The World According to Cosmos

Category: book movie review

  • Review of the Blues and BIllie Armstrong By Roy Dufrain

    Review of the Blues and BIllie Armstrong By Roy Dufrain

    The Dead are Dead -Love Live the Dead

    Personal Note:

    I’ve known Roy for 50 years. We first met at UOP in Stockton, California in 1975 when we lived together in the Euclid House for three years with five other students—two girls and two guys. We were infamous for our weekly house parties, splitting bar duties and DJ responsibilities. Roy spun the Grateful Dead, and I played the blues, Tower of Power, funk, and Frank Zappa.  We consider ourselves a counter-cultural co-ed fraternity.

    We often held impromptu poetry slams, with Roy on blues harp and guitar while I ranted and raved about life. Over the years, we’ve kept in touch. Roy lived in Clear Lake for many years and recently “retired” to Alabama—of all places.

    The Blues and Billie Armstrong is his first novel, and I’m certain it won’t be his last. Roy is also a gifted musician and songwriter. He introduced me to the Grateful Dead, and I introduced him to Frank Zappa. While he never turned me into a true Deadhead, I stayed “Dead-adjacent,” so to speak We went once to a Frank Zappa concert, one of the wildest nights of my life, and that is another story for another time..

    📚 Check out my companion post for the full review and details!
    👉 [Link to Review]

    Title:
    🎸 The Blues and Billie Armstrong – A Novel That Sings the Truth 🎶

    Post:

    Roy Dufrain Jr’s The Blues and Billie Armstrong is a haunting, music-infused coming-of-age story set in the 1970s California. It’s about Archer King, a boy navigating grief, secrets, and the power of the Blues—only to face those ghosts decades later when Billie Armstrong, his rebellious stepsister, returns accused of murder.

    If you love novels that blend history, music, and redemption, this one’s for you.

    📚 Read more: Amazon Link
    ✍ Explore the author’s thoughts: Roy Dufrain on Substack

    Title:
    🎶 The Blues and Billie Armstrong: A Novel That Echoes Through Time

    Subtitle:
    Roy Dufrain Jr’s debut blends music, memory, and moral complexity into a story that feels both timeless and urgent.

    Introduction

    In The Blues and Billie Armstrong, Roy Dufrain Jr delivers a lyrical, haunting tale set against the turbulence of 1970s California. This is more than a novel—it’s a meditation on truth, identity, and the enduring power of music.

    Synopsis

    The story begins with Archer King, a thirteen-year-old grappling with his mother’s sudden death. His father’s quick remarriage introduces Billie Armstrong, a rebellious stepsister whose arrival shatters Archer’s fragile world. Together, they uncover old blues records and hidden love letters, sparking a quest that will unravel family secrets and test their loyalties.

    Decades later, Archer—now a Pulitzer-winning columnist—must confront the ghosts of his past when Billie resurfaces, accused of murder. To save her, Archer risks exposing truths that could destroy his career and identity.

    Characters

    • Archer King: A deeply sympathetic protagonist whose evolution forms the novel’s emotional core.
    • Billie Armstrong: Charismatic and unpredictable, embodying rebellion and freedom.
    • Hank Timmons: Archer’s mentor and local baseball hero, torn between ambition and morality.

    Themes & Style

    Dufrain explores grief, betrayal, and redemption with remarkable sensitivity. The Blues serves as both soundtrack and metaphor—a symbol of resilience and cultural memory.

    The End

    Substack

    Medium

    Wattpad

    Spotify

    The End

  • Cosmos’s Reading List 2025

    Cosmos’s Reading List 2025

    Cosmos’s Reading List 2025

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3L5

    Books Read 2024
    Cosmos Books Read 2021 Update
    1001 Books to Read Before You Die List

    Cosmos Books Read 2020

    Books read 2019

    books read during 2018

    Reading the Clasics Updated

    Cosmos Reading List 2022 Final Updates
    Reading TS Elliot
    Reading G Keith Chesterton

     

    2025 Reading Goals:

    200 books, 2,000 poems, etc total 3,000 to 4,000 books/poems/stories listed numerically and chronologically by month

    Read Classics finish reading books. You Must read series

    One Thriller Per Month

    One history/politics book per month

    Read A Lot More Poetry

    Read At Least One Book A Year in Spanish.

    Read At Least One Book A Year in Korean

    While in the States, get books from Little River Turnpike library,DC Library and from the Medford library using the following criteria

    One classic book

    One poetry book

    One Sci-fi book

    One history/politics book

    One current event book

    One thriller

     

    Buy the 2024 best SciFi read in the fall

    Buy the 2024 Best Poetry read in the fall

     

    Re-do Mod Po following Mod Po plus poems

    Start a different poetry course on Coursea

    Start and complete All poetry poetry courses

     

    Alternate between reading Kindle classics, poetry and other books

    I will try to finish reading classic books.  I have a collection from Kindle of 50 books to read before you die, in three volumes – 15O books in total. See the list below.  I have read many of them already which I have noted by bolding.  As I read them, I will add them to the chronological listing below, and also have the Harvard classic.  I had a hard copy set, but donated it, I have to read it on Kindle.  I will also continue to read lots of poetry from the Mod Po class, will do the slo-mo courses then re-do it in September, focusing on reading the additional poems I did not last time in Mod Po Plus.

    Numerical Listing

    Note: after reading each book, write a review for Bach’s Reading List and for Goodreads copy to my blog entry and cc Substack, Medium, Wattpad, Fan Story, and Writing.com.

    Then save under Review when posting on the blog post, Zamzar audio clip into the blog piece, and do Spotify and Substack podcasts, later Threads and YouTube vblog starting in the fall

     Before reading ask Co-pilot the following questions

    Please provide a synopsis, list of characters, author bio and list of books by the author, plus literary reputation.   please do not format to make it easier to cut and paste

    The List

     

    Fiction

     

    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia From 50 Books Volume One

    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening From 50 Books Volume One

    Cummings, E. E.: The Enormous Room. From 50 Books Volume One

    Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie  From 50 Books Volume One

    Janet Evanovich Plum Lucky Camp H library In Progress

    Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg,  the Job – Camp H Library

    Bobby Palmer Isaac and the Egg

    Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones TBC

    Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary TBC  From 50 Books Volume One

    Flaubert, Gustave: Sentimental Education TBC  From 50 Books Volume One

    Ford, Ford Madox: The Good Soldier TBC  From 50 Books Volume One

    Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls TBC  From 50 Books Volume One

    Gorky, Maxim: The Mother TBC  From 50 Books Volume One

    Huxley, Aldous: Crome Yellow TBC  From 50 Books Volume One

    James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady TBC  From 50 Books Volume One

    JM Baarre  Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) TBC From 50 Books Volume Two

    BM Bower – Cabin Fever  TBC   TBC From 50 Books Volume Two

    Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two

    Hodgson Burnett A Little Princess  TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two

    -Robert William Chambers  The King in Yellow  TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two

    Wilkie Collins  The Woman in White  TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two

    Richard Connell The Most Dangerous Game  TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two

    Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, 6th Edition. TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two

    Margaret Deland The Iron Woman  TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two

    Andrew Lang  The Arabian Nights  TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two

    Michael Proust- Swann’s Way   TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two

    Emerson American Civilization (1862)

    Upton Sinclair It Can’t Happen Here 

    James Rollins Arkangel fairfax library

    Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child The Wheel of Darkness fairfax library

    Kaline Bradley the Ministry of Time fairfax library

    Preston and Child Relic (1995)

    Preston and Child Relic Reliquary (1997)

    Preston and Child Relic The Cabinet of Curiosities (2002)

    Preston and Child Relic The Book of the Dead (2006) 

    Preston and Child Relic The Obsidian Chamber (2016)

    Preston and Child Relic Riptide (1998)

    James Rollins Map of Bones (2005)

    James Rollins Black Order (2006)

    James Rollins The Judas Strain (2007)

    James Rollins The Last Oracle (2008)

    James Rollins The Doomsday Key (2009)

    James Rollins The Devil Colony (2010)

    James Rollins The Eye of God (2013)

    James Rollins The 6th Extinction (2014)

    James Rollins The Bone Labyrinth (2015)

    James Rollins The Seventh Plague (2016)

    James Rollins The Demon Crown (2017)

    James Rollins The Last Odyssey (2020)

    James Rollins Kingdom of Bones (2022)

    James Rollins Arkangel (2024)

    James Rollins Subterranean (1999)

    James Rollins Excavation (2000)

    James Rollins Deep Fathom (2001)

    James Rollins Amazonia (2002) 

    James Rollins Riptide (1998)

    John Connolly and Jenifer Ridyard Conquest Chronicles of the Invasion Medford Library

    John Connolly and Jenifer Ridyard Empire Medford Library

    John Connolly and Jenifer Ridyard  Dominon Medford Library

     

     

    Harlan Corbin Books

     Think Twice (2024)

    🔹 Tell No One (2001)]

    Gone for Good (2002)

    The Innocent (2005)

    The Stranger (2015)

     

    O Henry Stories Medford Library

                                 

    From the four Million

    Gift Of The Magi

    A Cosmopolitan In A Cafe.

    The Skylight Room.

    Man About Town.

    The Love Philtre Of Ikey Schoenstein

    Mammon And The Archer 

    Springtime Ala Carte.

    From The Cabbie Seat.  

    An Unfinished Story.

    The Romance Of A Busy Broker.

    After 20 Years.

    The Furnished Room.

    From Heart of the West

    Hearts And Crosses.

    The Ransom Of Mack.

    Telemachus, Friend .

    Handbook Of Hymen.

    Hygeia At The Solito.

    From the Gentle Grafter

    The Hand That Riles  The World.

    The Exact Science Of Matrimony

    Conscience In Art.

    From Cabbages and Kings

    The Lotus and the bottle.

    Shoes.

    Ships.

    Masters of Arts.

    From Options

    The Rose of Dixie.

    A poor rule.

    On the Sixes and Sevens

     

    The Last Troubadours.

    Makes The Whole World Kin

    Jimmy Hayes And Muriel

    The Adventures Of Shamrock Jolnes.

    From Rolling Stones.

     

    The Friendly Call.

    Sound and fury.

    From the Whirlgigs

    The Theory And The Hound.

    The Ransom Of Red Chief 

    The Whirligig Of Life.

    Have Back Blackjack Order.

    $1.00 Worth

    From the Voice of the City

     

    A Lickpenny Lover.

    Doughtery’ eye Opener.

    The Defeat Of The City.

    The Shocks Of Doom.

    Squaring The Circle.

    The Momento.

    From the Trimmed Lamp

    From the trimmed lamp.

    The Trimmed Lamp 

    Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen.

    The Making Of A New Yorker.

    A Harlem Tragedy.

    The Last Leaf.

    The Count And The Wedding Guest

    From Strictly Business

    .The Robe of Peace.

    A Ramble in Aphasia

    A Night In New Arabia.

    Proof Of The Pudding.

    From Waifes and Strays

     

    Hearts and Hands

     

    Non-Fiction

     

    Declaration of Independence

    Judge Luttridge 27 Principles from the Declaration of Independence

     

    DC Library December 10, 2025

     

    George Stewart Earth Abides

    Joseph Finder The Oligarch’s Daughter

    Ward Larsen Deep Fake

    Robert Charles Wilson Julian Comstock A Story of 20th Century America

     

    Poetry

    Anne Frank

    1. Anne Frank’s Tree
    2. Anne Frank’s Tree

    Entou

    1. Thunder and Lightning
    2. Almost Dead

    Lawrencealot

    1. Throw Away Jay’s Way

    Linda Varsell Smith

    1. Pathway

    Robert Brewer Writers Digest

    1. Robert Lee Brewer – Give Me a Reason Zejel
    2. An Old Hymn Still Singing Zejel

    Elegy

    1. David Romano’s “When Tomorrow Starts With Me”
    2. H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues”
    3. John Milton’s “Lycidas”
    4. Mary Oliver’s “In Blackwater Woods”
    5. Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong”
    6. Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain”

    Haiku

    1. Gypsy Blue Rose – Cows Wander at Night
    2. Zebras Zeal Gallop

    Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century Poetry

    1. Edward Lee Masters – The Hill
    2. Fiddler Jones
    3. Petite The Poet

    Edwin Arlington Robinson

    1. Edwin Arlington Robinson
    2. Miniver Cheevy
    3. Flood’s Party

    James Weldon Johnson

    1. James Weldon Johnson
    2. The Creation

    Paul Laurence Dunbar

    1. The Poet
    2. Life
    3. Life’s Tragedy

    Robert Frost – Mod Po Selection

    1. The Death of the Hired Man
    2. Mending Wall
    3. Birches
    4. Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening
    5. Tree in My Window
    6. Directive

    Amy Lowell

    1. Patterns

    Gertrude Stein – Mod Po Selections

    1. Susie Asado
    2. From Tender Buttons – A Box
    3. From Tender Buttons – A Plate

    Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson

    1. I Sit and Sew

    Carl Sandburg

    1. Grass
    2. Cahoots

    Wallace Stevens – Mod Po Selections

    1. Peter Quince at the Clavier
    2. Disillusionment of 10:00
    3. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
    4. The Emperor of Ice Cream
    5. A Mere Being

    Angelina Weld Grimke

    1. Angelina Weld Grimke
    2. Fragment

    William Carlos Williams – Mod Po Selections

    1. Tact
    2. Dance Ruse
    3. The Yachts
    4. From Apostle that Greeny Flower Book 1, Lines 1 to 92

    Sara Teasdale

    1. Moonlight
    2. There Will Come Soft Rains

    Ezra Pound

    1. The Jewel Stairs’ Grievance
    2. The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter
    3. In a Station of the Metro
    4. Hugh Selwyn Mauberley
    5. From Cantos: 56 Libretto – Yet Ere This Season Died A Cold

    Hilda Doolittle (H.D.) – Mod Po Selections

    1. Sea Rose
    2. Helen
    3. From The Walls Do Not Fall – An Incident Here and There
    4. From Hermeneutic Definition Red Rose and A Beggar – Why Did You Come?
    5. Take Me Anywhere
    6. Venus

    Robinson Jeffers

    1. Gala in April
    2. Shine, Perishing Republic
    3. Clouds at Evening
    4. Credo

    Marianne Moore

    1. Fish
    2. Poetry

    T.S. Eliot

    1. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
    2. The Wasteland

    Claude McKay

    1. If We Must Die
    2. The Harlem Dancer

    Archibald MacLeish

    1. Ars Poetica

    Edna St. Vincent Millay

    1. First Fig
    2. Recuerdo
    3. E. Cummings
    4. In Just-
    5. Buffalo Bill
    6. The Cambridge Ladies Who Lived in Furnished Souls
    7. Next to, Of Course, God, America
    8. Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond
    9. Rpophessagr

    Jean Toomer

    1. Reapers
    2. November Cotton Flower
    3. Portrait in Georgia

    Louise Bogan

    1. Medusa
    2. New Moon

    Melvin B. Tolson

    1. Dark Symphony
    2. From Harlem Gallery: Psi – Black Boys, Let Me Get Up From The White Man’s Table

    Hart Crane

    1. From The Bridge
    2. Poem: To Brooklyn Bridge
    3. From The Bridge – Section XI: Powhatan’s Daughter – The River

    Robert Francis

    1. Silent Poem

    Langston Hughes

    1. The Negro Speaks of Rivers
    2. I, Too, Sing America
    3. Dream Boogie
    4. Harlem

    Countee Cullen

    1. Incident
    2. To John Keats, Poet, At Spring Time
    3. Yet Do I Marvel
    4. From The Dark Tower

    Stanley Kunitz

    1. Father and Son
    2. The Portrait
    3. Touch Me
    4. H. Auden
    5. Musée des Beaux arts
    6. Epitaph on a Tyrant

    Theodore Roethke

    1. My Papa’s Waltz
    2. The Waking
    3. In a Dark Time

    Charles Olson

    1. From The Maximus Poems: One – Maximus of Gloucester, To You
    2. The Distances

    Elizabeth Bishop

    1. The Fish
    2. Sestina
    3. First Death in Nova Scotia
    4. Visit to St. Elizabeths
    5. One Art

    Robert Hayden

    1. Middle Passage
    2. Those Winter Sundays
    3. Frederick Douglass

    Muriel Rukeyser

    1. Effort at Speech Between Two People
    2. Then I Saw What the Calling Was
    3. The Poem as Mask

    Delmore Schwartz

    1. The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me

    John Berryman

    1. From The Dream Songs
    2. Feeling Your Compact and Delicious Body
    3. Life, Friends, Is Boring. We Must Not Say So
    4. There Shut Down Once
    5. This World is Gradually Becoming a Place
    6. Henry’s Understanding

    Randall Jarrell

    1. 90 North
    2. The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
    3. The Woman at the Washington Zoo
    4. Next Day

    Weldon Kees

    1. To My Daughter

    Dudley Randall

    1. A Different Image

    William Stafford

    1. Traveling through the Dark
    2. At the Bomb Testing Site

    Ruth Stone

    1. Scars

    Margaret Walker

    1. For My People

    Gwendolyn Brooks – Mod Po Selection

    1. The Mother
    2. A Song in the Front Yard
    3. The Bean Eaters
    4. The Lovers of the Poor
    5. We Real Cool
    6. The Blackstone Rangers

    Robert Lowell

    1. To Speak of Woe That Is in Marriage
    2. Skunk Hour
    3. For the Union Dead

    Robert Duncan

    1. Often I Am Permitted to Return to a Meadow
    2. My Mother Would Be a Falconress

    Lawrence Ferlinghetti

    1. Populist Manifesto

    William Meredith

    1. Parents

    Howard Nemerov

    1. Because You Asked About the Line Between Prose and Poetry

    Hayden Carruth

    1. The Hyacinth Gardens in Brooklyn
    2. August 1945

    Richard Wilbur

    1. Love Calls Us to the Things of This World
    2. Cottage Street
    3. The Writer

    James Dickey

    1. The Sheep Child

    Allen Ginsberg

    1. Howl

    Richard Hugo

    1. Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg
    2. The Freaks at Spurgin Road Field
    3. The Poem Unwritten
    4. Cademon
    5. Swan in Falling Snow
    6. Who Is Simpson?
    7. American Poetry

    Carolyn Kizer

    1. A Muse of Water

    Kenneth Koch

    1. Fresh Air

    Maxine Kumin

    1. Morning Swim

    Gerald Stern

    1. Behaving Like a Jew
    2. The Dancing
    3. Another Insane Devotion
    4. R. Ammons
    5. The City Limits
    6. Corsons Inlet

    Robert Bly

    1. Snowfall in the Afternoon
    2. Driving into Town to Mail a Letter
    3. Walking from Sleep

    Robert Creeley

    1. The Flower
    2. I Know a Man
    3. The Language
    4. The Rain
    5. Bresson’s Movies

    John Merrill

    1. Victor Dog
    2. Steps

    Frank O’Hara – New York School

    1. Lana Turner Has Collapsed
    2. The Day Lady Died

    John Ashbery – New York School

    1. Some Trees
    2. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror
    3. What Is Poetry?

    Galway Kinnell

    1. The Bear
    2. After Making Love We Hear Footsteps
    3. Saint Francis and the Sow
    4. S. Merwin
    5. Air
    6. For the Anniversary of My Death
    7. Yesterday
    8. Chord

    James Wright

    1. A Blessing
    2. Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio
    3. Lying in a Hammock at

    Wes Merwin

    1. Air
    2. For the Anniversary of My Death

     

    1. Yesterday
    2. Chord
    3. A Blessing

     

    1. Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, OH
    2. Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, MN
    3. In Response to the Rumor That Otis Warehouse in Wheeling, WV Has Been Condemned
    4. My Son, My Executioner
    5. Digging
    6. Rowing

     

    1. Orion Planetarium
    2. A Valedictorian Forbidding Mourning
    3. From 21 Love Poems 13 The Rules of Break Like a Thermometer

    Gregory Corsa

    1. Marriage

    Gary Snyder

    1. Hay for the Horses
    2. Riprap
    3. Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout

    Derek Walcott

    1. A Far Cry from Africa
    2. Sea Grapes
    3. Find the Schooner Flight Part 11 After the Storm. There’s a Fresh Light That Follows
    4. The Light of the World
    5. From Omeros Book. 7. 44 I Sing of Quiet, Achilles, Afrolabe’s Son

    Miller Williams

    1. Let Me Tell You

    Etheridge Knight

    1. Idea of Ancestry

    Amira Baraka, Leroy Jones

    1. Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note
    2. Agony As Now
    3. SOS
    4. Black Art

    Ted Berrigan

    1. Wrong Rain
    2. A Final Sonnet

    Audre Lorde

    1. Power

    Sonia Sanchez

    1. Poetry at 30

    Mark Strand

    1. The Prediction
    2. The Night, The Porch

    Russell Edson

    1. A Stone Is Nobody’s

    Mary Oliver

    1. Singapore
    2. The Summer Day

    Charles Wright

    1. Reunion
    2. Dead Color
    3. California Dreaming

    Lucille Clifton

    1. Homage to My Hips
    2. At Least at Last We Killed the Roaches
    3. The Death of Fry, Alfred Clifton

    June Jordan

    1. Home About My Rights

    Frederick Seidel

    1. 1968
    2. K. Williams
    3. Find My Window
    4. Blades

    Tony Hoagland

    1. The Mechanic

    Michael S. Harper

    1. Dear John, Dear Coltrane
    2. Last Affair. Bessie’s Blues Song
    3. Grandfather
    4. Nightmare Begins Responsibility

    Charles Simic

    1. Stone
    2. Fork
    3. Classic Ballroom Dances

    Paula Gunn Allen

    1. Grandmother

    Frank Bidart

    1. Ellen West

    Carl Dennis

    1. Spring Letter
    2. Two or Three Wishes

    Stephen Dunn

    1. Allegory of the Cave
    2. Tucson

    Robert Pinsky

    1. History of My Heart
    2. The Questions
    3. Samurai Song

    James Welch

    1. Christmas Comes to Moccasin Flat

    Billy Collins

    1. Introduction to Poetry
    2. The Dead

    Toi Derricotte

    1. The Weakness

    Stephen Dobyns

    1. How to Like It?
    2. Lullaby

    Robert Hass

    1. Song
    2. That Photographer?
    3. Return of Robinson Jeffers

    Lyn Hejinian

    1. From My Life: Trim with Colored Ribbons
    2. H. Fairchild
    3. The Machinist Teaching His Daughter to Play the Piano

    Haki R. Madhubuti (Don L. Lee)

    1. But He Was Cool or Even Stopped for Green Lights
    2. Upon To Compliment Other Poems

    William Matthews

    1. In Memory of the Utah Stars
    2. The Accompanist

    Sharon Olds

    1. The Language of the Brag
    2. The Lifting

    Henry Taylor

    1. Barbed Wire

    Tess Gallagher

    1. Black, Silver
    2. Under Stars

    Michael Palmer

    1. I Do Not

    James Tate

    1. The Lost Pilot

    Norman Dubie

    1. Elizabeth’s War with the Christmas Bear
    2. The Funeral

    Carol Muske Dukes

    1. August, Los Angeles Lullaby

    Kay Ryan

    1. Turtle
    2. Bestiary

    Larry Levis

    1. Childhood Ideogram
    2. Winter Stars

    Adrian C. Louis

    1. Looking for Judas
    2. How Much Lux?
    3. The People of the Other Village

    Marilyn Nelson

    1. The Ballad of Aunt Geneva
    2. Star Fix

    Ai

    1. Cuba 1963
    2. The Kid
    3. Finished

    Yusef Komunyakaa

    1. Thanks
    2. To Do Street
    3. Facing It
    4. Nude Interrogation

    Nathaniel Mackey

    1. Song of the Andoumboulou

    Gregory Orr

    1. Gathering the Bones Together
    2. Two Lines from the Brother Grimm
    3. Origin of the Marble Forest

    Robert Hill Long

    1. Reaching Yellow River

    Albert Goldbarth

    1. Away

    Heather McHugh

    1. Language Lesson 1976
    2. What He Thought

    Leslie Marmon Silko

    1. In Cold Storm Light

    Olga Broumas

    1. Calypso

    Victor Hernández Cruz

    1. Latin & Soul

    Jane Miller

    1. Miami Heart

    David St. John

    1. Iris
    2. D. Wright
    3. Why Ralph Refuses to Dance
    4. Girlfriend Poem #3
    5. Crescent

    Carolyn Forché

    1. Taking Off My Clothes

    Jorie Graham

    1. San Sepolcro

    Marie Howe

    1. What the Living Do

    Joy Harjo

    1. She Had Some Horses
    2. My House Is the Red Earth

    Garrett Hongo

    1. The Legend

    Andrew Hudgins

    1. Begotten
    2. We Were Simply Talking

    Brigit Pegeen Kelly

    1. Imaging Their Own Hymns
    2. Song

    Paul Muldoon

    1. Meeting the British
    2. Errata
    3. The Throwback

    Judith Ortiz Cofer

    1. Quinceanera

    Rita Dove

    1. Parsley
    2. Daystar
    3. After Reading Mickey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed

    Alice Fulton

    1. Our Calling

    Barbara Hamby

    1. Thinking of Galileo
    2. Hatred

    Mark Jarman

    1. Unholy Sonnet

    Naomi Shihab Nye

    1. The Traveling Onion
    2. Arabic
    3. Wedding Cake

    Alberto Ríos

    1. Nani
    2. England Finally Like My Mother Always Said We Would

    Laurie Sheck

    1. Nocturne Blue Waves
    2. The Unfinished

    Gary Soto

    1. Field Poem
    2. Oranges
    3. Black Hair

    Susan Stewart

    1. Yellow Star and Ice
    2. The Forest

    Mark Doty

    1. Brilliance
    2. Esta Noche
    3. Bill’s Story

    Harryette Mullen

    1. Black Nikes

    Franz Wright

    1. Alcohol

    Lorna Dee Cervantes

    1. To My Brother
    2. Love of My Flesh, Living Death

    Sandra Cisneros

    1. My Wicked, Wicked Ways
    2. Little Clowns, My Heart

    Cornelius Eady

    1. Jack Johnson Does the Eagle Rock
    2. Crows in a Strong Wind
    3. I’m a Fool to Love You

    Louise Erdrich

    1. Indian Boarding School: The Runaways

    David Mason

    1. Spooning

    Marilyn Chin

    1. How I Got That Name
    2. Compose Near the Bay Bridge
    3. The Survivor

    Cathy Song

    1. The Youngest Daughter

    Annie Finch

    1. Another Reluctance
    2. Insert

    Li-Young Lee

    1. The Gift
    2. Eating Together

    Carl Phillips

    1. Our Lady
    2. As from a Quiver of Arrows

    Nick Flynn

    1. Bag of Mice
    2. Cartoon Physics

    Elizabeth Alexander

    1. The Venus Hottentot

    Reetika Vazirani

    1. From White Elephants
    2. A Million Balconies
    3. Train Windows

    Sherman Alexie

    1. What the Orphan Inherits
    2. The Powwow at the End of the World

    Natasha Trethewey

    1. Hot Combs
    2. Amateur Fighter
    3. Flounder
    4. E. Stallings
    5. The Tantrum

    Joana Klink

    1. Spare

    Brenda Shaughnessy

    1. Postfeminism
    2. Your One Good Dress

    Kevin Young

    1. Quivira City Limits
    2. Everywhere is Out of Town
    3. Whatever You Want

    Terrance Hayes

    1. At Pegasus
    2. Lady Sings the Blues

    Terrance Hayes

    1. At Pegasus
    2. Lady Sings the Blues

    Pablo Neruda

    1. Viente Poemas De Amor Poems of Love 1924
    2. Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening
    3. Cuerpo De Mujer (Body of a Woman)
    4. Ah Vastness of Pines
    5. Leaning Into the Afternoon
    6. Every Day You Play
    7. Thinking, Tingling Shadows
    8. Tonight I Write
    9. Pablo Neruda, “Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines”

    Gypsy Blue Rose

    1. Gypsy Blue Rose Light of the Bright Moon
    2. Gypsy Blue Rose Love Birds
    3. Gypsy Blue Rose I see you dance across life’s stage
    4. Gypsy Blue Rose Adrift Cherita

    Jejeu

    1. Gypsey Blue Rose Over Green Hills a limpid brook flows
    2. Pillow Woman
    3. Steady Breathing warms my Neck
    4. Brian Compton Might I Interject AHD

     

    Judi Van Godner

    Sioux

    1. Mask
    429.               Angel’s Dilemma

    430.               Where Frogs Are

    431.               Garland Seox

    Quin Jejeu Chinese Form

    432.               Ishikawa Jozan Mount Fuji

    433.               Cheng Hao Autumn Moon

    434.               Gyspy Rose BLue

    Waka

    Gyspy Rose blue Geologist

    435.

    Free Verse

    436.               Sierra Scribbler BLISS

    437.               Crookston 2 Daffodil

    438.               Noland Reflections

    Bragi

    439.               Judi Van Gorder Persimmon

    440.               Linda Versa Smith The snowplow heaves snow banks so high

    Lune

    441.               Robert Brewster  Trees Never Wander Lune

    Rondel

    442.               Lady And Louis Two Silver Rings Rondel

    443.               Mountainwriter49 Forever In My Heart Rondel

    Abhanga

    444.               Judi Can Gorder Incomplete Abhanga

    445.               Judi Can Gorder  Magic Moment abhanga

    446.               Rachael the Library is Wwhere Abhanga

    447.               Astrologically Speaking Aghanga

    448.               Tukaram, Words Are The Only Jewels I possess Ahanga

    Writing Com reviews

    449.               Dean Koontz Dragon Tears

    450.                Harlan Ellison“A Boy And His Dog.”

    451.               Fritz Leiber“Spacetime For Springers,”

    452.               Matt Griffin “Schrodinger’s Cat”

    453.                Larry Niven, Rescue Party,

    454.               Azimuth R. Daneel Olivaw

    455.               Roger Zelazny For A Breath I Tarry

    456.                Genesis

    457.                Goethe’s Faust

    458.               E. Housman A Shropshire Lad

    459.                     Keith Laumer“Combat Unit”

    460.                                                           Eregon Proofreading Hell

    461.                                                             Christine B Demonstration of Proof

    462.               Allen Charles A Love Beyond Pain

    463.               Professor Moriatty’s True Confession

    464.               Bobby Lou Steveson Vanwolf

    465.               Beholden Seven

    466.               WD Wilcox Valkyrie

    467.               Kare Enga Pasta Alfredo Please

    468.               Gervic A Hawk’s Gift

    469.               Sumojo Vexatious Valentine

    470.               Cubby on the Road Again, Clinging Hearts

    471.               Peris Throckmortorf Hearts and Darts

    472.               Fye a Simple Blue Note Book

    Manardina

    473.                                                            Lawrencealot – Do All Deceive (Form: Manardina)

    Free Verse

    474.               Kafka The Metamorpousis

    475.               John Gardner Grendel Old English Beowulf

    476.               John Gardner, The Art Of Fiction

    477.                Walt Whitman“Song of Myself.”

    478.                William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow”

    479.                William Carlos Williams’“This Is Just to Say”

    480.               Gwendoly Brooks’ “We Real Cool.”

    481.               TS Elliot the Waste Land

    482.               Sylvia Plath Daddy

    483.               Wallace Stevens Disissluionment of Ten O Clock

    484.               Allen Ginsberg America

    485.               David Ryan Do Not Resuscitate

    Etheree

    486.               Judi Van Gorder Etheree

    487.               Andrea Dietrich Your Wild Awakening

    488.               Andrea Dietrich Anonymous Solitude

    489.               Andrea Dietrich The Lair

    490.               Marie Summer Red Poppy

    491.               Marie Summer Blurred Vision (Double Reversed Etheree)

    492.               Marie Summer Ashen Despair (Double Reversed Etheree)

    Zen Haiku

    493.                ]

    494.               Gypsy Blue Rose at night zen haiku

    495.                Gypsy Blue Rose at the Bay zen Haiku

    Japanese Love Poems

     

    496.                Gypsy Blue Rose When I am Gone Japanese Love Poem

    knitelvers

    497.               Judi Van Gorder How Many Times  Knitelvers

    498.               Larencealot Riskless Investment (Knittelvers)

    499.               EE Cummings 24 Xaipe One Day a Nigger Caught in his Hand

    500.                EE Cummings 48 Xiaipe A kite is the Most Dangerous Machine

    TH Palmer

    501.               TH Palmer  Try Again

    Clerihew

    502.               E Clerihew Bentley Sir Humphrey Davy

    503.               Dan, I Am Taylor Swift

    504.               Alan Mc Alpine Douglas The Road Runner

    505.               James Dean Chase Diana Dalton

    506.               James Dean Chase Corporal Klinger

    507.               Judi Van Gorder  The King Of Pop

    508.               Judi Van Gorder Ms. Amber Heard

    509.               Frank Gibbard  Royal

    510.               Jay O Toole Clerihew Bob Denver

    511.                     James And Marie Summers Garfield The Cat

    512.                     Linda Varsell Smith Supreme Wordster

    513.                   Linda Varsell Smith Electrifying Inventor

     

    Tanka  

    514.                   Princess Nukada I wait for you

    515.                   Takuboku I Shut My Eyes

    516.                   Judi Van Gordner Chill of Soundless Night

    517.                   Dendrobia A cool wind blows in

    518.                   Can Sonmez Subtle hints of spring

    519.                   Cheri L. Ahner Peaceful solitude

    520.                   Ono no Komachi (825-900) Tanka –

    521.                   Ono No Komachi See how the blossoms

    522.                    Tada Chimako

    523.                A Spray of Water: Tanka

    524.                 June Jordan On Time Tanka

    525.                                                           Ono No Komachi The Ink Dark Moon Tanaka

    526.                                                           Mrs. KT Early Spring Rains Thrum

    Other famous poems

     

    527.                John Donne, “The Sun Rising”

    528.                 Emily Dickinson, “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain 

    529.                 Richard Brautigan Gee You’r So Beautiful That is starting to rain

    530.                 Chief Seattle Man Does not weave this web of life he is merely a strand of it What he does to the web, he does to himself

    531.                   Anita Shreve A house with any kind of age will have dozens of stories to tell. I suppose if a novelist could live long enough, one could base an entire oeuvre on the lives that weave in and out of an antique house.

    532.                   Anita Shreve A house with any kind of age will have dozens of stories to tell. I suppose if a novelist could live long enough, one could base an entire oeuvre on the lives that weave in and out of an antique house.

