Since my work involves a lot of mindless tasks I've taken to listening to Librivox recordings of books instead of music. I'm actually really impressed with how good these recordings are considering that they're FREE (and some are old...)

Here's a list of what I've read so far:

1. Anne of Green Gables
2. Anne of Avonlea
3. Anne of the Island
4. Anne's House of Dreams
5. Rilla of Ingleside

Those are all in the "Anne" Series by L.M. Montgomery. I LOVE these books. I read the first one as a child, and I think maybe a couple more, but it was very uplifting to hear them again.

Intermixed in this series I read:

6. Rookwood

by William Harrison Ainsworth. Conclusion? I like it! Very romantic and a lot happened. I loved the character of Dick Thurpin, although I think you're supposed to. Doesn't hurt that his horse "Black Bess" was pretty badass.

Right now I'm on the Tarzan series:

7. Tarzan of the Apes
8. The Return of Tarzan
9. The Beasts of Tarzan

by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Even though this guy has "rice" in his name, he's not bland! I can't believe that SO MUCH happens in each book and when you think it's impossible to have another event appear woven into the story he does it. And does it WELL. I have a few more on my list:

10. The Son of Tarzan
11. Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar
12. The Jungle Tales of Tarzan

After that I proceed on my alphabet series. I've picked an adventurey book from different authors - last names in alphabetical order. These books include:

13. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
14. Through the Looking Glass
(both by Lewis Carroll)

15. Robinson Crusoe
16. Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
(both by Daniel Defoe)

17. The Adventures of a Dog, and a Good Dog Too
(Alfred Elwes)

18. Rebels of the Red Planet
(Charles L. Fontenay)

19. Riders of the Purple Sage
(Zane Grey)

20. The Prisoner of Zenda
(Anthony Hope)

21. The Milky Way
(F. Tennyson Jesse)

22. Kim
(Rudyard Kipling)

23. The Sea-Wolf
(Jack London)

24. Volsungasaga
(Eirikr Magnusson)

25. The Enchanted Castle
(E. Nesbit)

26. El Dorado
(Baronness Emmuska Orczy)

27. Uller Uprising
28. Four-Day Planet
29. The Cosmic Computer
30. Space Viking
(all four by H. Beam Piper)

31. The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu
32. The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu
33. The Hand of Fu-Manchu
(all three by Sax Rohmer)

34. Treasure Island
(Robert Louis Stevenson)

35. Yvain, or the Knight with the Lion
(Chretien de Troyes)

36. Five Weeks in a Balloon
37. A Journey to the Center of the Earth
38. From the Earth to the Moon
39. In Search of the Castaways
40. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
41. Around the World in 80 Days
42. An Antarctic Mystery
(all seven by Jules Verne)

43. The Time Machine
44. The First Men in the Moon
(both by H.G. Wells)

Of course, not all of these are complete series or start with the first book. Some, like The Scarlet Pimpernel, I've read and feel confident about, but may listen to before hearing the second book as a refresher. One cannot get too much Scarlet Pimpernel!

Other than that I'm excited to continue! More books are downloading and I should not have to teach as many people starting next week so I'll have more alone time to listen.


Additionally, I do have a Kindle and prefer to read when I'm at home. The books I've completed are:

1. Beauty and the Beast - Marie Le Prince de Beaumont
2. The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly
3. Deathless - Catherynne M. Valente
4. Cinderella - Henry W. Hewet
5. The Phantom of the Opera AND
6. The Mystery of the Yellow Room - Gaston Leroux
7. The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams Bianco

I am currently reading:

8. The Ladies of Grace Adieu - Susanna Clarke

After those I have:

9. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
10. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving
11. The Man in the Iron Mask - Alexandre Dumas
12. Middlemarch - George Elliot
13. The Works of Elbert Hubbard
14. pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin
15. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood - Howard Pyle
16. Aesop's Fables - translated by George Fyler Townsend


I have a ton of reading ahead of me. :)

Camping.

