My mom said it does not feel like Christmas unless she is sewing, especially doll clothes. Yes, she made all these outfits. Detail is exceptional. Really great. And each is in keeping with the doll's time, color choices and style. The two girls (23 and 19), my mother (76) and I (56) "played" with the dolls for hours on Christmas day. Dressing, doing hair, taking pictures. The pictures were all taken with my iPhone 7 in the light coming into the room from a french door with a west exposure. Really great, clear pictures.

This is Kirsten, American Girl. She belongs to middle. We have had her for many years. This is her St Lucia outfit (which is still the custom in Sweden). My mom made the dress. We got the wreath and socks, all American Girl brand, on eBay.

This is Molly. New to us, but an old doll (from eBay). She belongs to middle. The skates and fur pieces are American Girl (from ebay). My mom made the outfit. Yes, she embroidered the jacket.

Kailey. American Girl of the Year (2003). We got her from American Girl at that time. She belongs to middle. Kailey is a surfer girl. Middle has all the pieces that originally came with her. But that does not include a lot of clothes. Mostly surf stuff. This is the first outfit (dress and hat) that my mom has made for her. Shoes are from the original Kailey set.

Middle's Christmas presents from my mom. (She started sewing in June on Molly's skater outfit.)

Josefina. American Girl. Belongs to youngest who has had her for years.  This is a camisa, a skirt and a corset. Three pieces. And a lot of trim and lace and ribbon. This is very detailed and advanced piece. The shoes are American Girl brand for Josefina (from eBay).

Felicity. American Girl. Belongs to youngest. (from ebay). Very detailed. The gold is a skirt. The top is like a jacket that goes over it. The cape is "velvet" and has a hood. You can't see them in the pictures, but Felicity has dark red velvet shoes that match the dress perfectly that are American Girl.

Youngest's Girls. We have added Samantha to youngest's collection (old doll recently acquired from eBay). But Samantha did not get a dress this year. 

Kit. American Girl. Middle bought her for me, last year. Ebay. The shoes are American Girl. My mom made the outfit and hat, including the belt.

Addy, from American Girl. Mine. She and Kit are my favorites. My mom made this Christmas dress out of the fabric from a child's dress. The ruching on the bodice is from the original dress. The black is "velvet". The back of the bodice is black velvet also. 

One of my xmas boxes - Bananagrams, Yahtzee, extra Yahtzee score pad, Monopoly Deal, UNO, Phase 10, Skip-Bo, 2 decks of regular cards

We turned an old gun cabinet my grandfather made about 55 years ago, into a doll wardrobe. And yes, very pleased.

The state of my freezer top.

It is much easier to store things IN a chest freezer. But the down side is the top tends to fill. Ours is right outside our backdoor, in the garage. So very easy to dump things there.

For at least a month and a half, maybe two months, the top of the freezer was full of Le Creuset. Full.

I walk the neighbor's dog every week day. This is a beautifully mannered dog beloved by my whole family. The ratio of two families to one dog, actually makes a lot of sense. She is well loved and likes it. She is walked once or twice a day (40 minute plus walks). If anyone is out of town, there is backup. It fills the dog need in my family without bothering my asthma or middle's asthma.


During the fall, we (dog and I) averaged one garage sale a week in our neighborhood. So the dog knows about garage sales. She knows we like them. And she knows she gets lots of pets/attention at garage sales.

One Wednesday, walking, she (the dog) suddenly headed up a driveway. I looked and they were setting up for a garage sale. Not open. The lady smiled and was talking to me as I was pulling out my ear buds and pausing my podcast. She said we were welcome to look.

At that moment, I thought the dog had recognized it was a garage sale and knew I would want to go. Later I found out the woman had yelled "hi" to me, but I had not heard because of the ear buds. The dog, who is very friendly, had heard her and responded.

The people (retired) had just moved into their house. It was a downsize move. And it turned out they were both only children who had lost both sets of parents in the last few years. Most of the parents' stuff had gone into storage. It all had converged in their garage with the move. So it was a three bay garage, stuffed. Like the single bay of the garage was piled to the ceiling.

She asked if I was looking for anything in particular and I said - kitchen stuff. And in particular enamel lined iron cookware.

And she started pulling out Le Creuset. It just kept coming. She asked if I was interested and I said I was, but "how much $$$?". And she said $7. I said I would take it all. But I needed to finish walking the dog and come back with the car and $$$.

I figured she meant $7 each. Which is a steal.

