What can I say... If you put a piece of paper in front of me, I'll read it. I can't help it. Admittedly, sometimes I read things (like Marx or Weber) merely for the sake of having read them; however, the fact is, I am an incurable reader. I get to read a lot at Mount Holyoke; unfortunately, I do not have much choice over what I read (except indirectly through the courses I choose to take).
At the last major revision of this page, in January 2000, I was in the middle of three books: William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair, Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors, and Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. I am still reading the first two of those, though I did finish the Kafka, since it was for a class. I started reading Vanity Fair back in November, on a whim (I got it for $2 at a used bookstore) but got only to page 331 (out of 800) by January, and I haven't turned a page since then. I am near despair of ever finishing the book. I must admit, though, that I have taken breaks to read other things, just to remind myself of what it feels like to finish a book. Smoke and Mirrors is one of those breaks; I've heard good things about this collection of stories, and besides, I like Neil Gaiman's work a lot (plug! plug! plug!).
As a general thing, I have a preference for rewritten fairy tales. I find them quite fascinating; I enjoy the way that the same well-known story can be told slightly differently, by different people, and become a totally different tale from the one I knew before. Even written by the same author at two different times, as Robin McKinley did with "Beauty and the Beast," it is still not the same story. I especially enjoy the series of anthologies by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, starting with Snow White, Blood Red and continuing, to date, through four more books. I own three of these, plan to buy the others, and am always on the lookout for more good fairy tales, so if you have any suggestions, fire away!
If I had more free will or time, this is some of what I would read:
(Note: there is a more detailed description
of authors with specific suggested books here.)
Authors
and Playwrights
Jane
Austen
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Sylvia
Louise Engdahl
Neil
Gaiman
Victor
Hugo
Anne
McCaffrey
Robin
McKinley
Terry
Pratchett
William Shakespeare
Robert
Silverberg
Judith
Tarr
Joan
D. Vinge
Jane
Yolen
Books
Sylvia
Louise Engdahl - Enchantress from the Stars
Robin
McKinley - Deerskin
Robert
Silverberg - Lord Valentine's Castle
Jane
Yolen - Sister Light, Sister Dark and Briar Rose (ahh
they're all so good!)
Poets
e. e. cummings
Emily Dickinson
William Shakespeare
A friend of mine read my list of favorite authors and wanted me to have more elaboration, for example a couple of suggested works. "Fine," I said. "Give me a month or two." That was in November 1999, I think, so I finally got this up in January.
I'll give one or two of my favorite books and a little bit of discussion about the author and why I like him/her so much.
Jane Austen
I read two of her novels (Emma
and Mansfield Park) in classes, so last summer I decided to read
the other four also. Northanger Abbey, her first novel, is
my favorite. It is not as polished as the others, but it is hilarious.
I got many good quotations from it, including "The person, be it gentleman
or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."
Amen, sister!
Marion Zimmer Bradley
I read several of her books a few years ago and found them quite depressing. Now I have a bit more maturity and appreciate them better, so I'm rereading them. I talk about her a bit more on my Fairy Tales page. My favorite book of hers is The Mists of Avalon.
Ms. Bradley is unfortunately now deceased
(since fall 1999), so we won't be having any more of her books (unless
she had something on the way to being published, of course).
Sylvia Louise Engdahl
For at least eight years, the only book I knew by Ms. Engdahl was Enchantress from the Stars, which I read in my local public library when I was about 12. Shortly thereafter, I happened to see two copies of that book in the library's book sale, so I bought both. One I kept, and the other I sent to my pen pal, who loved it as much as I did.
However, recently I remembered her, and I happened to search Amazon.com for her books, where I found her email address, and I intended to write to her as soon as I found something intelligent to say. However, before that happened I mentioned her on AFP, and a day or so later I got an email from her! Apparently she periodically searches Deja.com to find fans of her books.
Her website is quite obviously centered
on selling herself and her books, but I don't really blame her; after all,
she wrote a few fabulous books about fifteen years ago, and they've nearly
all gone out of print. I admire her individual efforts, and I can
say that they have worked for me.
