Thursday, July 31st, 2008
And now, a list for the rest of us
Dude. I went home feeling like a dumb shit last night for not having read many of the very important books on yesterday’s book list. Even though I did read one en francais, it was only because a French woman forced me to. But, you know what? I read enough, a lot even. So, I’ve come up with a partial list for the rest of us, and of course I’ve read most of them – IT’S MY LIST. But, to really make this fair, I’d like your suggestions too? What should be on this list?
Rhiannon’s List of Must Read Books for the Twenty or Thirty-Something Career Girl With an Active Social Life and Reality TV to Watch
- Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells
- East of Eden, John Steinbeck
- Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris
- The New Kings of Nonfiction, Ira Glass
- Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him, Danielle Ganek
- White Teeth, Zadie Smith
- Then We Came to the End, Joshua Ferris
- Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kinglosver
- The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
- A Girl Named Zippy, Haven Kimmel
- Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!, Fannie Flagg
- Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters, Mark Dunn
- Stupid and Contagious, Caprice Crane
- Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs
- Bitter is the New Black, Jen Lancaster
- Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office, Lois P. Frankel (seriously. good book)
- I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies), Laurie Notaro
- Running in Heels, Anna Maxted
- She’s Come Undone, Wally Lamb
- Sushi for Beginners, Marian Keyes
- Jemima J, Jane Green
- Something Borrowed, Emily Giffin
- The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
- Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Judy Blume (Shut up, this is a VERY IMPORTANT BOOK)
- The Gift of Fear, Gavin De Becker
- Emma, Jane Austen
- The Hours, Michael Cunningham
- Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
- The Romance Reader, Pearl Abraham
- Twilight, Stephenie Meyer (you’re welcome, Isabel)
- Blink, Malcolm Gladwell
- Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, Lynne Truss (I have a copy at home AND at work)
- A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn
- Manufacturing Consent, Noam Chomsky (I read this as part of my Media Major in college, AMAZING BOOK)
- Swell: A Girl’s Guide to the Good Life, Ilene Rosenzweig
- I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, Amy Sedaris (you NEED TO KNOW what to prepare a Lumberjack for breakfast, should you ever meet a lumberjack)
- Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future, Jennifer Baumgardner (also whoever I lent this to, I’d like it back now, thanks)
- The Official Guide for GMAT Review (only because then you can tell me what it says in there, I’ve been reading this book for 6 years now)
- Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search…, Elizabeth Gilbert
- Bloodsucking Fiends, Christopher Moore
- The World According to Mimi Smartypants, Mimi Smartypants
- The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing, Melissa Bank
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver
- Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
- The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
- The Singing Creek where the Willows Grow, Opal Stanley Whitely (just read it, then thank me, it’s GOOD)
- I Am America (And So Can You), Stephen Colbert (because you will laugh, and laugh)
- No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories, Miranda July
- Shopgirl, Steve Martin
Okay, my dears. Your turn. Do you agree with me? What am I missing? Let’s finish this list!
Comments on this post
Marley & Me, John Grogan
31. July - 8:50 amSee, now THIS is a list I could do some serious damage on. I’m particularly fond of Twilight and, yes, I have reserved Saturday for reading the final installment.
31. July - 8:53 amI’ve never thought of making a list of books I HAVE read. Genius. My recommendations are on yesterday’s post!
31. July - 8:58 amI MUST CONFESS MY UNDYING DEVOTION TO EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES IN ALL CAPS.
Also: The Alchemist. LOVE.
Should be on the list, or would be on my list, as it were: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides.
Also: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. No, really.
31. July - 9:03 amSo happy that Marian Keyes made the list. I heart her!
31. July - 9:13 amHere’s what I would add (and I love your list, by the way!):
- The Sweet Potato Queens’ Big-Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner) by Jill Conner Browne
- Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
- The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
- Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger
- Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
- Forever… by Judy Blume (oh, the things I learned from this book in middle school)
- A Season in Purgatory by Dominick Dunne (the thing I learned from this book in high school…haha)
- A Time to Kill by John Grisham
I could probably think of a ton more, but I’ve got to get back to work! :-)
31. July - 10:12 amI love that you did this and now I must steal it and do it on my blog
31. July - 11:05 amThe Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanvovich (there are currently 14)
31. July - 11:19 amI mean Janet Evanovich
31. July - 11:20 amDefinitely anything by Jennifer Weiner and most by Jodi Piccoult (especially The Other Sister and Keeping Faith. OH! and The Pact). And THANK YOU for putting East of Eden on there!
