A Respectable Reading List

Hello all! Less than a month until departure (I actually trial-packed my bags today) and I'm starting to get jumpy. Today I went to see Stuck in Love with my sisters, loved it, and resolved to read some more respectable books. My current literary fare consists of regency romances, science fiction, and teen fantasy. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, they're all wildly entertaining and I can offer some great recommendations to anyone who is interested, but it's time to get back on the up-and-up.

In the interest of reading some good, respectable fiction, here is the list of books I will be adding to my NOOK for Italy.

1. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway

 
What better way to start a respectable reading list than with Hemingway? This is the story of Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley set during the post World War I period of disillusionment and romance. The description uses the terms "moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions." Yum. 

2. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

This movie was amazing. I saw it in the airport, cried in public, and promptly proceeded to force every one of my family members to watch it with me. I have very high hopes for the book.

3. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

This book is about a butler. Sold. But actually I may have a problem with Kazuo Ishiguro, and I've haven't actually read any of his books yet. Everything he writes just looks so great! I mean an orphaned detective in inter-war Shanghai? (When We Were Orphans) A Japanese artist who creates propaganda for the imperialists during the war? (An Artist in the Floating World) I want to read all of them! And I probably will.

4. The Group - Mary McCarthy

Uh so I kind of stumbled on this (Buzzfeed article, guilty) and when I read the synopsis I freaked out! It's about eight Vassar graduates living in New York and traveling the world. Basically my life (unless it ends up being sad in which case no thanks). Can't wait for this one

5. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

This book was recommended to me by my freshman writing professor, one of the coolest human beings alive. He actually connected me with one of my all-time favorite books, A Canticle for Liebowitz. You should go read that right now. This one is supposedly about the future in which humanity is hooked into a virtual world called OASIS. The creator of the world has hidden a prize behind many puzzles based on 90's pop culture, and when our main character stumbles on the first one he starts a world-wide competition. 

6. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon

Joe Kavalier pulls a Houdini and escapes Nazi-invaded Prague to New York and his cousin Sammy Clay. The two create heroes, villains and romance in the new American comic books. Sounds great. Said to be a contender for the Great American Novel. 

7. To The Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf

What sounds like a beautiful story of the Ramsays, a family in a summer house on the coast of Scotland, told from three points of view. Said to be the work that established Woolf's reputation as a writer.

8. The Secret History - Donna Tartt

A small liberal arts school, a group of Greek scholars, a secret society gone wrong. This could either be the synopsis of a truly terrible Lifetime movie or a juicy collegiate mystery. I intend to find out!

9. Welcome to the Monkey House - Kurt Vonnegut

So I just got the audiobook of this for my drive to work, and it's awesome. I read the second story, Harrison Bergeron, a few years ago and its one of my favorites. To give you an idea of it, here's the trailer for a short film based on it. All the stories are classic Vonnegut- quirky, brilliant, and unforgettable. The nice thing about this is that since it's chopped up into segments it's a lighter read than a full novel, and a great intro to Vonnegut.

Here's an amazing video of him graphing story-lines. God he's clever.

10. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

This sounds scary. Super scary like women aren't allowed to read and are basically slaves for breeding. But I'm a sucker for apocalyptic fiction and this is supposed to be really well written. 

11. His Dark Materials Trilogy - Phillip Pullman

I've actually already read this series, but it was about a million years ago and I have a feeling that I will appreciate it much more now. If you haven't read this, it's amazing and one of the greatest works of fantasy ever written. If you have, feel free to join me on a second go!

A few more that I'm thinking of adding are The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, Gone Girl  by Gillian Flynn, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami, and Infinite Jest  by David Foster Wallace. Also if you haven't read Bossypants by Tina Fey, it's a revelation.