Currently Reading: March Madness

I’ve gotten into the rotten habit of reading multiple books at one time. On one hand, it helps me keep reading on a daily basis because I can better choose a book to fit my particular mood. On the other hand, I never feel like I’m making any kind of adequate progress and then I get into a funk because it takes me too long to finish an entire book. And yet, I can’t stop.

I started Pachinko by Min Jin Lee roughly two weeks ago. Everyone has heard of this multi generational family drama following a Korean family in Japan during the 20th Century. Deep down I know that I’m not in the right head space for a chunkster. About a week ago I tried to set it aside but couldn’t leave the characters behind. They called to me from my bookshelf desperate to return to my reading life. Sunja threatened to knife me in my sleep. So one chapter a day it is.

On the nonfiction front, I’m dipping in and out of Boy Erased by Garrard Conley. Again, I don’t know if it’s the right time for this book despite how much I’m liking it. Conley is recounting his time in a infamous gay conversion therapy organization that he voluntarily joined in 2004 at 19 years old. I randomly pulled this off my unread nonfiction shelf instead of choosing what I was specifically in the mood for. Never do that, future self. You know better.

Another problematic selection is Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb which I started a month ago on audio. I’m a rotten audio listener. It takes me forever AND EVER AND EVER to finish listening to a book. Because podcasts call to me more so than books on tape. But 4.5 hours in I’m enjoying the hell out of this story which makes me so happy because I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Farseer Trilogy. THERE ARE PIRATES.

Speaking of pirates, why am I also reading Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown? Another book about pirates which is going to get confused with Ship of Magic at some point. I’ve broken the cardinal rule of multiple book reading. DON’T READ BOOKS THAT ARE TOO SIMILAR. But here I am in read-a-like hell. Mad Hannah Abbott will not let me go, though. So I’m stuck. Rad BAMF lady pirates who kill people with customized duel jade handled pistols is a perfectly acceptable place to be stuck so I’m okay with this development. Plus, FOOD PORN.

Do y’all do this? Does it drive you batty like it does me? Do you feel guilty and shameful? Do you decide to ignore this guilt and shame and persevere into this literary madness? Please tell me I am not alone.

Next up: I discuss my Three Dark Crowns feelings.

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Top 10 Books of 2013

Even though I ended the year without a bang, I still had a pretty spectacular year in books. I recently sat down and stared at my Goodreads 2013 shelf  thinking this list would be hard to compile, but not so much. Ten books immediately jumped out at me, and now I get to share them with y’all! They are also in completely random order and quotes are from my own reviews.

Without further ado:

#1 – Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

A BOOK FILLED WITH AWESOME. Richly layered, such amazing attention to detail, great sense of place. I want to read everything about geisha history and culture.

#2 – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Francie is my new favorite heroine of all time. Her sad moments are filled with joy, her happy moments sobered by sorrow. She’s independent, smart, and dreamily lonely. Her story is both tragic and uplifting. I wanted to crawl inside this novel and live there forever.

#3 – Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

I like to think of Walter as a storytelling magician.

#4 – Heft by Liz Moore

She writes people filled with a gritty humanity that makes you yearn for a happy ending. Kel and Arthur go through so many trials and push through so many obstacles that you barely understand how they are still surviving. But they are surviving and it is spectacular.

#5 – Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

So many tears – an ugly cry that I haven’t cried in a long time. Her ending is difficult, layered, and will leave at least a tiny hole in your heart, but I never really yearned for a different conclusion.

#6 – Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Hartman has built a world that was an absolute pleasure to visit. I wanted souvenirs!

#7 – The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

I sat down the next evening and read it in one sitting. Four hours that ran the emotional gamut. READ. THIS. BOOK.

#8 – The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy

The man can destroy you in six words and rebuild whole worlds in just six more. Talent oozes from every single sentence.

#9 – The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

So many of The Goldfinch’scharacters are a slave to their own artistic endeavors – Hobie and his restoration, Pippa and her music – and arguably, Donna Tartt and her writing. Familiar books such as Oliver Twist and Great Expectations were woven throughout The Goldfinch and gave life to each character. It would be ridiculous to think Tartt didn’t do this on purpose and for a very specific reason. I believe it’s her way of showing how she’s chained to past literary giants.