When I got back, she had meant $7 for all of it. A total of $7.

I bought several other things. Future gifts. Other kitchen stuff. The back seat and the trunk of my car,  full.

Her husband was packing my car as I bought. He clearly was in the "just get it out of here" mindset.

So, home, I put all the Le Creuset on the freezer and sent pictures to all my kids, who LOVE Le Creuset. They could not believe the $7. It might be the find of the century. Barring a copy of the declaration in the drawer of an old dresser or something.

 I said youngest got first dibs. Then the other two would have to decide between the two of them.

Thanksgiving week, youngest picked hers and promptly put it away.

Then oldest sat against the door to the house, blocking middle's getaway, and they decided who got what. It was a long and loud debate.

The largest piece, a deep 10" x 15" stayed here. I am the only one who cooks for a crowd, so that made sense.

Mill stone

At first glance, it looks like we buried a lot of it. No, it is shadow or dirt.
Look again, it is sitting in a little trench, just so it does not tip. 

I have a friend who opened a consignment resale used household store last month. Mostly furniture, but other household things too. (In another town. Not here. Doing well.)

She has had a half dozen or so people contact her to sell the entire contents of their house.

Now she is smart - no clothes, no outdated things unless good for DIY, no exercise equipment.

So, she does not take every single thing. But she has taken most of it.

The people? They are either moving across the country and decided to just start over. Or they are dramatically downsizing, and starting fresh.





My brother called (me, nothing to do with my friend's shop) a couple weeks ago. Downsizing.

Every time he has moved over the last 30 years or so, I have called to say - if you do not have room for the roll top desk (a family piece), I will take it.

He called (a couple weeks ago) to say - come get the desk. And do you want a gun case too?

At first I did not think I wanted a gun cabinet. But then I realized my grandfather made it. (We are all about family pieces, we have no guns. So I had to think a bit.). I realized it would make a fabulous doll clothes wardrobe. We have a lot of doll clothes.

I rented a 12' truck and drove to another state to get these family pieces. I had never driven a truck. I did fine. I did great in fact.

There was a chair with the desk too. And as we were finishing loading the truck, he asked if I wanted the mill stone. I said sure, not really knowing what it was.

It was an old, old family mill stone. Came in a covered wagon from the east. Long ago.

And although it was very hard to get in the truck. And it was very hard to get out of the truck. It is now in a place in our yard where I see it every day. And I am very glad to have it. Really glad to have it.



All the furniture (from my brothers plus a few pieces from here) is now in various stages of repair in the third bay of our garage.

We look like a used furniture store.

The roll top, which needed work, is being tended by a woodworking neighbor. He takes it home in sections. Going great.

The gun cabinet, we (husband, mother and I) made an insert, with rods for hanging, that slips inside the case. We did not change the case. Nothing is nailed to it. I will post pictures when I am finished with it. Very clever and very useful.

While we had everything out, our old kitchen table was pulled out from under a bed and we are refinishing the top. The legs and the skirt are fine. I had washed the finish off the top, heavy use for 15 years at the old house. Middle wants this table.

And there is a coffee table that middle and I pulled from someone's garbage. My husband sanded the top. She is going to paint it later. Right now it is a supply table.

And there is a bed set that I bought at a garage sale and have been struggling over the side rails.

There was also a bench, also from garbage, which I found room for in the house. It did not need repaired.

FYI - The first/second bay, of our garage, holds two cars, all the time. We keep the other stuff confined to the third bay. The stuff includes lawn mower, snow blower, ladders, flower pots, etc. And a lot of bikes.

I think I am going to get hooks to hang 2 more bikes. Total of 6 bikes. We still use them when everyone is home. Only 2 sets of hooks now.  Hang the kids' bikes, leave ours on the floor. That is a lot of floor space.

Oh my goodness, what a series of diagnosis and so much for a family

http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/quilting-2/a-personal-note-from-nancy/

If you have wondered about her face, Bell's palsy at age one.

http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/nancys-corner/bells-palsy-nancy-zieman-mouth/

My youngest had Bell's palsy as a toddler. No lingering effects. She swam in a cold pool after chicken pox. Cold water in her ears triggered it.

Head shots - proactive and also would make a great gift

I looked briefly for it, but no luck.

On either Happier in Hollywood (Elizabeth and Sarah)

or on Gretchen and Elizabeth's original podcast,

Elizabeth was talking about the importance of having headshots.

She was suggesting everyone having up to date, professional headshots always ready. And she is talking about a professional photographer. Professional headshots.

We are talking about a resume/application/professional media quality picture of ones self.



The one oldest is using right now is actually from the wedding we attended in Alaska last year. It was taken by a professional photographer btw.

There was a great picture of him in his tux with a bow tie. GREAT picture. It was actually a picture of the two of us. He cropped himself and photoshopped out the background. And that is what he has been using.



For a couple years youngest was using a rejected high school year book picture. It was rejected because she was in a sleeveless blouse. It happened to be a great picture.

This week she called looking for it. I found it in the picture files in our house computer, easily because the files are very organized.

But it is now too dated. Her hair was long then. She has matured in last couple years.



When we see her next weekend (a week from now), we are going to take more pictures. DIY. Because she needs one now.

College takes them, at career days fair, for free, but her class schedule is too full to deal with the line that is always there.

When we get closer to college graduation, I absolutely would consider having professional ones taken. NOTE - that would be a very good graduation gift for kids in your family.



Middle gets a yearbook picture taken every year at her school. And she takes a lot of pictures, so she always has candids. Her boy has lots of good ones because they are dressed up a lot and she always takes pictures or has someone else take them. This is a couple with a large volume of pictures.. Youngest and oldest, not so much.



While I was digging thru picture files yesterday, for youngest,  I sent her other good pictures of herself. Candids which could be cropped and used in different circumstances.

For example, there is a great one of her with the neighbor dog. If she needed a warm fuzzy candid picture for something informal, it would be great.

And there were several pictures with youngest and middle that could be cropped. The problem is the backgrounds. They are not plain backgrounds.

Oldest's picture had Alaska in background (outdoors in Juno) which you would have thought would have been okay, but was not. When the picture was tightly cropped, the background became odd.



I sent a note to someone yesterday saying here is another high school/college/life hint - when you or daughter are dressed up or even just having a good hair and makeup day, have someone take pictures in front of a plain background. And then keep those pictures in a special file (email, pc, phone) so you have them. Do it regularly so you have them and they are up to date.

I preordered Gretchen Rubin's new book. Audible version on Amazon using one of my Audible credits. I bought three extra credits to have an extra one and get the book for less $$$. Four of us use my audible account/library. I got the bonus videos but have not yet watched them.

http://happiness-project.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b4bb6f56200fe4fe93f580bf3&id=4f805bf50a&e=d272bac3c9

This is her fourth book. It is sort of a series.

She started with happiness, then happiness at home, then habits, and now tendencies.  

I have all four of these titles on Audible. Three already in my library. The fourth, which will be released in September is a pending preorder. The preorder gave me access to a video series Gretchen did. Have not yet watched those.

I listen to her podcasts while I walk.

I plan to relisten to the first three books before diving into the fourth in September. 

I am not sure any of my kids have listened to Gretchen's series.  It is a good series for anyone.

Swimming suit update

When last we spoke, on this topic, I had ordered swimming suits from Lands End and from Kohl's. 


The Lands End suits won. In fact it was no competition.

The Lands End package arrived first, I opened it and started wearing them.

I never opened/tried the Kohl's suits. I returned them.

The Lands End long sleeves satisfy a sensory thing that I did not even know I had, in addition to blocking the sun and keeping me warm. And the two piece aspect makes getting in and out of them (including potty) so much easier.

FYI - Middle has been telling me she TOLD me all this several years ago and I did not hear her.

She was right. Long sleeve, shorts type bottom with bikini bottom built into them, two piece is IT.

When I was relaying all this to a close friend, she encouraged me to get on Lands End's site and order myself more tops before they were gone. Like jeans and bras, swimming suit styles come and go.

So I ordered these tops (below). Five. They averaged $26 each. And I am very pleased with that. I wear these kayaking, in the pool, and sometimes walking the dog. I only wear a sports bra under them.

I am not a "long" but I ordered longs in any where that was an option. It gives me longer length and longer sleeves.

In general - fyi - If you are in doubt about sizes, order several sizes to try. Order enough to qualify for free shipping. Return what does not fit to Sears (to avoid shipping).

And if you are interested in these, order quickly because they were getting really picked over.

Fire alarms while away from home

I can remember being a child, in a hotel with my parents, and my mom being really confused when a fire alarm went off.

Like running aimlessly around the room.

I can't remember how that story ended. I don't know if we were evacuated to the street. Or if we grabbed our stuff and went to the car. Or if we went back to bed.

