Books, Books, and More Books!
I have always been a reader.
I can remember my Mom and my Grandma taking me on Saturdays to the used bookstore where I would trade in my old books for new to me ones. I loved libraries, and I dreamed of having a house one day with its very own library. It would of course have a fireplace and large comfy chair. I wanted a library with shelves tall enough that I would have to use one of those moving ladders.
Have I mentioned that I love books and reading?
My parents still have a VHS tape from one Christmas when I was in third grade. My little sister had gotten the stand up microphone and guitar set that she had begged them for so she could start her “music career.”
I had asked for a……………
DICTIONARY!
In the video, my sister can be seen in the background jamming on her guitar, and I am sitting on the couch with my red dictionary on my lap pleading with someone to “give me a word! Any word!” I remember the word was diamonds, and I proudly found it before I also asked to no one in particular, “Why do teachers always tell kids when they don’t know how to spell a word to look it up in a dictionary, but you have to know how to spell it in order to look it up? That just doesn’t make any sense.”
My oldest child claims this exact moment was when I unequivocally became a “nerd” in every sense of the word. But as I have watched him burn through 13 books in the last few months, I wonder if there isn’t a little more of me inside of him than he wants to admit!
Anyway, did I mention I love books?
I know these days books are kind of cool again. There are people dedicating whole Instagram accounts to books. Apparently “bookstagram” is a word now. I tried doing it myself last year because I thought it would be fun to connect with other bookish friends and discuss all things books. But, I am not techy enough for any account to be that flashy, fun, or beautiful. I can’t take lovely pictures of my book covers, with the sunlight coming in just right from the window, and my coffee cup sitting conveniently next to my book. One I am not that good of a photographer…and well, I rarely am able to get my hands on a physical book in English these days. Most of my books are digital, and while I miss the days of holding a nice hardcover in my hands, I would rather have my digital books than none at all.
All that being said, since I do have a reputation as being a lover of the written word, I do get quite a few requests for books. I know a lot of people have had more time to read lately than usual. To be frank, if you have an Instagram account, all you need to do is type “bookstagram” into the search bar, and you will find thousands or more posts related to books. I rarely use this feature because my “to be read” list is already long enough as it is, but it is an option. There are also numerous podcasts dedicated to all things books and reading. My personal favorite is “What Should I Read Next.” I have even sent in 2 different submissions over the years so I can talk about my favorite books with Anne, but I have never heard back. Her recommendations are some of my favorites, though, when it comes to reading. But there are a plethora of others, so if you need other recommendations for good book related podcasts, hit me up.
Today, however, I wanted to start a blog post sharing with you some of my favorite fiction books. Fiction is a huge genre, so this won’t be my only fiction related post. I am going to focus in today on what I am going to call: “Books that stay with you long after you are done reading them.”
These are all going to be books that can’t be read quickly, not because they are overly difficult but because they deserve time. Most are books that do a fantastic job on character development. They are character driven rather than plot driven, but that isn’t to say they are low on plot either. They just aren’t necessarily fast paced or with plots that pick up and go almost from the moment you start reading them.
This list is not exhaustive by any means. I am sure the moment I hit “publish” I will think of a few I have forgotten. But I am focusing more on books that I have read recently and are still fresh in my mind…or books that I tend to go back to every so often. I will put the link to purchase on Amazon, only because I don’t know what your local bookstore is, but I always recommend that you purchase first from local bookstores rather than large chains. This just gives you a place to check out the book, read reviews, etc. The link is the title of the book, so just click on that. Rather than give you a summary of each book that you can find on Amazon or with any quick Google search, I will tell you why I loved it, and why I think it is worth your time. These are not listed in order of preference. To me, my list of favorite books is fluid…what is my favorite this year may not be next year. What I can say is that all of these books are favorites and all are ones that I have read multiple times or plan on reading again.
Ready or not, here we go!
This is one of only 2 classics that I am actually including on my list. At the bottom I will include a few more that I would have liked to include but I think many have already read them, and I am trying to add books that maybe not everyone has read or even knows about.
Anna Karenina, however, is one of those books that I always hear people say, “I think I would like to read it, but it is so long!” Or I have heard some say, “I already saw the movie! How much better could the book be?” To that I would say that as much as I love Kiera Knightly, that movie has nothing on the book.
This book requires time. You can’t rush it, and you certainly have to be willing to put in a little work, as many of the names do sound quite similar. But it pays off. You will love Anna, you will hate Anna, you will cheer for Anna, and you will feel sorry for Anna. I think Tolstoy knew so much more about people than they knew about themselves. None of his characters are all good or all bad. They are complex. They make terrible decisions and can also be very generous and selfless. I knew how this book ended even before I read it because of how famous it was, but I still was unprepared for the feelings it would evoke in me once it happened.
The movie with Kiera Knightly came out about 2 years or so after I read this for the first time, and I actually was quite excited. Even after loving Pride and Prejudice for so long, I really enjoyed her film version, so I was willing to take a chance on the Anna Karenina movie. But, it does not stand up next to the book, in my opinion. The movie is fine, but the book is fantastic. If you have time to really dig into a book, this is a wonderful first pick.
I actually was unfamiliar with Ann Patchett’s work until this year. I had heard of some of her books in passing, but I had never had the chance to read one myself. Her books tend to have a long hold line at the library and rarely ever go on sale on kindle, so I had to wait my turn.
She was worth the wait. This book was so good. It’s a story about the wife of one man and the husband of a different woman and how their momentarily lapse in judgment resulted in a kiss and had everlasting effects on everyone around them. It tells the after of the life of their 6 children (4 for one and 2 for the other) forever. It isn’t so much about the affair or even all that much about the parents. It’s the 6 kids that take center stage. It is their story.
At first, her writing style threw me off a little bit. She tells you part of the story but she doesn’t always necessarily finish it before moving on to something farther along in the time line. She doesn’t really jump in time so to speak as she does give each of her characters room to tell their version of their story. I felt frustrated in the beginning because I wanted the plot. I wanted to know what happened, how did it happen, why did it happen. But Patchett purposely doesn’t go into those details. She is more interested in the reader getting to know the character rather than details of what happened and why. This certainly wasn’t a climactic story but she definitely through in some surprises that I didn’t see coming. You think you know so much and then you are shocked by what you didn’t see coming.
When the book was done, I was so sad. I wanted more. I wanted to know more of their story. Essentially I didn’t want to say goodbye to them. I still find myself thinking about these characters, which to me is no greater sign of a fantastic book.
This is the author’s debut novel, and I personally think she nailed it right out of the gate. I read this book twice within in a 2 years time span because I wanted to know if it would stand up well to a second read. It definitely did.
This book is basically the story of a couple, Jim and Eva. However, the author does something very different. She starts to the book with how they met, but each of the first 3 chapters gives you three possibilities of how they meet and what happens next. From there, she takes each timeline through the entirety of both Jim and Eva’s lives and gives you 3 different takes on how they could have turned out. It is almost like a “choose your own adventure” story except she already did the work for the reader.
What she does so well is show that while these 2 characters were always going to end up in each other’s lives in some capacity, one or two moments in time completely changed how that was going to look. The other thing I greatly appreciated was that she showed that none of the stories offered a perfect beginning, middle, and end. Each was fraught with love and passion and pain and betrayal and joy and sadness. During my first time reading it, I kept hoping that one of the options was the actual real option and that by the end of the book that storyline would be the one redeemed. But, during my second read, I could appreciate the telling of each story without being stuck on one of them being the right one. I understood that in a way all of the stories were “the right on.”
I think this book speaks to the idea that there is never a perfectly happy life. A good life and a great love are made up of many highs and lows, heartaches and happiness, tears of joy and tears of pain. We forgive and we are forgiven. We have to own our mistakes, but it doesn’t mean we are sentenced to a life of unhappiness or without love.
I know people that love this book and people that couldn’t finish this book. I can understand both sentiments.
This book is a slow read. It is some time after the First World War and a Russian Count has just been sentenced to a life of confinement inside of one of Russia’s luxury hotels, but instead of getting to stay inside his beautiful suite, he is forced to live in a cramped servant’s room on the 6th floor.
The Count is a marvelous character. It doesn’t take long to love him. However, the author definitely takes his time to tell the Count’s story. He is no hurry, and doesn’t expect the reader to be either. I almost gave up on this book at first because I wanted something with at the very least a little more action than the author was giving me. But, I would have been the one missing out had I given up on this wonderful work of fiction.
I can’t really say too much about this one or I will give away some of the surprises the author has in store for his reader, but I will say that this is a perfect book for this season. So many are in forced quarantine or at the very least somewhat quarantine, and I can’t think of a better book to accompany that time.
Books like this that are wonderful in character development but slow on plot are often times the most satisfying books to read. Authors usually take their time and pay more attention to detail, and as a result, the reader is given an experience during their read rather than just a book with a great story.
I just finished this book a couple of weeks ago, and I am still dreaming about this family and their story. I loved this book so much. To be honest, it was another one that I almost gave up on. This book is about a Muslim American family living in California. Their family is made up of Dad, Mom, 2 older sisters, and the youngest brother, my favorite character, Amar. The book opens with the oldest sister, Hadia’s, wedding. (I also really loved Hadia..to be fair, I think I really love this whole family. Amar just has a soft spot in my heart). The reader knows that there has been some kind of rift in the family, and that Amar has been gone for many years and has only reappeared now for his sister’s wedding. What the reader doesn’t know is why.
