Growing up, reading was one of my absolute favorite pastimes (Which perhaps helps explain why I am so un-athletic...), and as an adult I love it just as much.
Last week I got a lovely comment from a reader wondering about my taste in books.
Reading it, I realized that while I mention books I'm enjoying from time to time on my heart lists and such, I've never really gone into detail about my favorites.
So, in one over-ambitious, giant fell swoop, here for you is a giant list condensing my taste in books. Classics:
- Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell (Like the movie but with more details, they're both perfect)
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (One of the best stories and most lyrical narratives ever. Potentially THE great American novel to me.)
- Pride and Prejudice, Emma, & Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen (I love me some Jane)
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (Horribly depressing but beautifully written)
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau (Some of the nature stuff gets pretty boring, but his insights on life and art are truly words to live by.)
- Catcher in the Rye & Franny and Zooey by J.D. Sallinger
Non-Fiction & Memoirs:
- The Happiness Project & Happier At Home by Gretchen Rubin (Not as big a fan of the second, but I read THP once a year)
- Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss M.D. (Gave me a complete and total different outlook on life, death and the afterlife)
- Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (This can be a little hit and miss but overall enjoyable)
- Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs (Wonderful)
- The Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton by Dean Jensen (I happen to have a personal obsession with their story)
Recently Read & Enjoyed:
- 11/22/63 by Stephen King (Really long but worth it. I am NOT a Stephen King kind of reader, but this is fascinating and compelling.)
- Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (Book & Movie both excellent, super different)
- Rules of Civility by Amor Rowles
- The Fault in our Stars by John Green (So good. Have some kleenex handy)
- Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka
Humor:
- Bossypants by Tina Fey (one of my all time favs)
- Seriously... I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGenerous
- Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
- Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (Was lucky enough to see him read excerpts of this live and it was wonderful. Most of his stuff is.)
Good Beach Reads:
- One Day by David Nicholls
- The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
- Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
- An American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin (I love historical fiction and stuff about the 19th century)
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
- The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins (So fun. I love Katniss)
Books I've Hated:
- The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemingway (I want that day of my life back)
- The Scarlett Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne (It is criminal that this is assigned in schools it's so boring)
- 50 Shades of Grey by E. L. James (Come on, it started out as Twilight fan-fiction. Seriously)
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville (The longest and most boring book ever written)
- The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown (Too manipulative to be enjoyed)
What I'm Reading Right Now:
- Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld (My summer Pool book)
- 5 A.M. Fifth Avenue by Sam Wasson (Very interesting for Breakfast at Tiffany's fans)
- Your Hidden Symmetry by Jean Haner (Jake and I are fascinated)
- Orange Is The New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman (Only just started, I'm so obsessed with the show I had to learn more)
- A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (been meaning to read this for YEARS)
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (This one too - I'm 300 pages in, 700 to go...)
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (My Next Pool book)
- The Sun Also Rises by Earnest Hemingway
- Just Kids by Patti Smith (Supposed to be fantastic)
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I'm sure there's a ton that I'm forgetting, but I suppose that leaves room for a volume two somewhere down the line!
What are you guys reading/loving?? I'm ALWAYS looking for new books and recommendations! If you guys read and enjoy any of these, let me know!!
Have you ever heard of Goodreads? If not, it is a website worth looking into for sure. I'm obsessed.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of it but I have yet to check it out! I will now!! Thank you so much!! XOXO
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