bookish girl

the stranger - albert camus >>> classic existential novel on the simplicty of decisions in life. meursault defines the way he will live, whether it be for 30 or 90 years, whether alive or dead. fantastic to the end. read it, re-read it.
brave new world - aldous huxley >>> 1984-esque, this sci-fi book, while not as scary, is up there. brave new world we are not.
farenheit 451 - ray bradbury >>> another sci-fi evil book, this time it is due to society's own neglect for it's own intelect. excellent.
lord of the flies - william golding >>> it's survival of the fittest on golding's fantastically imagined island. thrilliung.
the plague - albert camus >>> laborious at times, i suggest sticking with his short essays if you want more camus.
catcher in the rye - salinger >>> although usually regarded as a typical teen novel, catcher is a crappy book when looked at through the eyes of most teens. however, the power below the surface makes it a deeply profound book. read it without being a generic fuck, please. the immense symbolism found within holden's words is amazing. more importantly, check out--
franny and zooey - salinger >>> salinger's outrageously cocky, genius family has suceeded in once again capturing the emotional anguish of thought. bright and quirky, read only after finishing--
...carpenters and seymour - salinger >>> poignant and charming, it proves the glass familys wonder again and again.
9 stories - salinger >>> excellent ideas and fantastic characters are the glue of salinger's incredible stories. a personal favorite.
separate peace - john knowles >>> the story of two prep-school boys during wwii, and the great emotional strain growing up puts on teens. thought provoking and rewarding, i thoroughly enjoyed re-reading it in the bath tub.
great gatsby - fitzgereld >>> reader-friendly book on the woes of love, lust and money in the 1930s. an instant classic, it's pretty hard not to like good old f scottie boy. "her voice sounds like money." the movie is decent as well.
ethan frome - whartom >>> boring at times, ethan frome picks up towards the end. the climax does not come soon enough, but when it does it leaves a careful scar. in retropspect, i love it. in retrospect.
merchant of venice - shakespeare >>> billy's feminist anti-semetic look at a jew, a gay, a dame, and a pound of flesh.
taming of the shrew - shakespeare >>> asshole falls for the bitch. entertaining, witty, and never without a dull moment.
hamlet - shakespeare >>> haunting tale of betrayal, revenge, sex, money, backstabbing and murder.
to kill a mockingbird - harper lee >>> a bit over rated. a somewhat autobiographical look at southern bigotry, faith, and foibles.
macbeth - shakespeare >>> although it contains my most treasured soliloquy ("out, out brief candle!"), it is not one of my most treasured of the bard's plays. overbearing and morbid, it's not typically a crowd pleaser.
princess bride - goldman >>> the ultimate satire of the adventure romance novel. filled with funny symbolism and adorable characters, it's one of those books you've got to look into when you've finished reading. i don't suggest the movie.
scarlet letter - hawthorne >>> a lot of great stuff buried within the gratuitously verbose phrasing. girl gets pregnant, girl gets shunned, girl gets a big letter a, etc. not very exciting.
short stories - hawthorne >>> dear god, what a mixed bag. i can't reccomend many, however 'the birthmark' and 'the minister's black veil' are worth picking up. put it back down before you hit 'ethan brande'
short stories - twain >>> good for 'the diaries of adam and eve'.... twain's short stuff outdoes huck finn any day.
the pearl - steinbeck >>> boring and over-praised. skip it and head straight to....
of mice and men - steinbeck >>> amazing story of two migrant workers who attempt to stick together through thick and thin. short and to the point, an absolute read for non-readers.
tale of two cities - dickens >>> do not attempt unless you plan to actually read it. while the plot is wickedly entertaining, i warn the average mind to steer clear of it until they can read it without jumping to read the cliffs notes version.
oliver - dickens >>> a good door stop, if nothing else.
hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy - adams >>> hard to label. a work of genius, this supposed sci-fi book satirizes society, space, and human nature. a must-read! see all the sequals: all read, too many to list.
old man and the sea - hemingway >>> simple and elegant, yet the plot itself grows old after the first few pages.
our town - thornton wilder >>> the omnipresent stage manager starts this limit-pushing play about life and death, god and man.
crucible - miller >>> it's just not a good read. find the movie and sit through that instead.
death of a salesman - miller >>> poignant adaption of one man's journey through life.
animal farm - orwell >>> horifying yet amsuing satire of stalinist russia. caustic and cunning, orwell really bites back with this one.
the clergyman's daughter - orwell >>> an amnesiac innocent finds herself mingling in the dregs of society. slightly on the boring side, it's aged quite a bit. however, i do suggest entertaining the notion of picking it up every once in a while.