The author then jumps back in time and starts telling this family’s story somewhat from the beginning. However, what I struggled with at first was that she jumps around in time a lot. She may tell a scene from when the kids are in grade school and then jump to them in high school and then go back to them in middle school or to before the youngest son Amar was even born. It was hard to keep track at times of what time it was, and I felt a little jerked around in the beginning. I wanted the story to be laid out nicely, and the jumping around wasn’t fitting my typical design of how books should be written.
I am finding, though, that many of the best authors can use these kinds of methods for telling their story and if the reader is willing to stick around, they can be deeply effective and satisfying. Taken as just pieces of a story, I was getting frustrated but as a part to the greater whole, it was close to a perfect story. This book is divided into 4 parts, and let me just warn you that you need to have Kleenex nearby for Part 4. It isn’t depressing by any means, so don’t let my Kleenex comment scare you. It is lovely and lush and beautiful, and it makes you love one of the main characters in a way that you didn’t think you possibly ever could throughout the whole rest of the story.
My only small complaint that I have about this book and actually I have about Commonwealth as well, even though I gave both books 5 stars, is that I have found recently in books about families is the troupe about a younger brother that no one understands and/or loves…and at times is even bullied by his whole family and how that breaks them in a way permanently. It seems that younger brothers are probably very annoying at times and can take the brunt of the jokes of the older siblings, but these stories all seem to take it to another level…perhaps reading these stories prior to becoming a mother myself, I may not have even noticed. However, being a mother makes me more sensitive to this storyline that I am seeing more prevalent, and I am not sure how I feel about it.
Nevertheless, this book is definitely going to stay on my list as one of the best books I have ever read. You will love this family dearly, and in the process of reading their story will understand that many times its not a major crisis or moment that changes a family forever but all the little ones stacked together in a box that over time end up having the greatest impact.
There is a plethora of books with the setting during World War II, and this is another one. I have read a lot of them myself, but in my personal opinion this one stands above the rest. I even wrote a blog post about this book a few years ago after I finished reading it because it impacted me so much. You can read that for further analysis or opinions.
It’s essentially a story about 2 sisters and how they both in very different ways show profound bravery during literally the worst of times. They both suffered and lost greatly, but somehow even after it all, the book does feel hopeful all the way until the end. I am not sure either sister understands the path the other chose, but the reader gets the benefit of watching each one play out and understands exactly why each sister made the decisions she made.
I can’t say much more about this one because as with the other books, this one is an experience and the less the reader knows going into the book, I think the richer the experience is.
I realize I am way in the minority with what I am about to say, but I don’t really care. In my opinion, this is the best Jane Austen book. I have read them all…more than once and in some cases up to three or four times. So I am no Jane Austen novice. Yes, I loved Pride and Prejudice. I loved Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. They all were wonderful. Emma is the only one I didn’t particularly enjoy as much because to be honest I think Emma is a bit of a spoiled brat, but it is still a good book. I read them all. I loved them all. But Mansfield Park stands above the rest.
Some say Fanny was too weak to be the protagonist. I have also heard it said that she was too “goody goody,” but I loved her, and I think this story, if one is willing to kind of peel back the layers, tells so much about people, their motivations, their insecurities, and how far they are willing to go to get what they want…and why others are willing to give up everything they want for their morals.
This will always be my favorite Austen book. I know some have read it and will disagree but those who haven’t, I really think you should give it a chance. It isn’t quite the love story that Pride and Prejudice is. I think it is telling a deeper story than that, which is probably why I like it so much. I think because it lacks the flashiness in the love department compared to Austen’s other works is why it flies under the radar so much, but wonderful books can be made up of much more than a great love story in my opinion.
Isabel Allende is a prolific writer, and I am still working my way through her catalogue. I didn’t start where most do, which is with her most famous book, The House of Spirits. This duo went on sale for like $1.99 each on Kindle last year, so I decided they were the perfect place to start. And they were.
Isabel Allende’s books definitely have their own style. They are written in Spanish so if you are reading them in English, you are reading a translation. My goal is to read one of her books in Spanish, but personally I am scared I will miss something by doing it that way. However, the truth of the matter is, any time we read a book in translation, we are missing out on some of the author’s original intent and tone of voice. Even the best translations can never capture the original.
That being said, these books are wonderful. They can be read separate as the main characters from the first book have only minor or insignificant roles in the second. I personally just think they enrich each other. I read Daughter of Fortune first and loved it, but I think I loved it even more after reading the Potrait of Sepia as well. I can’t decide which I liked more, so I think you just need to read both.