I just remember my mom, woken out of a dead sleep and not prepared. And therefore not able to take care of her children.




Middle and I were evacuated, in the middle of the night, I think we were in Edinburgh, Scotland (2015). To the street. Out of a sound sleep. And no idea if it was an all encompassing fire or a false alarm.

And we were ready. We had shoes by our beds. Passports and money and cards by our beds. Electronics by our beds. We were shoving our feet in our shoes as we were grabbing our stuff. Clothes and luggage were easily replaceable. (And would have slowed us down and been difficult on the stairs.) We only grabbed what was really important and because it was ready, it did not slow us down.

And we took real shoes, not flip flops, because shoes for us are not easily replaceable.

We had hoodies or jackets pulled on over our pj's by the time we got to the street. Because those were ready too.

It is tough in a hotel room, to find things. Belongings can be in a jumble. And in a fire, there is no time to sort thru a jumble.

One thing I do not think we had ready was our meds. And that would have been difficult for both of us. So I might have to rethink what I put by my bed. And how I would carry it. I am thinking a packed bag by the bed is probably smart.

If you have never had this happen to you, this might seem like an over reaction. But if it has happened to you, especially far from home, it is an intense thing. It is an urgent thing. It is a life threatening thing.

And if you are the mom, it is a skill to be taught.

Not sure any of them will work, but ordered these to try.

The first two are from Landsend.
And I would wear a sports bra under the shirt.

The last two are from Kohl's.
And I might wear a sports bra under those too.

I have been looking for something to help keep me warmer.
I was originally looking for more of a pool wet suit,
but every one I found, there were issues.
None seemed to be the right thing, to even order to try sizes.

I ordered 2-3 sizes of each (below).
That is my normal routine,
order the size I think I am, the size up and the size down.

I had enough to have free shipping.
Returns can be made locally so no return shipping.

This is not elegant, but it is super functional

That (below) is the corner of my bed.

The head of the bed is up on post concrete blocks which I got at Lowe's. We had to take the castor off the legs of the bed to fit in the space made for the post. I highly recommend the blocks to anyone with issues. Makes a huge difference. I put felt pads down in the holes so the leg is not scrapping against the concrete.

I had to look it up because it was bugging me. The block is concrete. Cement is used to hold all the materials together to make the block.

I also got a power strip that plugs into the wall socket sideways, so it has a very thin profile. It is plugged into a socket behind my bed and the strip is mounted to the wall next to my bed. That keeps my cords high. So I can have a device plugged in on my nightstand or in bed with me. And the cords do not get tangled and the strip does not flip around.


Example of sideways plug - the black one (not the gray one).

And that power strip is attached to my wall using Command strips (where you pull the tab to release it from the wall when you want to disconnect the whole thing years down the road). I got the mega weight command strips. There is a strip on the top of the power strip and on the bottom of the power strip. I did not want to mount it to wall with screws. This way I can move it. Or can take it down as technology evolves.

My iphone is the top cord. My ipad is the next cord. An old cell phone is the last cord, so I can always call 911 from that phone if somehow my iphone is not there.

Flower boxes

My husband and I planted all three flower boxes yesterday. These are massive.

I think we planted them last year too. (But skipped several years before that due to weather, travel, health.)

Of course we had no way of knowing what a mild winter it was going to be. And good thing because the boxes/pots were never emptied last fall.

And we decided, planting this year, we were going to just use the same dirt. First time ever. Normally we empty in the fall and refill with fresh dirt in the spring. Anyone know about how long dirt can be reused like this?

I bought all the plants at a flea market. And I am never going to do that again. First, I took the risk of them surviving in the car trunk for hours. Second, I am not sure it was cheaper. Third, I was not supporting my local nursery, and I should be.

This box has geraniums, Salvia, and wave petunias.

Salvia and Wave petunias. 

Just Salvia in this one. Still deciding what else to plant.Those are a friend's trees in pot.

See how big these hosta are?
Massive. A bunny ate them down to the dirt last year.
Luckily they came back.

The hosta in this bed were not as mature as the previous picture. Some did not survive the bunny. Others barely survived the bunny. We have a fox now. And I am hoping he ate that specific bunny. We weeded this bed yesterday. And mulched. And I  staked every hosta spot. Replacing the empty spots. Looking for protection basket type thing to put over each of them, just in case the fox is not doing his job. 

I have planted milkweed here two summer in a row. So far nothing.
And I am afraid to weed in case those are milkweed.  

