Book list!

Because reading is my primary hobby, I'm frequently asked for book recommendations. Inevitably, I go completely blank whenever these questions come my way. I don't know what it is about being asked for one's favorite book or favorite song (favorite quote, favorite recipe, favroite movie, etc) that leads to shutdown, but it's true. In the case of books, it's a matter of overload, of eager titles flooding my synapses in an effort to be remembered to others. But it doesn't matter why or how, if the person requesting a rec is met with a blank stare.

I realized that I need to be a little more thoughtful and strategic when offering book recommendations. This was revealed in a recent conversation with K, who I constantly bombard with titles, usually unsolicited because she already has a long list of books she wants to read. In recommending a particularly stunning novel I just finished, I distinguished between my "ordinary" book recommendations and this one, which I really, really, really recommended. I mean, really.

This led to a conversation about other books in the same category, and I realized I do have a list of books that have provided such joy and food for thought over the years that I wish with all my heart I could go back and read them again for the first time. I would love to share them with you because I want you to read them immediately--and because it'd be nice to record them somewhere, so I don't have to run a blank the next time I'm asked.

What follows is, of course, a totally personal list, offered by a simple book lover. I read about 2-3 books a week and love what I read. These books, however, have blown me away. They stand head and shoulders above a very good field. (I never finish a book I don't like.) There are people who can talk for hours about knitting, stamp collecting or soap operas. I feel the same about these books. (* indicate that reading everything this author has ever written is well worth the time)

Contemporay Fiction
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
This is the best book I have read so far in my life. I keep waiting to find its equal, and haven't yet. It is a powerful, cross-genre sonata of a novel that also contains the best final two pages in the English language.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver *(and recently The Lacuna! Wow!)
Bel Canto--Ann Patchett
The Girl in Hyacinth Blue--Susan Vreeland
My Name is Red--Orhun Pamuk
The Hours--Michael Cunningham
Imagining Argentina--Lawrence Thornton
A World of Strangers--Nadine Gordimer
Tipping the Velvet--Sarah Waters
Winter's Tale--Mark Helprin
The English Patient--Michael Ondaatje
The Life of Pi--Yann Martel
Possession--AS Byatt
The Thirteenth Tale--Diane Setterfield
Gabriella, Clove and Cinammon--Jorge Amado

Nonfiction
The Shakespeare Wars--Ron Rosenbaum*
This is a delightful, wonderfully written book about a very academic subject. It is not about Shakespeare, but about the vicissitudes (and pitched battles) of Shakespeare scholarship through the years. An alternate title would be "What Would Shakespeare Do?" as Shakespeare's words, verses, even punctuation are elevated (perhaps appropriately) to the level of holy writ. This book shows the stunning power if our (often unconscious) cultural attachment to great works of literature.

Krakatoa--Simon Winchester
The Planets--Dava Sobel
The Soccer Wars--Ryszard Kapuscinki*
The Botany of Desire--Michael Pollan*
The Orchid Thief--Susan Orlean

Science fiction/fantasy
Ilium and Olympos--Dan Simmons (plus his Hyperion series)
I love telling people about these books just to see the looks on their faces. In these two closely linked novels, the few remaining human beings on Earth are caught in the middle of a battle between forces (both good and evil) from Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Meanwhile on Mars, it appears that the Greek gods are alive and well and reenacting the Trojan War, having brought back the heroes of the day (Achilles, Hector, et al) as well as a 20th century historian. Meanwhile on Jupiter, two sentient, literature-loving robots (one basically humanoid, one shaped like a giant horseshoe crab) are speeding toward Mars, drawn by the Shakespearean overtones of "The Tempest" forces as well as the huge output of energy it takes to re-run the Trojan War. I am not making this up, and I tip my hat to the imagination of Dan Simmons, his love of Shakespeare, his take on dystopia and his ability to put monsters, gods and robots all in the same story and make it work.

The Diamond Age--Neal Stephenson*
The Lord of the Rings--JRR Tolkein
The Handmaid's Tale--Margaret Atwood
1984--George Orwell

Mystery/Thriller
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (and series)--Stieg Larsson
Everything a thriller should have (lots of evil, vivid characters with esoteric skills, chase scenes, red herrings and government conspiracies), plus a distinctively Swedish vibe that has the characters taking coffee breaks, being sexually liberated, going on vacation in the middle of the action and promoting the rights of workers and the Euro-socialist safety net all in the same book.

Bangkok 8 (and series)--John Burdett
The Moonstone--Wilkie Collins
Cover Her Face (and series)--PD James*

Memoir/Autobiography/Biography
Night-Elie Wiesel
The first book (read in 9th grade) that reduced me to a puddle of uselessness until I could process what I was reading. It's happened occasionally since, but this is the first. My reaction to this book also prompted my then-English teacher to take me seriously as a student.
Red Azalea--Anchee Min
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China--Jung Chang
Mountains Beyond Mountains--Tracy Kidder
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting--Milan Kundera

Classics
David Copperfield--Charles Dickens*
Love it in so many ways. Love the Victorian verbosity of Dickens. Love his over-the-top characters that still manage to stay universal. Love the length and breadth of a book like this.
Pride and Prejudice--Jane Austen
Mrs. Dalloway--Virginia Woolf
The Tempest--William Shakespeare* (of course...)
One Hundred Years of Solitude--Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Right Ho, Jeeves (and series)--PG Wodehouse

Happy reading!