Read!

Books I've been reading lately

I set the goal of 10 books by the end of the Summer, but unfortunately got tripped up on a couple of pretty heavy ones in the middle. I made it to 8 (if you include September). Here they are in chronological order...

  • Breathing Lessons by Ann Taylor
  • Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marques
  • Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (I got way more out of it this time than I did in high school!)
  • Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
  • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  • White Noise by Don DeLillo
  • Perdido Street Station by China Mieville


    • Fiction

    The New York Times recently published a list of the greatest works of fiction in the last 25 years... NYTimes article

    Also see a great article on these books and the making of this list by A.O Scott, the Times critic for books and movies. "In Search of the Best"

    I have a few more to add (not necessarily limited to the last 25 years):

    • Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
    • Going After Cacciato by Tim O'brien
    • The Awakening by Kate Chopin
    • Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig
    • The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
    • Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
    • Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - NOT the movie
    • Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
    • The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter - this was a surprisingly amazing novel - it weaves a bunch of lives (all in Ann Arbor,which is always a perk) together without seeming trite or contrived. I would definitely recommend it.
    • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon
    • Beach Music by Pat Conroy - This one is total fluff, but I put it in here mainly for my Mom, but also because I will proudly admit that I really liked it too.
    • Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
    • The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
    • The Stranger by Albert Camus
    • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
    • Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
    • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
    • Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar - This book has the most amazing prose I have ever read, plus its a great narrative
    • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
    • Cork Boat by John Pollack - Written by a good friend of mine, but also a great story of realizing your dreams, however unconventional they might be
    • Any Tom Robbins novel - purely for good fun and a quick read - entertainingly creative and witty
    • more to come soon...
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    Non-Fiction

    I am not primarily drawn to non-fiction, real life is already too overly-scrutinized. I must admit, however, I have read (and enjoyed) a few that I will pass on here.

    • Amazing Grace by Jonathon Kozol - This book should change your life
    • Coal by Barbara Freese
    • more to come soon...

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