|
"The Maltese Falcon"
Dashiell Hammett
"Prep"
Curtis Sittenfeld
"The Outsiders"
S.E. Hinton
"Shop Girl"
Steve Martin
"High Fidelity"
Nick Hornby
"The Grapes of Wrath"
John Steinbeck
"In Cold Blood"
Truman Capote
"Papillion"
Henri Charriere
"Kiss The Girls"
James Patterson |
100 Books Worth Reading
This is a list of 100 books I've read and that I recommend.
It's not a list of "the 100 best books" – in fact it's not an organized list at all. It's a jumble of books, with everything mixed together: fiction, non-fiction, high literature, quickie fun reads. It's a list of 100 high points from my years of reading. Enjoy.
1) Kiss the Girls, James Patterson
Short chapters, short paragraphs, short sentences: the modern detective pulp novel at its most entertaining.
2) Talk Talk, TC Boyle
A major work by one of America's top prose stylists, built around a compelling story. Also good by Boyle are “Drop City,” “The Tortilla Curtain,” and “The Road to Wellville.”
3) High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
Made into a successful movie, Hornby’s story of the love misadventures of a record shop owner who constantly makes songs lists is sheer fun. Hornby’s “About A Boy” is good, too.
4) The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
One of the original noir detective novels. Hard-boiled private eye Sam Spade is an amoral character whose only allegiance is to himself – beware if you're a scheming brunette who thinks she can pull a fast one.
5) The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera,
This Czech-born writer writes deep and thoughtful novels with interesting characters and involving narrative lines. He's written a lot of good books: “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting,” “The Joke,” “Life is Elsewhere,” “Laughable Loves.” They're all wonderful reads.
6) Shop Girl, Steve Martin
A slight novella, but still emotionally evocative in its portrayal of a May-December romance. The book is better than the movie.
7) The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton
Ah, be still my beating heart. What a book. This tale of angst among teen gangs is pure poetry. It's written for a juvenile audience but I reread it as an adult and it holds up beautifully.
8) The Idiot, Fyodor Dostoevsky
The dark Russian novelist's tale of the impossibility of being innocent in a corrupt society is a challenging but worthwhile read. Also worth the effort are "Crime and Punishment" and – probably his most enjoyable read – the short story “White Nights.”
9) Papillion, Henri Charriere
The ultimate action-adventure story. Tells the story of a Frenchman who escapes from the famed penal colony in French Guiana. He's caught – he escapes! – he's caught again! – he's making love with the Indian girls in the South Pacific! A ton of fun.
10) Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
American lyricism at its most poetic and rough-hewn. This is the great American novel, exploding one of our central myths – that upward mobility is available to all – while telling the soul-stirring story of the Oakies fleeing the Dust Bowl. Most everything by the Pulitzer Prize-winner author is very good: “East of Eden,” “Tortilla Flat,” “The Winter of Our Discontent,” “Of Mice and Men.”
11) Of Human Bondage, Somerset Maugham
A master storyteller who writes great literature that's also entertaining, and who makes it all seem easy. Eminently readable.
12) Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld
Sittenfeld's closely observed story of a young woman in a cloistered prep school was a surprise hit. After a slow beginning, the book's insight about class and the struggle for identity makes it an involving read.
13) The Box Garden, Carol Shields
Introspective, nuanced, psychologically sophisticated. Shields's portrait of a woman's emotional battles is quality literature.
14) Therapy, David Lodge
This English author writes witty, fast-paced novels with authentic characters and solid stories. Also good by Lodge are “Changing Places” and “Nice Work.”
15) The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, Jane Wagner
This is a Broadway play available in book form. (The play was performed brilliantly as a one-woman show by Lilly Tomlin.) Full of funny, wacky insights into modern life.
16) The Fifties, David Halberstam
The authoritative account of American life in the 1950s. Halberstam masterfully interweaves trends in politics, entertainment, and middle class life to reveal that the '50s weren't as placid as they seem. Also fantastic is Halberstam's chronicle of the Vietnam War, “The Best and the Brightest.”
16) Shadow Divers, Robert Kurson
Enthralling non-fiction account of divers who get obsessed when they discover the wreck of a hitherto unknown WWII-vintage German submarine.
17) Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams, Nick Tosches
Tosches offers plenty of flashes of prose brilliance in this bio of the boozy, emotionally distant Dean Martin. A good story, well told. Also very interesting is Tosches's bio of Jerry Lee Lewis.
18) Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Anne Tyler
The Boston Globe called this "A book that should join those few that every literate person will have to read." I agree. Psychologically astute, with intimate insights into quirky characters who seem to leap up off the page.
19) In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Wow, this is a hell of a book, a true non-fiction masterpiece. Although it chronicles a horrible crime, much of the prose is close to musical. Capote was a virtuoso stylist.
20) The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
Kingsolver's well-written tale of a missionary family's move to Africa in 1959 is full of vivid detail; you can see the grasslands and feel the searing heat. A story of real hardship, and ultimately, change.