I won’t go into a summary as you can find those on Amazon, but I will just say Isabel Allende is a fantastic writer. She has a depth to her characters that I think a lot of authors struggle to manage, and she makes it seem effortless. There are a lot of spiritual aspects that some may find off putting, but they are true to the times and the people she is writing about, so they definitely serve a purpose. The second book has one scene that is a little more open door than some might be used to reading, but it is quick and again serves a purpose in who the main character is becoming. It isn’t just for show or to be more provocative. Nevertheless, it is important to know that if you prefer your books to be completely chaste.
I have a few more of her books on my to be read list, so I will keep you all posted as I read more.
This is a wonderful book also from a first time author, I believe. It tells the story of Victoria Jones. She has just recently turned 18 years old, and after living in 32 different foster homes throughout her life, she is now leaving the government home she was staying in to begin a life of her own.
This book does have a little bit of magical realism, in that, the protagonist, Victoria, works with flowers and believes that the flowers have an ability to communicate different emotions and messages. It might sound corny, but it certainly isn’t. It really works in this book, and I think the flowers help to be the voice to Victoria’s pain over the years.
I read this book almost in one sitting a few years ago. It spoke to me deeply, and I cried while reading it and when I finished. Working with many children and youth like Victoria made this a story that, while being fiction, felt incredibly real to me. I think the author does a good job of showing both the good and very ugly of the foster care system. Victoria certainly was a victim but that isn’t her identity in this story either, and I think that is what made it work. The reader knows about many of the horrors she experienced and can even feel angry on her behalf, but the story is very much rooted in the present, so the reader is cheering Victoria on to something better while also recognizing that she has some very real baggage that she must deal with as well.
I heard this book is going to be made into a movie. I hope it is. I never like movies as much as books, and yet I always go and see every one of them!
This book. I am not sure I can find the words. I thought Commonwealth was Ann Patchett’s best work, but I am not sure anymore. This one might be better, although I hope I never actually have to choose.
This is her latest release and I had both the audio version and the digital version on hold at the library. I just recently started listening to audio books, and at first, I wasn’t sure I liked them. I still think I like reading them myself better, but I have two words about this particular audio book: Tom Hanks.
Yes, friends, that is right. Tom Hanks narrates this book, and HE IS FANTASTIC!!! I had no idea that I was missing Tom Hanks reading to me, but I was!! Hubby finally said a few days ago, “Is Tom Hanks almost done reading to you? I feel like all I hear in the kitchen these days is Tom Hanks reading a book!” Ha!
I will say I had to stop listening to it openly as there are a few curse words and a couple of sections that aren’t really open door but lets just say, a little more than I would like my children to hear. It by no means is crude or anything of the sort, but just not fit for little ears.
The story, at its core, is about two siblings, older sister Maeve and younger brother Danny. Danny is the narrator, and he is telling the reader their story. Tom Hanks basically is the epitome of Danny and if this book is ever made into a movie, it better be Tom Hanks playing Danny…I might not be able to watch it if it isn’t.
The Dutch House is Danny and Maeve’s house…or at least it was when they were children. It practically is a character in and of itself. Danny and Maeve’s mom left to help the poor in India, or so they are told, when Danny is 4 and Maeve is 10. The trauma of it in Maeve’s poor body almost killed her and would leave its mark on her body for the rest of her life. While Danny is the storyteller, Maeve is the more interesting character. Their father ends up remarrying a woman that seems to play very nicely into the wicked stepmother troupe, but thankfully Patchett is way too good of an author for that to be the focus. This story is about love, anger, trauma, bitterness, forgiveness, pain, redemption, and restoration. Much like Commonwealth, Patchett has surprises up her sleeve so don’t go looking for spoilers on this one. It will take away the impact, and you will miss out on so much.
I probably will still read this as well. I am always afraid I might miss something just by listening to it on audio, but I am not sorry ONE BIT that I chose audio first. Tom Hanks, people! Tom Hanks! Do yourself a favor and get this one on audio. You can be like me and read it again in print or digitally afterwards, but I honestly feel like this book is made better by the personality that Hanks gives Danny with his voice. It won’t be the same reading it. Now when I finally do read it, I can do so with Tom Hanks voice in my head! Hehehe!
Honorable Mentions: These books also fit well into the category of “books that stay with you” but since they are all classics, I assumed most people have probably already heard of them and read them or heard of them and weren’t interested. But just in case, I will list them here.
· Othello by William Shakespeare (I think no other book has captured the wrath of jealousy and its destruction better than this book)
Okay friends. Thanks for those that stuck around for this list! I hope it was helpful and gave you a few new books to add to your list. Let me know if you have read any of these and what you thought! Also if you have a preference for my next book list, let me know as well. I have a few more categories in mind, but if you are looking for something specific, I can do that first!
Happy Reading!
