#book bram is like 22? 25 up most?

[lizarddiary]

I'm obsessed with Fading Lights by @miqomischief , so it's fanart time!

This right here is Bram. Book Bram. Not Glitter Royalty yet.

[nobeerreviews]

How many have you read?

The BBC estimates that most people will only read 6 books out of the 100 listed below. Take the list, bold the titles you’ve read completely and italicize the ones you only read partially (watched the movie counts as well as partial).

NB: of course the list has nothing to do with BBC, somebody just made up a click-baity title. But tag game is tag game so here's my list, as requested by @beforevenice

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien 3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible 7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens 11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy 13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (lol complete they say) 15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien 17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks 18 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger 19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffeneger 20 Middlemarch – George Eliot 21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell 22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald 23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens 24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams 26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh 27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky 28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck 29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll 30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame 31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy 32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens 33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis 34 Emma – Jane Austen 35 Persuasion – Jane Austen 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini 38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres 39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden 40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne 41 Animal Farm – George Orwell 42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving 45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins 46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery 47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy 48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood 49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding 50 Atonement – Ian McEwan 51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel 52 Dune – Frank Herbert 53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons 54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen 55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth 56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon 57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens 58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck 62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov 63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold 65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas 66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac 67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy 68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding 69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie 70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville 71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 72 Dracula – Bram Stoker 73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett 74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson 75 Ulysses – James Joyce 76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome 78 Germinal – Emile Zola 79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray 80 Possession – AS Byatt 81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens 82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchel 83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker 84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro 85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert 86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry 87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton 91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad 92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery 93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks 94 Watership Down – Richard Adams 95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole 96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute 97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas 98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl 100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

I tag: @isay @esoteric-antimetabole @luckgodd @thewellbeingwarrior @heart-of-the-matter93 @ronique and everybody who feels like carrying on!

[isay]

How many have you read?

The BBC estimates that most people will only read 6 books out of the 100 listed below. Take the list, bold the titles you’ve read completely and italicize the ones you only read partially (watched the movie counts as well as partial).

NB: of course the list has nothing to do with BBC, somebody just made up a click-baity title. But tag game is tag game so here's my list, as requested by @nobeerreviews 

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien 3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible 7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens 11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy 13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare  15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien 17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks 18 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger 19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffeneger 20 Middlemarch – George Eliot 21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell 22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald 23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens 24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy (the recent BBC adaptation is thoroughly recommended) 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams 26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh 27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky 28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck 29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll 30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame 31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (the Garbo version is great) 32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens 33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis 34 Emma – Jane Austen (Clueless is better) 35 Persuasion – Jane Austen 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini 38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres (I really should watch the film as it has Oscar winner Nic Cage in the lead) 39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden 40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne 41 Animal Farm – George Orwell 42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving 45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins 46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery 47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy 48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood 49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding 50 Atonement – Ian McEwan 51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel 52 Dune – Frank Herbert 53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons 54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen 55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth 56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon 57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens (the Ronald Colman version obvs) 58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck 62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov 63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold 65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas (Colman again) 66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac 67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy 68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding 69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie 70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville 71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 72 Dracula – Bram Stoker 73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett 74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson 75 Ulysses – James Joyce (I made it about halfway through and decided life is just too short) 76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome 78 Germinal – Emile Zola 79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray 80 Possession – AS Byatt 81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens 82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchel 83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker 84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro 85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert 86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry 87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton 91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad 92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery 93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks 94 Watership Down – Richard Adams  95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole 96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute 97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas (the Richard Lester films are truly excellent) 98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl 100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

64 including partials/movies (which really upped my score) although seeing as it took me about four months to make it through William Gibson’s last novel (thanks 2020/COVID attention span) I have no idea how long it will take me to plough through anything else.

[nildespirandum]

From @macrolit

How many have you read?

The BBC estimates that most people will only read 6 books out of the 100 listed below. Reblog this and bold the titles you’ve read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkein

3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

4 Harry Potter series

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens

11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare

15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks

18 Catcher in the Rye

19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffeneger

20 Middlemarch – George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald

23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis

34 Emma – Jane Austen

35 Persuasion – Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne

41 Animal Farm – George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving

45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding

50 Atonement – Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel

52 Dune – Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens

72 Dracula – Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses – James Joyce

76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal – Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession – AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchel

83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks

94 Watership Down – Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

So I have read 80, there we two on there that I started and gave up, and another five that I own but haven’t gotten to yet.  

Why are The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on separate lines?

So, how many have you read?

[justforbooks]

The 100 best novels written in English: the full list

After two years of careful consideration, Robert McCrum has reached a verdict on his selection of the 100 greatest novels written in English. Take a look at his list.

1. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (1678)

A story of a man in search of truth told with the simple clarity and beauty of Bunyan’s prose make this the ultimate English classic.

2. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)

By the end of the 19th century, no book in English literary history had enjoyed more editions, spin-offs and translations. Crusoe’s world-famous novel is a complex literary confection, and it’s irresistible.

3. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726)

A satirical masterpiece that’s never been out of print, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels comes third in our list of the best novels written in English

4. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson (1748)

Clarissa is a tragic heroine, pressured by her unscrupulous nouveau-riche family to marry a wealthy man she detests, in the book that Samuel Johnson described as “the first book in the world for the knowledge it displays of the human heart.”

5. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (1749)

Tom Jones is a classic English novel that captures the spirit of its age and whose famous characters have come to represent Augustan society in all its loquacious, turbulent, comic variety.

6. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne (1759)

Laurence Sterne’s vivid novel caused delight and consternation when it first appeared and has lost little of its original bite.

7. Emma by Jane Austen (1816)

Jane Austen’s Emma is her masterpiece, mixing the sparkle of her early books with a deep sensibility.

8. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

Mary Shelley’s first novel has been hailed as a masterpiece of horror and the macabre.

9. Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock (1818)

The great pleasure of Nightmare Abbey, which was inspired by Thomas Love Peacock’s friendship with Shelley, lies in the delight the author takes in poking fun at the romantic movement.

10. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe (1838)

Edgar Allan Poe’s only novel – a classic adventure story with supernatural elements – has fascinated and influenced generations of writers.

11. Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli (1845)

The future prime minister displayed flashes of brilliance that equalled the greatest Victorian novelists.

12. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847)

Charlotte Brontë’s erotic, gothic masterpiece became the sensation of Victorian England. Its great breakthrough was its intimate dialogue with the reader.

13. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

Emily Brontë’s windswept masterpiece is notable not just for its wild beauty but for its daring reinvention of the novel form itself.

14. Vanity Fair by William Thackeray (1848)

William Thackeray’s masterpiece, set in Regency England, is a bravura performance by a writer at the top of his game.

15. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)

David Copperfield marked the point at which Dickens became the great entertainer and also laid the foundations for his later, darker masterpieces.

16. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s astounding book is full of intense symbolism and as haunting as anything by Edgar Allan Poe.

17. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (1851)

Wise, funny and gripping, Melville’s epic work continues to cast a long shadow over American literature.

18. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)

Lewis Carroll’s brilliant nonsense tale is one of the most influential and best loved in the English canon.

19. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868)

Wilkie Collins’s masterpiece, hailed by many as the greatest English detective novel, is a brilliant marriage of the sensational and the realistic.

20. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868-9)

Louisa May Alcott’s highly original tale aimed at a young female market has iconic status in America and never been out of print.

21. Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871-2)

This cathedral of words stands today as perhaps the greatest of the great Victorian fictions.

22. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (1875)

Inspired by the author’s fury at the corrupt state of England, and dismissed by critics at the time, The Way We Live Now is recognised as Trollope’s masterpiece.

23. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884/5)

Mark Twain’s tale of a rebel boy and a runaway slave seeking liberation upon the waters of the Mississippi remains a defining classic of American literature.

24. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

A thrilling adventure story, gripping history and fascinating study of the Scottish character, Kidnapped has lost none of its power.

25. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome (1889)

Jerome K Jerome’s accidental classic about messing about on the Thames remains a comic gem.

26. The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (1890)

Sherlock Holmes’s second outing sees Conan Doyle’s brilliant sleuth – and his bluff sidekick Watson – come into their own.

27. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891)

Wilde’s brilliantly allusive moral tale of youth, beauty and corruption was greeted with howls of protest on publication.

28. New Grub Street by George Gissing (1891)

George Gissing’s portrayal of the hard facts of a literary life remains as relevant today as it was in the late 19th century.

29. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (1895)

Hardy exposed his deepest feelings in this bleak, angry novel and, stung by the hostile response, he never wrote another.

30. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (1895)

Stephen Crane’s account of a young man’s passage to manhood through soldiery is a blueprint for the great American war novel.

31. Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)

Bram Stoker’s classic vampire story was very much of its time but still resonates more than a century later.

32. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899)

Joseph Conrad’s masterpiece about a life-changing journey in search of Mr Kurtz has the simplicity of great myth.

33. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (1900)

Theodore Dreiser was no stylist, but there’s a terrific momentum to his unflinching novel about a country girl’s American dream.

34. Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1901)

In Kipling’s classic boy’s own spy story, an orphan in British India must make a choice between east and west.

35. The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903)

Jack London’s vivid adventures of a pet dog that goes back to nature reveal an extraordinary style and consummate storytelling.

36. The Golden Bowl by Henry James (1904)

American literature contains nothing else quite like Henry James’s amazing, labyrinthine and claustrophobic novel.

37. Hadrian the Seventh by Frederick Rolfe (1904)

This entertaining if contrived story of a hack writer and priest who becomes pope sheds vivid light on its eccentric author – described by DH Lawrence as a “man-demon”.

38. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908)

The evergreen tale from the riverbank and a powerful contribution to the mythology of Edwardian England.

39. The History of Mr Polly by HG Wells (1910)

The choice is great, but Wells’s ironic portrait of a man very like himself is the novel that stands out.

40. Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm (1911)

The passage of time has conferred a dark power upon Beerbohm’s ostensibly light and witty Edwardian satire.

41. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford (1915)

Ford’s masterpiece is a searing study of moral dissolution behind the facade of an English gentleman – and its stylistic influence lingers to this day.

42. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915)

John Buchan’s espionage thriller, with its sparse, contemporary prose, is hard to put down.

43. The Rainbow by DH Lawrence (1915)

The Rainbow is perhaps DH Lawrence’s finest work, showing him for the radical, protean, thoroughly modern writer he was.

44. Of Human Bondage by W Somerset Maugham (1915)

Somerset Maugham’s semi-autobiographical novel shows the author’s savage honesty and gift for storytelling at their best.

45. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (1920)

The story of a blighted New York marriage stands as a fierce indictment of a society estranged from culture.

46. Ulysses by James Joyce (1922)

This portrait of a day in the lives of three Dubliners remains a towering work, in its word play surpassing even Shakespeare.

47. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis (1922)

What it lacks in structure and guile, this enthralling take on 20s America makes up for in vivid satire and characterisation.

48. A Passage to India by EM Forster (1924)

EM Forster’s most successful work is eerily prescient on the subject of empire.

49. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos (1925)

A guilty pleasure it may be, but it is impossible to overlook the enduring influence of a tale that helped to define the jazz age.

50. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925)

Woolf’s great novel makes a day of party preparations the canvas for themes of lost love, life choices and mental illness.

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

Fitzgerald’s jazz age masterpiece has become a tantalising metaphor for the eternal mystery of art.

52. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926)

A young woman escapes convention by becoming a witch in this original satire about England after the first world war.

53. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (1926)

Hemingway’s first and best novel makes an escape to 1920s Spain to explore courage, cowardice and manly authenticity.

54. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1929)

Dashiell Hammett’s crime thriller and its hard-boiled hero Sam Spade influenced everyone from Chandler to Le Carré.

55. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (1930)

The influence of William Faulkner’s immersive tale of raw Mississippi rural life can be felt to this day.

56. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)

Aldous Huxley’s vision of a future human race controlled by global capitalism is every bit as prescient as Orwell’s more famous dystopia.

57. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932)

The book for which Gibbons is best remembered was a satire of late-Victorian pastoral fiction but went on to influence many subsequent generations.

58. Nineteen Nineteen by John Dos Passos (1932)

The middle volume of John Dos Passos’s USA trilogy is revolutionary in its intent, techniques and lasting impact.

59. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934)

The US novelist’s debut revelled in a Paris underworld of seedy sex and changed the course of the novel – though not without a fight with the censors.

60. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh (1938)

Evelyn Waugh’s Fleet Street satire remains sharp, pertinent and memorable.

61. Murphy by Samuel Beckett (1938)

Samuel Beckett’s first published novel is an absurdist masterpiece, a showcase for his uniquely comic voice.

62. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939)

Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled debut brings to life the seedy LA underworld – and Philip Marlowe, the archetypal fictional detective.

63. Party Going by Henry Green (1939)

Set on the eve of war, this neglected modernist masterpiece centres on a group of bright young revellers delayed by fog.

64. At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O’Brien (1939)

Labyrinthine and multilayered, Flann O’Brien’s humorous debut is both a reflection on, and an exemplar of, the Irish novel.

65. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939)

One of the greatest of great American novels, this study of a family torn apart by poverty and desperation in the Great Depression shocked US society.

66. Joy in the Morning by PG Wodehouse (1946)

PG Wodehouse’s elegiac Jeeves novel, written during his disastrous years in wartime Germany, remains his masterpiece.

67. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946)

A compelling story of personal and political corruption, set in the 1930s in the American south.

68. Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (1947)

Malcolm Lowry’s masterpiece about the last hours of an alcoholic ex-diplomat in Mexico is set to the drumbeat of coming conflict.

69. The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen (1948)

Elizabeth Bowen’s 1948 novel perfectly captures the atmosphere of London during the blitz while providing brilliant insights into the human heart.

70. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949)

George Orwell’s dystopian classic cost its author dear but is arguably the best-known novel in English of the 20th century.

71. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (1951)

Graham Greene’s moving tale of adultery and its aftermath ties together several vital strands in his work.

72. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (1951)

JD Salinger’s study of teenage rebellion remains one of the most controversial and best-loved American novels of the 20th century.

73. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow (1953)

In the long-running hunt to identify the great American novel, Saul Bellow’s picaresque third book frequently hits the mark.

74. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)

Dismissed at first as “rubbish & dull”, Golding’s brilliantly observed dystopian desert island tale has since become a classic.

75. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)

Nabokov’s tragicomic tour de force crosses the boundaries of good taste with glee.

76. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957)

The creative history of Kerouac’s beat-generation classic, fuelled by pea soup and benzedrine, has become as famous as the novel itself.

77. Voss by Patrick White (1957)

A love story set against the disappearance of an explorer in the outback, Voss paved the way for a generation of Australian writers to shrug off the colonial past.

78. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

Her second novel finally arrived this summer, but Harper Lee’s first did enough alone to secure her lasting fame, and remains a truly popular classic.

79. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1960)

Short and bittersweet, Muriel Spark’s tale of the downfall of a Scottish schoolmistress is a masterpiece of narrative fiction.

80. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)

This acerbic anti-war novel was slow to fire the public imagination, but is rightly regarded as a groundbreaking critique of military madness.

81. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing (1962)

Hailed as one of the key texts of the women’s movement of the 1960s, this study of a divorced single mother’s search for personal and political identity remains a defiant, ambitious tour de force.

82. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)

Anthony Burgess’s dystopian classic still continues to startle and provoke, refusing to be outshone by Stanley Kubrick’s brilliant film adaptation.

83. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (1964)

Christopher Isherwood’s story of a gay Englishman struggling with bereavement in LA is a work of compressed brilliance.

84. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1966)

Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel, a true story of bloody murder in rural Kansas, opens a window on the dark underbelly of postwar America.

85. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1966)

Sylvia Plath’s painfully graphic roman à clef, in which a woman struggles with her identity in the face of social pressure, is a key text of Anglo-American feminism.

86. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth (1969)

This wickedly funny novel about a young Jewish American’s obsession with masturbation caused outrage on publication, but remains his most dazzling work.

87. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (1971)

Elizabeth Taylor’s exquisitely drawn character study of eccentricity in old age is a sharp and witty portrait of genteel postwar English life facing the changes taking shape in the 60s.

88. Rabbit Redux by John Updike (1971)

Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, Updike’s lovably mediocre alter ego, is one of America’s great literary protoganists, up there with Huck Finn and Jay Gatsby.

89. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (1977)

The novel with which the Nobel prize-winning author established her name is a kaleidoscopic evocation of the African-American experience in the 20th century.

90. A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul (1979)

VS Naipaul’s hellish vision of an African nation’s path to independence saw him accused of racism, but remains his masterpiece.

91. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)

The personal and the historical merge in Salman Rushdie’s dazzling, game-changing Indian English novel of a young man born at the very moment of Indian independence.

92. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (1981)

Marilynne Robinson’s tale of orphaned sisters and their oddball aunt in a remote Idaho town is admired by everyone from Barack Obama to Bret Easton Ellis.

93. Money: A Suicide Note by Martin Amis (1984)

Martin Amis’s era-defining ode to excess unleashed one of literature’s greatest modern monsters in self-destructive antihero John Self.

94. An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (1986)

Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel about a retired artist in postwar Japan, reflecting on his career during the country’s dark years, is a tour de force of unreliable narration.

95. The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald (1988)

Fitzgerald’s story, set in Russia just before the Bolshevik revolution, is her masterpiece: a brilliant miniature whose peculiar magic almost defies analysis.

96. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (1988)

Anne Tyler’s portrayal of a middle-aged, mid-American marriage displays her narrative clarity, comic timing and ear for American speech to perfection.

97. Amongst Women by John McGahern (1990)

This modern Irish masterpiece is both a study of the faultlines of Irish patriarchy and an elegy for a lost world.

98. Underworld by Don DeLillo (1997)

A writer of “frightening perception”, Don DeLillo guides the reader in an epic journey through America’s history and popular culture.

99. Disgrace by JM Coetzee (1999)

In his Booker-winning masterpiece, Coetzee’s intensely human vision infuses a fictional world that both invites and confounds political interpretation.

100. True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (2000)

Peter Carey rounds off our list of literary milestones with a Booker prize-winning tour-de-force examining the life and times of Australia’s infamous antihero, Ned Kelly.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[umbrylcrow]

2, 4, 18, 22 annnnd 25

Bookworm Asks!