1984 - orwell >>> truely amazing story of an individual caught in the cracks of a totalitatian government in the future. the character's are as scummy as the windows, and i love every second of it. one of the best sci-fi books of our time. personal favorite.
the chosen - chiam potek >>> moving account of a boy and his orthodox jewish friend. ahem, movie?
siddhartha - herman hesse >>> hesse puts the journey of the boy through an array of light. enlightening and satisfying.
demian - herman hesse >>> a bit more of hesse's philosophical juice, stuffed in a blender and put on WHIP. terrific.
the awakening - kate chopin >>> gorgeous story of a woman caught in the clutches of society. yeah, it's fem reading. but i cant help but to like it. chopin has a way with words-- her short stories are also quite good. personal favorite.
alice in wonderland / through the looking glass - lewis carol >>> better than the movies. what the hell was this guy smoking?
the bell jar - plath >>> sylvia plath's autobiographical account of her life out of college and her experiences as a writer, a victim of depression, and a woman. powerful, and scary-- plath killed herself a few years after writing this book. personal favorite.
slaughter house five - vonnegut >>> vonnegut's manical take on wwii. scary, amusing, and all together brilliant, vonnget's wit and wry humour shines through the pages. however, when he gets serious, he means business. emotional.
breakfast of champions - vonnegut >>> what happens when the author writes himself into the book? how does the protagonist survive with the pen at his neck? great, funny, i love the hand drawn pictures, hehehe.
god bless you, mr rosewater - vonnegut >>> another vonnegut beauty. read before the above.
a street car named desire - tennesee williams >>> another crazy woman who reminds me of scarlet o'hara... williams writes a fantastic play, one of dementia and love and betrayal. i have always relied on the kindness of strangers.
side man - warren leight >>> one of the best drama's written in our time, this script is quirky and poignant at times. the rise and fall of the jazz age, and of fatherhood. incredible, satisfying, and bitter-sweet.
crime and punishment - dostoyevsky >>> i read half of it. i like it... very good. too long. get the idea?
contact - carl sagen >>> made into that movie with jodie foster, the book is huge and ten times better. i loved every page of it.
color of water - james mcbride >>> memoir of the author's childhood, growing up as a black boy with a white, jewish mother.touching and inspiring, give it to your mother on mother's day.
expensive people - joyce carol oates >>> my favorite of hers, a rich dysfunctional family and a child murderer.
anthem - ayn rand >>>heavy with ayn's philosophy, but not as physically heavy as atlas shrugged. good read, young scholar.
i know why the caged bird sings - maya angelou >>> hands down classic. i loved it, maya's cildhood in the south. moving as hell.
singin' and swinin' - maya angelou >>> may favorite account of hers, maya describes her life as a dancer, actress and traveler.
and still i rise (poems) - maya angelou >>> if you like plath, you most likely will find her poems up to par.
all i really need to know i learned in kindergaten - robert fulghum >>> hehe. excellent mantra.
charlie and the chocolate factory - rondald dahl >>> best kid's book ever-- it's even cooler as you grow older.
charlie and the great glass elevator - ronald dahl >>> awesome sequal about space, time and chocolate.
night - elie weisel >>> award winning holocaust victim's take on his stay in the disgusting concentration camps.
where the heart is - billie letts >>> tacky romance leaves you asking a question. "WHY IS THIS BOOK SO CHEESY?"
side effects - woody allen >>> classic woody, he's fucking hysterical.
without feathers - woody allen >>> my favorite woody allen book, filled with sotries, junk and chotchkes
sophie's world - jostein gaarder >>> who the hell needs philosophy 101 with this amazing book? any philo student needs this novel asap. go, now. buy. make learning easy. yay.
warriors don't cry - melba pattillo beals >>> autobiography of the little rock integration. heart felt and very real, beals pulls no stops with this fine read. well done and touching.
frankenstein - mary shelley >>> not worth picking up, excepting to learn that the monster's name is Monster, haha.
jane eyre - charlotte bronte >>> long, shitty, and shittier. am i the only woman who doesnt like this book?
northanger abbey - jane austen >>> now *that*, my friend, is satire! mm!
no exit - jean-paul sartre >>> cunning play about hell (which just happens to be other people.) love is a grand solace, isn't it, friend?
jeckyl and hyde - stevenson >>> evil, exiting, BORING. skip it-- you already know the story. the book is aged.
the wall / intimacy - sartre >>> existential short stories about irony, society, and man's thirst for life.
the second sex - simone de beauvour >>> engaging, deep look into the soul of woman's philo. simone was fucking sartre at the time.