Fiction
Cold
Mountain, Charles Frazier – Outstanding literary novel about a
wounded Civil War soldier’s desertion and return to home. Beautifully written
prose.
Age
of Vice, Deepti Kapoor – Great fictional account of a poor Indian
boy’s introduction to the Indian mafia, his rise and fall within, and his ultimate
redemption.
The
Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway – The unparalleled story of
unrequited love between a wounded World War I veteran and a baroness.
Hemingway’s ability to expose with dialogue complex relationships between
multiple characters is incredible.
Don
Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes – This 400-year-old parody of stories
of knighthood, such as Le Morte d‘Arthur, is fun and timeless, but very
long.
Rabbit,
Run, John Updike – The first of the great author’s novels that
track Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom through his aimless life of quick gratification.
Couples,
John Updike – An examination of couples in a small New England community as
they explore the sexual permissiveness of the early 1960s.
All
the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr – Set in World War II
Europe, this excellent novel depicts the relationship of a blind girl and her anti-fascist
father as they try to evade the Nazis.
Diamond Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver – An update to Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, this tale looks at the challenges of overcoming rampant drug dependency and economic hardship in rural western Virginia.
The
Crook Manifesto, Colson Whitehead – Like Harlem Shuffle,
this is another in a series of Whitehead’s novels that follow protagonist Ray Carney
through his balancing act between straight businessman and criminal.
The
Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead – This Pulitzer Prize winning work is
a fictional account of a real event in a Florida camp for troubled boys in the
1960s.
Slough
House, Nick Herron – The first installment of a series centered
around British spy River Cartwright and made into an entertaining Apple TV
series called Slow Horses.
Dead
Lions, Nick Herron – Another installment in the River Cartwright
series but not as good as the first.
The Ginger Man, J.P. Donleavy – I first discovered the brilliant Donleavy in college, with A Fairy Tale of New York. The Ginger Man is a comedic story about a scoundrel who leeches his way through Ireland, using and alienating everyone in his orbit.
The
Lady who Liked Clean Restrooms, J.P. Donleavy – A different type of
story from Donleavy, this novella replaces the frenetic, Joycean style of his
other works for a more placid presentation. The main character isn’t quite as
despicable, either.
Non-fiction
The
British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777,
Rick Atkinson – One of my favorite narrative historians, Atkinson paints a
vivid picture of the beginnings of the Revolutionary War in this, the first of
a planned trilogy on the subject.
The
Islander, Tomas O’Crohan – A memoir by a native of Great Blasket
Island off Ireland’s west coast. The island consisted of a single village of
fishermen and their families, untouched by modern civilization, that survived
until 1955.
On
an Irish Island, Robert Kanigel – This linguist and playwright
spent many years visiting Blasket to learn the pure dialect of the people. The
account tells of his relationships to the various characters there.
A
Short History of the 1916 Rising, Richard Killeen – A short version
of Ireland’s insurrection against its British overseers that ultimately led to the
Republic’s independence in 1922.
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