halfway

halfway?  remember the book list i introduced back in april?  yeah, that list of 50 books i was going to read in a year.  well, i just finished book #25.  so i have a ways to go.  i started fairly strong and then i hit one book that i disliked greatly, which stalled my reading.  not sure i'll make the year deadline, but we'll see!

here's a couple of quotes from the two books i've finished this past week.  disclaimer:  the two books are somewhat opposite extremes!  the first one being catcher in the rye {j.d. salinger}...not the cleanest language, but interesting read.  essentially, just a dialogue of the main character's thoughts.  yeah, like i said, interesting.  the second one being pilgrim's progress {john bunyan}.  it's the christian walk in a storybook fashion with the characters being named after the attributes they are representing.  years ago, i read little pilgrim's progress for a children's lit class, so it was neat to read the "big girl" version.

"'life is a game, boy.  life is a game that one plays according to the rules.'"  {catcher in the rye, j.d. salinger}

"what really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.  this doesn't happen much, though."  {catcher in the rye, j.d. salinger}

"what i was really hanging around for, i was trying to feel some kind of good-by.  i mean i've left schools and places i didn't even know i was leaving them. i hate that. i don't care if it's a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when i leave a place i like to know i'm leaving it. if you don't, you feel even worse."  {catcher in the rye, j.d. salinger}

"certain things they should stay the way they are.  you ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.  i know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway."  {catcher in the rye, j.d. salinger}

"you come in by yourselves, without his direction; and shall go out by yourselves, without his mercy." {pilgrim's progress, john bunyan}

"neither will it out of my mind, but that that man that takes up religion for the world, will throw away religion for the world."  {pilgrim's progress, john bunyan}

"sleep is sweet to the labouring man; we may be refreshed if we take a nap."  {pilgrim's progress, john bunyan}

"to go back is nothing but death; to go forward is fear of death, and life-everlasting beyond it.  i will yet go forward."  {pilgrim's progress, john bunyan}

my question to you...what author would you like to befriend?