Since my evil ploy to get book recommendations worked so well, I've been asking friends for more suggestions. I started with the question, "Which book must I read before I die?" and then tempered it to; "what is your favorite book?" to "Say, read any good books lately?"
Here are some suggestions I've received, in no particular order:
- Fyodor Dostoevsky: Brothers Karamazov
- Herman Melville: Moby Dick
- Arthur Phillips: Prague
- Alice Hoffman: Skylight Confessions
- Willa Cather: any work
- Wallace Stegner: Angle of Repose
- Alan Bennett: Uncommon Reader
- David Lodge: Changing Places
- Mary Ann Shafer: Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
- Hanif Kureishi: Buddha of Suburbia
- Elizabeth Gilbert: Pilgrims
Which ones have you read? Which ones do you love? What other books do you recommend?
13 comments:
I would read A voice in the wind by Francine Rivers before you die. It's the first in the MArk of the Lion series. It blew me away!!! An ending you never se coming.
Yay! Someone who's willing to commit to a book! I will have to read it now. Thanks, T. Anee. And good luck on the first para contest.
I hate to say I've never read any of these! So many books, so very little time. Sigh.
Neither have I, Melissa. Haven't even heard of half of them.
I've read only O Pioneers and My Antonia by Willa Cather and tried once to read Moby Dick but just couldn't get through it...
Must read? Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright. It's really the only book I reread once every 5 to 10 years.
I haven't read any of those.
Hmm... must-read... I read Beloved by Toni Morrison and Native Son by Richard Wright in college, and they were amazing.
I've also read Any Rand's The Fountainhead twice. It's pretty awesome and thought-provoking.
I'm also a huge fan of Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections.
Gah! Why can't I quit my job and just read all day? Library books are free.
Oh good. More must-read suggestions. I agree, why can't we do nothing but read and write all day?
There are books I love and gladly reread, and there are books I love that are important. So in your quest for read-before-you-die I mention again Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, which I wrote about during Banned Books Week. That one stands out.
Some other books that rocked my world included Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato (war book warning), Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Tricia: you've described the distinction really well. I have already included Attwood from that very post you spoke of. Thanks for the other suggestions as well. Will have to pace myself.
I have read several of Willa Cather's (ANY one is a good choice), Angle of Repose (OOOhhh, it's good), and sadly no others on your list. :(
Have you read Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson? That's a favorite of mine.
No I haven't read Housekeeping, but I've read Gilead. Good to hear the endorsement on Stegner and Cather.
Well, Moby Dick is definitely very high on the list! Have you heard of a book called Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer? I loved that book. Not everybody does, but it's good, in my opinion.
What? Davin? No Tolstoy? :)
I already have Everything is Illuminated on my list from your last recommendation. At the time, I read the beginning pages of The Sea and EII, and decided to go with the Seat first. Thanks for the recommendations!
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