I am a voracious reader who has increasingly limited time for recreational reading. In my youth, it was rare for me to not have a book in hand. Between work, school, and familial obligations, I find myself not having read a book for pleasure in almost six months.
When I do read for fun, I read science fiction, literary fiction, classic fiction, and young adult fiction. But my favorite genre to read is history. Not historical fiction...but history.
As my recreational reading has become more infrequent, I have listed the ten (fiction) books that have most shaped my reading habits:
1. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
-- I read this book in the summer between my sophomore and junior years in high school. I read it over the course of a sleepless night in July. It's dark humor and anti-war message struck home with me during my political and cultural enlightenment.
2. Watchmen by Alan Moore and David Gibbons
-- One of the many graphic novels that I believe to stand on the same pedestal with the great literature of the past 30 years. Watchmen was the first graphic novel I read multiple times and had vastly different interpretations.
3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
-- The best dystopian novel, even if it isn't the most approachable. Huxley's view of a dystopian hell of capitalism, caste, eugenics, and population control still haunts me today, almost twenty years after I read it.
4. Dune by Frank Herbert
-- I read this book as an 8th grader because I was warned to read the book before watching the David Lynch film. I'm glad I was warned, because it may be impossible to film the complexity of this book's universe.
5. The Stand by Stephen King
-- An epic novel in every sense. King has never been better.
6. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
-- The best book I've read that's been written since 2000.
7. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
-- Atwood's magnum opus has much better words written about it than I could ever write.
8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
-- Hands down, simply put, the funniest book I've read.
9. Blankets by Craig Thompson
-- The most powerful autobiographical graphic novel I've read. It's stark black and white drawings drew great emotion from me, especially in its recounting of first love and sibling relationships.
10. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
-- One of the best science fiction novels I have ever read. I had to interlibrary loan this book a few years ago, I was not disappointed. Its depiction of cyclical history with regards to religion, faith, science, and destruction is not to be missed. On the Beach and Fahrenheit 451 wish they were this book.
Can you recommend a book for my science fiction annotation? I like reading suspense, thrillers, and mysteries. I like books that are character driven. Maybe something for novice to read to ease me into the genre.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand how life can get in the way of recreational reading. This class has actually been a dream come true for me, because I was actually able to read . Although I read genre that were out of my norm, it was wonderful. Reading has also been an enjoyed hobby of mine for a very long time.
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