I hope winter's treating you nicely this year, because here in Chicago, Old Man Winter's really playing some serious mind games with us (case in point: I'm now referring to winter as a man, a mean man). But really, below zero, then snow, then warmth, then rain + freezing rain, then more snow?! Not cool, OMW, not cool. So, to beat the cabin fever that's inevitable right now, I've rounded up a bunch of books that make for a great escape.
As an avid reader, I've found that certain books have a can't-put-down quality; books that you pick up on a whim and, hours later, you still want to keep reading.
To keep the list well-rounded, I've touched on examples from 10 genres, but this list is just a springboard. I could go on forever, but I'd really love for all of you to jump in with your favorite escape book! It doesn't have to be 'light' reading, just a book that you couldn't put down. I'd love to compile a list of recommendations to take to the library… which will mean heading out in the sleet/rain/snow to get to the library. OMW, man, OMW.
Click the links to read book descriptions, and feel free to add your favorites in the comments!
1. 20th Century American Classics
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
• On the Road by Jack Kerouac
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. Romance
(*more like heart wrenching love stories, but those are better anyway, right?)
• Atonement by Ian McEwan
• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
3. Mystery
• Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie; the collected Complete Works of Agatha Christie is also available for the Kindle for only 0.99!
• Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr.
• Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane
4. Gothic
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Because after all, as bad as our weather may be, we've definitely got it rosier than poor Heathcliff and Katherine.
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
5.Travel Essays
• Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
• Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
• Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
6. Westerns
• The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
• True Grit by Charles Portis
7. Humor
• Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
• Bossypants by Tina Fey
• Blanding's Castle by P.G. Wodehouse
8. Young Adult Fiction
(* A few years ago I re-read a bunch of Nancy Drew books when I was sick and realized reading YA novels as an adult can be incredibly fun!)
• The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
• The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
9. Cookbooks
• Edible Selby by Todd Selby
• The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
• Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi
10. Helpful Non-Fiction
• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
• Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation by Joseph Campbell
• The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama
(Images: 1. Juan Enriquez / Kathryn & David's Mix of Modern & Craftsman Apartment House Tour, 2. Book cover images property of respective book publishers)
Weekend DIYs: 10 Wood Molding Projects for the Home
Monica & Austin's Charming Bungalow
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Ercol Bar Stool
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
However good you think True Grit might be based on the movies, it is way better. I don't remember the last time I so thoroughly enjoyed a read.
Here's a vote for the Amelia Peabody mystery series by Elizabeth Peters! There are 19 books in the series, spanning 1886-1923, and most of them take place in nice hot Egypt. I started with the first one, Crocodile on the Sandbank, in September, and was instantly addicted, reading all 19 by Christmas Eve.
Thanks for the list! I can never quite figure out what I'm in the mood to read once I get to the library. I might have to fall back on this.
what? no "50 Shades?"
Even as an adult, I found the Hunger Games trilogy to be a good read. Also, anything by Brad Meltzer, Vince Flynn and Michael Connelly are excellent adventure/mystery/cop type reads that have provided me HOURS of escape from my hum drum life. You might also check out Lisa Scottoline's non-fiction books ("Why My Third Husband Will be a Dog" and
"Meet Me at Emotional Baggage . . .") are really entertaining books for women.
I love reading the humorous stories by Janet Evanovich!! Listened to some on CD in my travels back and forth to work.... I'd laugh out loud. Her Subject is Stephanie Plum, a bond enforcement officer in New Jersey, she can get into more trouble without trying. Love quite a few of the books on your list, and will look for some of those I haven't. Also Elizabeth Peters books sound interesting. Thanks for this! Think I'll get off my computer and go read, certainly a good day to curl up and do that!!
I second that vote.
I got hooked on 'Crocodile on the Sandbank' a few months back and have slowly been reading the rest.
Another mystery writer that I love is Donna Andrews. It mystery but with humor. 'Murder with Peacocks' is one of my all time favorites.
The Artist of Dissapearance. 3 vignettes that take place in India. Brilliant amd beautifully written. All have the theme of disappearing. I would go out to pick up another book but we are in Massachusetts and expecting 2 feet of snow + whiteout conditions.
I've read both Me Talk Pretty One Day and Bossy Pants recently, and loved them! Highly recommend both!
