I’m still slogging through Sophie’s Choice. Instead of posting about the recent 50 pages or so that I’ve read (nothing’s happened; Sophie hasn’t even been given a choice yet) I’m going to share a few of my favorite books, a list which The Sheltering Sky has recently joined, in no particular order:

An Invisible Sign of my Own by Aimee Bender
Something about this book spoke to me like nothing I’ve ever read. The simple, elegant prose paired with the strange world described in the pages hooked me from the beginning and the plot made me tumble through it quickly. The main character deals with a father who is sick, and the first time I read the book my dad was sick with pulmonary embolism. When I read the book it felt like Ms. Bender had written it just for me.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I love all dystopic fiction and this is probably my favorite. I can definitely see some pieces of our current world in the predictions of these pages. It also mirrors the love I have for books.

Flying Leap by Judy Budnitz
This collection of short stories is haunting. I wouldn’t call them horror stories, but they definitely get to you. I recommend not reading more than two stories in one sitting or your brain will start to hurt and you will see strange shadows in the dark.

Oracle Night by Paul Auster
I love Paul Auster’s work and Oracle Night is my favorite of his that I’ve read so far. Auster deals with the fine line between truth and fiction and how what we write becomes what we are.

Jennifer Government by Max Barry
I bought this book after playing the online Nation States game. (Remember that?) It was probably the best marketing scheme and use of social media ever, even before “social media” was a term. The book is way better than playing the game. It’s a dystopic novel that focuses on a world that is run by corporations. Corporations sponsor education and your last name is your company. (I’d be “Alli Housecall.”)

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
My favorite young adult fantasy series, this trilogy is amazingly written and thought-provoking. I will warn anyone thinking of picking it up that I cried more reading these books than any other piece of literature.

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
The first Vonnegut work I ever read, and I loved it. I don’t remember much of what it was about as I haven’t read it since high school and I have a horrible memory for stories, but I’ve recommended it to many people and no one has complained. I’ll be reading it again sometime, probably when my project is over.

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
This novel is amazing and heartbreaking. I mentioned when writing about The Ginger Man how Virginia Woolf does stream-of-consciousness writing so well and Mrs. Dalloway is a prime example. If literature is an expression of what it means to be human, which I believe with sincerity is true, Mrs. Dalloway may be the best piece of literature ever written.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Nothing really needs to be said about this novel; the way it has withstood the test of time speaks for itself.

How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents by Julia Alvarez
A wonderful coming-of-age story that’s beautifully written and fascinating. The book is written in vignette style which I particularly enjoy. Books like this, which I read for class, make my happy I became an English major or else I may never have heard of or thought to read this book.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I borrowed this book from my dad, who said he loved it. I knew that I would probably love it too, since my dad and I seem to like similar things. I didn’t know when I picked it up that it was about a father and a son. I’m very close to my dad, and any piece of fiction involving a positive father/child relationship brings tears to my eyes. If I hadn’t finished reading this book while riding the bus, it probably would have beat out His Dark Materials for the most tears. I also loved how the writing style fit in so well with the setting–barren except for only the necessities.

Fishbowl by Sarah Mlynowski
It’s true, I don’t only read literary classics and depressing descriptions of future scenarios we might be bringing upon ourselves. Fishbowl markets itself as chick-lit, but it’s really more about the relationship between the three roommates than romance (although there is a little of that). The book is hilarious, and I find myself re-reading it when I need to forget about my own problems and laugh at someone else’s.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
I’ve mentioned this book before because I have an odd love/hate relationship with it. I’ve never been so angry at the end of a book before. At first I claimed to hate the book because even though I devoured it like a starving person at a hot-dog eating contest, the ending made me very angry. It was like the same starving person vomiting the hot-dogs up. But it stuck in my head, like the aftertaste of vomited hot-dogs. The hot-dog analogy ends there, because after so much thinking about it I realized it made me angry so much because I loved it.

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood
I avoided reading Margaret Atwood for a long time even though I knew I’d probably like her work. Finally after looking for another dystopic book to read, I caved and read this. Of course, I loved it.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
I consider Of Mice and Men to be the first piece of “real classic literature” I ever read and it was in 9th grade English. I wish I enjoyed The Grapes of Wrath half as much (I’m dreading reading it again for the project) but I love his short story The Chrysanthemums even better.

Dune by Frank Herbert
I don’t really have much to say about this book other than that it’s a wonderfully fascinating sci-fi/fantasy story and probably one of the most highly regarded pieces of science fiction for good reason–it’s an incredible book.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kasey
This is the book that began this entire project because it made me wonder what other wonderful books are out there that I haven’t had a chance to read, or that I missed the brilliance the first time around.

I wonder what other books on the list will be added to my list.