Book Recommendations #1

If you cannot already tell from the name of my blog, I am a little bit of a book lover. Since I love reading, I thought I'd share some of my favorite books with you. Because this blog is new, and because I’ve read a lot of books, this could be a lengthy post. This will probably become a series I update every couple of months, or when I’ve read enough books to create a substantial post. I’ll create categories for the books so if you, my dear reader, are not interested in a specific genre of literature, you can just skip that section and move on to the next.

Literature and Classics

East of Eden by John Steinbeck: I was first introduced to Steinbeck during junior year, in my AP Language and Composition class, with The Grapes of Wrath. I did not hate The Grapes of Wrath, but it certainly did not make it near the top of my favorite books list. East of Eden, however, is definitely one of my favorite books. Ever. I’m going to try to succinctly describe why I love East of Eden so immensely, but please don’t bemoan me if I begin to effuse. Like All the King’s Men, East of Eden is narrated by an onlooker, but this narrator is actually not that important to the story. This book was written as a modern day retelling of the Cain and Able story, but you don’t have to be Christian or religious to enjoy it. It is a multigenerational story, so there are a lot of characters to remember, but each generation plays out its own version of Genesis. East of Eden is certainly not lacking in amazing characters. I am going to go ahead and claim that it has the most complex cast of characters of any book I’ve ever read. There’s Cathy Ames, the most wicked woman in all of literature, Lee, a philosophizing Chinese immigrant that is definitely the smartest character in the whole book, Liza Hamilton, a hilariously God-fearing Irishwoman, Sam Hamilton, he’s basically God, Caleb Trask, I think of him as a more enjoyable Draco Malfoy, and many others that each have their own wonderfully unique characteristics. I cried more than once reading East of Eden, and how I think about life was forever changed after reading this powerful, wonderful, masterful novel.

All The King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren: I really wanted to hate this book when it was given to me for summer reading. For years I had heard complaints and grumblings about this book, but I just could not bring myself to dislike it. The main focus of this book is corruption, both political and personal. The narrative of this book is similar to The Great Gatsby, in that both books are narrated by troubled men writing about the ‘great’ men in their lives. In Jack Burden’s case, he’s the narrator of All the King’s Men, that great man is Willie Stark. The novel follows the life of Willie Stark from small town politics to immense success and documents the toll it takes on Willie and the lives around him. There’s also familial drama, romance, and murder if political fiction is not your favorite genre.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: I was first introduced to Pride and Prejudice by the 1995 BBC miniseries when I was in second grade, and it has been a part of my life since then. I honestly do not know how many times I have read the book, but I can tell you that I’m not done rereading it. I’ve used this book to answer many test essay questions, and it never fails to give me material to work with. Elizabeth Bennet has long been my favorite literary character, and one of my role models. She is intelligent, well spoken, and a romantic. Mr. Darcy is, well, Mr. Darcy. He is passionate, intensely romantic, and very loyal to his friends and family. I love the slow building romance, but I also love the dynamic of the Bennet family. I don’t think Jane Austen could have been  more spot on with her depiction of sisterly love.

Emma by Jane Austen: I was named after Emma Woodhouse, the title character of this novel. I tried reading this book in second grade, after I had seen that wonderful 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth (swoon), and I think I got through the majority of the novel. I definitely did not understand it then, but I’ve reread the book a couple times recently, and I absolutely love the story. Emma is a story about privilege, learning from mistakes, class divides, and what happens when people keep all of their feelings to themselves. Funny, poignant, and feminist, I think that this is a novel every young woman should read at least once.

