I need to read more

The lack of reading updates on this blog is due to the fact that I haven't read any books worth mentioning (read: anything that wasn't a comic book) in the last couple of months. Yesterday, NPR released the results of survey of the top 100 science fiction and fantasy books of all time, and I realized that as an author, there's a lot of books I need to catch up on. My rough count is that I've read about a third of the list, counting a series like Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth, which I've only read a part of (but also The Wheel of Time which I've read completely). Now some of the omissions are so legitimately embarrassing that I wouldn't mention it if it didn't present such an opportunity.

So hear's the deal: Somehow, I managed to make it though college, and graduate with an English degree without ever reading George Orwell's 1984. I know it's one of those books that "everyone" reads in high school, but I didn't, and even though I've kept meaning to, it hasn't happened yet. So, I've ordered a copy of the book and over the next few weeks, I'll be posting my thoughts as I read it. After that, I'm going to have to pick up Dune, because even though I've seen the movie, I hear the book is "better." My current plan to have the entire list read by this time next year. It should be easy as long as my local library is cooperative. Actually, based on the library, it looks like Dune might come before 1984, but regardless, they're both on the way.