Best books of 2005
Out of a total of about 110 books, these are
the best of the lot.
On a scale of 1-10:
Fiction
10
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
The File on H by Ismail Kadare
Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostevsky
Voss by Patrick White
9.5
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
Hotel World by Ali Smith
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick
Non-Fiction
9.5 and 10
Hitler 1890-1936: Hubris by Ian Kershaw
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
Fiction
10
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
The File on H by Ismail Kadare
Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostevsky
Voss by Patrick White
9.5
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
Hotel World by Ali Smith
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick
Non-Fiction
9.5 and 10
Hitler 1890-1936: Hubris by Ian Kershaw
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
Sun - October 30, 2005
moving along!
98 books so far this year
This is a whole lot more than I thought was
there but I just counted them up. Yes, some are very short and easy but
others are quite lengthy and/or difficult. I'd say there were more difficult
books than easy ones. Two I read twice (Cloud Atlas and A Room With a View) so
I counted them twice, but I think that those were the only two. Those two were
magnificent and it may happen again with The March.
So, I've got 8 or 9 weeks left of the year and that's probably 20 books or so. I really did not plan this this year.
On the shelf (to be read soon) and these aren't audible listening books. That will be another 5 or so.
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
A People's Tragedy by Orlando Figes
Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Flu by Gina Kolada
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Who Cooked the Last Supper by Rosalind Miles
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Voss by P. White
So, I've got 8 or 9 weeks left of the year and that's probably 20 books or so. I really did not plan this this year.
On the shelf (to be read soon) and these aren't audible listening books. That will be another 5 or so.
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
A People's Tragedy by Orlando Figes
Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Flu by Gina Kolada
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Who Cooked the Last Supper by Rosalind Miles
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Voss by P. White
Posted at 01:08 PM
Sun - October 2, 2005
Catching up
whew
I just had to get the books I've read in the
last couple months on here or I'd never catch up. I really read and listened
to a lot of good books over the summer!
Posted at 01:06 AM
Mon - August 8, 2005
adding women
looks like the list may contribute to my list
of women authors! :)
"James" Tiptree,
Jr.
Flannery O'Connor Wise Blood
Marguerite Young;
Margarite Yourcenar
the lady who wrote Ice--Ann Kavna(sp?);
Rebecca Solnit Gertrude Stein
Zora Neal Hurston!
Flannery O'Connor,
Muriel Spark,
Beryl Bainbridge,
Caryl Churchill,
Edna O'Brien,
Flannery O'Connor Wise Blood
Marguerite Young;
Margarite Yourcenar
the lady who wrote Ice--Ann Kavna(sp?);
Rebecca Solnit Gertrude Stein
Zora Neal Hurston!
Flannery O'Connor,
Muriel Spark,
Beryl Bainbridge,
Caryl Churchill,
Edna O'Brien,
Posted at 10:27 AM
women authors
Got in a discussion on a book list and their
list of 169 best novels only included 11 by women! So I added to it:
Here are the women from the first list. The
first number is the rank, the second number the number of "votes."
The top 169 novels include these women and their books:
56.. The Age of Innocence : Edith Wharton : 9
59.. Two Girls, Fat and Thin : Mary Gaitskill : 8
63.. A Book of Common Prayer : Joan Didion : 8
76.. To Kill a Mockingbird : Harper Lee : 7
89.. The Story of the Treasure Seekers : Edith Nesbit : 5
90.. Always Coming Home : Ursula LeGuin : 5
124.. Beloved : Toni Morrison : 3
139.. Geek Love : Katherine Dunn : 2
149.. Cat's Eye : Margaret Atwood : 2
151.. Messiah of Stockholm : Cynthia Ozick : 1
161.. The Secret History : Donna Tartt : 1
Here are my comments:
****
There are certainly more women authors of quality fiction than that, and the ones listed have certainly written more books! (I'm thinking of Atwood and LeGuin and Ozick, whose last novel was a marvel!).
So I made a brief list of the best of the unincluded: (authors only, some have written dozens of books)
Ali Smith Hotel
Angela Carter Nights at the Circus
AS Byatt Possession
Keri Hulme The Bone People
Pat Barker Regeneration
Helen DeWitt The Last Samurai
Rilla Askew The Mercy Seat
Kathy Acker Don Quixote
Doris Lessing The Golden Notebook
Virginia Woolf A Room of One's Own
Iris Murdoch The Bell
Some other, or not necessarily contemporary, women authors (staying in the 20th-21st century), in no particular order are:
Willa Cather
Annie Proulx
Monica Ali
Zadie Smith
Carson McCullers
Anais Nin
Andrea Levy
Penelope Fitzgerald
Arundhati Roy
Ann Patchett
Carol Shields
Joyce Carol Oates
Jhumpa Lahiri
J.K. Rowling? (g)
There are undoubtedly a bunch I'm neglecting. I think that there are a couple of good up and coming women authors from Africa and India. The current Nobel for Literature is a woman from Poland but I don't know her name right now and haven't read anything by her.
And a few I want to read:
Nadine Gordimer
Jeanette Winterson
Joyce Johnson
Elfriede Jelinek
Buchi Emecheta
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The good ones are out there. Why do we forget them when it's time to do a poll?
Bekah
The top 169 novels include these women and their books:
56.. The Age of Innocence : Edith Wharton : 9
59.. Two Girls, Fat and Thin : Mary Gaitskill : 8
63.. A Book of Common Prayer : Joan Didion : 8
76.. To Kill a Mockingbird : Harper Lee : 7
89.. The Story of the Treasure Seekers : Edith Nesbit : 5
90.. Always Coming Home : Ursula LeGuin : 5
124.. Beloved : Toni Morrison : 3
139.. Geek Love : Katherine Dunn : 2
149.. Cat's Eye : Margaret Atwood : 2
151.. Messiah of Stockholm : Cynthia Ozick : 1
161.. The Secret History : Donna Tartt : 1
Here are my comments:
****
There are certainly more women authors of quality fiction than that, and the ones listed have certainly written more books! (I'm thinking of Atwood and LeGuin and Ozick, whose last novel was a marvel!).
So I made a brief list of the best of the unincluded: (authors only, some have written dozens of books)
Ali Smith Hotel
Angela Carter Nights at the Circus
AS Byatt Possession
Keri Hulme The Bone People
Pat Barker Regeneration
Helen DeWitt The Last Samurai
Rilla Askew The Mercy Seat
Kathy Acker Don Quixote
Doris Lessing The Golden Notebook
Virginia Woolf A Room of One's Own
Iris Murdoch The Bell
Some other, or not necessarily contemporary, women authors (staying in the 20th-21st century), in no particular order are:
Willa Cather
Annie Proulx
Monica Ali
Zadie Smith
Carson McCullers
Anais Nin
Andrea Levy
Penelope Fitzgerald
Arundhati Roy
Ann Patchett
Carol Shields
Joyce Carol Oates
Jhumpa Lahiri
J.K. Rowling? (g)
There are undoubtedly a bunch I'm neglecting. I think that there are a couple of good up and coming women authors from Africa and India. The current Nobel for Literature is a woman from Poland but I don't know her name right now and haven't read anything by her.
And a few I want to read:
Nadine Gordimer
Jeanette Winterson
Joyce Johnson
Elfriede Jelinek
Buchi Emecheta
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The good ones are out there. Why do we forget them when it's time to do a poll?
Bekah
Posted at 10:26 AM
Fri - July 29, 2005
July 29
Very busy day
My goodness.
Julie came at 7:30 and I went and got the car washed/detailed and then to the gym. Then I went and got breakfast at McDonalds and ate it at the park. Then I got my nails done. Then I went got some new shoes the kind I like except they only had pink, limited wearing for that one. Got home and Tom was here for the yard.
I ate and read and listened and read. Finished THe Incredible Lightness of Being and got another few hours into Crime and Punishment. It was really hot again today for about the 17th day in a row!
