If you could make everyone read ONE book...

[Lori, Super Mod]

If you had the power to make everyone read ONE novel....
which novel would you choose?

I dont think I need to tell you all, since most of you already know :)

Blindness by Saramago

[Emma]

God, this is a tie between Stargirl or The Gemma Doyle Trilogy. (Please tell me I can cheat with the Trilogy).

[Charity]

Well, I'd love to say something cliché like To Kill a Mockingbird, but I know the U.S. Department of Education will slowly but surely make everyone read that.

And since it seems that most everyone has now picked up The Bell Jar, that's out.

I suppose I will go for The World According to Garp by John Irving because I found the characters to be some of the best literary characters I've ever read.

[Sherry]

Hmmm,that's a good question.If I could make them read one novel it would probably Music of Razors because I loved the cleverness and the style of writing but I wouldn't want to know if anyone hated it.It might kill the pleasure for me. :)

[Emma]

Oh, I can't help myself, The Gemma Doyle Trilogy. (Please, please, please tell me I can cheat).

[Chloe]

Charity, is Garp better than Owen Meany? I really didn't care for Owen Meany, but have been intending to give Irving another chance. I already have Cider House Rules, but I'm saving that until this winter.

One book that I really think everyone should read is Louis de Bernieres' Captain Corelli's Mandolin. It's just so beautiful and entertaining, I don't see how anyone could ever dislike it.

[Charity]

I honestly can't say, Logan. I haven't read Owen Meany yet. However, I also have The Cider House Rules that I am planning to read this fall. Garp is fabulous to me. The characters are all so quirky and layered that I fell in love with that book.

I love hearing you wax poetic about de Bernieres. I may just have to pick up Captain Corelli's Mandolin on my next jaunt to the bookstore.

I swear I keep talking about all the books I've been wanting to buy since we've moved and I've yet to venture out to buy any. My husband was talking about all the built-ins in our house and how it will take me no time to fill them up. I laughed and told him that extra storage is like elastic-waist pants...feels very roomy at first, but if you aren't careful, you'll be bursting at the seams in no time. :-)

[Kirsty]

Ok, I think this thread was a great idea, but the books in my TBR pile do not agree with me! They are rolling their eyes at me because I've just added all of these books to the pile. I already had Blindness and Gemma Doyle in there, but now I have 3 more!

[Carrie]

THE COLOR PURPLE
any Maya Angelou
any Toni Morrison, but especially SULA
A Thousand Splendid Suns

[Charity]

Okay...I already have The Color Purple & 3 Toni Morrison books on my shelf (Sula, Song of Solomon, and Beloved) to read. So I'll let you know what I think there.

I've already read all the Maya Angelou autobiographies (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is still my fave) and A Thousand Splendid Suns and I concur that they are most excellent picks.

[Christine]

Logan, I am a fan of Irving and a big fan of Owen Meany... but, I would have to say that Garp may be more enjoyable to a wider range of readers. I would recommend either books but I wouldn't say Garp is better. Definitely give it a chance tho. Just my two cents...

My vote for what to make everyone read would be The Color Purple. It's got strenth and character... and it's a great story that is soo hard to put down.

[Charity]

Jen, I can't help but notice that your TBR list keeps growing and growing...

[ScottK]

I hate to beat a dead Horse here cuz you all know I love this book .....but if I could only tell them one it would be Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. :)

[Jen]

Yes! Grrrrrr..... Did you notice me reading this thread and slowly adding EVERY ONE OF THE BOOKS???

After careful consideration, I'm going to say To Kill a Mockingbird. I somehow made it out of school without encountering the book so I cannot count on the Department of Education and everyone should experience Scout and Atticus Finch.

[Jen]

Go Scott! That's one of my all-time favorites.

[Cynthia]

The Cider House Rules was the first book by Irving that I read and loved it so I hope you guys do to...the only other book by him I've read so far is his first Setting Free the Bears which I hated so I'm glad I read TCHR first.


Of course my selection would be The Outlander series (can't pick one over the other) by Gabaldon.

[ScottK]

Jen ; It's too funny but I can not go a week with out recommending that book to someone. I am an easily exciteable guy but when I start to talk about it I get Goosebumps.I wish they would translate some more of his works for adults(if there even are any IDK). I heard through GR that he has some Children's books being translated.

[Lorena]

Scott, what is his first language?

[ScottK]

I believe he is from Barcelona (though he spent time here in the U. S.) so it would be Spanish I assume. The book is also set in Barcelona. The book says he has written 5 other Novels but dos not list the names. The translator is Lucia Graves.

[Lorena]

Cool! I have heard so many great things about him, I will look him up in Amazon market en Espanol ... thanks Scott!

[TheReadingKnitter/]

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

[ScottK]

De Nada :)

[Heather]

I'd make everyone read The Shadow of the Wind too! I love it so much I've been trying to teach myself to read Spanish so I can read it in its orginal language. I have one of his YA books in Spanish and I'm slowly progressing through it.

[Val]

I also loved Shadow of the Wind but I"m not sure yet which book i'd make everyone read.

[Meghann]

This Much I Know is True by Wally Lamb. I absolutely loved this book. I recommended it to a couple friends who also loved it.

