I read every night before I go to bed. If I don't, I feel weird. Bed and reading go together. Like peanut butter and jam. Salt and pepper. Wigs and kittens.
I used to read every book I picked up from beginning to end regardless of whether I thought it was great or not. I don't do that anymore. If I get ¼ of the way through a book and the only reason I want to open it is on the off chance the pages burst into flame like in a magic trick , I know it's time to take that magic course I always wanted to. Plus it's time to get rid of the book.
There are too many good books out there to read, to suffer through something boring, stupid, pretentious, bland or difficult. The odd time you get these things ALL ROLLED INTO ONE BOOK! For me that book is often written by Jonathan Franzen.
The stack of 5 books below are ones that I've read. It's a list that includes both the books I loved and one I gave up on by page 58.
The Rosie Project is a really fun little book about a professor who may or may not have Aspergers Syndrome. It's funny, thoughtful and an easy enjoyable read.
The Book Thief is one of the many books I've read that focus on the time during the holocaust. You need to read this book. Now.
Secret Daughter is also an easy read and engaging. The story revolves around a baby who is given up for adoption in India and the lives of her birth parents and adoptive parents.
The Casual Vacancy, by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was about something. I have no idea what. I couldn't force myself past page 58. J.K. Rowling is an incredibly talented writer whose book I was hoping would burst into flames.
A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy sat on my desk for a year before I read it. I was a huge Maeve Binchy fan years ago because she is a true storyteller. But her more recent books seemed to be missing something. When she died I vowed to read her last story. And I did. It was a cute, story about a multitude of flawed but likeable characters. In true Maeve Binchy style.
These, on the other hand, are the books I'm going to read. And I'm looking forward to each and every one of them. Except one.
Don't Get too Comfortable by David Rakoff is a book I tried to read a year and a half ago but just couldn't get into. I didn't wish flames upon it, I just wasn't in the right state of mind to read it I think. Apparently if you like David Sedaris you'll like David Rakoff. I happen to love David Sedaris.
N-W by Zadie Smith will be the second novel I've read by this British author. The first was On Beauty which I really liked, but sadly can't remember a single thing about. I'm gonna be honest with you. Of the list of 5 books this one kind of worries me. Poof!
The Woefield Poultry Collective by Susan Juby is another bit of a risk. When a novel only has 6 reviews on Amazon despite being published 3 years ago ... you've gotta worry a bit. But an Art of Doing Stuff reader recommended it so I'm givin' it a shot!
We are Water by Wally Lamb will be the 3rd novel I've read by this American author. The other two, I Know this Much is True and She's Come Undone were both pretty darn good. Besides as a general rule any book with the word "water" in the title can't burst into flames. It's just common sense.
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini is the book I'm most looking forward to. Hosseini has authored two of the most remarkable novels I've read over the past several years; The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns . Like his previous two works, this story takes place in Afghanistan.
Books like any other form of artistic endeavour is very subjective. You may love it, I may hate it. But the odd time there are books that are almost universally loved. If I had to recommend 3 books from these lists they would be A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Book Thief and The Rosie Project.
I really can't imagine anyone not liking them.
Feel free to leave your comments now telling me all about how you got ¼ of the way through one of them before it burst into flames.
→Follow me on Instagram where I often make a fool of myself←
Stephbo
Congratulations on getting to page 58 of Casual Vacancy. I don't think I got past page 10. It was awful. I hated every second of time I spent trudging through it. My only concern about it bursting into flame is that I don't want the fire spreading to my other beloved books.
Karen
Hah! ~ karen
Kristin
I read The Casual Vacancy and found it hard to get into at first, but soldiered on because it was a Christmas gift from my Harry Potter-loving daughter. I wanted to like it, and I was determined to read it. Once I got past the first several chapters, the story started to grip me. I ended up in tears, blubbering like a baby, and I definitely liked it. Not the way I loved Harry Potter, but I still found it very moving. It is nothing at all like her children's books.
The late David Rakoff is funny, but I wouldn't say he was as funny as David Sedaris. He brought more poignancy and less hyperbole to his prose. I read Don't Get Too Comfortable and liked it, but it didn't have me embarrassing myself in public by laughing out loud on a train like Me Talk Pretty One Day.
Oh, another book I recommend for sheer tears-running-down-your-cheeks humor is, well, most anything by Bill Bryson. Neither Here Nor There is about his travels in Europe, and is wonderful. I'm a Stranger Here Myself is about his return, after 25 years or so in England, to the U.S., and all the differences between the two cultures, which he comments on with his particular breed of wit.
I plan to buy The Rosie Project immediately on my new Kindle.
TucsonPatty
I'm in the minority, also, about "The Casual Vacancy" I liked it very much. It reminded me of my first Maeve Binchy book "The Lavender Bus" where each viewpoint depends upon the character speaking...you wouldn't be amiss in trying it again. That being said, it was not my favorite of her books.
I have been on a spurt lately, and just finished "In the Woods" by Tana French, and am looking forward to reading the next two of her books.
I read "The Book Thief" and am now unsure if I want to see the movie - I never want to spoil my impressions of the characters as I have imagined them. I also have another recommendation - a biography. "A Century of Wisdom: Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World's Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor" by Caroline Stoessinger. This amazing pianist is now 110 years old and lives by herself in London, still playing piano every day. She has the most uplifting attitude toward life and gratefulness and music.
I have read many of your recommended books over the years, and now have another unending list of books to read. Thanks. I love your recommendations.
Karen
No problem! (but I definitely won't be rereading "the book" tho, lol. I never read harry potter so it's not like I'm comparing ... i just really didn't like it. And I really wanted to.) And it turns out my sister who reads everything, all the time, non stop liked The Casual Vacancy. ~ karen!
Janet
Oh boy, I'm a bed time reader, too....if I don't read, however tired I am, I don't sleep....it's the only thing that will turn my brain off long enough to relax and get into sleep mode. Ok, so I tried reading the new J.K.Rowlings book too. I struggled for at least 58 pages....kept thinking something MUST be wrong with me.....Nope, you didn't like it either...I am SO GLAD I'M OK!!!! Thanks, Karen, whew... I live another day, knowing not every book should be on my "must read". Just knowing how many books there are out there and so little time I have to read them all....and the amount grows by probably thousands a day....going to the library makes my headache trying to figure out which books I should choose....I listen to books on my mp3 player while I work, I listen to them in the car.... well, now you can see why I need to turn my brain off by reading, before I can sleep. So, thanks again.
Annie
Yet another reason to love a kindle - get a sample to see if you like it before you spend the money! I like to use the library too, but I've recently moved to BFE, and they don't have that many books here...
Adel
I say you have to give A Casual Vacancy another try. I lost a whole weekend to reading, and consequently being depressed after reading this book, but a good book should make you feel like you want to kill yourself, shouldn't it?
Gina S.
Great list of books. Many of my favorites were on here....Let me add a few that haven't been mentioned...among my top reads from last years' pile...
Dirty Love: Andre Dubus III;
Men we Reaped:A Memoir: Jesmyn Ward;
Eleanor and Park: Rainbow Rowell;
Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Karen Russell;
The Emperer of All Maladies: Siddharta Mukherjee;
Deep in the Shade of Paradise: John Dufresne....
and some twisted detective series: Sara Gran's Claire Dewitt series, and John Burdett's Sonchai Jitpleecheep series.
Happy reading!
stephanie
Oh Canada! The Hosseni is good, but not as good as the first two....felt like he rushed to finish the ending. I'm currently 89% of the way through The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt....excellent, long but excellent!
Charlotte W
I have been enjoying your blog for awhile now and never felt compelled to comment, but when I read your thoughts on Casual Vacancy I had to reach out to give you a cyber high five or something of equal awesomeness because I too could not finish that book. I think I made it about as far and decided I would enjoying lying in bed staring at my ceiling more than I would enjoy reading another page of that book.
Karen
We are kindred exploding book spirits, you and I. ~ karen!