Getting ready to read "The Last Samurai" by Helen DeWitt - published 2000 (oh yes!) (g)
Julie came at 7:30 and I went and got the car washed/detailed and then to the gym. Then I went and got breakfast at McDonalds and ate it at the park. Then I got my nails done. Then I went got some new shoes the kind I like except they only had pink, limited wearing for that one. Got home and Tom was here for the yard.
I ate and read and listened and read. Finished THe Incredible Lightness of Being and got another few hours into Crime and Punishment. It was really hot again today for about the 17th day in a row!
Getting ready to read "The Last Samurai" by Helen DeWitt - published 2000 (oh yes!) (g)
Posted at 12:01 AM
Thu - July 28, 2005
today
cleaned, listened and got
groceries
My I live a laid back life. Listening to
Crime and Punishment on the Otis, I cleaned house and changed the bedding and
did some laundry. Then I went grocery shopping. Came home and ate a green
salad. Then I read e-mail. Then I cooked up a shrimp salad which I munched
on all night. And I fixed a pitcher of iced tea. And I read and listened and
did my little researches. Yesterday (or day before) I subscribed to Questia
and that's pretty fun to look stuff up with.
Jesse, the neighbor and long time friend, was over in the afternoon for tea and talk. That was pretty fun.
Mom and Noelle and Grace are in ND. They called yesterday. All is well. The renter on the farm has not been taking care of the place but the house in town looks great.
The cleaning lady comes tomorrow at 7:30 so that she can go to the desert for the weekend. I'd better get to bed.
Jesse, the neighbor and long time friend, was over in the afternoon for tea and talk. That was pretty fun.
Mom and Noelle and Grace are in ND. They called yesterday. All is well. The renter on the farm has not been taking care of the place but the house in town looks great.
The cleaning lady comes tomorrow at 7:30 so that she can go to the desert for the weekend. I'd better get to bed.
Posted at 10:12 PM
Tue - July 26, 2005
Listening to books
why I listen to books
I listen to a wide variety of genres with my
little device (I'm getting an iPod, I promise, as soon as this old Otis gives
up the ghost - it was a freebie) and I'm usually reasonably happy although I've
heard a few great ones and some clunkers in all genres. I use tapes to listen
while I clean house, walk, do laundry, play games, etc. A rating of a book
may be due to the book or the reader. More and more I'm coming to realize what
an incredible impact a good professional reader can have.
I'm listening to one now that is probably the best that I've had the fortune to hear. I'm on Chapter 7 of "Crime and Punishment" translated by Constance Garnett and read by George Guidall. It's one of many recorded versions of Dostoevsky's masterpiece. I'm at 216 minutes into a 1500 minute recording (4 hours out of 25 hours, approx). which comes in 3 sections. Guidal, a professional actor, does an absolutely incredible job of bringing this story to life. I'd rather hear it read by him than read it with pages at this point (except for my nasty habit of underlining and otherwise scribbling up which I've remedied by downloading the e-text to mess with.) (g)
Guidall reads very slowly and lovingly. It takes him a good 8 or 10 seconds to get through a page line (I timed it). Now some readers or material can *not* pull this slow read stuff off. They sound choppy and the listener thinks that the reader has actually stopped reading or something (the batteries died). But Guidall is perfect; I think he loves this book, the characters, Dostoevsky, all of it. It's like seeing a play except there's only one reader who, by changing his voice, "projects a world" from the pen of Doestoevsky. It is soooo impressive. I'm going to be looking at everything he's done now. (A sortable item at Audible)
As the story progresses if I get confused or whatever, need to check back for something (a problem with MP3s), I check my downloaded text version.
For example, Chapter 7 has a really choppy place in the story and I checked the download but found no answer; the text is *not* clear at all. The problem is timing of events. So I went and took a look in the "ClassicNotes" analysis and found their answer pretty well skimmed over the issue, too. And when I read it again in the text version, I realized that there is no doubt something wrong here but I'll go with the ClassicNotes explanation. It doesn't make *that* much difference.
My point is, I'm definitely "getting" it from the listening version. With text only I would probably read way too fast and miss some nuances which, because Guidall has studied the text, makes wonderfully clear. I would probably have missed my "choppy place."
