My reading list
I want to be more literate. A few months back, I sent mail to my more well read friends - writers, editors, and people of exceptionally good taste - and asked them what books they think I absolutely must read. Here are their suggestions. What I find cool is that many of these authors are still alive and scribbling.
- A heartbreaking work of staggering genius, Dave Eggers - this one was recommended by several people, thus is the one I’m currently reading.
- Ada, Vladimir Nabokov
- Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov
- Penny Dreadful, Will Christopher Baer
- Justine, Lawrence Durrell
- The Painted Bird, Jerzy Kosinski
- Roots, Alex Haley
- The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, Jose Saramago
- The Cosmic Serpent, Jeremy Narby
- Upside Down, Eduardo Galeano
- Ginsberg: A Biography, Barry Miles
- Super-Cannes, J.G. Ballard
- The Dazzle of Day, Molly Gloss
- One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Lots of people love this book. I think the book works best if you read it when you’re at just the right place in life. I must not have been in the right place as I managed to only get 3/4 of the way through it before giving up. Perhaps, being single and self-employed, it was unwise to read something titled “one hundred years of solitude”.
- Lightning Bird, Lyall Watson
- Crackpot, John Waters
- A Brief History of Everything, Ken Wilber
- Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy
- Civilwarland in Bad Decline, George Saunders
- Pastoralia, George Saunders
- The Baron in the Trees, Italo Calvino
- The Town Where Time Stood Still, Bohumil Hrabal
- Bird by bird, Anne Lamott
- Operating instructions, Anne Lamott
- The World and Other Places, Jeanette Winterson
- Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles, Jeanette Winterson
- How to be alone, Jonathan Franzen
- Fraud, David Rakoff
- The boys of my youth, Joann Beard
- Birds of America, Lorrie Moore
- I know some things, Lorrie Moore (editor)
- Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger - like everyone else, I read this in high school. That was long, long ago. Several people have told me it’s a whole different book when you read it as an adult.
- Bean trees, Barbara Kingsolver
- Map of the world, jane hamilton
- Stranger than fiction, Chuck Palahniuk
- Girls guide to hunting & fishing, Melissa Bank
- Steppenwolf, Herman Hesse
- Siddhartha, Herman Hesse
- Partly cloudy patriot, Sarah Vowell
- The Bhagavad Gita
- The Tale of Genji
What else should I be reading? Leave me some comments.
Thanks to Jay for his extensive list, to Wilson for her tailor-made suggestions, and to Becky, Bobby, and Laurie for their suggestions. I think this list coupled with my own should last me until at least my 50th birthday.
Update: More recommendations here.
Comments
Writing Down the Bones (Natilie Goldberg)
anything by Barbara Kingsolver ("Bean Tree" is on your list -- it was her debut novel -- my favorite is "Prodigal Summer" but "Pigs in Heaven" has some wonderful characters in it)
The Milagro Bean Field Wars (John Nichols) -- his other books rot, by the way
Good Omens, (Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchet)
Why People Photograph, and Beauty in Photography (a defense of traditional values) Robert Adams
Holdfast (essays by Cathlene Dean Moore)
Posted by: Ron Hammond | January 17, 2006 12:39 PM
Yay! Now I have even more to read.
I love The Milagro Beanfield War. It is one of my favorite books. I've read it at least 2-3 times (and I don't often re-read books), and even named my laptop after Amarante, the crazy old man in the book. (Every great story has a crazy old man or daft old lady in it).
Good Omens is interesting, but not as good as the solo works by the authors. Nanny Ogg from Pratchet's Discworld books is one of my favorite literary characters (daft old biddy, remember?). Sometime, I'll do a CoolArt on Gaiman.
Thanks, Ron!
Posted by: Rob McKaughan | January 17, 2006 12:47 PM