School Reads You Actually Liked

So the other day we were chatting away in our cubicles in a lull between calls, and a coworker chose that moment to reveal that she’s reading the first Bartimaeus book. Since I practically beat her over her head with that suggestion daily for about a week, I wasn’t that surprised, but I squealed in delight anyway because I love spreading the Bartimaeus love. My cubicle mate (a mother of two ten year olds) wanted to know what the coworker and I found so interesting about Stroud’s trilogy, and five minutes of incoherent fangirl babbling ensued. Though properly informed by the incident about my book rabidness, she nevertheless mentioned that she was reading a really great book too. “I saw A Wrinkle in Time series the other day at Costco and I just had to buy the whole set. I loved that book when I was in school!”

The mention of reading “in school” brought about the topic of books we all liked to read in school vs. the books we slogged through all the while silently calling our teachers evil Lit pigs unable to assign a book we’d be actually interested in.

The list went as follows:

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle

Hatchet by Gary Paulson

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (Hey, I enjoyed it.)

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

There were a lot of other titles suggested, but for the life of me I can only remember the overlap. But it made me want to ask y’all, what books do you remember actually liking despite their designation as required reading?

What books did you despise?

The List As It Stands So Far

Okay everyone, here is the list so far for the writers you think deserve more, more, MORE recognition. Please continue to add more authors to the list here when you think of them. If I’ve made any mistakes on the list below, or forgotten someone that you commented about, please let me know. I only spent an hour researching and typing this up this morning, so I’m sure it’s not perfect.

Literature/Fiction

Suzanne Strempek Shea (Becoming Finola, Washington Square Press)*
Judith Ryan Hendricks (Bread Alone)
Ayelet Waldman (Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, Mommy Track Mysteries)*
Jean Hegland (Into the Forest and Windfall)
Jennifer Vanderbes (Easter Island, Debut Novel)
Christopher Bram (Father of Frankenstein/Gods and Monsters, Harper Perennial)
Brenda Scott Royce (Monkey Love, Debut, NAL)
Karen Karbo (Motherhood Made a Man Out of Me et al)+
Bill Roorbach (The Smallest Color, Counterpoint Press)
Christopher Moore (Lamb/Fluke/Dirty Job, William Morrow/Harper Collins)*

SciFi/Fantasy

Maria V. Snyder (Poison Study, Luna)+
Rachel Caine (Weather Warden Series, ROC)
Wen Spencer (Wolf Who Rules/Ukiah Oregon Series, Baen)
Laura Resnick (Disappearing Nightly, Luna)
Martha Wells (Ile-Rien Trilogy, Eos)
Stephen Baxter (Manifold Series, Del Rey)
Guy Gavriel Kay (Fionavar Tapestry Series, Eos)*
Juliet E. McKenna (Aldabreshin Compass Series, Tor)

Mystery

Louise Ure (Forcing Amaryllis, Debut Novel, Warner)+
Cara Black (The Aimee Leduc Mysteries, Soho Crime)
Erin Hart (Haunted Ground, Pocket Star)*
William Kent Krueger (“Cork” O’Connor Mysteries, Atria)
Brian Freeman (Immoral, St. Martin’s Minotaur)
Mary Logue (Bone Harvest, Fawcett)
Stephanie Barron (The Jane Austin Mysteries, Bantam)
Lisa Reardon (Mercy Killers, Counterpoint Press)

Romance

Marianna Jameson (My Hero)
Kathleen Eschenburg (Nightingale’s Song/Seen By Moonlight, HarperTorch)
Pamela Britton (In the Groove, HQN)
Diane Farr (Under a Lucky Star, Signet)
Kate Rothwell/Summer Devon (Somebody to Love, Zebra—as Rothwell)+
Teresa Bodwell (Loving Miranda, Zebra)
Nancy Butler (Kindness of a Rogue, Signet)
Carla Kelly (Wedding Journey, Signet)
Dawn Thompson (Waterlord/Ravencliff Bride, Love Spell)
Elizabeth Sinclair (Miracle in the Mist, Medallion Press)
Paula Reed (Into His Arms/Nobody’s Saint, Zebra)
Flo Fitzpatrick (Hot Stuff, Zebra)
Leslie LaFoy (Her Scandalous Marriage, St. Martin’s Press)

Young Adult

Carrie Asai (Samurai Girl Series, Simon Pulse)
Marly Youmans (Curse of the Raven Mocker/Ingledove, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Mariah Fredericks (Crunch Time/The True Meaning of Cleavage, Atheneum)

Also Rans (We love them, but so does everyone else)

Deidre Martin (Romance, USA Today Bestselling Author)
Jennifer Crusie (Romance/Fiction, NYT Bestselling Author
Mary Roach (Science/Nonfiction, NYT Bestselling Author)
Susan Kearney (Romance, USA Today Bestselling Author)

Not Available/Out of Print

Christos Tsiolkas (Not Available in the United States)


*Noted to be National or International Bestsellers without any indication what lists they were on, will probably be bumped to the back of the list.