Lilac. Planted one or two summers ago. Bunny has left them alone.

 Lily of the Valley, in bloom.Hundreds of them.And they are spreading rather than condensing. Which is interesting. Normally when you see a bed of Lily of the Valley, they are very tightly bunched. These are evenly spaced, can see ground between them. 

new John Grisham in June

Both audible and Amazon taking pre orders -
Camino Island: A Novel Hardcover – June 6, 2017
by John Grisham

And FYI it appears to be about half the length of his standard legal story books.
This one is ten hours on audible. Most others are 19-20 I think.

weights then cardio

Here is a short/simple explanation.
http://christinacarlyle.com/weights-cardio-first-workout/

If you google it, many more explanations, but answer pretty consistent. Weights first. Cardio second.

A topic that was listed in many articles was avoiding injury by weights first and cardio second. Also a better/more effective weight workout if it is first.

Christina wrote (in link above)
1) Warm up
2) Weights
3) Cardio
4) Cool down

I would add
5) stretch

I do a lot of passive, yoga type stretching regularly. I do it after intentional exercise.

Starting back fluids after stomach flu

The flu shot is for respiratory flu.
For those catching it, respiratory flu has been pretty bad this year, long lasting.

 (The respiratory flu shot has nothing to do with the stomach flu).

The stomach flu has also been pretty bad this year. Long lasting. Like stomach symptoms on and off for weeks, with periods in between where stomach symptoms seem to go away, and then it comes back again. I have heard of multiple trips to the ER.

It is really unfortunate that the word flu is used for both stomach and respiratory. A lot of people, including medical people, hear the word "flu" and assume one or the other. Teach your kids to always put the word stomach or respiratory in front of the word flu for clarification.

Youngest was up all night puking
(At college)
Really terrible. Like 7 hours.

I found where I had actually written it.
This is the sort of thing your mother or grandmother has to teach, or you just don't know.

Toddlers and small children puke and then are super thirsty and then drink too much and start puking again. This originally came from a doctor. Obviously check with your doctor. And fine tune as needed.

And I am talking measured amounts,
Not sips.
Can use a plastic spoon if they are at college.
At home I use a toddler medicine measuring tube.

We wait 3-4 hours after last episode of vomiting.

If feeling a lot better, then start with 1/2 teaspoon of room temperature, either slightly flat sprite or gateraide.  1/2 teaspoon every fifteen minutes if no vomiting.

If make it one hour (four 1/2 teaspoons),
then increase to 1 teaspoon every fifteen minutes.

If make it through the next hour (four 1 teaspoons), with no vomiting,
then progress to 1 1/2 teaspoons (which is the same as a 1/2 tablespoon) every fifteen minutes.

At the end of that hour (four 1 1/2 teaspoons), if still have not vomited, and have been okay for 6-7 hours, and can progress to 1 tablespoon every 15 minutes.

At that point can move to SIPS. Unless it is a kid who cannot do sips, and then just keep increasing measured amount.

If at any point in that process, they vomit, the clock/whole process starts over waiting another 3-4 hours.

If you have high school students who are college bound or undergrad college students, in the science fields, this is an important connection for summer programs

https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/index.jsp

This is something college bound high schoolers need to know, so they can plan ahead for college summers.

This is a great resource.

And if I have not mentioned it previously, have your kids keep lists of all their activities, programs and contacts. When asking for letters of recommendation, give the person a bio so they can reference the student's programs and  activities.

Garlic cauliflower, green beans, chicken

This is a simple one we (husband and I) like.

 It is the only combination, so far, where we like the garlic cauliflower.  We love it this way. It is so so every other way (to us).

I either bake/chop chicken or chop chicken and then cook on top the stove. I barely book the veggies, only enough time and heat to get them hot. I mix all of it. I divide into 3 servings. Dinner for two of us, lunch for one of us. 

I do not cook anything in the plastic bag/microwave. So some of the medleys I buy are advertised that way, but I do not cook them that way. 

Another Book List - these are the titles my group has already read over the years. 2009-2017 I think. So the books listed in the post are the "done books", we have already read, as a group. We do 11 books a year. The same books are listed two ways. First half is listed by author. Then the second half is the same books listed in alphabetical order by title. I have marked the books I have read with an * on the second list/by title.

Please keep in mind, this is a classics book group. 
If you happen to think of books this group has not read, 
that would be considered classics, 
I would really appreciate a list in comments. 


