The "Best" Books

I was in the mood to pat myself on the back a little about how many books I have read in my life. If I had to guess, I am sure I have read well over a 1000 books. You know, not to toot my own horn, but I consider myself "well-read."

So, I googled. And I'm humbled. And, frankly, annoyed.

Last year, Time magazine put together a list of the 100 best novels from 1923 to 2005. (Why they started in 1923, I'm not quite sure, but apprently, there were no good books before 1923.)

• What's humbling about this list: I have only read 10. (And if we are going to be honest here.....I only finished seven of them.)
• What's annoying about this list: Only 19 books were written by women.

Modern Library put together this list in 1998.

• What's humbling about this list: I have only read 7.
• What's annoying about this list: Only 11 books were written by women. (And none of them were Jane Austen, which hurts me. Why are they trying to hurt my feelings?)

And I haven't even gotten to the Pulitzer lists. I think I'm going to have to put my OWN list of Best Books together. More to come.......