Mel's not-so-national Novel Reeeadding Month

[thatotherperv]

okie dokie. so I've decided instead of participating in NaNoWriMo this month, I'm going to do the opposite. this is Mel's Novel Reading Month. haha. I seriously don't have time to read when I'm in school, and with my project out of the way, I have a wee bit more free time. and dude, I have *sucked ass* about reading published fiction lately. the last few years, when I read, I read non-fiction, because I'm a little information sponge and that's how I get my rocks off.

but I'm beginning to feel illiterate, haha. so! while I'm still footloose and fancy free...novel reading month.

ok, so I have a few books I've had on The List to read for a while now, namely The Kite Runner (which I read a third of at a friend's house a while back, and never got around to finishing), McCarthy's The Road (which a friend bought me as a rec), and The Bluest Eye (which I've been meaning to read since college AfrAmer lit).

but 3 ain't enough. so!

give me a rec. literary merit-ish. I'm not a huge book snob (not a huge *anything* snob...*is a dork*), but I get my share of escapist literature from you folks, haha. what's the book that changed your outlook on the world? if someone was only going to read one book in their lifetime, what would you want them to read?

do me a favor and tell me what the book is about and why you think I should check it out, so that I can decide if it's for me or not.

contemplating putting lil book reviews or whatnot up as I go, if anyone's interested.

ok, hit me. thanks yall!

Comments

[sparrow2000.livejournal.com]

I can definitely recommend you finish the Kite Runner. It's well worth it.

Racked my brains for recs re novels I've enjoyed and I keep coming back to one thing. Messiah by Gore Vidal. Just wonderful satirical writing from the master storyteller. It's about religion and manipulation of the media and hoaxing and history and just how odd we are as a species. Don't be put off by the title, it's probably the book that I could put thought provoking and enjoyable read in the same sentence and really mean it.
But if you read it and hate it - then I'll apologise!*g*

s xx

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

ooooo, that sounds right up my alley! thanks :)

[adorkablefae.livejournal.com]

Oh god, you shouldn't tease me with posts like this. I have a few. Pick one and you'll be set for life. Or hell, put them all on your list to get to eventually. You've probably read some of them though.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.
-Coming of Age story about a girl in the South and there's all sorts of racism stuff... But it's very empowering toward women which is why I looooved it.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
-I had to read this for English this year, but it was awesome. It's not very long but it's all very... passive almost so it takes a while to read, but at the end you're like "Woah, that was bloody brilliant" I don't know how else to explain it. Basic plot is of a guy that winds up with the wrong name due to the differences in Indian and American culture. Very enlightening. It's really good. <33

The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson
-This is told entirely through letters that one of the sisters sends to all of her family and friends and co-workers... The other sister has Lukimia and it's basically about how the family gets through it and everything. I like that the serious stuff is woven with funny stuff so it's awesome. I loved it, but my mom hated it because it made her cry... So it's awesome but there might be tears. In a good way, though.

Haha, I'm probably terrible at book recs, but meh... I tried to pick the stuff I've read recently that was more... literature than breezy reads/teen lit. I mean, Gossip Girl has it's place, but I don't think that's what you're looking for :P

Happy reading!

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

oh, I read secret life of bees while in Australia! it was definitely a nice way to pass a lazy afternoon or two :)

thanks for the other recs, darlin!

[vamptastica.livejournal.com]

Gone With the Wind. No seriously. It's so rich with history and just the characters and the fights they have to go through just to survive are just wonderful.

Or The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth by Alison Weir. If you like historical biographies you'll love this. He was a son of a bitch. ;)

Oh and I highly recommend the Dexter series by Jeff Linsay. There's only 3 books so far, but they're highly entertaining, and just wicked. (escapist but not schmoopy)

Um..that's it for now :)

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

hee, seriously? *whispers* I've never even seen the movie. plus isn't the book like a thousand pages long? literally?

thanks for the other recs :)

[loreleilynn.livejournal.com]

Gone With the Wind, in my opinion, is one of the best books ever written. It might seem daunting,(1035 pages in the paperback edition), but it's well worth it. Mitchell is such an engaging writer, and Rhett Butler is.. uhem... good.

[vamptastica.livejournal.com]

yeah it's over 1000 but it's really good. :)

and hey what can i say? i'm a vamps of many colors and interests. ;)

[cafedemonde.livejournal.com]

Neat idea!

Maybe I'll join you. I only read fanfic lately. A novel two would be good.

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

oh, you should! we could be all literate together :)

[felisblanco.livejournal.com]

Oh definitely finish The Kite Runner. It's very hard to read at times, emotionally, but so so good.

Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards. A wonderful book about a couple who has twins but the girl baby has Downs so the father gives her away and tells his wife the child died. (This happens in the fifties) And then we get to follow the different families of the twins, the real parents and their son on one hand and the nurse who took the girl and raises her on the other. So good.

If I was at work I could recommend you a lot, I'm just horrible at remembering titles, but if you give me a poke on Monday I'll find you some more.

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

yeah the part that I read was so compelling! I'm looking forward to it.

wow, that other one sounds intriguing! thanks :)

[missus-grace.livejournal.com]

The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Riveting and illuminating!

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

really? interesting! I'm gonna try to stick to fiction for now but I'll have to check that out sometime

[missus-grace.livejournal.com]

Missed the part where you called for fiction

*is sheepish*

I'm way behind on my reading, too. I get fanfic on LJ and Entertainment Weekly in the bathroom. No time for any good books, except Deathly Hallows, of course!

But do check out my rec when you can. It's a very good read.

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

ohh, thanks for those! I'm intrigued particularly by the first two! *smooch*

[ldyavalon.livejournal.com]

I second Gone with the Wind. The novel makes Scarlett a woman ahead of her time, instead of the spoilt brat the film makes of her.

Lately I just read paranormal romance, and though it may seem silly, one of my favourites is Katie Macalister's Aisling Grey series. It's just so much fun. And full of hotties too...

And I recommend Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden. I can go for a good AgathaChristiesque mystery, specially if it's wrapped in magic.

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

thanks for the recs :)

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

A few well worth your time:

Middlesex by Jeffry Eugenides

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel by Susannah Clark

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (yes, it is a graphic novel -- it is fantastic, heart-breaking, and riveting, so please consider it)

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

oooh! those look interesting! I had heard of middlesex, it's good, huh? nifty! thanks babe

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

It's great! I'll mention that there are a few sections of the book towards the end that I thought could have been better handled, but up until that part, I thought the rest of it so well structured and so engaging, and I love the details of the family's flight from Greece and then the narrator's experience with the Detroit race riots amid the other concerns of growing up and dealing with identity. Even the last parts that didn't quite ring as true were fine, just not up to the standard of what had come before, and overall the book was excellent.

[laisserais]

butting in to say i'm glad to hear you would rec the Bechdel novel. i've held off because it's a graphic, but if you think it's worth a look?

also: totally agree with your other choices. i really liked Jonathan Strange a lot. More than i thought i would! :)

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

It's so worth it!

I've always liked "Dykes to Watch Out For" and so when I heard that Bechdel had written the autobiography/family history, I bought it right away (even when it was still in hardcover, which I seriously never, ever do with contemporary books -- the exception being the most recent HP book *g*).

I imagined the memoir would be interesting, but it really was so absorbing, so full of sadness and small moments of hope that I just adored it. There's a section in particular on reading Proust, remembering her father reading it, dealing with memories, the hidden memories in their family, and her own reading-cum-visual experience trying to read Proust herself -- so fascinating. And there's lots too about being gay in the 70s, a young lesbian coming out in the 80s -- and just the small details of growing up, focused on the oddness of her family, and the world that seemed so normal to her at that time, and how she reexamines it as she learns more about her parents. It's probably the book I've recommended most in the past year.

[snogged.livejournal.com]

I'll start with five and if I can think of more, I'll tell you.

"Love My Rifle More Than You" by Kayla Williams
--This is an autobiography of a woman who served time as a soldier in Iraq and her experiences in a sea of testosterone.

"Rubyfruit Jungle" by Rita Mae Brown
-- It's about growing up lesbian in America and it was written in the '70's. It's funny and sad all rolled into one.

"Chloe Does Yale" by Natalie Krinsky
-- About the life and times of a sex columnist extrodinaire from Yale University. It's a light and funny read that amuses the hell out of me.

"An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness" by Kay Redfield Jamison
-- If you ever wanted an inside look at the life of someone diagnosed with Bipolar disorder then this is the book for you. It gets a little scientifically wordy at times but over all, it's incredibly well done.

"Bread Givers" by Anzia Yezierska
-- I read this in a women's studies class and I loved it. The main character is an immigrant girl named Sara who's the daughter of an Orthodox Rabbi. Sara doesn't really want to follow in the footsteps of her sisters so she strikes out to build her own American life.

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

ooo, I nifty variety! thanks *smooch*

[chlare.livejournal.com]

I highly recommend Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje. He wrote the English Patient, but I actually liked Anil's Ghost a whole heck of a lot more. It's about this forensic anthropologist who goes back to Sri Lanka and gets caught up in a body that's wrapped in the turmoil of the place and they can't identify it because it doesn't technically exist because if it did, it would mean that everyone would have to admit to horrible atrocities, and there's lots of little historical/political ramifications that give you the barest glimpse of what's been going on there in recent history. It's great. It's been ages since I've read it, but I'd read it again. It's lush and it draws you in, gets you worried, makes you think and wonder.

Annie Proulx, The Shipping News - Guy starts over in...Newfoundland? (Eastern Canada somewhere) after his wife dies and he gets to know more about his family, the place, himself and it's got this tone that is just...gorgeous. Cold, gritty, detailed. Again I might describe it as lush.

And I could go on, but I'll leave you with Milan Kundera (Czech writer, living in France, writing in English) and his Life is Elsewhere. It's a little naughty in spots, but hey, I don't think that's going to bother *you* :) Kind of a coming of age story about a guy (a poet guy), trying to get a girlfriend, trying to get away from his mom, trying to figure out the revolution going on... Not the best description, but what I like about it are all these little insights to life that he has.

Anyhoo, enjoy whatever you end up choosing!

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

awesome, thanks for those! especially interested in the last one. haha, I swear it's not because of the naughty.

Pimpin my faves

[1more-sickpuppy.livejournal.com]

Merit? Well. These are modern literature works, no older than the 80s, and well known to a lot of people but unknown to more.
I have one rec from the heart, for everyone:
'Eureka Street' by Robert McLiam Wilson. When I first read it, my heart would flutter just thinkng about it...
It goes on my top 5 list any day. Set in Belfast and has the Northern Ireland conflict as a major factor, but not in the usual way. It's mostly about two friends, one Catholic and the other Protestant, neither caring about religion or politics. I love the quirky humour and human imperfection, the disdain and love for Belfast and its people, and there's a short chapter just about the city asleep at night, which for me puts into words why religious beliefs are unnecessary because the world is so full of miracle anyway. I worry I'm not making the book sound as awesome as it is - but it truly is.

I'm a big fan of William Gibson's cyberpunk novels like 'Neuromancer' and 'Virtual Light', but I know not everybody appreciates the form. They broke new ground, no doubt, with quick and cool near-future visions of the world, from the POW of mostly ordinary people caught up in big messes.

Finally I think that as a member of a less than perfect family (so I gather), you might like Douglas Coupland's 'All Families Are Psychotic'. It's funny, with darker themes underneath but not too depressing in the end. A middle-aged mother, her (mostly) grown children, her ass of an ex husband, and their dysfunction - with loads of weird stuff piled on top. Coupland reads easily and almost like a film, but that doesn't lessen the quality.

Yeah, that's what springs first to my mind, hope you get curious and can enjoy one or two! I know what you mean about reading online fic instead of books. Guilty as charged... I barely even watch tv anymore!

Re: Pimpin my faves

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

whee! I'm excited about these :) thanks for the recs, sweetie.

[verity-watson.livejournal.com]

I've just raided my bookshelves. Here are a couple of thoughts from my personal literary hit parade.

First, my all time favorite - Kurt Vonnegut. Cat's Cradle is his story of a hottie girl, an apocalypse and an alternative religion. No, no it's not fan fiction! In fact, that might be too much of a build-up, as most of the story is about a guy writing about the atomic bomb ... and then, not.

Fay Weldon's The Life and Loves of a She-Devil is delicious and bitchy and avoids a syrupy happy ending in favor of a really satisfying one. A scorned woman gets revenge, and she gets it good.

Anthony Burgess, most famous for A Clockwork Orange, also wrote The Wanting Seed. It's the story of an over-populated, over-burdened planet. An oppressive regime wages a senseless war. It's fiction, I promise - disturbing and surprising. The heroine doesn't exactly the smite the evil-doers, but she does find a way forward for humanity, or at least for herself.

Marguerite Duras' The Lover is the story of a French teenager and her much older Chinese lover, in Saigon before WW2. Most of it is written as memoir: "I used to watch what he did to me, how he used me, and I'd never thought that anyone could act like that, he acted beyond my hope and in accordance with my body's destiny." There's a movie, too, but it's been years since I've seen it.

From the American canon, Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth is about a woman who has everything, behaves as she's expected and ends badly. Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie is about a woman who has little, breaks the rules and ends gloriously. Sort of. With so many novels featuring male protagonists, I like looking at American history through a woman's eyes - even if one was written by a man.

And if you've never read an Agatha Christie, pick up And Then There Were None, also titled Ten Little Indians. Ten strangers are gathered on a remote island ... to say more would be to ruin it.

I realize that's more like National Novel Reading Month, but I couldn't resist. :)

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

ooo, really interesting variety! I'm getting excited about all these books *claps* thanks for the advice, babe!

[shapinglight]

The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, which sadly, I've only read in translation as I don't know any Russian.

It's a wonderful book, written during and set in Stalinist Russian and not published in the author's lifetime. The Devil and his henchmen come to Moscow and wackiness ensues.

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

interesting! I'm kind of scared of russian literature, haha, but I'll check out the excerpt on amazon.com because this one sounds like it's not about a tragically doomed family :) or maybe it is!

[shapinglight]

Oh, no, no doomed families! It's a pretty uplifting book in most ways.

There were rumours of a movie being made a few years back with Johnny Depp as the Master, but sadly, that seems to have come to nothing. A film was made of it in Russian during the Soviet era but it was far too bleak and of course couldn't do justice to the special effects (one of the Devil's henchmen is a talking cat).

[laisserais]

wackiness ensues! very apt! i just had to butt in to say that i second your rec. that's a good one! :)

[shapinglight]

You've read it? It's wonderful, isn't it?

[lit-chick08.livejournal.com]

"The Other Boelyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory. It's a great blend of history and fiction, and it shines a whole new twisted light onto the Henry VIII/Anne Boleyn story by introducing the fact that he had first had an affair (and two children) with her sister Mary.

"Lucky" by Alice Sebold of "Lovely Bones" fame. It's technically a memoir, but it's the story of how being raped her freshman year at college shaped the entire course of her life. The rape itself is only the first chapter; it's much more of a story of how someone can put him/herself back together after everything is ripped away and no one knows how to deal with it.

"Disappearing Acts" by Jodi Picoult. A woman in her late-twenties discovers that her father, whom she adores, actually kidnapped her when she was 4 from the mother she thought was dead. The novel's told from the POVs of her, her father, her mother, her alcoholic fiance, and their best friend who is in love with her. It raises a lot of interesting questions about the line between protecting your child and being selfish and the lengths people will go in order to keep secrets.

"Conversations with the Fat Girl" by Liza Palmer. Maggie is overweight as was her best friend Olivia before she had gastric bypass. Olivia is now getting married and keeps her formally fat self a secret. While it sounds very chick-lit-esque, it actually is more about how Maggie comes to terms with herself and the life she's made in order to protect herself from rejection.

"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. It's Victorian chick-lit, but really, is there any story better than independent Elizabeth Bennett and snobby Mr. Darcy? It's definitely one of my favorites and, if you have 6 free hours, the BBC mini-series with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is amazing

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

thanks babe! especially interested in the picoult one, which it turns out is actually called vanishing acts (just fyi!). appreciate all these!