    533.                   Benjamin Franklin You may delay, but time will not

    534.                   Bill Keane Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present

    535.                   Geoffrey Chaucer Time and tide wait for no man.

    536.                   Horrace Mann Lost – yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever.

    537.                     Nora Robert’s Three Fates The past is but a thread in the tapestry of our future

    Mad Cow Pastoral Poem

    538.                     Lawrencealot (December 18, 2014) Waiting for Us

    539.                     John Keats’s Odes to a Nightingale

    540.                     Joyce Kilmer Trees

    541.               Anonymous They Learn What We Live

    542.                Edward Lear’s the Owl and the Pussy Cat

    TS Elliot

    543.               T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock  “   

    Allen Ginsberg

    544.               Allen Ginsberg Howl

    Lune

    545.               Robert Brewster Trees Never Wander Kelly Lune

    546.               Robert Brewster  An Envelope Labeled Collum Lune

    Pantoum

     

    547.               John Ashberry Hotel Lautréamont

    548.               Natalie Diaz My Brother At 3 A.M

    549.               Denrobia Osprey

    550.               Natalie E Illum Curious George Can’t Swim: A Pantoum

    551.               Blass Falconer A Ride in the Rain

    552.               Judi Van Gorder the Wanderer’s Return

    553.               Judi Van Gorder Seamrog

    554.               Judi Van Gorder Hello Goodbye

    555.               Maria Hummel Station

    556.               Kiandra Jimenez Halcyon Kitchen

    557.               Donald Justice Pantoum of the Great Depression

    558.               Chip Liningston Punta Del Este Pantoum

    559.               Hailey Leithauser O, She Says

    560.               Randal Mann Politics

    561.               Randal Mann Pantoum

    562.               Sally Ann Roberts It All Started with a Packet of Seeds

    563.               Clinton Scollard In The Sultan’s Garden

    564.               David Scheider Pins and Needles

    565.               Evie Shockl

    566.               ey Pantoum Landing, 1975

    567.               Linda Vsrsell Smith Our Changing Cosmic Fabric

    568.               Linda Varsell Smith Grandchildren are Rainbow-light

    569.                   Linda Varsell Smith an Eccentric Grandma

    570.                   Linda Varsell Smith Mole Hole Mode

    571.                   Linda Varsell Smith When Saturn Returned

    572.                   Linda Varsell Smith In Gardens of Earthly Delights

    573.                      Linda Varsell Smith Pantoum: Western version of a Malaysian

    574.                     E Stallings Another Lullaby For Insomniacs

    575.                     Marie Summers Celestial Dreams

    576.                     Marie Summers Seasonal Whispers

    577.                     Sasha Steensen Pantoum

    578.                   Chellie Wood Dance In The Rain

    579.                   Robert Lukeman Life – A Marriane Poem

    580.                   Gypsy Rose Blue Billowing Clouds Chain Haiku’

    581.                     Yamanoue no Okura When I eat Mellons Choka

    582.               anonymous They Learn What We Live

    Acrostic 

    583.               Gabriella 2 Masqueraders

    584.               .Dportwood Rejoice in Life

    585.                .Dportwood Boots and Spur

    Funny Poems

    586.               Anne Scott Missing

    587.               Shel Silverstein Messy Room

    588.               My One-Eyed Love” by Andrew Jefferson

    589.               Larry Huggins Doggy Heaven

    590.               Cynthia C. Naspinksi Our Imperfect Dog”

    591.                    Shelby Greer “The Life of a Cupcake”

    592.                    Joanna Fuchs Yes! No!”

    593.                    Cecilia L. Goodbody “Tinkle, Tinkle, Little Car”

    594.                   Robert Lewis Stevenson My Shadow”

    595.                   “I Atte a Chili Pepper” by Barbara Vance

    596.                   Snap, Crackle, Pop” by Catherine Pulsifer

    597.                    Ogden Nash “The People Upstairs”

    598.                   Spike Milligan “Granny”

    599.                    Julie Hebert ” Dessert Last”

    600.                     Richard Leavesley “Belly Button Magic”

    601.                   Anonymous  “Have You Ever Seen”

    602.                    Laura Elizabeth Richards “Ele telephony”

    603.                    Anonymous “Do You Carrot All For Me?”

    604.                     Darren Sardelli “My Doggy Ate My Essay”

    605.                   Jack Prelutsky “Be Glad Your Nose is On Your Face”

    606.                   Gelett Burgess “My Feet”

    607.                     Inna Renko “Home Alone”

    608.                     Nandita Shailesh Shanbhag Not Smart Enough For a Smart Phone”

     

    LImericks

    609.                   Edwar Lear Sit variorum megrim evacuation

    610.                    Unknown There was a young lady of Niger

    611.                   Judi Van Gorder The parrot was messy and loud.

    612.                   Judi Van Gorder An Irishman came to my city

    613.                   Judi Van Gorder In the flick of an eye she went down.

    614.                   Judi Van Gorder There once was a poet called Tinker

    615.                   Limericks I cannot compose,

    616.                    There was a young woman named Bright,

    617.                   There was an odd fellow named Gus,

    618.                   There once was a fly on the wall

    619.                   There once was a man from Tibet,

    620.                   There was a young woman named Bright,

    621.                   I need a front door for my hall,

    622.                   There once was a boy named Dan,

    623.                    A newspaperman named Fling,

    624.                    I know an old owl named Boo,

    625.                   I once fell in love with a blonde,

    626.                   I’d rather have Fingers than Toes,

    627.                   There was a Young Lady whose chin

    628.                   Hickory Dickory Dock,

    629.                   There was a faith healer of Deal

    630.                   My dog is really quite hip,

    631.                   A painter, who lived in Great Britain,

    632.                   There is a young schoolboy named Mason,

    633.                   There was a young schoolboy of Rye,

    634.                   An elderly man called Keith

    635.                   There was an old man of Peru,

    636.                   The Incredible Wizard of Oz,

    637.                    Once I visited France,

    638.                   It goes quickly, you know,

    639.                    Is it me or the nature of money,

    640.                   There once was a farmer from Leeds

    641.                   A fellow jumped off a high wall,

    642.                   A man and his lady-love, Min,

    643.                    There was a young lady of Cork,

    644.                    There once was a Martian called Zed

    645.                   There once was a girl named Sam

    646.                   Said the man with a wink of his eye

    647.                   A wonderful bird is the Pelican.

    648.                   There was once a great man in Japan

    649.                   There was a young man so benighted

    650.                   There was an old man from Sudan,

    651.                    A maiden at college, Miss Breeze,

    652.                    A canner, exceedingly canny,

    653.                    A mouse in her room woke Miss Dowd

    654.                    There was a young woman named Kite,

    655.                   A flea and a fly in a flue,

    656.                    A major, with wonderful force,

    657.                    A nifty young flapper named Jane

    658.                    “There’s a train at 4:04,” said Miss Jenny.

    659.                    A canny young fisher named Fisher

    660.                    Here’s to the chigger,

    661.                   A cheerful old bear at the Zoo

    662.                    The bottle of perfume that Willie sent

    663.                    I bought a new Hoover today,

    664.                    A crossword compiler named Moss

    665.                    I’m papering walls in the loo

    666.                    There once was an old man of Esser,

    667.                    To compose a sonata today,

    668.                    There was a young lady named Perkins,

    669.                    There was an old man of Nantucket

    670.                   There was a young lady of Kent,

    671.                   There was a young lady named Hannah

    672.                    There was a dear lady of Eden,

    673.                    A certain young fellow named Bee-Bee

    674.                    Remember when nearly sixteen

    675.                    There was an old person of Fratto

    676.                    There was a young man from Dealing

    677.                    As 007 walked by

    678.                   A tutor who tooted the flute

    679.                    No woodsman would cut a wood, would he

    680.                    There once was a man from the sticks

    681.                    A poet whose friends called him Steve

    682.                    If you catch a chinchilla in Chile

    683.                    There once was a man named Mauvette

    684.                   There once was a beautiful nurse

    685.                    There was a young girl from Flynn

    686.                There once was a man from Gorem

    687.                Dylan Thomas

    688.               The Hand that Signed the Paper

    689.

    690.                W. H. Auden

    691.

    692.               2

    866666

    693.               8Political Poetry

     

     

    Dylan Thomas, ‘The Hand That Signed the Paper’

    W. H. Auden, ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’

    Audre Lorde, ‘Power’

    Maxine Kumin, ‘Woodchucks’

    “Bloody Halos and Porcelain Chains”  from “The Lie Within The Line”   [18+] by Jeremy (704)
    “Hidden Bruises”   [E] by Sumojo (759)

    “Run From the Devil”   [18+] by Jayne (1,493)

    “Death’s Spell”   [E] by DMCarroll (66)

    “Light’s Labor Lost”   [E] by ChristineB (99)

    “Motherhood, Lost ”   [13+] by Robin:TheRhymeMaven (211)

     

    Monotetra

     

    Linda Newman Paper Dreams

    Michael Walker An Angel Spoke To Me Today

     

    Allan J Wight A Poet On The Launching Pad

    Robert Brewster No Chance

    Robert Lee Brewer “Waiting for April Showers,”

     

    Jan Turner Spring Eternal

    The Senses of Spring   Jan Turner

    SP Quill Magazine Spring 2006, Vol. #10

    Andrea Ditrich A Summer Alouette

    Judi Can Gorder Month of August

    Linda Varsell Smith Future Possibilities

    Linda Varsell Smith Fourth Dimensional Blueprint

     

    Lune

     

    Robert Brewster Trees Never Wander Kelly Lune

    Robert Brewster  An Envelope Labeled Collum Lune
    71. There once was a man from the city

    694.                   72. There once was a gal from Decatur

    695.                   73. What happens when you retire?

    696.                   74. At times I’m so mad that I’m hopping.

    697.                   75. One Saturday morning at three,

     

    Political Poetry

     

    1.      Dylan Thomas, ‘The Hand That Signed the Paper 

    2.      W. H. Auden, ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’

    3.      Audre Lorde, ‘Power

    4.      Maxine Kumin, ‘Woodchucks’

    5.
    “Bloody Halos and Porcelain Chains”  from “The Lie Within The Line”   [18+] by Jeremy (704)6.
    “Hidden Bruises”   [E] by Sumojo (759)7.
    “Run From the Devil”   [18+] by Jayne (1,493)8.
    “Death’s Spell”   [E] by DMCarroll (66)9.
    “Light’s Labor Lost”   [E] by ChristineB (99)

    10.
    “Motherhood, Lost ”   [13+] by Robin:TheRhymeMaven (211)

    Monotetra

     

    11. Linda Newman Paper Dreams

    12. Michael Walker An Angel Spoke To Me Today

    13. Allan J Wight A Poet On The Launching Pad

    14. Robert Brewster No Chance

    15. Robert Lee Brewer “Waiting for April Showers,”

    Aloulette

     

    16. Jan Turner Spring Eternal

    17. The Senses of Spring   Jan Turner

    18. SP Quill Magazine Spring 2006, Vol. #10

    19. Andrea Ditrich A Summer Alouette

    20. Judi Can Gorder Month of August

    21. Linda Varsell Smith Future Possibilities

    22. Linda Varsell Smith Fourth Dimensional Blueprint

    Lune

    23. Robert Brewster Trees Never Wander Kelly Lune

    24. Robert Brewster  An Envelope Labeled Collum Lune

     

    Writing com

     

    Capuchine Safety Dance

    Solang Bring Be Careful Out There

    Solang Bring Bermudagrass

     

    Robert Brewer “Semantically Speaking,”

    Robert Brewer  Full Throated

    Donald Justice“There is a gold light in certain old paintings,”

    Edgar Allan Poe The Philosophy of Composition

    Robert Lee Brewer Property

    Robert Lee Brewer What I gained

     

    Pantoum Poems

     

    1. Natalie E Illum Curious George Can’t Swim
    2. Kiandra Jimenez Halcyon Kitchen
    3. Chip Livingston Punta del Este Pantoum
    4. Donald Justice Pantoum
    5. Pantoum of the Great Depression
    6. Natlie Diaz Hotel Lautréamont
    7. Natlie Diaz My Brother at 3 A.M.
    8. Randall Mann Politics
    9. Randall Mann Pantoum Landing 1976
    10. Evie Shockley pantoum: landing, 1976
    11. Sasha Steensen Pantoum
    12. Hailey Leithauser O she Says Pantoum
    13. Randal Mann Politics Pantoum
    14. Blas Falconer Station Pantoum
    15. AE Stallings Another Lullaby for Insomnias
    16. Another Lullaby for Insomniacs
    17. Linda Varsell Smith Mole Hole Mode
    18. Kiandra Jimenez Halcyon Kitchen
    19. Chip Livingston Punta Del Este Pantoum
    20. Donald Justice Pantoum of the Great Depression
    21. Linda Varsell Smith Mole Hole Mode

     

    John Donne, “The Sun Rising”   – Yelling at the sun to go away because his love is more important. Close the curtains, man.

    Emily Dickinson, “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain”   – Emotional distress is a funeral procession inside her head. A great poem worthy of an awkward “Can I, uh, get you a glass of water or something?”

    Pablo Neruda, “Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines”   – This one is a bit meta since he knows he’s being overwrought, claiming his love was so powerful that even the stars shivered in response.

    Richard Brautigan, “Gee, You’re So Beautiful That It’s Starting to Rain”   –

    David Schnider The Art of Presumption  (E)

    Lyrette Form

     

    Anonymous lyrette meta poem

    Gypsy Blue Rose  Sunrise and Sunset Lyrette Poem

    Lawrencealot Our Store circa 1949 (Lyrette)-

     

    Pantoum

    Chain Haiku

     

    Gypsy Rose Blue Billowing Clouds Chain Haiku

    Choka

     

    Yamanoue no Okura When I eat Mellons Choka

    Other famous Poems

     

    Edward Lear’s “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat”   may seem like whimsical nonsense, but its playful rhymes and surreal imagery also gently mock the seriousness of courtship traditions. Plus, let’s be honest, it takes a bold poet to toss “runcible” around like it meant something.

    T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”   flirts with the absurd by pairing profound existential musings with questions about eating peaches and rolling one’s trousers. A reasonable exploration if one is both profoundly sad and struggling with fruit logistics.

    “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg   uses surreal and absurd imagery to critique societal norms, capitalism, and conformity. Moloch is especially absurd, depicting a monstrous deity that consumes individuality. “Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies!” Nothing like some Lovecraftian capitalism to keep my nightmares consistent

    Richard Brautigan, “Gee, You’re So Beautiful That It’s Starting to Rain”   –
    John Donne, “The Sun Rising”

     Emily Dickinson, “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain”   –

    Pablo Neruda, “Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines” 

    T.S. Eliot Hollow Man

    John Keats Ode to a Nightingale

    Langston Hughes  I, Too

    Langston Hughes Mother To Son  .

    If

    Rudyard Kipling  “Is You?” .
    Rudyard Kipling  IF

     

    Other

     

    Eragon Proofreading Hell

    Christine B Demonstration of Proof

    Jay O Toole Quality Assurance Each Day

         

    Mandarina Form

     

    Lawrencealot – Do All Deceive? December 19, 2014 (Form: Mandarina)

    Tanka

     

    Ono No Komachi The Ink Dark Moon

    David Smith ‘Night Pleasures’

    Dave Scheider Snowflake

    Mrs. Kt Early Spring Rains Thrum

    Dendrobia A cool wind blows in Tanka

    Can Sonmez Subtle hints of spring Tanka

    Cheri Abner Peaceful solitude Tanka

    Ono no Komachi (825-900) Tanka –

    Tada Chikako A Spray of Water:

    June Jordan On Time Tanka –

    Princess Nakada I wait for you

    Takatoku I Shut My Eyes

    Judi Van Gordner Chill of Soundless Night

    Dendrobia A cool wind blows in

    Can Sonmez Subtle hints of spring

    Cheri L. Ahner Peaceful solitude

    Ono no Komachi (825-900) Tanka –

    Ono No Komachi See how the blossoms

    Tada Chikako

    A Spray of Water: Tanka

    June Jordan On Time Tanka

     

     

     

    Marie Summers Celestial Dreams

    Marie Summers Seasonal Whispers

    Sasha Steensen Pantoum

    Chellie Wood Dance In The Rain

     

    Acrostic

     

    Gabriella 2 Masqueraders

    Dportwood Rejoice in Life

    Dportwood Boots and Spurs

     

    Other

     

    Bandit’s Mama City Sorrow About 9-11

    Dr Israel Newman, I Wish

     

    Octain Refrain

    Lawrencealot  Octain Refrain (Abb aca bA)
    Showers Wash the Stars (A bba cab A)
    New Year’s Eve (High Octain) (Abb aca bA Abb aca bA)

    Octain

    Lawrencelot  Octawhat?
    PK Roy Feeling

     

     

    David Schneider Adrift WC Poets Place

     

    Herman Melville Art

    Occhtfochlach

    (Author Unknown) The Ochtfochlach
    Fochlach It (Ochtfochlach)
    © Lawrencealot – December 4, 2013
    Pen Allen Of Allpoetry Sixteen Thirty-Four Door — Double Ochtfochlach

    Alliteration Haiku

     

    Be-Bopping Bluebirds In The Birdbath
    A Banjo Busker’s Ballad Bobbing In The Breeze
    Shooting Star
    Rush Hour In The Rain –
    Beachside Birds
    Long Afternoon

    Japan’s 2011 Shake-Up Octodil
    Wake-Up Call Octodil

    Epistle

     

     Epistles Of St. Paul

    Note To Neighbor:

    Robert Burns Epistle To A Young Friend,

    Horace

    Ovid’s Heroides,

    Alexander Pope’s Moral Essays

    Alexander Pope’s Epistle To Dr. Arbuthnot,

     Elizabeth Bishop’s “Letter To N.Y.,”

     Langston Hughes’s “Letter,”

    Mark Jarman’s  Epistles .

     Bernadette Mayer’s The Desires Of Mothers To Please Others In Letters

    Laynie Browne’s  The Desires Of Letters

    Elana Bell’s Epistolary Poems, Letter To Palestine,”

    Read More Epistolary Poems

    Samuel Daniel Letter From Octavia To Marcus Antonius (1599) In

     Certain Epistles (1601–1603). 

    Ben Jonson The Forest (1616),

    John Dryden Epistles To Congreve (1694)

    Epistles Duchess Of Ormond (1700).

     Alexander Pope Eloisa To Abelard” (1717)

     And Adapted The Horatian Epistle In His Moral Essays (1731–1735) And

     An Epistle To Dr. Arbuhnot (1735).

    1. W. H. Auden/Louis Macneice’s Letters From Iceland (1937).

     Richard Hugo  31 Letters And 13 Dreams (1977). 

    Robert Lowell Elizabeth Hardwick

    Ezra Pound’s Li Po, “The River–Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” (1915).

    Auden’s “Letter To Lord Byron” (1937),

    . Alexander Pope  “Epistle To Dr. Arbuthnot,”

    Stepanie A Cephas  Angel Light (Rhyming) Mirror Sestat Shelley A. Cephas His Pristine Robes (Non-rhyming)

     

    ~ Emily Dickinson There is no Frigate like a Book
    ~ Emily Dickinson Because I could not stop for Death,
    ~ Emily Dickinson Fame is a bee.

     

     

    Stepanie A Cephas  Angel Light (Rhyming) Mirror Sestat Shelley A. Cephas His Pristine Robes (Non-rhyming)

     

     

    Good twists are enormously hard to come by, and I think the best ones are earned ones. The idea that a story can take a left turn on you, it’s easy to do, but it has to be done very, very carefully, or else you risk losing the audience’s trust.
    -Damon Lindelof

    The more secrets and twists in a character, the better.
    -Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

    Before I start, I trick myself into thinking I know what’s going to happen in the story, but the characters have ideas of their own, and I always go with the character’s choices. Most of the time I discover plot twists and directions that are better than what I originally had planned.

    -Neal Shusterman

     

     

     

    Edgar Allen Poe The Raven

    Samuel T Colleridge ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ by Samuel T. Coleridge
    Louis Mac Niece ‘The Sunlight on the Garden’

    Edgar Allen Poe ‘Lenore’

    Thomas Hood ‘The Double Knock’

    David Scheider Writer Stuff

    David Scheider Footprints in Time

    David Schenider “Snowflake” .

     

    gogyohka

     

    Gypsy Blue Rose Under the blooming Tree

    Gypsy Blue Rose you come over me

     

    2 D acrostic

     

     

    Harambe GO

    Harambe Cat

    Haarambe DOG
    Pookietoo Dog
    Julie GI God

    Harambe Test

    Julie GI Aunt

    Tempste Apes
    Harambe diet by Tempeste hate
    Harry T lead
    Terry Riley love
    Karen Cherry test
    Cupa Tea time
    Harambe PUTIN by Harambe:
    Wils birth
    Tid100 robin

    Lana Marie sport
    Julia Helms steam Terry Reily Trump

    Harambe censor
    gothic by Julie Helms **contest #2 winner**
    Gloria Hamlet

    Terry mother

    Tresischel repose
    Terry Riley scream
    John Cranford spring
    Nicki Nance tears
    Wils Travel
    Lisa May writer

    Helvi 2 Flowers
    Harambe gorilla
    YM Roger magical
    Hrambe weather
    Karen Cherry winning

    Harambe acrostic

    Wils harmonic

    Dragonskulls challenge
    Harambe Democrats by Harambe

    Harambe Republicans

     

    Solage

     

     

    1. Kathryn Abel It’s so cold
    2. Kathryn Abel Don’t Understand Cricket
    3. Kathryn Abel A Man Without Care
    4. Kathryn Abel Wrote a Line
    5. Kathryn Abel Soaring Too High
    6. David Schenider October Charm

    Silly Solage

    September 5, 201518

    I’m a little late with poetry Friday this week… but here ’tis. A quick-grab how-to on the fabulously fun solage. For those of you who like a joke – or know some kids who do.

     

    Foodie one:

    Soaring so high
    my pie in the sky.
    Plomp!

    “October’s Charm”

     

     

    Cherita [b. 22 June 1997]
    Gembun [b. 12 June 1997]
    Dua [b. 4 March 2022]

    *

    i get lost again
    cherita 96
    edited by ai li

    *

    blue sky
    dua anthology 13
    edited by ai li

    *

    updates on all forthcoming dua and gembun anthologies
    and our exciting the cherita award

     

    For those of you who missed reading ai li’s essay i, storyteller on Cherita, Gembun and Dua on Rhyvers and viewing her You Tube Cherita video interview for The Wise Owl by Neena Singh, for their special issue on Cherita, here are both links again below.

    Here are ai li’s You Tube interview link : www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnGmkKKQvqo
    and the link for her essay i, storyteller on Cherita, Gembun and Dua
    rhyvers.com/hk22/

    The full transcripts for both can be found on www.thecherita.com/lectures/ as well on the Rhyvers and The Wise Owl’s websites.

    There are now over 4300 views for my Rhyvers essay on Cherita, Gembun and Dua, which appeared on 16 September 2023, with 2600 views the last time I looked, for my You Tube video Cherita interview, which appeared on 30 September 2023, and which The Wise Owl’s Editor Rachna Singh called ‘insightful’.

     

    It is almost a year since I visited Thimphu, Punakha, Gantey, Bumthang and Paro in the Kingdom of Bhutan. I still feel that I left a part of me behind as residual energy, dancing with genius loci under a tall Indian silk tree.

    How can I forget struggling to get out of bed at the unearthly hour of 2 am to catch our only flight of the day from New Delhi to Paro. Paro airport is one of the most dangerous airports of the world akin to Hong Kong’s Kai Tak airport which closed in 1998. It is located between Himalayan peaks and deep valleys and rely on only a limited number of highly skilled pilots who are certified to land, particularly in atrocious weather, as they mainly rely on landmarks to land due to limited radar capabilities.

    Our amazing Drukair pilots not only got us safely there and back, but gifted us with the jewel of a dawn, and our very first glimpse of Everest on our side of the aircraft. The early morning light was perfect and the flight turbulence free. Saying that it was a spiritual moment for me is an understatement.

    my first view, from my window seat, of Sagarmartha [the peak of heaven], its Sanskrit name

    Everest holds a special place in my consciousness. My younger nephew David led the very first Singapore expedition to Everest in 1998, and is the author of several motivational books. Shortly after his momentous expedition, he was in a coma for almost two years with Guillain-Barré syndrome. I remember him mentioning to me that he believed he had contracted GBS in Katmandu. His immune system attacked his peripheral nervous system which caused his paralysis and muscle weakness from this rare neurological disorder. If memory serves, he was only able to communicate with his parents with his eye movements.

    After his long recovery, he returned to his love of mountaineering and led over 15 more expeditions though disabled in one lower leg from GBS. What he has been through, and the way he re-started both his personal and professional life still leaves me in awe of the indomitability of the human spirit.

    One Bhutanese individual also came to mind as I’m writing this month’s newsletter.

    In one of the major draughty Paro monasteries, a child monk was bent over his small desk repeating his sutras. I was fully cocooned in fleece from the cold when I saw him with just his prayer robe on. I felt his aloneness. I went over quietly and asked him what he missed most from, and, of home. He looked up at me, and in perfect English, replied that what he missed most was his grandmother cooking her homemade sausages for him every morning for breakfast. We then shared a moment of silent understanding before I apologised for disturbing him, thanked him for speaking with us, and left him to return to his prayers. On my way out of the monastery, I turned around briefly to mentally wish him a long life of learning, freedom from too much suffering, with a hope that his family, particularly his grandmother, would one day be even more proud of him when he emerges as a compassionate and adult Buddhist monk.

    It was only when I returned to our lodge and sat by our clear pristine stream under an impossibly clear blue sky that I remembered I had forgotten to ask his name.

    I have always believed that Hope finds us, when and if, we really need it most.

    *

    February 2025 sees the launch of i get lost again, cherita 96 and blue sky, dua Anthology 13.

    There are now 96 anthologies of the cherita, and are available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, along with 17 Gembun Anthologies, and 13 Dua Anthologies, with more coming your way.

    www.thecherita.com/bookshop/

    *

    i get lost again is our 96th book in the cherita series of storytelling books, with 90 virgin cherita of more timeless stories to hopefully inspire our readers and poets to join our caravanserai of storytellers.

    i get lost again showcases 90 fine cherita and cherita terbalik from writers and poets who hail from UK, USA, Singapore, India, Canada and Germany.

    i get lost again, currently 96th on the list, belongs to the ongoing the cherita series, as do my personal ongoing writing in one breath series of virgin Cherita, Cherita and Tanka, Cherita and Haiku, and Cherita, Tanka and Haiku books, and lastly my poems for inner rooms series with its 18 Tanka and Haiku books. All these books are available in paperback and kindle on Amazon.

    Two of my own books of virgin Gembun, the weight of rain and blank screen, and my two books of Dua, the journey east and dancing shoes, and now arriving nowhere, my first cherita, gembun and dua book, have all been added to my writing in one breath series.

    I have edited this book as I have all the other anthologies of the cherita, to be experienced two ways. It can be read as one storybook but also as an anthology of individual poems. Two reading experiences within one book, filled with stories of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal.

    cherita terbalik continues to capture the imagination of poets and there are again fine examples in this edition.

    Featured Poets as they appear in this anthology :-

    ai li/ Joanna Ashwell/ Barun Saha/ Ceri Marriott/ Jan Stretch/ Neena Singh/ Partha Sarkar/ Biswajit Mishra/ C.X. Turner/ Barun Saha/ Daniel W. Brown/ Teri Messmer/ Vidya Premkumar/ Nolcha Mir Fox/ Lisa Ann Sparaco/ Taura Scott/ Ram Chandran/ john zheng/ Isabella Kramer/ Larry Kimmel/ Laughing waters/ Sigrid Saradunn/ Lee Hudspeth/

    Six sample virgin Cherita from this anthology :-

    young windows
    paint the wall
    with summer

    an old ceiling
    hanging
    beyond sight

    Barun Saha

    *

    from my deck chair
    the softening
    colours of the sky

    the stillness of the air

    the peace
    I wish for all

    Jan Stretch

    *

    fallen blossoms

    I pause
    to listen
    for the echo

    of familiar
    footsteps

    Neena Singh

    *

    my collection
    of designer sunglasses

    now retirees

    trying
    to remember
    the sun

    ai li

    *

    floating
    like mist across the bridge

    from her world
    to mine
    we touch

    but only briefly

    C.X. Turner

    *

    this morning
    rain

    on the field

    breathe in, breathe out
    the duet
    of existence

    Daniel W. Brown


    the cherita lighthouse     has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this anthology for their timeless Cherita :

    Jan Stretch/ Neena Singh/ C.X. Turner/ Daniel W. Brown/ Teri Messmer/ Partha Sarkar/ Isabella Kramer/

    *

    blue sky is our dua anthology 13, and it appears alongside i get lost again this month.

    https://www.thecherita.com/dua-bookshop/

    blue sky, our 13th Dua Anthology with 90 virgin Dua poems, has attracted writers and poets from UK, USA, Singapore, Germany, India and Canada.

    I would like to thank all the contributing poets and writers for their patience and hope they will find blue sky a worthy read.

    Featured Poets as they appear in this edition:

    Pitt Büerken/ Prashanth V/ Ceri Marriott/ ai li/ Richa Sharma/ Vidya Premkumar/ Bryan Rickert/ Jan Stretch/ Allison Douglas-Tourner/ Karina Klesko/ nivy/ Partha Sarkar/

     

    A dua bella has been awarded to the following writers and poets in this edition :

    Vidya Premkumar/ Pitt Büerken/ Partha Sarkar/ Allison Douglas-Tourner/ nivy/ Jan Stretch/

    Six sample virgin dua from this anthology :-

    dipped a toe in the river

    now part of the sea

    Jan Stretch

    *

    rainbow-coloured

    the smallest umbrella

    Richa Sharma

    *

    a lake

    that autumn colours

    ai li

    *

    a rendezvous

    with his scent

    Karina Klesko

    nursery

    a bud calls out

    nivy

    *

    the writing on the wall,

    was it always there?

    Ceri Marriott

    *

    This is the March update on the cherita award :

    Someone asked me the other day what a cherita lighthouse was.

     

    These are timeless pieces of cherita that resonate with me, and hopefully with our readers as well, was my answer, and which are worthy of a special award which the cherita lighthouse, as well as a gem and dua bella are, for gembun and dua respectively. These are pieces that can be read in your mind or aloud.

    Here are six beautiful virgin Cherita which I awarded the Lighthouse awards to from home for the wind, dream journal and wondering where, three titles from our cherita anthologies collection, to hopefully inspire and guide you to the many possibilities possible with my storytelling genre in 6 lines.

    If anyone is seriously considering writing Cherita well, my advice is for you to get hold of a copy of either one or both of our Cherita Award books or any of my own books which will help as reference guides for widening the storytelling scope for creating timeless Cherita.

    I hope this cherita will further inspire you, should you decide to submit your virgin cherita for the cherita award? We also now have Joanna Ashwell and Ceri Marriott, our first two Cherita Award recipients, with River Lanterns and soiree, their respective books. Who will be our next Cherita Award poet?

    dandelion
    wish
    hides

    in a spider web
    waiting

    to be blown away

    Pat Geyer
    from home for the wind
    the cherita

    *

    unfettered

    I let
    myself go

    a red kite’s wings
    measure the width
    of this loneliness

    Debbie Strange
    from home for the wind
    the cherita

    *


    a way out

    perhaps
    or is this

    another sliding door
    where time jars
    between a dream

    Joanna Ashwell
    from dream journal
    the cherita

    *

    the butterfly

    in me
    in you

    let’s see
    where . . .
    the breeze takes us

    Caroline Skanne
    from dream journal
    the cherita

    *

    this time again

    I prepare my mind
    to study harder

    but then
    my eyes fell on the world outside,
    playing with the wind

    Muskaan Ahuja
    from wondering where
    the cherita

    *

    searching
    for an apple

    to curl up in

    and
    give birth
    to the rain

    Réka Nyitrai
    from wondering where
    the cherita

    For all new entrants, please be aware that fewer words in your cherita are always more, and to not repeat a subject matter often, unless of course you are able to come to it from a very different angle or perspective, rendering it anew. You want your portfolio to be one of timelessness and wonder, and to avoid a sameyness of subject matter which would inevitably make your portfolio bland and yawn inducing.

    *

    Here’s March 2025’s update on the forthcoming Gembun Anthologies 18-20:

    With a bit of luck, Anthology 18 should be the next anthology to appear soon.

    Anthology 19 is very nearly there with just a few spots left to fill.

    Meanwhile, Anthology 20 is filling up with your timeless gembun.

    Do please keep sending in your wonderful gembun stories but be aware that I do not read simultaneous submissions. Please do not send in work you have submitted elsewhere.

    The Gembun Anthologies 1 – 17 [snow clouds, evening, paper talisman, windswept rain, deepening night, the old, white flowers, coming home, bedtime story, rain song, ice storm, belonging, the water, dancing silhouette, empty bottles, i remember and just before dark] are now available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, thanks to all your amazing enthusiasm and strong faith for, and in this genre.

    Careful collating and editing are crucial for each anthology, for it to be a timeless work of short stories in the gembun format.

    Meanwhile, if you have written gembun that you consider to be special, please do not hesitate to send them in.

    Full details on the link below if you have not, as yet, sent in your Gembun/Gembun Terbalik for consideration.

    www.thecherita.com/gembun-anthos/

    Fine examples by Larry Kimmel, Joanna Ashwell and myself can be found, along with Gembun’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk/gembun/

    *

    Here too, is March 2025’s update on the other forthcoming Dua Anthologies 14-16 :

    Anthology 14 is now complete and wating for me to give it a  final proof reading.

    Anthology 15 is very nearly there.

    Meanwhile Anthology 16 is steadily filling up with more and more of with your timeless dua.

    Writing good Dua requires a different mental discipline to Gembun and Cherita but it can be just as good a workout for our brain cells. Your storytelling skills are kept honed when you write all these three unique short form poetry genres. Seriously though, can we resist a challenge to tell our stories in a timeless fashion? I know I can’t. All these three genres challenge me to become a better storyteller in 6, 4 and 2 lines.

    All Dua Anthologies 1 – 13 [remembering, I know the way, the light dying, the rain, something rare, all is dark, listening to the ocean, no longer sky, home in rain wildflowers were here, in the room, hammock afternoon and blue sky] are now available on Amazon in paperback and kindle, thanks to all your faith in Dua and your creative flair for telling stories even more minimally than Cherita and Gembun.

    Tough editing is essential for each anthology, for it to be a strong and timeless book of minimal stories in the dua format.

    You will find full info for this dua and its guidelines on www.thecherita.com/dua
    and on www.aili.co.uk/dua

    If you have written dua that you consider to be special, please do not hesitate to send them in stories but be aware that I do not read simultaneous submissions. Please do not send in work you have submitted elsewhere.

    Full details on the link below if you have not, as yet, sent in your Dua for consideration.

    www.thecherita.com/dua

    Fine examples by ai li can be found, along with Dua’s original guidelines on my personal website www.aili.co.uk

    *

    NEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES JANUARY 2025

    Please can you now submit all of your submissions in Arial 11 font size, left justified with no italics, and also use our standard submission email for all our genres. This will be in effect as of now.

    You will still be required to fill in your hometown/city and country with all submissions [this info is for our files] but only your country will be published in our books from this edition onwards. This will help speed up my proof reading.

    There are also no longer any deadlines for submissions which are now on an ongoing basis.

    Edition # 8.7 will be the last book numbered this way. From January 2025, all our books will be simply numbered, starting with Cherita 94, Cherita 95, Cherita 96 and so forth. This new numbering style will be incorporated in all the acceptance letters.

    from sandalwood dreaming by ai li

     

    rain
    has come

    to
    my night
    i step into

    the mirror

     

    ai li
    from sandalwood dreaming by ai li

     

    *

    ai li

    CHERITA [1 — 2 — 3]
    [pronounced CHAIR-rita]

     

     

    temple bell

    through fog
    dawn

    is still
    a
    haunting away

    from paper flowers by ai li

     

     

     

    General Information on the Gembun and Dua Anthologies

    All our anthologies have 90 poems within.

    In the next few months or so, I will endeavour to launch the finished anthologies which I hope to launch alternating with the dua anthologies, where possible, as you have all been saints with your inspirational patience.

    I would also like to profusely thank all the poets whose gembun and dua have been selected for the forthcoming anthologies for being so patient.

    My wish, as I have indicated before, is for the both Anthologies to become a fluid and ongoing series for showcasing the best of the Gembun and Dua genres with the gems from your writing. That has not changed.

    Gembun and Cherita share the same year of birth and hopefully they will continue to celebrate storytelling with Life, Love, Loss and Renewal into and beyond their third decade.

    Dua may not have been around as long as Gembun and Cherita, but it is part and parcel of a storytelling trio which perpetuates the stories of Life, Love, Loss and Renewal.

     

    “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

    Mother Teresa

     

    Stephen King “The secret about writing, is sit down and write.”

     

    Other

     

    Robert Lee Brewer “Comfort Killers,”

    Robert Lee Brewer “summer song,

     

    Gypsy Blue Rose Today

     

    Solage

     

     

    1. Kathryn Abel It’s so cold
    2. Kathryn Abel Don’t Understand Cricket
    3. Kathryn Abel A Man Without Care
    4. Kathryn Abel Wrote a Line
    5. Kathryn Abel Soaring Too High
    6. David Schenider October Charm

     

    Oddquain

     

    Cynthia Kay ArmstrongAutumn Cynthia Kay Armstrong Hope Cynthia Kay Armstrong Cards Cynthia Kay ArmstrongGlenda L. Hand Change of Seasons (Mirror Oddquain)Glenda L. Hand Celebration (Butterfly Oddquain)Glenda L. Hand At Last I’ve Let Go (Crown Oddquain)

    Claire Litchfield  Glad
    Linda Smith Tidbits Seen Through a Window

    Linda Smith Nnibble Dove dark chocolate

    JVG They Keep Coming

    Gypsy Rose Blue A rose represents

    Gypsy Rose Blue wilted rose bouquet

    Gypsy Rose Blue roses stand erect

     

    Gypsy Blue Rose under the blooming tree TWO GOGYOHKA EXAMPLE

    Gypsy Blue Rose you come over me
    Gypsy Blue Rose Roses stand erect

    Lawrencealot A piaku
    C.W. Bryan a piaku-

    Gypsy Blue Rose Today

    Stephanie Abney New Born La Pensee
    Stephanie Abney Grandkids La pense

    Stephanie Abney Freedom

    Stephene Abney Ice Cream

     

    Eric Golner Rick form creator’s example

    Lawrencealot Captive Form Rick’s 32

     

    John Barr the south China Sea

    John Baar Gloria Visits the Fry House

    John Baar Chant for a Hurricane

     

    Lee-jae-Young From Blossoms

    Rictameter

     

     

    Jason Wilkins Beauty

    Jason Wilkins Satin

    Aubrey Steedman Childhood

    Judi Van Gorder Listening

    Judi Van Gorder Memo To Hotshot

     

    Qoute  “The secret about writing, is sit down and write.” – Stephen King

    Memento

     

    Emily Romano Gardening The Rose*

    Jan Turner  *Commemorating The Holiday Of Roses

    Graduation By Judi Van Gorder
    Holiday At Low Tide By Judi Van Gorder

     

    Payar

     

    Judi Van Gorder Temptation
    Lawrencealot Non Pro Se (Form: Payar) –

     

    7-7-7-7

     

    Gypsy Blue Rose Love the Black Widow Spider

     

    Gypsy Blue Rose Today I Wrote a Love Poem for You

    Cinquin

     

    Jeanne Cassir’s First Visit to the Ocean

    Quotes

    Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.~~Robert Frost

    Poetry should surprise by a fine excess and not by singularity — it should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost a remembrance.~~John Keats

    Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.~~Carl Sandburg

    Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks.~~Plutarch

    With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion.~~Edgar Allan Poe

    If you cannot be a poet, be the poem.~~David Carradine

    To read a poem is to hear it with our eyes; to hear it is to see it with our ears.~~Octavio Paz

    Stephen King “The secret about writing, is sit down and write.”

