1000 novels everyone must read: the definitive list: Part 1

A month ago the Guardian, a UK newspaper, published a list of the 1,000 novels that everyone must read. I’ve read 64 of the listed novels - nothing like a list like this to make you feel that you have been doing nothing with your time and have been been reading all the wrong things. Curiously enough according to this list, I’m most well read in the science fiction/fantasy category! Love was a close second. Apparently, I like escapism in my reading.

Here is part 1 of the list (the books crossed out are the ones I've read).

Comedy

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
Money by Martin Amis

The Information by Martin Amis

The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge

According to Queeney by Beryl Bainbridge

Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes

A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes

Augustus Carp, Esq. by Himself: Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man by Henry Howarth Bashford

Molloy by Samuel Beckett

Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm

The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

Queen Lucia by EF Benson

The Ascent of Rum Doodle by WE Bowman
A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd
The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury
No Bed for Bacon by Caryl Brahms and SJ Simon
Illywhacker by Peter Carey

A Season in Sinji by JL Carr

The Harpole Report by JL Carr
The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington

Mister Johnson by Joyce Cary
The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
 Well, I've read half of it.
The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin
Just William by Richmal Crompton

The Provincial Lady by EM Delafield

Slouching Towards Kalamazoo by Peter De Vries

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens
Jacques the Fatalist and his Master by Denis Diderot
A Fairy Tale of New York by JP Donleavy

The Commitments by Roddy Doyle

Ennui by Maria Edgeworth

Cheese by Willem Elsschot

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding

Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

Caprice by Ronald Firbank

Bouvard et Pécuchet by Gustave Flaubert
Towards the End of the Morning by Michael Frayn
The Polygots by William Gerhardie

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Brewster's Millions by Richard Greaves (George Barr McCutcheon)
Squire Haggard's Journal by Michael Green
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene
Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith

The Little World of Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House by Eric Hodgkins

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal

The Lecturer's Tale by James Hynes

Mr Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood

The Mighty Walzer Howard by Jacobson
Pictures from an Institution by Randall Jarrell

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
The Castle by Franz Kafka

Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov

The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester
L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane (Gil Blas) Alain-René Lesage

Changing Places by David Lodge
Nice Work by David Lodge
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay
England, Their England by AG Macdonell
Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie
Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf by David Madsen
Cakes and Ale - Or, the Skeleton in the Cupboard by W Somerset Maugham

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney
Puckoon by Spike Milligan

The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills

Charade by John Mortimer
Titmuss Regained by John Mortimer

Under the Net by Iris Murdoch
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

Fireflies by Shiva Naipaul

The Sacred Book of the Werewolf by Victor Pelevin

La Disparition by Georges Perec
Les Revenentes by Georges Perec

La Vie Mode d'Emploi by Georges Perec

My Search for Warren Harding by Robert Plunkett
A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell

A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym
Zazie in the Metro by Raymond Queneau

Solomon Gursky Was Here by Mordecai Richler

Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

The Westminster Alice by Saki

The Unbearable Bassington by Saki
Hurrah for St Trinian's by Ronald Searle

Great Apes by Will Self

Porterhouse Blue by Tom Sharpe
Blott on the Landscape by Tom Sharpe

Office Politics by Wilfrid Sheed

Belles Lettres Papers: A Novel by Charles Simmons

Moo by Jane Smiley

Topper Takes a Trip by Thorne Smith

The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom by Tobias Smollett

The Adventures of Roderick Random by Tobias Smollett
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Tobias Smollett
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark

The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark
Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

White Man Falling by Mike Stocks
Handley Cross by RS Surtees
A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift
Penrod by Booth Tarkington

The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray
Before Lunch by Angela Thirkell

Tropic of Ruislip by Leslie Thomas
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Venus on the Half-Shell by Kilgore Trout
The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain

The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh

Scoop by Evelyn Waugh

The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh

A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh
The Life and Loves of a She-Devil by Fay Weldon

Tono Bungay by HG Wells

Molesworth by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle

The Wimbledon Poisoner by Nigel Williams
Anglo-Saxon Attitudes by Angus Wilson

Something Fresh by PG Wodehouse
Piccadilly Jim by PG Wodehouse

Thank You Jeeves by PG Wodehouse

Heavy Weather by PG Wodehouse

The Code of the Woosters by PG Wodehouse

Joy in the Morning by PG Wodehouse

Stayed tuned for part 2.

Top 10 Tech Picks

Okay, so it is the time of the year when you look back on the past year and reflect on what has transpired. This was a big year for me in terms of technology - I finally became friends with all the technology that has entered my life. Here are my top 10 tech picks for 2007.