[xanzpet.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite books of all time is Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible which details the history of the Price family, who are missionaries, as they move from rural Georgia in the fifties, to the Belgian Congo, just as the country is about to launch a revolution. It's narrated by five female members of the family, and it's wonderfully woven and complex and bursting with descriptions so vivid, the paint themselves in your mind and the words almost become secondary.

Bah. I don't even know how to put into words how much I love this book, so I'll just be a dork and say it's supercool and full of win and YAY!

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

oo. I tried to read that once.

*coughs and ducks and runs away*

[xanzpet.livejournal.com]

rofl.

Yeah, I know. It took me years a little bit to get into it, but once I did, I devoured it. It was weird, because I usually don't go for books like that, but damn.

For pure fun fiction, you might try The Eight by Katherine Neville. The premise is unique and engaging, and unfolds over two different time periods, revolving around the ancient chess set of Charlemagne, with actual people as the pieces. The plot is intricate and complex and draws in several historical figures, though the main character is a likable and rather saucy, plucky heroine. It's riddled with supposition and inaccuracies, but it's just so much damn fun, you don't care. I'd also recommend her book, The Magic Circle, which revolves around historical artefacts, like the Spear of Longinus. They're typically categorized as millennium thrillers. You know, before The Da Vinci Code spoiled it for everyone. :P

[loreleilynn.livejournal.com]

I did this list with my Amazon browser search, because I'm awful at summarizing things and they'll do a better job then I could. :)

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan. Anything by Amy Tan is great, but this one is just my personal favorite. Her autobiography is also amazing, but you said you wanted fiction so...

There's Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and its sequels.

Also, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. She might have been... I think insane is the word, but her books are very interesting. Her other book, The Fountainhead, is interesting as well.

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

I loooove the kitchen god's wife! it's the only amy tan book I enjoy. full of win.

I think Ayn Rand is satan

never heard of the other one! I'll have to check it out. thanks sweetie *smooch*

[laisserais]

*gets to use books icon. does fist pump of geek joy*

uh, dude, i heard some bad shit about the kite runner. but i haven't picked it up myself because... well. how do i put this delicately? i'm a total book snob. lmao. i suck hard.

uh. i second shapinglight's rec of Master and margarita.

as for one book that changed my outlook on life? whoah. only one...

probably the most recent one was: Of Human Bondage, by Somerset Maugham. *snerk* i said bondage.

Maugham rocks my socks off. It was published at the outbreak of WWI, but it feels contemporary. The main character is Phillip, a fucked up, repressed ward of a preacher, who has a clubfoot. he goes off with his ideals and dreams to become a doctor in london. and there he meets the Wrong Girl. It all goes downhill from there.

There's all kinds of deep shit about philosophy and the meaning of life in it, but you can't tell. The chick he falls for is basically a manipulative hooker. the title comes from Spinoza, so there's a lot of investigating the human condition, the perceived dichotomy of siprit and matter... the idea that everything is an emodiment of the sacred... you know, real kicking against the old-time establishment stuff. Phillip would have been, 50 years later, a total gutter punk. haha.

yeah, i dig that book. but it's maybe kinda long. it reads quick though. another great one: Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell. his lesser known stuff is, i think, more accessible. it's less hit-you-over-the-head with the message. I read this one when i worked in a cafe, and man. i could seriously relate with the torment of having to deal with stupid people who were richer than him. it's a bit of an exploration of class, and the artistic life and stuff.

i could keep going, but you've got an impressive list already. yeah, that's funny. i just realized again today that it's been literally forever since i've read fiction for pleasure. i mean, published non-fanfic stuff. everything i read nowadays is either for school or it's non-fiction. i should step it up a bit. maybe over christmas break. *smooch*

[shapinglight]

I second the Orwell choice. I like what you might call his non-fiction rather than his novels. The Road to Wigan Pier is also wonderful.

Ironically, Wigan uses the pier as a tourist attraction now.

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

a fucked up, repressed ward of a preacher, who has a clubfoot
now THAT's the kind of book I want to read. *Snicker* you're so funny!

There's all kinds of deep shit about philosophy and the meaning of life in it, but you can't tell.
thank goodness! because we don't cotton with all that meaning-of-life stuff round here. uh-uh. NO SIR.

it's less hit-you-over-the-head with the message.
oooo, good! thanks sweetie