The Pre-Task

Prior to setting out on the task of reading all of Amazon's Top 100 Books, I had to read the list of Amazon's Top 100 Books.  This was a trial in itself.. going through all these great works and attempting to recall whether or not I read them in American Lit X in high school or not.  For example, I know for a fact that I read Fahrenheit 451 in high school.  I also know for a fact that I read Charlotte's Web, both as a child, and a little over a year ago to run a book club for my nine-year old students.
I can also confidently state that I have read Goodnight Moon, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Where the Wild Things Are.  Not only was Goodnight Moon a favorite of mine as a four-year old but I have the good fortune of having three beautiful nieces and an adorable nephew.  These books are all fresh in my memory, thanks to having read them to the kiddos in at least the past two years.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein is another one that I have (believe it or not) also read recently.  We do a poetry unit in my 4th grade classroom in which all Shel Silverstein books feature prominently.  The Book Thief, I would love to say I read because of my classroom, but I owe that one to my librarian mother.  I read it long ago, before it became a movie and suddenly everyone knew what it was.
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by the brilliant Roald Dahl, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling (all of the Harry Potters if we're being frank,) The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkein (and The Hobbit even though it's not on the list,) Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee I can also confidently cross off the list.

I wanted to reserve special mention for Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.  Hillenbrand is above and beyond one of my favorite authors of all time, if not my favorite.  She has a brilliant way of taking a completely nonfiction story and making it read like a novel.  I first read Seabiscuit many years ago because of my love for horses.  Even as a teenager, who struggled to follow some of the more dense parts of nonfiction writing, still found myself enthralled by her work.  If you have not read either or both of these books they need to go to the top of your list immediately.

Another special mention had to go to The Shining by Stephen King.  The movie does not even remotely do this book justice.  I read it while staying at my parents house and was too terrified to go down into their basement, where the boiler was, for the duration of my stay.  If you have the tolerance for a good scary story (I don't just mean scary, I mean bone-chilling terrifying) you must read The Shining.
Now that I've crossed off all the books I've read... I guess I have to get reading :)