Author Order

Achebe, Chinua

 Things Fall Apart  (1958)

Adams, Richard:
Watership Down (1972)

Anderson, Sherwood:
Winesburg Ohio (1919)  

Austen, Jane:
Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Pride and Prejudice (1813)

Northanger Abbey (1817)

Bradbury, Ray:
Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

Bronte, Charlotte:
Jane Eyre (1847)

Bronte, Emilee:
Wuthering Heights (1847)

Buck, Pearl:
The Good Earth (1931)

Burgess, Anthony:
Clockwork Orange (1962)

Camus, Albert:
The Stranger (1942)

Capote, Truman

In Cold Blood (1966)

Card, Orson Scott:
Ender’s Game (1985)

Carroll, Lewis:
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
Through the Looking Glass (1871)

Cather, Willa:
My Antonia (1918)
Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927)

Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de:
Don Quixote (1605 and 1615)

Chopin, Kate:
The Awakening (1899)

Christie, Agatha:
Murder on the Orient Express (1934)

Collins, Wilkie

The Woman in White (1860)

Cooper, James Fenimore

The Last of the Mohicans (1826)

Conrad, Joseph:
Heart of Darkness (1902)

Lord Jim (1899-1900)

Cormier, Robert:
The Chocolate War: A Novel (1974)

Crane, Stephen:
The Red Badge of Courage (1895)

Craven, Margaret:
I Heard the Owl Call my Name (1960)

Defoe, Daniel: 
Robinson Crusoe (1719)

Moll Flanders (1722)

Dickens, Charles:
Bleak House (1852-1853)
Tale of Two Cities (1859)
Great Expectations (1860-1861)

Oliver Twist (1838)
Hard Times (1854)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor:
Crime and Punishment (1866)
Brothers Karamazov (1879-1880)
Notes from the Underground (1864)

Doyle, Arthur Conan:
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901-1902)

Dreiser, Theodore:
An American Tragedy (1925)
Sister Carrie (1900)

Eliot, George

The Mill on the Floss (1860)

Ellison, Ralph:
Invisible Man (1952)

Faulkner, William

The Sound and the Fury (1929)

As I Lay Dying (1930)

Fitzgerald, F. Scott:
This Side of Paradise (1920)
The Great Gatsby (1925)
Tender is the Night (1934)


Forster, E.M.:
A Room With a View (1908)
Howards End (1910)
A Passage to India (1924)

Frank, Anne:
The Diary of a Young Girl (1947)

Golding, William:
Lord of the Flies (1954)

Hammett, Dashiell:
Maltese Falcon (1940)

Hardy, Thomas:
Tess of D’Urbervilles (1891)

Jude the Obscure (1895)

Far from the Maddening Crowd (1874)

The Return of the Native (1878)

Hawthorne, Nathaniel:
The Scarlet Letter (1850)

The House of the Seven Gables (1851)

Heller, Joseph:
Catch-22 (1961)

Hemingway, Ernest:
The Sun Also Rises (1926)
A Farewell to Arms (1929)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940)
Old Man and the Sea (1952)

Hersey, Jophn

Hiroshima (1946)

Hesse, Hermann:
Siddhartha (1922)

Hugo, Victor

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831)

Hurston, Zora Neal:
Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)

Huxley, Aldous:
Brave New World (1931)

James, Henry

The Turn of the Screw (1898)

Joyce, James

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)

Kerouac, Jack:
On the Road (1957)


Kesey, Ken:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962)

Kipling, Rudyard

Captains Courageous (1897)

Kim (1900-1901)

Knowles, John:
A Separate Peace (1959)

Lawrence, D.H.:
Sons and Lovers (1913)
Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)

Women in Love (1920)

Le Carre, John

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)

Lee, Harper:
To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)

Leroux , Gaston

The Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

Lewis, Sinclair:
Main Street (1920)
Babbitt (1922)
Arrowsmith (1925)

London, Jack:
The Call of the Wild (1903)
Sea Wolf (1904)

Machiavelli, Niccolo

The Prince (1513)

Marquez, Gabriel Garcia:
Love in the Time of Cholera (1985)

One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967)

Maugham, Somerset:
Of Human Bondage (1915)
The Razor’s Edge (1944)

Maurier, Daphne Du:
Rebecca (1938)

McCullers, Carson:
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940)
The Member of the Wedding (1946)

McEwan, Ian
Atonement (2001)

Mellville, Herman:
Moby Dick (1851)


Morrison, Toni:
Beloved (1987)

Nabokov, Vladimir:
Lolita (1955)