The first book which really hooked me into listening was "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," by Carson McCullers. "Cry the Beloved Country" was another one that was just tooo cool when you hear it with the accents and highlights. I want to hear "Their Eyes Were Watching God" although I've read it, just to hear the voices. (That was fun for me to read out loud.) (g)
But the one that got me hopelessly addicted was "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. With the text version, I couldn't even get through the middle chapter which is written in a South Pacific dialect (Hawaii?) and I don't know beans about South Pacific dialects and accents although I've come across a few in my readings.
But listening, I heard the words and just knew what they meant. I caught the music in the rhythm of the speech. I *very much* enjoyed that book which uses six (6) different readers reading their assigned sections. In fact, I liked it so much that I went back and reread the text version and this time, when I read, I heard my little man's voice telling me in lyrical native speech, the story of his Sonmi.
I'm listening to one now that is probably the best that I've had the fortune to hear. I'm on Chapter 7 of "Crime and Punishment" translated by Constance Garnett and read by George Guidall. It's one of many recorded versions of Dostoevsky's masterpiece. I'm at 216 minutes into a 1500 minute recording (4 hours out of 25 hours, approx). which comes in 3 sections. Guidal, a professional actor, does an absolutely incredible job of bringing this story to life. I'd rather hear it read by him than read it with pages at this point (except for my nasty habit of underlining and otherwise scribbling up which I've remedied by downloading the e-text to mess with.) (g)
Guidall reads very slowly and lovingly. It takes him a good 8 or 10 seconds to get through a page line (I timed it). Now some readers or material can *not* pull this slow read stuff off. They sound choppy and the listener thinks that the reader has actually stopped reading or something (the batteries died). But Guidall is perfect; I think he loves this book, the characters, Dostoevsky, all of it. It's like seeing a play except there's only one reader who, by changing his voice, "projects a world" from the pen of Doestoevsky. It is soooo impressive. I'm going to be looking at everything he's done now. (A sortable item at Audible)
As the story progresses if I get confused or whatever, need to check back for something (a problem with MP3s), I check my downloaded text version.
For example, Chapter 7 has a really choppy place in the story and I checked the download but found no answer; the text is *not* clear at all. The problem is timing of events. So I went and took a look in the "ClassicNotes" analysis and found their answer pretty well skimmed over the issue, too. And when I read it again in the text version, I realized that there is no doubt something wrong here but I'll go with the ClassicNotes explanation. It doesn't make *that* much difference.
My point is, I'm definitely "getting" it from the listening version. With text only I would probably read way too fast and miss some nuances which, because Guidall has studied the text, makes wonderfully clear. I would probably have missed my "choppy place."
The first book which really hooked me into listening was "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," by Carson McCullers. "Cry the Beloved Country" was another one that was just tooo cool when you hear it with the accents and highlights. I want to hear "Their Eyes Were Watching God" although I've read it, just to hear the voices. (That was fun for me to read out loud.) (g)
But the one that got me hopelessly addicted was "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. With the text version, I couldn't even get through the middle chapter which is written in a South Pacific dialect (Hawaii?) and I don't know beans about South Pacific dialects and accents although I've come across a few in my readings.
But listening, I heard the words and just knew what they meant. I caught the music in the rhythm of the speech. I *very much* enjoyed that book which uses six (6) different readers reading their assigned sections. In fact, I liked it so much that I went back and reread the text version and this time, when I read, I heard my little man's voice telling me in lyrical native speech, the story of his Sonmi.
Posted at 02:55 PM
Fri - July 22, 2005
what do I like to read?
I've been coming to some conclusions about my
likes and dislikes:
Well, I'm finally coming to some interesting
conclusions about my reading habits, likes and dislikes, rationale
(generalizations).
One kind of unnameable category of fiction which I have very much enjoyed over the years has been works like Underworld, Pale Fire, The Satanic Verses, Foucault's Pendulum, The Crying of Lot 49, The Names, and other books along those lines. They are not based on the personal or emotional themes of love and courage and betrayal and redemption and so on (except that paranoia and displacement may be emotional themes) (lol) My favorite books tend to be those with layers of understanding and puzzles to work out or ideas and themes - like mirror images - to explore. Are these "idea" books? ???
