Books on the Nightstand discussion

I just wrote a new blog post about Entertainment Weekly's new list of "The New Classics: 100 Best Reads from 1983-2008".
The link to the list is here:
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207..., but I will paste the list below.
It's a very interesting list. I'd love to know your thoughts about this list. I think it will raise some eyebrows, but personally, I love it, for all of the reasons I spelled out on the blog.

What about you??

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

So, I've read 32 of these, have started and put downa few more.

Blindness, Lonesome Dove, and The Poisonwood Bible have been on my TBR list for awhile.

I've been resisting Eat Pray Love for a long time. I don't know why I think it's not for me, but that's what I think. I may have to read it, though, since part of me really wants to tackle this entire list to completion.

I've read 22 of them, if I count America: The Book, which I've heavily skimmed. There are certainly a lot of titles on here I've been meaning to read!

Ann,

It really is a very interesting list of books... eclectic and of a highly uneven quality.
Nice to see some authors who are seldom, if ever, mentioned on other like lists.
Surprisingly, I did less well here than on the other...having read just 17...though many are in that ever expanding and elephantine TBR pile!

EAT, PRAY, LOVE didn't call out to me either, but my F2F book club chose it and although it was rather egocentric, I found it to be an easy and satisfying read.

My fave part was when she was in Italy, as I've spent considerable time there and had to laugh at some of her keen observations. Overall, there are some pretty goods chuckles in that book!
Susanne

Leave it to EW to cut through the canon. Some of their picks are on my list of "Ten books to take to MARS" like Handmaid's Tale, Kav & Klay, and The Road. I'm loving the inclusion of graphic novels, though I think Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller is as influential as Watchmen and Sandman.

Looking forward to reconsidering some of these that I've picked up in the bookstore and discarded as too risky for the time investment. And I'm waiting for the wife to finish Oscar Wao.

Biggest surprise inclusion, leading to disappointment? DaVinci Code.

I've read 28 and somewhere between 12 and 18 of them are on the TBR list for various reasons from various sources. An interesting mix certainly here. And as in the Oprah case -- if EW is encouraging not only film and music but books as entertainment -- why criticize them. So they aren't a great publication of lit crit but an entertainment magazine -- opinions differ at all levels, no?

I personally don't think all the books this list holds are future classics though certainly some might well be for many reasons considered on that path. I suspect some of those I've read might be classics down the road in the future sometime somewhere -- I won't hazard a guess on which of them but it's certainly possible.

I did even worse than Conny on that list...

I've read only 7 of the books on the list, but I have 2 more on Mt. TBR and even more on my want to read list. Of course, I also tried a few and put them down again.
But then, I've never been one who took on other people's "best reads".

Kathrin, I love love love "Mt. TBR". Mine would be more of a mountain range, but what a great visual!

Thanks for commenting. There's no "worse" ... in fact, some would say that you did "better", depending on how they feel about the list. It's all good, as long as people are reading!

Glad you like "Mt. TBR", Ann :) It's a word I first heard online, at a reading group. I have close to 200 unread books waiting for me, so I think you could consider it a Mt. TBR (even though I realize there are people with a lot more unread books that I).

I think you have a point. Lists are hardly ever made to suit and please everyone.

Yikes, I've only read 6 on that list. Although, a great many of those have been TBR'd for years. I better get crackin'!

I have read 19 of the books listed though a good majority of the remaining list is in piles around my apartment just waiting to be read.

I read twenty seven so far and I am reading one more right now. There are a few book on here that I didn't enjoy, but I like the list over all.

Already read:
1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)

Reading now: 27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)

Kathrin, re: Mt. TBR -- did you ever hang out on the AOL book boards years ago? There was one called the Book Nook and (this is what geeks we were) someone actually made up a t-shirt with a stack of books on it. Those innocent early days of being online!

Re: the EW list -- I've read 17 of them and own six others. I didn't count The Tipping Point, which I listened to, or And the Band Played On, which I read most of, but didn't finish) Post here: http://bookworm.typepad.com/blog/2008...

I think the quality of the books chosen varies widely, but EW wasn't aiming for creating a new canon, just a list of "best reads". In that mission, I think they succeeded.

