This is more of a general thoughts kinda post (and yeah, I know it's showing as being made on Sunday, but I'm typing it up before I crash Saturday night :p)
When I was younger, I used to read
voraciously. Primarily Science Fiction and Fantasy, as well as the material that was part of the classroom curricula. This allowed me to read quite a few of what would be considered "classics" in the literary world, both honing my ability to read and understand what I was reading, but also to allow me write somewhat better than the average moron.
While going through the forums on an old text-based BBS that I've been on since 1995 -
ISCA BBS - a posting in the Literature forum there caught my eye. Apparently there is some 'list' of 100 works that everyone should take the time to read. Some of them are absolutely wonderful reads, while others are by authors I cannot personally stand (Bronte, Austen, specifically). Apparently, many claim to have read a large number of the books on this list, when in reality the average adult has read only 6, or so.
Here's my take on the list, which ones I've read, and which ones I haven't (and in the cases of a collection of works, which ones are partially read - like Shakespeare's work).