Another category I tend to really enjoy is that of historical novels where the history is "good," solidly researched, interestingly presented, with some style. The history can drive the novel or not. I am only careful about books which have real-life characters and the author puts words put in their mouths, but they never said. But, *to me* these books need to be approached carefully because there is a very good possibility that the author did find those very words in a diary, letter, memoir, etc. Or, the "words" are carefully paraphrased and good reprsentations of the character's feelings and style and so on. Mason & Dixon is like this, The Name of the Rose, Independent People, Kirsten Lavrensdatter. Lots more books in this vein. I've heard that "The Killer Angels" a Civil War novel by Michael Shaara. is exceptional. It's on my wish list.
Another type of historical novel is historical because of the time-frame in which it was written. I'll agree that Anna Karenina is a great novel but probably disagree on why. The history of it is what fascinates me, not Anna's motives. Reading Dickens is a fabulous way to start (or finish) learning about life and customs, culture and society in England at that time.
I honestly don't care if the author has made a light touch of the historical context or not; what is there has to be true to verifiable evidence. (I know this is a point of contention among historians and literary people but I guess we each have our own vices and reasons.)
As far as I'm concerned, the plot, characters and literary devices in these books are, for me, simply there to give substance to ideas which the author has chosen to explore in a novel setting. Literary stuff is not particularly interesting in itself *to me.* The Name of the Rose was a fabulous way to explore semiotics. Underworld explores language. The Satanic Verses explores a immigrant issues, The Crying of Lot 49 explores contemporary life and the conundrum of thinking itself. Foucault's Pendulum is about paranoia.
Btw, I also like plot driven thrillers that are not too gory and are best if they have some real sort of mystery to them. These are just plain fun and like a break for my brain.
I do *not* like books like "The Three Junes" which only develop make-believe characters through life's journey. I do *not* like books which use history as a background only and might as well be set today (this is genre stuff).
One kind of unnameable category of fiction which I have very much enjoyed over the years has been works like Underworld, Pale Fire, The Satanic Verses, Foucault's Pendulum, The Crying of Lot 49, The Names, and other books along those lines. They are not based on the personal or emotional themes of love and courage and betrayal and redemption and so on (except that paranoia and displacement may be emotional themes) (lol) My favorite books tend to be those with layers of understanding and puzzles to work out or ideas and themes - like mirror images - to explore. Are these "idea" books? ???
Another category I tend to really enjoy is that of historical novels where the history is "good," solidly researched, interestingly presented, with some style. The history can drive the novel or not. I am only careful about books which have real-life characters and the author puts words put in their mouths, but they never said. But, *to me* these books need to be approached carefully because there is a very good possibility that the author did find those very words in a diary, letter, memoir, etc. Or, the "words" are carefully paraphrased and good reprsentations of the character's feelings and style and so on. Mason & Dixon is like this, The Name of the Rose, Independent People, Kirsten Lavrensdatter. Lots more books in this vein. I've heard that "The Killer Angels" a Civil War novel by Michael Shaara. is exceptional. It's on my wish list.
Another type of historical novel is historical because of the time-frame in which it was written. I'll agree that Anna Karenina is a great novel but probably disagree on why. The history of it is what fascinates me, not Anna's motives. Reading Dickens is a fabulous way to start (or finish) learning about life and customs, culture and society in England at that time.
I honestly don't care if the author has made a light touch of the historical context or not; what is there has to be true to verifiable evidence. (I know this is a point of contention among historians and literary people but I guess we each have our own vices and reasons.)
As far as I'm concerned, the plot, characters and literary devices in these books are, for me, simply there to give substance to ideas which the author has chosen to explore in a novel setting. Literary stuff is not particularly interesting in itself *to me.* The Name of the Rose was a fabulous way to explore semiotics. Underworld explores language. The Satanic Verses explores a immigrant issues, The Crying of Lot 49 explores contemporary life and the conundrum of thinking itself. Foucault's Pendulum is about paranoia.
