The Books List, Part 10

20 Books I Would Recommend Reading, 5 Books I Wouldn't, and 50 from my Reading List

Hello, friends! We are well into spring, now (in the northern hemisphere, anyway), and the weather is still pretty changeable. Nights are still a bit chilly, so curl up and get cozy with a nice book! 

My likes/loves: These are books that entertained me, moved me, taught me things, made me think, inspired me, and that I would heartily recommend. They are not ranked – they are merely in the order in which I read them.

1. The Known World – Edward P. Jones

2. Book of the Dead – Patricia Cornwell

3. Honeymoon – James Patterson

4. Gone – Jonathan Kellerman

5. A Case of Need – Michael Crichton

6. 4^th of July – James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

7. 5^th Horseman - James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

8. Timeline – Michael Crichton

9. 1^st to Die – James Patterson

10. The 6^th Target - James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

11. 7^th Heaven - James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

12. Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words – Bill Bryson

13. Twilight – Stephenie Meyer

14. Joplin's Ghost – Tananarive Due

15. Um...Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean – Michael Erard

16. Glamour's Big Book of Dos and Don'ts

17. Handling Sin – Michael Malone

18. The King of Torts – John Grisham

19. Hints and Tips to Make Life Easier – Reader's Digest

20. Life Expectancy – Dean Koontz

My meh/yuck list: Did not find these appealing for any number of reasons – some were boring; some had an interesting subject but did not do it justice; some were flat-out terrible. All simply left me cold in some way. Although I am likely to read multiple books by authors I like (you will see a lot of Dean Koontz, Jonathan Kellerman, Margaret Atwood, Charles deLint and Toni Morrison), I do not excuse those authors when they write a book I didn't like, so they might just show up here, as well.

1. 2^nd Chance – James Patterson and Andrew Gross

2. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat – Oliver Sacks

   I wrote a review of this one that explains my issues with it: https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2022/04/review-of-man-who-mistook-his-wife-for.html

3. An American Tragedy – Theodore Dreiser

4. The Darkest Evening of the Year – Dean Koontz

5. Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul

My Reading List: these are books I haven't read yet, so I don't have a reaction for you. However, I could semi-recommend them, based on the reasons they made it onto my list:

1. They were on one of those “100 Greatest Books” lists;

2. They are other books written by authors I really enjoy; or

3. I read a review, and it sounded like something I'd like.

#1 can be a bit hit-or-miss; #2 is almost (but not always) foolproof for me (but maybe not for you), and #3 usually works out pretty well, as it's a combination of the first two. As always, your results may vary, but consider them suggestions. These may tend to come in chunks of stuff by author (apologies).

1. Between the Acts – Virginia Woolf

2. Billiards at Half-Past Nine – Heinrich Boll

3. Billy Bathgate – E.L. Doctorow

4. Billy Budd – Herman Melville

5. Billy Liar – Keith Waterhouse

6. Birds of America – Lorrie Moore

7. Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks

8. Black Dogs – Ian McEwan

9. Black Like Me – John G. Howard

10. Black Water – Joyce Carol Oates

11. Blind Man with a Pistol – Chester Himes

12. Blindness – Henry Green

13. Blonde – Joyce Carol Oates

14. Blood and Guts in High School – Kathy Acker

15. Blue of Noon – Georges Bataille

16. Bonjour Tristesse – Francoise Sagan

17. Boomsday – Christopher Buckley

18. Born in Exile – George Gissing

19. Born to Rebel – Frank Sullaway

20. Borstal Boy – Brendan Behan

21. Bouvard and Pecuchet – Gustave Flaubert

22. Boy Still Missing – John Searles

23. Breakfast at Tiffany's – Truman Capote

24. Breakfast of Champions – Kurt Vonnegut

25. Brighton Rock – Graham Greene

26. Broken April – Ismail Kadare

27. Bunner Sisters – Edith Wharton

28. Burger's Daughter – Nadine Gordimer

29. Burmese Days – George Orwell

30. By the Open Sea – August Strindberg

31. Cakes and Ale – W. Somerset Maugham

32. Camilla – Fanny Burney

33. Camille – Alexandre Dumas

34. Cancer Ward – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

35. Cane – Jean Toomer

36. Cannery Row – John Steinbeck

37. Captain Corelli's Mandolin – Louis de Bernieres

38. Casino Royale – Ian Fleming

39. Castle Rackrent – Maria Edgeworth

40. Castle Richmond – Anthony Trollope

41. Cat and Mouse – Gunter Grass

42. Cat's Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut

43. Caught – Henry Green

44. Cause for Alarm – Eric Ambler

45. Cecilia – Fanny Burney

46. Celestial Harmonies – Peter Esterhazy

47. Chaireas and Kallirhoe – Chariton

48. Chocky – John Wyndham

49. Choke – Chuck Palahniuk

50. Christ Stopped at Eboli – Carlo Levi

That's all for now; hope you find these lists useful as you think about things you might like to read. Here is a link to The Books List, part 9: https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-books-list-part-nine.html

and here are links to the other lists! 

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-books-list-part-one.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-books-list-part-two.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-books-list-part-three.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-books-list-part-four.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-books-list-part-five.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-books-list-part-six.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-books-list-part-seven.html

https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-books-list-part-eight.html