While I wouldn’t qualify myself as an “avid” reader, I certainly enjoy a good book. I have a hard time falling asleep at night if I don’t pick up a novel or a magazine and read for at least 15-20 minutes. I recently finished The Kite Runner, and really enjoyed it. Well, I enjoyed it as much as anything that depressing can be enjoyed. It was a fascinated story, and educated me on many aspects of Afghan culture.
There are a couple of books that are coming up on my list. I’m going to try to hit some of the “classics” (what makes a book a classic?) that I either haven’t read, or read incompletely (i.e., nearly everything I read in high school). My list of books that I want to read includes (classics and non-classics alike):
- Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
- Catch 22, by Joseph Heller
- To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
- Animal Farm, by George Orwell
- The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
- The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
- Flyboys: A True Story of Courage, by James Bradley
Of course, these will all just be time-killers until the next Wheel of Time book is released. Knife of Dreams, by Robert Jordan is the second-to-last book in a looooooong series. Kate and I are waiting with much anticipation. So that will immediately take precedence over any book that I’m reading at the time.
Oh hey, here’s an idea: use the comments to suggest books that I should read that you’ve enjoyed.
Slaughterhouse-Five and Catch 22 were fantastic stories. Animal Farm was fantastic, but very depressing, I thought of it like Lord of the Flies but with animals… a very depressing commentary on society.
I’ve read two great reviews of The Time Traveler’s Wife. Vicky and I were going to pick it up on our last B&N trip, but she picked up Heaven Lake while I picked up Illium.
Robert Jordan? *shudder* …man has diarrhea-of-the-word-processor.
I think you should DEFINITELY read “Flyboys.” As you can imagine, my dad enjoyed it very much. To the extent that while shopping for mother-of-the-bride and mother-of-the-groom dresses in Blacksburg with Jetty he was reading during all of the shopping. Who brings a book to the mall? Oh, and Brian read and really enjoyed “The Kite Runner.” But since he’s been to Afghanistan, I think it meant more to him. I’m currently reading “Cross Bones” by Kathy Reichs. I have to finish it now, but it’s all about these bones that were found that might be Jesus’s bones because he really lived into his 70’s or 80’s. It’s disturbing. I know at the end we’ll prove they’re not the bones of Jesus, but I just have to get to that point.
How’s that for a long comment?
Well, I’d suggest Kite Runner except you’ve already read it! I also loved Memoirs of a Geisha and Bel Canto… and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is one of my favorites. I have two copies, if you’d like to borrow one.
i love books!! i think i might steal a few from your list…if you want to stick with novels, i liked 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, or the Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri…in more spiritual realm, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse is good, as is Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh…as are about 800 other books, but i read some weird things, and besides i’m trying to be brief! 🙂
The Rule of Four was entertaining, and I also liked the Princes of Ireland.. It’s pretty long and gets slow at times, but the Irish history sprinkled throughout was enough to keep things interesting.
I enjoyed Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea trilogy once upon a time. Thanks for the tips!
“The Time Traveler’s Wife” was one of my favorite reads this year (and not just because the main character is a librarian!)
And, since I can’t resist a little Reader’s Advisory (fancy term for “hey read this you might like it”), here’s a list of books that read like Robert Jordan’s:
— Dave Duncan’s King’s Blades series
— David Drake’s Lord of the Isles series
— Ursula LeGuin’s Left Hand of Darkness
From Peter Across the Street’s Mom: WHO ARE YOU KIDDING? You’re having a baby!! Unless you have Goodnight Moon and Dr. Seuss on your list, you ain’t readin’ nothin’ for a very long time.