50 Books

“From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.” (Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)

I read Debi's post this morning at work and couldn't stop thinking about books until I got home and put together my own list. I thought it would be harder than it was, but the truth is, with only a few exceptions, I own these books and reread them all the time. The is something about pulling a book of the shelf and knowing what's in between the pages and still being delighted and surprised. It's like going on vacation to the same places over and over and reveling in the familiar but always finding something new; like visiting an old, old, friend.

It was difficult for me to include books I don't reread, but I had to include a few of these because of the impression the book made on me at that time.  Most of these are fiction, not all. A good number are books from my childhood that I read today and find relevant and enlightening still.  Some are beautifully written books, some have sweeping plots, some have characters that I know by name by name (Francie, Howard, Kit, Gus, Call, Benny and Eve, and Anne). Some are included because at the time I read them they kicked me in the gut and left me gasping for air - these are the hard books, the difficult but beautiful ones (Cry the Beloved Country, Stones From the River, Little Bee, The Ha-Ha).

I find it necessary to say, if you’ve seen the movie Circle of Friends (which was awful in just about every way except casting) forget the movie and read the book instead as they are completely different and I would implore you similarly with respect to The Time Traveler’s Wife.  Along the same lines, if you’ve only seen Gone With the Wind and not read the book, the book is much more detailed than the movie, though both movie and book are stellar.

These are in no particular order, though I finished rereading #1 just the other day and almost posted to my facebook declaring it my very favorite book of all and it's probably no coincidence that it's #1 here.

I could write all day, about each one of these and how much I love them and why, because I want you to love them too, but there is reading to do after all.

1.  From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg

2. Secret Language, Monica Wood

3. Circle of Friends, Maeve Binchy

4. The Glass Lake, Maeve Binchy

5. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

6. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

7. The End of the Affair, Graham Greene

8. Let's Take the Long Way Home, Gail Caldwell

9. Drinking: A Love Story, Caroline Knapp

10. A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis

11. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis

12. Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzugh

13. The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

14. Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo

15. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry

16. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith

17. The Amateur Marriage, Anne Tyler

18. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

19. The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams

20. In This House of Brede, Rumer Godden

21. The Liar's Club, Mary Karr

22. Little Bee, Chris Cleave

23. Bel Canto, Ann Patchett

24. The Ha-Ha, Dave King

25. The Year of Fog, Michelle Richmond

26. Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder

27. Goodbye Without Leaving, Laurie Colwin

28. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

29. The Orchid Thief, Susan Orlean

30. Clear Springs, Bobbie Ann Mason

31. Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier

32. Atlas of Unknowns, Tania James

33. O'Pioneers, Willa Cather

34. Cry The Beloved Country, Alan Paton

35. Charlotte's Web, E.B. White

36. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot

37. My Only Story, Monica Wood

38. The Habit of Being, the Letters of Flannery O'Connor

39. Open House, Elizabeth Berg

40. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

41. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

42. Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

43. Stones From the River, Ursula Hegi

44. Pocketful of Names, Joe Coomer

45. The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton

46. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane

47. Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls

48. The Witching Hour, Anne Rice

49. Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, Laurie Colwin

50. Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse