 . Beginers Guide To Bodybuilding Muscle And Fitness
    23 . Beginning Excel What If Data Analysis Tools
    24 . Bennett, Deborah J – Logic Made Easy (2004)
    25 . Bigger Muscles in 42 Days
    26 . Body Language
    27 . Breaking Into Computer Networks From The Internet
    28 . Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle
    29 . Certified Information Systems Auditor Study Guide
    30 . CISA Review Manual 2006
    31 . CISCO
    32 . Complete Idiots Guide To Protecting Yourself Online
    33 . The Security Risk Assessment Handbook A Complete Guide for Performing Security Risk Assessments
    34 . Dealing With Difficult People
    35 . Dictionary of financial and business terms
    36 . Dracula
    37 . Encyclopedia of Trading Strategies
    38 . English Grammar In Use (Intermediate) incl Answers
    39 . English Grammar Workbook for Dummies
    40 . Excel 2002 Formulas
    41 . Excel 2003 Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Bible
    42 . Excel Pivot Tables and Charts
    43 . Excel Programming Weekend Crash Course
    44 . Excel Timesaving Techniques for Dummies
    45 . Excel Workbook For Dummies
    46 . EXCEL 2002 FORMULAS
    47 . Field Service – Returns Management in Microsoft Dynamics GP 9 0
    48 . Financial Analysis Using Excel
    49 . Firewalls for Dummies 2nd Edition
    50 . First Look 2007 Microsoft Office System
    51 . For Dummies Algebra II for Dummies
    52 . Foundation Microsoft Dynamics GP 9 0
    53 . Geeks On Call Windows XP – 5 Minute Fixes
    54 . Google Hacks, 1st Edition
    55 . Hacker Handbook
    56 . Hacking For Dummies
    57 . Hacking the Windows Registry
    58 . Handbook of Computational Statistics
    59 . Home Networking Bible
    60 . How The Stock Market Works
    61 . How to Cheat at Windows System Administration Using Command Line Scripts
    62 . How To Do Everything With Microsoft Office Excel 2003
    63 . How To Get A Job
    64 . How To Win Friends & Influence People – Dale Carnegie
    65 . HowtoMotivate EveryEmployee muya
    66 . Illustrated Windows XP 101 Hot Tips (2005)
    67 . Installation and Configuration Microsoft Dynamics GP 9 0
    68 . Introducing Visual Basic 2005 for Developers – MS Press
    69 . Invest in Egypt
    70 . Investment Philosophy
    71 . Investment Risk Management
    72 . John Wiley & Sons – Reversing Secrets of Reverse Engineering
    73 . Learn how to draw
    74 . Linux for Dummies 6th Edition
    75 . Linux Programming Complete Idiots Guide
    76 . Linux Timesaving Techniques for Dummies 2004
    77 . Making Money For Dummies
    78 . Manager’s Guide to Understanding Financial Statements
    79 . Mastering Excel 2003 Programming with VBA
    80 . MCSE
    81 . Measuring Information Systems Delivery Quality
    82 . Memory – Accelerated Learning In A Digital Inform
    83 . Memory increase
    84 . Microsoft Dynamics GP 9 0
    85 . Microsoft Dynamics GP 9 0 Contract Administration
    86 . Microsoft Dynamics GP 9 0 Fixed Assets
    87 . Microsoft Dynamics GP 9 0 Returns Management
    88 . Microsoft Dynamics GP 9 0 Sales Order Processing
    89 . Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Bible
    90 . MindManager for Dummies
    91 . Money for Life
    92 . Nail the Job Interview 101 Dynamite Answers to Interview Questions
    93 . Negotiating Skills for Managers Management MBA
    94 . Networking For Dummies
    95 . No Starch Press Code Craft The Practice of Writing Excellent Code Dec 2006
    96 . No Starch Press Ubuntu Linux for Non Geeks Aug 2006
    97 . Paint Shop Pro 9 for Dummies
    98 . PCWORLD JAN2007
    99 . Peachpit Press Windows Vista Visual QuickStart Guide
    100 . Predicting Price Movement
    101 . Programing – Schaum’s Outline – Visual Basic
    102 . Project Management for Modern Information Systems
    103 . QuickBooks 2006 for Dummies
    104 . Receivables Managment Microsoft Dynamics GP 9
    106 . Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 Implementation Toolkit Practice Aids for Managers and Auditors
    107 . Scene Of The Cybercrime Computer Forensics Handbook
    108 . Sex For Dummies
    109 . Shyness
    110 . Sites Under Attack
    111 . Sniper Trading Workbook
    112 . Speak English Like an American – CD Included
    113 . Speak without fear
    114 . SpeakEnglishLAA
    115 . Speed Memory
    116 . Springer, Credit Risk – Modeling, Valuation & Hedging
    117 . Statistics Using Excel
    118 . stock investing for dummies
    119 . superpowermemory
    120 . SUSE Linux 10 Bible – Feb 2006
    121 . SUSE Linux 9 3 For Dummies May 2005
    122 . tapiero c – risk and financial management
    123 . TCP-IP Tutorial
    124 . The 7 Greatest Conspiracies Of All Time Book
    125 . The Art Of Deception Includes Chapter 1 Banned Ed
    126 . The Art Of Deception
    127 . The Art of Intrusion The Real Stories
    128 . The Art of Seduction
    129 . The A-Z of Correct English
    130 . The Complete Guide To Attracting Women
    131 . The Complete Idiot s Guide to Learning French on Your Own
    132 . The Complete Idiot s Guide To Learning German on Your Own
    133 . The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Fitness
    134 . The Essentials of Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Managers
    135 . The Hacking Magazine
    136 . The Insiders Encyclopedia On How To Build Muscle And Might
    137 . The Memory Program – How To Prevent Memory Loss And Enhance Memory Power
    138 . The Photo Reading
    139 . The Secret of Good Posture
    140 . The Small Business Bible – Everything You Need to Know to Succeed in Your Small Business
    141 . The Stock Market For Dummies
    142 . The Structure Of Intelligence
    143 . The Time Machine
    144 . Trading As A Business
    145 . Trading for a Living
    146 . Treasure Island
    147 . Understanding Stocks Reduced
    148 . Use Your Head
    149 . Use Your Memory
    150 . Weight Loss Guidance – Stop Thinking Diet
    151 . Wiley Visual Basic 2005 For Dummies
    152 . Wiley Financial Reporting of Environmental Liabilities and Risks after Sarbanes Oxley Oct 2005
    153 . Wiley Liabilities Liquidity And Cash Management Balancing Financial Risks Ebook FLY
    154 . Windows XP Timesaving Techniques for Dummies 2nd Edition
    155 . Wireless Hacking Projects for Wi-Fi Enthusiasts 2004
    156 . Word Formation In English
    157 . Wordware Publishing Busby Learn Google
    158 . Wordware Publishing Macintosh Switchers Guide
    159 . Wrox-Expert One-on-One Visual Basic 2005 Database Programming 2005 R Jennings
    160 . XP Registry Guide Book

