Blabbermouse
  • BLOG
  • READING
  • ARCHIVE 2005-2014
Follow me!

my top 25 favorite books of all time, so far

8/19/2013

0 Comments

 
Ann Patchett did a "25 Favorite Books" exercise on her blog today, and I thought I'd give it a shot (without overthinking). And because I'm not overthinking, I'm probably under-listing and forgetting some amazing reads. 

For brevity's sake, I'm not including beloved books from my childhood (The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, The BFG, Boy, The Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles, Black Beauty ...). And I'm also electing to leave off J.D. Salinger, whose Nine Stories and Catcher in the Rye and Franny & Zooey had a pretty profound impact on me as a teenager/young adult, but didn't hold up as well in later years.

Salinger is for the young. (Discuss.)

In the order they came to mind, here are my Top 25 Favorite Books of All Time, So Far: 

1. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (this is one of the greatest books of all time. John Irving's magnum opus, in my opinion)

2. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (the main character is Gus's namesake)

3. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (this may be the greatest of all time, actually. God I loved this book.)

4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (I've read this at least four times, and it's a different book every time. Every. Time.)

5. Emma by Jane Austen (Everyone who loves Austen has their favorite Austen book. Few people I know pick Emma, but I love the way it bubbles along.)

6. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (Probably too soon to put this on the list - but I've been bereft since I finished it, waiting for something at least half as good to come along.) 

7. I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb (Before Oprah jumped the shark by picking The Secret, she really could pick 'em. I can't speak for her later selections.)

8. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (This book is so epic in its scope and message, it feels biblical. I haven't been drawn to the specifity and narrowness of her later subjects, though I hear The Lacuna covered a lot of ground, and it hasn't been booted off my nightstand yet.)

9. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. (A must for writers, definitely. But an all around entertaining read for anyone.)

10. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (I'm not going to get into it with you. If you didn't like this book, and you and I currently have a good relationship, I suggest you just smile and nod, smile and nod. I love Elizabeth Gilbert and that is that.) 

11. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (A fictional memoir of Laura Bush. Genius.)

12. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (A true story that reads like fiction, about a Muslim handyman in the aftermath of Katrina. Amazing, amazing. I've been trying to get Larry to read this book READ THIS BOOK, LARRY.)

13. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed (Don't ask questions. Just go buy this book.)

14. Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett (I've read it three times. I never read memoirs three times.) 

15. Open by Andre Agassi (This is a kick-ass memoir as told to J.D. Moehringer, who wrote an amazing memoir of his own called The Tender Bar. I don't typically go for sports tell-alls, but this one goes deep. And when one of the world's greatest tennis players says 'I hate tennis' - you're in for a ride.)

16. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Hint: When you read this book, it helps to think of time as a map - rather than a line. It's really astounding what she does with time and narrative. And it's a love story that's far more literary than your typical "time travel" romance.)

17. One True Thing by Anna Quindlen (Based on Anna Quindlen's real experience with her mother's death. Several women in my first (short-lived) book club bitched about the way she felt about her mother. BUT SHE'S HER MOTHER! I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY SHE WAS SO SELFISH ABOUT HAVING TO QUIT WORK AND CARE FOR HER DYING MOM AND ALL OF HER SIBLINGS WHEN SHE WAS TWENTY YEARS OLD. I WOULD HAVE GLADLY ACCEPTED THAT RESPONSIBILITY AS A DELICIOUS HONOR. I can't deal with people sometimes.)

18. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (The first book where I was like dude, subtlety rules.)

19. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (The most disturbing novel I've ever read. But so brilliantly constructed and page-turny I HAVE to recommend it.)

20. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. (Epistolary novels are AWESOME. This one is particularly so.)

21. Reservation Road by John Burnham Schwartz (This book contains the most haunting, disturbing single scene of any novel I've read - and the way it unfolds from there is just breathtaking. I read it in one sitting. Haven't seen the movie. Don't need to. It plays in my head all the time.)

22. Duane's Depressed by Larry McMurtry (I've read this one at least three times. My favorite favorite McMurtry book.)

23. How to Read Like a Writer by Francine Prose (This will change the way you read books. I hope every English department is assigning this now, becuase it's probably worth an entire degree.)

24. An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken (A memoir of giving birth to a still born child. I really know how to have a good time. Someone take the lampshade off my head! But seriously - this is so beautifully written. If you can stomach the subject matter--and I can understand if you can't--it's written in the most stunning and unsentimental way.) 

25. (I know I'm forgetting something ... so I'll leave this spot open for now. Or better yet, you tell me ... what am I missing?)

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    yours. truly.

    Amanda O'Brien is the author and sole proprietress of Blabbermouse, a blog she launched in February of 2005.

    archives

    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008
    March 2008
    February 2008
    January 2008
    December 2007
    November 2007
    October 2007
    September 2007
    August 2007
    June 2007
    April 2007
    March 2007
    January 2007
    December 2006
    November 2006
    October 2006
    September 2006
    August 2006
    July 2006
    June 2006
    May 2006
    April 2006
    March 2006
    February 2006
    January 2006
    December 2005
    November 2005
    October 2005
    September 2005
    August 2005
    July 2005
    June 2005
    May 2005
    April 2005
    March 2005
    February 2005

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.