#10 – Sea Creatures by Susanna Daniel

I was sucked in from the first page and didn’t let go until the last word. Sitting here writing this review, my heart continues to break for these characters. Daniel’s writing feels almost like coming home amid one of the worst familial disasters ever.

 

Time to Chat

You guys! You must go and join A More Diverse Universe. MUST. Basically, you vow to read one book by an author of color in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. Due date: November 15. Diversity is so important and often so overlooked by all of us. ALL OF US. Visit Aarti’s page for signups and more information.

As for me, I’m choosing Dawn by Octavia Butler. I just read a list where it was listed as one of the scariest books of all time. SOLD. I have a couple of flights scheduled for early November and this should be excellent for such an occasion.

I’m eagerly anticipating Saturday’s festivities. I love Dewey’s something fierce. My TBR is locked and loaded. I’ve got beef stew on the brain and hopefully in the crock pot by tomorrow morning. Now all I need is some munchies, a little bit of a sleeping backlog, and an absentee husband this weekend. Not that I love Jimmy abandoning me for friends and a mountainside cabin, but this weekend that just fits perfectly into my schedule.

My goal is to finish some books this weekend so I actually have something to bloggy blog about. Books have alluded me these past few weeks, but I’m hoping to get my mojo back soon.

Also, I’ve won THREE books on Twitter this week. THREE.

A to Z: A Bookish Survey

This looked like so much fun when I saw it popping up on my favorite blogs. Started by Jamie over at The Perpetual Page-Turner!

Author you’ve read the most books from: Laurell K. Hamiliton, Charlaine Harris, Janet Evanovich, Ray Bradbury (Once upon a time, I loved urban fantasty.)

Best Sequel Ever: Technically, I’m not sure this is considered a sequel, but A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin was superb and proved that books later in a series can be just as compelling, if not more so, than the first book.

Currently Reading: Jane Eyre, The Silent Wife, and Maus.

Drink of Choice While Reading: Water or hot chocolate.

E-reader or Physical Book? Physical Book – I just haven’t latched on to the ebook craze yet.

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School: Gale from The Hunger Games – I was obsessed with best friends turning into more. Plus, brooding.

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance: Eleanor and Park, I really did not want to read this one.

Hidden Gem Book: All of Ray Bradbury’s work outside of Fahrenheit 451. I love his short stories. Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes are also stellar.

Important Moment in your Reading Life: Junior year English in high school. Especially The Scarlet Letter. I finally learned how important and layered literature could be.

Just Finished: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon – meh.

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read: Self-help. Not a fan.

Longest Book You’ve Read: Not sure – some contenders: The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George, Gone With the Wind, and the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Major book hangover because of: Big Brother by Lionel Shriver…that ending, jeez.

Number of Bookcases You Own: Five, but looking for a sixth!

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times: Pride and Prejudice – way more than any other book.

Preferred Place To Read: These days I do a whole lotta reading curled up in bed.

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read: 

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
― Neil Gaiman, Coraline

Reading Regret: That I’ll never be able to read ALL THE BOOKS that I want to in my lifetime.

Series You Started And Need To Finish (all books are out in series): These techincally aren’t completed series but I am way behind: Thursday Next and Flavia de Luce.

Three of your All-Time Favorite Books: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.

Unapologetic Fangirl For: Jane Austen…obviously. And Donna Tartt.

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others: The Goldfinch!!!!!!!!

Worst Bookish Habit: Buying way more books than I can possibly read.

X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Your latest book purchase: Night Film, Dracula, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late): The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – read in one sitting.

Dog Days of Summer Wrap-Up! (#ddsummer)

Best. Readathon. Ever.

Thanks so much to Heather and Andi for all their work in organizing this event. Check out the official event wrap-up post over at The Estella Society.

I decided to concentrate my reading around books and authors that got me super excited to read in the 4th and 5th grades. First up, I had to grab something by Christopher PIke. The book I most remembered was The Midnight Club which is about a bunch of kids with cancer who are in a hospice and meet at midnight to tell stories. What struck me most about my adult re-read was how poignant this story was, how well written, and how un-scandalous. I seemed to remember loving Pike because he felt naughty – sex, drugs, and other provocative things forbidden to pre-teens.

