Stop, Drop, and Read These

Last year I made a quasi-resolution to continue with the chick-lit ban and focus on reading more meaningful works of literature.  Not necessarily Kafka or Dostoyevsky (confession, never read anything by either--they frighten me somehow), but things with a little more heft and meaning than the Shopaholic series (which, confession, I love).  Sadly, that's pretty much the only resolution I did stick with, though I'll admit that I improved greatly in all resolution areas over the year.  But more on that another time.

Today, I want to go back through all fifty books that I read last year and whittle them down to my top ten recommendations.  I read some seriously fantastic books last year, some of which I feel are way too below the radar.  You can see the full list of books I read in 2009 by clicking here, along with a short personal review on some of the earlier reads before I got lazy and dropped that feature of the list.

In no particular order:

1)  Sarum: The Novel of England, Edward Rutherfurd
This tells the story of England's development from the time it fully breaks off from the rest of the European continent through the 1980s, by following the fortunes and pitfalls and five families throughout the generations.  Yes, sometimes the characters were a bit predictable as Rutherfurd seemed to rely on a few specific genetic and personality traits to define each family, but overall a fascinating look at one of my favorite countries told from the perspective of people rather than purely events.

2)  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer
I loved this book so much, I immediately logged on to Amazon to buy everything else Mary Ann Shaffer had written, only to find that she died before she was able to write anything else.  That's the world's loss, but she did leave behind this gem of a story about a tiny English island occupied by Nazis during WWII.  Told entirely through letters, each character's voice is at times charming, intriguing, hilarious, and heartbreaking.

3) The House at Riverton, Kate Morton
Set in England before, during and after WWI, a young girl comes to the home of a wealthy family to work as their maid and becomes embroiled in their relationships and secrets.  A twisty, turny mystery filled with intrigue, romance, and drama.  What's not to love!

4)  Drowning Ruth, Christina Schwarz
What is it with my obsession with deep, dark family secrets?  Deeply compelling from the first line of this novel--"Ruth remembered drowning"--to the last, I read this one on an airplane and it made the ride go by in the blink of an eye.

5)  The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
If you've been to Sunday school, you've heard the story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel.  But who knew that a retelling of this Bible story from a the perspective of Jacob's daughter could be so beautiful and enjoyable.  They should have read us this book at our youth group...

6)  The Secret History, Donna Tartt
Follows the lives of five deeply twisted classics students at a small college in the Northeast and the outsider who befriends them and is sucked into their mysterious world.  Absolutely loved this, but I would recommend at least a basic knowledge of mythology to get the most out of it.  At the very least, have a web browser open ready to look up references.

7)  The Drowning Tree, Carol Goodman
I picked this one up in the morning and couldn't put it down until I'd read it all the way through.  The plot twists and turns throughout the novel and the descriptions of art made me feel as though it was part compelling story and part museum.

8)  The Street of A Thousand Blossoms, Gail Tsukiyama
Beautiful story of a Japanese family spanning the 3 decades before, during, and after WWII.  One of those books where every time something good happens to someone, something heartbreaking happens shortly after, but the characters are fascinating, the prose is the perfect combination of imagery and plot, and it ends on a hopeful note.  Give it the first 100 pages to really suck you in.  Reminded me a bit of Memoirs of a Geisha.

9)  The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter
I love how macabre and creepy many of our favorite fairy tales are in their original form, and these even more haunting and spooky retellings were absolutely gripping.  Carter includes her versions of Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Red Riding Hood, and Blue Beard just to name a few, and her stories are beautifully eerie and remarkably fresh.

10) Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates
Incredible book that I probably never would have read based on the blurb on the back of the book.  It's the story of the perfect couple, living the American Dream and hiding their utterly miserable existence behind the facade of a 1950s nuclear family.  Somehow the characters manage to be both insufferable and sympathetic, and while there's no major twist at the end, I stayed hooked all the way through, laughing on one page, and finding myself squirming uncomfortably on the next.  An at times relatable, at times disturbing book that reminds us, no one ever really knows what goes on behind closed doors.

Honorable Mentions:
The Dante Club, Matthew Pearl

A Cup of Tea: A Novel of 1917, Amy Ephron

Comments

[katelin]

oh i will definitely have to add some of these to my to-read list, thanks for the recommendations!

[The Incubator]

This is awesome - now I don't have to depend on my questionable memory to have a good read. All I need to do is refer to your blog. You are so sweet to us:)

[Anonymous Prep]

I'm adding all of these to my "to read" list. Thanks for putting this list together - I'll be checking a few out of the library for my upcoming business trips.

[A Super Girl]

I keep hearing about the Potato Peel Society. Perhaps I need to finally pick it up!

[Christina Gay]

Thanks! I needed some recommendations for my 40 books in 2010 goal!

[Annie]

"Country Doctor" by Kafka is an amazing surreal short story. Highly recommend!

[shelley]

Girl, I haven't read 50 books in my entire life! How do you blog, read blogs, FB, go to school, watch tv that AND still find time to read 50 books? You're my hero!!!

[Kim]

I've been trying to do the same, although I still love my Shopaholic books. :)