(no subject)

[geekchick]

I had to drive into Fairfax City this evening during rush hour, which was not entirely fun. It was for a good cause though: I was taking a baby starling which had either fallen or been pushed out of its nest to a volunteer for the Wildlife Rescue League, who will take care of it. Poor thing was sweltering on the hot asphalt when we went out for our afternoon walk. We tried to return it to its nest (it was obviously not out learning to fly, it was from appearance a recent hatchling), but we couldn't get it up there since it was far back in a gutter under some eaves. We couldn't bear the idea of leaving it out to bake in the sun or turn into a snack for the hawks, so we took it back to the office and called someone who would know how to take care of it. I forgot that my cellphone chirps, and when it rang in the car on the way over to the volunteer's house it set the bird off, who proceeded to chirp at me for the next twenty minutes. It was awfully cute, in a "wow, it's really ugly" kind of way.

On an different note, here's my version of the BBC's 100 books list (nicked from rivka). Ones in bold are ones I've read, italics are my editorial comments ;) ; I admit to being embarrassed that I haven't read some of these.

1984, george orwell
the alchemist, paulo coelho
alice's adventures in wonderland, lewis carroll
animal farm, george orwell
anna karenina, leo tolstoy
anne of green gables, lm montgomery
artemis fowl, eoin colfer
the bfg, roald dahl
birdsong, sebastian faulks
black beauty, anna sewell
bleak house, charles dickens
brave new world, aldous huxley
brideshead revisited, evelyn waugh
bridget jones's diary, helen fielding
captain corelli's mandolin, louis de bernieres
catch 22, joseph heller
the catcher in the rye, jd salinger
charlie and the chocolate factory, roald dahl
a christmas carol, charles dickens
the clan of the cave bear, jean m auel
cold comfort farm, stella gibbons
the colour of magic, terry pratchett
the count of monte cristo, alexandre dumas
crime and punishment, fyodor dostoyevsky
david copperfield, charles dickens
double act, jacqueline wilson
dune, frank herbert
emma, jane austen
far from the madding crowd, thomas hardy
girls in love, jacqueline wilson
the god of small things, arundhati roy
the godfather, mario puzo
gone with the wind, margaret mitchell
good omens, terry pratchett and neil gaiman
goodnight mister tom, michelle magorian
gormenghast, mervyn peake
the grapes of wrath, john steinbeck (ugh!)
great expectations, charles dickens
the great gatsby, f scott fitzgerald
guards! guards!, terry pratchett
harry potter and the chamber of secrets, jk rowling
harry potter and the goblet of fire, jk rowling
harry potter and the philosopher's stone, jk rowling
harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban, jk rowling
his dark materials trilogy, philip pullman
the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, douglas adams
the hobbit, jrr tolkien
holes, louis sachar
i capture the castle, dodie smith
jane eyre, charlotte bronte (my favorite book)
kane and abel, jeffrey archer
katherine, anya seton
the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, cs lewis
little women, louisa may alcott
lord of the flies, william golding
the lord of the rings, jrr tolkien
love in the time of cholera, gabriel garcia marquez
the magic faraway tree, enid blyton
magician, raymond e feist
the magus, john fowles
matilda, roald dahl
memoirs of a geisha, arthur golden
middlemarch, george eliot
midnight's children, salman rushdie
mort, terry pratchett
night watch, terry pratchett
noughts and crosses, malorie blackman
of mice and men, john steinbeck
on the road, jack kerouac
one hundred years of solitude, gabriel garcia marquez
perfume, patrick suskind
persuasion, jane austen
the pillars of the earth, ken follett
a prayer for owen meany, john irving
pride and prejudice, jane austen
the princess diaries, meg cabot
the ragged trousered philanthropists, robert tressell
rebecca, daphne du maurier
the secret garden, frances hodgson burnett
the secret history, donna tartt
the shell seekers, rosamunde pilcher
the stand, stephen king
the story of tracy beaker, jacqueline wilson
a suitable boy, vikram seth
swallows and amazons, arthur ransome
a tale of two cities, charles dickens
tess of the d'urbervilles, thomas hardy
the thorn birds, colleen mccollough
to kill a mockingbird, harper lee
a town like alice, nevil shute
treasure island, robert louis stevenson
the twits, roald dahl
ulysses, james joyce (again, I say ugh!)
vicky angel, jacqueline wilson
war and peace, leo tolstoy
watership down, richard adams
the wind in the willows, kenneth grahame
winnie-the-pooh, aa milne
the woman in white, wilkie collins
wuthering heights, emily bronte

Comments

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I count Grapes of Wrath -- especially the 25th chapter -- as one of the most important books in the development of my personal political philosophy.

[geekchick]

Hm. I had to read it in high school, and I thoroughly hated each and every moment I had the book open in front of me. I suppose it was sort of life-changing in that it's the very first book I can remember actively hating (we didn't read "The Red Badge of Courage" until the next trimester).