My second choice was Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. I read a lot of Sachar as a child, but these little stories in particular really stood out. Reading them now was still an absolute pleasure. They were so clever and completely enjoyable as an older person.

Next up, I grabbed the first Fear Street novel, The New Girl, by R.L. Stine. Yet again, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the writing and story held up after all these years. The book was genuinely creepy, much more so than most YA I read now. What did bug me was that the book had been edited and updated for the 21st century. Current musicians and iPods where mentioned throughout. I wanted my dated Walkman and music, dammit.

Today I focused on two final books. No nostalgic readathon would have felt right without some Judy Blume. I went with Blubber as my selection and adored it. Blume does not sugarcoat people or social issues. Bullying is handled rather well here and every single event just felt so realistic even in its ugliness.

Finally, I just wrapped up Kristy’s Great Idea by Ann M. Martin, the first book in the baby-sitters club series. This book more than the rest really worried me. I for sure thought I would be annoyed by how juvenile the whole thing might be, but not at all!! Loved this book and felt a great urge to continue reading the series. The only thing it lacked was the original cover.

So glad I participated and can’t wait for another weekend of nostalgia reading. I actually almost entirely ignored all social media because I was so absorbed. What a great way to spend a couple of days.

Atlanta’s Book Shops

Sunday afternoon I got a hankering to do some book shopping. Not necessarily buying the books but just the act of browsing the shelves of local indie stores. I’m not someone who hates Barnes and Noble or Amazon, but from time to time I do enjoy patronizing neighborhood establishments. And I got to drag Jimmy along with me and watch his eyes glaze over. Good times.

We started our adventure at Atlanta Vintage Books right near PDK airport. It’s shameful that I live about 5 miles away and had never visited. The store is run by an older couple who had a dream of owning a book shop. The store is filled with shelves and shelves of books everywhere – in every nook and cranny. Also, cats. Lots of cats. (See above – lovingly borrowed from AVB’s website.) Nothing is new – not the books, furniture, or shelving. It smells wonderful, intoxicating. You could spend hours in this store perusing the thousands of deliciously aged pages. Some fantastic first editions – signed Ian Flemings, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Gone With the Wind – are also available.

Downstairs they have cheap paperbacks. And loads more books. I will continue to frequent the store looking for hardback copies of some of my favorite novels of years gone by. The only downside I really found was that the prices were a bit high. The same collection of John Steinbeck shorts that I recently bought at Goodwill for $2.50 was $18. I think a book that is 60 years old should be less than $18. But maybe that’s just me.

Our second stop I consider a favorite – Eagle Eye Books in Decatur. They host amazing authors all year long (Neil Gaiman!). Eagle Eye is mostly used books with a front corner dedicated to new releases. Their used collection is huge, but sometimes I find the selection limited. Like yesterday. Nothing really jumped out at me which was a shame because they were having their red dot sale. Every book with a red dot was an additional 50% off. Normal used paperbacks are about $5-6. They are also in very good condition. The store has a great rewards program, plus you can sell your books to them for store credit.

Amazingly, this little adventure only led to new-ish book purchases. I bought two first edition hardcover Harry Potters (books 3 & 4) since I’ve been meaning to collect them for some time. My paperbacks are falling apart. At $7 a book, I couldn’t resist. It made me wonder who doesn’t keep such beautiful HPs? Weird.

How about you? What are your favorite bookstores where you live?

Literary Blog Hop Giveaway!

Hi everyone! Guess what? As a part of the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop hosted by Judith, I’m giving away one of the five books listed below – your choice! Just fill out the form linked below the list of books eligible to win and you’ll be entered to win. Anyone can enter as long as The Book Depository ships to your address. The giveaway closes end of day February 13 and I’ll announce the winner (provided by the ever helpful random.org) on February 14. The lucky winner will be emailed and given 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected.

So which fine books are up for grabs? Five of my all-time favs that I’d love to share with fellow readers. I’ve linked to each book below via The Book Depository. That copy linked will be the exact copy won.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and for ever.

I loved this book so much. It’s one of the most well-loved books on my shelves currently – think beaten and battered spine, water stained, and filled with just the right mix of perfect book smell. Books with university settings can do no wrong!