     

    Nove Otto

     

    Scott J. Alcorn Canebrake WhispersScott J. Alcorn Caribbean Nights

    Tybun

     

    Marion Gibson  Sowing tyburn

    Japanese haiku:

     

    Bachao Old pond

    Gypsy Blue Rose Sunday morning light
    Lawrencealot We Missed the Dance

     

    Rictameter

    Jason Wilkins Beauty

    Jason Wilkins Satin

    Aubrey Steedman Childhood

    Judi Van Gorder Listening

    Judi Van Gorder Memo To Hotshot

     

    Robert Brewer

     

    Robert Brewer Better yet

    Robert Brewer AI Did Not Write This Poem

    1.    Robert Lee Brewer The Last Thing

     

    Anonymous She left the porch light on.
    Maya Angelo Still I RiseRobert Frost ~ Fire and Ice Rudyard Kipling If

    Lai

     

    Mike Montreuil March 2026

    Judi Van Gorder Aliens

     

    The Perseids
    Crowning a Fairy
    Staying In

     

    Trimeric Poem

     

    Robert Lee Brewer About Superheroes,

    Judi Van Gorder Customer Service

    Alan J Wright Inkblock

    Linda Versa Smith Crows and Ravens

     

    1st Place ~ “Gone Things”  by

    2nd Place ~ “Lost in One’s Own Mind”  by

    3rd Place ~ “Crossing Sevens”  by

    HM ~ “Pad Thai ผัดไทย”   by  (941)

    HM ~ “Taps For Claire”   by  (3,180)

    HM ~ “Hello Memories — Goodbye, Immutable ”  by

     

    Acrostic monorhyme

     

    Bianca More for the fun, than for the need

     

    La Pensee

     

     Stephanie Abney New Born
    Stephanie Abbey Grandkids

    Stephanie Abbie Freedom

    Stephanie Abbey Ice Cream

     

     

    Fan Story Review

    Tikok Poem: The Moon Rises Slowly Above The Still Sea

     

     

    Epic Epitat

     

    Merv Griffin: “I Will Not Be Right Back After This Message.”
    John Yeast: “Here Lies Johnny Yeast. Pardon Me For Not Rising.”
    Jane Doe: “Just Close Your Eyes And You Will See

     

    Sparrowlet

     

    Judi Van Gorder Lets Talk

    Ron Rowland Facing The Storm

    Katheen Sparrow Deer In Winter

     

     

     

    Estonian Haiku

    Jürgen Rooste Nordic Walk

     

    Author unknown, In complete darkness we are all the same.

     

    JD Gorder Dance with Wind

    Linda Versa Smith new techno gizmos

     

     

     

    Cascade

     

    Judi Van Gorder Vote
    Udit Bhatia  Cascade Poem

    Cascade Anxious Inquiry

     

    Quotes to Ponder

    Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.~~Neale Donald Walsh

    If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.~~John C. Maxwell

    You will never improve in life if you’re always living on easy street. Strength and progress can be gained if only you just step outside of your comfort zone.~~Dee Waldeck

    Sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zones. We have to break the rules. And we have to discover the sensuality of fear. We need to face it, challenge it, dance with it.~~Kyra Davis

    As you move outside of your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal.~~Robin Sharma

    If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.~~Thomas Jefferson

    Quotes to Ponder

    Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.~~Neale Donald Walsh

    If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.~~John C. Maxwell

    You will never improve in life if you’re always living on easy street. Strength and progress can be gained if only you just step outside of your comfort zone.~~Dee Waldeck

    Sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zones. We have to break the rules. And we have to discover the sensuality of fear. We need to face it, challenge it, dance with it.~~Kyra Davis

    As you move outside of your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal.~~Robin Sharma

    If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.~~Thomas Jefferson

     

    “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

    1. At Christmas, all roads lead home.~~Marjorie Holmes“It’s not what’s under the Christmas tree that matters, it’s who’s around it.~~Charlie BrownChristmas will always be as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand.~~Dr. Seuss

     

     

    Lotus Tasseri  Scribblings

    Lancelot Backyard

    Fan Story review

     

    1. Annoymous be here for a while
    2. Annoymous beautiful butterflies
    3. John Crawford My Wee Abode
    4. Pearl Edwards Nature’s Recycler’s
    5. Evelinne a Fan Story Halloween
    6. Cecilia A Heiskary Ghoul’s Night Out
    7. Rama Devi Meditation
    8. Cecilia Hesikary
    9. Private Face
    10. Debbie D’Arcy Mary Shelley
    11. Debbie D’Arcy Lord Bryon
    12. Debbie D’Arcy Volodymyr Zelensky
    13. Karen Cherry Common Sense for Seniors 337-348
    14. Rick Gardner Innocent of Guilty
    15. Harry Craft A Kangaroo from Baraboo
    16. Nicki B Robin Williams
    17. Harry Craft, the Cell Phone
    18. Estory In this Autumn Time
    19. Cecilia a Heiskary Watcher at the Window
    20. Cecilia A Heiskary Panda
    21. Janet Foor God’s Back Yard
    22. Mrs Anna Howard: Difficult Decisions
    23. Harambe iz ur Daddy rejected
    24. Sally Law, Blood Moon and Blood Rain
    25. Robert Lukeman Life – A Marriane Poem
    26. Pam Lonsdale Descent
    27. Kentucky Sweet Pea My Dogma
      Debbie Pick Marquette Thelma and Louise
    28. Debbie Pick Marquette Finding the Bright Side
    29. Debbie Pick Marquette March
    30. Debi Pick Marquette My Bedroom Window
    31. Debi Pick Marquette, Happy St Patrick’s Day
    32. Debbie Pick Marquette The Need to Share
    33. Nancy Jam Love in the w
    34. jacquelyn popp Mom’s Love
    35. Jaquelyn Poop Living the Dream, No Thank You
    36. Iraven Prayers for Eva
    37. Pam Respa Humanity
    38. Pam Respa, Renowned Violinist
    39. Pamusart I am Helpless
    40. Pamusart Colorful world
    41. Pamusart the Kidnapping
    42. Pamusart the Kidnapping Chapter Two
    43. Pamusart Sturdy Roots
    44. Pamusart Your Golden Aura
    45. Pamusart The Sword
    46. Pamusart The Planet Earth
    47. Barry Penfold Slow Dance with You
    48. Pam Respa Humanity
    49. Sanku the Woods
    50. Stacy MS Vanishing Points
    51. YM Roger Always For Now
    52. Fan Story Review
    53. Debbie D’ Arcy Bee Gees
    54. Debbie D’Arcy Shotgun Willie Nelson
    55. Janet Floor Daybreak
    56. Anna Howard How to Move On
    57. Nicki Nance Emotional Support
    58. Pamusart On Finding Peace
    59. Pamusart Jean Marie Lane
    60. Pamusart the Empty Notebook
    61. Winter Bard Ode to Night
    62. Rachael Allen Proud to Be His Daugther
    63. Rick Gardner Wishes to Have
    64. Cecilia A Heiskary Sumatran Orangutan
    65. Cecilia A Heiskary Guiana Red-Face Monkey
    66. Dolly’s Poems the Witching Hour
    67. Kapot Swimming in Pain
    68. Debbie Pick Marquette Men are From Mars, Women from Venus
    69. Miss Merrie This Love
    70. Nancyjam the meadow
    71. Gypsy Blue Rose Billowing Clouds
    72. Pamusart The Kidnapping Chapter 3
    73. Tea for Two It was the Shoes
    74. Tea for Two Wordsmiths with Big Faces
    75. Anonymous Today
    76. Anonymous Cougar on the Prowl
    77. Anonymous Cougar on the Prowl
    78. Debbie D’Arcy Mary Shelley
    79. Cecilia, a Heiskary Watcher at the Window
    80. Cecilia Heiskary Janguars
    81. Cecilia A Heiskary Insane
    82. Anonymous I am Fire
    83. Anonymous Ode to My Scrunchies
    84. Anonymous Wildfire Naani
    85. Anonymous – A Tick A Tock
    86. Anonymous – To Shelter Feathered Songs
    87. Anonymous Even the Odds contest Carl Sanberg
    88. Anonymous Nonesense
    89. Anonymous Female Strength in Nature
    90. Anonymous Loon
    91. Anonymous – Owl on the Hunt
    92. Anonymous the Wild Side
    93. Patrick Bernady Her Rage
    94. Jamison Brown Before the Wind Calls
    95. lJbutterfly Prayer for Debbie Pick Marquette
    96. Debbie D’Arcy Anne Frank
    97. Debie D’arcy James Baldwin
    98. Debbie D’Arcy – Jimmy Carter
    99. Harry Craft I Was a Spy
    100. Harry Craft What Happened to the Word Groovy
    101. Harry Craft What Does Freedom Mean to You?
    102. Harry Craft – Peace
    103. John Crawford Rudyard Kipling
    104. Donald Saacca Forever friends
    105. Donaldandvicki – Tender Trap
    106. Rick Gardner the Sun, the Desert, the One
    107. Douglas Goff – Perspective
    108. Dolly Poems Granite Island
    109. Elias Noor The Whispher of Time
    110. Finback Never
    111. Finback When Shadows Creep
    112. Gypsey Rose Blue Gardens of Delight
    113. Cecilia a Heikary Bobcat
    114. Cecila Heiskary – Brown Bear
    115. Cecilia A Hiskary Horses
    116. Ceclia A Heiskary The Magic
    117. Cecilia A Heiskary – Night Life
    118. Cecila Heiskary – Snow
    119. Christy 710 – Happy New Year from Aus
    120. Marylyn Hamilton Darkness Descends
    121. Marylyn Hamilton He Waits
    122. Marylyn Hamilton Winging It
    123. Tom Hormoz A Griever’s Prayer
    124. Tom Horonzy Rumpelstilskin Unleashed
    125. Kaput howling at Moon Haiku
    126. Kt Silent Dancers
    127. KT Shades of Blue –
    128. Mrs KTEnding Pain’s Servitude
    129. 5 fish JM Jenca
    130. Debbie Pick Marquette Believe in Miracles
    131. Debi Pick Marquette My Cornea Disease
    132. Debbie Pick Marquette – Keeping Gypsy in Prayers
    133. Debbie Pick Marquette – My Lifetime
    134. Debbie Pick Marquette Romance on the Beach
    135. Me and Erin G – Long Gone Away
    136. Lana Marie Hairy Nipple
    137. Paul McFarland January
    138. JUMBO 1 Shame
    139. Pam (respa) Black History Month
    140. Tea for Two Eclectic Wordsmiths
    141. Ean Black I Write
    142. Richard Frohm Dreams
    143. KiwiSteveh Sudden Tears
    144. Lana Marie The Dash Between
    145. Pamusart – The Kirby Part 1
    146. Pamusart – The Kirby Part 2
    147. Pamusart – The Kirby Part 3
    148. Pamusart – The Kirby Part 4
    149. Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 5
    150. Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 6
    151. Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 7
    152. Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 8
    153. Pamusart Rembering the Past
    154. Pamusart Old Man at the River
    155. Pamusart The Great Apes
    156. Pamusart cooing doves
    157. Pamusart Exploding Star
    158. Pamusart Purple Flowers Wake
    159. Pamusart the Search
    160. Pamusart On Finding Peace
    161. Pamusart Jean Marie Lane
    162. Pamusart the cavesweet
    163. Pamusart Independence
    164. Pamusart the Broken Man
    165. Lea Tonin – Famitree Flames
    166. Lea Tonin1 – Humiston
    167. Lea Toni1 – Mansion
    168. Lea Toni1 – The Meet
    169. Alexandra Trovato A Monster Schemes Under Your Bed
    170. Alexandra Trovato A Timely Trump Limerick
    171. Willie P Smith – Sleigh Ride
    172. Willie P Smith – Walk with Me
    173. Teafor2 – Last Night of the Year
    174. Jessica Wheller – Waking Daisy
    175. Jessica Wheller – January Wind
    176. Nicki Nance Emotional Support
    177. Cecilia A Heiskary Daffodils
    178. Cecila A Heiskary Jaguaurs
    179. Cecila A Heiskary Insane
    180. Cecilia A Heiskary Insane
    181. Cecilia Heiskary Daffodils
    182. Debbie D’arcy Rest
    183. Annonymous Golden Years
    184. Anonymous AI Future
    185. D’Arcy Rest
    186. Cecilia A Heiskary Jagaurs
    187. Cecilia A Heiskary Insane
    188. Gyspy Rose blue Geologist Waka
    189. Annoymous AI Future
    190. Annoymous Tiny Puppy
    191. Karen Cherry Common Sense for Seniors 337-348
    192. Rick Gardner Innocent of Guilty

     

    1. Harry Craft A Kangaroo from Baraboo
    2. Nancyjam Love in the winter
    3. Debbie Pick Marquette Finding the Bright Side
    4. Debbie Pick Marquette March
    5. Pamusart The Sword
    6. Pamusart The Planet Earth
    7. Barry Penfold Slow Dance with You
    8. YM Roger Always For Now
    9. Arabellesom Mom Truest Love Ever Known
    10. Debbie D’Arcy Lord Bryon
    11. Nicki B Robin Williams
    12. Harry Craft the Cell Phone
    13. Estory in this Autumn Time
    14. Mrs Anna Howard Difficult Decisions
    15. Debbie Pick Marquette Thelma and Louise
    16. Pamusart Your Golden Aura
    17. Rachell Allen Public Face/Private Face
    18. Anonymous Today
    19. Rachael Allen Exceptional Teacher
    20. Debbie D’Arcy Voldymyr Zelensky
    21. Kentucky Sweet Pea My Dogma
    22. Pamusart The Kidnapping
    23. Pamusart the Kidnapping Chapter Two
    24. Pam Respa Rennoved Violinst
    25. Rachael Allen Proud to Be His Daugther
    26. Rick Gardner Wishes to Have
    27. Cecilia A Heiskary Sumatran Orangutan
    28. Cecilia A Heiskary Guiana Red-Face Monkey
    29. Dolly’s Poems the Witching Hour
    30. Kapot Swimming in Pain
    31. Debbie Pick Marquette Men are from Mars, Women from Venus
    32. Miss Merrie This Love
    33. Nancyjam the Meadow
    34. Gypsy Blue Rose Billowing Clouds
    35. Pamusart the Kidnapping Chapter 3
    36. Pamusart Colorful world
    37. Pamusart the World Around Lavenders
    38. Annoymous Maladorous
    39. Tea for Two It Was the Shoes
    40. Tea for Two Wordsmith with Big Faces
    41. Iraven Prayers for Eva
    42. Sally Law Blood Moon and Blood Rain
    43. Jaquelyn Poop Living the Dream, No Thank You
    44. Debi Pick Marquette My Bedroom Window
    45. Debi Pick Marquette Happy St Patrick’s Birthday
    46. Debi Pick Marquette My Bedroom Window
    47. Debi Pick Marquette Happy St Patrick’s Birthday
    48. Rven Prayers for Eva
    49. Jennifer Secret Rendezvous
    50. Sally Law’s Blood Moon and Blood Rain
    51. Jaquelyn Poop Living the Dream, No Thank You
    52. Sanku A New Day
    53. Aiona I Am Photine
    54. Annyomous Too Many Boyfriends For This Is Serious
    55. Annyomous Cary Hope
    56. Annyomous Cicada Watch
    57. Annyomous Ned the Postman
    58. Brad Bennett I Saw A Man Walking Crying
    59. Carasdreams Betrayal
    60. Cullen Bob I Just Want To Leave Things Be
    61. Chris Davies Irish
    62. Iza Dealeanu The Wandering Queen
    63. Dolly’s Poems Graveyard Shift
    64. Cecilia A Heiskary Fun Time
    65. Rick Gardner April Is Today And The Next Day
    66. Brenda Strauser Early Signs Of Spring
    67. Alexandra Trovato Real Love
    68. Rachell Allen’s Perception Of Time
    69. Dolly’s Poems Speak Up: A Sonnet
    70. Jim Vechio   The House Of The Raison Bun
    71. Stu Harrel Columbus Calls To Me
    72. Pam Respa Delicate Blossoms
    73. Gypsy Blue Rose The The Treasure Inside
    74. Rsport Daunting Chasm
    75. Debbie Pick Marquette Regina’s Birthday
    76. Jessizero In Memoriam
    77. Roy Owen Love’s Measure
    78. JLR DO Over
    79. Ricahrd E Parkison Life in an Hourglass
    80. Jamison Brown The Declaration Then and Now
    81. Rama Devi writing rhymes
    82. Rama Devi Extinction
    83. Stoncosos1 Sunset Sleeps
    84. Richard E Parkison Life In an Hourglass
    85. Lancellot An Old Man’s Folly
    86. Clockwise Grief in Gray
    87. Cecillia A Heiskary The Forest
    88. Miss Merri Out of the Winter
    89. Jim Wille Streaming Woe
    90. Jim Wille Trolling the Bureaucrats
    91. Anonymous My Guiding Light
    92. Anonymous Shingles
    93. Beth Shelby Spring Sonnet
    94. Harry Croft A Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer
    95. Dolly’s Poem Bee Business
    96. Dolly’s Poem: Life is Short
    97. Dolly’s Poems Contemp of Youth
    98. Dolly’s Poem: The Arabian Sea
    99. Dolly’s Poem: Shadows Lurk Sonnet
    100. Dolly’s Poems: He Changed
    101. Pearl Edwards Lavender Mist
    102. Pearl Edwards I Remember When
    103. Evilynne, Do You Remember Me
    104. Gypsy Rose Blue When I Look At You
    105. Marylyn Hamilton Monday Mona Lisa
    106. Harmony 13 Before You Speak
    107. Kahpot Misplace Bravery
    108. Kahpot Rain
    109. Cecilia A Heiskary
    110. Shelly Kaye The Forest is Watching
    111. Pookietoo, I Felt Lost
    112. Penofire Dreams
    113. Poem Lover Story Time
    114. Mrs Kt, When Faith is Tested
    115. Samandlancelot Unexpected Outcome
    116. Jessica Wheller Called
    117. Lo Anne Beery, Finally I See Her
    118. Dazed and Confused The Witch’s Jar
    119. Phil Doran Andalusia A Lachesis Poem
    120. Debbie Pick Marquette A Butterfly’s Birthday
    121. Richard Frohm’s Out Last Flight
    122. Jessizero My Lost Love
    123. Beth Shelby Desire for Life’s Best
    124. Zanya Searching
    125. Anonymous Grandkid’s Treasure Chest
    126. Anonymous Aging
    127. Carol Clark First Look
    128. Harambe iz ur Daddy Go Pro
    129. Marlyn Hamilton Dreaming
    130. Ceilia Heiskarry Sneer
    131. Ceilia Heiskarry Harpy Eagle
    132. Debi Pick Marquette
    133. Mintybee Our Silence is Full
    134. Rami Devi Forest Songs and Dances
    135. Brenda Strauser Scavenger Hunt
    136. Alexandra Trovato: Emotions and Writing
    137. Jessica Wheller Witness
    138. Yardier No Reason Why
    139. Anonymous the Serpent’s Kiss
    140. Lo Ann Berry About Me
    141. Blossom Chime Mondays Should be Illegal
    142. Cecilia A Heiskary My Angel Dog
    143. Cecilia A Heiskary Fall’s Coming
    144. Cecilia A Heiskary Venus Fly Trap
    145. Mrs Anna Howard Longing
    146. Dazed and Confused Blooming in the Night
    147. Hitcher Whisphered Words
    148. Rama Devi Book Mirrors
    149. Brenda Straser Tricky Squirell
    150. Jim Wile Goat Yoga
    151. Lo Ann Berry Answers
    152. Jumbo Internal Examination
    153. Mrs KT along the lakeshore
    154. Debbie Pick Marquette Auto-immune Family reunion
    155. Dragon poet feeding faith

    349.               Alexandra Trovato, Answers

    1. Jamison Brown changes
    2. Anonymous A Season In Love
    3. Anonymous If You Cut Us, Do We Not Bleed?
    4. Amy Lynn Child, Mom, and Young Grandmother
    5. Amy Lynn Her Wish
    6. Karenina Emilyn’s Dream
    7. Debbie Pick Marquette Patch and Ruby Become Famous
    8. Debbie Pick Marquette, I see a Dove
    9. Pam Respa Nature’s harmony
    10. Hitcher Queen of the Damn
    11. Debbie Pick Marquette Assassinate
    12. Reso22 Paint Pour
    13. Resso Writer’s Right
    14. Teafor2 Unforgettable and Unforgivable
    15. Annyomous the dead
    16. Christmas candy. (found on Google – author unknown)

    366.            Philip Doran Sepia

    1. Gypsy Blue Rose the Monster Among US
    2. Pearl Edwards Peace in the Mase minute poem
    3. Evilyne, that Magic Moment
    4. Ready to Fly, Hilda the Name
    5. Marlyn Hamilton Fan Story
    6. Cecilia A. Hesikary Halloween Crew
    7. Cecilia A. Hesikary, the Maze
    8. Kahlani Where Serenity Lives
    9. Kahlani, a Harvest Moon
    10. Khapot Acrostic
    11. Debbie Pick Marquette Happy Birthday, Bill
    12. Tea for the Last two
    13. Alexandra Trovato, the Porch Swing
    14. Alexandra Trovato Peace On Earth
    15. Debbie Pick Marquette A Birthday for Debora Dey
    16. Lancelot Inside Her Room
    17. Harmony 13 Getting Through This Life
    18. Iyenocka True Loyalty
    19. Tea for Two Individually and Collectively
    20. Cedar A birthday Tribute to Cedar
    21. Janet Floor Melancholy Day
    22. Mrs Kt To Dance Among the Maple Tees
    23. Sally Law Just the Way You Are
    24. Debbie Pick Marquette My Life in Rhyme
    25. Sammielwf Life on a Potao Farm In Main
    26. Anonymous Never Again
    27. Mrs KT On a Winter’s Morning
    28. Nommi 1331 Ebenezer’s Awakening
    29. Sammielwf the Forgotten
    30. Anonymous Asleep
    31. Anonymous Supergirl
    32. Walt Brown Water, Friend Or Foe
    33. Debbie Pick Marquette Sally And Jack’s 50th
    34. Mrs Anna Howar American Moon
    35. Sammielwf My Aunt Angelina
    36. Alexandra Trovato Animal Court
    37. Themarfbard_Michael Hospice Heroine
    38. L Raven Merry Christmas All
    39. Cogiator Touched By Angel
    40. Cecilia A Heiskrary Angel Dog
    41. Cecilia A Heiskrary Happy Birthday Eean
    42. Debbie Pick Marquette Happy Birthday Kylie

     

     

    David Scheider

     

    David Schnider Footprints in Time

    Did Schinder Soldiers

    David Schinder Together Forever

    David Schinder The all Mighty Threasher Pantoum

     

    Sonnet

    1. Starkafi Romantic Interlude
    2. Shakespear Sonnet for a Poet Grieving

     

     

    Torque Poems

    1. ,Lawrencealot Anxious (Torque)
    2.  Michael Romani September 11, 2018 Big and Vicious

    Tea Cup  Poems

    1. Sheley Keyes ILLUMINATION (5 syllables)
    2. Sheley Keyes Chatoyant (3
    3. Sheley Keyes Poetry (3
    4. Sheley Keyes Fuddy-duddy (4)
    5. Christmas Angel

     

    The White Book Poems by Han Kang

     

    Spring

    Door

    Swadlling Bands

    Newborn Gown

    Moon Shape Rice Cake

    Fog

    White City

    Certain Objects

    The Direction of the Light

    Breast Milk

    She

    Candle

    She

    Rime

    Frost

    Wings

    Fist

    Snow

    Snow Flakes

    Perpetual Snow

    Wave

    Sleet

    White Dog

    Blizzard

    Ashes

    Salt

    Moon

    Lace Curtain

    Breath Cloud

    White Bird

    Hankerchief

    Milky Wave

    Laughing Whitely

    Yulan

    Small White Pills

    Sugar Cubes

    Lights

    A Thousand Points of Silver

    Glittering

    White Pebble

    White Bone

    Sand

    White Hair

    Clouds

    Incandescent Bulb

    White Nights

    Island of Light

    Black Writing Through White paper

    Scattering

    TO the Stillness

    Bondary

    Reedbed

    White Butterfly

    Spirit

    Rice Raw and Cook

    All Whiteness

    Your Eyes

    Shroud

    Onni

    Like a Clutch of Words Strewn Over White Petals

    Morning robes

    Smoke

    Silence

    Lower Teeth

    Parting

    All Whiteness

     

    Korean Literature of Washington

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    End Poetry

     

     

     

     

    Begin Harvard Classics

     

    Harvard Classics

     

    The volumes are:

    Bolded read

     

     (1) Franklin, Woolman, Penn

     (2) Plato, Epictetus,

     Marcus, Aurelius Meditations

    (3) Bacon,

    Milton’s Prose,

    Thomas Browne

    (4) Complete Poems in English: Milton

    (5) Essays and English Traits: Emerson (

    6) Poems and Songs: Burns (7)

    Confessions of St. Augustine. Imitation of Christ

    (8) Nine Greek Dramas (9)

    Letters and Treatises of Cicero

    Pliny

    (10) Wealth of Nations: Adam Smith

    (11) Origin of Species: Darwin

    (12) Plutarch’s Lives (13)

     Aeneid Virgil (14)

    Don Quixote Part 1: Cervantes

    (15) Pilgrim’s Progress. Donne

    Herbert. Bunyan, Walton

    (16) The Thousand and One Night

    (17) Folk-Lore and Fable. Aesop, Grimm,

    Andersen

    Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales

    (18) Modern English Drama

    (19) Faust,

    Egmont Etc.

    Doctor Faustus,

    Goethe,

    Marlowe

    (20) The Divine Comedy: Dante

    (21) I Promessi

    Sposi,

    Manzoni

    (22) The Odyssey: Homer

    (23) Two Years Before Mast. Dana

    (24) On the Sublime French Revolution Etc. Burke

    (25) Autobiography Etc. Essays and Addresses: J.S. Mill,

    1. Carlyle

    (26) Continental Drama

    (27) English Essays: Sidney to Macaulay

    (28) Essays. English and American

    (29) Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin (

    30) Faraday,

    Helmholtz,

    Kelvin,

    Newcomb,

    Geikie

    (31) Autobiography: Benvenuto, Cellini

    (32) Literary and Philosophical Essays:

    Montaigne,

    Sainte Beuve,

    Renan,

    Lessing,

    Schiller,

    Kant,

    Mazzini

    (33) Voyages and Travels

    (34) Descartes,

    Voltaire,

    Rousseau,

    Hobbes

    (35) Chronicle and Romance:

    Froissart,

    Malory,

    Holinshed (36)

    Machiavelli, the Prince

    More,

    Luther

    (37) Locke,

    Berkeley,

    Hume

    (38) Harvey,

    Jenner,

    Lister,

    Pasteur

    (39) Famous Prefaces

    (40) English Poetry 1: Chaucer to Gray

    (41) English Poetry 2: Collins to Fitzgerald

    (42) English Poetry 3: Tennyson to Whitman

    (43) American Historical Documents

    Federalist Papers

    Constitution

    Bill of Rights

    Declaration of Indepedence

    (44) Sacred Writings 1

    (45) Sacred Writings 2

    The Bible

    The Quaran

    The Analect of Confucius

    Mencius

    Buddist Writing

    Bhaga Vita

    Lao Tzo The Tao

     

    (46) Elizabethan Drama 1

    (47) Elizabethan Drama 2

    (48) Thoughts and Minor Works: Pascal

    (49) Epic and Saga (

    50) Introduction, Readers Guide,

     

    50 Books to Read Before You Die

    Vol 1 starts with Volume One


    Alcott, Louisa May: Little Women
    Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice
    Austen, Jane: Emma
    Balzac, Honoré de: Father Goriot
    Barbusse, Henri: The Inferno
    Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
    Brontë, Charlotte: Jane Eyre
    Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights
    Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan of the Apes
    Butler, Samuel: The Way of All Flesh
    Carroll, Lewis: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia
    Cervantes, Miguel de: Don Quixote
    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening
    Cleland, John: Fanny Hill
    Collins, Wilkie: The Moonstone
    Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness
    Conrad, Joseph: Nostromo
    Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans
    Crane, Stephen: The Red Badge of Courage
    Cummings, E. E.: The Enormous Room
    Defoe, Daniel: Robinson Crusoe
    Defoe, Daniel: Moll Flanders
    Dickens, Charles: Bleak House
    Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: The Idiot
    Doyle, Arthur Conan: The Hound of the Baskervilles
    Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Count of Monte Cristo
    Eliot, George: Middlemarch
    Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones
    Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary
    Flaubert, Gustave: Sentimental Education
    Ford, Ford Madox: The Good Soldier
    Forster, E. M.: A Room With a View
    Forster, E. M.: Howard End
    Gaskell, Elizabeth: North and South
    Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls
    Gorky, Maxim: The Mother
    Haggard, H. Rider: King Solomon’s Mines
    Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D’Urbervilles
    Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The Scarlet Letter
    Homer: The Odyssey
    Hugo, Victor: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    Hugo, Victor: Les Misérables
    Huxley, Aldous: Crome Yellow
    James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady

     

    Volume 2


    – Little Women [Louisa May Alcott]
    – Sense and Sensibility [Jane Austen]
    – Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) [J.M. Barrie]
    – Cabin Fever [ B. M. Bower]
    – The Secret Garden [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – A Little Princess [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [Lewis Carroll]
    – The King in Yellow [Robert William Chambers]
    – The Man Who Knew Too Much [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Woman in White [Wilkie Collins]
    – The Most Dangerous Game [Richard Connell]
    – Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – On the Origin of Species, 6th Edition [Charles Darwin]
    – The Iron Woman [Margaret Deland]
    – David Copperfield [Charles Dickens]
    – Oliver Twist [Charles Dickens]
    – A Tale of Two Cities [Charles Dickens]
    – The Double [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – A Room with a View [E. M. Forster]
    – Dream Psychology [Sigmund Freud]
    – Tess of the d’Urbervilles [Thomas Hardy]
    – Siddhartha [Hermann Hesse]
    – Dubliners [James Joyce]
    – The Fall of the House of Usher [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Arabian Nights [Andrew Lang]
    – The Sea Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Call of Cthulhu [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – Anne of Green Gables [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – Beyond Good and Evil [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Murders in the Rue Morgue [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Black Cat [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Raven [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – Swann’s Way [Marcel Proust]
    – Romeo and Juliet [William Shakespeare]
    – Treasure Island [Robert Louis Stevenson]
    – The Elements of Style [William Strunk Jr.

     

    Vol 3  finished keeping for the historical record

     

    This book contains the following works arranged alphabetically by authors’ last names.

    Starting with volume 3 then will go back and do volumes one, two, and the Harvard classics. The goal is to finish all of these by the end of next year.  I almost finished Volume One.  Will do some of the WC reading books as well.

    – What’s Bred in the Bone [Grant Allen]
    – The Golden Ass [Lucius Apuleius]
    – Meditations [Marcus Aurelius]
    – Northanger Abbey [Jane Austen]
    – Lady Susan [Jane Austen]
    – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [Lyman Frank Baum]
    – The Art of Public Speaking [Dale Breckenridge Carnegie]
    – The Blazing World [Margaret Cavendish]
    – The Wisdom of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Heretics [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Donnington Affair [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Innocence of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [John Cleland]
    – The Moonstone [Wilkie Collins]
    – Lord Jim [Joseph Conrad]
    – The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – The Pickwick Papers [Charles Dickens]
    – A Christmas Carol [Charles Dickens]
    – Notes From The Underground [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Gambler par Fyodor [Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Lost World [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Hound of the Baskervilles [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Sign of the Four [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Man in the Iron Mask [Alexandre Dumas]
    – The Three Musketeers [Alexandre Dumas]
    – This Side of Paradise [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – Curious, If True: Strange Tales [Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell]
    – King Solomon’s Mines [Henry Rider Haggard]
    – The Hunchback of Notre Dame [Victor Hugo]
    – Kim [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Captain Courageous [Rudyard Kipling]
    – The Jungle Book [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Lady Chatterley’s Lover [David Herbert Lawrence]
    – The Son of the Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Einstein Theory of Relativity [Hendrik Antoon Lorentz]
    – The Dunwich Horror [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – At the Mountains of Madness [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – The Prince [Niccolò Machiavelli]
    – The Story Girl [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – The Antichrist [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Republic [Plato]
    – The Last Man [Mary Shelley]
    – Life On The Mississippi [Mark Twain]
    – The Kama Sutra [Vatsyayana]
    – In the Year 2889 [Jules Verne]
    – Around the World in Eighty Days [Jules Verne]
    – Four Just Men [Edgar Wallace]
    – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ [Lewis Wallace]
    – Jacob’s Room [Virginia Woolf]

     

    Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2025

     

    Caroline M Yanchen We Would Teach You How To Read.

    Rachale Swirsky The Cat

    Olivia Blake, The Audit.

    Keji Johnson. Country Birds.

    Tatiya Oberb Flock Them Kids.

    SI Huaag, The River Judge

    .Charlie. Saint George. The Weight Of Your Own Ashes.

    Xavier Garcia An Ode To The.Minor Arcana in a Tripple Flow

    Kathryin Ross. The Forgotten Room.

    Dominique Dickey, Look At The Moon.

    Isabel Kim, Why Don’t We Just Kill The Kid?

    Jennifer Hudock, The Witch Trap.

    Susan Palwick Yarns.

    Pemmie Aguda The Wonders Of The World

    TJ Klune Reduce, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

    Tannarive Due  A Stranger Knocks?

    Thomas Hardy, The Sort.

    Russell Nichols What Happened To The Crooners? Adam Troy Castro, The 3420 Third Laws Of Robotics.

    Joe Hill Ushers.

     

    Sci-Fi short stories

     

    The Big Book of Science Fiction is a massive anthology of science fiction stories edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It covers the history and evolution of the genre from the early 20th century to the end of the millennium, featuring works from over 30 countries and many languages. The book contains 105 stories, ranging from classics by H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula K. Le Guin, to lesser-known gems by W.E.B. Du Bois, David R. Bunch, and Liu Cixin. The book also includes comments from the editors and the authors, offering insights into their creative process and vision. The book is divided into 11 sections, each with a thematic focus and chronological order.

    Here is the table of contents for the book1:

    Goal read one to five per week alternating with Kindle classics and reading poetry collections finish by end of the year

     

    Introduction: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

    The Lens of Time: Science Fiction as a Way of Seeing

    H.G. Wells: “The Star” (1897)

    Lu Xun: “The New Overworld” (1902)

    Sultana’s Dream: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1905)

    Albert Robida: “The Triumph of Mechanics” (1908)

    Miguel de Unamuno: “Mechanopolis” (1913)

    W.E.B. Du Bois: “The Comet” (1920)

    Claude Farrère: “The Fate of the Poseidonia” (1923)

    Edmond Hamilton: “The Star Stealers” (1929)

    David H. Keller: “The Lost Language” (1934)

    Stanislaw Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Jorge Luis Borges: “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” (1940)

    Cixin Liu: “The Poetry Cloud” (1997)

    Invasions

    Edgar Rice Burroughs: “A Princess of Mars” (1912) excerpt

    Leslie F. Stone: “The Conquest of Gola” (1931)

    Stanley G. Weinbaum: “A Martian Odyssey” (1934)

    John W. Campbell Jr.: “Who Goes There?” (1938)

    Ray Bradbury: “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” (1949)

    Katherine MacLean: “Pictures Don’t Lie” (1951)

    William Tenn: “The Liberation of Earth” (1953)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Voices of Time” (1960)

    Dino Buzzati: “Catastrophe” (1966)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side” (1972)

    Joanna Russ: “When It Changed” (1972)

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “The Spontaneous Reflex” (1973) excerpt

    Octavia Butler: “Bloodchild” (1984)

    James Patrick Kelly: “Think Like a Dinosaur” (1995)

    Monsters

    H.P. Lovecraft: “The Dunwich Horror” (1929)

    Ray Bradbury: “The Foghorn” (1951)

    Jerome Bixby: “It’s a Good Life” (1953)

    Julio Cortázar: “Axolotl” (1956)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Drowned Giant” (1964)

    R.A. Lafferty: “Nine Hundred Grandmothers” (1966)

    Terry Carr: “The Dance of the Changer and the Three” (1968)

    Harlan Ellison®: “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967)

    Lisa Tuttle & George R.R. Martin: “The Storms of Windhaven” (1975)

    John Varley: “Air Raid” (1977)

    William Gibson: “New Rose Hotel” (1984)

    Ted Chiang: “Story of Your Life” (1998)

    Experiments

    Alfred Jarry: “Elements of Pataphysics” (1911)

    Karel Čapek: “R.U.R.” (1920) excerpt

    Stanisław Lem: “How Erg the Self-Inducting Slew a Paleface” (1955)

    William S. Burroughs: “Excerpt from Naked Lunch” (1959)

    J.G. Ballard: “Chronopolis” (1960)

    Philip K. Dick: “Beyond Lies the Wub” (1952)

    Boris Vian: “Froth on the Daydream” (1947) excerpt

    Joanna Russ: “Useful Phrases for the Tourist” (1970)

    George Alec Effinger: “Two Sadnesses” (1973)

    John Sladek: “Solar Shoe Salesman” (1974)

    Dafydd ab Hugh: “The Coon Rolled Down and Ruptured His Larinks, A Squeezed Novel by Mr. Skunk” (1986)

    Generation Ships

    Don Wilcox: “The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years” (1940)

    Judith Merril: “Daughters of Earth” (1952)

    Brian W. Aldiss: “Non-Stop” (1958) excerpt

    Robert Silverberg: “Sundance” (1969)

    Pamela Zoline: “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967)

    Gene Wolfe: “A Cabin on the Coast” (1984)

    Bruce Sterling: “Swarm” (1982)

    Geoff Ryman: “The Unconquered Country” (1984)

    New Worlds

    Cordwainer Smith: “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” (1961)

    Samuel R. Delany: “Aye, and Gomorrah …” (1967)

    Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and Slower” (1971)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” (1976)

    Frederik Pohl: “The Gold at the Starbow’s End” (1972)

    Angélica Gorodischer: “Of Navigators and Traitors” (1973) excerpt

    John Crowley: “Snow” (1985)

    Iain M. Banks: “A Gift from the Culture” (1987)

    Greg Egan: “Learning to Be Me” (1990)

    Future War

    Jack London: “The Unparalleled Invasion” (1910)

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton: “The Coming Race” (1871) excerpt

    George Griffith: “The War of the Viruses” (1895)

    Philip Francis Nowlan: “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” (1928)

    E.E. “Doc” Smith: “The Skylark of Space” (1928) excerpt

    Olaf Stapledon: “Star Maker” (1937) excerpt

    Robert A. Heinlein: “Solution Unsatisfactory” (1941)

    C.M. Kornbluth: “Two Dooms” (1958)

    Joe Haldeman: “Hero” (1972)

    Harry Harrison: “The Streets of Ashkelon” (1962)

    David R. Bunch: “Moderan” (1967)

    Harlan Ellison®: “A Boy and His Dog” (1969)

    James S.A. Corey: “Rates of Change” (2011)

    Virtual Reality

    Stanisław Lem: “The Seventh Sally or How Trurl’s Own Perfection Led to No Good” (1965)

    Philip K. Dick: “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966)

    John Brunner: “The Vitanuls” (1967)

    Roger Zelazny: “For a Breath I Tarry” (1966)

    Robert Silverberg: “Passengers” (1968)

    Rudy Rucker: “Software” (1982) excerpt

    William Gibson: “Burning Chrome” (1982)

    Pat Cadigan: “Pretty Boy Crossover” (1986)

    Neal Stephenson: “Snow Crash” (1992) excerpt

    Humanity 2.0

    Olaf Stapledon: “Odd John” (1935) excerpt

    C.L. Moore: “No Woman Born” (1944)

    Cordwainer Smith: “Scanners Live in Vain” (1950)

    Algis Budrys: “Who?” (1955)

    James Blish: “Surface Tension” (1952)

    Gregory Benford: “Blood Music” (1983)

    Bruce Sterling: “Mozart in Mirrorshades” (1985)

    Vernor Vinge: “True Names” (1981)

    Ted Chiang: “Understand” (1991)

    Alien Minds

    Arthur C. Clarke: “The Sentinel” (1951)

    Isaac Asimov: “The Last Question” (1956)

    Clifford D. Simak: “Desertion” (1944)

    James H. Schmitz: “Grandpa” (1955)

    Frank Herbert: “Try to Remember!” (1961)

    Philip José Farmer: “Sail On! Sail On!” (1952)

    Stanisław Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “Roadside Picnic” (1972) excerpt

    Karen Joy Fowler & Pat Murphy: “Rachel in Love” (1987)

    Ian McDonald: “The Tear” (2008)

    Walter M Miller, Jr After the End

    Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century Poetry

     

    BOLD read

     

    Edward Lee Masters.