+Writers who have been contacted (or that I’m in the process of emailing) about participating in some way with this blog.

Gift Recommendations and Pleading

If you are still looking for that perfect Mother’s Day gift for the Mom who is either a writer or an actor aficionado, check out In Character: Actors Acting by Howard Schatz. Actors from Edie Falco to Giancarlo Esposito are given one line descriptions of their character and then photographed in black and white. A study in faces, facial ticks, and reactions that prove that communication really is 93% physical. At fifty dollars (before discount) this beautiful coffee table book should waylay any guilt you might feel about not buying her something else and provide a great conversation piece as you flip through the pages and say, “Oh, so that’s who that guy is! I remember him from…”

If you are through shopping, however, then you have no excuse not to be adding midlist authors to this list. I’ve already started composing the emails that I plan to send out. Support your favorite, not-so-famous author by adding their name. You can post anonymously, so come on!

Booklist the First

Compiled fresh from your comments, the first reader generated booklist.

Bethany K. Warner posted about her love for Watership Down by Richard Adams saying, “I have read this book many times and sometimes picked it up just for the El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle stories. In college, we were assigned a wonderful essay about this book and my roommates kept calling it the "rabbit book" and I was so distraught because it's about so much more than rabbits.”

Indeed they are.

Lady T went for a little more Chick in her Lit with Johanna Edwards, Your Big Break.

The plot revolves around Dani Myers,who works for a relationship break-up service and one of her clients requests her help in breaking up with a married man who turns out to be Dani's father!I know, this sounds very chick flick but it's a fun and funny story with loads of great side characters like Dani's brother who plays amateur detective (too much CSI watching) and an obnoxious repeat client who actually insists that Dani become his friend to broaden his understanding of women. Edwards is becoming one of my favorite female-friendly authors.

Follow the clues to your local bookstore if you’re as intrigued as I am.

Vicki chimed with choices for every age group:

Children: Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes. A less well-known, but very funny retelling of traditional fairy tales. It was re-released in 2003 so it should be fairly easy to find nowadays.

Teens: The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. This is the perfect fantasy book for the horse-loving tomboy in your life. McKinley once, I believe, described this as the fairy tale SHE would have wanted to read as a girl.. what more do I need to say?

Adult: The Sea Road by Margaret Elphinstone. A beautifully written, immersive tale of the life of Gudrid of Iceland, mother of the first European born on North American soil, and sister-in-law of Leif Eriksson.

Marianne McA is thinking about giving Lian Hearn a try, so I think it’s only right that we all consider checking out her choice, “I've just reread Lois McMaster Bujold's A Civil Campaign, and was thinking afterwards what a satisfying book it is. It's effectively a Sci-Fi/Fantasy version of a Regency Romance, and it's light and fluffy and funny. It is part of a long series, but isn't written in such a way that you need to have read the other books to enjoy this one.”

NJ Dave would like to nominate A Prayer for Owen Meany for Great American Novel of the 20th Century. His favorite read from last year was a “tie between Middlesex (yes, it's kinda mainsteam, but it's a great book) and Villa Incognito (Tom Robbins).”

That’s okay, Dave, I love mainstream.

Mapletree7 has favorites for every mood (something I totally understand).

In The Garden of Iden by Kage Baker.It's just about perfect, and it kicks off the best science fiction series currently being written.

On other days my favorite books are Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers and Spring Moon by Bette Bao Lord.

Milady Insanity seconds my Tales of the Otori recommendation (well, thirds if we count Marianne McA’s dh). Hazzah!

China G brought up the incomparable Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, “Storm Front is the first. It's good and the series just gets better and better.”

An excellent list all around, everyone, and I hope it gives you something to think about next time you’re wandering around the bookstore looking for something to read.

Until next time, Gadget.