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Wow…so the book description totally gave away the twist ending! How rude! Basically, Ender lives in a future world where Earth is at war with an alien race and special children are selected to attend battle school in hopes that they will one day lead the Earth to victory. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read this books since I was 14. A great option to share with the children in your life.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

An expansive, warmhearted novel about ambition and its limits, about family and friendship and love, and about commitment–to oneself and to others in a baseball story that goes beyond the sport and into hearts and minds

This books comes highly recommended not just from myself, but from my entire bookclub who enjoyed this collegiate coming-of-age story so very much. See how every book includes school in some way? I swear I didn’t plan that. Will the trend continue?

Emma by Jane Austen

Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others.

My favorite Austen! Emma is a very flawed heroine, but one of the most delightfully human. She has so much to learn and makes so many mistakes along the way. I think this is Austen’s masterpiece.

The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Containing obvious parallels with F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s own lives, The Beautiful and Damned is a tragic examination of the pitfalls of greed and materialism and the transience of youth and beauty.

Some of the best literary symbolism of all time and by far my favorite Fitzgerald. The two main characters are impossible to like, but are a train wreck you can’t take your eyes off of. I think I need a reread!

Like something you saw and now want to enter? Just fill out this FORM!! (GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. WINNER HAS BEEN SELECTED.)

Linky List:

Leeswammes The Book Garden Sam Still Reading Candle Beam Book Blog Ciska’s Book Chest Too Fond Alex in Leeds Under a Gray Sky Bibliosue The Book Club Blog Fingers & Prose Lori Howell Rikki’s Teleidoscope Girl vs Bookshelf Lizzy’s Literary Life (Europe) Booklover Book Reviews The Blog of Litwits Reading World (USA/Can) Seaside Book Nook Curiosity Killed the Bookworm The Book Diva’s Reads Breieninpeking (Europe) 2606 Books and Counting Giraffe Days Lucybird’s Book Blog

Roof Beam Reader The Relentless Reader Read in a Single Sitting My Diary (Malaysia) Heavenali Dolce Belezza (USA) The Misfortune of Knowing My Devotional Thoughts Nishita’s Rants and Raves Book Nympho Kaggsysbookishramblings Quixotic Magpie Lost Generation Reader BookBelle Under My Apple Tree (USA) Mondays with Mac Page Plucker

Top 10 Books Read in 2012

What a fantastic reading year! I managed to complete 83 books which was a record for me and beat my 2011 total of 69 books by 14! Of course, these numbers are significantly skewed due to my lack of employment in 2012, but I’ll take it! My goals for 2013 are going to be less (52 books) since I’m a working lady again, but I still hope to leave those goals in the dust. Shooting for the moon and all.

On with the show! Picking my 10 favs wasn’t particularly difficult. In fact, I managed to choose exactly 10 the first time through my reading list. As with previous years, this list is classics heavy and doesn’t contain that many newer releases. I guess that’s why the classics are still hanging around all these years later, huh? Love them.

And now, in no particular order:

Emma by Jane Austen: Is anyone surprised? Not only will this book always be a forever favorite, it’s also my favorite Austen novel. If you haven’t read it, shame on you.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: Adored in all the ways one can adore a book. So much fun and filled with addicting adventure and the most wonderful pop culture references. A book I’ll be rereading for the rest of my life.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach: The characters are top notch in this debut novel and my entire book club adored this read. Lovely writing and superb development.

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns: Now this is southern story telling at its best!

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: Perhaps my childhood nostalgia pushed this story over the top for me, but I adored every minute spent in that damn garden.

Jane Austen: A Life by Carol Shields: I feel like anything related to Austen will always make this list, but this biography was really fantastic. I found myself grinning like a maniac many times throughout my reading.

My Antonia by Willa Cather: I highlighted this book more than any other this year. Cather’s talent amazes me.

The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht: Such a gorgeous story told creatively. I’m amazed at how young Obreht is and can’t wait to watch her grow as a writer.

Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen: Another book club winner (at least in my own opinion!) and the imagery was the clear winner here. Africa comes alive.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: I haven’t seen the movie, but this novel swept me away. I found it challenging in the best of ways and utterly mind-blowing.

