According to About.com, the ten most common New Year’s resolutions are:
1. Spend More Time With Friends And Family
2. Excercise
3. Lose Weight
4. Quit Smoking
5. Enjoy Life More
6. Quit Drinking
7. Get Out Of Debt
8. Learn Something New
9. Help Others
10. Get Organized
Being a book adict, it amazes me that most people do not consider reading as resolution-worthy. It is not uncommon for me to read 100 books a year. Yet according to the Washington Post, one in four adults read zero books each year. The article states that the average number of books read by adults in this country is seven (when excluding those who read none).
Though I would certainly be considered to have a ravenous appetite for books, I am ashamed to admit that I am woefully ignorant of the classics. I was raised by parents who loved sci-fi/fantasy, so I can tell you everything there is to know about J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Piers Anthony, Lloyd Alexander, Patricia McKillip, and Lewis Carroll. But I’d be hard pressed to answer basic questions about some of the most well known novels of our day.
Which brings me to my reading resolution for 2010. I’ve added ten classic novels to my list for this year, in addition to the dozens that are currently in my to-be-read pile. All of these books are new to me, and I must admit, I’m rather embarrassed that this is my first time to sample these works:
1. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
2. A Farewell To Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
3. The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger
4. The Grapes Of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
5. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
6. Ulysses, by James Joyce
7. Phantastes, by George MacDonald
8. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald *
9. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
10. Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes
There you have it. I’m sure this list says a great deal about my less than stellar literary education, but I mean to rectify that in 2010.
What about you? Do you have a reading resolution for 2010?
* Thanks to Barb who commented below and let me know that I listed the wrong author for this title (embarrasing – though I did actually know that Fitzgerald wrote the Great Gatsby). Aparently I’m in greater need of a literary education than I knew. 
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#s 2. 3 and 8 are great reads– you will love them!
Here are my reading resolutions for 2010:
1. To read several books on the craft of writing this year.
2. To continue reading books for consideration for She Reads.
3. To keep up with my blog reading.
4. To re-read Henry David Thoreau’s Walden again. I love how being surrounded by nature influenced his thought and writing life and I think this will inspire me.
5. To read The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I keep hearing how great it is.
6. To finally buy– and actually read– the books in my Amazon cart!
We share 4 & 9! Here’s my list: http://tabithasreads.blogspot.com/2009/12/2010-books-to-read-before-i-die.html
I myself dont read nearly as much as I would like to have read some of the books on your list. I have to admit that you will enjoy The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger; The Great Gatsby, by Ruth Prigozy and Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes. They are great books. Enjoy.
I am going to blog about this very thing this week! I haven’t written it down but my reading resolution is to read all the books in my house that I have deemed worthy of keeping but have not actually read all the way through!
I believe you’ll want to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (not Ruth P.–who has written a bio on Fitzgerald)
You’ve put together a fantastic list! For your next 20 classics, be sure to include something by Mark Twain (Huckleberry Finn would be my recommend) and Charles Dickens (I loved Great Expectations).
I try to mix in classics with my reading list, too. I read The Grapes of Wrath a few months ago and loved it, but I couldn’t get through Moby Dick. I really tried, but I finally decided to move on to something that I actually liked. (Sorry if I offend any lovers of Moby Dick. Maybe I’m just too shallow!)
I also recommend Thomas Harding’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. It’s one of my favorites.
I have to say, I don’t think I’m going to read a classic this year, unless it’s with my sons. There’s just so much new fiction I love. I just finished reading The Help and can’t even say how great it was. it’s set in the sixties, written from several characters’ points of view, was so illuminating about race relations during that time period and it just made me want to be brave!
I’ve also read lately both the first and second Friday Night Knitting Club books by Kate Jacob – about a community of women and their friendships, fun and light.
My husband and I have recently read all Malcolm Gladwell’s books – these are nonfiction and I don’t even know how to describe them other than to say they’re about fascinating social trends – I think that’s how you’d describe them. Very readable.
Melanie,
I finished The Help a few days ago and it was spectacular! It made my top ten list. Can’t say enough about that book.
Ariel
I often resolve to read classics I haven’t read yet, or re-read the ones that were required reading in school. I might get around to one a year, but generally I don’t.
I often question though what makes these books, or any that are called classics, any better than others? Gone With the Wind is rarely called a classic. I just read The Call of Zulina. Well-written, wonderful story, moral quality — is it not a classic because it’s new?
I rarely hear anyone call H. G. Wells or Jules Vernes books classics. Why is that? They are foundational to much of today’s science fiction.
Amy suggest she’s shallow because she didn’t like Moby Dick. I’m not a fan of Dickens, but enjoy Shakespeare. I don’t think it says anything about depth of character, but personal reading enjoyment.
I think we’ve been taught to think because a book is required reading either in high school or college, it’s a classic. A classic is individual taste and shouldn’t be determine by another’s reading list.
Interesting that this should come up. I made a commitment in December to read the complete Chronological Study Bible (every note and detail) and Systematic Theology (Grudem) in 2010.
In addition I will be reading several books on the craft of writing, finish reading Speak up with Confidence (Kent), and read the Dekker series Black, Red, White, Green because our youth group keeps raving about it! There will certainly be more, as I read continuously, but this is my short list.