Btw, I also like plot driven thrillers that are not too gory and are best if they have some real sort of mystery to them. These are just plain fun and like a break for my brain.
I do *not* like books like "The Three Junes" which only develop make-believe characters through life's journey. I do *not* like books which use history as a background only and might as well be set today (this is genre stuff).
Posted at 01:45 PM
Sun - July 17, 2005
Happy Birthday 6 years old!
After a trip to a huge water slide park, the
family party was easier this year at Apple Annie's.
The cake had a picture of Grace on it. The picture was actually made out of frosting!. Noelle couldn't bring herself to cut it and Grace wanted to eat her teeth. It was really too funny.
The group, Noelle, Nana, Grace, Grandpa Ron, Grandma Becky, Brodie and Jamie.
Posted at 07:21 PM
Thu - July 14, 2005
daily travels
This was waiting for me when I got home from a
quick trip to the store. Guess what I'm doing this summer!
Posted at 11:57 AM
Sat - January 29, 2005
Some more excellent books
they didn't make it to the Fiction Hall of Fame
(top 25) but they're very good books and I highly recommend them Some of them
are kind of old and when I read them were astounding to me. I still have really
good memories of the time spent in these books and although they aren't "great
literature" they touched me for one reason or another. This list is still
under construction.
Anything by Raymond
Carver
All Dave Robicheaux novels by James Lee Burke
Trevanian's books (this is a pseudonym for Rodney Whitaker (see an interesting story about that !)
Headlong by Michael Frayn
Winter's Tale by Mark Halpern
The Magus by John Fowles
The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
All Dave Robicheaux novels by James Lee Burke
Trevanian's books (this is a pseudonym for Rodney Whitaker (see an interesting story about that !)
Headlong by Michael Frayn
Winter's Tale by Mark Halpern
The Magus by John Fowles
The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
Posted at 02:52 PM
Sat - January 15, 2005
25 best non-fiction books
Just starting to develop a list, I'll stop at
25
1. Women who run with the Wolves by Clarissa
Pinkola Estes
2. The Metaphysical Club by Louis Menard
3. To the Finland Station by Edmond Wilson
4. Rembrandt's Eyes by Simon Schama
I just thought of this list. It will grow as I remember the books.
2. The Metaphysical Club by Louis Menard
3. To the Finland Station by Edmond Wilson
4. Rembrandt's Eyes by Simon Schama
I just thought of this list. It will grow as I remember the books.
Posted at 06:14 PM
Thu - January 13, 2005
25 best fiction of all time
an irregular
update
some are linked to thoughts, summaries, reviews, whatever I did on them. (The link is my work.)
some are linked to thoughts, summaries, reviews, whatever I did on them. (The link is my work.)
Most of these are just generally the best books
ever written and that I've ever read. But! I have also included some books that
just affected me that way. Underworld is one. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance is another. But Ulysses is a great book, although I don't "like" it
all that much, I recognize the incredible wonder of the intertextual allusions,
the stream of consciousness, the telescoping day. So it's here. Gravity's
Rainbow is *not* here. It's sophomoric tripe and no lady should go there
unescorted.
Underworld by Don DeLillo
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Ulysses by James Joyce
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Independent People by Halldor Laxness
The Name of the Rose by Umerto Eco
Soul Mountain by Gao Xianjian
The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Mao II by Don DeLillo
The Names by Don DeLillo
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Huruki Murakami
The Goldbug Variations by Richard Powers
Shogun by James Clavell
Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
The Waste Land by T.S. Elliot
Death Comes to the Archbishop by Willa Cather
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence by Robert M. Pirsig
Underworld by Don DeLillo
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Ulysses by James Joyce
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Independent People by Halldor Laxness
The Name of the Rose by Umerto Eco
Soul Mountain by Gao Xianjian
The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Mao II by Don DeLillo
The Names by Don DeLillo
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Huruki Murakami
The Goldbug Variations by Richard Powers
Shogun by James Clavell
Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
The Waste Land by T.S. Elliot
Death Comes to the Archbishop by Willa Cather
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence by Robert M. Pirsig
Posted at 08:26 PM
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