What Next?
I have a book-buying problem. It might actually be worse now than when I worked at McBookstore, because then at least I had the option of borrowing books from the store instead of buying them (this was easily the best perk of working at a bookstore—better than the discount, even). I have tried to become a library user, but I really just love owning books. Also, I have yet to return a book on time, have racked up hundreds of dollars of fines over the years, and am blacklisted in at least four different library systems in Indiana. Oops?
I realized recently that I now own a lot of books that I’ve never read. So I’m making a decision: read at least half of those books before I buy any more. I made a list of books on LibraryThing that I own but have not read. And now I need your help: where do I start? What do I read first, and why? I’m listing them below, or you can check them out here, where you can also find descriptions of the books and other information. (If you’re really interested, I also keep a list of books I want to read but don’t own).
Assume that I want to read all of these books equally, and in cases of particularly “difficult” authors—like Cormac McCarthy and Salman Rushdie—assume I’ve read other books by them and know what I’m getting into.
- The Toughest Indian in the World by Sherman Alexie
- Numbers in the Dark and other stories by Italo Calvino
- Six Memos for the Next Millennium by Italo Calvino
- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
- The Maytrees by Annie Dillard
- Slammerkin by Emma Donaghue (thanks, Ryan & Lisa!)
- The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco
- The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
- The Magus by John Fowles (which I technically don’t own, but have on loan from Ryan)
- The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
- The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (thanks, Tim!)
- Islands and other essays by Jean Grenier (I have already read the lovely essay “Mouloud the Cat”)
- Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts by Clive James
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
- The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosas
- All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
- The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
- The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie
- The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
- The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith
- Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel
- Omeros by Derek Walcott
- Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology by Lawrence Weschler
- Practicing Mortality: Art, Philosophy, and Contemplative Seeing by Joanna E. Ziegler and Christopher A. Dustin (my two favorite college professors)
So. What next? And why?
Posted 11 October 2008
6 Comments
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
You *must* read Gilead soon! Seriously, my copy is underlined and bookmarked from beginning to end: Marilynne Robinson is the writer I aspire to be, and every sentence is beautifully poetic and multi-layered.
consider this another vote for Gilead. Such an amazing, fulfilling book.
Also, I think you’d really love the Sherman Alexie book.
I love books and reading has been my life since I left my job last year. So, I’ve been keeping list of all the books I’ve read on my blog: http://www.jroller.com/bookreview .
Check it out!
Read Poisonwood Bible immediately. It has a permanent place in my top five favorite books of all time. I find Barbara Kingsolver’s other books a little hit and miss (although I LOVED Animal, Vegetable, Miracle), but this book is beyond amazing.
I also highly recommend Gilead. And if you want I will send you Omnivore’s Dilemma…when you’re done with half the books on this list, of course…
I LOVE Elaine Pagels, I’ve read Gnostic Gospels and Adam & Eve and the Serpent and her more recent books are on my shelf waiting patiently.
I think the Gnostic Gospels can be read in chapters and alternated with another book, probably fiction. Her books also make good public transportation reading – interesting enough to distract you from the trip but not so engrossing that you will a. miss your stop, b. feel the need to keep reading once you arrive thus walking to your destination with your book in your face and risk walking into traffic; c. feel the need to reach down for the book during the work day to sneak in a few more pages and maybe see where a particular plot line goes.
Okay, these are all fine suggestions. That said, Numbers in the Dark is one of my all-time favorite short story collections, In Cold Blood is my favorite “Non-fiction” book of all time (quotes added since it’s, well, fiction) and I also vote for the Name of the Rose, which is tied for my favorite Italo Calvino book. Is it sad that I have 2 favorite Italo Calvino books?
Don’t read The Magus until you want to read The Magus. It’s one of those books that if you try to force, you’ll end up hating it. Also, I believe I gave that to you.