31. July - 12:50 pmSushi for Beginners is one of my all-time favorite books! I have tried to get so many other people interested in Marian Keyes and no one else ever likes her. I am so happy to see her on your list!
I would add: The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
And I second Jimmie’s suggestion of Good in Bed, or anything by Jennifer Weiner.
31. July - 2:21 pmThe Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher for the foodies for shizzy! And I’m still a big fan of Bridget Jones Diary & Under the Tuscan Sun (don’t get me started on the suckage that was the movie though).
31. July - 2:21 pmAwww man I haven’t read any of those books! I have a career but am not a girl, have no active social life, and could care less about reality tv unless it’s The Amazing Race or The Mole. Perhaps I can earn a pass this time around.
31. July - 3:54 pmYOU are awesome. And this list is much more my speed.
31. July - 7:51 pm[...] I am stealing this from the oh so awesome Rhiannon. Because I love to read, but am not known for reading all those fancy teach you something kind of [...]
31. July - 11:15 pmWhat about Watermelon by Marian Keyes. Or really any her books in the Walsh sister series. Jemima J or Bookends by Jane Green are two REALLY amazing books. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophia Kinsella is great, too.
1. August - 6:39 amMarjorie Hart: Summer at Tiffany
1. August - 7:56 amThis is a book I picked up because of the jacket color. It turned out to be a great true story of the first two girls who worked at the amazing Tiffany in NY.
[...] you haven’t already, please submit your book ideas in the comments section on this post. It’s a book list for the rest of [...]
1. August - 1:52 pmomg where do I start?
1. August - 3:24 pmBitter is the New Black (Jan Lancaster)
Remember me? (Sophie Kinsella)
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas (James Patterson)
The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrey Neff…)
hi! I can’t type. Jan = Jen
1. August - 3:24 pmEven though she’s at the bottom, I’m so glad you included Miranda July! I love her writing— it seems I can always find her voice whether I’m sad or happy. You know who you missed? STEVE ALMOND! He’s so fantastic. Dark, sarcastic and edgy. I can’t wait to participate in his writing workshop at Wordstock this year.
1. August - 3:52 pmI particulary like the book “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer…kind of a quirky book but it’s story pulls you in and the climax is huge. Smart writing and funny = good combination for me!
2. August - 11:31 am[...] So I am stealing this from the oh so awesome Rhiannon. Because I love to read, but am not known for reading all those fancy teach you something kind of [...]
3. August - 8:56 amThe Joy Luck Club
3. August - 5:25 pmPrep by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner
Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
Like Water for Chocolare
Sister of My Heart, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Bastard out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger (If the movie that comes out soon is awful I WILL SCREAM. I love this book.)
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
The Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler
Amelia Bedelia, Peggy Parish (Very important childhood book!)
The History of Love, Nicole Krauss (married to Foer who wrote book below)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer
3. August - 5:59 pmokay if you are looking for volume, here are some of my choice reads from the past year or so:
Lucky. – Alice Sebold
3. August - 6:05 pmFat Girl – Judith Moore
The Dirty Girls Social Club – Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
Playing with Boys – Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
Beautiful Bodies – Laura Shaine Cunningham
Dive from Clausen’s Pier – Ann Packer
Daughter’s Keeper – Ayelet Waldron
Memory Keeper’s Daughter – Kim Edwards
I have a zillion books to add to this, but here are a few:
4. August - 2:00 pmTime traveler’s wife as has already been suggested
Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold (or Lucky, but Lovely Bones is a less painful read)
Bel Canto – Ann Patchett (or really anything by Ann Patchett)
A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini (More girl oriented than Kite Runner, and amazing as well)
Straight Up and Dirty – Stephanie Klein
The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nightime – Mark Haddon
Midwives- Chris Bohjalian
There’s so many I can add. Shopaholic books should be on here. And I agree with Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner.
But I would have to disagree about Eat, Pray, Love. Blech.
Also Diary of Lost and found by Allison Winn Scotch.
5. August - 11:08 am[...] That would be me, so I just had to steal it! If you want to find the original it is on Rhiannon’s page. But I did find it originally on And So She Blogs page. Since I am on a book reading kick, [...]
27. August - 12:48 pm