TTT: Authors I Haven't Read, But Want to

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Haven't Read, but I Want to Read Books by Them 

Looking over my TBR I find quite a few authors' books I 'should' have read by now. Here is my chance to name them and claim them.

Hilary Mantel

author of the Thomas Cromwell series which everyone has been talking about for years. I need to start with the first book in the series, Wolf Hall.

Emily Henry

I decided to add authors who have at least two titles on my TBR. Henry has two books on my list: Beach Reads and Book Lover.

 

John Boyne 

Author of a book I've long wanted to read The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas and one I've only recently learned about The Heart's Invisible Furies.

Isabel Wilkerson

I want to read this author's books, I've heard such good things about them. On the other hand they also sound depressing and that is not where I'm at these days. (The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste.)

Elizabeth Gaskell

A female author writing during what was considered the Victorian era, approximately the same time as the Bronte sisters. On my list to read of her work is Cranford and North and South.

Barbara Pym

I only recently have become aware of this author who wrote in the mid twentieth century. Her books Excellent Woman and Quartet in Autumn sound wonderful.

George Eliot

Her books Middlemarch and Silar Marner have long been on my TBR.

Alexandre Dumas

Okay, I confess it. I've never read either of his classics: The Count of Monte Cristo or The Three Musketeers. Gulp. 

Salman Rushdie

I vacillate between wanting to read his famous Satanic Verses or one of his many other titles, like Midnight's Children. 

-Anne

Tanka-poetry reviews

Thanks to Lark Writes for giving me the inspiration to write short, poetic book reviews. Hers are called 'Haiku Reviews.' I'll make mine a little longer and call them tanka-poetry reviews. Similar to haikus, tanka poems are short, using only 31-syllables in the cadence pattern of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7. Almost all of the books reviewed here are actually poetry books themselves.

Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley, and Marjory Wentworth

(Candlewick Press, 2017)

 

Out of gratitude

for the joys of poetry,

poets write poems

in the style of admired

poets. Results -- magical.

5 stars

Two samples:

"How to Write a Poem" celebrating Naomi Shihab Nye by Kwame Alexander

"Hue and Cry" celebrating Gwendolyn Brooks by Kwame Alexander

Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds edited by Billy Collins

(Columbia University Press 2010)

 

Part poetry book,

Part field guide and art book,

Celebrates all birds.

Illustrations way better

than the poems.  A pity.

3 stars

Note: my favorite poem of the bunch was one mentioned by Collins in the preface: "The Swan at Edgewater Park" by Ruth Schwartz

 

O's Little Book of Happiness by the editors of O. The Oprah Magazine

(Flatiron Books, 2015)

A sprinkling of

advice and a bounty of

exuberant tales

by great writers that appeared

in magazine over years.

3 stars

Patriarchy Blues: Poems by Rena Priest

(Moonpath Press, 2017)

Poet Laureate 

for Washington State, Priest writes

poems about love,

lust, and loss. She watches

and records her thoughts for us. 

4 stars

From the poem "The Encyclopedia Britannica, Sunshine, A Mosquito" by Priest

Change Sings: A Children's Anthem by Amanda Gorman

(Viking Books for Young Readers, 2021)

In this quite stirring,

lyrical book, Amanda

Gorman's poem calls

 out: “I can hear change humming
In its loudest, proudest song."

 

5 stars

Note: Shout out to the illustrator Loren Long, too. Sample:

-Anne

Sunday Salon -- Spring break

The travelers at the Boise Airport with my sister Grace.

Weather: This past week presented us with just about all the weather one could ever predict for a mid-spring time period: rain, wind, snow, hail, sun, mild, severe, blustery, fine. Today alone has been a testament to how weird the weather's been with my daughter waking up to snow at her home near Mt. Rainier and my sister also waking to snow in Boise. Our temperature wasn't as low today as predicted but still quite cool in the low 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Snow is predicted for some surrounding communities later tonight.

Highs and lows of flying with kids: visiting the cockpit; exploring our seats; tired of being confined.

