100 Books, 100 More Books, All the Words Ever

Nov 23, 2010 16:38

There's a list of 100 book titles going around on Facebook. Apparently the BBC put this list together; the supposition is that the average person has only read 6 of the books on the list.

I've read 91 of them.

The list is pretty heavily skewed to Western (predominantly white) literature. There's a decent mix, I think, of "classic" lit and modern lit. There aren't a whole lot of authors on the list who identify as anything other than male.

None of this is a suprise, of course. Lists like these are almost inevitably a white European-or-American dude party. And that's not to denigrate the books on the list - though some of them suck eggs, in my not-really-very-humble-when-it-comes-to-books-thanks opinion.

But all of that aside, what the list reminded me of is just how MUCH I used to read. Well, I still read voluminously; it reminds me of how much FICTION I used to read. Seriously, I consumed the stuff like it was food, like it was more important than food.

The past few years, I read less. (Reading online counts, in my opinion, but it still isn't the same as reading narrative - and I'm not sure anyone is going to claim Wikipedia is literature, you know?) I've had my Kindle for almost a year now and it has ramped my reading way back up. I don't document the books I read, though I admire people who do. I've just never been that organized about it, especially since I tend to reread and rereread and so on.

But I'm predominantly reading nonfiction lately (I have a hard time counting Harlequin Blaze romance novels even though I average 4-6 a month - that has dropped off since they've jacked up their prices and removed the titles from Amazon); some of it is novel research and some of it is just my continuing obsession with the advent and arrival of the 20th century in America. Right now I have two primary books in progress: Them That Believe, which is an academic work about snake-handling religions in the Appalachians, and The Big Burn, which is about the Great Fire of 1910.

But even as I write my own narrative, this ridiculous Florida zombie story about bodies, I find myself really hungry for something, really missing exploring someone else's world.

I need recommendations of modern fiction.

If it's on a highschool or college reading list, chances are good I've read it at least once if not more. I don't like Oprah's book club all that much - too many predictable and saccharine stories of women overcoming their tragic childhood/widowing/family disaster. I loathe books dependent on cruelty masquerading as humor (see: The Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England - ugh, I hate this book). I come away empty and self-defeating from books that glorify a decadent-yet-substanceless existence in the face of a souless time (yes, F.Scott Fitzgerald, I AM looking at you - the Great Gatsby is beyond depressing to me and I'm not looking to get into an argument about that but I think it sucks from a story perspective even as the craft is phenomenal). I prefer Faulkner to Hemingway (I always think of this as being the Beatles vs. Elvis of the English major circuit). I don't like investing my emotional energy when there is nothing likable on any level about any of the characters who survive/succeed in a novel.

That makes it sound like I am a really demanding, critical reader - and you know what? I AM. I don't think I've ever really owned that but it's true. I've read A LOT of books over the years and I am a damned good READER. I don't have to read great stuff (Harlequin Blaze, okay?) but there are a few kinds of fail I'm just not interested in dealing with when I'm supposed to be enjoying myself. I'm not afraid of a book being work but I don't think they should ALL be work (yes, Eco, now I'm looking at YOU). More than anything, I go into every book wanting to love it.

I want to love every book I pick up.

I really don't care about genre - I'll read just about anything eagerly (though I have not had a lot of success at loving Westerns or straight-up military fiction) so if you have something to suggest, don't worry about that. I'm especially fond of sci-fi/fantasy/spec fic - whatever the hell they're calling it now - because that's kind of like comfort food to me. I mean, I joke that I was raised by Clarke, Asimov, and Heinlein, okay? But I REALLY love magical realism. Oh, love it love it love it. I'm actually not a big romance reader outside of my steady consumption of the series books. There's a lot of cliche and over-reliance on tropes. That said, if it's good, I'm all about it.

I read really quickly; there are very few books I haven't finished. Because it isn't a significant investment of time, I'll often read things I don't particularly enjoy just so I know what happens - I've got a rapacious curiosity when it comes to "what happened next." None of that JJ Abrhams preserving the mystery for the sake of the mystery bullshit, okay?

This has turned into the most ridiculous request for book recommendations ever! *laugh* I'm sorry about that. I really did just intend to say, hey, y'all! What should I be reading from the world of modern fiction. But I have opinions on these things and I don't really get to talk about books nearly as much as I'd love to.

Any book suggestions? Anybody?

ETA: I can't respond to the LJ comment because I'm still at work, but why leave out YA? I love YA. Bring it!

This entry was originally posted at http://onceupon.dreamwidth.org/1280030.html.
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