Dharma's recommended reading list....

Published on September 30, 2004 By dharmagrl In Misc

For no particular reason (other than I was thinking about it), and in no particular order (just as they come to me) I proudly present my list of books and authors I highly recommend you read. These are all things I have read or am reading:

Anything by Jack Kerouac, but particularly 'The Dharma Bums' and 'On The Road'.

'Slaughterhouse 5' - Kurt Vonnegut

'Plainsong' - Kent Haruf

'The Reader' - Bernhardt Schlink

'She's Come Undone' and 'I Know This Much Is True' - Wally Lamb

'Angela's Ashes' and 'Tis' - Frank McCourt

'Stones From The River' - Ursula Hegi

'Vinegar Hill' - A. Manette Mansay

Anything by Frank Kafka, Edgar Allen Poe or Ernest Hemingway

'The Canterbury Tales- - Chaucer (I personally think that everyone should at least give it a chance - it's actually very entertaining)

'Anna Karenina' - Leo Tolstoy (a hard read, but worth it)

'The Inferno' - Dante Aligheri (and if you're brave enough, The Paradisio and Purgatorio as well. Again, a much talked about, seldom read book)

That's all I can think of for now....give me some of your recommendations, would you? I'm running out of things to read (please, no Stephen King or Harlequin romances!)

Comments (Page 2)

cinnamonbl0pops

on Sep 30, 2004

Devour me in a heartbeat: The Nanny Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada

Dusk411

on Sep 30, 2004

I read short stories a lot. I suggest Junot Diaz ("The Sun, the Moon, the Stars"). He's a modern writer that writes like people talk, "Rule of the Bone" by Russell Banks (if you ever read "Catcher in the Rye" and liked it), Mary Shelley's "The Immortal" for some horror (another short story), Margaret Atwood ("Happy Endings" is another great read and a short story.), "Franny and Zoey" by J.D. Salinger and "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens.

"I Know This Much Is True" and "She's Come Undone" are the only ones on the Oprah book club that I read and I'm glad I did. However, I think Lamb's best work is the former. He created a character that is both likeable and flawed. Most of all, he's human.

MarcieMoo

on Sep 30, 2004

Hmmmm...I've like some sap, so anything by Nicholas Spark is good. I just finished reading "A Bend In the Road," and there isn't a book of his I haven't liked. If you want sex and sap, Danielle Steele is good...I've tried to steer away from her though.

Hmmmm...I have some Christian fiction about the Dakotas you might like, Karen. Lauraine Snelling has two series..."Red River of the North" and "Return to Red River" and they're about two families' journies across the Atlantic to settle in the US and the beginning of their lives here. I thought they were neat because I was living in Fargo, ND at the time, and it was just...neat to imagine these people in my town. They had just the right blend of personal, spiritual, and romantic flavors to make them worth the read. Anything by Lori Wick is really good too...I think you might like "Pretense"...it's about a military family...

I know this sounds goofy...I just can't get into a lot of classics. THey bore me. I read a lot of young adult fiction...I'm reading "When Zachary Beaver Came to Town" by Kimberly Willis Holt right now...it's pretty good. I'll have to post some more when I think of it. I was a reading freak this summer.

Drew Peacock

on Oct 05, 2004

Chuck Palahniuk

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