I'm just getting caught up on this wonderful thread now, and have so much to say, and that's even before I try to add some of my favourite titles!
This book talk does my heart good. There is nothing that writers like better than readers! And hearing about their love of books. This gives me the warm fuzzies all over. So thanks to Kari for starting it! And Kari & Khris, if you loved L.M. Montgomery's Anne books, you might want to check out her Emily series. Those ones are even better. I've recently re-read them to my daughter and she agreed. I've been reading many of those classics with her—Little Women, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess. Fabulous stuff. Of course we've also galloped through Harry Potter. Soon we'll be on to Dickens.
Welcome, KimmeSue, and please chime in everywhere! I LOVED Salinger's books when I first read them as a teen. And Crime & Punishment would have to go on my own top ten list, too.
Una and RandomThought- high fives from another Gorey fan!
I read The God of Small Things, too. I did think the writing was Precious in places but I also loved it. She wrote with such passion. And wasn't that cover on the first edition gorgeous?
Jonesy & Carole - I just finished my second re-read of Middlemarch, one of my all-time faves and the inspiration for the novel I'm working on right now!
Inge, I can't believe you translated Ann Fadiman! That is amazing! I adore essays; my first book is an essay collection. It is hard to publish them but they are one of the most beautiful and underappreciated forms.
Makrame, I've been wanting to read the Henrietta Lacks book; you've just given me a good reminder to put it on my bedside table.
Marley, not only do I write but I also worked in bookstores for many years. I really loved the job, too. The only problem was that I spent most of my (meagre) earnings on books!
Girl X- I chime in with Jonesy to thank for the reminders to Doris Lessing and Jamaica Kincaid, both of whose books I adore (along with others on your list, too.)
Jjsloane, I don't think the combo of Austen, Dickens and Irving is odd at all! Not in the least. They are sort of like interlinked wardrobe capsules if you think about it....Austen and Dickens being 19th century; Dickens and Irving being wild, rollicking tale-spinners, lovers of abundant language for its own sake (and Austen being more restrained or "neutral" in that regard...); all three being fine observers of character, and all three being essentially comic novelists.
Khris, I recently re-read The Good Earth, which I'd been assigned in eighth grade and found depressing as all get-out then. But re-reading it I was amazed at how good it really is. Very sad, but much better written than I knew at the time. I would like to read that new biography of Pearl Buck.
DIana, Guy Gavriel Kay came to the Kingston WritersFest last year (www.kingstonwritersfest.com) I'm on the planning committee for the festival. Anyway...he was SO intelligent and thoughtful and erudite; just a joy to listen to!
Phew. I am out of breath and out of finger power. Back to list some favourites when I get a chance. Thank you, Kari! And thank you all for sharing your love of books and reading. It is SO easy to get discouraged as a writer.
