In response to my post below about the so-called "top 100" books, and piggy-backing off Abbi's post that this list is probably less than credible, I think we need to create our own suggested reading list. I'll start with a few of my all-time favorites. Add yours in the comments section (just a few to start, Carol Berg), and I'll update the post as we go. Classics and newer works will be accepted.
I will also accept contributions to a "will never read" or "read it and am worse for it" list, even if yours are on my favorites list. :)
Our Favorite Books
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn (Austin)
Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins (Austin)
The Tao of Willie by Willie Nelson and Turk Pipkin (Austin)
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger (Jules)
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (Jules)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Jules)
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (Jules)
Our Least-favorite Books
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (Abbi)
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (Jules)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (Jules)
6 comments:
I'm going to have to tap into your book knowledge again in the near future to pick out a new book. The only one on your list that I haven't read is the Bill Bryson book. I'll have to give that one a go.
Rebecca, you may also like his _I'm a Stranger Here Myself_. The subtitle is: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away.
Any American who lived in another country will appreciate this book. It was the first Bill Bryson book I read, and I burned through most of the others after I finished it.
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift is my least favorite "classic" book ever. I will also agree with Heart of Darkness being more than slightly intolerable.
As for favorites worthy of this list... that will take some thinking. It warms my heart that Bill Bryson figures in so early on.
As a lover of non-fiction, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post my "recommended reads" on here, but you should check out the following:
A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn
Confessions of an Economic Hitman, by John Perkins
The Tao of Willie, by Willie Nelson and Turk Pipkin
OK. You've already listed quite a few of my favorites, but here are a few more:
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Everything is Illuminated
On the list of "read and am worse for it":
The Red Badge of Courage
The Old Man and the Sea
And I will concur on Heart of Darkness.
A good one that is not on my favorites, but one that you should check out is The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg.
All right, I need to be done now. :)
Recent favorites: The Gathering, by Anne Enright, Star of the Sea by Joseph OConner, Water for Elephants, the Secret River by Kate Greenville, House of Spirits by Isabel Allende. Ones I hated: unfortunately, I couldn't get through Brick Lane by Monica Ali. I hear they're making a movie. Hopefully that's better. Also wasn't partial to War and Peace. It's just too damn long.
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