Late last week I tweeted that I was compiling a summer reading list. I tried to set a tone by referring to my favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut, noting that I’d run through all his work at least twice and was looking to find some new directions to read in. I received a great list over Twitter and Facebook. On top of that, readers chimed in with a few longer lists over email. So, below is a partial list, made up of titles that received more than one mention. I’ve also commented on a few that I have some knowledge of or came with more persistent recommendation.
“Geek Love” - Katherine Dunn
“Winter’s Tale” – Mark Helprin
“Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage” – Alfred Lansing
“I’m Proud of You: My friendship with Fred Rogers” – Tim Madigan
“Twilight”… ahem.. .really?
“The Great Emergence” – Phyllis Tickle
“Silence” – Shusaku Endo
“Redeeming Love” – Francine Rivers
Funny note about this: EVERY guy (and there were a few) who mentioned this book coupled his recommendation with something along the lines of “I don’t normally read this kind of stuff, but…” Classic.
And now a few I know something about…
“Life of The Beloved” and “Wounded Healer” – Henri Nouwen
Nouwen’s “In The Name Of Jesus” is one of those books I return to over and over again (along with “The Brothers Karamazov” and “Roget’s Pocket Thesaurus”).
“Blood Meridian” – Cormac McCarthy
I had read “”Child of God” quite a long time ago.. I don’t remember when.. and hadn’t read anything else until “The Road” which I read a year or so ago and passed on to several folks. I don’t remember being as captured by “Child of God.” “The Road” was like crack… and you all know how much I love crack.
“Jayber Crow” – Wendell Berry
Berry’s “Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community” rearanged my DNA. I haven’t spent any time with his poetry or fiction. This book title has come of so often I’m embarassed to say I’ve not gotten there.
“Holy The Firm”- Annie Dillard
I’ve really enjoyed Annie Dillard’s work. Andrew Peterson turned me on to “Pilgrim At Tinker Creek” and I devoured it. I’ve not read “Holy…” yet but now it’s on the list.
David Sedaris
Yes. Absolutely. I’d mainly heard Sedaris on NPR until I purchased “When You Are Engulfed In Flames” in an airport on the way to Germany and then proceeded to nod and laugh intermittently for 8 hours. I need more Sedaris in my life.
John Updike
As an english major in college I read my fair share of of Updike but ceased to follow through after graduation, leaning more towards Frank Miller for a while.
Bill Bryson
A British friend of mine turned me onto “Notes From A Small Island” a few years ago. I’ve since read a few of his books but not quite gotten around to “Walk In The Woods” which is the title more folks seem familiar with.
“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” – Michael Chabon
This looks incredibly interesting to me. As something of a comic-nerd myself, I’m a sucker for this kind of thing. Much like, as a baseball fan, I fell in love with David James Duncan’s “The Brothers K.” The only book more enticing on my list than this one was…
“Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal“ – Christopher Moore
This was one of the most recommended books. What’s mostly intriguing to me is that my love of Vonnegut is the thing that folks mainly site when referring Moore to me.
Yay for voracious readers. Thanks for the list… I gotta get on this.
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I’m tellin’ ya… Atonement by McEwan. I, Warwick Fuller, who didn’t even cry at his own wedding, was brought to tears and wrecked over this little book. I seriously think it may be one of the best books written in the last 100 years… and I know ’cause I read most of them. lol.
I cried at my wedding… like a little girl looking for her favorite blankey… but I’m still a man… a burly man… who occasionally would like someone to tell him that he is valued and appreciated for who he is despite looking like a “nerdy Chandler from Friends” and having (sniff) what would be described as a “slight paunch” atop his belt… (sniff, sniff)… I’m sorry, I’ve said too much….
Oh, yeah, I like books too
Dude, I can’t wait to hear what you think of “Lamb” if you do indeed give it a read. This book, coupled with “The Stupidest Angel” is why Christopher Moore cracks me the freak up.
Anyone read AP’s ‘On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness’? That’s a good Fantasy genre page-turner..
Way to go on Bill Bryson. love “notes” and some of his short works. ditto nouwen. great list, always looking for new reccommendations.
LAMB has to be a must read. I loved every second of it.
Bryson definitely deserves any time that you can give him, especially “Walk in the Woods”. I am also a fan of Palahnuik, but Cormac McCarthy transcends anything that he’s written. Put Blood Meridian at the top.
If I may, I’d recommend “Gilead” – Marilynne Robinson, “Til We Have Faces” – C.S. Lewis, “What is the What” – Dave Eggers, “Brave New World” – Aldous Huxley, and/or “The Hobbit” – J.R.R. Tolkien
Jayber Crow is the place to start with Berry’s fiction. Absolutely loved it. Blood Meridian is very good, but much less accessible than The Road. If you haven’t read All The Pretty Horses by McCarthy, I would pick that one up first. Kavilier and Clay is also very good, and extremely readable. Finally, if you liked Brothers K, then check out Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. Similar themes and writing style with knockout ending that will leave you in tears.
Shalom Amy and Justin! May your next ten years be even more greatly blessed!
Sincerely, ASL/rebeitzen