Laura Bee
Thanks for the list. Wish you'd warned me about Franzen earlier. I mostly read during my 1/2 hr lunch break & it has tken me months to get through 2/3 of The Corrections. (I took a month off to crochet for Christmas)
Sigh...Maybe I'll bring it home & just get it over with in a night or two.
Tanis
It seems like I'm part of a small minority- I didn't mind A Casual Vacancy. Yes, it was hard to get into, but it was like one of those movies where everyone's life is connected and you don't know how until the end (like Love Actually).
Right now I'm enjoying the Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. I've liked all of Kate Morton's books so far.
Mary Jane
Wow, lots of good recommendations! My favourite book ever, is Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskill. I love mid 19th Century literature and read all of the Bronte , Jane Austin and Elizabeth Gaskill books every few years. Villette is a book that takes a long time to get into but by the end of it you come to appreciate the depth of it.
Leslie
Thanks!
Trish
I love a good murder mystery and Louise Penny is currently the author of choice. Once I start reading her b00ks set in Three Pines I'm gone....laundry, tv, dinner, sleep - everything is put on hold. I'm just waiting for the last book in the series...impatiently I might add.
SarahP
Okay - my next book is The Rosie Project - too many recommendations to deny. Thanks everyone
Diana
The Book Thief is so great, I cried a 100times. Was not able to finish the book. Hold it in my hands, turned it around...
I know, what a lot of people think about us germans, but I`m the 2nd generation after all and both of my grandfathers and my father in law lost everything as refugees. Home, beloved ones and identity.
I would add The Hunger Angel by Herta Mueller.
Karen Dyck
I just thought I'd weigh in with a few added suggestions, not already mentioned. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple and The Unlikely Pilgramage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. Both are full of quirky characters and very interesting and unusual situations. The first is very humorous, the second very touching. Enjoy. Thanks for this. very interesting book discussion. I'm always trolling for ideas. I'm not happy unless I have books piling up in drifts in the corner, waiting to be read. Now the piles are digital ones, usually.
Laura
Have you read anything by Alan Bradley? I LOVE his books, and the fact that he's Canadian! They're mysteries. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is his first in the Flavia series and is great. She's an 11-year-old heroine who mixes poison on her room. LOVE her!
Karen
I started The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and couldn't get through it. I just wasn't in the mood, but know that I'll pick it up another time and like it. :) ~ karen
Stephanie
Try the audio- that series is narrated perfectly.
Annie
Flavia rocks!!
Deb Booth
If you are looking for recommendations for books to put on your 'to read' list, I have a doozy for ya - "Wonder" by R. L. Palacio - just finished it yesterday. Classified as YA, it's really for everyone who has a beating heart, I think. I laughed, I cried, and I loved the characters, the storyline and the different perspectives used to tell the story. if I had six thumbs, A) I would be awesome, B) I'd be categorized as deformed and C) they would ALL be up for this book. "Wonder" *is* a wonder. Wonder-filled, and wonderful. Highly, highly recommend.
Jennifer S
I read The Book Thief years and years ago and loved it so much! That author has another book that I've read and was really good too. I also am a fan of David Sedaris, so maybe I'll pick up that Rakoff book, or at least add it to my list. All of my reader friends who aren't in a writing program (like me, currently) are in love with all of Wally Lamb's books. Will definitely be sitting down with them once I graduate!
Stephanie
I wholeheartedly endorse the philosophy of quitting a book if you're not enjoying it. I think it's interesting how many of us haven't allowed ourselves to do that until well into adulthood. I'm a librarian and when I tell kids that it's perfectly okay to stop and put a book down if you don't like it (as long as it's not for a school assignment) they look at me like I'm trying to set them up for something.
Anyway, my biggest recommendation from 2013 was Tell The Wolves I'm Home. It's pretty much perfect.
I also second all the love for Goodreads. Sadly, my "to read" list is going to take me years to get through at this point, and I add to it almost daily. One of the perils of working surrounded by books all day. If only I could read at work...
Karen
It's been added to the wish list! ~ karen