My Secret Book Club

When I was a child, one Christmas I received the book "Heidi".  I remember my exact reaction.  Anger. What was I going to do with this stupid book?  Why was one of my gifts wasted on a dumb book?  But during that Christmas vacation my whole world changed. It was the beginning of a lifelong obsession. I don't know if I ever properly thanked my dear Mother for that most treasured gift.  I LOVE BOOKS!

Does anyone read anymore?  And by reading I mean the old fashioned way, words on paper, used in full sentences, bound with a cover, coming to a conclusion?  Is reading becoming a lost art like having a conversation?  Are we too busy Twittering our friends and surfing the 600+ channels on our cable TVs that we can not take time to curl up with a good book and detox from our electronic world? Are our schedules so full that we have no room for "down time"? I fear the books of the future will be filled with BFFs and LOLs so the reader can be done PDQ. 

We need more Selden Edwards and Irene Nemirovskys writing the good novels. In my opinion we do not need every entertainer, politician or athlete writing a biography or tell-all for their own self-promotion.  Who told these people they could write?  And while I am on this subject, why is our society so enamored with the rich and famous? I digress...

On to my secret club.  Friends, associates and even strangers are members of my club without knowing they have ever joined. That's my secret.  I am continuously polling my friends for tips and recommendations. Sometimes I will hear about a book club's current pick, or eavesdrop on someone in the bookstore or perhaps catch an interview in the media which piques my interest.  I search the bestseller lists, my current favorite being the International Bestsellers. I like a well-constructed novel that spurs the imagination. I do not read romance novels. I am a fan of novels which employ historical facts, but aren't necessarily non-fiction. And I do love a good fantasy or mystery.  I LOVE BOOKS!

There are authors whose books I can't wait to finish so I can begin the next.  Unfortunately, there comes a time when I am no longer interested in that author's works.  For me it is that tipping point when the writer becomes predictable.  Once I hit that threshold, I move on. 

Another pet peeve I have is with writers who write the extremely long book. There is appropriately long and there is boringly long. Some books feel like the author was just filling pages with words to get a bigger book. I liken it to Charlie Brown's teacher when she spoke all you heard was wahh, wahh, wahh.

Over the years I have gone through many stages in my book cravings.  The Christmas I received "Heidi" my brother got "Black Beauty".  I, of course had to read his book when I finished mine.  I then moved on to my brother's whole series of "horse books".  Then it was whatever the local library or school library had.  I loved science fiction for a time. Then came my dark phase with Stephen King.  My husband and I tag-teamed Tom Clancy for a period, then moved to the John Grisham books. I even  experimented with Oprah's book club, but those books were tragedy upon tragedy. I stopped reading Stephen King when Misery came out.  Bought the book, never EVER finished it; didn't watch the movie, either. The sadistic acts in that book were my tipping point for Mr. King.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE BOOKS!?  Surely there are more of you out there that share my obsession.  You must have your own favorites.  Share your list with me and you can be in my secret book club. 

Where to begin.  If you search the top 100 books to read, you get many lists, all subjective.  So I would like to share my subjective list beginning with my current favorites.  Most probably I will have forgotten a few.  I hope to add more favorites to my list as I discover (or re-discover) them.

The Little Book by Selden Edwards.  A wonderful tale of time travel back to Vienna in the 1800s. A  baseball player turned rock star meets his ancestors and some well known individuals of that time. This debut book from Mr Edwards took him 30 years to refine.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  This story has murder, mystery and intrigue, not to mention a tragic love story. It was my favorite until I read "The Little Book".









Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky.  The tale takes place in German occupied France.  The author was Jewish and sent to Auschwitz where she died before this book could be published.  The manuscript was lost for 60 years.

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. A tragic story of life in Afghanistan before the Russian invasion and revolution. 

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.  Tragic and revealing.











Great series to read, especially if you have children:

JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings".  It is difficult to read for some, but worth the effort.  The movie series is well done, too.

JK Rowling's "Harry Potter".  Everyone knows these books are fabulous.  This was one series that became very difficult for me to finish.  It got a little repetitive and monotonous for me, especially  in the last couple of books.

Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight Series".  Good Vampires, who'd of thought?  Imaginative 'story line and for a teen - adult reader.

Isaac Asimov's "Foundation Trilogy".  For the Sci-Fi fans, this series was ahead of it's time and is for a more mature reader.  My husband and I had our "Asimovian" period, and read nearly all of his books.


Non-Fiction.

All of Jon Krakauer's books.  "Under the Banner of Heaven", "Into Thin Air". "Into the Wild" are three that I have read and loved.


Young Reader.

Lois Lowry's "The Giver".  I bought it for my primary-school son, but I really enjoyed this easy read.

Classics.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  This is one of the few books that I read over and over. Ageless.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  Another ageless story that takes me back to my childhood.

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

International Bestsellers.

The Island by Victoria Heslop.  A story about  a leper colony on an island off the coast of Greece and the families it touched.

The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato.  Again with the tragedy.  A Venitian family of glassblowers who were restrained and controlled by the Venitian politicians in order to protect the glassblowing process from the outside world.

Middlesex by Jeffry Eugenides.  Yet another family tragedy.

Life of PI by Yann Martel. An adventure with life's lessons mixed in.  Truth or fantasy, the reader is the judge.

New York TImes Bestsellers.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk KIdd
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

National Bestsellers.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Three Junes by Julia Glass
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink


Others.

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Grange House by Sarah Blake
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
The Stand by Stephen King


Next up -- Children's books......