a page to turn

i have not turned many pages recently in books that are not associated with work and school.  growing up, i loved to read, so much so that my parents would practically have to take the books away from me and turn out my light at night.  i'm still guilty of this from time to time when i do get caught in an interesting read.  fortunately, i do not have someone turning the lights off on me anymore, so i can read for as long as i want.

a dear friend and roommate, kristi and i browsed several must-read lists and began to develop a list of our own must-reads.  we started with the big goal of 100 book titles, but as we continued browsing, we settled on just 50.  yes, i think 50 is a big enough list for the time being.  for now, we'll call this list chezMK's reading list.  {chezMK referring to the house of miranda and kristi...why yes, we did name our house.  i love it!  our friends are rather fond of it too, though they may tell you otherwise behind our backs.}

1. water for elephants {sara gruen}
2. three cups of tea { greg mortenson and david oliver relin}
3. memoirs of a geisha {arthur golden}
4. handle with care {jodi picoult}
5. outliers – {malcolm gladwell}
6. the devil wears prada {lauren weisberger}
7. the secret life of bees {sue monk kidd}
8. i know why the caged bird sings {maya angelou}
9.  jane eyre {charlotte bronte}
10. the great gatsby {f. scott fitzgerald}
11. catch 22 {joseph heller}
12. the catcher in the rye {j.d. salinger}
13. the complete sherlock holmes {arthur conan doyle}
14. gone with the wind {margaret mitchell}
15. nineteen eighty four {george orwell}
16. the scarlet letter {nathaniel hawthorne}
17. uncle tom’s cabin {harriet beecher stowe}
18. wuthering heights {emily bronte}
19. les miserables {victor hugo}
20. a tale of two cities {charles dickens}
21. a connecticut yankee in king arthur’s {mark twain}
22. the jungle book {rudyard kipling}
23. winnie the pooh {a.a. milne}
24. a journey to the center of the earth {jules verne}
25. anne of green gables (series) {lucy maud montgomery}
26. charlie and the chocolate factory {roald dahl}
27. emma {jane austen}
28. holes {louis sachar}
29. the little prince {antoine de saint-exupery}
30. the secret garden {frances hodgson burnett}
31. fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop cafe {fannie flagg}
32. pride and prejudice {jane austen}
33. sense and sensibility {jane austen}
34. the wind in the willows {kenneth grahame}
35. the princess diaries {meg cabot}
36. the holiday {erica james}
37. a year in provence {peter mayle}
38. a child called ‘it’ {dave pelzer}
39. little women {louisa may alcott}
40. alice’s adventures in wonderland {lewis carroll}
41. the wonderful wizard of oz {l. frank baum}
42. tender is the night {f. scott fitzgerald}
43. a christmas carol {charles dickens}
44. all quiet on the western front {erich maria remarque}
45. the poisonwood bible {barbara kingsolver}
46. invisible man {ralph ellison}
47. pippi longstocking {astrid lindgren}
48. the pilgrim’s progress {john bunyan}
49. choosing to see {mary beth chapman}
50. breakfast at tiffany’s {truman capote}