Boise: My daughter, a teacher, is on spring break this week and asked if I would travel with her and her kids to visit my sister and two of her friends in Boise, Idaho. Her husband was unable to make the trip and she needed an extra set of hands to help wrangle her boys, aged 4 1/2 and 1 1/2. So Wednesday the four of us boarded a flight together lugging two roller bags, a diaper bag, another over the shoulder bag, a child's backpack, our purses, a stroller, and two car seats. We had to stand in line behind people checking in dogs for their flights to check in the car seats, then we had a long line at security where they didn't take pity on us and made us practically unpack the diaper bag in addition to taking Jamie, the youngest, out of his stroller in addition to all the other hassles like no shoes, computer out of bag, toiletries, etc. We nearly missed our flight. We we did arrive in Boise though,  but the car seats didn't, so we had to get loaners from the airlines. No wonder my daughter needed help.

Highlights of our spring break in Boise in pictures:

World Center for Birds of Prey: Boise. California condor wing span; playing in a tunnel; Ian and friend donning bird costumes/wings; program with Giant Eagle Owl from Africa; a Harpy Eagle from Panama; Jamie examining the huge egg from the extinct Elephant Bird of Madagascar.

Ian participates in activities in Great Aunt Grace's Preschool and shows off his project: a baby owl sitting on it's nest.

Preschool Outdoor School in a Boise park. Rita's friend is the instructor. Theme of the day: bugs. Ian announced at the beginning that he doesn't like bugs but he got into climbing in and out of the pretend pink spider web. Jamie on his mom's back was ready for a nap.

Family dinner with cousins and cousins kids. Brent is Rita's tallest cousin, seen here standing next to Ian. So much family love.

At the Sensory Playce in Boise. We took mostly videos and only a few still photos. Lots of types of swings, tunnels, zip line, trampolines, etc. The boys had a blast (and so did the adults.)

Rita is getting Ian ready for his zip-line ride across the gym

Jamie loved pushing the shopping cart which he loaded up with plastic vegetables and a 5 lb. ball he took pride in lugging around.

Thank you Rock and Grace for hosting us for a special and memorable spring break in Boise!

Major Dom Calata remembered with a military cross.

Last Sunday: I didn't post on Sunday Salon last week because we were attending a second memorial service for Dom Calata, our relative who died in the line of duty as a Sheriff's deputy. This service was put on by the Washington Army National Guard where Dom was Major Calada. This was a military service and very moving with it's traditions and allowed us to learn about another aspects of Dom's amazing life. Once again we were struck by how special this man was and we want to live our lives to be more like him. RIP, Dom. We love you so much and miss you.

Blood donation: Don and I donated blood to honor the memory of Dom. The Edgewood Police Department put out a request for blood donations, hoping to get 50 pints.  So far they have 300+ pints and have now amended the number to 440 donations, to match his badge number.  If you want to donate you can go anywhere Bloodworks Northwest has clinics. Tell them you are doing it to honor the memory of Officer Dom Calata. 

Books: I finished one book, a reread, The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, read for Narniathan. The week did not lend itself to reading though I did read a page here or there in several other books.

Update on George and Fred: They have completely adjusted after their move from California. This photo has George in the foreground and Fred way in the background.

On the lighter side:

 

-Anne

Narniathon: THE SILVER CHAIR

 

Unlike last month when we read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (#3 Chronicles of Narnia) and I practically had to drag myself through it, this month my reading of the fourth book in the series, The Silver Chair, simply flew by. What was the difference? Well, for one thing, though I've read The Silver Chair four or five other times in my life, I could only remember a skeletal outline of the story. I remembered the Marsh-Wiggle, Puddleglum, and the friendly giants who wanted to eat the children. I recalled a chair (Duh! The title) and the beautiful woman being evil. What I didn't remember was how funny the book was. 