    The Hil

    Fiddler. Jones,

    Petite the Poet

     

    Edwin Arlington Robinson

    Miniver Cheevy

    Mr. Flood’s Party.

     

    James Weldon Johnson

    The Creation

    Paul Laurence  Dunbar.

     

    The Poet

    Life

    Life’s Trajedy

     

    Robert Frost.

    The Death Of The Hired Man.

    Mending Wall.

    Birches

              Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening.

              Tree In My Window.

    Directive.

    Amy Lowell

    Patterns.

     

    Getrude Stein

    Susie Asado.

    From Tender Buttons A Box.

     From Tender Buttons, A Plate.

     

    Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson

    I sit and sew .

    Carl Sandburg.

    Grass.

    Cahoots.

     

    Wallace Stevens.

    Peter Quince at the Clavier.

    Disillusionment of 10:00.

    13 Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird.

              Emperor Of Ice Cream.

    A Mere  Being.

    Angelina Weld Grimke

    Fragment.

    William Carlos Williams.

    Tact.

               Dance Ruse

    The Yachts.

    From Apostlethat Greeny  Flower Book 1, Lines 1 To 92.

     

    Sarah Teasdale.

    Moonlight.

    There Will Come Soft Rains.

     

    Erza Pound

    The Jewel Stairs Grievance.

    The River Merchants Wife Letter.

    In A Station At The Metro.

    Hugh  Selwyn Mulberry.

    From Conto. 56 Libretto Yet Ere This Season Died A Cold

     

    Hilda Doolittle, HD.

    Sea Rose.

    The Helen.

    From The Walls Do Not Fall An Incident Here And There.

    From Hermeneutic Definition Red Rose And A Beggar. Why Did You Come?

    Take Me Anywhere.

    Venicc. Venus.

     

    Robinson, Jeffers.

    Gala in April.

    Shine, Perishing Republic.

    Cloudss at Evening.

    Credo

    Mararane Moore

    Fish.

    Poetry.

    Poetry.

     

    TS, Elliott.

    Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

     The Wasteland.

     

    Claude McKay.

              If We Must Die.

    Harlem Dancer.

     

    Archibald MacLeash,

              Arts Poetica 

    Edna, Saint Vincent Millay.

    First Fig

    Recuerdo

    E E Cummings.

    In Just.

    Buffalo Bill

    The Cambridge Ladies Have Lived In Furnished Souls.

    Next To, Of Course, God, America.

    Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled Gladly Beyond.

    Rpophessagr

    Gene Toomor.

    Reapers.

    November Cotton Flowers.

    Portrait in Georgia.

    Louise Bogan

    Medusa.

    New moon.

    Melvin B Tolson

    Dark Symphony.

    From Harlem Gallery PSI Black Boys, Let Me Get Up From The White Man’s Table.

     

    Hart Crane

    From the Bridge

    Poem to Brooklyn Bridge

    From 11  Powhatan’s Daughter the River.

     

    Robert Francis.

    Silent Poem

    Langston Hughes

    Nego speaks of rivers.

    I, Too.

    Dreams Boogie.

    Harlem

    Countee Cullan

    Incident

    To John Keats Poet at Springtime

    Yes I Do Marvel

    From the Dark Tower

    Stanley Kutitz

    Father and Son

    The Protrait

    Touch Me

    WH Auden

    Mussee Des Beaux Arts

    Epitah on a Tryant

    Theordore Roethke

    My Papa’s Waltz

    The Waking

    In a Dark Time

     

    Charles Olson.

    From The Maximum Poems One Maximum Of Gloucester To You.

    The Distances.

    Elizabeth Bishop.

    The Fish

    Sestina

    First Death In Nova Scotia.

    Visit  To Saint Elizabeths.

    One Art.

    Robert Hayden.

    Morning Poem For The Queen Of Sunday.

    Those Winter Sundays.

    Frederick Douglass.

    Middle Passage.

    Muriel  Rukeyser?

    Effort At Speech Between Two People.         ‘

    Then I Saw What The Calling  Was.

    The Poem as Mask

    Delmore  Swartz.

    The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me.

    John Barryman.

    From Dream Songs.

    Feeling Your Compact And Delicious Body. ‘

    Life, Friends, Is Boring. We Must Not Say So.

    There Shut Down Once.  ‘

    This World Is Gradually Becoming A Place.

    Henry’sUnderstanding

     

    Randall, Jarell.

    90 North.

    The Death Of The Bell Turret Gunner.

    The Woman At The Washington Zoo.

    Next Day.

    Weldon Kees.

    To My Daughter?

     

    Dudley Randall

    A Different Image

    William Stafford.

    Traveling Through The Dark.

    At The Bomb Testing Site.

     

    Ruth Stone.

    Scars.

    Margaret Walker.

    For My People

    Gwendolyn Brooks.

    The Mother.

    A Song In The Front Yard.         ‘

    The Bean Eaters

    The Lovers Of The Poor.

    We  Real Cool.      ‘

    The Blackstone Rangers.

     

    Robert Lowell.

    To Speak Of Woe That Is In Marriage.

    Skunk Hour .

    For The Union Dead.

    Robert Duncan.

    Often I’m Permitted To Return To A Medow.

    My Mother Would Be A Falconress

    Lawrence Ferlinghetti

    Populist Manifesto.

    William Meredith.

    Parents. Howard Nemeroff.

    Because You Asked About The Line Between Prose And Poetry.

    Hayden Caruth.

    The  Hyacinth Gardens In Brooklyn.

    August 1945.

    Richard Wilber

    Love Calls Us to the Things of This World

    Cottage Street

    The Writer

    James Dickey

    The Sheep Child

    Alan Duncan.

    Love song I And Thou

    Anthony Act.

    More light, More light.

    Richard Hugo.

    The Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg.

    The Freaks at Spring General Rd. Field.

    Dennis Levertov.

    The Unwritten Poem

    Cademon.

    Swan in Falling snow.

    Who is Simpson?

    American Poetry.

    Carolyn Kaiser.

    A Muse of water.

    Kenneth Koch.

    Fresh air.

    Permanently.

    Maxine Coleman.

    Morning Swim.

    How Is It?

    Gerald Stern.

    Behaving Like A Jew.

    The Dancing.

    Another Insane Devotion.

    AR Ammons.

    The City Limits.

    Corson Inlet.

    Robert Blye.

    Snowfall In The Afternoon.

    Driving Into Town Late To Mail A Letter.

    Walking From Sleep.

    Robert Creeley.

    The Flower.

    I Know A Man.

    The Language.

    The Rain.

    Bresson’s Movies.

    James Merrill.

    Victor Dog.

    Frank O’Hara New York School.

    Steps.

    Poem Lana Turner Has Collapsed.

    The Day Lady Died.

    John Ashberry. New York School

    Some Trees.

    Self-Portrait In A Convex Mirror.

    What Is Poetry?

    Galway, Kennel.

    The Bear.`

    After Making Love, We Hear Footsteps.

    Saint Francis And The Soul.

    Ws Merwin.

    Air.

    For The Anniversary Of My Death.

    Yesterday.

    Chord .

    James Wright.

    A Blessing.

    Autumn  Begins In Martins Ferry, Oh.

    Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy’s Farm In Pine Island, Mn.

    In Response To The Rumor That Otis Warehouse In Wheeling, Wv Has Been Condemned.

    Donald Hall.

    My Son, My Executioner.

    Digging.

    Philip Levine.

    Animals Are Passing From Our Lives.

    They Feed They Lion.

    You Can Have It.

    The  Simple Truth.

     

    Anne Sexton.

    Her Kind

    Adoption.

    Waiting To Die.

    In Celebration Of My Uterus.

    Rowing

    Adrienne Rich.

    Orion

    Planetarium.

    A Valedictorian Forbidding Mourning.

    From 21 Love Poems 13 The Rules Of Break Like A Thermometer.

    Gregory Corso.

    Marriage

    Gary Snyder.

    Hay, For The Horses.

    Riprap.

    Mid August As Sourdough Mountain Lookout.

    Dereck  Walcott.

    A Far Cry From Africa.

    Sea Grapes.

    Find The Schooner Flight Part 11 After The Storm. There’s A Fresh Light That Follows.

    The Light Of The World.

    From Omeros Book. 7. 44 I Sing Of Quiet,Achiles, Afrolabe’s Son.

    Miller Williams.

    Let Me tell you.

    Etheridge Knight

    Idea Of Ancestry.

    Amira Baraka, Leroy Jones.

    Preface To A 20 Volume Suicide Note.

    Agony As Now.

    SOS.

    Black Art.

    Ted Berrigon .

    Wrong Rain.

    A Final Sonnet

    Andre Lorde.

    Power.

    Sonia Sanchez.

    Poetry at 30.

    Mark Strand.

    The Prediction.

    The Night, The Porch.

    Russell Edson.

    A Stone Is Nobody’s.

     

    Mary Oliver.

    Singapore.

    The Summer’s Day.

    Charles Wright.

    Reunion.

    Dead Color.

    California Dreaming.

    Lucile  Clifton.

    Homage To My Hips.

    At Least At Last We Killed The Roaches.

    The Death Of Fry, Alfred Clifton.

    To My Last.

    June, Jordan.

    Home About My Rights.

    Frederick Seidel.

    1968.

    CK Williams.

    Find My Window.

    Blades

    Tynan Wilkowski.’

    The Mechanic.

    Michael S Harper.

    Dear John. Dear Coltrane.

    Last Affair. Bessies Blues Song.

    Grandfather.

    Nightmare Begins Responsibility.

    Charles Simik .

    Stone.

    Fork.

    Classic Ballroom Dances.

    Paula Gunn Allen.

     

    Grandmother.

    Frank Bidart.

    Ellen West.

    Carl Dennis.

    Spring Letter.

    Two Or Three Wishes.

    Stephen Dunn.

    Allegory Of The Cave.

    Tucson.

    Robert Pensky.

    History Of My Heart.

    The Questions.

    Samurai Song.

    James Welch.

    Christmas Comes To Moccasin Flat.

    Billy Collins.

    Introduction To Poetry.

    The Dead.

    Toi Derricote .

    Allen Ginsberg.

    The Weakness.

    Stephen Dobyns.

    How To Like It?

    Lullaby.

    Robert Hass.

    Song.

    That Photographer?

    Return Of Robinson Jeffers.

    Lyn Hejinian

    From My Life trim With Colored Ribbons.

    BH  Fairchild.

    The Machinist Teaching His Daughter To Play The Piano.

    Haik R Madhubuti Don L Lee.

    But He Was Cool Or Even Stopped For Green Lights.

    Upon To Compliment Other Poems.

    William Matthews.

    In Memory Of The Utah Stars.

    The  Accompanist

    . Sharon Olds

    The Language Of The Brag.

    The Lifting.

    Henry Taylor.

    Barbed Wire.

    Tess Gallagher.

    Black, Silver.

    Under Stars.

    Michael Palmer.

    I Do Not.

    James Tate.

    The Lost  Pilot.

    Norman Dubie.

    Elizabeth War With The Christmas Bear.

    The Funeral.

    Carol Muske Dukes,.

    August, Los Angeles Lullaby.

    Kay Ryan.

    Turtle

    Bestiary

    Larry Levis.

    Childhood Ideogram

    Winter Stars

    Adrian C Lousis

    Looking For Judas

    How much lux?

    The People of the Other  Village.

    Marilyn Nelson.

    The Ballad of Aunt Geneva.

    Star Fix.

    Run Stilleman

    Albany

    AI

    Cuba 1963

    The Kid

    Finished

    Yusef Komunyakaa

    Thanks

    To Do Street

    Facing It

    Nude Interogation

    Nathaniel Mc Kay

    Song of the Aduumboulou

    Gregory Orr

    Gathering the Bones Together

    Two Lines From the Brother Grimm

    Origin of the Marble Forrest

    Robert Hill Whiteman

    Reaching Yellow River

    Albert Goldbarth

    Away

    Heather Mc Hugh

    Language Lesson 1976

    What He Thought

    Leslie Marmon Silko

    In  Cold Storm Light

    Olga Boumas

    Calypso

    Victor Hernadez Soul

    Latin and Soul

    Jane Miller

    Miami Heart

    David St. James

    Iris

    CD Wright

    Why Ralph Refuses to Dance

    Girl Friend Poe # 3

    Crescent

    Carolyn Forche

    Taking Off My Clothes

    Jorie Graham

    San Sepolcro

    Marie Howe

    What the Living Do

    Joy Harjo

    She Had Some Horses

    My House is Red Earth

    Garret Honjo

    The Legend

    Andrew  Hugins

    Beggoten

    We Were Simply Talking

    Brigit Peggen Kelly

    Imaging Their Own Hyms

    Song

    Paul Muldoon

    Meeting the British

    Errata

    The Throwback

    Judith Orez Coffer

    Quinceanera

    Rita Dove

    Parsley

    Day Star

    After Reading Mikey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed

    Alice Fulton

    Our Calling

    Barbara Hamby

    Thinking of Galileo

    Hatred

    Mark Jarman

    Unholy Sonnet

    Naomi Shihab Nye

    The Traveling Onion

    Arabic

    Wedding Cake

    Alberto Rios

    Nani

    England Finally like My Mother Always Said We Would

    Laurie Sheck

    Nocturne Blue Waves

    The Unfinished

    Gary Sotto

    Field Poem

    Oranges

    Black Hair

    Susan Stewart

    Yellow Star and Ice

    The Forrest

    Mark Dotty

    Brillance

    Esta Noche

    Bill’s Story

    Harryette Mullen

    Black Nikes

    Franz Wright

    Alcohol

    Lorna Dee Cervantes

    To My Brother

    Love of My Flesh, Living Death

    Sandra Cisneros.

    My Wicked, Wicked Ways.

    Little Clowns, My Heart.

    Cornelius, Eady.

    Jack Johnson Does The Eagle Rock.

    Crows In A Strong Wind.

    I’m A Fool To Love You.

     

    Louise Eldritch

    .         Indian Boarding School. The Runaways.

    David Mason.

    Spooning.

    Marilyn Chin.

    How I Got That Name?

    Compose Near The Bay Bridge

    The Survivor

    Cathy Song .

    The Youngest Daughter.

    Ann Finch.

    Another Reluctance.

    Insert

    Lee Young Lee.

    The Gift

    Eating Together.

    Carl Phillips

    Our Lady

    As From a Quiver of Arrows

    Nick Flynn

    Bag of Mice

    Cartoon Physics

    Elizabeth Alexander

    The Viena Hott not

    Reetika Vazirani

    From White Elephants

    A million Balconies

    Train Windows

    Sherman Alexie

    What the Orphan Inherits

    The Pow Wow at the End of the World

    Natasha Trethewey

    Hot Combs

    Amateur Fighter

    Flounder

    A E Stallings

    The Tantrum

    Joana Klink

    Spare

    Brenda Shaughnessy

    Post feminism

    Your One Good Dress

    Kevin Young

    Quivira City Limits

    Everywhere is Out of Town

    Whatever You Want

    Terrance Hayes

    At Pegasus

    Lady Sings the Blues

    Sci-Fi short stories

     

    The Big Book of Science Fiction is a massive anthology of science fiction stories edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It covers the history and evolution of the genre from the early 20th century to the end of the millennium, featuring works from over 30 countries and many languages. The book contains 105 stories, ranging from classics by H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula K. Le Guin, to lesser-known gems by W.E.B. Du Bois, David R. Bunch, and Liu Cixin. The book also includes comments from the editors and the authors, offering insights into their creative process and vision. The book is divided into 11 sections, each with a thematic focus and a chronological order.

    Here is the table of contents for the book1:

    Introduction: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

    The Lens of Time: Science Fiction as a Way of Seeing

    H.G. Wells: “The Star” (1897)

    Lu Xun: “The New Overworld” (1902)

    Sultana’s Dream: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1905)

    Albert Robida: “The Triumph of Mechanics” (1908)

    Miguel de Unamuno: “Mechanopolis” (1913)

    W.E.B. Du Bois: “The Comet” (1920)

    Claude Farrère: “The Fate of the Poseidonia” (1923)

    Edmond Hamilton: “The Star Stealers” (1929)

    David H. Keller: “The Lost Language” (1934)

    Stanislaw Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Jorge Luis Borges: “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” (1940)

    Cixin Liu: “The Poetry Cloud” (1997)

    Invasions

    Edgar Rice Burroughs: “A Princess of Mars” (1912) excerpt

    Leslie F. Stone: “The Conquest of Gola” (1931)

    Stanley G. Weinbaum: “A Martian Odyssey” (1934)

    John W. Campbell Jr.: “Who Goes There?” (1938)

    Ray Bradbury: “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” (1949)

    Katherine MacLean: “Pictures Don’t Lie” (1951)

    William Tenn: “The Liberation of Earth” (1953)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Voices of Time” (1960)

    Dino Buzzati: “Catastrophe” (1966)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side” (1972)

    Joanna Russ: “When It Changed” (1972)

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “The Spontaneous Reflex” (1973) excerpt

    Octavia Butler: “Bloodchild” (1984)

    James Patrick Kelly: “Think Like a Dinosaur” (1995)

    Monsters

    H.P. Lovecraft: “The Dunwich Horror” (1929)

    Ray Bradbury: “The Foghorn” (1951)

    Jerome Bixby: “It’s a Good Life” (1953)

    Julio Cortázar: “Axolotl” (1956)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Drowned Giant” (1964)

    R.A. Lafferty: “Nine Hundred Grandmothers” (1966)

    Terry Carr: “The Dance of the Changer and the Three” (1968)

    Harlan Ellison®: “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967)

    Lisa Tuttle & George R.R. Martin: “The Storms of Windhaven” (1975)

    John Varley: “Air Raid” (1977)

    William Gibson: “New Rose Hotel” (1984)

    Ted Chiang: “Story of Your Life” (1998)

    Experiments

    Alfred Jarry: “Elements of Pataphysics” (1911)

    Karel Čapek: “R.U.R.” (1920) excerpt

    Stanisław Lem: “How Erg the Self-Inducting Slew a Paleface” (1955)

    William S. Burroughs: “Excerpt from Naked Lunch” (1959)

    J.G. Ballard: “Chronopolis” (1960)

    Philip K. Dick: “Beyond Lies the Wub” (1952)

    Boris Vian: “Froth on the Daydream” (1947) excerpt

    Joanna Russ: “Useful Phrases for the Tourist” (1970)

    George Alec Effinger: “Two Sadnesses” (1973)

    John Sladek: “Solar Shoe Salesman” (1974)

    Dafydd ab Hugh: “The Coon Rolled Down and Ruptured His Larinks, A Squeezed Novel by Mr. Skunk” (1986)

    Generation Ships

    Don Wilcox: “The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years” (1940)

    Judith Merril: “Daughters of Earth” (1952)

    Brian W. Aldiss: “Non-Stop” (1958) excerpt

    Robert Silverberg: “Sundance” (1969)

    Pamela Zoline: “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967)

    Gene Wolfe: “A Cabin on the Coast” (1984)

    Bruce Sterling: “Swarm” (1982)

    Geoff Ryman: “The Unconquered Country” (1984)

    New Worlds

    Cordwainer Smith: “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” (1961)

    Samuel R. Delany: “Aye, and Gomorrah …” (1967)

    Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and Slower” (1971)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” (1976)

    Frederik Pohl: “The Gold at the Starbow’s End” (1972)

    Angélica Gorodischer: “Of Navigators and Traitors” (1973) excerpt

    John Crowley: “Snow” (1985)

    Iain M. Banks: “A Gift from the Culture” (1987)

    Greg Egan: “Learning to Be Me” (1990)

    Future War

    Jack London: “The Unparalleled Invasion” (1910)

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton: “The Coming Race” (1871) excerpt

    George Griffith: “The War of the Viruses” (1895)

    Philip Francis Nowlan: “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” (1928)

    E.E. “Doc” Smith: “The Skylark of Space” (1928) excerpt

    Olaf Stapledon: “Star Maker” (1937) excerpt

    Robert A. Heinlein: “Solution Unsatisfactory” (1941)

    C.M. Kornbluth: “Two Dooms” (1958)

    Joe Haldeman: “Hero” (1972)

    Harry Harrison: “The Streets of Ashkelon” (1962)

    David R. Bunch: “Moderan” (1967)

    Harlan Ellison®: “A Boy and His Dog” (1969)

    James S.A. Corey: “Rates of Change” (2011)

    Virtual Reality

    Stanisław Lem: “The Seventh Sally or How Trurl’s Own Perfection Led to No Good” (1965)

    Philip K. Dick: “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966)

    John Brunner: “The Vitanuls” (1967)

    Roger Zelazny: “For a Breath I Tarry” (1966)

    Robert Silverberg: “Passengers” (1968)

    Rudy Rucker: “Software” (1982) excerpt

    William Gibson: “Burning Chrome” (1982)

    Pat Cadigan: “Pretty Boy Crossover” (1986)

    Neal Stephenson: “Snow Crash” (1992) excerpt

    Humanity 2.0

    Olaf Stapledon: “Odd John” (1935) excerpt

    C.L. Moore: “No Woman Born” (1944)

    Cordwainer Smith: “Scanners Live in Vain” (1950)

    Algis Budrys: “Who?” (1955)

    James Blish: “Surface Tension” (1952)

    Gregory Benford: “Blood Music” (1983)

    Bruce Sterling: “Mozart in Mirrorshades” (1985)

    Vernor Vinge: “True Names” (1981)

    Ted Chiang: “Understand” (1991)

    Alien Minds

    Arthur C. Clarke: “The Sentinel” (1951)

    Isaac Asimov: “The Last Question” (1956)

    Clifford D. Simak: “Desertion” (1944)

    James H. Schmitz: “Grandpa” (1955)

    Frank Herbert: “Try to Remember!” (1961)

    Philip José Farmer: “Sail On! Sail On!” (1952)

    Stanisław Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “Roadside Picnic” (1972) excerpt

    Karen Joy Fowler & Pat Murphy: “Rachel in Love” (1987)

    Ian McDonald: “The Tear” (2008)

    After the End

    Walter M. Miller Jr.: “The Darfsteller” (1955) J.G. Ballard: “The Terminal Beach” (1964) John Wyndham: ”

    Sci-Fi short stories

     

    The Big Book of Science Fiction is a massive anthology of science fiction stories edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It covers the history and evolution of the genre from the early 20th century to the end of the millennium, featuring works from over 30 countries and many languages. The book contains 105 stories, ranging from classics by H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula K. Le Guin, to lesser-known gems by W.E.B. Du Bois, David R. Bunch, and Liu Cixin. The book also includes comments from the editors and the authors, offering insights into their creative process and vision. The book is divided into 11 sections, each with a thematic focus and a chronological order.

    Here is the table of contents for the book1:

    Introduction: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

    The Lens of Time: Science Fiction as a Way of Seeing

    H.G. Wells: “The Star” (1897)

    Lu Xun: “The New Overworld” (1902)

    Sultana’s Dream: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1905)

    Albert Robida: “The Triumph of Mechanics” (1908)

    Miguel de Unamuno: “Mechanopolis” (1913)

    W.E.B. Du Bois: “The Comet” (1920)

    Claude Farrère: “The Fate of the Poseidonia” (1923)

    Edmond Hamilton: “The Star Stealers” (1929)

    David H. Keller: “The Lost Language” (1934)

    Stanislaw Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Jorge Luis Borges: “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” (1940)

    Cixin Liu: “The Poetry Cloud” (1997)

    Invasions

    Edgar Rice Burroughs: “A Princess of Mars” (1912) excerpt

    Leslie F. Stone: “The Conquest of Gola” (1931)

    Stanley G. Weinbaum: “A Martian Odyssey” (1934)

    John W. Campbell Jr.: “Who Goes There?” (1938)

    Ray Bradbury: “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” (1949)

    Katherine MacLean: “Pictures Don’t Lie” (1951)

    William Tenn: “The Liberation of Earth” (1953)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Voices of Time” (1960)

    Dino Buzzati: “Catastrophe” (1966)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side” (1972)

    Joanna Russ: “When It Changed” (1972)

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “The Spontaneous Reflex” (1973) excerpt

    Octavia Butler: “Bloodchild” (1984)

    James Patrick Kelly: “Think Like a Dinosaur” (1995)

    Monsters

    H.P. Lovecraft: “The Dunwich Horror” (1929)

    Ray Bradbury: “The Foghorn” (1951)

    Jerome Bixby: “It’s a Good Life” (1953)

    Julio Cortázar: “Axolotl” (1956)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Drowned Giant” (1964)

    R.A. Lafferty: “Nine Hundred Grandmothers” (1966)

    Terry Carr: “The Dance of the Changer and the Three” (1968)

    Harlan Ellison®: “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967)

    Lisa Tuttle & George R.R. Martin: “The Storms of Windhaven” (1975)

    John Varley: “Air Raid” (1977)

    William Gibson: “New Rose Hotel” (1984)

    Ted Chiang: “Story of Your Life” (1998)

    Experiments

    Alfred Jarry: “Elements of Pataphysics” (1911)

    Karel Čapek: “R.U.R.” (1920) excerpt

    Stanisław Lem: “How Erg the Self-Inducting Slew a Paleface” (1955)

    William S. Burroughs: “Excerpt from Naked Lunch” (1959)

    J.G. Ballard: “Chronopolis” (1960)

    Philip K. Dick: “Beyond Lies the Wub” (1952)

    Boris Vian: “Froth on the Daydream” (1947) excerpt

    Joanna Russ: “Useful Phrases for the Tourist” (1970)

    George Alec Effinger: “Two Sadnesses” (1973)

    John Sladek: “Solar Shoe Salesman” (1974)

    Dafydd ab Hugh: “The Coon Rolled Down and Ruptured His Larinks, A Squeezed Novel by Mr. Skunk” (1986)

    Generation Ships

    Don Wilcox: “The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years” (1940)

    Judith Merril: “Daughters of Earth” (1952)

    Brian W. Aldiss: “Non-Stop” (1958) excerpt

    Robert Silverberg: “Sundance” (1969)

    Pamela Zoline: “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967)

    Gene Wolfe: “A Cabin on the Coast” (1984)

    Bruce Sterling: “Swarm” (1982)

    Geoff Ryman: “The Unconquered Country” (1984)

    New Worlds

    Cordwainer Smith: “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” (1961)

    Samuel R. Delany: “Aye, and Gomorrah …” (1967)

    Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and Slower” (1971)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” (1976)

    Frederik Pohl: “The Gold at the Starbow’s End” (1972)

    Angélica Gorodischer: “Of Navigators and Traitors” (1973) excerpt

    John Crowley: “Snow” (1985)

    Iain M. Banks: “A Gift from the Culture” (1987)

    Greg Egan: “Learning to Be Me” (1990)

    Future War

    Jack London: “The Unparalleled Invasion” (1910)

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton: “The Coming Race” (1871) excerpt

    George Griffith: “The War of the Viruses” (1895)

    Philip Francis Nowlan: “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” (1928)

    E.E. “Doc” Smith: “The Skylark of Space” (1928) excerpt

    Olaf Stapledon: “Star Maker” (1937) excerpt

    Robert A. Heinlein: “Solution Unsatisfactory” (1941)

    C.M. Kornbluth: “Two Dooms” (1958)

    Joe Haldeman: “Hero” (1972)

    Harry Harrison: “The Streets of Ashkelon” (1962)

    David R. Bunch: “Moderan” (1967)

    Harlan Ellison®: “A Boy and His Dog” (1969)

    James S.A. Corey: “Rates of Change” (2011)

    Virtual Reality

    Stanisław Lem: “The Seventh Sally or How Trurl’s Own Perfection Led to No Good” (1965)

    Philip K. Dick: “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966)

    John Brunner: “The Vitanuls” (1967)

    Roger Zelazny: “For a Breath I Tarry” (1966)

    Robert Silverberg: “Passengers” (1968)

    Rudy Rucker: “Software” (1982) excerpt

    William Gibson: “Burning Chrome” (1982)

    Pat Cadigan: “Pretty Boy Crossover” (1986)

    Neal Stephenson: “Snow Crash” (1992) excerpt

    Humanity 2.0

    Olaf Stapledon: “Odd John” (1935) excerpt

    C.L. Moore: “No Woman Born” (1944)

    Cordwainer Smith: “Scanners Live in Vain” (1950)

    Algis Budrys: “Who?” (1955)

    James Blish: “Surface Tension” (1952)

    Gregory Benford: “Blood Music” (1983)

    Bruce Sterling: “Mozart in Mirrorshades” (1985)

    Vernor Vinge: “True Names” (1981)

    Ted Chiang: “Understand” (1991)

    Alien Minds

    Arthur C. Clarke: “The Sentinel” (1951)

    Isaac Asimov: “The Last Question” (1956)

    Clifford D. Simak: “Desertion” (1944)

    James H. Schmitz: “Grandpa” (1955)

    Frank Herbert: “Try to Remember!” (1961)

    Philip José Farmer: “Sail On! Sail On!” (1952)

    Stanisław Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “Roadside Picnic” (1972) excerpt

    Karen Joy Fowler & Pat Murphy: “Rachel in Love” (1987)

    Ian McDonald: “The Tear” (2008)

    After the End

    Walter M. Miller Jr.: “The Darfsteller” (1955) J.G. Ballard: “The Terminal Beach” (1964) John Wyndham: ”

     

    Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century Poetry

    BOLD read

    Edward Lee Masters.

    The Hil

    Fiddler. Jones,

    Petite the Poet

     

    Edwin Arlington Robinson

    Miniver Cheevy

    Mr. Flood’s Party.

     

    James Weldon Johnson

    The Creation

    Paul Laurence  Dunbar.

     

    The Poet

    Life

    Life’s Trajedy

     

    Robert Frost.

    The Death Of The Hired Man.

    Mending Wall.

    Birches

              Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening.

              Tree In My Window.

    Directive.

    Amy Lowell

    Patterns.

     

    Getrude Stein

    Susie Asado.

    From Tender Buttons A Box.

     From Tender Buttons, A Plate.

     

    Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson

    I sit and sew .

    Carl Sandburg.

    Grass.

    Cahoots.

     

    Wallace Stevens.

    Peter Quince at the Clavier.

    Disillusionment of 10:00.

    13 Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird.

              Emperor Of Ice Cream.

    A Mere  Being.

    Angelina Weld Grimke

    Fragment.

    William Carlos Williams.

    Tact.

    Dance Ruse

    The Yachts.

    From Apostlethat Greeny  Flower Book 1, Lines 1 To 92.

     

    Sarah Teasdale.

    Moonlight.

    There Will Come Soft Rains.

     

    Erza Pound

    The Jewel Stairs Grievance.

    The River Merchants Wife Letter.

    In A Station At The Metro.     

              Hugh  Selwyn Mulberry.

    From Conto. 56 Libretto Yet Ere This Season Died A Cold

     

    Hilda Doolittle, HD.

    Sea Rose.

    The Helen.

    From The Walls Do Not Fall An Incident Here And There.

    From Hermeneutic Definition Red Rose And A Beggar. Why Did You Come?

    Take Me Anywhere.

    Venicc. Venus.

     

    Robinson, Jeffers.

    Gala in April.

    Shine, Perishing Republic.

    Cloudss at Evening.

    Credo

    Mararane Moore

    Fish.

    Poetry.

     

    TS, Elliott.

    Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

              The Wasteland.

     

    Claude McKay.

    If We Must Die.

    Harlem Dancer.

     

    Archibald MacLeash,

    Arts Poetica

    Edna, Saint Vincent Millay.

    First Fig

    Recuerdo

    E E Cummings.

    In Just.

    Buffalo Bill

    The Cambridge Ladies Have Lived In Furnished Souls.

    Next To, Of Course, God, America.

    Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled Gladly Beyond.

    Rpophessagr

    Gene Toomor.

    Reapers.

    November Cotton Flowers.

    Portrait in Georgia.

    Louise Bogan

    Medusa.

    New moon.

    Melvin B Tolson

    Dark Symphony.

    From Harlem Gallery PSI Black Boys, Let Me Get Up From The White Man’s Table.

     

    Hart Crane

    From the Bridge

    Poem to Brooklyn Bridge

    From 11  Powhatan’s Daughter the River.

     

    Robert Francis.

    Silent Poem

    Langston Hughes

    Nego speaks of rivers.

    I, Too.

    Dreams Boogie.

    Harlem

    Countee Cullan

    Incident

    To John Keats Poet at Spring Time

    Yes I Do Marvel

    From the Dark Tower

    Stanley Kutitz

    Father and Son

    The Protrait

    Touch Me

    WH Auden

    Mussee Des Beaux Arts

    Epitah on a Tryant

    Theordore Roethke

    My Papa’s Waltz

    The Waking

    In a Dark Time

     

    Charles Olson.

    From The Maximum Poems One Maximum Of Gloucester To You.

    The Distances.

    Elizabeth Bishop.

    The Fish

    Sestina

    First Death In Nova Scotia.

    Visit  To Saint Elizabeths.

    One Art.

    Robert Hayden.

    Morning Poem For The Queen Of Sunday.

    Those Winter Sundays.

    Frederick Douglass.

    Middle Passage.

    Muriel  Rukeyser?

    Effort At Speech Between Two People.         ‘

    Then I Saw What The Calling  Was.

    The Poem as Mask

    Delmore  Swartz.

    The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me.

    John Barryman.

    From The Dream Songs.

    Feeling Your Compact And Delicious Body. ‘

    Life, Friends, Is Boring. We Must Not Say So.

    There Shut Down Once.  ‘

    This World Is Gradually Becoming A Place.

    Henry’sUnderstanding

     

    Randall, Jarell.

    90 North.

    The Death Of The Bell Turret Gunner.

    The Woman At The Washington Zoo.

    Next Day.

    Weldon Kees.

    To My Daughter?

     

    Dudley Randall

    A Different Image

    William Stafford.

    Traveling Through The Dark.

    At The Bomb Testing Site.

     

    Ruth Stone.

    Scars.

    Margaret Walker.

    For My People

    Gwendolyn Brooks.

    The Mother.

    A Song In The Front Yard.         ‘

    The Bean Eaters

    The Lovers Of The Poor.

              We  Real Cool.      ‘

    The Blackstone Rangers.

     

    Robert Lowell.

    To Speak Of Woe That Is In Marriage.

    Skunk Hour .

    For The Union Dead.

    Robert Duncan.

    Often I’m Permitted To Return To A Medow.

    My Mother Would Be A Falconress

    Lawrence Ferlinghetti

    Populist Manifesto.

    William Meredith.

    Parents. Howard Nemeroff.

    Because You Asked About The Line Between Prose And Poetry.

    Hayden Caruth.

    The  Hyacinth Gardens In Brooklyn.

    August 1945.

    Richard Wilber

    Love Calls Us to the Things of This World

    Cottage Street

    The Writer

    James Dickey

    The Sheep Child

    Alan Duncan.

    Love song I And Thou

    Anthony Act.

    More light, More light.

    Richard Hugo.

    The Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg.

    The Freaks at Spring General Rd. Field.

    Dennis Levertov.

    The Poem Unwritten

    Cademon.

    Swan in Falling snow.

    Who is Simpson?

    American Poetry.

    Carolyn Kaiser.

    A Muse of water.

    Kenneth Koch.

    Fresh air.

    Permanently.

    Maxine Coleman.

