The Next Best Book Club discussion

Here is my list to date.

1.Under the Tuscan Sun-Mayes, Frances

2..Wuthering Heights-Brontë, Emily

3.Ulysses-Joyce, James

4.A Farewell to Arms-Hemingway, Ernest

5.Doctor Zhivago-Pasternak, Boris

6.The Inheritance of Loss-Desai, Kiran

7.The Book Thief-Zusak, Markus

8.Peter Pan-Barrie, J.M.

9.The Man in the Iron Mask-Dumas, Alexandre

10.The Women-Boyle, T.C.

11.The Haunting of Hill House-Jackson, Shirley

12.Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure-Macdonald, Sarah

13.Breakable You-Morton, Brian

14.The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)-Larsson, Stieg

15.The Help-Stockett, Kathryn

16.The Elegance of the Hedgehog-Barbery, Muriel

17.The Woman in White-Collins, Wilkie

18.Wolf Hall-Mantel, Hilary

19.Let the Great World Spin-McCann, Colum

20.Beneath a Marble Sky-Shors, John

21.The Sheltering Sky-Bowles, Paul

22.Half of a Yellow Sun-Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi

23.Someone Knows My Name-Hill, Lawrence

24.Waiting for Gertrude: A Graveyard Gothic-Richardson, Bill

25.Thieves' World: The Threat of the New Global Network of Organized Crime-Sterling, Claire

26.True Detectives-Kellerman, Jonathan

27.The Case Has Altered (Richard Jury Mysteries 14)-Grimes, Martha

28.Black Swan Green-Mitchell, David

29.A Reliable Wife-Goolrick, Robert

30.Skinny Dip-Hiaasen, Carl

31.The Mysterious Affair at Styles-Christie, Agatha

32.Nefertiti-Moran, Michelle

33.Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-Ford, Jamie

34.Cane River-Tademy, Lalita

35.War and Peace-Tolstoy, Leo

36.The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq-Stewart, Rory

37.The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen-James, Syrie

38.The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë-James, Syrie

39.Little Bee-Cleave, Chris

40.The Queen and I-Townsend, Sue

41.Blood Meridian-McCarthy, Cormac

42.Disgrace-Coetzee, J.M
.
43.The Savage Detectives-Bolaño, Roberto

44.Shanghai Girls-See, Lisa

45.Go Down, Moses-Faulkner, William

46.In the Woods-French, Tana

47.The Devil's Punchbowl: A Novel-Iles, Greg

48.Stoner-Williams, John Edward

49.The Moonstone-Collins, Wilkie

50.Every Man Dies Alone-Fallada, Hans

51.The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet-Mitchell, David

52.The Decameron-Boccaccio, Giovanni

53.Myra, The Child of Adoption: A Reprint of the Classic Beadle Dime Novel-Enss, Chris

54.The Bone People-Hulme, Keri

55.Elizabeth Costello-Coetzee, J.M.

56.Cutting for Stone-Verghese, Abraham

57.Moloka'i-Brennert, Alan

58.The Little Stranger-Waters, Sarah

59.A House for Mr. Biswas-Naipaul, V.S.

60.Cold Comfort Farm-Gibbons, Stella

61.The Ox-Bow Incident-Clark,Walter Van Tilburg

62.Petals From the Sky-Yip, Mingmei

63.The Quiet American-Greene, Graham

64.Dissolution (Matthew Shardlake, #1)-Sansom, C.J.

65.Cathedral: the Story of Its Construction-Macaulay, David

66.Mosque-Macaulay, David

67.Turbo's Very Life And Other Stories-Short, Carroll Dale

68.The Shining Shining Path-Short, Carroll Dale

69.Let Us Now Praise Famous Men; Three Tenant Families-Agee, James

70.Beowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature's 50 Greatest Hits -Murnighan, Jack

71.Anansi Boys-Gaiman, Neil

72.The Lace Reader-Barry, Brunonia

73.A Risk Worth Taking-Pilcher, Robin

74.Petty Crimes-Soto, Gary

75.Brooklyn-Tóibín, Colm

76.The Sea-Banville, John

77.Tinkers-Harding, Paul

78.Truman-McCullough, David

79.Michelangelo: The Artist, the Man and his Times-Wallace, William

80.Brat Farrar-Tey, Josephine

81.The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie-Spark, Muriel

82.Life and Times of Michael K: A Novel-Coetzee, J.M.

83.Belong to Me-Santos, Marisa de los

84.Hunger-Hamsun, Knut

85.Well-Schooled in Murder-George, Elizabeth

86.The grass arena: An autobiography-Healy, John

87.Honolulu-Brennert, Alan

88.Butcher's Crossing-Williams, John Edward

89.The House of Mirth-Wharton, Edith

90.The Children's Book-Byatt, A.S.

91.Cloud Atlas-Mitchell, David

92.Kindred-Butler, Octavia E.

93.It's Not PMS, It's You!-Amlen, Deb

94.The Petting Zoo-Carroll, Jim

95.The Bell Jar-Plath, Sylvia

96.Shadow of the Silk Road-Thubron, Colin

97.Homer & Langley-Doctorow, E.L.

98.East of the Sun: A Novel-Gregson, Julia

99.The Elephant's Journey-Saramago, José

100.The Art of Devotion-Bruce-Benjamin, Samantha

101.Rescue Bunnies-Cronin, Doreen

102.Girl, Interrupted-Kaysen, Susanna

103.The Hundred-Foot Journey: A Novel-Morais, Richard C

104.The Maltese Falcon-Hammett, Dashiell

105.The Girl Who Fell From the Sky-Durrow, Heidi

106.Hell-Butler, Robert Olen

107.The Paris Wife-McLain, Paula

108.Sarah's Key-Rosnay, Tatiana de

109.Blame-Huneven, Michelle

110.Butterfly Woman: A Novel Based on True Events-Lutze, Emily

111.The Turn of the Screw-Henry, James

112.Pirate Latitudes-Crichton, Michael

113.The Good Soldier-Ford, Ford Madox

114.Big Trouble-Berry, Dave

115.Slow Man-Coetzee, J.M

I read far more than I thought.

116.Moo-Smiley, Jane

117.The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse-Erdrich,Louise

118.The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East-Tolan,Sandy

I've wanted to read The Bell Jar but haven't gotten around to it. How did you like it?

I'm not quite finished with it yet, but so far all I can say for it is that it's... annoying. Hard to describe is more accurate. The characters are so selfish as to almost seem surreal! But I like the twisted plot (:D) and I'm glad to read it, if not to be done with it. For the all the hype, so far it hasn't lived to my expectations...

Toni wrote: "I've wanted to read The Bell Jar but haven't gotten around to it. How did you like it?"

I read Bell Jar when I was in my 20's . I have a different perspective now that I am quite a few years older. I didn't have the patience for her illness. That does not mean to say the book is not timeless. The pressure of women stepping out of their comfort zone and into what we take for granted today makes the book well worth the reading.

Felicity wrote: "What did you think of Wuthering Heights? I was thinking of tackling it sometime at the start of next year, but I'm not so sure. :S"

Wurthering Heights is the epitome of a well written Gothic novel. I would hazard to say it was one of the first. I enjoyed it just as much, as when I read it many years ago. The language is a little dated, but when you hit the stride, it really is a deep psychologically dark story.

Will have to add it to my list and look further into it...