[DUCHESS NOTE -- Yesterday afternoon, via email correspondence, got to chatting with a good friend of mine in Canada about books. [We're both avid readers.] Josee's been reading some really good stuff lately. She'd been searching on the Internet for "greatest novels" lists, then visit her local library, borrow and read them. [I used to do that years ago or borrow from friends. Now I purchase them at bookstores, flea markets, and yard sales.] So I did some Googling and came across two fascinating websites with lists. First one is at Guardian Unlimited[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1061037,00.html] and the second is located at John Fowles Books [http://www.fowlesbooks.com/magus.htm]. I printed out the Guardians "100 Greatest Novels" list and found out of the 100 listed, I've read about 32. Not bad odds. Likewise, I printed out the "Greatest Novels of the 20th Century" list at John Fowles. Out of their 100 books I'd read only 21. Big sigh! I have alot of catching up to do. Anyhow, on the way home via subway, I got to thinking about the "novels" I have in my apartment bookcases. Its not a big list, as my other reading interests include biographies, mysteries, romance, travel, auto-biographies, royalty, theater, movies and history. So, without further ado, here is my humble list.]

Lost Horizon - James Hilton
Dracula - Bram Stoker
The Canterbury Tales - G.Chaucer
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
The Innocents Abroad - Mark Twain
Life on the Mississippi - Mark Twain
Howards End - E.M. Forester
A Room With A View - E.M. Forester
Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defore
All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque
Cyrano de Bergerac - Edmond Rostand
The Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Travels - Marco Polo
Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo
Swiss Family Robinson - J.D. Wyss
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien
Little Women - Louisa Mary Alcott
The Scarlett Letter - Nathanial Hawthorne
The House of the Seven Gables - Nathanial Hawthorne
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
The Scarlett Pimpernel - Baroness Orczy
War & Peace - Leo Tolstoy
All Hallows Eve - Charles Williams
Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I, Claudius - Robert Graves
Emma - Jane Austen
Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen
Sense & Sensibility - Jane Austen
Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
Northhanger Abbey - Jane Austen
Persuasion - Jane Austen


[Marianne Williamson is Master of Ceremonies ... Also attending the conferece and lending their voice are ... Patch Adams, Walter Cronkite, Congressman Kucinich, Azim Khamisa and Tim Reynolds. The conference is sponsored by "The Peace Alliance". Register for the conference at: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/events/sept_conf_05.htm]

DEMOCRATIC PARTY ALERTS FROM CARE2 - No Whitewash for Tom Delay -Independent Investigation NOW!!
What happens when you get caught breaking the rules and don't want to be punished? If you're House Majority Leader Tom Delay you change them. The ethically challenged Tom DeLay has repeatedly abused his power, and done everything he can to protect himself. Now DeLay is accused of laundering money and campaign contribution violations, and he is working to sweep it all under the rug. Americans deserve to know the truth! Demand Independent Investigations at: http://www.care2.com/go/z/24280

Known as "the Hammer" among congressional colleagues for his combative style, House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) has received more admonishments for ethical violations from the House ethics committee than any other sitting member of Congress. In fact, he received two scoldings from the committee in a single week in October 2004 ... one for offering his endorsement for the campaign of a congressman's son in exchange for a vote for the Medicare prescription drug bill, and another for appearing to be unduly influenced in legislative decisions - even beyond the norm - by corporate lobbyists willing to make substantial donations to his leadership PACs. Yet "the Hammer" continues to thrive in Washington, and is now at the center of more investigations of corruption and ethical abuses.

The Ethics Committee has the power to investigate illegal conduct like DeLay's - but it has been stacked with partisans who are flush with DeLay's campaign contributions and who are fearful of his retribution. It's easy to see the lesson in the DeLay saga ... sitting members of Congress are the very worst watchdogs for policing ethics in Congress. If we are ever to remove partisan politics from ethics and ensure that our representatives act honorably and according to the standards the American public demands, we need to establish an independent agency - free from partisan loyalties and from campaign money - to monitor and enforce ethics in Congress.

Americans deserve fair investigations - and Americans deserve to know thetruth. Join us in calling for fair and independent investigations bysigning our petition at: http://www.care2.com/go/z/24280

HUMAN RIGHTS ALERTS - Help Amnesty International Build Momentum For Investigation
If you've seen the news over the last week, you know about the release of our partner Amnesty International's Annual Report and their criticisms of human rights abuses by the U.S. government in Guantanamo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other detention camps around the world. You may have heard Bill Schulz, their Executive Director, on NPR or seen him on CNN, NBC, or Hardball. Amnesty has exposed widespread abuses. Now we're asking you to help Amnesty build momentum for an independent commission and appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate fully what happened in these detention centers and hold anyone responsible accountable. Please click here: http://www.care2.com/go/z/24673