I like lists. I also like reading. And summer is coming soon.
In light of the above, I’m creating a list of books I intend to read, and will cross them out as I go along. Please comment with suggestions. Thanks!
–The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
–Saturday by Ian McEwan (amazing)
–On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (good, less amazing, fast)
–Ulysses by James Joyce
–Shakespeare and the Culture of Paradox by Peter Platt (So great. I love the way he plays with binaries, teaches seminars.)
–Hamlet in Purgatory by Stephen Greenblatt
–The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
–The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
–Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
–Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
–On the Road by Jack Kerouac, thanks Kavitha!
–Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, thanks Kavitha, Elizabeth
–Possession by A.S. Byatt, courtesy of Emma
–The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis, courtesy of Emma
–Moby Dick by Herman Melville, courtesy of Emma
–Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, courtesy of Emma
–Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, courtesy of Emma
–The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry. Ian says, “the novel that should have won last year’s Booker Prize–and would have if the selection committee hadn’t bowed to what’s politically fashionable”
–Nothing to Frightened of by Julian Barnes: “a memoir about mortality and unbelief that’s surprisingly witty and even funny,” Ian says
–2666 by Roberto Bolano: “the biggest critical blockbuster of last year; utterly massive and worth it,” Ian says
– The Daydreamer by Ian McEwan, “a children’s book that he wrote a whole ago; very sophisticated and spry, as that sort of writing goes; it’s one of my favorites.” Thanks for those, Ian!
–Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, courtesy of Cliff
-James Wood books, thanks Ari!Done with one.
–The Red and the Black, Stendhal
–On Beauty by Zadie Smith
-Updike
–Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (already done pre-list, but up here to give Aviva credit for a good find). Loved it.
fragments of a wandering mind 
The History of Love–Nicole Krauss.
thanks Marissa! got around to that last summer and enjoyed it so so much. good call. anything else?
On the Road – Jack Kerouac
Watchmen – Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Just finished both. Fantastic.
thanks a ton! good call. adding.
love,
joy
I second Watchmen. Also I have it if you want to borrow!
The other recent book I’ve read is Interview With the Vampire, which I’ve already lent you, of course. 🙂
Thanks! I may take you up on Watchmen.
Haha interview. i think i’ve reached some sort of halt there.
Possession, A.S. Byatt
The Rachel Papers, Martin Amis
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov
Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe
The Brothers Karamozov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
will add!
thanks.
brothers k=one of my favorites. although i may be due for a reread 🙂
A few recent ones:
1) The Secret Scripture, by Sebastian Barry: the novel that should have won last year’s Booker Prize–and would have if the selection committee hadn’t bowed to what’s politically fashionable
2) Nothing to Frightened of, by Julian Barnes: a memoir about mortality and unbelief that’s surprisingly witty and even funny
3) 2666, by Roberto Bolano: the biggest critical blockbuster of last year; utterly massive and worth it
And, since I see you already have Saturday on your list, I’ll suggest one more by McEwan: The Daydreamer, a children’s book that he wrote a whole ago; very sophisticated and spry, as that sort of writing goes; it’s one of my favorites
the omnivore’s dilemma by michael pollan —madeline
You should also read ‘Cold Mountain’ by Charles Frazier. It’s way better than the movie, and Frazier is a GOD at using language.
The book is stunningly elegant.
Added.
Thanks!
i really really loved saturday, i’m glad it’s on your list – it was on last summer’s reading list for me. another thing i read last summer was “soon i will be invincible” by austin grossman, which is fun superhero stuff.
i may steal some things off your reading list for this summer as well… i feel like we have some interesting overlaps in book-taste. 🙂
wait a sec. how could i forget michael chabon? he is one of my favorites. the mysteries of pittsburgh and wonder boys are both similar sort of “i am a narrator who is messed up and i have a drug problem and we don’t know if life gets resolved at the end” stories. the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay is about jewish comic book writers in the 50s, and the yiddish policeman’s union is an alternate reality in which jews settled in alaska rather than israel in the 40s-50s. he does wonderful things with language… sigh.
Miriam! Please do steal from the reading list. It is yours. And these comments remind me of how much I miss you. Let me know if you’re around this summer. Also! You have a Tumblr. Cool cool cool.
You need some Updike in your life! I recommend the Rabbit books… but that alone could be an entire summer.
For Jhumpa Lahiri, I would go with her new work Unaccustomed Earth over The Namesake (also short stories are easier to read when you’re busy b/c you can keep on finishing them…)
Also, looove Tom Wolfe, and Bonfire of the Vanities is classic, but I Am Charlotte Simmons is also really fun.
I’ll stop with one last thing… I feel liked you’d appreciate that I read Saturday cover to cover on a rainy Saturday in Paris.
… and you just won my heart with that last thing.
middlesex by jeffrey eugenides.
Thanks! Actually, done already–but added to the list, just for you.