Books Read Masterlist

[aperfectsong]

Currently Reading--
Sherwood Anderson | Winesburg, Ohio
JK Rowling | Harry Potter y la orden del fenix

To Read
Marilynne Robinson | Housekeeping 
Kevin Brockmeier | The Brief History of the Dead
Raymond Carver | Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?     [own]
The Best American Short Stories, 2005     [own]
The Best American Short Stories, 1992     [own]
Amy

Comments

[mmmrorschach]

Have you read anything by Jonathan Safran Foer? Judging by what you've already read, you might like him. Or Amy Hempel. She has some really neat short stories.

A Picture of Dorian Gray has been on my To Read list forever. If I'm subconsciously avoiding it, I don't why.

[aperfectsong]

*edits post to include books read since 2005*

I love Jonathan Safran Foer. Everything Is Illuminated is probably my second favorite book of all time. It was my favorite until I discovered Michael Chabon and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

But Amy Hempel, I've never heard of. Do you know of a good anthology to look for? Or a particular short story I could search for online?

As for Dorian Gray, I've been avoiding it for years. And I'm reading it now because my church started a classics book group and it's the next book on our list. I like it so far though and I'm nearing the halfway point.

[mmmrorschach]

I read Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon and it didn't really do much for me, so unless The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is really different I probably won't ever build up the nerve to read it. What's it about, though?

As far as Amy Hempel goes, The Collected Stories is pretty much all you need. The Most Girl Part of You is the story of hers that I hear mentioned most often, but I think her stories are different enough that it's hard to really pin down a representative story.

[aperfectsong]

On Michael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is his best work. It's different - I'd call it literature in a way I wouldn't any of his other pieces. It's about WWII in a way that isn't completely about WWII. It's about two cousins (with really rich backstories who are really human and interesting, unlike Grant in Wonder Boys in my opinion) who create a comic together. It's long and epic and I loved every minute of it, even the second-to-last-section that slows down a lot. I've read Mysteries of Pittsburg, Wonder Boys and The Yiddish Policemen's Union. None of them even came close to how good Kavalier & Clay is. It's the one that proves Chabon is a good writer and is the only reason I continue to read his work after everything else has disappointed me. I keep hoping he'll do something amazing.

I just read that Amy Hempel story you linked me to and completely loved it; the voice, the characters. I'll probably pick up that collection at the library or the next used books store I go to. Thanks!

Books with Notable Quotes

[anonymous]

Everything is Illuminated
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Any Salinger, really
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Perks of Being A Wallflower (Young Adult)
The History of Love
The Life of Pi
just to name a few

to your p.s. I've had a livejournal since October of 2004 and have been using it to keep track of my reading list since then, so I decided it was time to really have a masterlist, though I'm sure I'll eventually remember more books I forgot to include (especially from 2007 when I didn't use my livejournal much). =)

Re: Books with Notable Quotes

[aperfectsong]

Obviously that was me and I forgot to sign in.

Re: Books with Notable Quotes

[aperfectsong]

OH! And I remembered something else. I always feel like short stories have a lot of notable quotes. You should check out some of the shorts on my top ten favorite short stories list.