No, Laura, I never hung our on the AOL book boards - only the Yahoo book groups :)
But I'd buy that t-shirt right away! LOL
Kathrin

Here comes a mini-rant. My book group on Goodreads used this list as our basis for our first discussions. I have read a LOT of the books on this list, but some of their selections are garbage. I'm sorry, but The Ruins has NO PLACE on this list - it is one of the worst books I have ever read. It was so bad, I passed it around my hallway at school and made others read it so we could mock it.

Generally I find EW's book reviews to be off the mark.

The books on this list that I would highly recommend are:

16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)

The only one from this list I would consider becoming a classic is Handmaid's Tale - one of my all-time favorite books.

Stephanie, Handmaid's Tale is one of my all-time favorites, too.

But ... I really enjoyed The Ruins. Certainly not great literature, but one of the most fun books I've read in awhile. I am one of those people that is able to forgive clunky writing in exchange for great storytelling. In fact, if the story is told well enough, I don't even notice the writing, unless it's so horrible it jumps out at me.

But I do love your list of recommendations -- I've read them all except The Poisonwood Bible and Random Family, so adding those to my TBR list (Poisonwood was already there).

I love these sorts of lists, mostly because I believe they reflect what's actually being read as opposed to the books people say they admire but probably have decorating their shelves. (For instance, I know I'm not ever going to read Don Quixote, so I'm not even going to pretend that it's on my TBR). I haven't read a lot of these, and don't really have much interest (except where noted) in reading the ones that I've missed, but it's an interesting cross-section nonetheless.

Of these titles I've read:

3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

On my TBR are:

11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)

The Poisonwood Bible is incredible. I also loved Prodigal Summer by Kingsolver. I would recommend a NF read as a follow-up to PB, called Child of the Jungle. It is a fascinating memoir.

All of us who read The Ruins had major problems with the book. I wish I still had our thread from our book group because it was hilarious - very witty and sarcastic. I lived in that part of Mexico while I was in college, so that intrigued me, but the book completely lost me. Too many issues.

Random Family is a tough read due to the subject matter. I taught in an inner-city district in a major city for awhile, so some of the topics hit home with me. I don't think you will be disappointed. Let me know what you think once you have read them!

As a side note, Gilead put me to sleep. It was literary Nyquil. I know I am going to catch flack for bashing a Pulitzer, but I have talked to others who thought it was terrible too.

Stephanie wrote: "As a side note, Gilead put me to sleep. It was literary Nyquil. I know I am going to catch flack for bashing a Pulitzer, but I have talked to others who thought it was terrible too. "

I loved every word of it, but I'm starting to believe I'm the only one who did. It was one of my top reads of the year, and I read it not having any idea what it was going to be about (it was a book group choice).

I've read:

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990) I started, but couldn't finish.
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)I started, but couldn't finish.
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)I started, but couldn't finish.

That's 18, three of which I couldn't finish.

Stephanie-

Don't feel bad about "bashing a Pulitzer." I am still a little embarrassed that I couldn't finish The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. It seemed right up my alley, but...

No book is for everyone!

Also Stephanie, thanks SO MUCH for joining our group and reviving some of the older topic threads. It's great to see people discussing these things again!!

Ones I've read:

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)

On my TBR list:

12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)


Hmmm-and I thought I was well read!! :)

Heather in KS

I've read 28, although some were books-on-tape, does that count? Sometimes I feel funny about saying I read a book when I really "heard" it.

Books on tape count! I listen to audiobooks on my way to-and-fro the job, and read every night. I get in many more books that way!

Books on Tape DEFINITELY count!

You know, I haven't tallied my totals for this list. I'm afraid if I do, you'll all wonder why you're taking recommendations from me... promise not to judge if the number is on the smallish side?

Sure!

okay. here goes. I have read:

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)


23... (Actually 26 because Maus was 2 volumes and His Dark Materials was 3!)

I guess that's not so bad. What's really embarrassing is what I haven't read. Don't read between the lines to see what's missing!

Aw geez -- everyone's shaming me into this -- I simply admitted to my NUMBERS in that earlier post -- so here's my list of titles read and those on the TBR are marked with an asterisk.


3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)*
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)*
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)*
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)*
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)*
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)*
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)*
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)*

I also see my math is off -- either I couldn't count last time or I haven't counted correctly today -- I'm letting things stand as is. I READ; I don't play much with numbers!