I'd recommend the Lindsey Davis series of ancient Roman mysteries.
I read "Rebecca" when I was in the 5th grade and was absolutely mesmerized by its haunting mystery. I've read it several times since and always enjoy it. You've put together a nice list with some really good books.
Alice Hoffman The Dovekeepers
You have got to be kidding.
For those who loves reading, Fforde writes some fantastic and whimsical BookWorld fiction!
Ha, I have that same copy of Rebecca! I read it in junior high and recommended it to a friend’s mom, but she turned her nose up at it because of that ridiculous romance novel cover.
Oddly, Rebecca 15 years ago is the reason I’m reading the book I’m currently reading. Susan Hill wrote a sequel to Rebecca, but now writes a crime-ish series. I’m on the 7th (?) now, but the first is by far the best. It’s called The Various Haunts of Men, and I couldn’t put it down.
"Geek Love," Katharine Dunn. Terrific, cult classic about a carnival family and the lengths they will go to to stay in business -- and stay together.
"East of Eden," John Steinbeck. Greatest book of all time, hands-down. Steinbeck is a god and these characters will get inside you and live there forever.
"Kitchen," Banana Yoshimoto. A small, spare book containing two novellas written by the then-mid-20s author. Lovely poetic books with quirky characters, dealing with grief and reawakening from grief.
"October Country," Ray Bradbury. I love everything he ever wrote, but this collection of dark, gothic, melancholy, and often creepily funny stories is the BEST.
"Deptford Trilogy," Robertson Davies. Canadian author, this trilogy is long and beefy and will get you through several snowstorms. Totally captivating story that starts with a small boy throwing a snowball, heads through the history of forgotten saints, life in the circus, behind the scenes of a famous magician, Jungian therapy, and wrestling with the Devil who may or may not be an ugly woman.
"The Secret History," Donna Tartt. Talk about addictive, this book about a small, exclusive clique of college students studying ancient Greek at a private East Coast university, and getting involved in .... well, I won't blow it for you. You'll be up until 2am reading ferociously. Warning: may make you crave cocktails, they drink a lot!
The above is pretty much my desert island book list!
A few other suggestions:
I've also been enjoying the Complete Sherlock Holmes; until recently I had never read a single one and I've been working my way through all of them (novel length and short stories). They are SO MUCH fun, honestly, they're delightful. & I'm not even a mystery reader.
Pretty much anything by Sharon Shinn. She crafts wonderful characters and worlds. She writes primarily fantasies (her two most famous series start with "Archangel" and "Mystic and Rider"). She has wonderful love plotlines, where people actually act like adults. I also like her new series with starts with "The Shape of Desire," and actually take place in the modern/real world. Just with shape-shifters.
"The Bottoms" by Joe Lansdale -- SUPER intense novel dealing with murder & racial tension in the South. Not for the faint-hearted, but gripping. The protagonist is a young white boy who finds a dead body. The character of his father was amazing: a good man trying hard to be better.
Finally: no sci-fi category? Here's a few random picks:
I like "The Snow Queen" by Joan Vinge and its sequel "The Summer Queen." Story about a young, innocent girl who has a mysterious connection to her planet's ambitious and amoral queen, and her own rise to power.
"Dune" by Frank Herbert is a classic for a reason. Skip the sequels, though, ugh! And keep a big glass of water next to you while you read, you'll get thirsty reading about the lack of water on Arrakis.
A few months ago read the most intense novel about war I think I've ever read: "The Forever War," Joe Haldeman, about a career soldier fighting a centuries-long interstellar war due to time travel. Technically it's sci-fi but the subtext is Vietnam and I feel like I learned more about the experience of a soldier at war than I have reading non-fiction accounts.
It wasn't cold or gloomy here in Tucson, and hardly ever is, but I spent last Saturday afternoon reading Karen Thompson Walker's "The Age of Miracles." Although I don't often read novels, preferring biographies, histories and other non-fiction, this book was utterly engrossing and thought provoking and I so wanted the story to keep going.
It wasn't cold or gloomy here in Tucson, and hardly ever is, but I spent last Saturday afternoon reading Karen Thompson Walker's "The Age of Miracles." Although I don't often read novels, preferring biographies, histories and other non-fiction, this book was utterly engrossing and thought provoking and I so wanted the story to keep going.