[Lori]

Love the Shadow of the Wind. I bought a used copy in perfect condition after I finished reading a library copy. Had to have it.

However I would have people read Niccolo Rising.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

And after they read that one they'd obsessively continue with the rest of the series. Then they'd read The Lymond Chronicles. And then reread both series. Like I did!

[Kirsty]

Argh. Just been through and added more books to my TBR list! It's neverending! On the plus side, some of them were already in my list...

[Hayley]

I would suggest a couple fo books:-

Snow Falling on Cedars - this is a wonderfully written book and you can really identify with the characters.

IT by Stephen King - a classic book, I love the story of childhood friendship that runs throughout the book, as well as the scray parts.

The Shakespeare Secret - a great mystery and I love Shakespeare is reading this gave an interesting twist to the play-writer.

[Heather]

I was adding The Shakespeare Secret to my TBR list when I read the summary of it and realized I already read this book. I didn't recognize the title because my addition is titled "Interred with their Bones." I liked it because it was one of the fictional books where I learned something. I really enjoyed the plot about how popular Shakespeare was in America's West during the 1800's.

[Val]

The Shakespeare Secret sounds intriguing.

[Hayley]

Val, its really good and it was recommended to me by Kirsty and I'm glad she recommended it to me.

[[deleted user]]

Hey I'm new in here but trying to engage. I would go with Cynthia on Cider House Rules by John Irving. I read it 14 years ago and it has remained my favorite and made me into a die hard John Irving fan. I have actually had trouble getting into 3 of his books - Prayer for Owen Meany, Son of A Circus and Hotel New Hampshire. The first 2 I went back to and loved them and I will eventually get back to Hotel New Hampshire.

One book I read recently that I would HIGHLY recommend is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safron Foer.

[Val]

It seems to me that books that rouse emotion in people are either their favorite ever or the most hated. I think an exception seems to be To Kill A Mockingbird, so I'm going with that.

[Chloe]

Jeremy, good call. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is, by far, the most touching book I've read about the human cost of the 9/11 attacks. I loved it far more than I ever thought I would and it is such a leap of improvement from Foer's admittedly good Everything is Illuminated.

[JT]

Hmmm I would have to say East of Eden. It's such a great book - fascinating characters, great story, a real meaty novel. I love it!

[Lori]

I have Extremely Loud... on my to-read list. Now I'll get to it sooner!

[[deleted user]]

Wow, this really was the right group to join. I listed two of my favorite books that deeply impacted me and out comes East of Eden which is easily top five for me. So hard to make these choices.

Extremely Loud...is great for all the reasons Logan mentioned and the writing style is fresh.

[Jessika]

Although I also fell in love with The Shadow of the Wind, I would definitely have everyone read Left to Tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza.

It's the story told by Immaculée, who survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide of thousands of the Tutsi tribe and whose family was brutally murdered while she hid in a tiny bathroom for 90 days with 6 or 7 other women. Yet after all is said and done, her faith allowed her to forgive the perpetrators who caused so much pain and anguish in her world. It's an extremely powerful book and if everyone were to read it, this world would truly be a better place.

[Jenna]

I would make everyone read Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. It's an amazing book (actually a true story). The characters are wonderful and the story is great. It's a little long, but well worth it!

[Chloe]

Jenna, thank you! I always intend to recommend Shantaram but then get distracted by something shiny. I loved that story. I devoured it over the course of a three day weekend, during which my wife thought that I had gone catatonic except for the page-turning hand. I love the characters in that book, especially when the doctor is living in the slum. That book was the first that awakened my love for books set in India.

[Melanie]

What is the What by Dave Eggers and Lonesome Dove.

[Lori]

*sigh* Just added yet another book to my list: Shantaram. Logan, I too love books set in India.

[Chloe]

Lori, it's definitely a niche of literature that scratches an itch I didn't know I had. I see that you've read Ian McDonald's River of Gods, I really enjoyed that taste of Indian Sci-Fi. Have you ever read Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things or J.G. Ballard's The Siege of Krishnapur? Both of Vikram Chandra's books, Sacred Games and Red Earth & Pouring Rain are epic in scope and very rewarding once finished.

Also, I don't know if your love extends over to neighboring Pakistan, but I picked up Khamila Shamsie's Broken Verses on a lark a few years back and was absolutely blown away by the quality of writing and the great story inside.

[Mandy]

I'm planning on reading Shantaram pretty soon, can't wait after hearing that you guys liked it!!

[ScottK]

Alright Kids I just added The Shakespeare Secret and Shantaram to my TBR list .......this has got to stop (Just kidding, not really, if it had to stop I would just not come here anymore).

[Lori]

Should we all read it together? Maybe September?

[ScottK]

yeah yeah yeah .....wait what about August?

[Angela]

I just added Shantaram and The Shakespeare Secret to my to read list. I feel like I just joined this site two weeks ago and that list and at least doubled. Not that I'm complaining!

[Lori]

Scott, personally I will be going away for a week in August. So I am being selfish. Uh oh!

I'll start a new thread and ask who wants to join us and if August or September is best.

[ScottK]

Selfish is good.Not to be confused with shellfish because those I Loathe.........I will allow it