Reading 1001 discussion

Some of our members have less options available from the list and maybe they're reading other lists. This is a place to share those reads with us. Tell us what you think. Should they be considered for any future updates of the books you must read before you die?

I'm working on reading all of the Pulitzer winners. Finding that some of the early ones are a little hard to come by and some are very dated.

However, I really enjoyed Booth Tarkington's Magnificent Ambersons (1919) as well as the Orson Welles film adaptation. As for more recent books, Richard Powers's The Overstory and Trust by Herman Diaz were both absolutely amazing and should definitely be included in a 1001 update.

Jane wrote: "I'm working on reading all of the Pulitzer winners. Finding that some of the early ones are a little hard to come by and some are very dated.

However, I really enjoyed Booth Tarkington's Magnifice..."

I liked Overstory but prefer Powers older work more. I liked Trust more than In the Distance.

I also am reading the Pulitzer list but only starting in 1990 so not nearly as exhaustive as you are doing Jane. Maybe I will go back to 1917, when it started, once I have finished 1990 to now.

Glad to hear others are doing Pulitzers too. Thanks for sharing which ones you are enjoying, Jane.

I've made spreadsheets for the Pulitzer, Booker, and Giller prizes winners. Not putting any specific time line on myself for doing them, just enjoy having lists to choose from and having other things to listen to/read in between finishing 1001 list books, especially since I'm out of 1001 audios.

Currently listening to "Less", the 2018 Pulitzer winner, and really enjoying it. Also thought "the Nickel Boys" was brilliant (as is the movie that came out this year).

Also listened to the Giller winner "Bloodletting and miraculous cures" recently and really enjoyed it as well (recommend for anyone who likes realistic medical drama).

I have a spread sheet of Pulitzer and the Booker but not the Giller. (The Giller is Canadian, right?) I use the Randomizer number for TBR takedown to pick my Pulitzer and Booker. I don't always get to them but it helps narrower choices down.
I read Less awhile ago and enjoyed it.

I loved "The Nickel Boys" but have not yet read "Less". I will move that up further on my TBR list. Thank you

Yes, the Giller is the Canadian one. I might post the shortlist here when it comes out in the fall to see if anything interests folks.

Also just read today that "James" by Percival Everett won the fiction Pulitzer (a great book and one already covered by the booker shortlist last year).

Here's my read list from Pulitzer..
Pulitzer
1. 1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington Hoopla, 11/20/22
2. 1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton
3. 1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington
4. 1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber8. 1926
5. ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined) library
6. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder
7. 1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck
8. 1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson 5/27/21
9. 1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell
11. 1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
12. 1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck
13. 1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
14. 1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey
15. 1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
16. 1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway
17. A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee
18. 1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury 3/27/21
19. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee
20. 1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau OWN audible play 3/23
21. 1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter READ some
22. 1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
23. 1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday, Nov 2023
24. 1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner OWN 2/11/23
25. 1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty
26. 1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara
27. 1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow
28. 1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever Read some
29. 1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer
30. 1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole
31. 1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike
32. 1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker
33. 1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
34. 1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison
35. BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler OWN
36. 1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley OWN 4/20/21
37. 1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx
38. 1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields
39. 1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth
40. 1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham
41. 2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon
42. 2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides
43. 2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones
44. 2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson
45. 2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
46. 2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
47. 2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz
48.2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout
49. 2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan
50 2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson OWN
51. 2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt
52. 2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr
53. 2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen
54. 2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead
55. 2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer READ 12/22/21
56. 2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers OWN
57. 2021 The Night Watchman (hoopla, audio) COMPLETED 1/3/21
58. 2023 Trust
59. 2023 Demon Copperhead
60. 2024 Night Watch
61. James - Percival Everett

Nice list Kristel! Most of my Pulitzer reads are 1001 books, but I've read a few others too since starting it intentionally this year, and I'm enjoying it :)

1 The Age of Innocence
2 The Bridge of San Luis Rey
3 The Good Earth
4 Gone with the Wind
5 The Grapes of Wrath
6 The Old Man and the Sea
7 To Kill a Mockingbird
8 The Optimist's Daughter
9 Humboldt's Gift
10 The Executioner's Song
11 A Confederacy of Dunces
12 Rabbit Is Rich
13 The Color Purple
14 A Summons to Memphis
15 Beloved
16 The Shipping News
17 The Stone Diaries
18 American Pastoral
20 The Hours
21 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
22 Middlesex
23 The Road
24 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
25 A Visit from the Goon Squad
26 The Goldfinch
27 Less
28 The Nickel Boys
29 Night Watch
30 James

Amanda wrote: "Nice list Kristel! Most of my Pulitzer reads are 1001 books, but I've read a few others too since starting it intentionally this year, and I'm enjoying it :)

1 The Age of Innocence
2 The Bridge o..."
I am always amazed how much Canadian’s know of the US. I certainly will start following the Giller list as I do try to read Canadian authors. Some of my Pulitzer’s I read as a youth when still in school. Probably they should be rereads. I’m just not good at doing rereads.