Compared to the other books in the series I'd say this one is clearly the funniest, with Puddleglum delivering most of the comedic lines. Comedy often saves us from the most dreadful of circumstances.  Think of the popularity of comedians on Netflix since the pandemic began. My husband and I made our way though their standup routines as if grabbing for a lifeline every night during the worst of the lcokdowns. At a funeral we attended last week for a beloved Sheriff's Deputy who was killed in the line of duty, the preacher started his remarks with a funny comment. It broke the tension in the room, allowing us all a moment to catch our breath, to laugh, and to regroup in our collective grief. C.S. Lewis knew this, I believe, and purposely used humor to lighten what was an otherwise very serious, deadly serious quest. Here is just one example. When Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum are seemingly trapped in the Underworld and are wondering if they have read the signs correctly but doubting themselves, Puddleglum puts a bright light on the situation, “And you must always remember there's one good thing about being trapped down here: it'll save funeral expenses.”Ah, the tension is broken by this quip and the characters can move forward.

Now on with the discussion questions for Narniathon --

1. The Silver Chair is a quest story, its progress determined by four signs which, Aslan says, will confirm that Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb are on the right track. The children believe they have failed in recognizing three of the signs: have they really failed or do you think the signs, like many oracular sayings, were too obscure or ambiguous to be of practical use?

If we accept that The Chronicles of Narnia are really a Christian allegory, then it makes sense that the signs aren't completely obvious. The disciples once asked Jesus why he spoke in parables instead of using direct examples and he replied that to many understanding the mysteries of the kingdom has not been granted. In Matthew 13:10-17 Jesus answers them and also quotes Isaiah: "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You shall keep on listening, but shall not understand;
And you shall keep on looking, but shall not perceive;
For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their heart, and return,
And I would heal them.’

Now, I am not even going to attempt to explain this but I accept a partial explanation that there is a mystery and only actual seekers will understand the signs. Jill and Eustace had a preconceived idea of what each sign meant. Did they really flub the first three? I'd say not. They just thought they did since the signs didn't fill their preconceived ideas exactly. They finished their quest and saved the Prince, after all.

2. The narrative brings in so many themes and motifs from folklore, myth, medieval epic and children’s literature. What are your favorite moments in the novel, and why do you think that may be so?

I already talked about my favorite moments -- those involving humor. There were the kindly giants who planned on eating the children, but cried about it and moaned, "Poor poppets" even as they plotted their demise.  Puddleglum and his deadpan/gloomy disposition which gave off a negative vibes but he was really brave and smart:

“Puddleglum!" said Jill. "You're a regular old humbug. You sound as doleful as a funeral and I believe you're perfectly happy. And you talk as if you were afraid of everything, when you're really as brave as - as a lion.”

My favorite Puddleglum quote, which makes me laugh every time I read it:

Even the ending is funny. When Eustace and Jill return to their terrible school at the end of the book their tormentors are thwarted by Caspian and Eustace brandishing swords and the awful Head teacher, who was thought of as a lunatic after reporting the instance to the police, was not sacked but promoted up: "And they then found she wasn't much good even at that, they got her into Parliament where she lived happily ever after."

3. There’ll be a winged horse in The Magician’s Nephew and a talking horse in The Horse and His Boy, Eustace as a dragon gives rides to the crew of the Dawn Treader, and of course Lucy and Susan are privileged to ride on Aslan’s back in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In The Silver Chair the children are also very privileged: “To ride on a Centaur is, no doubt, a great honour (and except Jill and Eustace there is probably no one alive in the world today who has had it)” we’re told, “but it is very uncomfortable.” Uncomfy or not, is there any Narnian or other creature you would like to travel on the back of — with their permission of course?

In The Silver Chair, Jill and Eustace are not only conveyed forward on centaurs but earlier they are ferried out of the castle and eventually to the marshes to meet up with Puddleglum on the backs of owls. Now that would be quite a trip. Of course one has to hang on for dear life and not fall asleep even though one is very sleepy, or else one might fall off. Personally, I had the thought that it would be quite scary to ride on a centaur and obviously quite dangerous to ride on an owl. My vote goes for riding on a talking horse, like the boy does in A Horse and His Boy. I don't know how to ride and that way the horse could teach me and essentially do all the hard work.

Planet Narnia website reveals that Lewis designed The Silver Chair to be ruled by the goddess Luna or the moon. It seems to fit. Luna rules the night and much of this story takes place at night or in darkness. Luna was thought to be responsible for inconstancy and doubt. It also has an influence on sanity, "which is why people who have lost their wits are called 'lunatics.'" Matthew 4:24 considers lunatics among the sick people who are healed by Jesus. Luna's metal is silver. "C.S. Lewis designed The Silver Chair so that it would embody and express Luna's qualities. "

-Anne

TTT: Books that started a reading frenzy on the same topic or by the same author

Top Ten Tuesday: Books that started a reading frenzy on the same topic or by the same author

 

1. Looking for Alaska by John Green 

LFA was one the first YA novels I read when I became a teen librarian and I have never looked back, devouring each of John Green's books as soon as they are published and rereading them when no new ones are forthcoming. This has been more of a slow motion frenzy since he hasn't published that many books (7) since I read his first one, Looking for Alaska, in 2005

2. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

After reading this novel about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson, I went on a short frenzy about Hemingway, starting with his nonfiction book A Moveable Feast about his days living in Paris with his first wife. Then I moved on to reading one of his novels, The Sun Also Rises. I am not a huge fan of his writing style but I was still intrigued enough to watch a movie about his early experiences in war called "In Love and War" starring Sandra Bullock and Chris O'Donnell. I also did quite a bit of personal research about the Hemingways and other writers who were their friends: F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce among them. During this time I also became a bit obsessed with the author, Paula McLain. I attended a program where she was the featured speaker and read another book by her, Circling the Sun, which started me on an even bigger reading frenzy.

3. Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

Circling the Sun was the catalyst for what I considered my Africa obsession. It is a novelized memoir of Beryl Markham who for most of her life lived in British East Africa (Kenya before it was Kenya.) I was fascinated by Beryl Markham and read her own memoir, West with the Wind, once I was finished with the novel by McLain. West with the Wind was published in 1942 and almost went into obscurity until Hemingway read it and about it said, "This is a bloody wonderful book." I agreed. I went on to read the only other book I could find written by Markham, then I circled back and watched the movie "Out of Africa" and read the book by Karen Blixen, a contemporary of Markham living in Africa at the same time. I hated the book Out of Africa and reading it brought my Africa frenzy to an abrupt end.

4. Ten Poems to Change Your Life by Roger Housden

My whole attitude about poetry was changed after I read this book which not only explains and gives meaning to ten poems so I could understand them but caused me to fall in love with reading poetry in general. I not only became obsessed with poetry but became a huge Roger Housden fan and went on to read all the books in the "Ten Poems" series: Ten Poems to Last a Lifetime; Ten Poems to Set You Free; Ten Poems to Change Your Life Again and Again; Ten Poems to Say Goodbye; Ten Poems to Open Your Heart. This began in 2013 and I have reread most of these titles since then. I went on to read three other poetry books edited by Housden and haven't stopped reading poetry to this day.

5. Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad

After George Floyd's murder I went on a binge reading as many books as I could get my hands on to help me to become an anti-racist. Me and White Supremacy was the first book I read on this topic and it was a book club choice. I've gone on to read many other books on this topic and haven't stopped yet. See this post Books to Help Me Become an Anti-racist.

6. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Back in 2010 I read Shiver, the first book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater. I wasn't really into werewolves or zombies or vampires but I became a huge Stiefvater fan even though this one was about werewolves. I especially liked her stand alone book, Scorpio Races and her Raven Boys series. I think I've read everything she has published except her very earliest stuff and I keep my eye out for new titles.

7. Printz Award books

Back in 2010 I attended a library conference where one of the presentations was on how to conduct a Mock Printz event. I was hooked from that day forward I spent a lot of time and energy trying to figure out which books would win the coveted prize each year employing the efforts of a legion of students for our GK Mock Printz efforts. I loved it and so did the students. This hyperlink is the blog post I created prior to my very first Mock Printz event in 2010. Over the years most of my favorite YA titles were Printz Award or Printz Honor winners. Here are a few titles I especially loved from the list: Tales of the Madman Underground (Barnes); I'll Give You the Sun (Nelson); The Passion of Dolssa (Berry); and Eleanor and Park (Rowell) to name a few. Now that I am retired I find that I have less interest in reading YA award titles and more interest in reading adult award books so I shifted my passion onto reading Pulitzer Prize books and National Book Award winners.