    I have download them in two years, after surfing the internet so much. Usually I don’t have the time to read, because of my job and personal life circumstances, but I spare them as a stock. I called the folder which contains them: Knowledge Base. As you can see, there are many literature pieces in ‘em. You would find famous titles of Famous stories known world-wide.

    Come on, Pick yor choices and it will be right there in your inbox :)

  • s

    16.Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling) ??????????????????

    philosepher???????????????

  • insiyah A

    karen armstrong is renowned writer and theologian. If you like her writing, i would reccommend her books “Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time (Eminent Lives)” and “The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness”. i liked them because they are well written and she offers insightful comments on that are not very common, as well as picks apart centuries of misconceptions.

  • Ayyob

    I might be a loser but i havent ready maybe 90% of these book. I have seen many of them as movies tho. My favorite reading would have to be fiction and biographies.

  • http://www.bestbooksreviewed.com/content/section/7/74/ susan

    I found some great fiction book reviews. You can also see those reviews in Historical fiction

  • http://somewhereupnorth.wordpress.com Sarah

    “16.Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling) ??????????????????

    philosepher???????????????”

    That’s the original title it was published under, in the UK. In the US (perhaps elsewhere, too), it was the “sorcerer’s” stone.

  • Ayyob

    are you guys serious? was it really the philosopher’s stone? I want a serious answer please

  • http://andfaraway.net Roba

    Ayyob, it’s true: from Wikipedia

    American English edition

    Both the book and the motion picture were released in the United States with the revised title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The book’s American editor Arthur Levine, who was responsible for translating primarily British English words and spellings to American English, felt that Philosopher’s Stone coveyed an incorrect idea of the subject matter, and that a title change was necessary. Rowling and Levine had agreed to change words only when they felt that it would otherwise be incomprehensible to American readers. Several alternate titles were discussed, and Rowling chose Sorcerer’s Stone in the end.[7] The translations in the American Edition led to criticism by many readers. The New York Times ran an article titled “Harry Potter, Minus a Certain Flavour” on 10 July 2000, which heavily criticized Scholastic’s decision to Americanize the US Harry Potter editions.[8] Many felt that the translations insulted the intelligence of the American public (for example changing “Mum” to “Mom”). Scholastic learned, and in the sequels did not Americanize as much, thus not changing the title, and not modifying as much text.

  • http://healingiraq.blogspot.com Zeyad

    Non-fiction and history is much more compelling than fiction. But great list either way (if you take out the Harry Potter rubbish)! :)

  • Rami

    I recommend “East of Eden (John Steinbeck)” it is a great one.

  • Basel

    Dear Roba,

    Since you are interested in History, Why don’t you try to read “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers” by Paul Kennedy. It is a very great and famous book summaries the last 500 years of history. Mentioning the great countries, why they become great, and How they dissappered and why. However, don’t read this book if you are not interested in Economics. If so, I’ll suggest many different books for you. It’s just so great to know someone is still enjoy reading!!!

  • http://www.forsoothsayer.blogspot.com forsoothsayer

    yeah i counted if i read some of it :)

    yeah i also read around that number and almost all before i left high school. but i don’t think u can go on living any further if u haven’t read Brave New World.

  • Mohamed Fawzy

    Roba , no response to my list yet? :) not anything you are interested in ? :D
    isn’t Visual Basic better than Harry Potter !!!!

  • http://andfaraway.net Roba

    Mohamed, lol, thanks, but for some reason, I can’t get myself to read an ebook. I like the smell of paper I guess.

  • Mohamed Fawzy

    ok then what do you think about tablet pc , which can be converted to a full fledge reading pan, and you can hold it like any normal book. About the smell we can work it out by a special perfume or something :)
    LG C1 Express Dual is my recommendation, which is very light-weight. Excellent for ebook reading :)

  • http://hareega.blogspot.com Hareega

    Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases,
    3200 pages
    396 dollars

    love it!