2. Favorite classic book?

You already know this one lmao, it's Dracula by Bram Stoker. Daddy Vamp is the best vamp and the story and characters just mean a lot to me, particularly Dracula. I'd like to write a story with Dracula in it one day.

4. Most overrated classic book?

Oh my God, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger so very much. That book is constantly praised and dudebros have such a hard-on for it and I don't get it. It's a nothingness stream of conscious garbage story. Like I'm not a fan of The Great Gatsby but I GET why that book has the reputation it does, but I will never understand the appeal of Catcher in the Rye. Everything about that book is so unpleasant, especially Holden. The fact we're saddled with the inner workings of the mind of a sixteen year old boy is hell on earth.

One of the worst most beloved classics I've ever had the misfortune of being forced to read (thanks for nothing, AP English).

18.Favorite and least favorite books read for high school classes?

This is an easy one. Favorite was, no contest, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee which is still one of my absolute favorite books today (and I'll never forgive them for publishing Go Set A Watchman which is NOT a sequel and was in fact the original draft and Harper Lee, in her old age, was tricked into handing over the rights). It's a fantastic book that was made into also one of my favorite films with Gregory Peck. You feel anger, happiness, sadness, just a whole spectrum of emotions whilst reading the book. It's something really special.

My least favorite is one I will never forget and go to the grave despising, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. This book is so fucking boring and anger inducing that I would sooner read Catcher in the Rye a hundred times before even MAYBE considering reading this again. The entirety of my grade hated this book so much my teacher decided to not give us it for homework anymore like halfway through and just read the rest to us in class because we refused. It was the one and only book we didn't have to write an essay for it was that unpopular and with good reason. Book sucks man. One of the worst I've ever read.

22. Any book(s) you were surprised to end up liking?

There's a few actually. A couple are now some of my favorite books. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco is one. When I originally read it I hated it but I went back on a whim just to give it another chance and I was surprised to find that I fell in love with that book, I honestly thought my mind wouldn't change on it. Now I own like all of Rin Chupeco's books.

Another is World War Z by Max Brooks You spoke so highly of it so I decided to pick it up and I was super wary at first given all the military talk that I genuinely thought I'd have to tell you I didn't like it but I found I didn't mind it and it was really engaging. I love the whole book (there is that little submarine section that goes on too long before anything happens but once shit happens it becomes really good).

There's plenty of others but those are the big two I feel.

25. What books do you read over and over?

I actually read Dracula every year around Christmas time and have been doing so since I got it on Christmas when I was thirteen. I've also read The Complete Sherlock Holmes many times as well, I believe I'd read it eight times now. I think those are the two I read over the most actually.

If plays can be counted then I read Hamlet quite often too.

[kimberblog]

Het jaar 2020

Aangezien dit jaar zo anders was dan alle anderen, is het des te fijner om deze traditie erin te houden. Dus net als  2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 en 2019, hierbij het invullijstje voor 2020.

1: What did you do in 2020 that you’d never done before?

Ik was zwanger. Ik ben bevallen. Ik ben moeder geworden. Ik heb sinds mijn werkende leven nog nooit zo lang achter elkaar niet gewerkt.

En ondertussen was het leven buiten de zwangerschapsbubbel ook nog drastisch gewijzigd: Ik droeg voor het eerst mondkapjes in openbare ruimten. Ik ben meerdere keren in lockdown gegaan. Ik heb vanaf eind februari thuis gewerkt (waardoor ik, in combi met mijn verlof, het kantoor al 10 maanden niet van binnen heb gezien). Ik leidde vergaderingen via Zoom. Ik leerde standaard 1,5 meter afstand te houden.

2: Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

De goede voornemens waren: Rust, reinheid, regelmaat. Meer vakanties en momenten van reflectie inbouwen voor mezelf.

Die grote vakantie is gelukt, maar daarna viel alles een beetje in het water, al zijn we nog wel weekenden weg geweest. De rust, reinheid en regelmaat zat er met een lockdown, zwangerschap en een kleine baby aan de ene kant veel meer in, en aan de andere kant staat het leven er zo door op zijn kop dat van een nieuwe balans nog niet altijd sprake is.

Voor 2021: Durf voor jezelf te kiezen, wees lief voor jezelf (minder schuldgevoel!), dan kun je dat ook blijven naar anderen.

3: Did anyone close to you give birth?

Ikzelf dus. Maar daarnaast: een vriendin van een meisje, een andere vriendin is momenteel zwanger, een collega en een vriendin van mijn man zijn rond dezelfde tijd bevallen, en er zijn teveel kennissen in onze omgeving die momenteel ook zwanger zijn/net zijn bevallen, nu we zelf ook in die bubbel zitten.

4: Did anyone close to you die?

Nee.

5: What countries did you visit?

Zuid-Afrika.

6: What would you like to have in 2020 that you lacked in 2019?

Rustmomenten voor mezelf zonder dat ik me er schuldig over voel. (Deze zin is al 2 jaar niet gewijzigd, maar krijgt alleen maar meer betekenis.)

7: What dates from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory?

Begin januari: Ik kom erachter dat ik zwanger ben.

Half maart: lockdown in Nederland, terwijl wij nog in Zuid-Afrika zitten.

9 september: Bram wordt geboren.

8: What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Bevallen, zwanger zijn, en de hormonen de baas blijven (en af en toe ook niet). Solliciteren terwijl ik 7 maanden zwanger was.

9: What was your biggest failure?

Ik heb heel veel moeite gehad met het loslaten van de verwachtingen van mezelf en anderen met betrekking tot zwanger zijn, bevallen, en het moederschap. Dit leidde tot onnodig veel onzekerheid en stress.

Een andere “failure” was een sollicitatie waar ik het helaas niet ben geworden.

Daarnaast heb ik afscheid genomen bij een politieke partij waar ik me niet op mijn plek voelde.

Eigenlijk voelen al deze drie dingen niet per sé als falen, meer als een beetje wat minder leuke dingen het afgelopen jaar, waarvan ik had gehoopt dat ze anders waren gelopen.

10: Did you suffer illness or injury?

De bevalling gebeurde door middel van een keizersnede, wat niet voor niets een grote buikoperatie wordt genoemd. Daarnaast was mijn zwangerschap zelf behoorlijk ziekte-vrij. Wel was ik heel moe. Daarnaast nog wat gaatjes gehad in mijn gebit.

11: What was the best thing you bought?

We hebben veel nieuwe spullen moeten aanschaffen voor de baby, maar bij het meeste was het de kick om het tweedehands te scoren. Plus, van die dingen word ik niet per sé superblij, eerder megatevreden dat we een goede deal hebben kunnen maken.

Daarnaast is er veel geklust in huis, dus de nieuwe badkamer is wel iets waar ik heel tevreden over ben. We hebben de vloerverwarming “gekocht”, dat is denk ik de beste koop van het jaar geweest.

Voor Manlief heb ik een bandschuurmachine gekocht, om al het klussen in de tuin te vergemakkelijken. Zelf ben ik net trotse eigenaar van twee nieuwe brillen.

En er is een nieuwe zitbank aangeschaft. Zeer luxe, na jaren op een doorgezakt marktplaatsexemplaar te hebben gezeten.

12: Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Mijn man en mijn naaste omgeving, toen ik behoorlijk last had van zwangerschapshormonen.

13: Whose behaviour made you appalled?

De Amerikaanse President, pro-Zwarte-Pieten, mensen die niet geloven in Corona, mensen die niet geloven in vaccinaties, mensen die ongevraagde meningen geven over moederschap en opvoeding.

14: Where did most of your money go?

In het huis. Met name in de badkamerverbouwing, maar door Corona ook in heel veel andere huisklussen.

15: What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Het huwelijksaanzoek van mijn broer aan zijn vriendin. De geboorte van onze zoon. De gedachte aan het eind van Corona 😊

16: What song will always remind you of 2020?

“Last Great American Dynasty” van Taylor Swift, van het album Folklore.

17: Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter?  c.) richer or poorer?

a.       Sadder

b.       Thinner

c.       Poorer

18: What do you wish you’d done more of?

Meer genieten van mijn zwangerschap of beginnende moederschap, door me minder aan te trekken van wat andere mensen zouden vinden.

19: What do you wish you’d done less of?

Me druk maken om dingen die nog komen gaan en waar ik niets aan kan veranderen. Klagen.

20: How did you spend Christmas?

We zouden dit jaar Kerst vieren bij mijn schoonfamilie, maar door Corona en de recente lockdown is dit toch afgezegd. Daarom gaan we nu naar mijn ouders op eerste kerstdag. We hopen tussendoor nog te kunnen eten met vrienden. Wellicht eten we 2e kerstdag nog met mijn schoonbroer en schoonzusje.

21: Did you fall in love in 2020?

Op mijn zoontje.

22: What was your favourite TV program?

Wie is de Mol, de serie Parks and Recreation die we opnieuw zijn gaan kijken, Kamp van Koningsbrugge, The Queens Gambit, Tiger King en Draadstaal.

23: Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Nee. Ik kan sommige mensen wat minder goed uitstaan, maar over het algemeen heb ik mensen dit jaar zo weinig gezien dat je wel heel veel moeite moet hebben gedaan als ik je nu zou haten. Ik haat een aantal systemen en een aantal manieren waarop de wereld schijnt te werken.