I’m going to be lazy and not post links to my individual reviews, but you can find them all on the 2012 books read page located at the top of the blog. They are all pretty much just gush-fests.

What were your favorites? Have any recommendations for me based on the above selections? How many books did you read in 2012? Let me know!!

Read-a-Thon: Beginning Post!

Yay!  Happy Read-a-Thon everyone.  So excited to be participating for the first time and plan to update the blog every 3-4 hours with my progress.  I also plan to visit the social networks and visit blogs for about 10  minutes each hour!  I couldn’t narrow down my book choices to a small stack.  I really, really tried, but failed.  Instead, all unread (and even some read) books in my house have an equal opportunity to be selected at some point today!  I’m starting out with I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith!

Pretty much have the whole day to myself.  The Hubs doesn’t understand what a read-a-thon is so he’s so confused right now.  He thinks it’s some huge competition where I have to beat everyone else and read the most pages.  I would lose.  Have had about 4 hours of sleep.

Good Luck everyone!!!!

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Update #1:  Hour 3

Just past 10 am here on the east coast and I’ve managed to read for a good portion of the first two hours.  I did get a late start (8:20), have spent some time taking care of my dogs, and now have had an extended computer break so I’m almost ready to dive back in.  Really enjoying I Capture the Castle!

Pages read: 65

Update #2: Beginning Hour 5!

We’re closing in on the final few seconds of the fourth hour!!  The time has really flown by.  Wheat Thins and water have been my best friends so far.  Jimmy has finally woken up (so jealous of his sleeping in) to go have lunch with his parents while I stay here and continue reading.  About to go have some hearty potato soup to keep my strength up!  Still trying to decide whether or not I’m going to take some time off tonight and go to the haunted house with friends.  I Capture the Castle hasn’t  become boring yet – a sign of a really good book when you can barely hold your sleepy eyes open!

Pages read since last update: 45

Total Pages read: 110

Update #3:  Hour 8 – I’ve won a prize!

So, I took a 2 hour nap after lunch which was much necessary if I’m to continue reading.  And while I slept I won a prize!  Not sure what I’ve won, but will journey over to the main blog shortly to find out.  Also, a book came in the mail just now!  Have decided to have dinner with Hubs and friends at 7 and then go to the Haunted House.  Will probably get home around 11 or midnight which still leaves me plenty of hours to read!

Pages read since last update: 41

Total pages read: 151 (I’ve been asleep!!!)

Update #4:  Hour 12 is quickly approaching!

Headed out for the haunted house!  Will continue reading when I get home.  The Hubs has disrupted my reading the past hour by having friends over so I’m behind where I wanted to be, but have still had a blast!

Pages read since last update:  46

Total pages read:  197

Update #5:  It’s 1 am!!

So I’m back from my festivities and hope to get some more reading in tonight before passing out!  I probably won’t update this post again until tomorrow morning with my final tallies.  I hope everyone continues to have an awesome readathon!  I’ve enjoyed my first time out exceedingly and hope to have less distractions next go around.

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Challenges:

Introductory Questions:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  Atlanta, Georgia!!

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?  Um…see post above where I couldn’t narrow it down.  I love ALL THE BOOKS!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?  My homemade potato soup.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!  Hi!  I’m Brooke and head of this lovely blog dedicated to books and whatever wackiness is currently taking place in my life – right now I’m on a food blogging kick.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?  I’m looking forward most to connecting with everyone throughout the day and coming together over the awesomeness that is books.

The Classics Club: Wherein I Cave and Join…

Earlier this year, Jillian from A Room of One’s Own created The Classics Club where bloggers could pledge to read a certain amount of classics over the next 5 years.  It’s a superb idea and a great way to build community among the bookish interwebs.  That being said, I initially hesitated.  Not because I don’t love classics – I do, probably my favorite ‘genre’, but rather I was worried about over-extending myself or forcing myself to read from a list (even if it were of my own creation).  But I’ve caved in and I’m not ashamed to admit it!