 

8. Anything Jane Austen

I don't know when my obsession with Jane Austen books started. I've actually reviewed very few of her books on my blog, so I guess this obsession began before 2009, my first year of blogging. Of course I've read all of her novels and I can't decide which one I like best. I've watched many films made from her books over the years and then rewatched them. I've read retellings of her books, and books about her characters, books about Jane Austen herself, and what it was like to live in the Regency period. I call myself a 'Janite.' And my idea of perfect vacation destination site would be to visit Chawton House, the last home Austen lived in before her death. Here is a fun blogpost I created where I pretended I was interviewing Jane Austen. This Austen phase does not seem to be slowing down at all and it has been going strong for years!

9. Beatles!

In 2017 Sirius radio opened up a Beatles channel which plays nothing except Beatles songs, Beatles covers, and songs that inspired the Beatles. I became obsessed writing blog post after blog post about my Beatlemania (Here is the first one) and I started reading all the books I could get may hands on about the Beatles. My favorite, by far, was Dreaming the Beatles by Rob Sheffield which made me realize there were people out there who way bigger fans than me. Ha! Though I am still a huge fan, my radio listening choices have evolved into a much more eclectic list with just the occasional Beatles tune on it.

-Anne

April is National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month.

Here are my plans for how I hope to celebrate it:

1. Chalk poems on my front sidewalk. I'm currently on the hunt for a short one since I find it harder and harder these days to bend over and write with chalk on the pavement. I hope to 'spy' walkers stopping to read these chalked poems.

2. Try to complete at least five-ten of these 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month suggestions. These are ideas I'm most likely to do:

• Find our about the Washington State's Poet Laureate
• Her name is Rena Priest and she is a member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation. The first Indigenous poet to be Poet Laureate of the state. I've placed a hold on one of her poetry collections at the library, Patriarchy Blues.  (ArtsWA)
  
• Go to the library and check out poetry books (I've already done this!)
• Sign up for Poem-a-Day (Done. Easy!)
• Read "In this Place (An American Lyric)" by Amanda Gorman. It was the most often read poem in 2021. (Hey, look what I just found...)
  
  
  
• Make a poetry playlist, which involves figuring our how to do it. (Here is an example.)
  

3. Read the poetry books currently checked out from the library:

• 100 Poems to Break Your Heart by Edward Hirsh
• You Don't Have to Be Everything edited by Diana Whitney

4. Write reviews for recently read poetry books:

• Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds edited by Billy Collins 
• Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander, Christ Colderley, and Majory Wentworth
• Change Sings: A Children's Anthem by Amanda Gorman

5. Do a little research on the most popular poetry books of 2020 and 2021. My favorite poetry collection read in 2021 was Dearly: New Poems by Margaret Atwood

• I found this list on LitHub of favorite poetry collections of 2021. I placed a hold on the one by Rita Dove.
• And this list of seven best poetry collections from the NYT. I am interested in checking out Love and Other Poems by Alex Dimitrov but it is not available at my library.
• And this list from Entropy Magazine listing favorites from both 2020 and 2021. I was proud to see that I'd actually read two of the books listed. I am located one, Obit by Chang, at my library.
  

6. Stop by a bookstore and browse the poetry section. 

 

-Anne

Review and quotes: THE SILENT PATIENT

Title: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides 

Book Beginnings quote: 

Alicia Berensen was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband.

Friday56 quote: 

The therapy room was a small, narrow rectangle; as bare as a prison cell, or barer.

Summary: Alicia Berensen and her husband, Gabriel, were married for seven years before she killed him. After shooting him in the face she went completely silent, refusing to speak at all. Both Alicia and her husband were artists. She a painter, he a popular fashion photographer. After the murder, before she was sent to The Grove for the criminally insane, she created a painting of Alecestis from Greek mythology. Does she want the painting to speak for her? While she is at The Grove a new criminal psychologist, Theo Faber, is hired to work with her. He is very motivated to do so, sure that he can get her to talk.