24: What was the best book you read?

Ik had gehoopt met een grote vakantie naar Zuid Afrika en een zwangerschapsverlof dat er veel tijd voor lezen zou zijn, maar niets was minder waar: tijdens mijn zwangerschap viel ik constant in slaap tijdens het lezen, en erna was er weinig tijd door de baby. Maar desondanks nog prima pagina’s geslurpt: 18 boeken en still counting.

Aanraders: The Penelopead van Margaret Atwood was een hele fijne pageturner en een hele vernieuwende kijk op het klassieke verhaal de Odyssee, net als “Silence of the girls” dat was over de Illyas. “De lange weg naar vrijheid”, de biografie van Mandela, zorgde voor heel veel achtergrondinformatie tijdens onze vakantie in Zuid Afrika. En “A beautiful foolish endeavor” van Hank Green was een hele mooie sequel.

Maar het beste boek van 2020 was tot nu toe “The 7 husbands of Evelyn Hugo”.  

25: What was your greatest musical discovery?

Geen echte ontdekking, als na 3 jaar op een rij hier Taylor Swift wordt genoemd. In 2020 kwam ze met twee verrassingsalbums, Folklore en Evermore. Folklore kwam een maand voor mijn bevalling uit, en ging daarom mee naar het ziekenhuis. Heerlijk dromerige liedjes om het puffen en de weeën even bij te vergeten.

26: What did you want and get?

Een kindje dat gezond ter wereld kwam. Een huis dat op orde was, met een verbouwde badkamer en nieuwe spullen.

27: What did you want and not get?

Een relaxte borstvoedingsperiode. Een natuurlijke bevalling, maar dat was niet per sé heel belangrijk achteraf.

28: What was your favourite film of this year?

Ondanks de lockdown half maart heb ik 6 films voor die tijd nog in de bios kunnen zien. Daarvan waren “De beentjes van St. Hildegaard” en “Little Women” het leukst.

Thuis voor de buis sprongen “Emma”, “The 13th”, “Coco” en “Enola Holmes” er het meeste uit.

29: What one thing made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Dat we achteraf gezien op het laatste moment (vanwege zwanger worden en vanwege corona) nog een hele mooie reis hebben kunnen maken. En alle steun en gelukswensen van iedereen om ons heen.

30: How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020?

Alleen als het de buik niet knelt, draag ik het. Lang leve thuiswerken.

31: What kept you sane?

Slapen. Heel. Veel. Slapen.

32: Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Taylor Swift denk ik. En Sam Heugan?

33: What political issue stirred you the most?

Het coronavirus, de Amerikaanse Verkiezingen en de informatiefuik door social media.

34: Who did you miss?

Technisch gezien hebben we iedereen kunnen spreken wanneer we wilden, zij het via Zoom of Whatsapp. Het was niet per sé “wie” ik miste, in 2020, maar wát ik miste: Knuffelen, mensen een hand geven, met elkaar kunnen eten, de kroeg in kunnen gaan, een filmpje pakken of gewoon chillen zonder dat het gevaarlijk of verboden was.

35: Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020.

Je moet niet altijd in de wat-als gebeuren (Vaak zijn het namelijk hormonen).

En:

Als je basis goed is, spring je hoger.

36: Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Can I go, where you go? Can we always be this close? Forerver and ever…

[vimesbootstheory]

Heyyy new batch of book reactions, for Overdue (the podcast) episodes 71-80. Rankings suggest this was not a great batch lol. Spoiler warning for tagged books.

1. The Color Purple by Alice Walker 2. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne 3. The Passage by Justin Cronin

4. Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman -- I was so charmed by this book. You wouldn’t think that a memoir set in a women’s prison could be so uplifting but it really was. I mean, it doesn’t sugar-coat how dehumanizing prison is, don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t let COs off the hook for how awful they are to prisoners. But that is off-set to heartwarming effect by how supportive and lovely all the women are to each other. I challenge anyone to read this book and not come out of it going, “wow, women are amazing and wonderful and I love them.” I don’t want to spend much time comparing the book to the show, especially because I haven’t seen any of the latter, but I’ve heard both that the show puts lots of non-canonical conflict in, and that it makes Piper a socially myopic asshole, and I think both are a real shame. I really liked Piper as a person, I love her humility about her own early-life idiocy, and I love how grateful she is in the narrative voice to her support system and to everyone who helped her get by in prison. This book refuses to stir up shit about her fellow prisoners, refuses to be needlessly dramatic, and I really respected that. If most fellow prisoners were actually really nice and supportive and not at all hostile, I respect her conveying that without added drama. It doesn’t end up being particularly story-shaped (which is the only reason it isn’t farther up my ranking) but that’s really OK. While reading this, I kept saying aloud, “This is so CUTE!” and it really was. I particularly liked the stories of the women who earned GEDs and were so proud of their accomplishment, that made me cry. And Piper complements this heartwarming content with some necessary criticism of the American prison system, which was very much welcome. The one thing is that Piper stresses pretty heavily that people who look like her don’t often end up in prison, and although that can sometimes be wielded in the sense of acknowledging her own privilege, it doesn’t always, and it can wear a bit thin. Also she’s a bit gatekeep-y about who can call themselves a lesbian, which I didn’t care for. Otherwise, a really lovely book.

5. You Shall Know Our Velocity! by Dave Eggers 6. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde 7. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury 8. The Crucible by Arthur Miller 9. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque 10. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 11. Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell 12. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons 13. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie 14. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 15. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka 16. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 17. Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier 18. Life of Pi by Yann Martel 19. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes 20. Replay by Ken Grimwood 21. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss 22. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 23. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J Gaines 24. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James 25. The Giver by Lois Lowry 26. Dracula by Bram Stoker 27. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 28. Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss 29. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 30. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan 31. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 32. World War Z by Max Brooks

33. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen -- I enjoyed this so much more than Persuasion, which was a huge relief. I’m not actually sure if this was a re-read or not? I think I’ve read it but I couldn’t remember much about it that I couldn’t have picked up from the Knightley adaptation, which I know I’ve seen. I’m still not 100% game for a period piece novel, especially one about rich people, ESPECIALLY especially about British rich people, but this is one of the better iterations of that formula. Elizabeth is compelling and I enjoyed how wholesome and supportive her relationship with her sister Jane was. While the whole formula of initial-hostility-later-turns-into-Feelings has a lot to answer for, this version is blameless. Elizabeth refuses to put up with Mr Darcy until he makes the effort to be kind and generous, and does so in a selfless way that is explicitly not only done to win her affections. I wasn’t exactly swept up in their romance but it was, at least, much more compelling than whatever Persuasion had going on. 

34. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt 35. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut 36. Eddie and the Cruisers by P.F. Kluge 37. The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr & E.B. White

38. The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neill -- This was an unusually detail-heavy play in terms of production directions. Very visual, which I don’t typically expect a play to be. Not that I’m complaining, the visuals were very compelling, especially the tableau of all the workers down in the bowels of the ship and the shadows on their muscles. I suspect it’s often necessary to disregard O’Neill’s stage directions -- some sequences seem infeasible without a real mastery of practical effects and stunt work -- which was entertaining to think about, but I’m going to try to focus on the written work on its own. Almost all of the characters’ lines are written in heavy dialect, which usually annoys the hell out of me but I really enjoyed reading all of Yank’s lines out loud and getting the voice down as best as I could. Yank is initially exasperating but I couldn’t help feeling bad for him as his lot in life worsened. I love a story of class struggle, and this is the story of a guy under the influence of a lot of un-subtle class war rhetoric. He takes “eat the rich” almost literally, bless him, and you can’t help but cheer him on. And then he gets hugged to death by a gorilla. Aww.

39. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman 40. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 41. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain 42. No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre 43. In The Woods by Tana French 44. Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw 45. Battle Royale by Koushun Takami 46. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe 47. Big Blonde by Dorothy Parker 48. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

49. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman -- So far my luck with autobiographies seems to be that I end up disliking the subject quite a bit. Seriously, what an asshole. Kind of disillusioning to realize that Feynman was a self-congratulatory misogynist. I think a lot of my problems with this book is due to the format of its composition, i.e. that it wasn’t so much written as dictated, in the style of a person sharing an anecdote. Feynman does the same thing my Nana does, where he makes everybody in the story sound exactly like he does, and when they don’t have all his verbal tics, instead they phrase things in a kind of reverse-gotcha that always sets Feynman up in just the perfect way for Feynman to school them verbally. I’ve buried the lede of Feynman’s sins, of course, in that he participated in the Manhattan Project. His reaction to the bombs being dropped in Japan was such a non-reaction, it was alienating. He just didn’t give a shit, if there was any anxiety at all, it seemed to be more about retaliation. The worst of him out of the way, a much more mild sin of his was the tendency to play cruel jokes on the people around him, for no apparent reason but to have fun, and then to brag about how effectively he’d tricked his target. You’d think if nothing else, this book could offer some knowledge in terms of the science that Feynman introduced to the word, but he almost literally yadda-yaddas over most of it. What a waste of time.