Neil Gaiman
This man has done a lot of varied work, all of it wonderful. I think he has a story or a poem in Snow White, Blood Red and every one of its sequels, and there's also a volume of his stories called Smoke and Mirrors. He wrote a novel called Neverwhere which I loved, and another one called Stardust which is glaring at me impatiently from the shelf.
In a completely different genre, Gaiman
has written a brilliant series of graphic novels (aka "comic books," though
that term is a misnomer here; it would be more accurate to call them "ironic
books" <g>) called the Sandman Library. They are slightly
hard to find and expensive but truly worth the effort and expense.
I find these books really hard to explain; the central character, who appears
at least once in all of them, is Dream, but the books are about much more
than just him. In any case, the Sandman books have my heartfelt and
wordless appreciation.
Victor Hugo
Actually, I must admit that this dude
is on my list not because I really like his work that much, but because
I'm proud of having read it in the original French. The unedited
Les
Miserables has three volumes, and I read all of it! It was partly
a matter of pride for me to finish the book, but I also honestly enjoyed
it. I read two of his other plays and one other book, and I think
Les
Miserables is my favorite.
Anne McCaffrey
I have read and own all of her Pern books,
even though I have only read a few of her other books and own none of them.
I just haven't had the time or interest for the last few years, and have
only gotten deeply into Pern. The first book I read of hers, I believe,
was Dragonsong, and that is probably my favorite. There are
some close seconds, however.
Robin McKinley
Deerskin is most definitely my favorite book of hers. Just stop reading my web page and go read it!
I also like The Hero and the Crown,
though. I'm not sure why; I have just always enjoyed it. Even
though it is not a deep or meaningful book, it's one of those that I can
read over and over, no matter how well I know the story already.
Terry Pratchett
Joining the newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett was what made me a fan, rather than a mere reader, of Terry Pratchett. I have read nearly all of his books, but The Carpet People was the first Pratchett book I read, and Guards! Guards! the first Discworld book, so those are my favorites.
Please note that in addition to the (official)
link above, there is L-Space, which
has much Pratchett-related information.
William Shakespeare
Hmmm... this is hard. Nah, I don't really think I can say which is my favorite. I have always had a soft spot for A Comedy of Errors, but among the tragedies, I really can't say. Perhaps Hamlet, but that might be only because I had to write a hard paper on it during my senior year of high school, so I know it pretty well.
Some people don't like Shakespeare.
I do. I don't think he's the be-all and end-all of playwrighting
or poetry, and he's certainly not immune to criticism, but he wrote some
darn good stuff all the same.
Robert Silverberg
He has written a lot, but my favorite
book is Lord Valentine's Castle. Its sequels are also good.
I won't tell anything about the plot, because I know I'm terrible about
giving things away, but I'll just say that it has my favorite sex scene
of any book. (Does it give away too much about me that I know where
all the sex scenes are in all of my books?)
Judith Tarr
I actually do not have a favorite book
by her. I have two trilogies of hers, each published in one mega-volume,
bought used, sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read them, and I expect
that they will be good; however, I don't think I have read enough yet to
have a favorite. One which I read and liked, however, was Queen
of Swords, about the Western European occupation of the Holy Land during
the time of the Crusades.
Joan D. Vinge
I have only read two books of hers, which
I've elaborated on somewhat in my Fairy
Tales page. I don't think I can really have a favorite yet, of
those two.
Jane Yolen
I'm going to cheat here and say that my favorite is The Books of Great Alta. This is cheating because her books Sister Light, Sister Dark and White Jenna, which used to be published separately, are now published in one volume by the name I've given. There is a sequel called The One-Armed Queen, but I didn't find it quite as good. The first two, however, are spectacular. They're about a young girl growing up to fulfill a legend.
On March 10, I had the good fortune to be able to attend an informal lecture by Jane Yolen at Mount Holyoke College. It was quite good, about being a children's author and getting books published. Even though I have no plans about being a writer or otherwise involving myself in the publishing business, I found her talk very interesting. I also got her to sign a copy of Briar Rose for me, even though I already own one. I don't know what I'll do with the extra; maybe I'll just keep it, like my surplus copies of Sister Light, Sister Dark and White Jenna!
I hope you take my recommendations and read some of these books. In addition, I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. Happy reading! And as always, I'd love to hear about what you like to read.
Now, if you'll just hand me that book over there on the desk...