I have two degrees in English but little time to read. I’ve started back to reading for pleasure this year with a reading list of seven books and have gotten through almost all of them. (Americanah dragged – couldn’t do it.)
I had humanities-focused schooling, so I’ve read many of the “classics.” But three children and a complicated adult life later, I have not read many modern novels. I’m ready but I don’t know where to start.
Suggest a book/ books that will offer the same quality writing as the classics with more up-to-date scenarios/themes.
I disliked Americanah but loved Giovanni’s Room. My favorite novels are Jane Eyre, Count of Monte Cristo, Lord of the Flies … and recently The Book Thief.
I prefer character analysis over setting/ action. Varied chapter length or short chapters is probably good, because my time is short. Thanks!
by w0rkharD-plAyharD
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Water For Elephants, Cloud Atlas, Life of Pi, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
The Giver by Lois Lowry is quite good if you haven’t read it! It is written for a younger audience but I’d say it’s worth the read at any age.
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Fault in our Stars by John Green
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr
Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan (if you’d like to read a more modern-ish ‘kids’ classic on par with Harry Potter)
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
You might like *Olive Kitteridge*. It won the Pulitzer for fiction a few years back and it’s one of my favorite novels of the past ten years or so.
Three by Ann Patchett: 1. Commonwealth, 2. Bel Canto, 3. The Dutch House.
Also Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, and Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel. And The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.