50. Dune by Frank Herbert 51. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum 52. Tiny Alice by Edward Albee

53. Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin -- I feel bad not having gelled with this book, since I very much admire James Baldwin, but yeah, I didn’t. I find stories about religion to be stifling, and this book was heavily, heavily religious. I can’t even say that it was positive about religion, since arguably it was not, but there was just so MUCH of it I could barely breathe. There were whole stretches of the story that were just sermons. I did enjoy the mild queer themes, though.

54. The Reader by Bernard Schlink 55. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 56. King Lear by William Shakespeare 57. Medea by Euripides 58. Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare 59. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 60. The War of The Worlds by HG Wells 61. Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan 62. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides 63. Don't Go Back to School by Kio Stark 64. The Awakening by Kate Chopin

65. This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz -- This book definitely has things to offer, don’t get me wrong. It is very frank and vivid in its depiction of the experience of immigrating to the US from Latin America. Though it’s not the primary focus of the book, Yunior’s experience with racism in east coast US was educational. The whole part with Raha, Yunior’s brother, running from his leukemia -- that was pretty compelling. But how do you write a book (apparently a collection of short stories, but this was news to me when I finished it, I had interpreted it more as a non-linear story with a couple of completely disconnected chapters thrown in for variety) that is essentially about a serial cheater, and ask the reader to sympathize with him? I’m not sure, since I don’t really feel like Díaz put any effort into doing that. He’s just a cheating shit, who only feels bad about it when he gets caught, and only thinks about women in terms of what their race/nationality is and whether or not they’re giving him sex. The book puts no energy into signaling the setting (in terms of time) or the perspective character, and randomly throws in chapters/stories in the second person, which was irritating and hard to follow. 

66. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson 67. Extra Innings by Baseball Prospectus 68. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger 69. Here We Are by Dorothy Parker 70. The Misanthrope by Moliere

71. The Mystery of Chimney Rock (Choose Your Own Adventure) by Edward Packard -- Uhhh so I’m glad the podcast hosts had fun with this, but let’s be honest, this barely qualifies as reading. It’s almost a short story, but it’s not a particularly good one, it’s just a fun toy for kids. A maze to occupy your brains for a couple minutes. In my canon ending, I ended up getting stuck picking up pieces of cat sculpture for eternity. No real explanation for this, it’s just what happened. I’m trying to figure out what to do with future Choose Your Own Adventure episodes because it feels stupid putting them on this list.

72. Bossypants by Tina Fey

73. The Homecoming by Harold Pinter -- Eugh, this was awful. What might actually make this even worse is the possibility hanging over my head that I just didn’t Get It, which I tend to get defensive about. Part of my distaste is also inevitably going to be about the fact that I read this and did not watch it. Sure, I’m certain all those pauses were very weighty when they were filled with actors very pointedly Not Saying Things but all I got to witness during the pauses was the black-and-white acknowledgement of a pause. A whole lot of people bringing shit up and nobody answering them about it. This play is the encapsulation of that bit from Mulaney on the Patriot Act, something like “And people were like, this is groundbreaking! But actually it was just very misogynist?” There is something so Art about a family deciding to take a woman away from her life and turn her into a prostitute without telling her, and she’s chill as long as she has some spending money, because women love shopping.

74. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving -- What a dud. I was promised a spooky story. This only got mildly, extremely briefly spooky towards the end, and then it turned out there wasn’t even a headless ghost, it was a prank. Ichabod is a total goober, just a real loser, and I’m glad he got frightened out of town. What an odd choice for the main character (ostensibly?) to be so unlikeable, while his enemy is this sort of Gaston type, yet because he was against Ichabod, I was like ‘hell yea, go Gaston guy’. Such a nothing story, I had a really hard time forcing myself to pay attention.

75. The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett 76. The Stand by Stephen King 77. Grendel by John Gardner 78. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut 79. Persuasion by Jane Austen 80. Beowulf by Unknown 81. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown 82. Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James

83. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth -- Hateful, gross, disorganized, pretentious, unfunny (trying SO hard to be funny but sorry bud), repetitive, boring, and bigoted along pretty much any axis of societal oppression that you can name. I was hoping at the very least it would broaden my awareness with the perspective of a jewish american shortly after wwii but to be honest as a gentile I almost feel like I shouldn’t have been allowed to read this, it’s got so much internalized anti-semitism... whether it’s self-aware about this seems besides the point but I’ll leave that for those with a more informed perspective to speculate further. Also ends with a big ole attempted rape. I’ve wasted enough time with this book in front of my eyeballs, and I won’t spend any further words on it.

[mynameischalie]

How many did you read?

The BBC estimates that most people will only read 6 books out of the 100 listed below. Take the list, bold the titles you’ve read completely and italicize the ones you only read partially (watched the movie counts as well as partial).

NB: of course the list has nothing to do with BBC, somebody just made up a click-baity title. But tag game is tag game so here's my list

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien 3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible 7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens 11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy 13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare 15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien 17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks 18 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger 19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffeneger 20 Middlemarch – George Eliot 21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell 22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald 23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens 24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams 26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh 27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky 28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck 29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll 30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame 31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy 32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens 33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis 34 Emma – Jane Austen 35 Persuasion – Jane Austen 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini 38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres 39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden 40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne 41 Animal Farm – George Orwell 42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving 45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins 46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery 47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy 48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood 49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding 50 Atonement – Ian McEwan 51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel 52 Dune – Frank Herbert 53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons 54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen 55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth 56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon 57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens 58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck 62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov 63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold 65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas 66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac 67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy 68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding 69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie 70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville 71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 72 Dracula – Bram Stoker 73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett 74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson 75 Ulysses – James Joyce 76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome 78 Germinal – Emile Zola 79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray 80 Possession – AS Byatt 81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens 82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchel 83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker 84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro 85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert 86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry 87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton 91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad 92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery 93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks 94 Watership Down – Richard Adams 95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole 96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute 97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas 98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl 100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Tagging @turnsthepages @eckspress @rozeymindedfuzz @gloriousnosebleed @zsmmn @andersophia

[lemontrash]

How many have you read?

The BBC estimates that most people will only read 6 books out of the 100 listed below. Reblog this and bold the titles you’ve read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkein 3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible (if the children’s illustrated bible counts?) 7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens 11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy 13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare ( a solid chunk but god there’s a lot of them...) 15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien 17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks (in parts, and then gave up. Much preferred Regeneration by Pat Barker) 18 Catcher in the Rye (and ain’t it a stinker.)  19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffeneger 20 Middlemarch – George Eliot 21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell 22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald 23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens 24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams 26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh 27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky 28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck 29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll 30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame 31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy 32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens 33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis 34 Emma – Jane Austen 35 Persuasion – Jane Austen 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis (Cheat! This is on here twice! I suggest Five Children and It by E. Nesbitt as an alternative.) 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini 38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres 39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden (another stinker. Read “Geisha’ by Lisa Dalby, or Mineko Iwasaki’s autobiographies instead.)  40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne 41 Animal Farm – George Orwell 42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown (also bloody awful IMO, but benefits from being very readable. Swap for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson or for something bloodier, Out by Natsuo Kirino.)  43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving (Think i’ve read this...) 45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins 46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery 47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy 48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood 49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding 50 Atonement – Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel 52 Dune – Frank Herbert 53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons 54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen 55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth 56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon 57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens 58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck 62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov 63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold 65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas 66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac 67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy 68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding 69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie 70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville 71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 72 Dracula – Bram Stoker (although I still hold that Frankenstein is a better horror, and Camilla has a better vampire.) 73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett 74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson 75 Ulysses – James Joyce 76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome 78 Germinal – Emile Zola 79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray 80 Possession – AS Byatt 81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens 82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchel 83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker 84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro 85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert 86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry 87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton 91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad 92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery 93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks 94 Watership Down – Richard Adams 95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole 96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute 97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas 98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare (Cheat! Another one already on the list!  99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl 100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

[zackattack2995]

Carmilla Noctem ask

I’ve seen these done before so I’m just gonna give this a shot for my girl vampire friend OC, Carmilla.

Here are the questions:

1. How did she meet MC?

2. What are her parents like?

3. How old is she?

4. What’s her favorite band?

5. What’s her favorite horror movie?

6. How has no one in Hogwarts seen her?

7. Does she have any siblings?

8. How does she sleep?

9. Who are her favorite teachers?

10. What’s her favorite classes in Hogwarts?

11. Who are her best friends?

12. Who does she not like in Hogwarts?

13. What’s her least favorite classes in Hogwarts?

14. Does she have a crush on anyone?

15. What’s her birthday?

16. Where does she get her blood supply?

17. Are any of the traditional vampire myths true?

18. What’s her dream job?

19. What’s her most embarrassing moment?

20. What’s her favorite book?

21. What’s her favorite TV series?

22. What’s her go-to karaoke song?

23. What would she do during a date?

24. Does she have any celebrity crushes?

25. What was her first concert?

26. Any non-Wizarding hobbies?

27. How did she become a vampire?

28. What kind of outfit does she wear for dances/dates?

29. What is her biggest fear?

30. What song is she currently listening to?

Here’s a bonus question I’ll just answer:

“How did you come up with her name?”