Review: I always have trouble "reviewing" mysteries because just about all the details will be spoilers. So let me say this -- the book is very good and there is a plot twist I didn't see coming.  In fact, since it was a book club choice, I can report that none of the gals in club saw it coming either. Both my husband and I enjoyed listening to the audiobook together. When the plot twisted, we both turned to each other with a look of 'what just happened?' on our faces.

The Silent Patient was author Alex Michaelides' first book and it became the best selling book of 2019. He lived on Cyprus as a child and said that his summers were filled with reading Agatha Christie novels at the beach, cementing his love of mysteries. Having grown up so near to Greece he said that Greek myths were very familiar to him and to all school children. That is how he knew so much about Alecestis, a myth I'd never even heard of before. He studied psychotherapy for three years and worked for two years on a secure ward for mentally ill youth. He admits that he used those experiences as fodder for his book. He was surprised that the book was categorized as a psychological thriller, however, since he just meant it to be a mystery or just regular literature. 

If you are one of the few people in the world who hasn't read this book, I highly recommend it to you.

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from current book.
The Friday56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56 to share. 
Visit these two websites to participate. Click on links to read quotes from books other people are reading. It is a great way to make blog friends and to get suggestions for new reading material.  

-Anne

TTT: Modern Classics

Top Ten Tuesday: 21st Century Books Likely to Become Classics

Classics are books which continue to have something important to say years after they are published. When re-reading a classic one has just as much a sense of discovery as the first time.

*Hyperlinked titles available for reviews of those books which I read before I began blogging. Books are listed in random order.

 

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2001)

"A wonderfully original novel, which recounts the remarkable life of Pi Patel. Martel skillfully blends Pi's adventures of the mind and spirit with an unforgettable physical journey, making this a magical coming-of-age narrative." 

 

2. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2004)

"The Shadow of the Wind is a coming-of-age tale of a young boy who, through the magic of a single book, finds a purpose greater than himself and a hero in a man he’s never met. With the passion of García Márquez, the irony of Dickens, and the necromancy of Poe, Carlos Ruiz Zafón spins a web of intrigue so thick that it ensnares the reader from the very first line. The Shadow of the Wind is an ode to the art of reading, but it is also the perfect example of the all-encompassing power of a well-told story."

 

3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003)

"The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies."

4. Station Eleven by Emily St. James Mandel (2014)

"Station Eleven is at once a gripping post-apocalyptic page turner and a hopeful, elegiac masterpiece that explores the connections that bind humanity."

 

5. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (2013)

"The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters and thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph - a sweeping story of loss and obsession, of survival and self-invention, of the deepest mysteries of love, identity and fate."

 

6. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014)

"In this WWII-centered novel follows the lives of two children as they grow up among all the turmoil. Through his stunning use of metaphor and an unpredictable timeline, Doerr explores kindness and how people perceive the world."

 

7. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)

"Eugenides packs so much richness into this classical saga-cum-bildungsroman-cum–paean to the American Dream that Dickens would be proud. Starting with the burning of Smyrna and winding its way through Prohibition to the 1967 Detroit race riots, Middlesex does what any viable candidate for the Great American Novel should; it broadens the definition of 'American.'"

 

8. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016)

"Like the protagonist of Gulliver’s Travels, Cora encounters different worlds at each stage of her journey—hers is an odyssey through time as well as space. As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre–Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman’s ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share."

 

9. Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001)

"Ian McEwan’s symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative and the provocation we have come to expect from this master of English prose."

10. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (2007)

"Diaz immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience, and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph."

 

11. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (2021)

"Cloud Cuckoo Land is, among other things, a paean to the nameless people who have played a role in the transmission of ancient texts and preserved the tales they tell. But it’s also about the consolations of stories and the balm they have provided for millenniums. It’s a wildly inventive novel that teems with life, straddles an enormous range of experience and learning, and embodies the storytelling gifts that it celebrates" (NYT).

As I think about all these books I started to wonder if they are made into a movie or a miniseries if it increases or decreases in its likelihood of becoming a classic book read by generations to come. Hmm.  I don't know the answer.

-Anne