Why now, you ask?  Because my fears were recently rendered silly when I realized that in the next four weeks I will be completing 4 books I consider classics – for fun!  And this classics reading pace is the norm for me – not the exception.  As long as my list does in fact have an end and isn’t overly long, I’ll reach this goal naturally.  So, I made my list and had a blast.  I mean, who doesn’t love a great list of books?   Plus, Jillian and several other amazing bloggers just launched The Classics Club’s own internet home this week!  Check it out here.

My list consists of books off the top of my head (mostly!) and off my shelves that I am excited about reading.  There are quite a few re-reads, but more than enough new-to-me titles.  My list is 75 books long and I am vowing to finish the list by July 31, 2017 – roughly 5 years from now.  Fifteen books a year is nothing and leaves me plenty of time to read my Litwits books and other pure pleasure reads.  WIN.

Without further ado, please see my lovely list below.  The re-reads are in bold!

And Then There Were None	Agatha Christie (10/10/12)
The Stranger	Albert Camus
The Color Purple	Alice Walker
Black Beauty	Anna Sewell (January 2013)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall	Anne Bronte
Agnes Grey	Anne Bronte (January 2013)
Revolutionary Road	Richard Yates
The Hound of the Baskervilles	Arthur Conan Doyle (11/12/12)
A Tale of Two Cities	Charles Dickens
David Copperfield	Charles Dickens
The Professor	Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre	Charlotte Bronte
Moll Flanders	Daniel Defoe
Rebecca	Daphne du Maurier
I Capture the Castle	Dodie Smith (10/16/12)
Ethan Frome	Edith Wharton (April 2013)
North and South	Elizabeth Gaskell (8/23/12)
Cranford	Elizabeth Gaskell (April 2013)
The Robber Bridegroom	Eudora Welty
Brideshead Revisited	Evelyn Waugh
The Great Gatsby	F. Scott Fitzgerald (February 2013)
The Secret Garden	Frances Hodgson Burnett (November 2012)
Love in the Time of Cholera	Gabriel Garcia Marquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude	Gabriel Garcia Marquez
To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee
Norwegian Wood	Haruki Murakami
The Ambassadors	Henry James
Daisy Miller	Henry James
Washington Square	Henry James
Call It Sleep	Henry Roth
The Hobbit	J.R.R. Tolkien (11/22/12)
Mansfield Park	Jane Austen (August 2013)
Sense and Sensibility	Jane Austen
The French Lieutenant’s Woman	John Fowles
The Grapes of Wrath	John Steinbeck
East of Eden	John Steinbeck
Never Let Me Go	Kazuo Ishiguro
Slaughterhouse Five	Kurt Vonnegut
Anne of Green Gables	L.M. Montgomery
Anna Karenina	Leo Tolstoy
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland	Lewis Carroll
Little Women	Louisa May Alcott(March 2013)
Gone With the Wind	Margaret Mitchell (8/6/2012)
The Woman Warrior	Maxine Hong Kingston(June 2013)
The Hours	Michael Cunningham
The Scarlet Letter	Nathaniel Hawthorne  (8/6/2012)
The Picture of Dorian Gray	Oscar Wilde
The Good Earth	Pearl. S. Buck
Invisible Man	Ralph Ellison
The Big Sleep	Raymond Chandler (May 2013)
Native Son	Richard Wright
I, Claudius	Robert Graves
Stranger in a Strange Land	Robert Heinlein
All the King’s Men	Robert Penn Warren
A Fine Balance	Rohinton Mistry
Henderson the Rain King	Saul Bellow
King Lear	Shakespeare
Twelfth Night	Shakespeare
The Tempest	Shakespeare
The Haunting of Hill House	Shirley Jackson
The Stand	Stephen King
American Tragedy	Theodore Dreiser
Sister Carrie	Theodore Dreiser
Jude the Obsure	Thomas Hardy
Tess of the D’Ubervilles	Thomas Hardy
Our Town	Thornton Wilder
Breakfast at Tiffany’s	Truman Capote
Les Miserables	Victor Hugo
Lolita	Vladimir Nobokov(July 2013)
O Pioneers!	Willa Cather
The Sound and the Fury	William Faulkner
Neuromancer	William Gibson
The Princess Bride	William Goldman
Vanity Fair	William Makepeace Thackeray (March 2013)
Their Eyes Were Watching God	Zora Neale Hurston (9/23/12)