    Morning Swim.

    How It Is?

    Gerald Stern.

    Behaving Like A Jew.

    The Dancing.

    Another Insane Devotion.

    AR Ammons.

    The City Limits.

    Corson Inlet.

    Robert Blye.

    Snowfall In The Afternoon.

    Driving Into Town Late To Mail A Letter.

    Walking From Sleep.

    Robert Creeley.

    The Flower.

    I Know A Man.

    The Language.

    The Rain.

    Bresson’s Movies.

    James Merrill.

    Victor Dog.

    Frank O’Hara New York School.

    Steps.

    Poem Lana Turner Has Collapsed.

    The Day Lady Died.

    John Ashberry. New York School

    Some Trees.

    Self-Portrait In A Convex Mirror.

    What Is Poetry?

    Galway, Kennel.

    The Bear.`

    After Making Love, We Hear Footsteps.

    Saint Francis And The Soul.

    Ws Merwin.

    Air.

    For The Anniversary Of My Death.

    Yesterday.

    Chord .

    James Wright.

    A Blessing.

    Autumn  Begins In Martins Ferry, Oh.

    Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy’s Farm In Pine Island, Mn.

    In Response To The Rumor That Otis Warehouse In Wheeling, Wv Has Been Condemned.

    Donald Hall.

    My Son, My Executioner.

    Digging.

    Philip Levine.

    Animals Are Passing From Our Lives.

    They Feed They Lion.

    You Can Have It.

    The  Simple Truth.

     

    Anne Sexton.

    Her Kind

    Adoption.

    Waiting To Die.

    In Celebration Of My Uterus.

    Rowing

    Adrienne Rich.

    Orion

    Planetarium.

    A Valedictorian Forbidding Mourning.

    From 21 Love Poems 13 The Rules Of Break Like A Thermometer.

    Gregory Corso.

    Marriage

    Gary Snyder.

    Hay, For The Horses.

    Riprap.

    Mid August As Sourdough Mountain Lookout.

    Dereck  Walcott.

    A Far Cry From Africa.

    Sea Grapes.

    Find The Schooner Flight Part 11 After The Storm. There’s A Fresh Light That Follows.

    The Light Of The World.

    From Omeros Book. 7. 44 I Sing Of Quiet,Achiles, Afrolabe’s Son.

    Miller Williams.

    Let Me tell you.

    Etheridge Knight

    Idea Of Ancestry.

    Amira Baraka, Leroy Jones.

    Preface To A 20 Volume Suicide Note.

    Agony As Now.

    SOS.

    Black Art.

    Ted Berrigon .

    Wrong Rain.

    A Final Sonnet

    Andre Lorde.

    Power.

    Sonia Sanchez.

    Poetry at 30.

    Mark Strand.

    The Prediction.

    The Night, The Porch.

    Russell Edson.

    A Stone Is Nobody’s.

     

    Mary Oliver.

    Singapore.

    The Summer’s Day.

    Charles Wright.

    Reunion.

    Dead Color.

    California Dreaming.

    Lucile  Clifton.

    Homage To My Hips.

    At Least At Last We Killed The Roaches.

    The Death Of Fry, Alfred Clifton.

    To My Last.

    June, Jordan.

    Home About My Rights.

    Frederick Seidel.

    1968.

    CK Williams.

    Find My Window.

    Blades

    Tynan Wilkowski.’

    The Mechanic.

    Michael S Harper.

    Dear John. Dear Coltrane.

    Last Affair. Bessies Blues Song.

    Grandfather.

    Nightmare Begins Responsibility.

    Charles Simik .

    Stone.

    Fork.

    Classic Ballroom Dances.

    Paula Gunn Allen.

     

    Grandmother.

    Frank Bidart.

    Ellen West.

    Carl Dennis.

    Spring Letter.

    Two Or Three Wishes.

    Stephen Dunn.

    Allegory Of The Cave.

    Tucson.

    Robert Pensky.

    History Of My Heart.

    The Questions.

    Samurai Song.

    James Welch.

    Christmas Comes To Moccasin Flat.

    Billy Collins.

    Introduction To Poetry.

    The Dead.

    Toi Derricote .

    Allen Ginsberg.

    The Weakness.

    Stephen Dobyns.

    How To Like It?

    Lullaby.

    Robert Hass.

    Song.

    That Photographer?

    Return Of Robinson Jeffers.

    Lyn Hejinian

    From My Life trim With Colored Ribbons.

    BH  Fairchild.

    The Machinist Teaching His Daughter To Play The Piano.

    Haki  R Madhubuti Don L Lee.

    But He Was Cool Or Even Stopped For Green Lights.

    Upon To Compliment Other Poems.

    William Matthews.

    In Memory Of The Utah Stars.

    The  Accompanist

    . Sharon Olds

    The Language Of The Brag.

    The Lifting.

    Henry Taylor.

    Barbed Wire.

    Tess Gallagher.

    Black, Silver.

    Under Stars.

    Michael Palmer.

    I Do Not.

    James Tate.

    The Lost  Pilot.

    Norman Dubie.

    Elizabeth War With The Christmas Bear.

    The Funeral.

    Carol Muske Dukes,.

    August, Los Angeles Lullaby.

    Kay Ryan.

    Turtle

    Bestiary

    Larry Levis.

    Childhood Ideogram

    Winter Stars

    Adrian C Lousis

    Looking For Judas

    How much lux?

    The People of the Other  Village.

    Marilyn Nelson.

    The Ballad of Aunt Geneva.

    Star Fix.

    Run Stilleman

    Albany

    AI

    Cuba 1963

    The Kid

    Finished

    Yusef Komunyakaa

    Thanks

    To Do Street

    Facing It

    Nude Interogation

    Nathaniel Mc Kay

    Song of the Aduumboulou

    Gregory Orr

    Gathering the Bones Together

    Two Lines From the Brother Grimm

    Origin of the Marble Forrest

    Robert Hill Whiteman

    Reaching Yellow River

    Albert Goldbarth

    Away

    Heather Mc Hugh

    Language Lesson 1976

    What He Thought

    Leslie Marmon Silko

    In  Cold Storm Light

    Olga Boumas

    Calypso

    Victor Hernadez Soul

    Latin and Soul

    Jane Miller

    Miami Heart

    David St. James

    Iris

    CD Wright

    Why Ralph Refuses to Dance

    Girl Friend Poe # 3

    Crescent

    Carolyn Forche

    Taking Off My Clothes

    Jorie Graham

    San Sepolcro

    Marie Howe

    What the Living Do

    Joy Harjo

    She Had Some Horses

    My House is the Red Earth

    Garret Honjo

    The Legend

    Andrew  Hugins

    Beggoten

    We Were Simply Talking

    Brigit Peggen Kelly

    Imaging Their Own Hyms

    Song

    Paul Muldoon

    Meeting the British

    Errata

    The Throwback

    Judith Orez Coffer

    Quinceanera

    Rita Dove

    Parsely

    Day Star

    After Reading Mikey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed

    Alice Fulton

    Our Calling

    Brbar Hamby

    Thinking of Galieo

    Hatred

    Mark Jarman

    Unholly Sonnet

    Naomi Shibab Nye

    The Traveling Onion

    Arabic

    Wedding Cake

    Alberto Rios

    Nani

    Enland Finally like My Mother Always Said We Would

    Laurie Sheck

    Nocturne Blue Waves

    The Unfinished

    Gary Sotto

    Field Poem

    Oranges

    Black Hair

    Susan Stewart

    Yellow Star and Ice

    The Forrest

    Mark Dotty

    Brillance

    Esta Noche

    Bill’s Story

    Harryette Mullen

    Black Nikes

    Franz Wright

    Alcohol

    Lorna Dee Cervantes

    To My Brother

    Love of My Flesh, Living Death

    Sandra Cisneros.

    My Wicked, Wicked Ways.

    Little Clowns, My Heart.

    Cornelius, Eady.

    Jack Johnson Does The Eagle Rock.

    Crows In A Strong Wind.

    I’m A Fool To Love You.

     

    Louise Eldritch

    .         Indian Boarding School. The Runaways.

    David Mason.

    Spooning.

    Marilyn Chin.

    How I Got That Name?

    Compose Near The Bay Bridge

    The Survivor

    Cathysong .

    The Youngest Daughter.

    Ann Finch.

    Another Reluctance.

    Insert

    Lee Young Lee.

    The Gift

    Eating Together.

    Carl Philiphs

    Our Lady

    As From a Quiver of Arrows

    Nick Flynn

    Bag of Mice

    Cartoon Physics

    Elizabeth Alexander

    The Viena Hottenot

    Reetivka Vazisrani

    From White Elephants

    A million Balconies

    Train Windows

    Sherman Alexie

    What the Orphan Inherits

    The Pow Wow at the End of the World

    Natasha Trethevey

    Hot Combs

    Amateur Fighter

    Flounder

    A E Stallings

    The Tantrum

    Joana Klink

    Spare

    Brenda Shaughnessy

    Postfeminism

    Your One Good Dress

    Kevin Young

    Quivra City Limits

    Everywhere is Out of Town

    Whaatever You Want

    Terrance Hayes

    At Pegasus

              Lady Sings the Blues

     

     

     

     

    Monthly Themes enter one review per month

    January

    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia
    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening

     

    Part two reading recommendations until July 15, 2025

     

    Part three Reading recommendations July to August

     

    July 1, 2025

    5 Timeless Classics That Every Thinking Person Should Read

    15 Masterpieces of American Literature to Read at Least Once in Your Life

     

    July 5

     

    15 Songs That Were Inspired by American Literature

    The 17 Most Thought-Provoking Books of the Last 100 Years

     

    Goodreads lists top 100 books released every year in the last century

    Good reads  top book of last hundred years

    1957 – On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

    1958 – Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.

    1959 – The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

    1960 – To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

    1961 – Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

    1962 – A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle.

    1963 – The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

    1964 – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

    1965 – Dune by Frank Herbert.

    1966 – Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.

    1967 – One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

    1968 – A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.

    1969 – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.

    1970 – The Bluest Eye by Tony Morrison.

    1971 – The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty.

    1972 – The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin.

    1973 – The Princess Bride by William Goldman.

    1974 – If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin.

    1975 – Shogun by James Clavell.

    1976 – Roots by Alex Haley.

     

    Rest of the List

    1925 – Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.

    1926 – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie.

    1927 – Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather.

    1928 – All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

    1929 – Passing by Nella Larsen.

    1930 – As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.

    1931 – The Waves by Virginia Woolf.

    1932 – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

    1933 – Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain.

    1934 – Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

    1935 – Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers.

    1936 – Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot.

    1937 – Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

    1938 – Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

    1939 – The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

    1940 – Native Son by Richard Wright.

    1941 – The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges.

    1942 – The Stranger by Albert Camus.

    1943 – The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry.

    1944 – No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre.

    1945 – The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.

    1946 – The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers.

    1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

    1948 – I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

    1949 – 1984 by George Orwell.

    1950 – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

    1951 – The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger.

    1952 – Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.

    1953 – Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

    1954 – The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien.

    1955 – Lolita by Vladimr Nabokov.

    1956 – Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin.

    1977 – The Shining by Stephen King.

    1978 – The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

    1979 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

    1980 – The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.

    1981 – Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

    1982 – The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.

    1983 – The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett.

    1984 – The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.

    1985 – The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

    1986 – Maus by Art Spiegelman.

    1987 – Beloved by Tony Morrison.

    1988 – The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushtie.

    1989 – The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.

    1990 – V for Vendetta by Alan Moore.

    1991 – Possession by A. S. Byatt.

    1992 – The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

    1993 – Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler.

    1994 – The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa.

    1995 – Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

    1996 – A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin.

    1997 – Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.

    1998 – A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.

    1999 – all about love by bell hooks.

    2000 – The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon.

    2001 – Atonement by Ian McEwan.

    2002 – Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides.

    2003 – The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

    2004 – Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

    2005 – Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

    2006 – The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

    2007 – In The Woods by Tana French.

    2008 – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

    2009 – Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.

    2010 – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

    2011 – The Martian by Andy Weir.

    2012 – Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

    2013 – Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.

    2014 – Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

    2015 – The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin.

    2016 – The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.

    2017 – Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.

    2018 – Circe by Madeline Miller.

    2019 – On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong.

    2020 – The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.

    2021 – Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner.

    2022 – Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsoliver.

    2023 – Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

    2024 – James by Percival Everett.

     

    July 6, 2025

     

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    The 22 best motivational books to become your best self in 2025

    25 Thought-Provoking Books You Should Read From The Last Decade

     

    Literary Masterpieces: The 25 Best Books That Defined the 20th Century

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    July 9, 2025

     

    30 Best-Selling Books Everyone’s Reading in 2025

    The 15 Best Books of the Past 15 Years, According to PureWow’s Books Editor

    The 10 Best Fantasy Books of the Last Decade

    10 best sci-fi fantasy books, ranked

    15 Books That Predicted the Future with Eerie Accuracy

    July 11, 2025

    The 10 Best Classic Sci-Fi Books (That Still Hold Up)

    Seven Great Reads

    Stephen King’s 10 favorite books of all time – from epic fantasy to brutal western

    These 15 Novels Sparked National Controversies

    55 Science Fiction Books Everyone Needs to Read

    Why “Siddhartha” by Hermann Hesse Still Changes Lives 100 Years Later

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    📺 Series Overview: Gone for Good (2021)

    Premise:
    Guillaume Lucchesi thought he had moved past the tragedy that claimed his brother Fred and first love Sonia. But ten years later, his girlfriend Judith vanishes during his mother’s funeral, triggering a desperate search that unearths buried secrets and forces him to confront the past he tried to forget.

    Format:

    • 5 episodes
    • Released on Netflix
    • French title: Disparu à jamais
    • Created by David Elkaïm and Vincent Poymori
    • Executive Producer: Harlan Coben

    📽️ Episode Synopses

    Episode Title Summary
    1️⃣ Guillaume Guillaume’s life is upended when Judith disappears. Flashbacks reveal the trauma of losing Fred and Sonia.
    2️⃣ Inès Guillaume investigates his mother’s finances and uncovers clues about Judith’s past. Inès hides a key piece of evidence.
    3️⃣ Daco Daco’s neo-Nazi past resurfaces as he helps Guillaume track Judith’s daughter Alice. A funeral reveals a shocking twist.
    4️⃣ Nora Judith’s real identity as Nora is revealed. Flashbacks to Italy show her escape from an abusive husband and Fred’s involvement.
    5️⃣ Fred Fred returns, seeking revenge and redemption. Guillaume learns the truth about Sonia’s death and confronts his brother in a deadly showdown.

    🎭 Cast List

    Actor Character
    Finnegan Oldfield Guillaume Lucchesi
    Nicolas Duvauchelle Fred Lucchesi
    Nailia Harzoune Judith Conti / Nora
    Garance Marillier Sonia & Inès Kasmi
    Guillaume Gouix Daco
    Tómas Lemarquis Ostertag
    Grégoire Colin Kesler
    Jacques Bonnaffé Mr. Lucchesi
    Mila Ayache Alice
    Sonia Bonny Awa

    🗣️ Notable Quotes from the Book

    “You want the good guys on one side, the bad on the other. It doesn’t work that way, does it? It is never that simple.”
    — Gone for Good, Harlan Coben

    “The mind does that. It tries to find a way out. It makes deals with God. It makes promises.”
    — Gone for Good

    These quotes reflect the novel’s central theme: the murky moral terrain of love, loss, and redemption.

    📚 Literary Reputation

    Harlan Coben is widely regarded as one of the most successful thriller writers of his generation. His novels are known for:

    • Twist-heavy plots
    • Ordinary people in extraordinary danger
    • Themes of buried secrets and family trauma

    Gone for Good was praised for its emotional depth and suspense, and its adaptation continues Coben’s streak of successful international Netflix series.

    👤 Author Bio: Harlan Coben

    • Born: January 4, 1962, Newark, NJ
    • Education: Amherst College (Political Science)
    • Awards: Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony — the only author to win all three
    • Books in print: Over 90 million
    • Known for: Myron Bolitar series, standalone thrillers, and Netflix adaptations
    • Lives in: Ridgewood, NJ with his wife and four children

    📖 Book List (Selected)

    🔹 Myron Bolitar Series

    • Deal Breaker (1995)
    • Fade Away (1996)
    • Darkest Fear (2000)
    • Home (2016)
    • Think Twice (2024)

    🔹 Mickey Bolitar Series (YA)

    • Shelter (2011)
    • Seconds Away (2012)
    • Found (2014)

    🔹 Standalone Novels

    • Tell No One (2001)
    • Gone for Good (2002)
    • The Innocent (2005)
    • The Stranger (2015)
    • I Will Find You (2023)

    🎬 Movie & TV Adaptations

    Title Country Year Notes
    Tell No One France 2006 Acclaimed film adaptation
    Safe UK 2018 Netflix original
    The Stranger UK 2020 Netflix original
    The Innocent Spain 2021

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    July 14

    10 Great Novels To Read if You Love Alfred Hitchcock Movies

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    20 Books That Predicted the Future – And Got It Scarily Right

    1. “1984” by George Orwell (1949)
    2. “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley (1932)
    3. “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury (1953)
    4. “Neuromancer” by William Gibson (1984)
    5. “Stand on Zanzibar” by John Brunner (1968)
    6. “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster (1909)
    7. “Looking Backward” by Edward Bellamy (1888)
    8. “The Shockwave Rider” by John Brunner (1975)
    9. “Earth” by David Brin (1990)
    10. “The Space Merchants” by Pohl & Kornbluth (1953)
    11. “Future Shock” by Alvin Toffler (1970)
    12. “Player Piano” by Kurt Vonnegut (1952)
    13. “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson (1992)
    14. “The World Set Free” by H.G. Wells (1914)15. “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood (1985)
    15. “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson (1962).
    16. “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand (1957)
    17. “Cryptonomicon” by Neal Stephenson (1999)©wikimed
    18. “The Diamond Age” by Neal Stephenson (1995)©wiki
    19. “Red Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson (1992)

     

    30 Books Every 40+ Person Should Read

    Life-Changing Books for Your Mental Health

    10 Ambitious Sci-Fi Books That Really Pay Off

     

    July 21, 2025

     

    Small Books, Big Impact: 10 Short Reads That Leave a Lasting Impression

     

    July 27, 2025

     

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-28-most-famous-historical-fiction-books-you-need-to-read/ss-AA1JnDu2?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LGTS&cvid=6886a59066c749988e8dc517995ad6bc&ei=49

     

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    Top 10 Most Read Books of All Time

     

     The Bible

    The Bible is widely considered the most read and distributed book in human history. It has been translated into over 3,500 languages, and billions of copies have been printed and shared. With its combination of spiritual guidance, historical narrative, and moral instruction, it’s central to Christianity and has influenced countless aspects of literature and law worldwide.

    2. The Quran

    The Quran, the holy book of Islam, is another one of the most widely read texts in the world. It has been memorized, studied, and recited by millions of Muslims daily for centuries. Its poetic style, teachings, and laws form the foundation of Islamic belief and practice.

    3. Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung (The Little Red Book)

    This collection of quotes by the former Chinese leader Mao Zedong was published in the 1960s during the Cultural Revolution. It was required reading in China and distributed to over a billion people. The book was considered a symbol of loyalty to Mao’s communist ideals.

    4. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

    This seven-book fantasy series has captivated audiences across generations and countries. With over 500 million copies sold globally, Harry Potter’s influence extends beyond literature into film, merchandise, and theme parks. Its universal themes of friendship, courage, and good vs. evil have made it a modern classic.

     

    5. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

    Published in the 1950s, this epic high-fantasy trilogy revolutionized the genre. Tolkien’s richly detailed world of Middle-earth, filled with hobbits, wizards, and dark lords, continues to inspire generations of readers and writers. The books have sold over 150 million copies and remain popular worldwide.

    6. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

    This philosophical novel about a shepherd’s journey to find treasure has touched readers with its messages about destiny, faith, and purpose. Originally published in Portuguese in 1988, it has been translated into over 80 languages and sold more than 65 million copies.

    7. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

    This poignant account of a young Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis during World War II is one of the most powerful memoirs ever written. It has been translated into dozens of languages and remains required reading in many schools, emphasizing the importance of tolerance and remembrance.

    Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

    First published in the early 1600s, Don Quixote is one of the earliest and most influential novels ever written. The story of an aging man’s quest to become a knight is both humorous and tragic, and its themes continue to resonate. It has sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide.

    9. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

    Before The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien introduced readers to Middle-earth with The Hobbit. This tale of Bilbo Baggins’ adventure with dwarves and dragons is beloved for its humor, heart, and moral lessons. It has sold over 100 million copies and remains a staple in children’s and fantasy literature.

    Only one I have not read is

    10. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

    Published in 1937, this self-help classic on success and wealth-building has sold over 100 million copies. It’s credited with inspiring generations of entrepreneurs and motivational speakers. Its influence remains strong in business and personal development communities.

     

    100 of the Best Books of All Time

     

    Book cover depicts hands holding purple flowers; text reads “Anna Karenina,” “Leo Tolstoy,” “Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition.” Black-and-white background with text in white.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1878)

    Ah, Anna Karenina. Lusty love affair or best romance of all time? Most critics pin it as one of most iconic literary love stories, and for good reason. Leo Tolstoy’s sweeping Russian tale of star-crossed lovers is littered with swoon-worthy love quotes like, “He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.” Described by Fyodor Dostoevsky as “flawless,” this one belongs on any book collector’s shelf.

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    Book cover features tree silhouette, green leaves above red background, text reads “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Harper Lee,” “Winner of the Pulitzer Prize.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

    Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird upends the quiet solitude of a segregated Southern town with a story of innocence and virtue, bigotry and hate, love and forgiveness. Eight-year-old Scout Finch and her father, Atticus, find themselves enmeshed in the trial of a Black man accused of raping a White woman. In one of the most deeply sad books, Lee tells the events, revelations, and lessons through the eyes of a young child. Widely read and widely taught, To Kill a Mockingbird continues to spark discussions of race in classrooms and libraries across the country.

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    Looking for your next great book? Read four of today’s bestselling novels in the ime it takes to read one with Reader’s Digest Select Editions. And be sure to follow the Select Editions page on Facebook!

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    Children and dog lean over a sidewalk’s edge with a “Keep Off” sign; text says “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    3. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (1974)

    The imagination and artistry of Shel Silverstein are on full display in this classic collection of short stories and poems. Where the Sidewalk Ends is truly one of the best poetry books of all time because of its staying power for children and adults alike. Whimsical and masterful, the stories of this American poet, author, singer, and folk artist have something for everyone.

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    Book cover showcases bold “Valley of the Dolls” text with pill-shaped cutouts revealing partial faces, set against a pink background.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    4. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann (1966)

    Sex and drugs have a common allure, but they also have a common endgame: a downward spiral. In Valley of the Dolls, Jacqueline Susann offers in lurid detail the stories of three young women who want nothing more than to reach the pinnacle of life. But just as they see it in their grasp, they lose it all in a coil of sex, lust, romance, and abandonment. This page-turner is one of those classic beach reads you won’t be able to put down, and it paved the way for similar scintillating vacation books.

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    Book cover displays “The Shining” by Stephen King. A dimly lit wooden doorway marked “REDRUM” creates a suspenseful atmosphere.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    5. The Shining by Stephen King (1977)

    The master of suspense must be included in any list of books you should read in a lifetime. That’s why you’ll find Stephen King’s The Shining here. Brought to life in cinematic perfection by Jack Nicholson, Jack Torrance is a middle-aged man looking for a fresh start. He thinks he’s found it when he lands a job as the off-season caretaker at an idyllic old hotel, the Overlook. But as snow piles higher outside, the secluded location begins to feel more confining and sinister, less freeing and more provoking. Horror fans, take note: This is one of the scariest and best Stephen King books of all time.

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    76 The Little Prince By Antoine De Saint Exupéry Via Amazon© via amazon.com

    6. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943)

    The Little Prince is a timeless tale of a prince’s journey from planet to planet in search of adventure. What he finds, however, are interactions with adults who leave him frustrated or dismayed. In the Sahara Desert, he runs into the book’s narrator, and the two start an eight-day journey filled with lessons. Don’t let this book’s size fool you—it’s one of the most compelling short books we’ve ever read. It’s also one of the most widely read classics all over the world. Whether you prefer reading in English, French, or another language, you’re bound to find a copy.

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    The book cover features a gold ring with an eye, intricate designs on black. Text: “The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    7. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954)

    In The Fellowship of the Ring, the first book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, journey to Middle-earth and into the world of Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Gandalf the Grey, the dark lord Sauron, and the entire assemblage of Tolkien’s most famous characters and story lines. Frodo is tasked with destroying the One Ring, the most powerful Ring in Mordor, but along the way, his quest is filled with many of Tolkien’s unique and captivating characters, as well as an adventure of epic proportions. Though the world of Middle-earth is entirely made up, the trilogy teases out universal themes of good versus evil that have resonated with readers of all ages and backgrounds. It’s widely regarded as one of the best fantasy books of all time and a must-read for lovers of the genre.

     

    8. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)

    Offred, a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, has been removed from the home, family, and life that she knew only to be forced into service as a housemaid—and a working pair of ovaries. As the population of Gilead falls, a woman’s value becomes contingent upon her fertility and ability to reproduce, and those who can procreate are stripped of their independence. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is one part cautionary tale and one part enthralling narrative. Though written decades ago, it remains chillingly compelling for our time as was proven by audience reactions to it’s on-screen adaptation. While Season 6 of The Handmaid’s tale is yet to be released, you can binge the rest of the show on Hulu if you like both watching and reading. There’s a reason Reader’s Digest counts it among the best feminist books.

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    Book cover features people flying above a landscape, set against a cosmic background. Text reads© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    9. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1962)

    While this book may have seen an uptick in interest thanks to the 2018 film starring Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, and Reese Witherspoon, Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time has long been held as a must-read for its fantastical telling of splitting the fabric of time and space. A Newbery Medal winner, this science-fantasy novel follows troublesome and stubborn Meg Murry as she confronts her father’s mysterious disappearance with a collection of peculiar neighbors: Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. Elements of love, trust, and overcoming fear are woven into this enchanting coming-of-age story. We always recommend reading the book before pressing “play,” so once you’ve thoroughly devoured this story, check out the other stellar books made into movies.

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    Book cover features a woman’s portrait gazing sideways. Text reads:© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    10. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

    Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice adorned shelves of many a learned reader in the 1800s and 1900s, but its timeless story and lessons earn it a spot in many home libraries (and on many school reading lists) even today. When eligible young men arrive in their neighborhood, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett must prepare their five eager daughters for the role of a lifetime: wife. While the Bennett sisters’ wit and humor keep the pages flipping, the classic story, which is widely considered one of the best romance novels, also serves as a harbinger for hasty mistakes and erred judgments.

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    Book cover displays the title “All the President’s Men,” with authors Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward; labeled “40th Anniversary Edition” above the subtitle.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    11. All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (1974)

    Political junkies of all stripes will relish the words of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they recount the experiences and events of Watergate. Published just months before President Richard Nixon’s 1974 resignation, the book outlines all the evidence against Nixon and his cohort of political operatives that the two accomplished reporters unearthed during their investigations. It also marks the genesis of Deep Throat (later revealed to be Mark Felt, the associate director of the FBI), the secretive government informant who helped take down Nixon in the end.

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    The book cover features textured patterns with title© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    12. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (1946)

    Between 1942 and 1945, Viktor Frankl labored in four Nazi death camps. His parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Later in life, Frankl became a psychiatrist and practiced what he coined logotherapy, a theory that our lives are primarily driven by the discovery and pursuit of what we find meaningful. In Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl shares the horrors he faced in those concentration camps. But in this extraordinary Holocaust book, he also shares the lessons he learned—and later taught his patients—about spiritual revival in the face of such great suffering. Here are some more drama book recommendations to add to your reading list.

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    Book cover displays decorative golden text “Beloved” on a red background, author “Toni Morrison,” indicating a novel with new foreword.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    13. Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)

    Toni Morrison’s Beloved stares down the horrors of slavery and transforms a narrative you think you’ve read a hundred times into a towering tale of pain, agony, triumph, and freedom. The story of Sethe, the novel’s protagonist, is gut-wrenchingly honest and simultaneously beautiful and hideous. She wears the worries of past decisions and strives longingly toward freedom, the arc for which her entire life story bends. The suspense wears heavy on the reader, and the choices you must weigh alongside Sethe are haunting. The book is a cultural landmark for breaking through the monotony of textbook descriptions and offering a human glimpse at a shameful season in history.

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    Clouds loom over bare trees in a field, with text “Truman Capote” and “In Cold Blood” overlaid in the sky.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    14. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1965)

    On Nov. 15, 1959, the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, was turned on end by the savage murder of four members of the Clutter family. The police had no suspects and almost no evidence. Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood recounts in chilling detail the deaths of the family and the investigation that ultimately led to the arrest of two recently paroled ex-convicts. Capote’s work may be a story stuck in time, but its nonfiction narrative reveals a lot about violence and evil that resonates even today. This is often considered a model for the best true crime books, regardless of the time period.

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    Book cover shows boy carrying a rifle on a dirt path. Title: “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier” by Ishmael Beah.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    15. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (2007)

    It’s a story so painful, you’d prefer to think it is fiction. But Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone is an entirely true recounting of his years as a child soldier in Sierra Leone, West Africa. With this book, you’ll get a firsthand look at what life is like for the world’s 300,000 child soldiers, many of whom are stolen from their homes and forced into a world of drugs, guns, and murder. In a world made small by 24-hour news and lightning-speed technology, this is a must-read for understanding the plight of fellow humans.

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    Text “DUNE” overlays a cloaked figure walking on red-orange dunes, under a starry sky with a large sun. Text: “NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    16. Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)

    A science fiction novel for the ages, Frank Herbert’s Dune tells the adventures of Paul Atreides—who will become known as Muad’Dib—as he and his family strive to bring humankind’s greatest dream to life while living on a desert planet. Though written in 1965, much of Dune‘s story may be more relevant to 21st-century readers than it was to bookworms who picked it up in the ’60s. It has sparked countless other works in the collection of stellar science fiction books.

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    A sketched portrait depicts a classical figure with detailed lines; below, text reads “Charles Dickens, Great Expectations,” in a minimalist book cover design.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1861)

    When Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations, he gave life to some of literature’s most colorful and enduring characters: Pip, Miss Havisham, and Uncle Pumblechook, to name a few. His penultimate novel, Great Expectations details the life and stories of an orphan named Pip, growing up in Kent and London in the early to mid-1800s. It’s a classic and a must-read quite simply because it’s been described as one of Dickens’ best works, an appraisal to which Dickens himself agreed.

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    20 Daring Greatly How The Courage To Be Vulnerable Transforms The Way We Live, Love, Parent, And Lead By Brené Brow© via amazon.com

    18. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown (2012)

    Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, throws everything we know about vulnerability and emotional exposure to the wind in Daring Greatly, one of the most groundbreaking self-help books of our time. After more than a decade of research, Brown wrote this book to dispel the myth that vulnerability is a weakness. Instead, she argues, it’s one of the most accurate measures of courage and the only path to true experiences.

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    A large eye illustration on red background, with “1984” and “George Orwell” written in bold white text.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    19. 1984 by George Orwell (1949)

    George Orwell certainly couldn’t have known how prophetic his words might have been when he wrote the dystopian novel 1984 in the mid-20th century. Great Britain has fallen and given way to Airstrip One, a province of the fictional superstate Oceania. Airstrip One is ruled by perpetual war and Big Brother, a mysterious leader who uses omnipresent government surveillance and a cult of personality to enforce law and order. Winston Smith, the book’s leading character, must navigate the Party, Big Brother, and his thoughts, which grow more criminal by the day.

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    Book cover shows a child standing against a stone wall. Text reads:© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    20. Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt (1996)

    In his Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, Angela’s Ashes, author Frank McCourt recounts his childhood spent in the slums of Limerick, Ireland: “When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.” McCourt battled poverty, near-starvation, neglect, and cruelty but manages to tell his story with humor, compassion, and self-perpetuating power. His award-winning book is widely considered one of the best memoirs of all time.

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    Book cover displays “Stephen Hawking A Brief History of Time,” featuring his image and text praising his ability to explain complex cosmological physics.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    21. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (1988)

    Most science books, even well-written ones, read a bit too much like textbooks. But renowned English physicist, cosmologist, and author Stephen Hawking manages to turn some of the world’s most profound questions—How did the universe begin? What happens in the end?—into captivating reading. A modern physics guide, this book was perhaps the first to make the most mysterious elements of the universe (black holes and quarks) entirely accessible for the general public.

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    Book with matchbook cover design, featuring “Fahrenheit 451” and author name, Ray Bradbury. Text highlights a 60th anniversary edition on a bold red background.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    22. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

    Guy Montag’s existence in Fahrenheit 451 might hit a little close to home: He’s a fireman in a futuristic dystopian world whose job is to find and destroy the illegal commodities of a world whose sole focus is television: books. Indeed, Montag believes the printed word is dangerous—until a mysterious neighbor, Clarisse, shows up and opens his eyes to the wonder of the written word. This spellbinding story explores questions about the importance of literature and free speech. If you oppose banning books, this is the novel for you.

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    Book cover features bright red curtain against a sky background, displaying the title “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” by Dave Eggers.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    23. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (2000)

    First released in 2000, Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius became a national best seller, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and a heartwarming classic. This masterpiece is the memoir of a college senior whose life is turned upside down when he loses both of his parents within the span of five weeks and finds himself the guardian of his eight-year-old brother. Despite that ominous start, the book manages to be wildly funny with an irreverently honest take on learning to live with death.

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    A boy flies on a broomstick through an archway, with a castle and unicorn in the background. Text reads,© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    24. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997)

    Welcome to the wizarding world, muggles. In J.K. Rowling’s first installment of the beloved series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, you will be introduced to many of the story’s most important—and entrancing—characters: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, Hagrid, and more. But before you get settled into the fun of spells and potions, the action starts right away as Harry finds himself troubled by the feeling his destiny is intertwined with his past. This book landed on our list for its explosive popularity and deep impression on the fantasy genre, as well as its many memorable quotes that will stay with you.

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    50 Selected Stories, 1968–1994 By Alice Munro Via Amazon© via amazon.com

    25. Selected Stories, 1968–1994 by Alice Munro (1996)

    Alice Munro, one of the most prolific writers of the modern era, captures life’s most honest feelings and moments in these 28 magnificent short stories. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, this short story collection will never cease to surprise you with its eloquent story lines, captivating characters, and endlessly wonderful realism. It’s a book that belongs on any bibliophile’s home bookshelf.

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    The book cover displays overlapping clouds with text. Context: Blue background features endorsements and title, “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green, a bestseller.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    26. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2012)

    She thought a cancer diagnosis had sealed her fate and written her life story, but a chance meeting with Augustus Waters turns Hazel Lancaster’s life upside down. Irreverent and bold, The Fault in Our Stars is a funny, captivating, and gut-wrenching story. It’s about learning to feel love, enjoy being alive, and live a bold life despite circumstances beyond your control. No wonder it’s ranked among the best sad books (have the tissue box handy) and best books for teens.

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    Alice stands, arms raised© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    27. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll (1865)

    If all you know of Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland is the zany but sanitized version of the 1951 Walt Disney animation, it’s time to flip your perspective on its head—much like the Cheshire Cat might flip himself. Scholars have tried to apply political, historical, and ideological theories to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, but it’s quite simply the dreamlike story of learning to grow (or shrink) and explore, told through the eyes of a curious child. Still, its cultural effects have rippled so far that it’s a must-read for anyone with even a hint of literary interest.

    $5.53 at Amazon

    Text “invisible man ralph ellison” is displayed, surrounded by vertical green shapes on a light background.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    28. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)

    A winner of the National Book Award for fiction, Ralph Ellison’s first novel, Invisible Man, spent an admirable 16 weeks atop the New York Times best-seller list. Its early success is due in large part to the relatable nature of its narrator, a young, nameless Black man who has to navigate levels of 1950s American culture that are fraught with hate and bias. Eager for a place in time to call his own, the narrator finds that what he hopes for himself will ultimately remain elusive, just as the truth behind the events that surround him remains ambiguous. The 581-page tome is a bit much for younger readers, but you can still introduce them to issues of race and equality with these children’s books about diversity.

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    29. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (1970)

    If you read this as an adolescent—and considering it’s often taught in schools, there’s a good chance you did—it’s time to reread Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. Awkward and inelegant as they may be, sixth-grader Margaret’s questions and quests (to grow bigger breasts, for example, while also seeking out her preferred religion) lead her to greater understanding and self-appreciation. The book will make you cringe as you recall your own experiences and desires to throw off the chains of childhood while budding into young adulthood. It’s a coming-of-age story that sparked dozens after it, but isn’t the original always the best?

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    44 One Hundred Years Of Solitude By Gabriel García Márquez Via Amazon© via amazon.com

    30. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (1967)

    According to the New York Times Book Review, this masterpiece by Gabriel García Márquez is “the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race.” One Hundred Years of Solitude recounts the evolution of an entire fictitious town, Macondo. Through tales of men and women, boys and girls, the author—father of the magical realism literary style—offers a striking picture of the heartbreaking beauty and pain of the human race. Though it also landed on our list of the best books by Latinx authors, its true place is here, among the best books of all time.

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    31. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)

    If all you know of this American literature classic is the colloquial expression about decision-making, pick up Catch-22 for a dark and comedic good read. Yossarian, a member of an Italian bomber crew during World War II, is desperate to excuse himself from the increasingly high number of suicidal missions his commanders force him and his servicemen to fly. The catch comes when he realizes the sinister bureaucratic rule, Catch-22, classifies him as sane—and thus ineligible for relief—if he requests to be removed from duty. The book made waves as an anti-war anthem and representation of the individual versus society.