Let me tell you a tale about a camping adventure that two friends set out for together. It was a bright, sunny, and hot summer afternoon in central Ohio. Two good ol' friends packing their belongings into the Prius and traveled due south, aiming for the mysterious land known as Wayne National Forest.

The ultimate goal was a place known as "Vesuvius Lake." It was a manmade lake, caused buy the building of Vesuvius Dam by the ruins of the old Vesuvius Iron Furnace. The history that oozed out of this area was what drew the friends in like moths to a flame.

Thus, they traveled, admiring the flat farmlands that stretched to the horizon on all sides, only marred by a small, decrepit old highway that split it in the center. They spoke of the adventures they'd have - dining on the native plants, collecting water from the (hopefully) numerous babbling brooks, and all of the exotic Ohioan wildlife that they were sure to see. However, none of their naive musings would prepare them for what lay ahead.

The first sign of their ill fate was when they blatantly drove past their turn. Miles down the road they had to stop at a gas station that was unlike any they had seen. Two pumps, less than half the size of the pumps they were used too, that only dispensed ONE type of fuel was eerie enough, but the potholed, patchy road and distinct lack of human life was disturbing. Fortunately, there was one iPhone that could grasp the finest whisps of a connection and therefore turned them back to the correct route.

They drove around and around the winding road, sometimes heading up steep inclines, but mostly dipping deeper and deeper into the gloomy foreboding. The trees slowly crept closer and closer, narrowing the road until it seemed impossible for one car to traverse, let alone two (like the dull, tarnished golden line running down the middle suggested.) Every so often there would be a run-down old dwelling trapped between the pavement and a sheer rock cliff - the windows boarded up with rotten wood and all manners or feral plant life attempting to smother all trace of humanity from the forest.

At one point they saw a deceased dog laying by the road, his face pleading with them to turn back before they suffered the same fate. It was like the dead was attempting to crawl up from their graves and prevent any more sad souls from joining them. Unfortunately, the two friends ignored all warnings.

Finally, they reached their destination. The car was parked at a supposed boat dock that contained absolutely zero boats and was drowning in its own version of despair. The waves licked up at the unused moorings, as if begging for something to satiate its hunger for watercraft. A lone vehicle was parked in a shady corner, covered in dust and dirt from weeks of abandonment.

Then was the second sign of foreboding. They had too much water with them. Due to the epic weight of their packs the friends were forced to leave behind half of the water they had planned to bring. Since they had to backtrack to find their destination they were losing daylight and quickly. One could not travel quickly to make camp with such a large amount of glorious water. So they left it behind.

Hastily, they secured their vehicle and delved into the woods, the trees closing around them like malicious, twisted demons. Branched and twigs grabbed at their clothes and hair, trying to pull them off of the path and into an endless maze of arboreal hell.

They pressed on, eyes on the path, fearing that if they stopped for one minute they would never make it to their first campsite. Once they were tricked by the forest. A lovely path, bathed in light, and oh so open and pure wove away from the main trail. The desire to set up their darling tent caused their wisdom to wane for just long enough to nearly end their short trip.

The path wound up, up, up into the cliffs, around the trees and bushes, deeper and deeper until suddenly ending at a cliff face. At first the flattened patch of land seemed perfect, but then it was TOO perfect. Why, what were these odd-shaped stones that barely showed through the brush? Quick investigation revealed the foundation of a house that had been consumed by the forest. Brambles and vines clung to it like a starved dog clings to his last bone. They would never give up the secret of what was hidden there, but the friends were startled enough to realize the folly of their way.

They beat a hasty retreat, trotting back down the path as quickly as their tired legs could carry them over the thick roots. The hill was so much steeper going back down and they were worried that they would be trapped on a sheer cliff. Through determination they succeeded in escaping the forest's first trap.

Much of the rest of the first night's journey was uneventful. It was as though the trees themselves were contemplating how they could salvage their failure. As darkness fell the friends made camp in the only flat space they could see while the strange creatures that dwelled there hooted and called in a taunting matter.

"It is only a matter of time until the forest will get you. This forest gets everyone who trespasses on its land."

....TO BE CONTINUED!