I finally did it. Recently, I wrote a post asking for suggestions for the reading list I was compiling for myself for the next twelve months. My intention is to read 25-30 books in that time period. The response to that request was overwhelming, especially from some of my most well-read friends. I received well over 100 titles in all. You can see them all here.
In the end, extracting my seletions from that list of books was like trying to choose between my children, and I haven’t even read them yet! A special thanks to all those who contributed. Without whom, I never would have ventured so boldly into the uncharted territory of the fiction section! It’s going to be a fantastic year of reading! I can’t wait to get started!
If you decide to make your own list, please include it in a comment to this post!
Without further adieu:
Fiction:
- Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close(Jonathan Safran Foer)
- Till We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis)
- The Harry Potter Series (J.K. Rowling)
- Five Quarters of the Orange (Joanna Harris)
- Franny and Zooey (J.D. Salinger)
- The Brother’s Karamozov (Dostoevsky)
- Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
- The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Michael Chabon)
- Of Love & Other Demons (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
- My Name is Asher Lev(Chaim Potok)
- A Lesson Before Dying (Romulus Linney & Ernest J. Gaines)
- Assassination Vacation(Sarah Vowell)
- All the Pretty Horses(Cormac McCarthy)
I started Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead (overcoming a 15 year inability to read Rand because a high school history teacher told me that in order to “get” Rand I had to read her as a teenager – boy, was she wrong), and it is sooo good. An amazing writer (though a wacky philosopher).
Great list, Megan. Inspiring. And I wish I had that kind of discipline. I read on the average of a book a week [currently reading D. H. Lawrence—Aaron’s Rod]. I’m very disciplined as a reader, but it is such a fluid, living thing, my attempts at making a list have all failed. Like trying to corral a herd of puppies. And I’ve tried. I tend to devour writers. Years ago I read ALL of Dickens, one right after the other, then ALL of Thomas Wolfe, Dostoevsky, then Cormac McCarthy. It was wonderful, but I wanted to slap something after it was over. I still do that occasionally, but have been cured of those odd one-sided appetites. Benita says when we go out for ice cream she knows exactly what I’m going to have. And she’s right. I always go for the same flavor. Anyway, we got rid of our cable TV. I would rather read. So, keep going. It will be awesome too, to see what happens to your writing as you continue to feed this hunger for great books.
If I could make some suggestions, here are a few of my favorites:
Thomas Wolfe LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL (I’ve read 3x) and OF TIME AND THE RIVER
Cormac McCarthy BLOOD MERIDIAN [his best work] THE BORDER TRILOGY
Ian McEwan [ATONEMENT, SATURDAY, and pretty much anything he writes]
Marcel Proust SWANN’S WAY [set aside some time for this one]
Anything by Annie Proulx, Barbara Kingsolver, Micheal Chabon,
Any of these are like a great wine. Or whatever metaphor you choose where deep contentment is the argument.
David Teems
Hi. I just ran across your blog and WOW -I am impressed with your list! I have read a handful of your reading goals and if what I’ve actually read is any indication of the rest of your pics, it will be an adventurous and meaning-full(!) year!
Just wanted to say happy reading. I hope you give some reviews along the way…I will be checking back.
And for two MORE (and unsolicited) cents I would add, What is the What by Dave Eggers. I think this is his most profound book. Or perhaps it had the most profound impact on me! 😉
Angela Hart
Hi,
You can add La maladie de la mort (The maladie of death) to the short stories. It’s an interesting 1 hour read.
Florin
Great list! I have a stack on my nightstand. May be time to prioritize.