Young adult fiction CAN be incredibly fun. I love the "Divergent" series by Veronica Roth as well as the "Under the Never Sky" trilogy by Veronica Rossi.
Good post, Nice to see Edward Abbey on here. I also recommended his fun novel, "The Monkey Wrench Gang"
thank goodness....lol
Ooh, If Southern Writers were a genre, I'd pick:
"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
"Other Voices, Other Room" by Truman Capote
"To Kill a Mockingbird" Harper Lee
"Quite a Year for Plums" Bailey White
"A Childhood: The Biography of Place" Harry Crews
Other Rooms*
Tunnels by Roderick Gordon what more can I say than not what you expect when you read a older childrens book. A "Richard and Judy" childrens recomendation, now on instalment number 5. I'll be fighting my son for the final book when it comes out.
slightly off topic - but does anyone have the source for the room photo above? would love to see rest of the room.
Ooh, roseduggan: "A Confederacy of Dunces"! Good call! Required reading before any visit to New Orleans, for sure. I'd add "Golden Apples" by Eudora Welty to your Southern Writers genre list, too!
1. Classics
Belle du Seigneur by Albert Cohen -- it's a French language classic, which came out in '68 and won major awards, but was only translated into English in '96, and is practically unknown. It is set in Geneva, Switzerland, written by a former UN diplomat, and concerns a fictional Under-Secretary General at the League of Nations. It is in turns hilarious, seething, sexy and always brilliant. I'm only part-way through it's 900+ pages, but cannot put it down. Well worth finding. Plus, Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars in the movie version - because it is not familiar to English speakers, it has not found a North American distributor for either the 1.5 and 3 hour versions, but hopefully it will at least appear on dvd.
2. Romance
See Above, or watch this (it's been released in Russia):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJz-3-BYqlc
3. Mystery
The Martin Beck series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. These are the first police procedurals, and inspired the genre, but still feel fresh. And interesting peek into Swedish society, politics and culture in the '60s.
The Charlie Resnick novels by John Harvey -- It shows that he is a poet. Brilliantly written.
The Dutch Grijpstra and de Gier police procedurals of Janwillem van de Wettering --
>i>"He is doing what Simenon might have done if Albert Camus had sublet his skull."--John Leonard
4. Gothic
The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier -- A potion leads to time travel to the Middle Ages, but as a classic Du Maurier, suspense builds.
5.Travel Essays
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson -- Had me laughing out loud. One of my favorite books ever.
6. Westerns
The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe -- The first book of a trilogy, this is a brilliant western.
7. Humor
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett -- A hilarious account of what might happen were Queen Elizabeth to discover reading.
Green Grass, Running Water by Tom King -- Gentle humor, and insight into First Nations culture.
8. Young Adult Fiction
The Wizard of Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. LeGuin -- covers off science fiction too.
9. Cookbooks
New Moroccan by Mourad Lahlou -- his food memories and writings about the role of food in Moroccan life alone justify buying the book.
10. Helpful Non-Fiction
French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon -- You may assume it is a parenting book, but it's not -- it's a very interesting investigation into the differences in food attitudes and "rules" between the French and North Americans. It will change your attitudes towards how we eat and how we feed our kids.
John Green. Anything. I read all of his books last year and enjoyed them all. (I'm in my late 20s, for the record.)
Also, if you dig a little history, Bill Bryson's book At Home is a good read, and cozy at that.
Any list of YA needs John Green on it. Pick up "The Fault in Our Stars" and give it a read. Follow it up with "Looking for Alaska" and you may just see life in a new perspective. YA is for Anyone, don't let the genre throw you off.
digression: where's that lamp from??
Completely agree the YA is for everyone and the John Green is great.
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Gillian Flynn books are fascinating but full of characters I don't want to know.
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
So glad some classics are also included. To Kill a Mocking Bird is my all-time favorite and Gatsby is not far behind.
During a hard winter in the Midwest, I think it's comforting to re-read Laura Ingalls Wilder's "The Long Winter" and Lois Lenski's "Prairie School". Both were childhood favorites of mine, and the stories of survival during prairie blizzards help me put my own winter "blahs" in perspective.
