Do you read?

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?
Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
4) Tally your total at the bottom.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen X
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien X+
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling X+
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee X
6 The Bible X
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens X
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller X
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X+
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams X
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh*
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck X
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame X
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy*
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens *
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis X
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis X
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne X
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell X
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown X+
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding X++++++++ (just kiddding... Hated it - have a good story about it btw)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen X
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez *
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck X
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas* X++ (really DID love this one!)
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville X
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens X
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker X
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett X
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath *
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray *
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker * X
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle X+
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery X
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas * X+
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare X+
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl X
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo X



Funny, not a lot of my favorite books on the list here. In fact some of them I hated / threw things at the people/teachers that made me read them. If you haven't heard my Lord of the flies story, its worth a run through!

48 questions. Got tagged enough that I had to post SOMETHING.

48 Questions...

Here are the rules – There aren’t any. Those of you too structured to accept that… learn to cope.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Yes. Benjamin after the man who married my parents, Brent after my dad. Griffiths after a long line of distinguished Europeans that have mixed over the ages. I think I relate most to the Welsh / Dutch lines.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Had to start out with the tough one huh? I think it was when I felt really moved to tell my little brother Sam something he needed to hear a couple of weeks ago. You know those times when you have been prepared to help someone else, and the knowledge of that preparation catches you by surprise, and it is overwhelming?

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
It isn’t too bad, my signature is amazing though.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Pepper Chicken, hands down.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Yes, 2 boys. Greyson turned 3 yesterday, Lincoln turns 1 in a couple of days. Both chips off the old block – totally adorable!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I absolutely love playing board games / card games… at least someone would be able to keep up for a change! (my wife is going to wipe the floor with me this Friday night now… she is WAY too lucky for my own good)

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Who?

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Nope, had those out a decade ago… ish. At least I lost those stateside. My Appendix wasn’t so lucky.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Absolutely. None of that pansy ‘It’s SO high!’ stuff from me! I'm a fear factor wannabe (minus the food, some things just ain't worth it)

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Frosted Flakes, but my wife won’t buy them (too sugary) so I make do with mini wheats and cheerios!

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
I am a little TOO lazy for that one. I figure, buy shoes with the stretchy laces that don’t come undone, save yourself the trouble and just slip em off.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
It is a tie. Cookie Dough or Fish Food. (The only eternal dilemma)

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Pretty much anything weird or out of place. Sometimes it sucks being observant – ‘nuff said.

15. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
Those extra 10 lbs are starting to bug me!

16. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My family while I’m at work ALL DAY LONG.

17. WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU COULD DO MORE OF?
I think this is a trick question. If they asked what would I do LESS of the obvious answer is WORK. But more of… hmm… that is a LONG list, and not everything on it can be posted here, so I will just leave it at that.

18. WHAT STOPS YOU FROM DOING MORE OF IT?
Another potentially TMI question. But I’m going with the easy out here. WORK.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Blue jeans and my non lace up, soft rubber, hiking shoes made by Merrill (I have 3 pair).

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO LISTEN TO?
My kids and wife laughing or telling me that they love me!

21. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My wife.

22. WHAT'S THE BEST THING THAT COULD REALLY HAPPEN TO YOU RIGHT NOW?
Lottery? No more taxes for small businesses? A REAL stimulus package for the middle class?

23. WHAT'S THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU TODAY?
My wife and kids brought me lunch! THEY ROCK!

24. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG?
Today? Angels on the moon by Thriving Ivory – BTW that is the sweetest band name ever. Tomorrow it will be different.

25. WHAT PLACE WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT THAT YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN?
I’m doing ok on this one as I get to travel quite a bit- but I can’t narrow it down. I’m game for travel anywhere that isn’t Hades or a trash dump lol (Although I have seen some good trash dumps / barrancos; viva Guatemala!)

26. WHAT PLACE HAVE YOU ALREADY BEEN TO, BUT WOULD LIKE TO VISIT AGAIN FIRST?
Istanbul? Barcelona? Guatemala? Let’s just say those are my top 3, I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

27. HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE YOU WERE WITH YOUR FAVORITE PERSON?
Lunch.

28. IF YOU COULD RID THE WORLD OF ONE EVIL, WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
If I say the stigma against video games, my wife will shoot me, so I’m going to stick with corn syrup. Sugar is SO much better, especially in soda!

29. DOES YOUR BEST FRIEND KNOW THEY ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Absolutely.

30. HOW MANY CELL MINUTES DO YOU USE?
1002 last month

31. HOW MANY SMS?
unlimited but I don’t text much.

32. WHOM DO YOU ADMIRE?
My wife, family, and friends. All for different reasons.

33. WHAT WAS THE BEST NEWS YOU RECEIVED RECENTLY?
I wasn’t president. That's a bit cryptic though, so lets say, sales in January were up!

34. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
I’m going to modify the question. Sweetest movie I have seen lately? EAGLE EYE.

35. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Olive Green.

36. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer.

37. HUGS OR KISSES?
Both?

38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Right now I'm not reading a book, I'm writing a freaking novel for these 48 questions! Speaking of the whole book thing though, I think I have read 3 books this week, and 3 last week… I did just finish an incredible fantasy series by Jim Butcher called the “Furies of Calderon”. I highly recommend it!

39. WHAT IS YOUR SCREENSAVER?
www.digitalblasphemy.com Yes, worth the lifetime membership in my humble opinion.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
We don't need no stinking mouse pad. Real men don't use mouse pads. OK, insert inane cliches here.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
Leverage.

42. GMAIL OR HOTMAIL?
Hotmail for junk mail and facebook, Gmail to my cell, Work email for the few privileged souls.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Who cares?

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Istanbul I think (have to check a globe to make sure I was still going AWAY from home at that point, and not coming back around the other side…)

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Singing, Speaking, Writing… mostly communication/imagination/logistics based here.

46. WHERE WERE U BORN?
Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

47. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE?
Natalie’s roommate was in my a cappella group in college, and we practiced at her apartment.

48. WHAT ARE YOU MOST THANKFUL FOR RIGHT NOW?
The end of my work day.