First, a good friend of mine recently blogged about books and then asked what books others thought she should read. I am now asking the same thing:
What books should I read? What dramas? What humorous books? What short stories? What books did you love growing up. Please comment.
I've needed new jeans for months and months and months. I ended up with some time tonight so I went book shopping. I had decided that I wanted to read The Once and Future King. I went to Barnes & Noble (I prefer the no-blee pronunciation). I found that book and then spent another 85 minutes looking at book after book after book. And I found a journal that I love. I already have a blank one waiting for me, but I might end up going back and buying this particular one.
I tend to buy books that have a lot to do with the human struggle. You know, books that may be a coming-of-age theme, or an adult learning to deal with a situation or deal with something from the past. I think this is why I love Chaim Potok's book so much. He is an amazing author. Lately I think I might just be tired because I'm not sure I want to read something that might be emotionally draining. So what do I get? A novel about epic struggle. Sigh...I can't hide from me.
So, during my 85-minute perusal of B&N shelves, I took cell phone memo pad note of future books to read. Here's the list:
Conversation in the Cathedral by Vargas Llosa
Homeland by B. Kingsolver (read The Bean Trees. The book means so much more to me now years after reading it.)
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
José Saramago (I just don't know if I wanna read them in English, though)
The Known World by Edward P Jones
Dreaming in Cuban by García
Welcome to the Monkey House by Vonnegut
Eudora Welty
Dawn & Day by Elie Wiesel (2nd and 3rd in a series with Night being the first book and a must read. I read Night during my junior year when I was a history major. I read it in one sitting and then sobbed for an hour. But it is important.)
True Compass by Ted Kennedy
Thursday, September 24, 2009
A couple of things: books
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10 comments:
so did you ever find some jeans?
Books I loved as a child: Number the Stars, Anne Frank
Books I've read recently that I thought were okay to recommend: Letters for Emily, To Kill A Mockingbird, Tending Roses, Cancer Recovery Plan, Safe Journey, Austenland, Enna Burning
I've found that I prefer young-adult fiction to anything else. Partly because I'm juvenile and partly because I prefer clean literature.
I'll second most any Shannon Hale. And YA Fiction.
But, I was going to recommend Hunger Games, and the sequel, Catching Fire. It's a futuristic setting, but that doesn't become the plotline - still the setting. I think they are books you will read, and think about for a while. Be careful though, the third book doesn't come out till next year. sigh. Already counting the days.
On your "what books did you love as a child" question...I always loved "The Secret Garden."
And it's just a tidge lighter than the other stuff on your list. ;-)
no jeans yet...didn't even go looking after I'd spent 90 minutes at B&N. I'll wait til next paycheck.
And thanks for the suggestions all. More books to read. yay!
I love Chiam Potok! Two of my other favorites are A River Runs Through It (one of those that means so much more to me now than when I first read it) and Cry, the Beloved Country.
oh and how could I forget...
U2 by U2:)
I read All the Names by Saramago in English for a class and it was great. I think there might still be copies of O convento in Port on the discount shelf in the BYU bookstore. If you don't know what I'm referring to, ask Chris Lewis.
Lately I've been digging short stories. Hemingway and Kafka have been my favorite. If you want to read something challenging and emotionally draining, read The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier.
I've discovered that I like the really cold, distant literary styles. Sort of like literary noir. I would characterize the three authors I mentioned in this way. Maybe it's because of Borges, even though his later stuff was more tender. Oh, read The Maker (El hacedor) by Borges. It's my favorite of his books. Quite different from Ficciones.
This comment is officially over.
Books? Did someone say books?
As a child, I loved D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. My mom had an old copy that I must have read at least fifty times.
Growing up, I turned to the classics (Ivanhoe, Dracula, Tom Sawyer, etc.) and to this day still enjoy sitting down to anything by Robert Louis Stevenson. Treasure Island is probably my all-time favorite book. Ever.
Aaa, I can't believe I forgot the Percy Jackson series. And Dark is Rising. Okay, done now.
Nope, Bunnicula.
Really done.
I like to call it Barnie's and Nobles, or something along those lines.
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