I got Carmilla from the mobile game Fate/Grand Order, and it’s the alter ego of Elizabeth Bathory. What I didn’t know until a bit of research was that it’s also the name of a 1872 Gothic novella by Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu about a lesbian vampire of the same name... the novel also predates Bram Stoker’s famous book “Dracula.”

Her last name has a simpler explanation... it’s simply Latin for “night.”

[wurwurz]

I was tagged by @adaline-hiero, thank you sweetie.

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? My mother.

2. Are you outgoing or shy? I used to be very shy at school and university era, even as a young adult. I wouldn't say I'm outgoing now. But not shy anymore. Right in the middle.

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? My mother and my brother because they are all the family I have left. My dog because he's my baby.

4. Are you easy to get along with? Yes

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you? I've never ever been drunk in my life. No interest.

6. What kind of people are you attracted to? The ones who could not be attracted to me. The Hiddleston and Cumberbatch kind (funny, smart, artist, educated, gentleman, caring, giving, handsome but doesn't act like he God knows it, heartful, sensitive...)

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? Nah.

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? My dash shows me a lot of Brie Larson content these days (due to Marvel) and I envy her silhouette, mainly her boobs.

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? Online ? Nah. Face to face, depends.

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? My dog. "How not to pee in the kitchen when mom is in the bedroom".

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say? “Damned Quasimodo !” to my brother (Notre Dame de Paris burning).

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now? I don't listen to the radio, so I barely listen to "new" songs.

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? Kids, no. Lover, yes.

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles? As much as I believe in Nessy.

15. What good thing happened this summer? I went to the Provence.

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? No.

17. Do you think there is life on other planets? That's not even a question. Just logic. Yes there is life on other planets and I hope it is nothing like humans.

18. Do you still talk to your first crush? No.

19. Do you like bubble baths? I prefer showers.

20. Do you like your neighbors? Two look like serial killers, one is 110 years old, one obviously doesn't know what a shower is for, two other kill my nose sensitivity everytime they open their door, one loves to play music until 4 in the morning. Noooope.

21. What are you bad habits? I try to do 10 things at once. Worse is that I do succeed.

22. Where would you like to travel? London.

23. Do you have trust issues? If I understand the question right, ooooh yes.

24. Favorite part of your daily routine? Going back home in the evening.

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? My thumbs because I've got brachydactyly.

26. What do you do when you wake up? I rub my eyes and I complain about me not sleeping enough.

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? My skin is as white as Olaf and I love it. It never gets tanned, it's fascinating. I turn red and then all white again.

28. Who are you most comfortable around? My mum.

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? No.

30. Do you ever want to get married? Not really.

31. If your hair long enough for a pony tail? Yes.

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with? Tom and Benedict and meeeee.

33. Spell your name with your chin. I have no dea what that one means.

34. Do you play sports? What sports? Yes, shopping and I've very good at it.

35. Would you rather live without TV or music? Depends. Sometimes I listen to music for hours everyday and sometimes I don't listen to a single tune. Same for TV.

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? Yes.

37. What do you say during awkward silences? I laugh.

38. Describe your dream girl/guy? The answer will sound so teenish. The two actors I feel for.

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in? Decoration stores.

40. What do you want to do after high school? I am 43, honey.

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? Some yes, others neva eva.

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean? I've just woken up.

43. Do you smile at strangers? If they walk their dog, yes. Though I first smile at the dog.

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean? Asgard.

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? An invisible force stronger than me.

46. What are you paranoid about? Losing the 2 only members of my family.

47. Have you ever been high? No and not willing to be.

48. Have you ever been drunk? No, police officer.

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? I was made for acting bad. ^^

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? I don't wear hoodies.

51. Ever wished you were someone else? Yes. Currently wishing I was Bobby Hiddleston. But I wouldn't enjoy being that furry for long.

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself? More confident.

53. Favourite makeup brand? Revolution Beauty for cheap brand. Make Up For Ever.

54. Favourite store? Make up ? Sephora

55. Favourite blog? Some I love equaly, so no name.

56. Favourite colour? Green.

57. Favourite food? Pizza.

58. Last thing you ate? Foret noire (Bonte Divina).

59. First thing you ate this morning? Nesquik + Princes Lu.

60. Ever won a competition? Yes, if work competition are included. My boss didn't know if he should keep me or the other girl (I knew he preferd the other girl because of her short skirts), so he gave us tests. I won. Hehehe.

61. Been suspended/expelled? No comprendo.

62. Been arrested? For what? No.

63. Ever been in love? Yes.

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss? No, I won't.

65. Are you hungry right now? A bit. But on a diet for one day so I'm not gonna ruin it already !

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends? I hate them all !!! lol

67. Facebook or Twitter? Sick of Facebook. Too unpretty for my standards and too full of boring stuff. Twitter.

68. Twitter or Tumblr? Tumblr !

69. Are you watching tv right now? Yes.

70. Names of your bestfriends? Tic and Tac.

71. Craving something? What? Another one I don't get. What is to crave ?

72. What colour are your towels? Taupe (light brown).

72. How many pillows do you sleep with? One ergonomic.

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? No but I wished that my real living animal would like to sleep with me, but he doesn't. Chihuahuas...

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have? Me, none. My dog has over 20.

75. Favourite animal? Except dogs, gorillas.

76. What colour is your underwear? White.

77. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate.

78. Favourite ice cream flavour? Pistachio / Mint.

79. What colour shirt are you wearing? Depends.

80. What colour pants? Depends.

81. Favourite tv show? Sherlock.

82. Favourite movie? Bram Stoker's Dracula.

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2? Since I don't know what it is, I guess... none !

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street? I used to watch 21 Jump Street when I was a teenie with Depp that I already didn't like... Overrated actor.

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls? Stop asking.

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo? The mean shark. Kidding. Dory.

87. First person you talked to today? My dog asking him if he had slept well. He never answered.

88. Last person you talked to today? My dog wishing him a good night. He never replied.

89. Name a person you hate? My grandmother. Wishing her the worst on earth (loooooong story).

90. Name a person you love? My mother + my own Myscroft.

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now? My grandmother now that you brought that back.

92. In a fight with someone? No.

93. How many sweatpants do you have? None. That's a fashion no for anybody.

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have? No hoodie. Sweaters a bunch.

95. Last movie you watched? Crappy movies on Netflix and I have no idea how they were called...

96. Favourite actress? Sigourney Weaver.

97. Favourite actor? Benedict Cumberbatch because he blew me away too many times. Tom Hiddleston is a great contender.

98. Do you tan a lot? Not at all. But I do get red.

99. Have any pets? One chihuahua, Cookie, 9 years old. Had another chihuahua named Bobby who passed away last year. He was 11.

100. How are you feeling? Ok? I'm at home watching Notre Dame burning. I'm sad.

101. Do you type fast? Kind of.

102. Do you regret anything from your past? Sadly yes.

103. Can you spell well? Yes.

104. Do you miss anyone from your past? My father. He passed away in 2015.

105. Ever been to a bonfire party? No idea what it is.

106. Ever broken someone’s heart? Happened.

107. Have you ever been on a horse? My friend told me it was a horse and confessed it was just a big poney afterwards.

108. What should you be doing? Giffing !

109. Is something irritating you right now? I'm biting a nail and I've just ruined it.

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt? Yes.

111. Do you have trust issues? You've already asked that one, parrot.

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of? My mother.

113. What was your childhood nickname? "Nini la sauce".

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state? I went to Germany to meet an actor I don't care about now. I met online buddies, visited Germany. Was great.

115. Do you play the Wii? PLAYSTATION !!!

116. Are you listening to music right now? Nope.

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup? No.

118. Do you like Chinese food? No.

119. Favourite book? The vampire Lestat, Anne Rice.

120. Are you afraid of the dark? No. Love it.

121. Are you mean? Hehehe, yesssss.

122. Is cheating ever okay? No. Never.

123. Can you keep white shoes clean? No, not with a doggie.

124. Do you believe in love at first sight? Yes.

125. Do you believe in true love? Yes.

126. Are you currently bored? A bit, that thing is too long.

127. What makes you happy? When my bank doesn't call to complain about my empty account.

128. Would you change your name? Noooo. Marilyn is a beautiful name. Merci, maman.

129. What your zodiac sign? Aquarius.

130. Do you like subway? Never used subway.

131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? God that silly thing happened. That was embarrassing. He was just a friend, not someone I ever felt for. That has ruined our friendship, he was kind of married.

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? Not kidding, you have already asked the same question, right ?

133. Favourite lyrics right now? “shoo-be-doo-be-doo" by Madonna. Yeah, that's deep.

134. Can you count to one million? Happy to know I have always had better things to do.

135. Dumbest lie you ever told? "I hadn't noticed that Cookie had vomited right there, mom, promise". For the record, she cleaned. *g*

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed? Closed door ! I live in the french Bronx !

137. How tall are you? 162 cm. Something like... 28 cm shorter than Tom Hiddleston.

138. Curly or Straight hair? Wavy.

139. Brunette or Blonde? Brunette with one or two white hair already.

140. Summer or Winter? Summer. I hate, like really really hate winter.

141. Night or Day? Night.

142. Favourite month? July.

143. Are you a vegetarian? I'm weirdian. I don't like meat, I don't like vegetables. I am a pain in the ass when you ask me to come diner.

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate? Milk chocolate.

