Musings on Lists

I know I’ve already written about why I was motivated to start this project, but there is another reason why it appeals to me. I love lists. Like one of my absolute favorite literary heroines, Betsy Ray of Maude Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy series, I am a compulsive list maker. While I have never made a list of ways to make myself more dramatic and mysterious, and sadly haven’t had cause to make a list of how to structure my life while living in Munich, I have certainly made my share of lists.

I make to-do lists, lists of museums I want to get to on my days off, grocery lists, lists of goals. I love watching movies, but the ability to play with my Netflix queue is at least part of the joy of Netflix. I find that if I make lists of what I am anxious about I can let (at least some of) the anxiety go.

Thus, it isn’t really surprising that working through this list appeals to me. In fact, I attempted a similar project when I was twelve or so and decided to read every book that was on the Newberry award list. I don’t honestly remember how far I got with that project, though I know I certainly didn’t finish it (I was probably either too old or too young).

I remember there were some that I really disliked, mostly because I thought they were boring and very adult choices of what children should read or want to read. Some, like From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Jacob Have I Loved, are among my favorite books. I expected to hate Jacob Have I Loved, but I re-read it numerous times (probably part of why I petered out on the list).

And Mixed Up Files has an incredibly special place in my list of favorite books. I read it out loud to my brother after I read it, and it’s become one of our “things.” My love for the Met would likely exist regardless, given my passion for art museums, but I loved it before I knew it because of this book and what this book means to me.

I also remember being underwhelmed by A Wrinkle In Time. I know that many people who first read the Wrinkle In Time set found the Austin family boring, but for me Vicky Austin’s adventures trump the tesseract. I still re-read A Ring of Endless Light, and cry uncontrollably, each summer. It’s become a ritual for me. I probably need to get a new copy.

I didn’t get very far in the project, as I recall, but I’m glad I at least started it for the books to which it brought me, and I can see how it helped lay the foundation for my current list-y goal.