Books to Read

Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
This was the first book I read. I read it one go, sitting on the couch and I cried and cried and cried. It is a beautiful love story that got me hooked onto books forever.

God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Spectacular. I fell in love when I read this in India. It is a story set in India about twins and their life and how things work there, that sounds annoyingly vague, however she manages to describe the vague with such subtlety and emotion that I have never digested writing such as hers. Most people either love it or hate it, it focuses alot on the moments - which of course, I cannot resist.

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
The book was far far better than the movie, even though I do adore the Titanic duo. It is such a powerful book that even if you do know the story by having watched the movie, it is most definitely worth reading the book.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
The book is as good as the movie - I have yet to see that come true elsewhere. His style of writing is lovely and gory.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Set in the late 1800's it is about a woman and her unorthodox views and her struggle and enjoyment throughout her life. It is once again very subtle, however it has stuck with me for years.

Train to Pakistan by Kushwant Singh
A very well known Indian novel about the Partition and all the political and social events surrounding it. It is set in a tiny tiny town and has a love story within it. It is short and sweet. Anyone who is a reader in India has read it, and they are proud of the story.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
A japanese novel that is described on Wikipedia as "a real page-turner as well as an insistently metaphysical mind bender." I read it in India and could not stop copying quotes from it.

Marcovaldo by Italo Calvino
A series of short stories about Marcovaldo. Wonderful. Read it in Practice Theory and everyone in class had a different view point, however mine was that he emphasized every bit of nature left in our concrete world.

Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth by William Bryant Logan
Read it in Practice Theory. Poetically written, Logan speaks of the skin we stand on and how little we know of it! An eye-opener.

The Alchemist by Paul Coelho
An inspirational book that swims in the bookstores of India. Everyone has read it there and what he writes is so inspirational I find myself re-reading the Author's Note - which, yes don't skit that part, it is the best part -read!

As You Like It by Shakespeare
So far, I think this is my favorite. A comedy, it is so much fun to read. Make sure to get the "No Fear Shakespeare" version, where one page is Shakespeare and the other side is a "translation." I totally got over not being able to understand it on my own, the fact is we are not taught or even challenged to try to figure out what Shakespeare is saying sometimes, so it is nice to read the translation - you understand it so much more and over time you can understand his pattern of words and translate it yourself.