reading material.....

looking for a good read?

about once a year, a friend of mine sends out the list of books she's read and recommends, and requests a list of recommendations from others. it's that time of year again, and i recently received her list - so i thought i would put it here for anyone else who is looking for an interesting read (joe).

i haven't made it through all of her lists, but i have read quite a number of her recommendations and enjoyed them thoroughly. ymmv.

following is the 2007 list as recommended by her, then her previous list, followed by the list compiled from friends' recommendations.

i will be posting a list of my recommendations shortly (once i manage to get through the list of what i've read recently).


2007
Books of the Year

• Fiction - The Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks - Beautiful (She's also the author of one of my all-time favourite non-fiction books, "Nine Parts of Desire")
• Non-Fiction - A Scandalous Life, Mary S. Lovell - Brilliant! Best non-fiction 2007

Innovative and Imaginative

• Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell - each time I jumped from one story to another I regretted leaving that character, and I kept thinking, "this character's story can't be as good as the last one", but I was mistaken.
• Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
• Salmon Fishing in The Yemen, Paul Torday

Made Me Laugh

• Restoration, Rose Tremain - what a character!
• A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Marina Lewycka
• Air Babylon, Imogen Edwards-Jones
• Morality Play, Barry Unsworth
• Little Children, Tom Perrotta

Non-Fiction, Semi-fiction, Historical Fiction

• Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain - also fits under "made me laugh!"
• Freakonomics, Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner - very fun
• The Undercover Economist, Tim Harford - goes a bit deeper than "Freak", still very digestible
• Leo the African, Amin Maalouf

A Bit of Suspense

• The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Delicious, and a great quote, "Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you".
• This Historian, Elisabeth Kostova - absorbing!
• The Interpretation of Murder, Jed Rubenfeld

Touching

• Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen- it plays like a film in your head, great story!
• Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro - Haunting
• The Lovely Bones, Alice Seabold
• Cairo Trilogy, Naghib Mafhouz

Best Re-read

• The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley - why aren't there more books like this!? If you know one, let me know!

Books already lined up for 2008 include some of your previous recommendations:

• The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
• A Winter's Tale, Mark Helprin
• Moon Tiger, Penelope Lively
• The House of Spirits, Isabel Allende
• Such a Long Journey, Rohinton Mistry
• The Piano Man's Daughter, Timothy Findley
• The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (yes, finally)
• Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky
• The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan

2005 List
So here it is divided into the following categories: "The Pinnacle", "Definitely Worth Reading", "Honourable Mentions", "Fun" and, as a bonus, a few "ABSOLUTE FAVOURITES from other years".

THE PINNACLE (In no particular order):

• The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
• The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
• Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
• Talking to the Dead - Helen Dunmore
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
• Fasting, Feasting - Anita Desai

Definitely Worth Reading

• Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
• The Life of Pi -Yann Martel
• Brick Lane - Monica Ali
• The Hero's walk - Anita Rau Badami

Honourable Mentions

• Unless - Carol Shields
• Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
• My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Piccoult
• The Hours - Michael Cunningham
• The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd

Fun

• What Was She Thinking? : Notes on a Scandal -Zoë Heller
• Little Children - Tom Perrotta

a few ABSOLUTE FAVOURITES from other years

• The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
• When We Were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro
• Amsterdam - Ian McEwan

Planned Reading for 2006
(Based on recommendations, availability in Dubai, authors and books from within her "easy travel zone", work by suggested authors that was available, etc....)

1. The Zanzibar Chest - Aidan Hartley
2. Restoration: Tie-In Edition - Rose Tremain
3. Shantaram: A Novel - Gregory David Roberts
4. The Map of Love : A Novel - Ahdaf Soueif
5. The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
6. Cloud Atlas: A Novel - David Mitchell
7. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
8. Reef - Romesh Gunesekera
9. Such a Long Journey - Rohinton Mistry
10. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
11. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
12. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals - Michael Pollan
13. Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women - Geraldine Brooks
14. Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks
15. The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende
16. Morality Play - Barry Unsworth
17. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly - Anthony Bourdain
18. The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate - Gary Chapman
19. Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively
20. The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street - Naguib Mahfouz
21. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
22. Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
23. The Deptford Trilogy - Robertson Davies
24. The Piano Man's Daughter - Timothy Findley