Wednesday, November 3, 2010

All Time Favorite Books

Since I’m not reading anything all that compelling at the moment, I’m curious to know what books are your very favorites of all time. Bonus points for convincing me to read them too!

My very favorites:

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
I actually love everything by Steinbeck (would love to do one of those Steinbeck tours!), but this one in particular has been one of my favorite books since having to read it in 10th grade English class.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
This is pretty dense reading with all of the digressions into politics and history and religious controversies of the 14th century, but is well worth the effort for a fantastic murder mystery set in a monastic library.

Possession by A. S. Byatt
This is just an absolutely brilliant book for the way she creates two fictional Victorian writers and a whole body of work for them, and then places them within the real literary world of the day. I also read her most recent novel, The Children’s Book, and think I may have loved it as much as Possession, but will have to reread to make sure.

Honorable Mentions:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Not entirely unlike a Steinbeck subject, only with an urban setting, female main character, and unambiguously happy ending.

Reindeer Moon by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
I’m actually a little embarrassed by the number of times I have reread this book about prehistoric Siberia. I’ve never read The Clan of the Cave Bear, but my anthropologist mother swears that this one is much better.

I’m tempted to go on and on! Maybe I’ll do a follow-up with best reads of the past few years because I can already think of a whole additional list.

1 comment:

  1. Two new books to go look up and add to my reading list! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete