Category Archives: Literary Reviews

Now the Adult list – err mm  –  Top Adult Books

Hmm That did not come out right, did it ?

Okay try again,  BBC did a story about the 21^st Century’s greatest novels. I liked this list better than the top children’s books because it was less Anglo centric but was formed from a poll of several dozen British and American book critics so still has a definite bias. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150119-the-21st-centurys-12-best-novels

Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides, American  – umm never heard of it. It has won a Pulitzer and sold millions of copies.

White Teeth – Zadie Smith, English – umm never heard of it either – another award winner. Has 4 acclaimed novels

Half of a Yellow Sun – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian – umm never hear of it – nor her other book Americanah which was #13 in the poll

Atonement– Ian McEwan – Hey hmm I might have heard that name before – but nope never heard of the book – The Times lists him as one of the top 50 British Writers since 1945

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – Ben Fountain –  Umm

 

I could keep going on but see the trend. Now I considered myself pretty well read but this shows me that I was not stretching my reading. The New York Times best sellers list is usual popular fluff not the meaty rich reading that you find from prize winning authors.   Like watching all action films instead of spicing it up with some Oscar award winners. Man can not live by Marvel alone. ( Shocking right)

I had read ALL the top children’s books but as an adult had have not kept up. I had read NONE of the top contemporary 12 novels. And only think I heard of one of the authors.

In a writers seminar the instructor said – if you want to write, READ. I would change that to “read what you want to write.” If you want to write quality books, read quality books.

My current reading is The Pickup by South African writer Nadine Gordimer. I love her use of language I am reading it slowly. Sipping it like a fine wine.  I’ll tell you about it when I am finished. The Alchemist by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho is sitting on my night stand waiting patiently as it is next in queue.

So keep reading your top sellers and fun books, but also stretch yourself with a critically acclaimed book. I used to love reading Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant series because it was one of the few books requiring me to have a dictionary beside me cause of his precision in the use of English. He used words I didn’t know. I loved that about his books.  They made me stretch and grow.

Here is the rest of the BBC critic’s poll of top books of the 21^st century that I haven’t read.

A Visit from the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan, American  – winner of 2011 National Book Critic Circle and Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon, American -2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen, American – won US National Book Award

Gilead – Marilynne Robinson, American – Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. National Humanities Medal in 2012

Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel, English – HEY ! There is a new series on PBS MYSTERY! ( put this higher up my must read list) Book 1 of a series, National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction

The Known World – Edward P. Jones, American – considered by some to be the best American novel of 21^st century, ( Hang head in shame but hey 21^st century  just starting how can you say that ?!)

THE WINNER of the BBC crticis poll :

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz , Dominican American, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

 

Hmm seeing a trend – let’s look at the recently announced Pulitzer Prize List Next week.

 

Til then, Keep reading ,

C

I recently ran across the BBC list of top children’s books.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150402-the-11-greatest-childrens-books

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder – Loved it, owned and read the whole series. Watched the TV show, Michael Landon was dreamy.

A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle – Loved it. Made me think, owned and read the whole series

A Wizard of Earthsea – Ursula LeGuin – I did not read this until I was an adult – so it was a good story but didn’t rock my world.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory– Roald Dahl – I saw the movie first with Gene Wilder before I read the book, but it did not detract from it, Read many books – Glass Elevator, BGF, fun use of language. Wonderful touch from the innocence and clarity of a child.

Winnie the Pooh – A. A. Milne – wonderful story much richer than the 2 dimensional world Disney made of it.

The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery – I did not find this one until I was in high school but it really spoke to me. This book will speak to you wherever you are in your lives journey.  I recently read a book by Sherrilyn Kenyon that even referred to the lessons of the book. Dance with the Devil ( adult paranormal romance) ( Turns out is one of the top selling books of all time)  Worth revisiting often.

Little Women – Louisa May Alcott – read it, have the Madame Alexander dolls, could not get into it.

Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland ( And I would add Through the Looking glass as well)  by Lewis Carroll – playful topsy turvey world  of growing up and losing childhood innocence. Much richer then the movies and games worth rereading as an adult.

Where the Wild Things are – Maurice Sendak  – Another I did not find until I reading to my son but loved the story but its the illustrations that really are exactly on the mark. “The Night Kitchen” was a favourite in my home.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C. S. Lewis – checked out and read the while series from the library and as kid… and as a kid there were no religious references. It was just a great story with talking lions.  I felt the movie actually did a fair job.

Charlotte’s Web – E. B. White – Oh, this one made me cry. Did you cry? And what a great lesson – be friends with people based on who they are not what they are – regardless of color, creed or number of legs.

The only one missing I would add is Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum – it is a 14 book series that is under read.  Tic Toc, Jack Pumpkinhead, sawhorse, Polychrome and Button Bright – so many delightful characters to meet.

Peter Rabbit deserves mention too – Beatrix Potter started as a painter drawing from real life models  then wrote stories about her pictures.

My other personal favourite illustrated children’s books Include The Color Kittens by Margarte Wise Brown , The Surprise Doll by Morrell Gipson.

But I am a bit disappointed by the limits of this list. It is exclusively Anglo Focused. It is a BBC list – but one would hope BBC would be a bit more wordly. Surely there are great children’s books in Asia, Africa, South America?  We need to branch out of our little boxes if we want to relate to humanity and not just our culture.  Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes  by Elenor Coer would be a perfect addition or Fa Mulan by Robert D. San Souci  which was the inspiration for Disney’s Mulan.

I was rather impressed by how many of the Top Children’s books I had read. Next we will look at top adult books.

Until Next Time .

C