Obama, Barack

Dreams From My Father (1995)

Orczy, Baroness Emmuska:
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905)

Orwell, George:
Animal Farm (1945)
1984 (1949)

Paton, Alan:
Cry the Beloved Country (1948)

Plath, Sylvia

The Bell Jar (1963)

Potok, Chaim

My Name is Asher Lev (1972)

Rand, Ayn

Anthem (1938)

Remarque, Erich Maria

All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)

Salinger, J.D.:
Catcher in the Rye (1951)

Scott, Sir Wallace:
Ivanhoe (1819)

Shelley, Mary:
Frankenstein (1818)

Sinclair, Upton:
The Jungle(1906)

Solzhenitsyn:
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962)

Spark,Muriel:
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961)

Steinbeck, John:
Red Pony (1937)
Of Mice and Men (1937)
Grapes of Wrath (1939)
East of Eden (1952)

Stevenson, Robert Louis:
Treasure Island (1883)
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)

Kidnapped (1893)

Stoker, Bram

Dracula (1897)

Stowe, Harriet Beecher:
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) 

Styron, William:
Sophie’s Choice (1979)

Swift, Jonathon:
Gullivers Travels (1735)

Thoreau, Henry David

Walden (1854)

Tocqueville,  Alexis de

 Democracy in America (1835) abridged

Twain, Mark:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894)

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889)

Verne, Jules

Around the World in 80 Days (1873)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870)

Voltaire

Candide (1759) 

Vonnegut, Kurt:
Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)

Cat's Cradle (1963)

Walker, Alice:
The Color Purple (1982)

Waugh, Evelyn:
Brideshead Revisited (1945)

Wells, H.G.:
Time Machine (1895)

Wharton, Edith:
Ethan Frome (1911)
The Age of Innocence (1920)

Wilde, Oscar:
The Picture of Dorian Grey (1891)

Wilder, Thorton:
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) 

Wolfe, Thomas:
Look Homeward Angel (1929)

Wolfe, Virginia

To the Lighthouse (1927)

Wright, Richard:
Native Son (1940)

SAME BOOKS IN TITLE ORDER

 (I have read books marked with an *)

*1984 (1949) by George Orwell

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870) by Jules Verne

*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain

*The Age of Innocence (1920) by Edith Wharton

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1871) by Lewis Carroll

*All Quiet on the Western Front (1929) by Erich Maria Remarque

An American Tragedy (1925) by Theodore Dreiser

*Animal Farm (1945) by George Orwell

Anthem (1938) by Ayn Rand

*Around the World in 80 Days (1873) by Jules Verne

Arrowsmith (1925) by Sinclair Lewis

As I Lay Dying (1930) by William Faulkner

*Atonement (2001) by Ian McEwan 

*The Awakening (1899) by Kate Chopin

Babbitt (1922) by Sinclair Lewis

The Bell Jar (1963) by Sylvia Plath

Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison

*Bleak House (1852-1853) by Charles Dickens

*Brave New World (1931) by Aldous Huxley

*Brideshead Revisited (1945) by Evelyn Waugh

*Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) by Thorton Wilder

*The Brothers Karamazov (1879-1880) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

*The Call of the Wild (1903) by Jack London

Candide (1759) by Voltaire

Captains Courageous (1897) by Rudyard Kipling

*Catch-22 (1961) by Joseph Heller

Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J.D. Salinger

Cat's Cradle (1963) by Kurt Vonnegut

*The Chocolate War: A Novel (1974) by Robert Cormier

Clockwork Orange (1962) by Anthony Burgess

*A Color Purple (1982) by Alice Walker

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court  (1889) by Mark Twain

*Crime and Punishment (1866) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

*Cry the Beloved Country (1948) by Alan Paton

Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927) by Willa Cather

Democracy in America (1835) abridged by Alexis de Tocqueville

*The Diary of a Young Girl (1947) by Anne Frank

*Don Quixote (1605 and 1615) by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

*Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker

*Dreams From My Father (1995) by Barack Obama

*East of Eden (952) by John Steinbeck

*Ender’s Game (1985) by Orson Scott Card

*Ethan Frome (1911) by Edith Wharton

Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury

*A Farewell to Arms (1929) by Ernest Hemingway

*Far from the Maddening Crowd (1874) by Thomas Hardy

*For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) by Ernest Hemingway

*Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley

*The Good Earth (1931) Pearl Buck

*Grapes of Wrath (1939) by John Steinbeck

*Great Expectations (1860-1861) by Charles Dickens

*The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald

*Gulliver's Travels (1735) by Jonathon Swift

Hard Times (1854) by Charles Dickens

*The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) by Carson McCullers

*Heart of Darkness (1902) by Joseph Conrad

Hiroshima (1946) by John Hersey

*The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901-1902) by Arthur Conan Doyle