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    Book cover features a girl with a headscarf inside a decorative frame, red background; text reads “Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood” by Marjane Satrapi.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    32. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi (2000)

    Through this powerful graphic novel, Satrapi tells the story of her childhood in Tehran during the overthrow of the Shah, the rise of the Islamic Revolution, and the destruction of the Iran-Iraq war. As the daughter of two Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Satrapi holds a unique perspective and position in recounting stories of daily life in Iran. Learn, alongside Satrapi, about the history and heroes that define this fascinating country. The book captured readers’ attention for both its modern form—a graphic novel—and important, close-up peek at a country most Americans only know about from the news.

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    Girl hugging a pig, surrounded by farm animals on a book cover.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    33. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (1952)

    You’re never too old to visit with Charlotte, Wilbur, and Templeton. This heartwarming tale of friendship and dedication follows young Wilbur, a runt of a pig, as he’s spared from one death but subsequently sent to another almost-certain death. Desperate to help the petite porker, Charlotte, a barn spider, hatches a plan that proves genius and life-altering for young Wilbur. Charlotte’s Web remains a touching, great read for families.

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    Book cover displays a yellow skull and crossbones, titled “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, set against a bright red background.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    34. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1969)

    Slaughterhouse-Five is a science-fiction-infused, anti-war novel that follows American soldier Billy Pilgrim. A central event in the story—as well as Vonnegut’s own life—is the firebombing of Dresden. Pilgrim begins to see many of the events in his life as repercussions of that deathly event. Much of Slaughterhouse-Five is autobiographical, but that hasn’t stopped pushes for censorship because of the book’s irreverent tone and unfiltered depictions of sex and profanity. One part futuristic storytelling, one part reflective memoir, Slaughterhouse-Five is often held as Vonnegut’s most important piece of writing.

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    A person holds a red umbrella, standing amidst a lush, yellow-flowered field with tall trees in the background. Text: “Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    35. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (2009)

    Abraham Verghese weaves multiple lush story lines into an opus of secrets, betrayal, love, and redemption in Cutting for Stone. Marion and Shiva Stone, twin brothers born of a secret union between an Indian nun and a British surgeon, are orphaned at a young age by their mother’s death and father’s disappearance. The two, bound together by blood and bond, leave war-seized Ethiopia for New York City only to return later to discover their fates and futures are intertwined with their pasts. The novel was groundbreaking for its depiction of medicine as primarily focused on people rather than procedures.

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    A smiling person reclines with a hand on the head, wearing glasses, suit and tie. Text reads: “THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X AS TOLD TO ALEX HALEY.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    36. The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley by Malcolm X and Alex Haley (1965)

    The Autobiography of Malcolm X stands as the definitive work of an era in American history when cultural, racial, and religious ideologies met at a pinnacle. Malcolm X, a firebrand, Muslim, and anti-integrationist leader, reveals the limits he sees in the American Dream and the changes that can be made through a force of will and effort. Fun fact: Coauthor Alex Haley was once an editor at Reader’s Digest.

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    Man wears reflective sunglasses, smokes cigarette; distorted cityscape seen in sunglasses. Text: “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Hunter S. Thompson. Psychedelic style.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    37. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson (1971)

    Even if you’ve never consumed a hallucinogenic drug in your life, you’ll likely feel a deep relationship to the wild ride many drug users describe after you read Hunter S. Thompson’s rollicking Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The book is the recounting of a wild, long weekend in Las Vegas, where he and his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, are sent to cover a biker’s race in the deserts of Nevada. The drug-addled duo never gets the story—not much of a spoiler—but what did come of the journey is a tour de force of a bygone era.

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    Book cover displays title “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri, with abstract art background and gold badge noting “Winner of the Pulitzer Prize.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    38. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (1999)

    In this collection of short stories, Jhumpa Lahiri outlines the complex dynamics that exist when Indian traditionalism meets an American culture that often offers little respect for complex cultural dynamics it doesn’t understand. Each character’s story traces recognizable themes—longing, lust, betrayal—but they’re told in a complex story line that’s rich with detail. It’s an important read in our modern, multicultural world.

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    39. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)

    Reading The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is a rite of passage for many adolescents and young adults, but older adults will find a lot to appreciate in this young woman’s wise words. Written during World War II as Nazis carried out their campaign of death and destruction, this journal is a day-by-day accounting of what life was like when a family was forced into hiding. Frank’s humanity and grace in light of her circumstances are inspiring and heartbreaking at once. It’s a deeply moving nonfiction book for kids and adults alike.

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    Close-up lips displayed on a book cover, “Lolita” written in elegant script, gold banner indicates “50th Anniversary Edition,” author Vladimir Nabokov at the bottom.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    40. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)

    Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita may have first gained fame and notoriety for its infamous accounting of the protagonist’s unnatural (and, many argue, predatory) erotic predilections, but its staying power rests squarely on the breathtaking story that belies the most controversial elements. It’s a requiem about love (and, yes, lust), in all its maddening forms.

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    41. Love Medicine by Louise Eldrich (1984)

    Shakespeare’s Montagues and Capulets can barely hold a handle to Louise Eldrich’s Kashpaws and Lamartines. Love Medicine, a dazzling work of storytelling that takes place on and around a North Dakota Ojibwe reservation, shares the intertwined fates of two multigenerational families. Themes of injustice, betrayal, magic, and mystique surround a beautiful story that, in the end, is all about the power of love. For more entertainment from this era, turn on one of these fantastic ’80s movies.

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    Portrait of a man in a red robe poses against a dark backdrop. Text reads “David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    42. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (2000)

    This laugh-out-loud collection of short stories makes for great leisurely reading. In Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris shares the absurd and hysterical twists he was able to tease out of life’s more mundane and boring events growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina. The book continues as Sedaris moves to France, where he also shares the awkwardly charming stories of learning to live in a city and country that’s not at all familiar.

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    Book cover features smoke swirling overlying silhouette of a ship at the top. Text: “Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Picador.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    43. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)

    Calliope Helen Stephanides was born in Detroit in 1960, the heyday of Motor City, to a Greek American family who lived a quintessentially suburban American life. Moving out of the city, Calliope is faced with the realization that she’s not like other girls. It takes uncovering a family secret (and an astonishing genetic history) to understand why. Middlesex made waves as an audacious story of sexuality that transcends stereotypes of gender, sex, and identity.

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    44. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)

    Saleem Sinai was born at midnight on August 15, 1947. That is precisely the moment India became an independent state. Greeted with fireworks and fanfare, Sinai and 1,000 other “midnight’s children” across India soon find their health, well-being, thoughts, and capabilities are preternaturally linked to one another—and to their country’s national affairs, health, and power. In this magical realism novel, Salman Rushdie offers a timeless, enchanting story of family, heritage, and duty.

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    Cover features twisted tree branches, a thistle illustration, and text: “Steinbeck Centennial Edition, East of Eden, John Steinbeck,” with distant horses and trees.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    45. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)

    We’d be remiss to leave out one of the most beloved American authors of the 20th century: John Steinbeck. In East of Eden, he presents a masterpiece that highlights the tension between good and evil through three generations of the Trasks and Hamiltons. You’ll be swept away by the complex characters and their similarities to Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel. Though Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is assigned more often in high school classrooms, East of Eden takes the cake for its sweeping timeline and broader themes. It’s one of the best historical fiction books in existence.

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    Hand grips a baseball labeled “Moneyball,” with text reading: “THE #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER MICHAEL LEWIS,” against a monochrome background.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    46. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis (2003)

    The Oakland Athletics were written off, discarded, and ignored. Yet somehow they became one of the most successful franchises in Major League Baseball. Was it their throwing talent or their ERA? No, not at all. Instead, as Michael Lewis reveals, the real secret to winning baseball has little to do with skills and more to do with statistics. In what’s been described as “the single most influential baseball book ever,” Lewis reveals the secrets of the A’s and an unusual brotherhood of amateur baseball enthusiasts who’ve identified the real secret to being a winning ball team. This book, which features a decidedly American story about an American tradition, belongs on the bookshelf of any American reader.

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    Painting depicts two people conversing at a diner, with one holding a cup, surrounded by other patrons and shelves. Text: “OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    47. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (1915)

    You might not walk away with a big life lesson after reading W. Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage, and perhaps that’s what makes this novel so irresistible. The orphaned protagonist, Philip Carey, is raring for adventure and love outside his brief stays in Heidelberg and Paris. Soon, he lands in London, eager to explore, and stumbles upon his greatest adventure yet: Mildred. The irresistible waitress and roaming orphan embark on a wildly fanciful but tortured and tormented affair. This book is widely considered a 20th-century English classic.

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    Illustrated face looks contemplative; wears a red flannel in a comic strip style. Background: desert road. Text: “On The Road, Jack Kerouac.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    48. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957)

    On the Road recounts a hedonistic cross-country road trip between friends in the aftermath of World War II, a story line inspired by Jack Kerouac’s adventures with friend Neal Cassady. Eager to find meaning and true experiences along the way, the duo seeks pleasures in drug-fueled escapades and counterculture experiences. The book is a must-read for its ubiquitous place among American countercultural classics (much like Catcher in the Rye).

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    Book cover features lush foliage with animals; text reads “Out of Africa” by Isak Dinesen, surrounded by intricate greenery.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    49. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (1937)

    Isak Dinesen—a pen name for Danish author Karen Blixen—recounts life in British East Africa, just after World War II. While the collection of stories is not free of the racial bias and colonial attitudes of the time, Out of Africa gives a glimpse into an area of the world that’s largely overlooked when telling the coming-of-age narrative of modern countries. Fanciful and fascinating, Dinesen’s book portrays stories of lion hunts and life with native populations and European colonizers alongside a beautiful story of raising and freeing an orphaned antelope fawn. It offers readers a glimpse of a very specific place and time in history.

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    Book cover shows a mansion on a rocky island; text reads “Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None.” Stormy sky in the background.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    50. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939)

    In a world rife with paperback mysteries and e-books, Agatha Christie remains one of the most popular, well-known mystery writers of all time. In her vast collection, And Then There Were None frequently rises to the top. It’s a classic whodunit. Ten strangers are invited to a remote mansion on a desolate island. Once they’ve arrived, each guest is accused of murder. So what really happened? And who is responsible? Pick up a copy to find out; it makes a great summer read, after all.

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    51. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth (1969)

    Deemed highly controversial and too explicit when it was first published, Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint is a vividly brash look at sexuality, obscenities, masturbation, and identity. The novel is a monologue of “a lust-ridden, mother-addicted young Jewish bachelor” that details many awkward and cringeworthy moments alongside quests for identity. It remains a landmark published piece in American literature, and after you read it, you’ll most certainly never look at a piece of liver the same way.

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    Book cover displays “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson on green background, includes a 50th anniversary emblem. Subtitles highlight its relevance to environmental movement.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    52. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)

    Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was first published as three installments in the New Yorker in the summer of 1962. The stories—and the book that followed in September of that year—launched the American environmental revolution, as the horrors of DDT, a pesticide commonly used at the time, made their way into the American mainstream. While Carson’s work was successful at eliminating the toxin, her story serves as a lasting reminder—and a good read—about the need for protecting our land, water, and air.

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    53. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (2005)

    Abraham Lincoln upended the political landscape of the 1850s when he won the Republican presidential nomination over a field of well-known, privileged men. Facing a divided nation and a crumbling war effort, Lincoln soon turned to those exact politicians to help build a team of rivals, a group of people he could turn to for honest accountability, effort, and eventually support and friendship. Team of Rivals is a deeply personal biography of one of America’s most respected leaders, told to show how he humbled himself in order to lead and govern.

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    54. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)

    Don’t miss this historical fiction masterpiece that also landed on our list of the best books by Black authors. Readers will fall in love with the riveting story of two sisters with very different fates. One was kidnapped and enslaved. The other married an Englishman and built a life of wealth and prestige. The award-winning book (it won the Hemingway Foundation PEN Award and the American Book Award, among others) delves deep into generational trauma and colonization. It is a must-read for modern bibliophiles.

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    Two women hold parasols, standing in a sunlit, leafy garden. Text reads “Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence, Dover Thrift Editions.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    55. The Age of Innocence by Edith Warton (1920)

    This is a tale of love in the time of rigid societal requirements of New York City’s upper class. Newland Archer, an attorney from a respected family, is engaged to May Welland. Despite his betrothal, Archer finds himself taken by Countess Ellen Olenska, Welland’s unconventional cousin. Despite his own personal desires, Archer marries Welland as he has promised but continues to see Olenska. This best-of-both-worlds approach seems to please Newland, but his dreams ultimately come to an end as he’s forced to face the life he wants versus the life society expects him to lead. The book has sparked discussions in book clubs and classrooms for a century.

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    Book cover features superhero figure and city skyline, emphasizing adventure theme. Includes bold text: “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” by Michael Chabon.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    56. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (2000)

    You don’t need pirates and boats to have a swashbuckling thriller of a book. In The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, the lives and adventures of a curious and meddlesome pair of cousins are explored in exuberant detail. Cousins Joe Kavalier and Sammy Clay swing through the glittering streets of pre–World War II Brooklyn, spinning up comic books to feed America’s growing craze. Their hero, Escapist, fights fascists and falls hard for Luna Moth, an ethereal, mysterious, and desirous paramour. Their lives—and their careers—are equally bright and fanciful. The book received an incredible amount of praise from readers and critics. It also became a New York Times best seller.

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    Book cover features a hand about to tip dominoes, with bold title text “The Book Thief” above, and author “Markus Zusak” at the top.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    57. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2005)

    If you’re reading this list, you likely understand the power that a book has to feed and nurture a soul. In that case, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief will be right at home in your hands. In 1939 Nazi Germany, Liesel Meminger seeks meaning and life amid the bombings and death. Her “weapon” of choice? Books and the written word. This is a beautiful, riveting tale that helped make the horrors of World War II fresh again for readers who learned about it from history books. Our editors agree that it’s one of the 100 best books of all time. Want great fiction like this mailed to you every month? Sign up for one of these book subscription boxes.

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    Book cover displays “Rubyfruit Jungle” title in bold, with green leafy background. Text by Rita Mae Brown; quote by Gloria Steinem at the bottom.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    58. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (1973)

    Every reader should take the time to read a few of the best LGBTQ books ever published. Rubyfruit Jungle is the perfect place to start. This is Rita Mae Brown’s semi-autobiographical novel about fumbling through her first relationship in sixth grade, landing in New York City’s queer society, and more. It’s a personal, poignant look at what it meant to belong to the LGBTQ+ community in the mid- to late 20th century. The award-winning book is widely recognized as an important contribution to LGBTQ+ and lesbian literature.

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    59. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (2007)

    Oscar Wao is a pleasant nerd living in New Jersey, far removed from the comforts and traditions of the Dominican Republic his mother knows and loves. Wao wants nothing more than to find love—and to be the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien. His quest for both plunges readers into mythologies of family curses, immigrant journeys, and the American experience. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a page-turner that’ll find a home with anyone who lusts for love and the human experience.

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    Book cover features an illustrated carousel horse, energetic lines, bright text, and urban skyline. Title: “The Catcher in the Rye.” Author: J.D. Salinger.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    60. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)

    Originally meant for an adult audience, The Catcher in the Rye has become a favorite among adolescent readers and high school literature teachers. The theme of teenage angst and alienation imbue a story of rebellion as the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, looks for acceptance, recognition, and appreciation. Like so many teenagers, Caulfield finds himself facing the decision to leave everything behind, only to face the realization that perhaps his life isn’t as dreadful as it seems. For something totally different, take a bite out of one of these vampire books.

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    61. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride (1995)

    “God is the color of water,” Ruth McBride taught her children, expressing her belief that God’s blessings, values, and grace rise above skin color and race. McBride, a “light-skinned” mother to 12 Black children, brought up her kids in the all-Black projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn, sending them to Jewish schools, shuttling them to free cultural events, and eventually shepherding all of them through college and beyond. But McBride’s son, James, discovers that she’s actually a White woman who was born in Poland, and he unearths the many painful reasons she has for hiding from that truth in this powerful, National Book Award–winning memoir.

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    Two figures embrace against a red background; text reads: “Amy Tan, New York Times Bestseller, The Joy Luck Club, a novel.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    62. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (1989)

    Any fan of women’s fiction has likely read Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. This debut novel tells the story of four Chinese women who move to the United States in search of a better life. As their American-born daughters grow up, the women struggle to reconcile their identities, cultures, and more. It’s a beautiful, important book about mothers and daughters, motherlands and adopted lands. As the world gets smaller and smaller, as more families pack up their belongings to move to a new place, books like these are critical to fostering empathy.

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    Book cover shows a family dining, featuring a table laden with food. Text reads: “Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections, Winner of the National Book Award.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    63. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (2001)

    After 50 years of marriage, Enid Lambert is looking for a little excitement, but it seems the universe is working against her goals. Her husband is frail from disease, and her children’s lives are falling apart or swirling down the drain. In The Corrections, Enid wants nothing more than to bring her whole family together for one last Christmas so she has something to look forward to. What unfolds, however, is nothing short of an emotional roller coaster. The book is brimming with characters who will stick with you, which is what makes it one of the best books to read when you want to deeply feel something.

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    64. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson (2003)

    The 1893 World’s Fair brought the globe to Chicago—but it also brought a cunning serial killer, H.H. Holmes. In The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson combines meticulous historical research with a bit of period storytelling to generate a truly captivating nonfiction murder mystery that also shares a lot of history about one of the world’s greatest marvels.

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    The book cover features an elderly man contemplating, with trees and a medal in the background. The text reads: “LOIS LOWRY the giver.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    65. The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)

    Jonas lives in a Utopian world. Everyone’s role is clear, and everyone fulfills those roles blissfully. Life is a set path that’s followed precisely. When he turns 12, however, Jonas begins to learn the reason his world is very fragile. The Giver is a dystopian story about what you’re willing to give up—and what you’re not—to live a life that’s free of emotions, pain, and suffering.

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    Book cover displays colorful stripes with bold text, “The Night Watchman” by Louise Erdrich. Features “Winner of the Pulitzer Prize” badge.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    66. The Night Watchmen by Louise Erdrich (2020)

    The Night Watchmen snagged the top spot on our list of the best Native American books for a reason. Based on Louise Erdrich’s grandfather’s life, the story is about one Native American night watchman who fights for his right to land and identity in the United States. The book brims with beautiful sentences and a riveting story, but it also received critical acclaim for its important themes and depiction of cultural identity.

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    Cover features a polar bear running across ice under a starry sky. Text: “Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass, #1 International Bestseller.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    67. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (1995)

    Lyra, a bold and brave young woman, takes off into uncharted territories to rescue her friend and other young children from kidnapping by the Gobblers. She also has to help her uncle build a bridge to a parallel world. What she doesn’t realize, however, is that she will face choices that challenge her and require grit she doesn’t know she has. The first in the His Dark Materials series, The Golden Compass is captivating from word one.

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    Book cover features prominent eyes above a cityscape with lights against a deep blue background. Text includes “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    68. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

    The roaring twenties still captivate the imagination of many, so dive into The Great Gatsby for a fantastic story and a historical trip that will leave you reeling. Rich characters and detailed imagery ensconce you in the era and whisk you into a beautiful story of the Jazz Age’s glitzy parties and lusty affections. The book is arguably the most well-known work depicting this time. That’s what places it among the books everyone should read. Not sure what to pick up after you close the book on Gatsby and friends? Choose the best book for you based on your zodiac sign.

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    Book cover shows Henrietta Lacks standing confidently, set against a bright orange cellular background with text detailing her medical story and its aftermath.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    69. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2010)

    Henrietta Lacks, a poor Black tobacco farmer, died of cervical cancer shortly after giving birth to her fifth child in 1951. During her treatment, Lacks’ cells were taken without her knowledge, and they became the first immortalized cell line. That cell line has been used by doctors, researchers, and medical companies to develop everything from the polio vaccine to clones. Her cells are one of the most vital health tools of the 20th and 21st centuries and have made companies millions. Lacks’ family, however, knew nothing about this. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a riveting story about race, medicine, ethics, and the search for life.

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    Face showing eyes and mouth with text overlay. “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro, featuring a Nobel Prize sticker.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    70. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)

    Kazuo Ishiguro is on our list of contemporary writers you should have read by now. He won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature, and his 2005 publication of Never Let Me Go is at least one reason why. The science fiction story centers on cloned humans living in a boarding school who await their future as forced organ donors. But, of course, clones are humans, too, and the students’ lives intertwine with friendship, love, and lust even as they grow more entrapped by their inevitable role in society. This is a must-read for its portrayal of enduring friendship, its questions about medical science, and its masterful writing.

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    71. The Liars’ Club: A Memoir by Mary Karr (1995)

    Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club is a darkly humorous story of life in east Texas in the 1960s with a family that could give anyone’s family a run for its money. A daddy who drinks too much, a mother who marries too much, and a sister whose mouth could make a grown man blush—these characters are brilliant depictions of hilarious, horrific human foibles.

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    Cover shows a close-up car grille, with text: “Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye.” Below, “Raymond Chandler is a master.” —The New York Times.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    72. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (1953)

    The Long Goodbye is a murder mystery wrapped up in thrill and suspense. Philip Marlowe befriends a down-on-his-luck veteran, but several clever plot twists later, Marlowe’s friendship with the vet leaves him in the eye of investigators and a gangster. Deeply dark and fascinating, The Long Goodbye belongs to a series of novels about investigator Marlowe, and critics quibble about which are the best. You can’t go wrong with any—they’re all must-read books. Next, check out these book recommendations based on TV shows you might’ve watched.

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    Book cover displays title “The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11” by Lawrence Wright against a background of monochrome portraits. Pulitzer Prize badge visible.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    73. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright (2006)

    You think you know the events that led to September 11, 2001, but The Looming Tower is a history lesson that is as profound as it is infuriating and painful. In the five decades leading up to one of America’s darkest hours, you will trace the beginning elements of fundamental Islam, the rise of Osama bin Laden, and the terrorist groups that sought to bring down a country.

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    Book cover depicts title “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” by Oliver Sacks; blue and orange text on cream background, review quote below.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    74. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Olive Sacks (1985)

    Physicians and health care providers could likely fill volumes with the strange, heartbreaking, and obscene things they experience in their practices. In The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, one doctor finally did commit those episodes to paper. Oliver Sacks recounts stories of patients with a variety of neurological disorders—including, as the name suggests, a man who mistook his wife for a hat—that leave them physically here but mentally miles away. It’s captivating and heartbreaking, and it helps you understand how doctors connect with the humans behind the diagnoses. For more medical dramas, check out our list of the best doctor shows on TV.

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    Book cover displays grapes, bread, and a bone, introducing© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    75. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (2006)

    Michael Pollan may ultimately be one of the biggest forces for changes in food systems, sustainability, and healthful living. In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan shows how the meals we choose to eat impact everything from our health to the world’s ultimate outlook. Nearly a decade after he first published this book, Pollan’s call to deeper thought and conversation about our food systems continues to shift the way we eat, grow, and share our food.

    19.0048% OFF$9.97 at Amazon

    Bust of a man emerging from a structure, surrounded by cityscape. Text reads: “Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    76. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro (1974)

    New York City has been home to big personalities, but perhaps none have been quite as powerful as Robert Moses. He established much of what the city is today, from its bureaucratic utility companies to its physical layout and infrastructure. He was a force to be reckoned with, taking into his control much of the city’s development and prosperity—that is, until he finally met his match in Nelson Rockefeller. We’ve deemed this essential reading for understanding the history and politics of the Big Apple.

    27.0026% OFF$19.90 at Amazon

    Rocket launching with fiery flames, surrounded by thick smoke; book title “The Right Stuff” by Tom Wolfe, and publisher “Picador” are displayed prominently.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    77. The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe (1979)

    Many words have been committed to paper to commemorate and honor the United States’ race to the moon and the men and women behind those missions. But perhaps no other book can take you deep into the mindset and the tenacity, grit, and courage it took to complete the Apollo missions the way Tom Wolfe did in The Right Stuff.

    $21.98 at Amazon

    Boy standing at a window, looking contemplative in a black and white photo. Book cover titled “Go Tell It on the Mountain” by James Baldwin.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    78. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin (1953)

    As a gay Black man in the 20th century, James Baldwin inspired generations of readers who relate to any one of his identities. Despite—and sometimes spurred by—the discrimination he faced, he wrote prolifically. While there are many, many Baldwin texts to recommend, Go Tell It on the Mountain landed on this list because of its semi-autobiographical nature. This American classic tells the story of one Harlem man’s spiritual and sexual reckoning.

    $57.86 at Amazon

    Book cover displays bold title “The Road,” author’s name Cormac McCarthy, and a badge for winning the Pulitzer Prize, set against a dark background.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    79. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006)

    The Road is a deeply poetic and haunting tale of a father and son, “each the other’s world entire,” and the journey they take across a burned and destroyed America. They have little to their names, save each other, some scavenged food, and a pistol, yet they must fend off the worst of post-apocalyptic America—roaming gangs of thieves, isolation, desolation, and devastation—as they make their way to the coast, where they hope to figure out what’s next.

    18.0050% OFF$8.97 at Amazon

    Book cover features radial black lines, titling “The Stranger” by Albert Camus centered, set against a white background. “Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    80. The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)

    Albert Camus’ The Stranger has long lived a dual life of meaning: In one way, it’s a story of mystery, murder, death, and destruction. In another, it’s a sermon on the absurd and the power of human thought. Camus, for his part, wrote, “I summarized The Stranger a long time ago with a remark I admit was highly paradoxical: ‘In our society, any man who does not weep at his mother’s funeral runs the risk of being sentenced to death.’ I only meant that the hero of my book is condemned because he does not play the game.”

    16.0026% OFF$11.83 at Amazon

    A woman rests, leaning on a tree, on a yellow book cover. Text: “The Sun Also Rises” and “Ernest Hemingway” with a PBS feature.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    81. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (1926)

    Ernest Hemingway wrote stories filled with powerful emotions and unforgettable characters in a strikingly simple manner. The Sun Also Rises, which examines the disillusionment, angst, and apprehension of the post–World War I generation, is one of his finest works. In this novel, readers follow the tales and adventures of Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley as they swing through Europe with bewildered expats, seeking out the next great thrill.

    18.0012% OFF$15.81 at Amazon

    The book cover displays large text, featuring the title “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, with a National Book Award sticker.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    82. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015)

    Our list of the best books of all time filled up quickly with fiction. But there are a few nonfiction tomes, including Ta-Nehisi Coates’ bible for the Black Lives Matter movement, that cannot be left out. This important book about racism offers a clear understanding of how Black men and women have been ostracized and exploited by formal systems throughout history. What makes the book even more compelling is how it mashes together history and modern memoir. The result is a bold, clear call to upend current racist systems and strive for a truly fair society.

    28.0061% OFF$10.87 at Amazon

    Silhouette soldiers carry gear against a muted blue background. Text:© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    83. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (1990)

    Perhaps the greatest book of fiction on Vietnam, The Things They Carried is a powerful story about war, memory, death, imagination, the importance of storytelling, and the human spirit. Tim O’Brien moves beyond the pain of war to examine the sensitivity and nature that each soldier brought with him on that long journey to Vietnam and the scars that returned with them. It’s a raw, honest look at a war that changed the country.

    18.9955% OFF$8.56 at Amazon

    Book cover features colorful swirling clouds with geometric white lines and text: “THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE” and “HARUKI MURAKAMI.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    84. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (1994)

    A search for a lost cat turns into a search for a lost wife in this prescient, engrossing, and humorous novel. At the intersection of a failing marriage, a dark past, and a secretive underground, Toru Okada encounters an untold number of bizarre people and experiences as he longs for answers that may never come for him—or even for you, the reader. Reviewers have said that though this magical realism book takes time and attention to read, the magnificent tome is absolutely worth it.

    19.0045% OFF$10.45 at Amazon

    Frog sits on typewriter amidst foliage; book cover reads “John Irving, The World According to Garp.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    85. The World According to Garp by John Irving (1978)

    Leave any puritan tendencies at the door when you pick up a copy of John Irving’s The World According to Garp. This story highlights the life of T.S. Garp, the bastard son of a feminist and activist. Garp’s world is a roller coaster of extremes—emotional, physical, and sexual. He faces scenarios so outlandishly awful and painful, you can’t help but laugh, cringe, cry, and cheer. Enjoy the journey!

    8.9980% OFF$1.80 at Amazon

    Skull intricately designed with patterns, centered; surrounded by decorative elements, against a black backdrop. Text reads “HAMLET” and “WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE” above and below.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    86. Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1603) plus rest of the plays

    If you only ever read one of Shakespeare’s plays, let it be this, the tragic tale of a son on a quest to avenge his murdered father. Part of what makes Hamlet so iconic is how it has been retold and referenced in the centuries since it was first written. This work has spawned an entire collection of other pop culture, from Disney’s The Lion King to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. If you haven’t read it already, grab a copy of this slim little work and prepare to be swept away by madness, intrigue, and bitter fate.

    $7.95 at Amazon

    Book cover displaying the title “The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion, featuring minimalistic design and a gold National Book Award winner seal.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    87. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (2005)

    One of life’s truest axioms is that there will be good times and there will be bad times. If you can relate to both, or even if you can’t, Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking is a heart-wrenching story of a marriage, a family, a relationship, and a life that’s good, great, bad, awful, and everything in between. And in the end, isn’t that just a story about life?

    18.0047% OFF$9.60 at Amazon

    Silhouettes face each other, filled with intricate patterns on a red background. Text reads “Chinua Achebe, THINGS FALL APART,” with a Penguin logo below.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    88. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958)

    More than a century ago, worlds collided on the African continent when European colonizers arrived to establish outposts for their respective queens, kings, and presidents. What happened to the countries, the natives, and the settlers was nothing short of cataclysmic and tragic. Things Fall Apart tells the story of pre-colonial Africa and the great loss the world suffered when these civilizations and traditions were wiped away.

    16.0049% OFF$8.09 at Amazon

    A plane flies over ocean at sunset; text reads: “LAURA HILLENBRAND UNBROKEN: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    89. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (2010)

    The story behind Unbroken is so unbelievable and so improbable, it’s difficult to accept that it’s the real story of Louis Zamperini. Rebellious teenage years gave way to an Olympic career and eventually a stint as a U.S. airman. Zamperini soon found himself stranded in the Pacific Ocean and adrift thousands of miles from help. Where other men may have accepted their fate, he fought with hope, toughness, and humor to triumph. It’s an inspiring read for all.

    22.0064% OFF$7.92 at Amazon

    A group of four girls reads a book together inside a warmly lit room, surrounded by red curtains. Text: “Louisa May Alcott Little Women.”© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    90. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)

    Is there any other mother-daughter book as iconic as Little Women? Louisa May Alcott’s story of the March sisters—Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy—traverses their lives from childhood to adulthood. It’s a coming-of-age story that remains relevant for women everywhere because of its themes of love, career, and budding identity. No list of the best books of all time would be complete without this truly classic novel.

    9.4979% OFF$2.02 at Amazon

    Book cover displays title “White Teeth” by Zadie Smith in bold white text on an orange background, labeled a national bestseller.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    91. White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000)

    Zadie Smith’s debut novel tells the tale of two women whose lives are forever changed by what they experienced together during World War II. This fast-paced historical fiction story covers a lot of ground: race, ethnicity, religion, class struggles, and more. The powerhouse novel landed on our list for its overwhelming praise from readers and critics alike.

    18.0044% OFF$10.04 at Amazon

    Book cover displays two faceless figures, heads touching; text reads “The Color Purple, A Novel, Alice Walker.” Background is a muted pink.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    92. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

    When Alice Walker’s award-winning novel was first published in the 1980s, it was quickly censored. The author has said that most of the criticisms come from those who never even cracked open the book. So, what’s all the hubbub about? The Color Purple tells the story of a Black teen in 1930s rural Georgia. It centers around Celie, who writes about her day-to-day life in letters addressed to God. Yes, the book contains sexual themes, profanity, and violence. But its powerful prose has won awards, resulted in film and musical adaptations, and earned a spot on “best of” lists everywhere.

    18.0034% OFF$11.89 at Amazon

    A girl sits on stone steps, surrounded by trees. Text reads: “National Bestseller, Ian McEwan, Atonement.” A quote from John Updike is included.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    93. Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001)

    Set in World War II–era England, Ian McEwan’s award-winning Atonement also landed on our list of the best historical fiction of all time. The novel tells the story of Briony Tallis and how her childhood accusation against a family friend changes three lives forever. It’s a romance. It’s a war novel. It’s historical fiction that will grab hold of your 21st-century heart and squeeze it till you cry. Though it’s not a light read, you’ll find yourself flying through the pages until you reach the gut-wrenching finale.

    19.0040% OFF$11.35 at Amazon

    99 Wuthering Heights By Emily Brontë Via Amazon© via amazon.com

    94. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

    Could a book you read in high school really be considered one of the best books of all time? In the case of Wuthering Heights, yes. Emily Brontë’s classic novel takes a simple love story and smashes it to pieces with deft psychology and a dark Gothic atmosphere. Handsome Heathcliff falls head over heels for his foster sister, Catherine. But when another man enters the scene, their love story takes a manipulative, violent turn. The ripple effects of his jealousy even carry over into the next generation. Whether you end up loving or detesting this classic, dark romance, it’s worth a read.

    $8 at Amazon

    A lion’s face dominates the image, embraced by two children. Text reads:© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    95. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950) plus rest of the Narnia stories

    C.S. Lewis wrote and published numerous nonfiction and fiction books throughout his lifetime, but none have seeped so soundly into pop culture as those in the Chronicles of Narnia series. In this, the first installment, Lewis whisks readers through the wardrobe and into a vivid allegory that children and adults have fallen in love with again and again. You’ll see good and evil clash in the fight between Aslan and the White Witch. You’ll see compassion and forgiveness bloom between the Pevensie siblings. And you’ll certainly whet your appetite for more fantastical adventures as you reach the final page. This book is a children’s classic for a reason.

    10.9949% OFF$5.59 at Amazon

    Book cover displays title© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    96. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013)

    If you haven’t yet read something by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, it’s time to start. Americanah won the 2013 U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction (joining the likes of Ian McEwan’s Atonement) and captured the imagination of readers all over the world. It’s the story of love, regret, and identity, as experienced by a Nigerian immigrant to the United States. The book simultaneously weaves a beautiful tale while revealing truths about the African diaspora that many American readers might not already know. It’s a new classic and truly one of the best fiction books you’ll read all year.

    19.0048% OFF$9.87 at Amazon

    Book cover displays Zora Neale Hurston’s© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    97. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

    This groundbreaking novel by Zora Neale Hurston took years to get the praise it deserved. Now it’s widely regarded as a landmark book in African American literature. It reveals themes of fate versus free will, gender, and race in the story of Janie Crawford, a young Black girl who must make her own way in 1930s Florida.

    17.9954% OFF$8.21 at Amazon

    Mechanized figure with raised arms below a gear; “Brave New World, Aldous Huxley” text centered. Black-and-white steampunk aesthetic on a book cover.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    98. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)

    Walk either through the best bookstores in each state or your local bookstore and it won’t take long to find a shelf full of dystopian fiction. From The Hunger Games and Divergent to The Handmaid’s Tale and The Giver, twisted tales of societies gone wrong have practically become de rigueur. But once upon a time, that wasn’t the case. When Aldous Huxley penned the story of the World State, in which humans were conditioned out of their emotions and ability to bond with others, his ideas were new and somewhat shocking. The parallels to today—medicating oneself to stop feeling, genetic engineering, and instant gratification—make it all the more compelling for modern readers.

    18.9949% OFF$9.60 at Amazon

    Book cover shows title© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    99. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003)

    Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel has been read by millions of people all over the world, clearly marking it as one of the best books of all time. It tells the touching story of two boys in modern-day Afghanistan: one wealthy, the other poor. The timing of the book (published at the height of the country’s presence in American news) buoyed its popularity, but the story is powerful enough to stand on its own. Themes of friendship, redemption, and familial love make it a universal chronicle that will keep readers of all ages riveted until the end. For more deeply moving fiction, join an online book club and discuss your reads with like-minded book lovers.

    18.0034% OFF$11.85 at Amazon

    Book cover shows overlapping colorful dancers; text reads: “national bestseller, jennifer egan, a visit from the goon squad, a novel, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize.” Black spine text.© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    100. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010)

    This 2011 Pulitzer Prize–winning book is a series of 13 stories. All are connected by a record company exec named Bennie Salazar (and his assistant, Sasha). The stories intersect through time, revealing each character’s past—and the way time changes us all. It stands apart for its form, quietly shocking characters, and acknowledgment of how the world keeps spinning madly, whether we keep up with the pace or not. It’s a must-read for its insight and trajectory toward modern-day classic status. Need something else to keep you entertained when you finish this book? Press Play on one of the best movies from the past 100 years.

    $12.99 at Amazon

     

    Eight Romance Novels for Romance Skeptics

     

    5 books featuring dark woods where dark things happen

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    Ocotber 31

     

    10 Vampire Books That Could Be Considered Masterpieces (#1 Is A Classic)

     

     

    November 2, 2025

     

    The 20 best sci-fi books of all time – ranked

     

     

    best science fiction books

    Fiction is there to drive us out of our heads, and science fiction even more so: it makes the wildest notions seem pressingly relevant to us, extends our imaginations and our sympathies.

    I’ve not only written many science-fiction (SF) novels myself, but for years I’ve written about SF, championed it, criticised it, taught it (whatever that means) and – God help me – edited it.

