10 Books – Reader Recommendations!
A couple of weeks ago, I did a post about the 10 Books that Stayed With Me and asked reader’s for their list. Twelve people, who are all way cooler than me, replied.
A big heartfelt thanks to all the ladies who took the time to send me their lists!
Check out Lindsay’s write-up in ‘comments’ on the books she chose.
Jidske sent me a great photo of her picks – The 10th book is Affinity by Sarah Waters.
Brittany sent her books via instagram – cool list from a personal trainer!
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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – My grandpa gave me his copy of Alice from when he was little for my seventh birthday. It has survived moves, my childhood carelessness with pretty much everything I own, and my parents’ humid basement and now ranks among my most valued possessions. The story isn’t necessarily my favourite, but it’s tied to an important person and I think that’s why Alice made this list instead of all the other books from my childhood.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson – Speak is fifteen years old this year. I read it for the first and only time when I was 12. It’s simply YA at its best; even a movie starring Kristen Stewart couldn’t ruin it. But I will probably never go back and reread it for fear that my feelings toward it will change.
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach – I have never understood the appeal of America’s favourite pastime but The Art of Fielding managed to make baseball resonate with me. So that’s an accomplishment. The book deals with some heavy topics (the weight of expectation in sport, self-doubt, complicated friendships, and mental illness, to name a few). The way Harbach portrayed the (often sad) circumstances of his characters’ lives while still keeping them all likeable really hit home for me. (Pun intended.)
City of Thieves by David Benioff – Leningrad during World War II is one of my favourite historical topics. The mishmash of human cruelty and strength in the face of hopelessness fascinates me. This book is about two young men who are arrested and then tasked with finding eggs for the Colonel’s daughter’s wedding cake. It portrays all the horrible realities of wartime in Leningrad (cannibalism included) while still being funny and heartwarming and hopeful.
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh – The Language of Flowers made my heart hurt. It’s just so good.
Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway – I read this for a 21st century Canadian Lit course in my undergrad. The book follows two Cree brothers as they are put into the residential school system and their lives as they grow into adults in Winnipeg. There were books in this class that I liked more than Kiss of the Fur Queen (The Diviners by Margaret Laurence and In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje among them). I even donated my copy to the used bookstore after the class was finished because I never thought I’d think about it again. So it’s funny how the story and characters from this have stayed with me, despite my initial feelings toward it.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon – Kavalier and Clay is another book that I didn’t love after I first finished it. I think my expectations and other people’s gushing kind of set it up for failure. But I continued to think about it after I’d read it and I’ve realized it really is pretty masterful. It weaves together World War II and the Golem of Prague, American entrepreneurism, the Golden Age of Comics, and the complicated nature of family into one neat little package.
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells – You should see my copy of this book. It is a wreck. I think I’ve read it twenty times, the first when I was far too young to actually understand everything that was going on. I love books about the South. The women are so fierce. And there hasn’t been a book I’ve read since about coming of age in the South that’s even come close to touching this one.
Fruit by Brian Francis (…and Natural Order) – Fruit, a book about a teenage boy and his talking nipples, is another on this list that I had to read for school. The course was heavy and way out of my comfort zone but Fruit made me laugh out loud and was a bright spot in a semester I struggled in. When I saw Brian Francis’ second book, Natural Order, at Chapters a few years later, I picked it up immediately. It was just as good and just as poignant. I’m not sure anybody can write complicated mother-son relationships like Brian Francis.
The Name of the Wind (Book 1 of The Kingkiller Chronicle) by Patrick Rothfuss – Fantasy series scare me a bit. They are always like 10 books long and the books are huge. It just seems unreasonable for an author to expect his readers to stick with something for that long. This book is fantasy and it is huge but I’ve been assured the series is only going to be a trilogy. And it’s probably going to end with me wanting it to be 10 books long. There’s something about the characters, and the description, and the magic. It’s really something else.