Yeah it's kind of wild...people here frequently joke that many Canadians know more about American media/politics than our own. We get all of the American major channels, streaming services, radio, and book publishing houses, and ours are often smaller in budget and marketing in comparison.

This is such a pervasive phenomenon that we have a set of laws called "CanCon" that dictates what percentage of Canadian content HAS to be on a Canadian radio or television station. It's often a topic of conversation here surrounding whether this keeps Canadian art alive and distributed, or whether it limits the freedom of what stations can put out. Ironically, the tariff wars have made Canadians the most interested they've been in Canadian politics and products in decades.

I always recommend looking into our literature, music, movies, tv, and art to non-Canadians. A lot of our great work kind of stays in the country, and there are some real hidden gems made here.

Amanda wrote: "Yes, the Giller is the Canadian one. I might post the shortlist here when it comes out in the fall to see if anything interests folks.

Also just read today that "James" by Percival Everett won th..."

Hi Amanda -- James will probably be my next book. Do you recommend revisiting Huckleberry Finn first? I haven't read it since high school and I'm wondering if a refresher would make me enjoy/understand the Percival book more.

I think it might be good to read Huck Finn first if your memory of it is sketchy.

Agreed. If you remember the plot progression it's all good, if not, it will enrich your reading of James to revise Huck Finn.

Kristel, impressed by how many fiction Pulitzer-winners you've read. I try to read at least one a year. I read James recently, just before it won this years'. Much of the Huck Finn story came back to my memory as I read it. Last year I read Pulitzer-winners Liliana's Invincible Summer, which is a creative nonfiction classified as fiction, and Invisible Child (nonfiction).
I've read several nonfiction books this year that I liked: Fire Weather by Canadian writer Vaillant, Always Another Country by South African/Zambian writer Msimang and Portrait of an Artist about Georgia O'Keefe which inspired me to buy a nice large print of one of her works.

George P. wrote: "Kristel, impressed by how many fiction Pulitzer-winners you've read. I try to read at least one a year. I read James recently, just before it won this years'. Much of the Huck Finn story came back ..."

I recently read Summer For the Gods which won the History Pulitzer in 1998 and I try to read Bookers or Pulitzers every month but not always able to to do that. Which print did you buy? I have a large print of Starry Starry Night on my wall.

The Booker longlist was announced recently: any else doing the Booker nominees this year? I usually do just the shortlist when its announced, but I've sourced the majority of the longlist noms on audio already and think I'll attempt that this time.

Amanda wrote: "The Booker longlist was announced recently: any else doing the Booker nominees this year? I usually do just the shortlist when its announced, but I've sourced the majority of the longlist noms on a..."

As always, there seems to be a lot of interesting books on the list! I'll look forward to your reviews. However, I won't be getting to them any time soon. I am presently struggling(!!) through The Piano Teacher. I am not enjoying it so am progressing slowly and breaking it up with Golden Age mysteries and other fun, and/or fluffy books.

Many do look very interesting, and I suspect the one Canadian nominee will end up on the Giller list as well.

I also wasn't huge into the Piano Teacher, so I don't blame you for inserting some more fun books along the way. I also really enjoy Golden age murder mysteries and want to listen to more Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers audio next year :)

Amanda wrote: "The Booker longlist was announced recently: any else doing the Booker nominees this year? I usually do just the shortlist when its announced, but I've sourced the majority of the longlist noms on a..."

I've read Audition and Flesh so far.

I've read Piano Teacher twice. It is a dark book. Hard to find anything blood to say. Reading a nice who dun it once in awhile is always good. Just read Mrs Pollifax on Safari. I read The Adversary recently which is a Canadian author. Recommend that one. And I would like to read The Land in Winter but it is not available yet in the US.

I also usually only read the Booker short list but there are a number for short books on the long list so I may read more than one of those.