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?)
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?)
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