Magical Realism and Realistic Fiction

Beloved by Toni Morrison: Oh, would you look at that, another book from Lit/Comp! This is the only book I’ve ever read that honestly depicted slavery and it’s awful, awful effects. I got a 5 on the AP United States History exam, and I learned more about slavery from this book than I ever did from a history textbook. Beloved is haunting, and not just because it is about a ghost. Sethe, the main character of the book, lives with her fourth child Denver at 124 Blue Stone Road, Cincinnati, Ohio. I honestly don’t know how much about this book I can say without spoiling anything, but just know that it will challenge all of your moral beliefs and its brutal depiction of slavery and life after slavery will jar you.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz: I didn’t love this as assigned reading for AP Lit/Comp, but I really did love the story. Narrated by a misogynistic man-whore, this story depicts the life and death of a second-generation Dominican immigrant. The narrator is not Oscar, but his college roommate and sister’s on-again-of-again boyfriend. I really recommend this book because it is full of Dominican History, specifically from the Trujillo dictatorship, which is not a history that is often taught in school. The magical part of this book is the fuku aspect. Fuku is basically the Dominican verison of Karma. This book also gave me my new favorite phrase “grow a pair of ovaries”. The depth of each character in Oscar Wao  is absolutely astounding; every  character is so complex they seem like real people I might see on the street in day to day life. The novel deals with corrupt politics, gangsters, love, obesity, bullying, folklore, depression, racism, and immigration in a way that no other book I’ve read has done.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides: This is a book that I had been aware of for more than a decade before I read it. I had first heard of this book when my mother read in in book club, and I was in either first or second grade. I had heard her speak about it, and what I heard her say made me paranoid that the same thing would happen to me. The premise of the book is that multiple generations of incest lead to a child being born appearing to be a girl, but all is not as it seems. For years I was terrified that that was a common occurrence and was afraid that puberty would result in something between my legs that had not been there before. That did not happen, for the record. Anyway, a decade or so passes and I am handed this book as a summer reading assignment for what class but AP Literature and Composition. (I did say that many of these books would be from that class, didn’t I?) I had a good laugh when I read the whole book and realized that I would have to have been the child of multiple acts of incest to be born like Calliope Stephanides. Eugenides’ writing is pure beauty. The transitions between past and present are seamless and the entire story flows like silk. Some of the themes of this beast of a novel include incest, romance, incestuous romance, drug abuse, religious zealotry, culture shock, immigration, Greek family dynamics, racism, gender norms, and many others. In the words of my AP Lit/Comp teacher, “sure there’s incest, but it’s incest you can root for!”.

The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks: I think this is the last book I included from AP Lit/Comp. This book is not the behemoth that most of the books on this list are, but I love it all the same. The basic premise is that Australian book conservator Hanna Heath is called in to examine the famed Sarajevo Haggadah. Hanna thinks of herself as sort of a book whisperer, and with each discovery of a butterfly wing or a wine stain, we are given a glimpse into the book’s past. There are stories from the Spanish Inquisition, the Bosnian war, WWII, turn of the century Vienna, and more. What was very interesting about this novel was its focus on Judaism. Most literature is based around the Bible, and is full of biblical allusions, but this book is full of the history of Judaism in Europe, which is actually very refreshing. Hanna is also a badass main character because she is a scientist, she is extremely intelligent, she is aware of herself, and she takes pride in her work. She is not apologetic about what she loves, which is amazing for a female character. There’s also a little romance here and there to make things interesting.

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff: I read this book a few weeks ago, and I absolutely fell in love with it. I live in a small town, and I feel like Groff did an astounding job of capturing what it’s like to grow up in a small town where everybody knows each other vs visiting a quaint small town for a short time. Lauren Groff is one of my favorite modern authors for many reasons, and this book captures most of them. Groff is extremely gifted in that she can switch narrators and stories without any bumpiness. Every time a different character is narrating, the diction is completely different. I hope to someday be as impeccable with narrative transitions as Lauren Groff. I’m also extremely impressed by her ability to incorporate the supernatural without making the book about magic or fantasy. The book begins with Willie Upton returning to her hometown Templeton, NY carrying something unwanted along with her. The day she arrives, the ‘monster’ living in Lake Glimmerglass. Templeton is a little like Inverness in the respect that there is a lake rumored to house some sort of aquatic monster. Until Willie returns, the monster was just a myth, but when it surfaces already dead and rotten, something changes in the town. Willie spends the majority of the book dealing with the repercussions of her last relationship and trying to figure out who her father is. In doing so, she learns a lot more about the town and about her family’s history than is comfortable. If you like Groff’s most recent book Fates and Furies, you will absolutely adore this book.