    Feminist SF never quite shook off Russ’s influence – ponderous imitations abound – and it’s easy to forget how much sheer fun Russ had with her foundational novel. Long ignored by the anti-feminist crowd, its anti-trans passages are now winning it new opprobrium. Well, to hell with people who won’t let their bubbles be pricked.

    Buy the book

    17. Cat’s Cradle (1963)

    by Kurt Vonnegut

    To write a good spoof, you need a truly hare-brained imagination; SF arises where invention takes on a peculiar life of its own. In Kurt Vonnegut’s fourth novel, a Cold War skit, a writer investigating the development of the atomic bomb uncovers “ice-nine”, a catastrophic polymer capable of solidifying all water. This uncomfortably believable idea – look it up: H2O is odd – pushes Vonnegut beyond satire and into a doomed and hilarious world all of his own.

     

    16. Camp Concentration (1968)

    by Thomas M Disch

    America has declared war on the rest of the world, and sinister army doctors have infected Sacchetti, an incarcerated poet, with a strain of syphilis, seeking to boost his intelligence. On these satirical foundations, Thomas Disch, one of the genre’s great jokers, built a terrifying enquiry into the relationship between language and perception, genius and pain. Anyone tempted to plug a chip into their brain, or microdose their way up to a pressing deadline (ahem), is well advised to nail this book to their desk.

    Buy the book

    15–11

    15. Neuromancer (1984)

    by William Gibson

    It’s hard to say whether William Gibson wanted to satirise his times, or had got drunk on the Kool-Aid. Either way, Neuromancer defined the 1980s. Case, a hacker, is washed-up and neurologically crippled from accessing cyberspace. With nothing to lose, he signs up for one last job: breaking into the heavily guarded computer systems of a powerful corporate dynasty.

    Little does he know, he has become the tool of Wintermute, a rogue artificial intelligence striving to merge with its more powerful sibling and achieve true sentience. Any attempt to précis Neuromancer makes it sound like a bad copy of itself, so let’s try this: before Tenet and The Matrix, before Ready Player One and The Windup Girl, there was this odd, twisted, noirish beast, its skin the colour of television tuned to a dead channel.

    Buy the book

    14. The Dispossessed (1974)

    by Ursula K Le Guin

    By the time you’re taking pot-shots at the human condition itself, you’re less a commentator than a species of philosopher. We follow Shevek, a brilliant physicist (based on Robert Oppenheimer, a family friend of Le Guin), who travels to the capitalist hell-hole planet Urras, while pining for Anarres, his socialist homeworld.

    Yet we don’t: the more Shevak remembers, the more stultifying Anarres seems. Urras is no picnic either: adrift in its shallowness and brutality, Shevak’s loneliness is visceral. How, then, should we live? No point asking Le Guin, who drove critics mad with a novel that insists readers think for themselves.

    Buy the book

    13. Last and First Men (1930)

    by Olaf Stapledon

    Let’s start at the end. Barely warmed by the light of an ageing Sun, the last man reflects on his species’ history: how it evolved, blossomed, speciated and died. Last and First Men isn’t merely a novel; it’s an imaginative history of the solar system across two billion years, detailing the dreams and aspirations, achievements and failings of 17 different kinds of future Homo. At last, extinction beckons: “It is very good to have been man… And so we may go forward together with laughter in our hearts, and peace, thankful for the past, and for our own courage.”

    Buy the book

    12. Station Eleven (2014)

    by Emily St John Mandel

    Bring that thousand-yard stare back down to earth, and turn it upon our 21st-century lives, and you wind up with books like this one – not that there’s anything quite like Station Eleven. A few days before a flu pandemic ravages humanity, celebrated actor Arthur Leander dies on stage. His friends and family remember and misremember him, living as much in their versions of the past and conceptions of the present as they do the future – and it begins to dawn on us that Leander, by his passing, may just have saved humanity.

    Buy the book

    11. Engine Summer (1979)

    by John Crowley

    In this melancholy and uplifting vision, Rush That Speaks, a young man dedicated to “Truthful Speaking” (harder than it sounds), goes in pursuit of his lost love Once A Day. His quest takes him across strange lands, and among peoples transfigured by disaster and alien visitation into attitudes of rare gentleness. Humanity has adapted in fascinating ways to what, at first, seems a quite hostile environment. Crowley makes a poignant and often heartbreaking drama out of our happy future.

    Buy the book

    10–6

    10. The Time Machine (1895)

    by HG Wells

    On the other hand, you could just frighten the life out of people: The Time Machine is one of the genre’s great, foundational shockers. HG Wells’s nameless narrator builds a machine to take him to the year 802701 AD, where he finds humanity split into gentle, stupid Eloi and cruel, clever Morlocks.

    The Eloi are beautiful, gentle, charming – and tasty, which is why the Morlocks are farming them. Despite what you might have been told, The Time Machine isn’t a political fable. Wells trained under the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, and this is a powerful, well-informed novel about evolution, as Huxley’s generation understood it. Time annihilates any attribute that proves useless to survival – even beauty and intelligence.

    Buy the book

    9. Plague of Pythons (1965)

    by Frederik Pohl

    As society succumbs to a plague of madness, an engineer called Chandler, who committed rape and murder while out of his mind, must fight to clear his name. The plague, in reality, is the doing of mysterious “possessors” who inhabit and manipulate other people as though they were living costumes to be shed at will.

    Chandler falls in with a cult that uses pain to ward off possession, and learns that the possessors are hackers who’ve developed technology that can penetrate the human psyche. But, having fallen under their control once again, how can he stop them? Social media has given this agelessly nasty idea new life: Plague of Pythons is an inadvertent parable for our age.

    Buy the book

    8. The Islanders (2011)

    by Christopher Priest

    So much for moral angst. Sometimes you just want your imagination to let rip. In prose that could be pernickety to the point of bizarrerie, Christopher Priest monomaniacally rearranged two or three foundational ideas into brilliant, haunting sui generis novels such as this. The Islanders is his mischievous and magical gazetteer of the Channel Islands, recast as the Dream Archipelago, in which we drift through a chain of fragmentary consciousnesses, and both time and space prove unreliable. It must be the strangest shaggy-dog story ever written.

    Buy the book

    7. The Stars My Destination (1956)

    by Alfred Bester

    Gully Foyle is uneducated, unskilled, unambitious, cowardly, venal and weak. He’s trapped aboard a derelict spaceship, and the company that should rescue him is leaving him to die. But, after surviving his ordeal, Gully plots a revenge as transformative as it is terrible, as he leaps from world to world, acquiring strength after strength and skill after skill. No one, before or since, matched Alfred Bester for energy or economy; no one, with the possible exception of Quentin Tarantino, has ever shown such love for or commitment to pulp fiction.

    Buy the book

    6. Rogue Moon (1960)

    by Algis Budrys

    Give the imagination enough rope, and you soon end up in a place about which you can’t even ask sensible questions, never mind receive comfortable answers. Thrill-seeker Al Barker is repeatedly copied and his copies teleported into an alien artefact on the Moon, which kills him again and again and again.

    Maybe it’s trying to communicate, but who knows? “Perhaps it’s the alien equivalent of a discarded tomato can. Does a beetle know why it can enter the can only from one end as it lies across the trail to the beetle’s burrow? […] Would the beetle be a fool to assume the human race put the can there to torment it – or an egomaniac to believe the can was manufactured only to mystify it?”

    Buy the book

    5–1

    5. Roadside Picnic (1972)

    by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

    In 1957, a massive explosion at a nuclear waste dump in the eastern Urals contaminated several hundred square kilometres of land. To prevent people wandering into the forbidden zone, the Soviet government turned it into a nature reserve. Fifteen years later, two Russian brothers wrote Roadside Picnic.

    Aliens have visited Earth and left their rubbish behind. Redrick “Red” Schuhart, is a stalker, one of many who illegally brave these abandoned and overgrown “picnic spots” in search of powerful, transformative, toxic and often deadly litter. In some cases, the weirder SF gets, the more it comes to resemble reality.

    Buy the book

    4. Dune (1965)

    by Frank Herbert

    Cast into the wilderness of planet Arrakis by invading House Harkonnen, young Paul Atreides learns the ways of the desert and becomes in one swoop a focus for royalist hopes and religious fanaticism – all while riding on the back of an enormous sand-worm. Dune’s several film and TV adaptations all do a splendid job of conveying the novel’s epic scale. What they can’t do so easily is convey its oddness: like much of Herbert’s best work, Dune is set in a world that has overthrown its own thinking machines, and must now, and for its own survival, breed, drug and otherwise warp individual humans into becoming something very like gods.

    Buy the book

    3. Fiasco (1986)

    by Stanisław Lem

    The trouble with becoming divine is that there’s no finishing line: no point beyond which you magically acquire the wisdom and patience you need to govern your new power. In Lem’s great novel, first published in German translation before it appeared in the original Polish in 1987, idealistic human explorers approach the planet Quinta, which seems to harbour intelligent life. They try to establish contact, but the Quintans are engaged in a war, and refuse to pay any attention to the humans’ arrival. The explorers’ efforts to force the aliens to engage grow increasingly violent, in this bleak, brilliant account of good intentions gone horribly awry.

    Buy the book

    2. Ubik (1969)

    by Philip K Dick

    In the end, wherever we go, we’re stuck with ourselves. Technician Joe Chip is caught in a corporate ambush, and his boss, Glen Runciter, is killed. Reality quickly unravels: objects regress in time, deteriorating into earlier forms, and Joe and his friends find themselves moving backward through the decades. Maybe they’re dead, and Runciter is alive. Runciter certainly seems to think so: he’s constantly turning up in advertisements, pushing “Ubik”, a substance that can temporarily reverse the universal decay. In Dick’s world, we only have each other. The very fabric of reality depends on other people.

    Buy the book

    1. The Day of Creation (1987)

    by JG Ballard

    Mallory is a WHO doctor in war-torn central Africa, where he dreams of bringing water to the parched land. Funnily enough, while digging, he unleashes a powerful, ever-growing river. Becoming obsessed, he names the river after himself and embarks on a journey upstream, through Edenic lands that grow steadily more poisonous and feverish, while the river turns into a force only Mallory can stop.

    The Day of Creation caps a formidable series of explorations of psychological “inner space”, that began with 1962’s The Wind from Nowhere. Ballard’s central insight was that no one experiences reality, only those bits of it that seem relevant. That’s where science fiction starts.

    Buy the book

    Simon Ings’s novels include Wolves and The Smoke

     

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    Bold I read

    • On my list
      1. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
      2. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
      3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
      4. Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
      5. *The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry on my list to read
      6. . East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
      7. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
      8. 1984 by George Orwell
      9. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
      10. Watership Down by Richard Adams
      11. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
      12. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
      13. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
      14. *The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
      15. *The Stranger by Albert Camus
      16. 16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
      17. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
      18. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

    19.                Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

    20.                The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

    21. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

    22. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

    23. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

    24. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    25. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

    26. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

    27.* Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert on my list to read

    28.* Ulysses by James Joyce On my list to read not on the basic list though

    29. Dracula by Bram Stoker

    30. A Tale of Two Cities Novel by Charles Dicken

     

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    A self-help book from 1884 gets me through the year, one day at a time

     

    Qoutes

     

    Douglas Adams In the Salmon of Doubt Hitchiking the Galaxy One Last Time

     

    “The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.” ~ Douglas Adams in “The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time”

    Neil Armstrong quote

    In 1969, Neil Armstrong described the earth as a “tiny pea, pretty and blue,” which could be obscured by his thumb as he looked down upon us during his mission to the moon. Today, I can see Mars as a bright speck in the night sky and then go inside, turn on my computer and view images sent down from the Mars rover Curiosity, which show vivid scenes of the sprawling landscape up close and personal, bringing to mind the alien terrain I saw during my first voyage on the way to Auburn. http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/24/tech/mars-curiosity-anniversary/

    Anne Kagan in the After life of Billy Finger

    “A shift in perspective makes the particles in your universe dance to new possibilities.” ~ Annie Kagan in “The Afterlife of Billy Finger”

    Waiting for Us by Lawrencealot (December 18, 2014)
    Joyce Kilmer Trees

     

    “What makes you a poet is a gift for language, an ability to see into the heart of things, and an ability to deal with important unconscious material. When all these things come together, you’re a poet. But there isn’t one little gimmick that makes you a poet. There isn’t any formula for it.”
    ~ Erica Jong“One of my secret instructions to myself as a poet is: “Whatever you do, don’t be boring.”
    ~ Anne Sexton“If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”
    ~ Emily Dickinson“Poetry, I feel, is a tyrannical discipline. You’ve got to go so far so fast in such a small space; you’ve got to burn away all the peripherals.”
    ~ Sylvia Plath

    “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you,”
    -Maya Angelou

    “Find the key emotion; this may be all you need to know to find your short story.”
    – F. Scott Fitzgerald

    “I would also suggest that any aspiring writer begin with short stories. These days, I meet far too many young writers who try to start with a novel right off, or a trilogy, or even a nine-book series. That’s like starting in rock climbing by tackling Mt. Everest. Short stories help you learn your craft.”
    – George R.R. Martin

    Qoutes

    Find yourself someone who talks about you the way he talks about Marcia. Expect your friends to be jealous. Or perhaps a bit concerned.

    An emptiness so vast, the night screams in envy—
    It devours the stars yet still hungers for my sorrow.

    Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.~~ Chief SeattleA house with any kind of age will have dozens of stories to tell. I suppose if a novelist could live long enough, one could base an entire oeuvre on the lives that weave in and out of an antique house. ~~Anita Shreve

    (What a fantastic idea for a book! Hmmmm)

    You may delay, but time will not. ~~Benjamin Franklin

    Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present. ~~Bil Keane

    Time and tide wait for no man. ~~Geoffrey Chaucer

    Lost – yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever. ~~Horace Mann

    The past is but a thread in the tapestry of our future. ~~Nora Roberts, Three Fates

    Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.~~ Chief Seattle

    A house with any kind of age will have dozens of stories to tell. I suppose if a novelist could live long enough, one could base an entire oeuvre on the lives that weave in and out of an antique house. ~~Anita Shreve

    (What a fantastic idea for a book! Hamm)

    You may delay, but time will not. ~~Benjamin Franklin

    Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present. ~~Bil Keane

    Time and tide wait for no man. ~~Geoffrey Chaucer

    Lost – yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever. ~~Horace Mann

    The past is but a thread in the tapestry of our future. ~~Nora Roberts, Three Fates

    Substack

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  • Cosmos’s K Drama Picks for 2025

    Cosmos’s K Drama Picks for 2025

    Cosmos’s K Drama Picks for 2025

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    Over the last few years, as some of you know, I finally became a K-Drama fan. Part of the reason is that my Korean is now good enough to follow the dialogue, although I still need subtitles mostly, and I have been staying in Korea for half the year for the last few years. And K Dramas are quite good from both a writing and acting perspective–some of the best dramas being produced in the world right now. That was not always the case. K-dramas were not that good until the early 90s when they started taking off.

    One of the best things they did was sign an agreement with Netflix and later Disney to provide K Dramas to both streaming services, and in return, allowing them access to the Korean public. Unfortunately, many of K Dramas shown on Netflix in Korea do not have subtitles, but those shown on foreign feeds all have subtitles; those that are joint productions with Netflix all have subtitles. Given how accurate AI is becoming, it should be pretty cheap to produce subtitles for all the K Dramas shown on TV and on Netflix.  I wish someone would do that.

    Here are some of my favorite k K-dramas.

    K dramas come in two forms–movies and series. The series is reminiscent of Mexican telenovelas – usually 16 episodes, occasionally 20, and occasionally fewer. A few have two seasons. Most run for about a month. Many are available now on Netflix, Disney, and Hulu with English subtitles. A few were quite controversial.

    K Romcoms among the best in the world

    For those new to the genre,   I would pick a rom-com as the Koreans are masters of the rom-com genre. Most are slow-burning romcoms with the romance gradually building; often, it is the hate-to-love story line. Often featuring people of different social classes falling in love and somehow making it work.  I have included at the end a separate list of romcoms with the ones I’ve seen bolded and an * marking my favorite K romcoms.

    Dark Comedies and Dramas 

    Some of the dramas are biting black comedies, like Parasite.

    I would recommend 12 12 and Last Man Standing as the top political thrillers, many because they take place in 1979-1981 when I was in the Peace Corps in my first exposure to Korean culture.

    Quite a few K dramas are about what I call “Rich people behaving badly”, and the revenge of the lower classes. “  Mine “ is a good example.  A few have LGBTQ characters  “Mine” “Itaewon”, and “Love in the Big City”  come to mind.   And a lot are about revenge – see the “Glory”.  There are a number of Sci-fi and epic fantasies such as Arkndal Chronicles as well to choose from.

    And of course, there is Squid Game. I would skip the international version which was a big flop,  season two just finished and the series concluding season is coming up later this year.

    “Parasite” of course won the 2020 Oscar. And “Minuri” won best-supporting actress 2023.

    My top recommendations include

    Master List

    Bold I have seen

    📺 Part One: K-Dramas A–M (Alphabetized by English Title)

    English Title Korean Title (Romanized) Notes
    12.12: The Day 12.12: 더 데이 (Deo Dei) Political drama
    20th Century Girl 20세기 소녀 (20segi Sonyeo) Coming-of-age
    A Tale Of Two Sisters 장화, 홍련 (Janghwa, Hongryeon) Horror
    A Typical Family 평범한 가족 (Pyeongbeomhan Gajok) Superpowers
    Again My Life 어게인 마이 라이프 (Eogein Mai Laipeu) Rom-com
    Alchemy Of Souls 환혼 (Hwanhon) Epic fantasy
    Alive 살아있다 (#Saraitda) Horror
    All Of Us Are Dead 지금 우리 학교는 Zombie drama
    All The Love You Wish For 모든 사랑을 원해 (Modeun Sarangeul Wonhae) Rom-com
    Arkndal Chronicles 아스달 연대기 (Aseudal Yeondaegi) Fantasy
    Autumn In My Heart 가을동화 Rom-com
    Awaken 낮과 밤 Thriller
    Bad and Crazy 배드 앤 크레이지 Action
    Badlands Hunters 황야의 사냥꾼 (Hwangyaui Sanyangkkun) Post-apocalyptic
    Beef — Revenge drama
    Because This Is My First Life 이번 생은 처음이라 (Ibeon Saengeun Cheoeumira) Rom-com
    Believer 독전 (Dokjeon) Crime drama
    Bequeathed 선산 (Seonsan) Thriller
    Beyond Evil 괴물 (Goemul) Thriller
    Beyond the Bar 비욘드 더 바 2021–2022
    Big Mouth 빅마우스 (Bikmauseu) Thriller
    Black Knight 택배기사 (Taekbaegisa) Sci-fi
    Boys Over Flowers 꽃보다 남자 (Kkotboda Namja) Rom-com
    Broadcast Diva 무인도의 디바 (Muin-Do-Ui Diva) Rom-com
    Business Proposal 사내 맞선 (Sanae Matseon) Rom-com
    Bulgasal: Immortal Souls 불가살 (Bulgasal) Horror
    Can This Love Be Translated? 이 사랑 통역 되나요? Rom-com
    Cash Hero 캐쉬 히어로 (Kaeswi Hieoro) Superhero
    Castaway Diva 무인도의 디바 (Muin-Do-Ui Diva) Rom-com
    Check-In Hanyang 체크인 한양 (Chekeuin Hanyang) Political rom-com
    Chief Of Staff 보좌관 (Bojagwan) Political
    Coffee Prince 커피프린스 1호점 (Keopipeurinseu 1 Hojom) Rom-com
    Colony — Yeon Sang-ho project
    Comedy Royal 로얄로더 (Loyal Lodeo) Comedy
    Crazy Love 크레이지 러브 (Keureiji Reobeu) Rom-com
    Crash Course In Romance 일타 스캔들 (Ilta Seukaendeul) Rom-com
    Crash Landing On You 사랑의 불시착 (Sarangui Bulsichak) Rom-com
    Culinary Class War 요리 클래스 전쟁 (Yori Keullaseu Jeonjaeng) Food competition
    Dali And The Cocky Prince 달리와 감자탕 (Dalliwa Gamjatang) Rom-com
    Designated Survivor: 60 Days 60일, 지정생존자 (60il, Jijeongsaengjonja) Political
    Destined With You 이 연애는 불가항력 (I Yeonaeneun Bulgahangryeok) Rom-com
    Doctor Cha 닥터 차정숙 (Dakteo Cha Jeongsuk) Hospital drama
    Doctor John 의사요한 (Uisayohan) Rom-com
    Doctor Prisoner 닥터 프리즈너 (Dakteo Peurijeuneo) Thriller
    Doctor Romantic 낭만닥터 김사부 (Nangman Dakteo Kim Sabu) Hospital drama
    Doctor Slump 닥터 슬럼프 (Dakteo Seulleompeu) Rom-com
    Don’t Buy The Seller 타겟 (Taget) Thriller
    D.P. (Deserter Pursuit)

    애마 (Aema).

    		 디피 (Dipi) Military
    Eve 이브 (Ibeu) Thriller
    Extracurricular 인간수업 (Ingansueop) Crime drama
    Faith 신의 Historical
    Fated To Love You 운명처럼 널 사랑해 (Unmyeongcheoreom Neol Saranghae) Rom-com
    Fight For My Way 쌈, 마이웨이 (Ssam, Maiwei) Rom-com
    Fiery Priest 열혈사제 (Yeolhyeolsaje) Crime
    Genie, Make A Wish 다 이루어질지니 Fantasy
    Glitch 글리치 (Geullichi) Sci-fi
    Go Back Couple 고백부부 Rom-com
    Good Bye Mr. Black 굿바이 미스터 블랙 Political
    Good and the Bastard 좋거나 나쁜 동재 (Jotgeona Nappeun Dongjae) Thriller
    Graceful Family 우아한 가 (Ua Han Ga) Drama
    Gu Family Book 구가의 서 (Guga-Ui Seo) Historical
    Gunche 군체 Zombie
    Gyesang Creature (Part 1) 계상 크리처 (파트 1) Monster drama
    Gyesang Creature (Part 2) 계상 크리처 (파트 2) Monster drama
    Gyesirok 계시록 Revelations
    Happiness 해피니스 Rom-com
    Healer 힐러 (Hilleo) Action
    Hellbound (Part 1) 지옥 (Jiok) Horror
    Hellbound (Part 2) 지옥 (Jiok) Horror

    Additional list Period piece about medical doctors

     

    🎬 Similar K-Dramas with Korean Titles

    English Title Korean Title Genre/Theme
    Live Up to Your Name 명불허전 Joseon doctor time-travels to Seoul
    Dr. Romantic 낭만닥터 김사부 Medical drama with mentorship
    Hospital Playlist 슬기로운 의사생활 Slice-of-life medical friendship
    Ghost Doctor 고스트 닥터 Supernatural medical drama
    Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung 신입사관 구해령 Joseon-era feminist historian
    Kingdom 킹덤 Joseon zombie thriller
    Royal Secret Agent 암행어사 Joseon undercover investigations
    Outlander (Western) 아웃랜더 Time-traveling nurse in Scotland
    Penny Dreadful (Western) 페니 드레드풀 Gothic horror with psychological depth
    Our Flag Means Death (Western) 아워 플래그 민즈 데스 Quirky period comedy

    🎬

    🧠 Modern K-Dramas About Mental Health & Healing

    English Title Korean Title Mental Health Theme(s)
    It’s Okay to Not Be Okay 사이코지만 괜찮아 Autism, PTSD, personality disorders
    It’s Okay, That’s Love 괜찮아, 사랑이야 Schizophrenia, anxiety, depression
    Kill Me, Heal Me 킬미, 힐미 Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
    Good Doctor 굿 닥터 Autism, savant syndrome
    Extraordinary Attorney Woo 이상한 변호사 우영우 Autism spectrum disorder
    Flower of Evil 악의 꽃 Antisocial personality disorder
    Dr. Frost 닥터 프로스트 Psychological profiling, mental illness cases
    Soul Mechanic 영혼수선공 Psychiatric therapy, emotional healing
    Fix You 영혼수선공 Psychiatrist helping patients heal
    Be Melodramatic 멜로가 체질 PTSD, grief, emotional trauma
    Chocolate 초콜릿 PTSD, emotional repression
    Come and Hug Me 이리와 안아줘 Panic disorder, trauma
    Rain or Shine 그냥 사랑하는 사이 Grief, survivor’s guilt
    Mental Coach Jegal 멘탈코치 제갈길 Sports psychology, trauma recovery
    My Liberation Notes 나의 해방일지 Existential depression, emotional burnout
    Her Private Life 그녀의 사생활 PTSD, emotional repression
    Find Me in Your Memory 그 남자의 기억법 Hyperthymesia, PTSD
    Awaken 낮과 밤 Psychological thriller, trauma

     

    Alphabetized K-Movie List

    English Title Korean Title (Romanized) Notes
    After My Death 죄 많은 소녀 (Joe Maneun Sonyeo) Drama
    Along With The Gods 신과함께 (Singwa Hamkke) Fantasy drama
    Confidential Assignment 공조 (Gongjo) Political thriller
    Confidential Assignment 2: International 공조2: 인터내셔날 (Gongjo 2: Inteonaesyeonal) Crime thriller
    Decision to Leave 헤어질 결심 (Heeojil Gyeolsim) Thriller
    Forgotten 기억의 밤 (Gieokui Bam) Mystery thriller
    Hostage 인질 (Injil) Crime thriller
    My Place 나의집 (Naui Jip) Rom-com
    Mercy For None 광장 (Gwangjang) Q2 2025 release
    On The Line 보이스 (Boiseu) Thriller
    Ordinary People 보통사람 (Botongsaram) Drama
    Parallel Life 평행 이론 (Pyeonghaeng Ireon) Sci-fi
    Project Silence 프로젝트 사일런스 (Peurojekteu Sailleonseu) Political horror
    Queen of Mystery 추리의 여왕 (Churuiui Yeowang) Crime-solving duo
    Sandglass 모래시계 (Moraesigye) Rom-com
    Single In Seoul 싱글 인 서울 (Singgeul In Seoul) Rom-com
    Somebody 썸바디 (Sseombadi) Crime
    Space Sweepers 승리호 (Seungniho) Sci-fi
    The Big Swindle 범죄의 재구성 (Beomjoeui Jaeguseong) Crime
    The Bros 부라더 (Beuradeo) Comedy
    The Devil’s Plan 데블스 플랜 (Debeulseu Peullaen) Reality TV
    The Dude In Me 내안의 그놈 (Naeane Geunom) Comedy
    The Good, the Bad, the Weird 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 (Joeun Nom, Nappeun Nom, Isanghan Nom) Western-style action
    The Negotiator 협상 (Hyeopsang) Thriller (Thailand/Korea)
    The Swindlers 꾼 (Kkun) Crime
    The Spy Gone North 공작 (Gongjak) Political thriller
    The Worst Of Evil 최악의 악 (Choeagui Ak) Crime drama
     

     

    the Price of Confession  Hangul: 자백의 대가 Romanized: Jabaeg-ui Daega

    Secret Life of Mr.  Kim·  The Secret Life of Mr. Kim → 김씨의 은밀한 사생활

    • Typhoon Family → 태풍 가족

    90s K Dramas Worth Rewatching Today
         

    Absolutely, Jake. You’re diving into a rich, provocative slice of Korean cinematic history reframed through a modern lens. The drama you’re referring to is titled Aema (애마) in Korean, and it premiered on Netflix on August 22, 2025. It’s a six-episode historical comedy-drama that dramatizes the making of the 1982 erotic film Madame Aema, which became a cultural lightning rod in South Korea.

    🎬 Overall Synopsis

    Set in the vibrant, male-dominated world of 1980s Chungmuro—the heart of Korea’s film industry—Aema follows two women caught in the storm of ambition, exploitation, and rebellion. Jung Hee-ran, a seasoned actress with a fiery temper, is initially cast in the lead role of Madame Aema but is sidelined when she refuses to bare her body on screen. Her replacement, Shin Joo-ae, a nightclub dancer with dreams of stardom, steps into the role, sparking tension and unexpected solidarity. As the film’s production unfolds, the drama exposes the underbelly of the industry: coercive contracts, sexual exploitation, and the struggle for artistic integrity.

    📺 Episode Guide

    While full episode breakdowns are still emerging, here’s a thematic arc across the six episodes:

    🎭 Cast & Characters

    Main Cast:

    • Lee Hanee as Jung Hee-ran – A top actress resisting objectification
    • Bang Hyo-rin as Shin Joo-ae – A bold newcomer with raw talent
    • Jin Seon-kyu as Gu Jung-ho – Ruthless CEO of Shinsung Films
    • Cho Hyun-chul as Kwak In-woo – Idealistic rookie director

    Supporting Cast Highlights:

    • Jang Nam-su as Park Yeong-bae – Hee-ran’s loyal manager
    • Lee Hong-nae as Yang Seok-won – Investigative reporter
    • Lee So-e as Hwang Mi-na – Jung-ho’s tragic girlfriend
    • Park Hae-joon as Lee Jae-geon – Tabloid journalist
    • Kim Jong-soo as Kwon Do-il – Director who gives Hee-ran a platform

    🗣️ Notable Quotes

    Here are a few standout lines that capture the emotional and thematic core:

    • “You think I’m difficult? I think I’m finally awake.” — Jung Hee-ran
    • “I didn’t come here to be touched. I came here to be seen.” — Shin Joo-ae
    • “Aema isn’t just a film. It’s a mirror. And you’re all afraid of what you’ll see.” — Kwak In-woo

    📣 Reputation & Cultural Impact

    Aema is both a tribute and a critique. It revisits the scandalous legacy of the original Madame Aema—the longest-running erotic film series in Korean history—and reframes it through a feminist, revisionist lens. The original film was born from the 1980s “3S Policy” (Screen, Sex, Sports), a government strategy to distract from political unrest. The Netflix drama doesn’t shy away from this context, portraying the era’s contradictions: censorship loosening just enough to allow erotic cinema, while actresses were commodified and silenced.

    Critics have praised Aema for its bold storytelling and layered performances, especially Lee Hanee’s portrayal of Hee-ran. It’s been described as “a reckoning with Korea’s cinematic past” and “a drama that dares to name the cost of survival.”

    Would you like help shaping your review’s tone—archival, mythic, personal, or critical? I can help you weave in historical footnotes, character arcs, or even a blues riff if you want to echo your Cosmos Foundation style.

     

    The 50 Best K-Dramas to Add to Your Watchlist

     

    If you’re a television fan who hasn’t yet dived into the world of Korean dramas, you’re missing out on some of the best shows ever made. Long gone are the days when hallyu fans had to trade DVDs or LiveJournal links with (potentially inaccurate) English subtitles. Now streamers like Netflix, Viki, Hulu, and Prime Video have put the breadth of Korean shows and movies at our fingertips, and franchises like Squid Game and Kpop Demon Hunters have become truly inescapable.

    Ad

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    watch it on netflix

    Romance Korean Dramas

    These romantic K-dramas are for the fans of intense, sweeping romances that can span from heart-fluttering to heart-wrenching in one episode. (Think Bridgerton, but even more swoon-worthy.) If you want to spend 16-20 hours invested in a serious slow burn, look here.

    ‘Business Proposal’ (2022)

    ((Image credit: SBS))

    This 2022 rom-com drama has become the year’s biggest hit so far thanks to its hilarious romances (and a super-popular kissing clip). Shin Ha-ri (I.O.I. and The Uncanny Counter‘s Kim Se-jeong) is a food researcher at a company that just welcomed a new president, Kang Tae-moo (KPop Demon Hunters‘s Ahn Hyo-seop). When her wealthy BFF (played by Seol In-ah) asks her to go on a blind date for her and ruin it, the date turns out to be Tae-moo. The morning after the disastrous date, Ha-ri receives a call—Tae-moo wants to marry her!?! Their hilarious courtship, as well as the second lead romance, will definitely steal your heart.

    watch it on netflix

    ‘Coffee Prince’ (2007)

    ((Image credit: MBC))

    This classic K-drama follows Choi Han-gyul (Squid Game‘s Gong Yoo), the irresponsible heir to a conglomerate with a popular chain of coffee shops. One day he meets Ko Eun-chan (Yoon Eun-hye), a tomboy who’s often mistaken for a man and has been the breadwinner of her family since she was 16. Not knowing Eun-chan is a girl, Han-gyul hires her to be his gay lover to get out of the blind dates his grandmother sets up. Han-gyul also takes over a derelict coffee shop, renamed Coffee Prince, to prove to his grandmother and ex-girlfriend that he is capable. As he’s only hiring good-looking male employees, Eun-chan decides to keep up her gender charade to get a job at his cafe.

    watch it on viki

    ‘Crash Landing on You’ (2019–2020)

    ((Image credit: tvN))

    A South Korean heiress, Yoon Se-ri, gets caught in a storm while paragliding and finds herself blown off course into North Korea. Se-ri then runs into Ri Jeong-hyeok, Captain of the North Korean Special Forces and a member of the North Korean elite family. Captain Ri eventually hatches a plan to get Se-ri back to South Korea with the help of his squad, but not before they all tackle the obstacles that come their way—and then some. This drama mixes romance with comedy and ultimately tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers. It’s currently the 2nd highest rated tvN drama and the fifth-highest Korean drama in cable television history. (Also, stars Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin have since gotten married and welcomed a baby!)

    watch it on netflix

    ‘Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha’ (2021)

    ((Image credit: tvN))

    This country-boy meets city-girl romance starts when Seoul dentist Yoon Hye-jin (Shin Min-ah) loses her shoe during a visit to the seaside village of Gonjin. It’s found by Hong Doo-shik (Kim Seon-ho), a jack-of-all-trades who does odd jobs around town. Hye-jin ends up moving to Gonjin, where Doo-shik helps her adapt to the new environment, and the couple slowly (and sweetly) grows feelings for each other.

    watch it on netflix

    ‘Love in the Big City’ (2024)

    ((Image credit: TVING))

    BL (a.k.a. “Boys Love”) dramas have grown in popularity over the years, and this groundbreaking novel adaptation is a great intro to the genre. Based on Sang Young Park’s novel of the same name (and not to be confused with the 2024 film starring Kim Go-eun and Noh Sang-hyun), the eight-episode K-drama follows Go Young (Nam Yoon-su), a gay Korean man living with his straight best friend Mi Ae (Lee Soo-kyung), as he searches for love in the face of parental and societal expectations.

    watch it on viki

    ‘Lovely Runner’ (2024)

    ((Image credit: Courtesy of Viki))

    Lovely Runner is a popular romance-fantasy drama mixes time travel with every K-pop fangirl’s wildest dreams. In 2023, Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon), is a 34-year-old who uses a wheelchair and a dedicated fan of K-pop superstar Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok), who gave her the strength to live on during the most difficult time of her life. When Sun-jae unexpectedly dies, seemingly by suicide, a devastated Sol has Sun-jae’s old digital watch. As she presses one of its buttons, Sol’s transported 15 years back to 2008, when she was a 19-year-old student at a high school near Sun-jae’s. Sol becomes determined to stop Sun-jae’s future death by any means necessary, which is just the start of the pair’s twist-filled, fated romance.

    watch it on viki

    ‘Our Beloved Summer’ (2021–2022)

    ((Image credit: Studio N/SBS))

    Ten years have passed since high schoolers Choi Ung (Parasite‘s Choi Woo-sik) and Kook Yeon-su (Kim Da-mi) starred in a documentary together. Though they started out hating each other, the pair later began dating and stayed together for five years. Now, five years after the rough breakup, the two adults find each other back in their lives at the same time the documentary goes viral, with fans clamoring for an update. Will Ung and Da-mi fall in love again while filming the sequel? Check out this enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers(?) drama to find out.

    watch it on netflix

    ‘Secret Garden’ (2004)

    ((Image credit: SBS))

    This classic romance, for fans of shows like Boys Over Flowers and The Heirs, is a body-swapping melodrama that includes so many rom-com tropes. Kim Joo-won (Crash Landing on You‘s Hyun Bin), the spoiled CEO of a department store, meets Gil Ra-im (Ha Ji-won), a stuntwoman who was orphaned as a teenager, via a case of mistaken identity. Joo-won is attracted to Ra-im despite himself, and uses their one connection—she’s a fangirl of his cousin, Hallyu star Oska—to stick around her. During a fateful night when they’re alone together, the pair are gifted mysterious homemade wine and wake up to find that they’ve switched bodies. Yes, this is all ridiculous, and yes, it ends up in a nostalgic love story by the end.

