Russian reads...ice the vodka and settle in for some intense summer reads!

Good morning!

It's the start of the summer reading season!  This is the time when moms all over the place dust off the book shelves and pick out those titles they are going to take on vacation with them and read poolside.  Traditionally, vacation books have been of the lighter, fun fare.  But today I want to share a list of titles with you that might just make you think twice.

My new friend Emma, who works with Accredited Colleges Online, shared with me another wonderful topic that I am going to pass on to you!  Frankly, this one makes me feel smarter for just sharing the link!

The 20 most important Russian reads.  The titles on this list are familiar, at least most of them.  I'll wager most of you have seen many of these titles in movie form.  I know I own a copy of War and Peace.  But I would love to hear from my readers...how many of these titles have YOU actually READ?



Novels

Tackle ambitious novels that are considered some of the best works in literature when you read these books.



1.Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
2.Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
3.Eugene Onegin, Alexander Pushkin.

4.A Hero of Our Time, Mikhail Lermontov

5.Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
6.Dr. Zhivago, Boris Pasternak

7.Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
8.Pnin, Vladimir Nabokov
9.Life of Arseniev, Ivan Bunin

10.One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Alexander Solzhenitsyn
11.War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
12.The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
13.Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev
Short Stories, Drama and Poetry

Here you can dive into Chekhov, Gogol and other greats who influenced poetry, short stories and drama for generations of writers and readers.



14.Chekhov: The Four Major Plays
15.Stories of Anton Chekhov
16.The Overcoat and Other Short Stories: Nikolai Gogol
17.The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
18.A Cloud in Trousers: Another rare work, Vladimir
Nonfiction
Learn more about Russian history from these very different — but very important — works.



19.Lenin’s Tomb, David Remnick
20.The History of the Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky

For the full article, of course, you can click here. 

Now, I'm not saying you should replace all your fun frothy reads with a heavy dose of Russian literature.  But it is possible that reading Dr. Zhivago will cool you off during on of those humid, steamy mid summer afternoons.  If you are brave enough to attack some of these titles, I do suggest getting them in digital form.  If my copy of War and Peace is any indication, print copies of these books might be better suited for a weight lifting regimen than for a suitcase.

Once again...I'm dreaming of #51

Good Saturday morning!

Every once in a while, I get emails from folks who read my blog and are somehow moved by it.  (For the record...I NEVER stop loving hearing from folks who read my blog!)

Yesterday was fairly special for me because a new friend, Emma, contacted me.  She said some very nice things about my blog  (thank you Emma!) and then she shared something she's recently set forth on Accredited Online Colleges, a site that she manages.  This particular article caught my eye for two reasons:

1)  Gone With The Wind, my second favorite book, is prominently listed and I will pretty much read anything in which Gone with the Wind is listed.

2)  It's a list of 50 books, and, as you all know, 51 is my favorite number, AND I just happen to have written a book I think would look FABULOUS as #51.

Now, you can follow this link for 50 Quintessentially American Novels, and read this article.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially since I've read many of the books on the list and that made me feel smart! 

And who doesn't love feeling smart on a Saturday morning?

So go on, check out Emma's list of 50, and then, go and get yourself a copy of Dream in Color, (You can click on the picture of the book cover for purchase info...go ahead, do it.  I'll wait.....)  and read book #51!


Happy Saturday all!