Many Thanks (and my reading list)

So much to be thankful for today! We live in a country with spirit and hope, in a world that wants to make itself right but can't agree on just how to do that. Still, I remain optimistic that we can resolve our differences and live happily together in this beautiful world. Having family and friends to keep close makes the journey worthwhile.

Now, on to the details. My list is finished! This should keep me thoroughly occupied and provide lots of good karma between 2/1/09 and 7/31/09, via the Themed Reading Challenge.

Guilty Conscience Books
(books I've started but never been able to finish, and

books people have given me that I've never actually read . . . yet)

1. Selected Essays, Lectures and Poems, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
(I think I love Emerson, but I can't be sure)

2. Walden and Civil Disobedience, by Henry David Thoreau
(at least three failed attempts)

3. Light in August, by William Faulkner
(don't tell my 10th grade English teacher, but I probably deserved that "B")

4. Remembrance of Things Past, by Marcel Proust
(I bet I'm not the only one)

5. War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy

(don't worry, Amanda, I'll take care of this for you)

6. Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift

(no problem, C.S.)

7. Birthday Letters, by Ted Hughes

(poetry, but still counts as a book)

8. Dark Night of the Soul, by St. John of the Cross

(Spanish mysticism should be interesting)

9. The Brothers K, by David James Duncan

(do I need to read The Brothers Karamazov as a warm-up?)

10. I Know This Much is True, by Wally Lamb

(we'll see--my last experience with a New York Times-recommended book was not good)

Ambitious? Sure! Now all I have to do is steel myself to wait until February to get started.