1. MacBook Pro - I finally made the switch from horrible, cranky Windows PC systems and it is amazing! Finally, a computer I can be friends with. It does what I want and it isn't painful! Long live Mac! Down with PC!
2. IWork '08 - This is of course related to number 1. I was thrilled to learn that I didn't have to use Microsoft Office and still have access to powerful word processing, presentation and spreadsheet software. It is lean, mean and gives you just what you want. No fat! And for only $79 (CDN) it beats the pants off Office.
3. Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi DSLR camera. I've had a digital point and shoot camera for a couple of years, but was frustrated by its limitations. Along with some Canon lens and a great light weight tripod from Manfrotto, there isn't anything I can't shoot. Plus, it impresses the pants off everyone - I look like a professional!
4. iPod Nano - Okay, I've had this first generation Nano for a couple of years now, but I bought it originally to connect to a PC. It was always frustrating trying to get it to connect to iTunes. I plugged into my new Mac and viola! Music! I'm old enough to have owned a Walkman (with cassettes!) and thought it was cool! MP3 technology is brilliant. Kids today are spoiled. They can carry around 500-1000 songs and think nothing of it. They have no idea what it is like to be stuck with 10 songs, or carry around a stack of cassettes - that occasionally got jammed.
5. Adobe Creative Suite CS3 - I do a lot of graphic design and photo editing, especially in my work. This industry-leading software just keeps getting better - especially for Mac. (see #1)
6. USB thumb drives - Makes it a snap to transfer a gig or two of songs, files,etc. As I was transferring some files the other day and had a flash back to my first computer, a Commodore 64. I was on the cutting edge of technology with a 5 1/4 inch disk drive! Remember floppy diskettes?
7. HP Photosmart printer/copier/scanner - This printer creates excellent quality printouts and borderless photos. Plus, the built-in card reader makes it a snap to print out photos without even having to turn on the computer.
8. Mac Mighty Mouse - Apple is all about smart design and smart function. This wireless mouse works on bluetooth technology. It is a snap to set up and no transmitter taking up a USB port.
9. YouTube - You can watch anything at anytime. Broadcasting made democratic. Even my mother has discovered YouTube and sends me links to funny videos.
10. Facebook - I resisted joining the social networking movement for quite awhile thinking it was just a silly time waster. Well, it is a silly time waster, but I have connected and reconnected to a number of old friends that has led to real world connections.

Out of Balance

I've been extremely busy in my day job lately. Thankfully things are starting to settle down - a little bit. Right now I'm feeling tired and a little burnt out. I've been so caught up in my work that it took someone else to recognize that i'm on the verge of burn out. So, I'm taking some time off next week to hang out with my father and look after myself.

This period of extreme busyness has made me recognize that I let my work, or family issues, or volunteer, or whatever, to dominate my life at any given time. It doesn't matter what it is - it takes over. I haven't given myself very much time to pursue my passions - writing, photography, sketching, reading great books, connecting with my friends. I need to find a way to restore balance permanently to my life and not let any one part of my life take over.

Any tips?

P.S. I'm thinking about doing this for the month of November.

I'm Back, and a Mac Convert

Yep, I'm back after a very long hiatus. It has been a long time away from blogging, a long time away from being creative, but now I'm back. I've got photography projects on the go, writing projects percolating and plans for a new website.

I've also the proud owner of a spanking new Macbook Pro! I've converted to Mac and I can see why it is almost a religion with people. Macs are so much better than PCs. The great esthetics, the smart design and interface. It is so easy to use! Programs speedy and fun to use. Plus, I bought mine at the Mac store and the service is fantastic. I've bought a number of computers over the years and this was a completely different experience. Instead of listing off the list of specs, the sales clerk wanted to know how I was going to use my computer and then suggested a model that would meet my needs. I wasn't pushed to buy more than I needed. Actually, I wasn't pushed at all. I was presented some options and choose what I felt was best. No pressure. The sales clerk took the time to answer all my questions and gave me fantastic service. When you buy a Mac they will even transfer the files from your old Mac or PC - free! Oh and for a small amount, you can get weekly sessions one-on-one sessions to help learn how to use your Mac or even help you do projects like create a DVD. I'm hooked! And never buying another PC. This girl won't be singing the Vista blues!

Still Here!

Sooke Potholes Regional Park, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

I've returned! I spent the last two weeks on Vancouver Island visiting my Dad. We passed the time hiking through the forest, kayaking on the lake, watching bald eagles soar and even had high tea at the Empress Hotel. I fell in love with BC and and I'm finding it hard to back in the big city so far away from the wilderness.

I fell in love with the west coast rain forest. Vancouver Island is so lush and green. The forests are dominated by huge Douglas fir and cedar trees that are shrowded in moss. We went for a hike in the Cathedral Grove - an old growth forest. The size of the trees is absolutely mind boggling. The trunk of some of these giants was over 6 feet in diameter!

I took over 400 pictures during my trip and it will take awhile to go through all of them. I've got lots of material for paintings. Stay tuned!

Time Consumed

I haven't been posting here as much as I would like. I've been taking a pretty intensive French language class for the last couple of months. Thankfully the class wrapped up with the final exam Monday night. I really want to learn another language, but man it takes up a lot of time!

I also have to admit that I'm not very good at balance. I find it pretty easy to let one part of my life - work or school - to take over every part of my life. I end up not giving myself the time to continue other pursuits, like writing or photography. I almost feel I need to go back to Week 4: Uncovering a Sense of Balance. I need to really organize my time and give myself permission to continue doing things that are good for me. Trying to live a more grounded, spiritual life is harder than it seems.

An Artist's Date with Emily Carr

For my artist's date this week, I went to see the Emily Carr exibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Emily Carr, who died in 1946, created moving paintings of the landscape and Native culture of British Columbia. She was a fiercely passionate woman who escaped the confines of Victorian society to paint in the remote wilderness of Northern British Columbia. She lived alone her entire life and never married. In her latter years, she was somewhat eccentric - living with a menagerie of cats, dogs and a pet monkey named Woo.

In some ways the world that Emily Carr was trying to capture in the 1920s and 30s wasn't all that different than now. She rushed to capture in her paintings the native villages before assimilation destroyed the culture and the wilderness before logging decimated the forests. Native cultures and old growth forests continue to teeter on the edge.

I was especially moved by her paintings that captured the spiritual aspects of the Native totem poles and wilderness scenes. If you have ever had the pleasure to walk deep into a forest, you know that there is an energy, an aliveness in the forest that is extraordinary.

Next month I am going on holidays to Vancouver Island, British Columbia and I'm really looking forward to seeing the land that so inspired this artist.