2012 To-Read List

1. The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (1605), by none-other-than Miguel Cervantes, falls on my reading list as a result of my foolishly starting it last year with a single week left before summer. I, obviously, had to return it before I could really seek my teeth in. I am one to never leave something unfinished (unless it proves too difficult... but that doesn't happen), and despite the somewhat archaic terminology and slightly wordy style, I WILL finish this book! No matter how many times I must read all 992 pages to understand them!
2. Atlas Shrugged (1957), one of Ayn Rand's tales, comes barreling into my list, 1088 pages in tow, because I like her writings and know that they tend to have deeper, usually political themes involved. It may be long, but the style isn't like it's from the seventeenth century (AHEM, Cervantes), and it probably will not be a dictionary opener, from other books by Rand I've read.
3. John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (1939) has been recommended to my by my mother for the last ten years. Yes, since I was seven. She always brags on how easy it is to read, if a bit odd at times. Oh, and she rambles about a turtle crossing a road for a whole chapter. Anyway, it is apparently a metaphor every other chapter, which I will absolutely love when I figure them out and hate if I fail to. With 464 pages of intense turtle-crossing-the-road action, I am sure to finish this one way before Atlas Shrugged, and maybe find an apt replacement for "why did the chicken cross the road."
4. Pulling again from John Steinbeck's arsenal, East of Eden (1952) has been praised as the new Cain and Abel, or so a college-bound friend says. Judging from my knowledge of Steinbeck's difficulty, this should be a rather easy read, all 601 pages.
5. Finally coming to a tried and true classic, Shakespeare's Macbeth (1623) has been on my "to read" list for years. It's the author. On the other hand, the words he uses sometimes have changed meaning, drastically, and his style can be murky. It's the time period. 204 pages make this a longer read by him (from my apparently limited experience), but it should be a satisfying one. I do like his works, for the most part. The next three books share the same reasons for reading as this one, the same difficulty, and the same author, so I will list their names, length, and publication date in the sake of simplicity.
6. King Lear (Between 1603 1606) 300 pages
7. Twelfth Night (1623) 272 pages
8. Hamlet (1603) 330 pages
9. Oedipus Rex (430 B.C.) by the late, great Sophocles, falls on my list because of its prevalence in the world of reading. I have read Antigone, and have seen the rhetoric and style therein. It was less then pretty. However, 80 more pages of such is not much to ask, so I will undertake this nearly prehistoric book.
10. Homer's The Iliad (200 B.C.)(Originated around 850 B.C., give 100 years or take 400), strikingly short at 196 pages, it commands a place on the list because I've wanted to read it since reading the Odyssey. The language is hard, to say the least, but I can manage. Besides, many texts reference Homer's classics, and, as a result, I must be familiar with them.