Fantasy

The Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J Maas: I’m currently reading the fourth book of this series. I read the first three in about a week, and I just cannot get enough of this series. It’s technically young adult, but each book tends to grapple with more adult themes than the last. If I had to describe this series by comparing it to other series, I’d probably say it’s a mix of Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games. The story focuses on assassin Celaena Sardothien as she is released from a labor camp and is forced to compete to be the champion of the king. Like any young adult fantasy series, there are many attractive men for Celaena to romantically entangle herself with. However, unlike many young adult series, Celaena puts herself and her friendships before any romantic relationships. Her friendship with Nehemia is so powerful that I think every girl should read this series. They love each other fiercely, but they are both willing to enrage the other to reach their goals. Apart from Celaena, there is a plethora of insanely strong female characters. There is, of course, Nehemia, princess of Eyllwe and champion of the oppressed, Manon, a badass witch with iron-teeth that rides a dragon and eats the hearts of men, Asterin, Manon’s second in command, Nesryn, a female castle guard that also leads a rebel cause, and Maeve, a really horrible woman but still a strong female character. There are probably many other female characters that I either haven’t read about yet, or I’ve forgotten. If you’re the type of person that ships, you’re going to be extremely frustrated throughout this whole series because you’ll probably have an armada instead of a single ship, and you won’t know which one you want to survive. There are also dragons, faeries, witches, demons, monsters, and really awesome magic. This series is honestly so good that I could continue gushing, but I need to stop so I can move on to the next series…

(I would have included a picture if I owned this next book, but sadly I don’t L)

A Court of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J Maas: If you can’t tell, I’m a little obsessed with Sarah J Maas’ books at the moment. I’m also currently reading the second book in the series, A Court of Mist and Fire, and it’s just wonderful. This series is a really interesting twist on The Beauty and The Beast fairytale, and I’m in love. Like Throne of Glass, this story has many super attractive male faeries. Feyre, a human hunter, shoots a wolf in the woods and a few days later she is being taken to the faerie realm to live as the prisoner of Tamlin. Tamlin is a faerie that sympathizes with the plights of human beings, and in doing so rebels against the ancient ideals of his kind. I love this series because it deals with fun fantasy creatures, but also serious issues such as possessive relationships, PTSD, and gender roles. This is a beautiful story, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy and magic.

The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon: This series is just gorgeous, I think that’s the best word to describe it. Time-travel, romance, Scottish history, what more can a girl ask for? Oh, that’s right, James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, the king of men. I began this series two years ago, and I’m at the start of the fourth book currently. I took a small break from the series because I was very busy and these books are not books you put down and come back to. They are time consuming, life consuming, but glorious. This is another series full of insanely strong and complex female characters. First, there is Claire Randall, the protagonist of the story. She is a former WWII nurse, and goes to Inverness with her husband for a second honeymoon. She winds up time-traveling through a circle of stones to the year 1743. Through a series of fortunate events, she winds up on a horse with tall Scottish ginger, Jamie Fraser, and together they travel around fighting for freedom. There’s also Jenny Murray, Jamie’s fiery and loyal sister, Geilis Duncan, accused witch and kind of a black widow, and Brianna, a feisty American woman. I’m definitely leaving out a few female characters right now, but they’re the main crew of badass women. It is really wonderful to read a series about war, politics, and history from a female narrative. This series also sparked a pretty amazing show that is, in my opinion, comparable to, if not better than, Game of Thrones.

Well, that was a bitlonger than I expected. Feel free to comment if you feel inspired to read any of these titles, or any books that you love so I can start a new reading list. Like I said earlier, I don’t think my other recommendations are going to be as long because I’ve just covered the majority of my favorite books. I hope you found some titles you’d like to try out!

-          Emma J