Wednesday, May 30, 2012

who do you love

Okay folks, summer reading list time. Top five? Shout them out.


Here's mine:
MAINE by J. Courtney Sullivan
LITTLE CHILDREN by Tom Perrotta
THE TEN-YEAR NAP by Meg Wolitzer
WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson
THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott WhatsHisFace 


runner up:
THE MARRIAGE PLOT by Jeffrey Eugenides

14 comments:

  1. It's the summer of memoir, I've decided. Just finishing up 'Blood, Bones & Butter' by Gabrielle Hamilton. Next is 'Praise of Motherhood' by Phil Jourdan. Then Cheryl Strayed's 'Wild' followed by 'Scar Tissue' by Anthony Kiedis, capped off with...I need a great 5th memoir suggestion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you read Lidia's CHRONOLOGY OF WATER?

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    2. YES! Chronology of Water. Another good one I read a few months back was Jeannie Darst's Fiction Ruined My Family.

      (I loved Scar Tissue. I get to see Anthony next week. Bill Clegg's newest, 90 days, is a good, quick addiction memoir read too.)

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  2. SOPHIE'S CHOICE by William Styron (already started)
    THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett
    IN SEARCH OF SATISFACTION by J. California Cooper
    THIS LIFE by Lee Martin
    IMPERIUM by Robert Harris

    Does anyone have a good suggestion for a novel about ancient Rome? I'd love some good historical fiction.

    (and now I'm off to find out about the books on your list!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. what about margaret george's helen of troy? (she does a lot of historical fiction)

      one of my favorite books about italy is the reluctant tuscan by phil doran. it's not what you're looking for (unless you consider the 90s ancient history).

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  3. I love the assortment here. Is the Martin book SUCH A LIFE by chance? It sounds right up my alley!

    Rome, anyone?

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    Replies
    1. Yes! SUCH A LIFE. I read his memoir FROM OUR HOUSE, which was excellent.

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  4. Let's see. . .

    NEVER KNOWING by Chevy Stevens
    CATCH-22 (which I've never read)
    THE CORN MAIDEN by Joyce Carol Oates
    SHUTTER ISLAND by Dennis Lehane
    GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn

    And I'm just finishing ELEVEN by Patricia Highsmith.

    Now I'm off like Teri to find out more about your list.

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    Replies
    1. Ah, the Heller book. I have not read that either. And THE CORN MAIDEN sounds like the perfect launch to summer reading.

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  5. I just bought Lifeboat yesterday per Teri's recommendation and am skipping through Jonathan franzen's latest collection of essays. (i've read the chapter on autobiographical fiction every night since i got the book a few days back.)

    I'm in the mood to re-read some old favorites:
    erica jong seducing the demon
    stephen king on writing
    bird by bird
    forest for the trees

    i think i'm moving into a new phase of my writing life and am trying to reconnect with the authors that propelled me forward the first time around. (dear lord. sorry for sounding so ridiculously self involved.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Josie, you are anything but self-involved, my dear! And, yes. Lifeboat! Ever since Teri's post on that book, I've been intrigued. The un-put-downable book, right? That's what summer is all about.

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  6. Anonymous9:30 AM

    The Stories od Breece D'J Pancake-Breece D'J Pancake
    Pnin-Nabakov
    Farther Away-Franzen

    And then I fall apart. I'm so heavy into edits, that I need the perfect novel to read. I'm reading Pnin now, and well, reading Nabokov is depressing for me when writing. I mean, how does he do it?? Urgh. There are so many unread ones on my shelves, yet none can hold my attention. I may go back to Gatsby myself (Scott plays a role in my book), and maybe return to Lamont's Bird By Bird, or Gardner's The Art of Fiction.

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    Replies
    1. I get the "perfect novel" when editing part. It's delicate. You don't want to be derailed from the the painstaking job of perfecting work, but inspiration is crucial.

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  7. Cheryl Strayed's Wild
    Augusten Burrough's This Is How
    Iris Murdoch's The Accidental Man
    Anthony Horowitz's The House of Silk (a new Sherlock Holmes mystery)
    Edward St Aubyn's At Last

    At the rate I read, that will take me all the way through Christmas.

    ReplyDelete

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