One novel that I keep returning to is My Name is Asher Levi by Chaim Potok. This depiction of how an artist emerges in the midst of a very conservative religious community, always is a restorative. When I get too complacent, I remind myself of the creative power of chaos and Lilith by indulging in Asher Lev.
Neil Gaiman's graphic novels, short stories, and fictions are great, not sure how to categorize his work. For travel essays, Bill Bryson is the best. I've read all of his travel essays and they are humours and informative.
Hmm - Nancy Drew in YA? Of your YA list the only ones found in the YA section at my library are The Hunger Games series. The others are in Junior Fiction and Nancy Drew is read by 9 & 10 year at a rate of one per night. They are perfect if your adult reading is Harlequin Romances - easy language and predictable plots. There are many great reads in YA and JF. Check all sections of your local bookshop/library.
Hmm - Nancy Drew in YA? Of your YA list the only ones found in the YA section at my library are The Hunger Games series. The others are in Junior Fiction and Nancy Drew is read by 9 & 10 year at a rate of one per night. They are perfect if your adult reading is Harlequin Romances - easy language and predictable plots. There are many great reads in YA and JF. Check all sections of your local bookshop/library.
Yes, yes, yes to John Harvey's Charley Resnick novels.
You didn't have a category for short stories, so I forgot to mention it in my first post, but An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah is one of the best short story anthologies, ever. It is searing, funny, and sticks with you for a long time. Set mostly in Zimbabwe, the book demonstrates a stunning range.
It won the Guardian First Book Award, facing off against the top novel, non-fiction, and poetry nominees. Although it was a huge hit across Europe, Africa, and even got noticed in Australia, the North American publisher never marketed it, and so it got no notice here. So, an overlooked book well worth trying to find!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/dec/02/guardian-first-book-award-gappah
And -- graphic novels!! Yes!! My book club's favorite, bar none, is Persepolis (volumes 1 & 2). The animated feature length film narrated by Catherine Deneuve does it justice, and is also well-worth seeking out.
Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale. For those of you stuck in the snow, I reread it once while snow bound and it totally brought back the magic feeling a snow storm had for me as a child.
Bev, Nancy Drew's certainly for kids, but she's a hoot whether you're 10 or 100 :)
And what wonderful recommendations! I can't wait to check out these books!
Let me just second Norweigan Wood and the Wrinkle in Time series. They are some of my all time favorites! Some other good young adult novels are Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine and The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale.
Though I am sure this is not for the snowbound... Pete Hamill's Snow in August. Set shortly after WWII in Brooklyn, it is a wonderful tale of the friendship between a young Catholic boy and an Orthodox Rabbi, and well, there's a golem.
I'm reading the Wrinkle in Time series to my 9 year old, and it is a joy (re-reading your favorite kid books is one of the great bonuses of parenting!), as well as her Austin Family series.
There are so many amazing kids' books worth reading -- The Secret Garden, Silverwing, The Century Quartet (Ring of Fire, etc.,), Hugo Cabrat, Anne of Green Gables, Judy Blume's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and related books.
As well, the picture books of Peter Sis, especially his books Tibet, The Three Golden Keys, and The Wall, about growing up behind the Iron Curtain.
There are so many....
(You can just tell we have a book storage issue in our home, right?)
I really liked this book
If you have not re-read To Kill A Mockingbird since High School, you really should. It is my favorite all-time book and is really perfection. I'm getting ready to re-read Great Gatsby before the new movie comes out.
My favorite read as of late is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. WOW.
Have to add Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte), The Number of the Beast (Robert Heinlein....really anything by him for a light, entertaining read), Beauty (Robin McKinley) and the Belgariad series by David Eddings
I'm a big fan of checking out any photo books from the library, but I have to second Jane Eyre. I also like Martha Stewart back issues!
Ashley Erin Mayer
hell yeah PG Wodehouse! Life with Jeeves is fabulous also, of course.
Last time I super needed to escape I was in the middle of reading the Fellowship of the Ring. I finished it, stormed through the Two Towers and the Return of the King and then circled all the way back to the Silmarillion, followed by the Hobbit and then the trilogy again. It was intense but I'll be damned if Tolkien didn't do a great job of ejecting me from reality for a long, comprehensive, cozy few months. Tom Bombadil is a magnificent defense against OMW.