*The House of the Seven Gables (1851) by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Howards End (1910) by E.M. Forster

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) by Victor Hugo

I Heard the Owl Call my Name (1960) by Margaret Craven

*In Cold Blood (1966) by Truman Capote

Invisible Man (1952) by Ralph Ellison

Ivanhoe (1819) by Sir Wallace Scott

*Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Bronte

Jude the Obscure (1895) by Thomas Hardy

The Jungle(1906) by Upton Sinclair

*Kidnapped (1893) by Robert Louis Stevenson

*Kim (1900-1901) by Rudyard Kipling

Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) by D H Lawrence

The Last of the Mohicans (1826) James Fenimore Cooper

*Lolita (1955) by Vladimir Nabokov

Look Homeward Angel (1929) by Thomas Wolfe

Lord Jim (1899-1900) by Joseph Conrad

*Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding

Love in the Time of Cholera (1985) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Main Street (1920) by Sinclair Lewis

*Maltese Falcon (1940) by Dashiell Hammett

*The Member of the Wedding (1946) by Carson McCullers

The Mill on the Floss (1860) by George Eliot

*Moby Dick (1851) by Herman Mellville

*Moll Flanders (1722) by Daniel Defoe

*Murder on the Orient Express (1934) by Agatha Christie

*My Antonia (1918) by Willa Cather

My Name is Asher Lev (1972) by Chaim Potok

Native Son (1940) by Richard Wright

*Northanger Abbey (1817) by Jane Austen

Notes from the Underground (1864) by Fyodor Dostoeavsky

Of Human Bondage (1915) by Somerset Maugham

*Of Mice and Men (1937) by John Steinbeck

*Old Man and the Sea (1952) by Ernest Hemingway

*Oliver Twist (1838) by Charles Dickens

On the Road (1957) by Jack Kerouac

*One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) by Solzhenitsyn

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) by Ken Kesey

*One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

*A Passage to India (1924) by E.M. Forster

The Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910) by Gaston Leroux

*The Picture of Dorian Grey (1891) by Oscar Wilde

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) by James Joyce

*Pride and Prejudice (1813) by Jane Austen

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) by Muriel Spark

The Prince (1513) by Machiavelli

*Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894) by Mark Twain

*The Razor’s Edge (1944) by Somerset Maugham

*Rebecca (1938) by Daphne Du Maurier

*Red Badge of Courage (1895) by Stephen Crane

*Red Pony (1937) by John Steinbeck

The Return of the Native (1878) by Thomas Hardy

*Robinson Crusoe (1719) by Daniel Defoe

*A Room With a View (1908) by E.M. Forster

*The Scarlet Letter (1850) by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905) by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Sea Wolf (1904) by Jack London

*Sense and Sensibility (1811) by Jane Austen

*A Separate Peace (1959) by John Knowles

Siddhartha (1922) by Hermann Hesse

Sister Carrie (1900) by Theodore Dreiser

Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) by Kurt Vonnegut

*Sons and Lovers (1913) by D.H. Lawrence

*Sophie’s Choice (1979) by William Styron

The Sound and the Fury (1929) by William Faulkner

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) by Robert Luis Stevenson

*The Stranger (1942) by Albert Camus

*The Sun Also Rises (1926) by Ernest Hemingway

*Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens

*Tender is the Night (1934) by F. Scott Fitzgerald

*Tess of D’Urbervilles (1891) by Thomas Hardy

*Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neal Hurston

*Things Fall Apart  (1958) by Chinua Achebe

*This Side of Paradise (1920) by F Scott Firzgerald

*Time Machine (1895) by H.G. Wells

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974) by John le Carre

*To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) by Harper Lee

*To the Lighthouse (1927) by Virginia Woolf

*Treasure Island (1883) by Robert Lewis Stevenson

*The Turn of the Screw (1898) by Henry James

*Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Walden (1854)  by Henry David Thoreau

*Watership Down (1972) by Richard Adams

*Winesburg Ohio (1919) by Sherwood Anderson

*The Woman in White (1860) by Wilkie Collins

Women in Love (1920) by D. H. Lawrence

*Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emilee Bronte