145. Tea or Coffee? Coffee. Benedict can keep all the tea.

146. Was today a good day? Until my country lost one of its most iconic monument, yes.

147. Mars or Snickers? Mars.

148. What’s your favourite quote? “If it bleeds, we can kill it”. ^^

149. Do you believe in ghosts? No but Zach Bagans would make me say yes.

150. Do you tag anyone else to do this? I always fear I bore my mutuals with these, so nope.

[braincoins]

Character Crack Meme

by @lionesshathor

Pick 10 random characters. These could be from real life, cartoons, books, etc. (The more random the better)

I have chosen 8 random characters from various media and thrown in 2 of my OCs.

Got ‘em all picked out? Good! They will be represented as numbers in this meme. The first character will be 1, the second 2, and so on.

Now for the fun part! You will be given random situations. Each set of circumstances will have at least one character, as determined by their number. Your job is to write down what would happen in these scenarios, and then share the results.

HAVE AT IT!!

*grins and rubs hands together in glee*

1. You find 1’s secret stash of chocolate. GIR is briefly upset and there’s some brief lasers happening, but then he gets distracted because his favorite commercial just came on

2. 2 confesses their love to you. Pidge, I... I love you, too, but not in that way. We’re just... too much alike. Also I’m like waaaaaaaaay older than you are.

3. You bump into 3 while walking down a dark alley….at midnight. Keep on saving the world - or at least Arcadia Oaks - Jimmy! :D You’re doing a great job!! ...um... can I... touch the armor? :3

4. 4 saves your life. Well, that’s a switch. Usually I’m saving Alistair’s butt. JUST KIDDING! He’s my tanky boyfriend, we all know that. <3

5. 5 is living in your house. Agatha Heterodyne is living with me? I’ll never be able to get renter’s insurance again. Also the whole building is about to explode.

6. You find 6’s cellphone. I wasn’t aware Lina Inverse had a cellphone. >_> <_< [opens it up to find lots of pics of Gourry sleeping] [Lina walks in and sees what I’m looking at] [I am promptly Dragon-Slaved]

7. You’re asleep and 7 comes in to wake you up. Sette wakes me up and now I have a headache for the rest of the day. @__@

8. 8 kidnaps you. If I was kidnapped by Bram, it’s probably for my own good. Likely he’s saving me from Agatha blowing up my house or Lina Dragon-Slaving me >_>

9. You go to the theater. 9 is sitting in your seat. Holtzmann can have my seat and also my heart.

10. 10 gives you a ride somewhere. MJ shows up and offers to let me ride on Noyissa and we fly off together on her dragon!! :D

11. 2 and 9 are arguing. If Pidge and Holtzmann are arguing, it’s probably over physics or something and I don’t understand any of it, but it’s fascinating. Record that shit and slap it on YouTube. It’ll be viral on the MIT campus in no time.

12. 6 is dancing with 3. HA! The hell she is. If she is, it’s because Lina feels she has to and Jim is probably apologizing for stepping on her feet, but that’s okay because Lina doesn’t know how to do this dance anyway. (She’s probably just trying to steal the amulet.)

13. 5 and 10 are trapped in a burning building and you can only save one. PFFT! I’ll save MJ because Agatha can take care of herself. 

14. 2 is invisible. PIDGE FIGURED OUT HOW TO CLOAK HERSELF WE’RE ALL SCREWED.

15. OMG! 7 becomes a pop star! Well, that’s not a surprise. Sette (thinks she) has the best voice and she’s owed all kinds of accolations* and such like.

(no, “accolations” is not a word. Unless you’re Sette)

16. 1, 3, and 5 are at your house for dinner. There’s a black out. Jim thinks something’s going on, and immediately armors up. Agatha views this as an excellent chance to play with the house’s wiring. GIR just screams and laughs.

17. 9 and 6 pull a prank on you. I die.

18. You walk in on 4 and 10 kissing. Alistair and MJ? It was probably MJ giving him a kiss on the cheek for helping her with something because she’s a sweetheart and also a huge lesbian.

19. 1 and 8 steal your car. GIR and... Bram? [nod nod] Yeah, I believe that. GIR probably causes it to crash though.

20. 5 and 7 rob your house. Sette’s taking all the obviously valuable stuff (though she’s too little to steal the TV). Agatha’s making off with all the computer stuff, and has already somehow built a clank to carry it all... so I guess the TV goes, too.

21. You need an organ transplant. 2 and 4 are both compatible. Alistair insists on giving me his. Pidge shrugs and lets him.

22. 3 is robbing 5. HAHAHAHAHHAHAA GOOD LUCK WITH THAT, JIM! Robbing Agatha never ends well, even if you get away with it in the moment.

23. 10 holds you hostage. I doubt it. It’s probably a ruse of some sort on MJ’s behalf. She apologizes to me later and explains herself.

24. 2, 4, and 6 are watching a horror movie. Alistair is terrified and keeps hiding behind Lina, who’s used to grown, muscle-y men hiding behind her. Pidge is enjoying the hell out of herself.

25. You’re stuck on a deserted island with 8, 9, and 10. Bram pops in and out, trying to find a way to manipulate the timeline so that we either (A) don’t end up on the island in the first place, or (B) are rescued quickly.

Every time he comes back, Holtzmann keeps trying to steal his watch (which is how he jumps through time) and quizzes him about paradox.

MJ is equally fascinated, but mostly she’s busy trying to build a way to escape with whatever might be found on the island. Mostly as a way to kill time; she knows her shinies will come for her - and thus all of us - and we’ll just fly off on Noyissa.

26. 3 and 5 have robbed a bank and come to you for help. Jim Lake would never rob a bank! And Agatha would only do it if she had to for some reason. In any case, they don’t need my help, except maybe as a place to lay low.

I bake them brownies.

27. 6 is mad at 3 and 5 for robbing that bank. Lina’s mad they didn’t take her with them.

28. 1 and 7 are doing a wacky dance. You and 5 are filming it. GIR and Sette would do the most bizarre dance ever. Instant viral hit, especially when Agatha’s clanks join in.

29. 3 confesses their love for 4. You are eavesdropping nearby with 9. Jim confesses his love for Alistair? Holtzmann’s eating popcorn and I’m right there with her. This is gold.

30. All of them go to a convention! MJ is fascinated by cosplayers. Holtzmann, Lina, and Jim are constantly asked for pictures by people who think they’re cosplaying. People think Alistair’s a LARPer and he spends the rest of the con trying to find out what that is? Bram makes it to all the panels because time travel, bitches. Sette is, of course, darting through the crowd robbing people blind. GIR gets lost in the dealer’s room; Agatha buys out every steampunk booth. And Pidge, of course, is in heaven. <3

[heytherefandoms]

tagged by @casbabes (I still can’t believe you recognize me)

rules: answer these 85 questions and tag 10 people

— what was your last…

1. drink: water

2. phone call: a friend

3. text message: “not really 😅” to a friend asking if I want to call s/o for her

4. song you listened to: Feel Invincible by Skillet

5. time you cried: this night (not bad though, just watched a Love, Simon trailer)

— have you ever…

6. dated someone twice: no

7. kissed someone and regretted it: no

8. been cheated on: no

9. lost someone special: only if pets count

10. been depressed: I don’t think so

11. gotten drunk and thrown up: no

— fave colours

12. Green

13. Black

14. Rainbow

— in the last year have you…

15. made new friends: yes

16. fallen out of love: no

17. laughed until you cried: oh hell yes

18. found out someone was talking about you: yes

19. met someone who changed you: spontaneously I’d say no

20. found out who your friends are: not sure, it’s always changing I guess

21. kissed someone on your facebook friends list: no

— general

22. how many of your facebook friends do you know irl: all of them except for the skam fam

23. do you have any pets: a cat (Bellamy)

24. do you want to change your name: no

25. what did you do for your last birthday: just went swimming at the same place as always, with the same people as always, then went home and cooked potatoes with them

26. what time did you wake up today: 10:20am (yey easter break)

27. what were you doing at midnight last night: I was either on ao3 or watching love simon trailers

28. what is something you can’t wait for: become good at Russian (and Norwegian and Rumanian and Spanish and ...), meet queer real life friends/people, see love simon, lose some weight

30. what are you listening to right now: nothing but it’s lightly raining outside and there’s some birds

31. have you ever talked to a person named tom: if thomas counts

32. something that’s getting on your nerves: my German professor, forced cheerfulness during holidays

33. most visited website: tumblr

34. hair colour: blonde

35. long or short hair: long, I should probably cut a few centimeters again

36. do you have a crush on someone: I’m not sure? (help)

37. what do you like about yourself: my cat, my eyes and that I stopped caring about what strangers and friends might think about me so much

38. want any piercings: nah

39. blood type: A pos.

40. Nicknames: jess, jessi, pommes, regenwurm

41. relationship status: single af

42. sign: leo

43. pronouns: she

44. fave tv show: Brooklyn Nine-Nine

45. tattoos: none, not sure if I want one or some

46. right or left handed: right

47: ever had surgery: no, just a small removal once

48. piercings: my ears are pierced but I never wear earrings anymore

49. sport: swimming, and zumba when I’m at uni

50. vacation: there’s so many places I want to see someday

51. trainers: ???

