I personally thought 1984 was significantly better than Animal Farm. I would skip Animal Farm completely.

I recently started reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep because I've really wanted to read some Philip K. Dick.

I love Animal Farm, but I admit that it's somewhat heavy handed. I like the characters though, and often doodle pictures of them to put in my cubicles/offices (such as Boxer saying "I must work harder", or Snowball Vs Wilbur from Charlotte's Web in a gang war... I am so lucky this often amuses my bosses :p)

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep is an excellent book, and I think holds up well today in terms of the themes discussed, but there is a lot of better science fiction on the speculative side these days. If you Like Androids Dream, I highly recommend, Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge. Imagine T.S. Eliot got Alzheimers, then they managed to cure him after a decade or two living with the disease and he basically had to relearn how the world works since technology has advanced so much, so he ends up in remedial high school classes with other people like him. And the process that cured him may have taken his ability to write poetry. It's quite good.

I like Animal Farm . . . and there's a benefit to picking it up and reading it. You can do it quickly. Very simple and quick read--then you can say that you've read it.

As to the "heavy-handed"--no argument here. But again, you have to consider when and where it was written.

I'm a big Orwell fan. If you are looking for something like 1984 or Animal Farm but less heavy-handed, try Coming Up For Air, or Politics And The English Language (an essay).

Finished ringworld, started house of leaves, gave up on house of leaves after 100 pages, started and finished the first True Blood novel at my soon-to-be wife's insistence, started re-reading Small Gods.

I actually didn't hate the True Blood book.

I've heard they're the good option if you want to read that kind of thing.

I've (re)read the first five Dresden Files books, and the prequel to Twenty Palaces Society.

I believe this brings my count up to 30. 20 books in 3 months? Doubt it, but I'll keep trying.

Add in some Dr. Seuss and some See Jane Run type books to pad the numbers

The Fault in our Stars, Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherine's, Will Grayson Will Grayson, Paper Towns, Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mocking Jay, Blood of the Dragon, A Game of thrones, Good Omens, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life the Universe and Everything, So Long and Thanks for all the Fish, Fahrenheit 451, Young Zaphod Plays it Safe (Short story), Mostly Harmless, 1984, I, Robot, Robot Dreams, Ringworld, Dead Until Dark, Small Gods, Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks, Twenty Places, Blood Rites, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, White Knight, Small Favor, Turn Coat, Changes, Ghost Story, The Road, Foundation, Scott Pilgrim's precious little life, Scott Pilgrim v.s. the world, Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness, Scott Pilgrim gets it together, Scott Pilgrim v.s. the universe, Scott Pilgrim's finest hour, Joker, The Killing Joke, Cold Days.

Reading Let it snow now. Then will read Foundation and Empire, and that will probably finish off the year.

So, 51!

...

51 by cheating and counting Graphic Novels. 43 legit books with no pictures. (Assuming I finish these last two before new years)