— more general

52. eating: trying to eat healthy

53. Drinking: water, usually

54. i’m about to watch: Love, Simon (at the end of fucking june because austria)

55. waiting for: more good queer representation, my brain to stop fucking around, a book I ordered, trump to get impeached, fpö/övp to resign/forced to resign

56. want: real life queer friends, more time to read, to be fluent in multiple languages, my cat to live forever, my friends to be happy

57. get married: I’m not sure but also that’s a billion years away so no worries

58. career: I hope I’ll be able to make a living by translating

— which is better

59. hugs or kisses: hugs

60. lips or eyes: eyes

61. shorter or taller: who? what? context?

62. older or younger:  who? what? context?

63. nice arms or stomach: arms all the way (have you seen gal gadot’s arms?)

64. hookup or relationships: relationship

65. troublemaker or hesitant: if you mean me, hesitant but I’d like to be a troublemaker sometimes

— have you ever

66. kissed a stranger: no

67. drank hard liquor: yes

68. turned someone down: only if third grade counts

69. sex on first date: no

70: broken someone’s heart: not that I know of

71. had your heart broken: luckily no

72. been arrested: no

73. cried when someone died: you should have seen me when my dog had to be put down

74. fallen for a friend: in love? no. a crush? definitely.

— do you believe in

75. yourself: more than I used to, I’ll get there.

76. miracles: not really but similarly I also don’t believe in god but love stories about Greek and Norse gods so

77. love at first sight: no, how can you be in love with someone you don’t know

78. santa claus: no

79. angels: no

— misc

80. eye colour: ?? blue-gray-ish with brown spots

81. best friend’s name: cyllum, misl

82. favourite movie: Wonder Woman, Schuh des Manitu, Love Simon will probably join

83. favourite actor: do you want a list or? (the main cast of B99 and Black Panther, ADC, TBS, DoB, extra credit for Stephanie Beatriz, ...)

84. favourite cartoon: I don’t think I watch cartoons

85. favourite teacher’s name: ms stocker, ms kortenkamp-auer

tagging: @psychicbouquetblaze-stuff @feministperalta @never-forget-viva-la-pluto @memyselfandmystupidity @six-drink-peraltiago @simon-and-bram-and-oreos @austrianshitposting @stereks @skyprincess-and-heda @of-danvid-and-stars (I know nothing about you or your blog except that you’re willing to punch homophobic assholes so here you go)

[pet-diary]

I randomly felt like making an October tag (10 days after October started, I know, I know). You could use it for a drawing, writing, or photo challenge, or whatever else you come up with! I think I’ll try to use it as a drawing challenge myself, because I really need to practice drawing more, and this might inspire me. The book quotes are for added inspiration, or a bonus round!

Feel free to reblog if you like. :)

Read under the cut for text version:

1. trick 2. unearthly 3. repulsive 4. magic 5. ghostly 6. treat 7. disguise 8. death 9. vanish 10. cowardly 11. haunting 12. shadow 13. witchcraft 14. fangs 15. mysterious 16. pumpkin 17. boo 18. spooky 19. autumn 20. web 21. frightful 22. cemetery 23. mischievous 24. pretend 25. moonlit 26. skeleton 27. spellbound 28. blood 29. nighttime 30. superstitious 31. cauldron

“Loneliness will sit over our roofs with brooding wings.” ― Bram Stoker, Dracula

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” ― H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” ― Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

“There are all kinds of worlds in the real world,"she said softly."Most people don't know that.” ― R.L. Stine

“This was a normal town once, and we were normal people. Most of us worked at the plastics factory on the outskirts of town. Then one day there was an accident... something escaped from the factory, a yellow gas. It floated over the town so fast that we didn't see it, didn't realize... and then it was too late, and Dark Falls wasn't a normal town anymore.” ― R.L. Stine, Welcome to Dead House

“The thing under my bed waiting to grab my ankle isn't real. I know that, and I also know that if I'm careful to keep my foot under the covers, it will never be able to grab my ankle.” ― Stephen King, Night Shift

“It was easier to be brave when you were someone else.” ― Stephen King, It

[a-r-i-a-n-i-s-h-e-r-e-blog]

When Douglas Adams wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, he added a central joke which has become more famous over the years than the novel itself: "The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42." Geeks have since wasted years and massive effort trying to ascribe some deep, symbolic significance to the number and its occurrences.

Now, in an attempt to cash in on their obsession, a new book published this week, 42: Douglas Adams' Amazingly Accurate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, looks at real-life occurrences of the number 42. The book is timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Adams's death this spring.

Scores of adolescents have posited theories about significance of the number. The actor Stephen Fry claimed to know the true answer, but won't tell, saying he'll take it to his grave. The author himself rather undermined the myriad analyses when he dismissed them all with the simple answer that the choice of the number was a joke.

"The answer to this is very simple," Adams said. "It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one. Binary representations, base 13, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat on my desk, stared in to the garden and thought 42 will do. I typed it out. End of story."

Throughout history, various numbers have had special meanings ascribed to them. Plato called the study of number symbolism "the highest level of knowledge" while Pythagoras believed numbers had souls as well as magical powers.

Meanwhile, millions of Hitchhiker's fans to this day persist in trying to decipher what they imagine was Adams' secret motivations. Here are 42 things to fuel their fascination with the number 42.

1. Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert died aged 42; they had 42 grandchildren and their great-grandson, Edward VIII, abdicated at the age of 42.

2. The world's first book printed with movable type is the Gutenberg Bible which has 42 lines per page.

3. On page 42 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry discovers he's a wizard.

4. The first time Douglas Adams essayed the number 42 was in a sketch called "The Hole in the Wall Club". In it, comedian Griff Rhys Jones mentions the 42nd meeting of the Crawley and District Paranoid Society.

5. Lord Lucan's last known location was outside 42 Norman Road, Newhaven, East Sussex.

6. The Doctor Who episode entitled "42" lasts for 42 minutes.

7. Titanic was travelling at a speed equivalent to 42km/hour when it collided with an iceberg.

8. The marine battalion 42 Commando insists that it be known as "Four two, Sir!"

9. In east Asia, including parts of China, tall buildings often avoid having a 42nd floor because of tetraphobia – fear of the number four because the words "four" and "death" sound the same (si or sei). Likewise, four 14, 24, etc.

10. Elvis Presley died at the age of 42.

11. BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs was created in 1942. There are 42 guests per year.

12. Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear's spaceship is named 42.

13. Fox Mulder's apartment in the US TV series The X Files was number 42.

14. The youngest president of the United States,Theodore Roosevelt, was 42 when he was elected.

15. The office of Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt is called Building 42 of the firm's San Francisco complex.

16. The Bell-X1 rocket plane Glamorous Glennis piloted by Chuck Yeager, first broke the sound barrier at 42,000 feet.

17. The atomic bomb that devastated Nagasaki, Japan, contained the destructive power of 42 million sticks of dynamite.

18. A single Big Mac contains 42 per cent of the recommended daily intake of salt.

19. Cricket has 42 laws.

20. On page 42 of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Jonathan Harker discovers he is a prisoner of the vampire. And on the same page of Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein reveals he is able to create life.

21. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence gives Juliet a potion that allows for her to be in a death-like coma for "two and forty hours".

22. The three best-selling music albums – Michael Jackson's Thriller, AC/DC's Back in Black and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon – last 42 minutes.

23. The result of the most famous game in English football – the world cup final of 1966 – was 4-2.

24. The type 42 vacuum tube was one of the most popular audio output amplifiers of the 1930s.

25. A marathon course is 42km and 195m.

26. Samuel Johnson compiled the Dictionary of the English Language, regarded as one of the greatest works of scholarship. In a nine-year period he defined a total of 42,777 words.

27. 42,000 balls were used at Wimbledon last year.

28. The wonder horse Nijinsky was 42 months old in 1970 when he became the last horse to win the English Triple Crown: the Derby; the 2000 Guineas and the St Leger.

29. The element molybdenum has the atomic number 42 and is also the 42nd most common element in the universe.

30. Dodi Fayed was 42 when he was killed alongside Princess Diana.

31. Cell 42 on Alcatraz Island was once home to Robert Stroud who was transferred to The Rock in 1942. After murdering a guard he spent 42 years in solitary confinement in different prisons.

32. In the Book of Revelation, it is prophesised that the beast will hold dominion over the earth for 42 months.

33. The Moorgate Tube disaster of 1975 killed 42 passengers.

34. When the growing numbers of Large Hadron Collider scientists acquired more office space recently, they named their new complex Building 42.

35. Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has 42 illustrations.

36. 42 is the favourite number of Dr House, the American television doctor played by Hugh Laurie.

37. There are 42 US gallons in a barrel of oil.

38. In an episode of The Simpsons, police chief Wiggum wakes up to a question aimed at him and replies "42".

39. Best Western is the world's largest hotel chain with more than 4,200 hotels in 80 countries.

40. There are 42 principles of Ma'at, the ancient Egyptian goddess – and concept – of physical and moral law, order and truth.

41. Mungo Jerry's 1970 hit "In the Summertime", written by Ray Dorset, has a tempo of 42 beats per minute.

42. The band Level 42 chose their name in recognition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and not – as is often repeated – after the world's tallest car park.

23

In humans, each cell normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, for a total of 46. Twenty-two of these pairs, called autosomes, look the same in both males and females. The 23rd pair, the sex chromosomes, differ between males and females