    20 Best Medical K-Dramas, Ranked

     

    I have not seen these yet they are on my list to see soon

     

    Here’s a detailed list of the K-Dramas you mentioned, including their original Korean titles (Hangul and Romanized) and air dates:

    1. Reply 1988

    • Korean Title: 응답하라 1988
    • Romanized: Eungdabhara 1988
    • Air Dates: November 6, 2015 – January 16, 2016
    • Network: tvN
      [asianwiki.com]

    2. Reborn Rich

    • Korean Title: 재벌집 막내아들
    • Romanized: Jaebeoljip Maknaeadeul
    • Air Dates: November 18, 2022 – December 25, 2022
    • Network: JTBC
      [en.wikipedia.org]

    3. Twenty-Five Twenty-One

    • Korean Title: 스물다섯 스물하나
    • Romanized: Seumuldaseot Seumulhana
    • Air Dates: February 12, 2022 – April 3, 2022
    • Network: tvN
      [en.wikipedia.org]

    4. It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

    • Korean Title: 사이코지만 괜찮아
    • Romanized: Saikojiman Gwaenchana
    • Air Dates: June 20, 2020 – August 9, 2020
    • Network: tvN
      [en.wikipedia.org]

    5. Start-Up

    • Korean Title: 스타트업
    • Romanized: Seutateueop
    • Air Dates: October 17, 2020 – December 6, 2020
    • Network: tvN
      [en.wikipedia.org]

    6. Hospital Playlist

    • Korean Title: 슬기로운 의사생활
    • Romanized: Seulgirowoon Uisasaenghwal
    • Air Dates:
      • Season 1: March 12 – May 28, 2020
      • Season 2: June 17 – September 16, 2021
    • Network: tvN
      [en.wikipedia.org]

    7. Empire of Gold

    • Korean Title: 황금의 제국
    • Romanized: Hwanggeumui Jeguk
    • Air Dates: July 1 – September 17, 2013
    • Network: SBS
      [en.wikipedia.org]

     

    20 Greatest K-Drama Couples, Ranked

     

    Recent dramas

     

    1. Typhoon Family K Drama 태풍상사
      Revised Romanization: Taepungsangsa
      Literal Translation: Typhoon Trading Company
    1. My lovely lIar Hangul: 소용없어 거짓말, Romanized: Soyongeobseo Geojitmal,lteral Meaning: Useless Lies [asianwiki.com]
    1. Korean Title:Good News about Japanese Hijcking in 1970
      Hangul: 굿뉴스
      Romanization: Gut Nuiuseu
    2. Official English Title: The Dream Life of Mr. Kim
      Korean Title:
      Hangul: 서울 자가에 대기업 다니는 김 부장 이야기
      Romanization: Seoul Jagae Daegieop Danineun Kim Bujang Iyagi
      Literal meaning: The Story of Manager Kim Who Works at a Large Corporation in Seoul

     

    10 Best K-Dramas From The 1990s

    The Korean title for “As You Stood By” is:

    당신이 죽였다
    (Romanization: Dangsini Jugyeotda)

     

    10 Greatest K-Drama Male Leads, Ranked

    Similar K-Dramas

    If you loved Dynamite Kiss, try these:

    • Business Proposal (사내 맞선) – Workplace romance with fake identity trope.
    • My Secret Romance (애타는 로맨스) – Impulsive kiss leading to office romance.
    • What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim (김비서가 왜 그럴까) – Power dynamics and slow-burn tension.
    • Nice to Not Meet You (만나서 반갑지 않아요) – 2025 rom-com with professional clashes.

    The Good Bad Mother (나쁜 엄마) – Family themes and emotional depth.

    10 K-Dramas That Deserve to Be Called Masterpieces

     

    6 K-Drama Male Leads Who Need To Make A Comeback

    10 Underrated K-Dramas That Are Perfect From Start to Finish

    From Parasite to Park Chan-wook—Could ‘No Other Choice’ Be Korea’s Next Oscar Miracle?

    Co-Pilot

     

    I hear there is buzz about another potential Korean Oscar contender, the K movie, No Other Choice.  Could you provide the Korean Title, in both Hangul and Romanized, the release date in Korea, the award nominations, and the cast? Quotes and literary reputation? And movies by the director? And similar K dramas/movies, particularly the current K Dream, Mr. Kim’s Secret Dreams, which this movie reminds me of. Oh, and the date of the next Oscar, including the release date of the nominations and the host for the upcoming Oscars? And also discuss the book Ax – it is based on including the author’s bio, list of his or her other works, and the literary reputation of the book. Break this down into the movie, other related K dramas, and movies, the Oscar Race for 2026 including the date and host; and information on the book it is based on.   This is not for publicaiton yet

     

    Section 1: The Movie–No Other Choice

    • Korean Title: 어쩔 수가 없다 (Romanized: Eojjeolsugaeopda)
    • Director: Park Chan-wook
    • Release Dates:

    – South Korea: September 24, 2025

    – North America: December 25, 2025 (limited), January 2026 (wide)

    • Awards & Nominations:

    – Korea’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards

    – Multiple Blue Dragon Film Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Music, Costume Design

    • Cast:

    – Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yum Hye-ran, Cha Seung-won, Yoo Yeon-seok

    • Quotes & Literary Reputation:

    Critics praise its dark humor and social commentary. Park Chan-wook calls it ‘a heartbreaking story about a middle-aged man who lost his job and becomes a serial killer in the process of trying to feed his family.’

    Director’s Selected Filmography:

    Film Year
    Oldboy 2003
    The Handmaiden 2016
    Decision to Leave 2022
    No Other Choice 2025

     

     

    Section 2: Related K-Drama & Movies

    • Mr. Kim’s Secret Dreams (김씨의 비밀 꿈, Romanized: Kimssiui Bimil Kkum)
    • Our Beloved Summer (그 해 우리는, Romanized: Geu Hae Urineun)
    • Her Private Life (그녀의 사생활, Romanized: Geunyeoui Sasaenghwal)
    • Fight for My Way (쌈 마이웨이, Romanized: Ssam Maiwei)
    • Romance Is a Bonus Book (로맨스는 별책부록, Romanized: Romaenseuneun Byeolchaekburok)

     

     

    Section 4: The Book – The Ax

    • Author: Donald E. Westlake (1933–2008)
    • Bio: Acclaimed American crime novelist, known for witty, darkly comic thrillers. Multiple Edgar Awards and Grand Master Award.
    • Other Works:10 essential K-dramas for beginners

    – The Hunter (as Richard Stark)

    – The Hot Rock

    – Bad News

    – Dancing Aztecs

    • Literary Reputation:

    Published in 1997; praised for chilling satire on corporate downsizing and moral decay. Considered one of Westlake’s most incisive social commentaries.

    • Previous Adaptations:

    – French film Le Couperet (2005) by Costa-Gavras

     

    As the 98th Academy Awards draw closer next March, Korean audiences are closely watching the International Feature Film race, where Park Chan Wooks No Other Choice is considered a major contender. The film, produced by Moho Film, has been selected as Korea’s official submission and is currently competing for a nomination.

    No Other Choice will premiere for North American audiences on December 25, opening in select theaters across the United States and Canada before expanding in January. The film follows the desperate struggle of a jobless family man trying to regain employment and stars Lee Byung Hun, Son Ye Jin, Park Hee Soon, Lee Sung Min, and Yum Hye Ran. This marks Park Chan Wooks first feature in three years since No Other Choice in 2022 and is adapted from the American novel Ax.

    The post From Parasite to Park Chan-wook—Could ‘No Other Choice’ Be Korea’s Next Oscar Miracle? appeared first on ZAPZEE.

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    Life K Drama audio Clip

    Subtack

    Medium

    Wattpad

     

  • Cosmos’s 2025 Movie List

    Cosmos’s 2025 Movie List

    Cosmos’s 2025 Movie List

    Movies 2025 Including Oscar Reflections

    Cosmos Movies TV Programs 2024 Lis

    tMaster Movies Seen 1970- 2024

    movies master list

    Movies Seen 2021

    movies seen 2020

    movies seen 2019

    Movies Watched During 2018

    movies list

    2024 K Drama Updates

    Master Movies Seen 1970- 2024

    Movie Watching Goals 2025

    250+ Movies/TV Series/Plays/Big News coverage, YouTube documentaries, etc. by the end of the year.

    At least one Korean movie per week

    At least one Spanish movie every so often

    One Bollywood or another foreign language movie every so often

    A mixture of thrillers, K Drama, comedies, rom-com, etc.

    Make a list of Oscar movies and watch several

    Resume going to the theater

    Two to three live theater performances

    List major news coverage and events

    List YouTube documentaries

    List Great Courses – do one course per month on average

    When traveling to the US, watch ten movies each trip, including one Bollywood, one Spanish, three to four blockbusters, one classic, one comedy

    the following is a list of TV and movies I have seen this year, followed by various lists of recommended movies.  I have seen many of them but not all.

    My list 2025

    News

    1. NYE coverage
    2. 2 Coverage of Yoon arrest drama
    3. Coverage of Johnson’s election for Speaker
    4. 4 Coverage of NYE terror bombings
    5. 5 Coverage of Trump’s inauguration
    6. Coverage of Korean Air Crash
    7. Coverage of Trump’s first 100 days
    8. CNN/BBC news forecasts for the year
    9. NN coverage of Trump’s Indictment
    10. CNN coverage of Carter Funeral
    11. CNN coverage of President Trump’s first 100 days
    12. CNN coverage of LA fires
    13. President Biden’s Farewell Adress
    14. Senate confirmation hearings
    15. CNN coverage of Trump’s inaugural address
    16. News coverage of President Yoon’s trial
    17. Continuing coverage of Korean Impeachment trials
    18. Coverage on the DOGE commission and government cutbacks
    19. Jimmy Kimble
    20. Stephen Colbert

     

    1. The Daily Show
    2. Rachael Maddow Show coverage of ongoing protests
    3. The Last Word Show coverage of ongoing protests
    4. The Break Show coverage of ongoing protests
    5. The Inside show coverage of on-going protests
    6. Politics Nation coverage of ongoing protests
    7. CNN and MSNBC coverage of Signal Gate
    8. Democracy Now on Elon Musk’s Apartheid Roots
    9. Coverage of Yoon’s removal from office
    10. Coverage of Trump’s Liberation Day
    11. TV Coverage of Korean Election
    12. Continued coverage of US trade war and possible recession
    13. Continued coverage of Musk/Trump bromace collasping
    14. Coverage of Korean election
    15. Coverage of LA anti-Ice rallies
    16. Coverage of no king day
    17. Coverage of military parade
    18. Coverage of Minnesotta assasination
    19. Coverage of NYC Mayoral primrary
    20. Coverage of Big Beuatiful Bill
    21. Coverage of Epstein case
    22. Coverage of massive anti-Ice protests
    23. Coverage of Trump accusing Obama of treason
    24. Coverage of Epstein WSJ case
    25. Rick Wilson Lincon Files Trump is in Epstein Files
    26. Coverage of redistricting battle
    27. Coverage of Putin-Trump summit
    28. Coverage of Trump Zelensky EU summit
    29. Coverage of Lee-Trump Summit
    30. Coverage of Hyundai raid
    31. Coverage of Charlie Kirk assassination
    32. Coverage of Korean politics
    33. Coverage of the firing of Jimmy Kimmel
    34. Coverage of UN speeches
    35. Coverage of APEC in Kyungju
    36. Coverage of shutdown
    37. Coverage of the president’s meeting with the military
    38. Coverage of military going into Portland, Chicago, elsewhere
    39. Coverage of the Gaza War
    40. Coverage of the Ukraine war
    41. Coverage of APEC Kyungju, including Trump- XI, Trump Lee and Trump Kim summits
    42. Late Show
    43. Jimy Kimbell
    44. Washington Week
    45. Meet the Press
    46. Face the Nation
    47. Daily Show
    48. Coverage of the Esptein case
    49. Coverage of immigration raids
    50. Coverage of latest anti-immigrant crackdown
    51. Coverage of No King Rallies etc
    52. Coverage of Auto Pen Controversy
    53. Continued coverage of Ukraine War
    54. Continued coverage of Gaza War
    55. Continued coverage of immigration raids

    Great Courses

    French Revolution

    Roman Empire

    God Pod

    1. GOD Pod Yes, You Are In Hell
    2. God pod “Elon Musk Is A Nazi Nepo Baby” – by Jesus Christ and God
    3. God Pod ‘ Eggs and up 37 percent and it is only day two of Trump 2.0
    4. GOD Podcast Pete H Must Resign
    5. God Podcast – Comedian Roasts God
    6. God Podcast with Joy Reid
    7. God Pod with comedian Dean Abdualneed
    8. God Pod on Need for General Strike

    You Tube Documentaries

    1. Y Files/Other You Tube Documentaries
    2. Y Files Martian Mysteries
    3. Why Files on the End-of-the-World
    4. YouTube video magnetic pole shifting
    5. YouTube video magnetic pole shifting
    6. YouTube video – ancient map of America found
    7. How to Survive an Alien Invasion
    8. What if Octopuses are aliens
    9. YouTube – building an aqueduct from the Great Lakes?
    10. If file Alien Neighbors on Proxima b: Are They Watching Us? | Watch

     

    1. Why The US Is Really 12 Nations (Not 50 States) | Watch?

     

    1. Göbekli Tepe and the Prophecy of Pillar 43 | Apocalypse and the Vulture Stone | Watch

     

    1. What If The United States Suffers Another Great Depression? | Watch

     

    1. Why So Few Americans Live Along The Mississippi River, Especially In The South | Watch

     

    1. When will we upload our consciousness to the cloud? | Watch
    2. What if Washington DC were a State
    3. Singularity: Can We Achieve Digital Immortality?
    4. Why The Dinosaurs Died | The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact | Watch
    5. What If The United States Was Powered Entirely By Solar Energy? | Watch
    6. https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/accidental-time-travelers-the-mystery-and-scienace-of-time-slips/vi-a?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LGTS&cvid=0dc39d30e84d41cc9400b82f702fc6d2&ei=102
    7. Solar storms: more dangerous than you think. Can we survive another Carrington Event? | Watch
    8. The 10 Least Explored Places on Earth | Watch
    9. 10 Fascinating Archaeological Finds That Are Still Unexplained By Science | Watch
    10. 10 Examples Of Real Pop-Culture In Star Trek | Watch
    11. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-u-s-mexico-canal-how-it-would-redraw-the-world/vi-AA1DMU0c?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LGTS&cvid=ca3d7f9e46ec40f5b8b46e452c36b4e9&ei=34
    12. Top 10 U.S. Cities Everyone’s Fleeing in 2025 | Watch
    13. Ancient Aliens Watchers
    14. Ancien aliens black holes
    15. Google Fierce competition in AI cold fussion
    16. AI progressing faster than expected Cold Fusion
    17. Ancient alien abduction
    18. Ancient aliens, black holes
    19. YouTube Where to Find Wolves in the US
    20. You Tube What extinct animals may still be around?
    21. YouTube Geography Oregon History
    22. YouTube Plan to Drain the Mediterranean
    23. You tube video the center of California
    24. You tube video the loLoneliness Townnliness town in California
    25. You tube video Warren Buffet warns of a coming storm in the real estate market
    26. You Tube Cherokee history of South Carolina
    27. south Park episode one season opening analysis
    28. legend of big foot You Tube video
    29. top north American cities video
    30. inside the moon video
    31. most compelling evidence of alien life
    32. nerd city best opportunites US Cities Seatle is still number one!
    33. Nerd city ten cities where you don’t need a car
    34. Is Earth Already in Its Sixth Extinction | Watch
    35. A day in North Korea with the strictest travel rules | Watch
    36. Did NASA Discover life on Mars
    37. Dark Tech Official North Korea’s 560-Foot Mystery: The Port That Shouldn’t Exist
    38. The SIleriun hypothesis = did an non-human civilizaiton exist?
    39. Solar flare
    40. Alien Presence on the Moon? Investigating the Soul Harvest Claim
    41. Super Bowl
    42. world Series

    January

    1. Marry You? K Rom-com
    2. Arthdal Chronicles (K pre-historical fantasy drama) Season One
    3. Arthdal Chronicles (K pre-historical fantasy drama) Season Two See review
    4. Check in Hangyang (Kromcom)
    5. Farscape selected episodes seen half earlier on Amazon – hard to navigate the episode list, though watching on Kanopy to finish episodes not seen
    6. Father Brown – will watch more episodes 122 total – too many to watch see review
    7. Allenoid Part One K Sci-Fi Drama
    8. Allenoid Part Two K Sci-Fi Drama
    9. Dog Days K Drama
    10. Back in Action CIA thriller
    11. I Feel Pretty US comedy
    12. Missing Harbin Corbin mini-series
    13. Run On

     

    February

    1. Triangle of Sadness German Satire
    2. Oscars
    3. Hitman K Drama
    4. Amazon Bullseye K comedy drama
    5. Scam K Drama
    6. Simple History Secret History of North Korea
    7. Kill Room crime satire – did not finish
    8. Doubt K Drama Series
    9. The Boys K Drama /
    10. When the Phone Rang
    11. Bogota Lost City K Drama
    12. Silent Project K Drama
    13. Fiery Priest K drama seriesLa dolce villa romcom set in Italy B+
    14. Apple Cider Vinegar – a true story about Belle Gibson case that rocked the international wellness movement in 2017 based on a true story in Australia
    15. Dr Yohan K Medical Drama
    16. Policeman’s Lineage K police drama
    17. Trunk K drama did not finish
    18. Love in the Big City featuring a woman and her gay best friend K drama –

     

    March

     

    1. Highway Men – about the taking down of Bonnie and Clyde based on the true story.
    2. Maestro
    3. Farscape Season 1, 2 and 3
    4. Electric State
    5. Alien Rising
    6. The last airbender
    7. Assimilation
    8. Shirley Temple Returns to Oz
    9. MY Octous Teacher
    10. Madness thriller series

     

    April

     

    1. Farside Season One
    2. Farside Season two 2
    3. Farside Season 3
    4. Farside Season 4
    5. When Life Gives You Tangerines (Korean Title: 폭싹 속았수다,
    6. Karma: 악연
    7. UFO Report Polish TV series
    1. Black Mirror New Seasons Uncommon People Episode
    2. Black Mirror New Seasons Hotel Reverie

    May

    1. IP (브이아이피)
    2. Karma (카르마)
    3. Revelations (계시록) Gyesirok
    4. 2018 – A Star Is Born
    5. Eternaut Netflix Series Episode 1-5
    6. Black Mirror Plaything
    7. Black Mirror Epilogue
    8. Black Mirror Calisto
    9. HGTV episodes
    10. Food Network Episodes

    On Plane

    1. Apartment 7 F
    2. Dune Part Two
    3. Companion
    4. Den of Thieves

    June

    1. Resident alien
    2. Big Bug
    3. Farscape Peacekeeper War

    July

    1. Tomorrow and I Thai Black Mirror – Black Sheep –
    2. Tomorrow and I Paraistopia
    3. Tomorrow and I Buddha Data
    4. Tomorrow and I Octopus Girl
    5. Squid Game Park Three
    6. Beverly Hillbilies episodes Pluto
    7. Adams Family episodes Pluto
    8. Plane thriller
    9. Rebel Moon Part One
    10. Rebel Moon Part Two
    11. Waterfront Netflix crime series
    12. Gone Girl, Harlan Corbin Series
    13. Family Patch -did not finish, saw before
    14. Sphere TBC
    15. Jurassic World Re-boot in Theater
    16. Brick German Horror Netflix
    17. Copycat 1995 thriller set in SF Netflix
    18. Tastefully Yours 당신의 맛 (Dangsinui Mat)
    19. Wall to Wall Korean Title: 84제곱미터 (84 Jegopmiteo)
    20. Delightfully Deceptive Korean Title: 이로운 사기 (Iroun Sagi)
    21. MI final TBC part one
    22. End of the Fucking World

    August

    1. 트리거 (Teurigeo) — Romanized as “Trigger,
    2. Invasion Did Not Finish`
    3. Star Trek Original Episodes

    September

    1. Beyond the Bar K Drama 에스콰이어: 변호사를 꿈꾸는 변호사들
      Romanized: Eseukwaieo: Byeonhosareul Kkumkkuneun Byeonhosadeul
    2. The Librarians And the Deadly Drekavac
    3. And the Dance of Doom
    4. And the Ghost Train
    5. And the Thief of Love
    6. And the House of Cards
    7. And the Hangover from Hell
    8. And the Unfinished Business
    9. And the Feast of the Vampire
    10. And Going Medieval
    11. And the Graffiti of the Gods
    12. And the Con-Con
    13. And the memory crystal
    14. And the unfished business
    15. And the God of Mars
    16. Jurassic Reborn Kanopy
    17. Journey two
    18. Beverley HIlls Cop 2
    19. Zero Day
    20. Bad and Crazy
    21. Journey to the Center of the Earth
    22. 애마 (Aema) K Drama
    23. Fantastic Four
    24.  Now You See Me
    1. Now You See Me 2
    2. K Pax
    3. Tower Heist
    4. Weapon in the theater with RHS
    5. Quantum Leap
    6. Extant seaon one
    7. Extan season two
    8. Family Pack
    9. Bon Appetite, Your Majesty 폭군의 셰프
    10. Mr Queen 철인왕후
    11. Once Upon a Small Town
    12. Bad and Crazy 어쩌다 전원일기
    13. SIlended 도가니

    October

    1. K Pop Demon Hunters
    2. Queen Mantis 사마귀: 살인자의 외 출
    3. Botched about failed plastic surgery
    4. Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist (조선 정신과 의사 유세풍)
    5. Mantis (사마귀)
    6. Ice Road (2021
    7. Ice Road: Vengeance (2025
    8. The Foreigner (2017

     On Plane

     Freaky Tales

    1. Mickey 17
    2. Everything is Going to Be Great
    3. In Burges
    4. Black Bag
    5. Animal Kingdom

     

    Return To Korea

    Genie, Make a Wish Korean Title: 다 이루어질지니 Romanization: Da Irueojiljini

    292 Snitch – Korean Title: 야당 Romanization: YadanRg

    295.  First Lady Korean Title: 퍼스트레이디 Romanization: Peoseuteu Reidi📄

    1. Nightsky Amazon
    2. Blasted Norwegian Sci-fi comedy

    300.                   Taxi driver K revenge drama 모범택시 Romanized: Mobeomtaeksi

    1. Triangle kanopy
    2. Time Cop kanopy
    3. We want the Funk kanopy
    4. Ring of Power episode one
    5. Ring of Power Episode two
    6. Ring of Power episode three

     

    November

    1. Typhoon Family K Drama 태풍상사
      Revised Romanization: Taepungsangsa
      Literal Translation: Typhoon Trading Company
    2. My lovely lIar Hangul: 소용없어 거짓말, Romanized: Soyongeobseo Geojitmal,lteral Meaning: Useless Lies [asianwiki.com]
    3. Korean Title:Good News about Japanese Hijcking in 1970
      Hangul: 굿뉴스
      Romanization: Gut Nuiuseu
    4. Official English Title: The Dream Life of Mr. Kim
      Korean Title:
      Hangul: 서울 자가에 대기업 다니는 김 부장 이야기
      Romanization: Seoul Jagae Daegieop Danineun Kim Bujang Iyagi
      Literal meaning: The Story of Manager Kim Who Works at a Large Corporation in Seoul
    5. House of Dynamite
    6. Tim Travers and Time Paradox
    7. Sahara

     Black Mirror

    1. The National Anthem: A shocking ransom demand forces a Prime Minister into a grotesque dilemma, highlighting media power and public voyeurism.
    2. The National Anthem: A shocking ransom demand forces a Prime Minister into a grotesque dilemma, highlighting media power and public voyeurism.
    3. Fifteen Million Merits: In a gamified society, people pedal bikes for credits; a man rebels against commodified dreams.
    4. The Entire History of You: Memory implants allow perfect recall, but obsession destroys relationships.
    5. Season Two
    6. The Entire History of You: Memory implants allow perfect recall, but obsession destroys relationships.
    7. The Entire History of You: Memory implants allow perfect recall, but obsession destroys relationships.
    8. Be Right Back: AI resurrects a loved one, questioning grief and identity.
    9. White Bear: A woman faces punishment in a twisted justice park.
    10. The Waldo Moment: A cartoon character becomes a political candidate, satirizing populism.
    11. Season 3
    12. Nosedive: Social ratings dictate status; a woman spirals when her score drops.
    13. Playtest: VR horror game blurs reality.
    14. Shut Up and Dance: Blackmail drives a teen into chaos.
    15. San Junipero: Digital afterlife offers love and escape.
    16. Men Against Fire: Soldiers fight “roaches” under perception-altering tech.
    17. Hated in the Nation: Online hate fuels deadly consequences
    18. USS Callister: A tech genius traps coworkers in a virtual world.
    19. Arkangel: Parental surveillance tech backfires.
    20. Crocodile: Memory tech exposes a murderer.
    21. Hang the DJ: Dating algorithm tests compatibility.
    22. Metalhead: Survival against robotic dogs.
    23. Black Museum: A collection of tech horrors.
    24. Striking Vipers: VR gaming complicates friendship and sexuality.
    25. Smithereens: Social media hostage crisis.
    26. Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too: Pop star AI doll reveals exploitation
    27. Season 6
    28. Joan Is Awful: A woman discovers her life is being dramatized on a streaming platform, raising questions about consent and data ownership.
    29. Loch Henry: A couple’s true-crime documentary spirals into a chilling family secret.
    30. Beyond the Sea: In an alternate 1969, astronauts use robotic replicas to stay connected with Earth—until tragedy disrupts their fragile reality.
    31. Mazey Day: A paparazzo hunts a troubled star, only to encounter a supernatural twist.
    32. Demon 79: A meek sales assistant is coerced into committing murders to prevent an apocalypse, blending horror with moral ambiguity.
    33. As I Stood By K Drama  신이 죽였다
      (Romanization: Dangsini Jugyeotda)
    1. Dynamtie Kiss Hangul: 키스는 괜히 해서,   Romanized: Kiseuneun gwaenhi haeseo
    2. Future Man  Ep 1: Pilot – Josh beats the unbeatable game and meets Tiger and Wolf, who reveal humanity’s fate rests on him.
    3. Ep 2: Herpe: Fully Loaded – The trio targets a scientist whose herpes cure leads to dystopia.
    4. Ep 3: A Riphole in Time – Their first time travel attempt goes hilariously wrong.
    5. Ep 4
    6. Ep 5
    7. Ep 6
    8. Ep 7
    9. Ep 8
    10. EP 9
    11. Ep 10
    12. Ep 10: The Brain Job – A mind-control twist changes everything.
    13. Ep 11: c the TruffleDome – A dystopian future reveals grim truths.
    14. Ep 12: Prelude to an Apocalypse – The stakes skyrocket
    15. Ep 13: A Final Future – A shocking twist redefines their mission

     

    On Plane

    1. Mission Impossible Final Reckoning
    2. Superman
    3. Naked Gun 2
    4. Civil War

    December

    1. Materlaist
    2. The Witcher
    3. The Witcher Rats
    4. Ring of Power
    5. Fubar
    6. Electric State
    7. Widow’s Game
    8. Champaign Problem
    9. Tenent
    10. Cowboys and Aliens
    11. the Price of Confession Hangul: 자백의 대가 Romanized: Jabaeg-ui Daega
    12. Stranger Things Final Episodes
    13. Just One Look Harlan Corbin Series

    Oscars 2025: Predicting The Nominees & Winners Of All 23 Categories

     

     

    Oscar List

    Oscar nominations 2025: The full list of movies, actors and directors

    Find all the nominations below:

    Best Picture

    Bolded watched

    Anora

    The Brutalist

    A Complete Unknown

    Conclave

    Dune: Part 2

    Emilia Pérez

    I’m Still Here

    Nickel Boys

    The Substance

    Wicked

     

    ‘The Brutalist’

    Best Director

    Sean Baker – Anora

    Brady Corbet – The Brutalist

    James Mangold – A Complete Unknown

    Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez

    Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

    Best Actress in a Leading Role

    Cynthia Erivo – Wicked

    Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez

    Mikey Madison – Anora

    Demi Moore – The Substance

    Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here

    Best Actor in a Leading Role

    Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

    Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown

    Colman Domingo – Sing Sing

    Ralph Fiennes – Conclave

    Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice

    Best Actress in a Supporting Role

    Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown

    Ariana Grande – Wicked

    Felicity Jones – The Brutalist

    Isabella Rossellini – Conclave

    Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez

    Best Actor in a Supporting Role

    Yura Borisov – Anora

    Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

    Edward Norton – A Complete Uknown

    Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

    Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice

    Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

    Anora

    The Brutalist

    A Real Pain

    September 5

    The Substance

    Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

    A Complete Unknown

    Conclave

    Emilia Pérez

    Nickel Boys

    Sing Sing

    Best International Feature Film

    I’m Still Here

    The Girl with the Needle

    Emilia Pérez

    The Seed of the Sacred Fig

    Flow

    Best Animated Feature Film

    Flow

    Inside Out 2

    Memoir of a Snail

    Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

    The Wild Robot

    Best Documentary Feature

    Black Box Diaries

    No Other Land

    Porcelain War

    Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat

    Sugarcane

    Best Film Editing

    Anora

    The Brutalist

    Conclave

    Emilia Pérez

    Wicked

    Best Cinematography

    The Brutalist

    Dune: Part 2

    Emilia Pérez

    Maria

    Nosferatu

    ’Nosferatu’ received three Oscar nominations in the technical categories (© 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

     

    Best Music (Original Score)

    The Brutalist

    Conclave

    Emilia Pérez

    Wicked

    The Wild Robot

    Best Music (Original Song)

    “El Mal” – Emilia Pérez

    “The Journey” – The Six Triple Eight

    “Like a Bird” – Sing Sing

    “Mi Camino” – Emilia Pérez

    “Never Too Late” – Elton John: Never Too Late

    Best Sound

    A Complete Unknown

    Dune: Part 2

    Emilia Pérez

    Wicked

    The Wild Robot

    Best Visual Effects

    Alien: Romulus

    Better Man

    Dune: Part 2

    Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

    Wicked

    Best Production Design

    The Brutalist

    Conclave

    Dune: Part 2

    Nosferatu

    Wicked

    ‘Conclave’ has received eight Oscar nominations (Philippe Antonello/Focus Features)

    Best Costume Design

    A Complete Unknown

    Conclave

    Gladiator II

    Nosferatu

    Wicked

    Best Makeup and Hairstyling

    A Different Man

    Emilia Pérez

    Nosferatu

    The Substance

    Wicked

    Best Animated Short Film

    Beautiful Men

    In the Shadow of the Cypress

    Magic Candies

    Wander to Wonder

    Yuck!

    Best Live Action Short Film

    A Lien

    Anuja

    I’m Not a Robot

    The Last Ranger

    The Man Who Would Not Remain Silent

    Documentary Short Film

    Death by Numbers

    I Am Ready, Warden

    Incident

    Instruments of a Beating Heart

    The Only Girl in the Orchestra

     

    The Oscars at Our House 2025

    Has Hollywood lost its way?

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    Note:  Roy is my college housemate.  He has been writing an annual list of his Oscar recommendations for over 20 years. I respect his writing and his recommendations.  This is the third year I have reposted it.

    You can find his work on substack.

    the 2024 Oscars According to Roy Dufrain

    More Roy Dufrain Writing

    Roy Dufrain Updates

    guest post by Roy Dufraine

    Once again, Mrs D and I have endeavored to see as many Best Picture nominees as possible, given availability and other constraints. We’ve been doing this now for over 20 years. When we started there were still only five nominees. Since 2009, it’s been ten, and this year we saw eight, and I’ll say again, the Academy never should’ve increased the limit. Not just because it’s hard for fans to see them all, but because some of these movies are simply not worthy of the honor. Especially this year!

    Still, it’s Oscar time and it’s a tradition here! Pick your favorites, put on your tuxedoes and sparkly gowns (or in our case, your comfiest PJs), kick back with some soda and butter-soaked popcorn, wow or hiss the latest red carpet fashions, jeer or cheer the awkward, fawning interviews, predict the winners, pat yourself on the back when you’re right and blame woke Hollywood when you’re wrong!

    Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s what I thought…

    ROY DUFRAIN JR is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

    Upgrade to paid

    Anora – A tale of stupid people doing terrible things stupidly. A whole lot of yelling and screwing failed to make this movie interesting. The nearly feral, selfish youth, the servile, bickering and bumbling Armenians, the contemptible ultra-rich Russians, the ‘dancer’ who accepts payment for sex but insists she’s not a hooker. The constant f-bombs. It all seemed over the top—grasping for gritty realism but approaching absurdity. So what.

    The Brutalist – A worthy subject, an intriguing and complicated lead character masterfully brought to life by a supremely talented star, an epic arc of struggle and redemption, a span of decades and locations wonderfully rendered visually and in historical references. And yet, I fell asleep. Had to finish the movie the next day. It’s brutally long and slow. Three and a half hours! Couldn’t trim even a half hour out of that? Come on.

    A Complete Unknown – Mrs D and I agreed this was easily and by far the best picture of the nominees we saw. I’m not sure it will stand the test of time as a ‘great’ movie, but it was full of great acting. Timothée Chalamet should win best actor for his amazing and mesmerizing recreation of Dylan’s musical performance and presence. Co-stars Monica Barbaro and Edward Norton should win their categories for the same reasons. The evocation of the time period through set design and other techniques was immersive and entertaining. Of the best-pic noms we’ve seen, this is the only one I’m sure I will watch again.

    Conclave – I really liked this movie at first. It seemed like a taut, understated political intrigue, with a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a hidden world—the election of a new pope. But I felt let down by the wild twist at the end. Not being a fan of the Catholic Church, I kind of enjoyed the irony of it, but I found the details strained credibility as presented. By chance I had just read an article about the many possible combinations of chromosomes that occur naturally in humans. So I didn’t doubt that, but it seemed so unlikely the person in question would have ever risen to a high position in the Catholic Church, or that any real circumstance could have resulted in the ending of this film. I just didn’t buy it.

    Dune Part Two – I read the book so many years ago that I remembered nothing of it. We saw Part One last year and were a bit lost throughout. So, we watched a couple YouTube summary videos, but then we still watched Part One before pushing play on Part Two. We both thought the investment of time paid off. It helped us sink into the films, with their long list of characters and multiple story threads. I’d rank this as the second best of the nominees. Stunning visuals and the kind of classic, epic storytelling that reminds me of Tolkien or Star Wars.

    Emilia Pérez – Lots of negative talk about the star of this one—whatever. I’d like to see it, but I don’t have Netflix right now and my wallet is already suffering from subscription fatigue.

    I’m Still Here – The trailer for this one looks really interesting, but the film has not been released for streaming as of this date.

    Nickel Boys – I’m not sure if the sheer volume of artsy techniques and effects (or affects?) were always in service of the storytelling in this film. It felt overwrought. All the weird shot angles, the square formatting, the ringing headache soundtrack, the time jumping and the gimmicky point of view thing, especially those back of head shots—I found it interesting but distracting, and wondered if anyone in Hollywood can just tell a story anymore.

    The Substance – I’m honestly not sure if it’s a comedy gone wrong or a drama gone wrong, but boy did it suck! If it had a point it was made in the first ten minutes and then beat to death for two more hours, and in the most gruesome fashion imaginable. Jesus, how is this nominated for anything?! How did it even get made?! It’s a perfect example of why many people say Hollywood has lost the ability to make great movies.

    Wicked – Loved the book! Never saw the play. The movie did not capture the wonder and delight I remember feeling at the ingenuity and thoughtfulness of the book. The set design and effects were impressive, the vocal talent at times astounding. But I couldn’t help feeling like I was watching a bad episode of Glee with all the cliché mean girl vs. Cinderella stuff. Also, a musical ought to leave you humming or singing a chorus or two on your way out the door. Think: If I Were a Rich Man, Papa Can You Hear Me, I Feel Pretty, Don’t Rain on My Parade, on and on. Wicked is more like sung dialogue but not one catchy, hummable tune. Meh.

    Honorable Shoutout

    A Real Pain – Should have been nominated. Thoughtful and thought provoking, just funny enough to lighten the weight of the relationships on view, among the characters themselves but also between the characters and the history they are interfacing with. And extremely well played by both Jesse Eisenberg and Macaulay Culkin, making these characters feel real and their oddball behavior believable.

    Something to Think About

    After the news of the great Gene Hackman’s death, Roy Sr, Mrs D and I all watched Unforgiven the other night, and enjoyed it immensely even though we’ve all seen it more than twice. Everything a Best Picture winner ought to be and then some. Not one of the 2024 movies even comes close.

    ROY DUFRAIN JR is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

     

     

     

    Various Lists of Movies to See

     

    10 Horror Movies That Were Cursed In Real Life

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    20 Hi10 Best Sci-fi Movies of the Last 25 Years, Ranked

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    10 Perfect Sci-Fi Movies With Complex Storytelling, Ranked

    5 Great Horror Movies That Are Actually Funny

    11 Best Horror Movies Coming in the Second Half of 2025

    10 Sci-Fi Movies With Mind Blowing Plot Twists

    10 Best Sci-Fi Mystery Movies of All Time, Ranked

    50 of the most unforgettable TV lines in history

    10 Deep Sci-Fi Movies That Had Me Feeling All the Emotions

    No horror fan should skip the trilogy that scored 84% or more on Rotten Tomatoes with all 3 Movies

    10 Best Sci-Fi Mystery Movies That Keep You Guessing

    10 Best Flow-Burn Sci-Fi Movies Ranked by Existential Dread

    After Will Ferrell’s Failed Reboot, Netflix Will Remake a 51-Year-Old Sci-Fi Classic

    10 Best “Part One” Movies Of All Time

    10 Greatest Fantasy Movies of All Time, According to Roger Ebertne ne 19

     

    Oscars 2025: Predicting The Nominees & Winners Of All 23 Categories

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    My MOST ANTICIPATED Movies 2025 (Part 1) | Watch

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    10 Essential K-Dramas That Defined the 2000s, Ranked

    15 Best Feel-Good K-Dramas, Ranked

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    Top 20 Greatest Korean Drama Couples | Watch

    Essential Psychological Thrillers: 25 Mind-Bending Films

    Feel-Good Favorites: 20 Films to Lift Your Spirits

    15 Best K-Dramas Like The Glory

    Top movies of 2024 | Watch

    30 Most Anticipated Movies Coming in 2025

    10 Most Anticipated Action Films to Watch Out For in 2025

    10 Best Cult Classic Romance Movies, Ranked

    The Greatest Monster Movies Of All Time

    Hate romantic comedies? 32 movies to change your mind

    The best college movie ever made isn’t ‘Animal House,’ according to fans. See the top 50.

    The Best Movies of All Time

    10 Nerve-Wracking Thrillers That Are Flawless From Beginning to End

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    Esquire’s 50 Most-Anticipated Movies of 2025

    10 Best Arthouse Psychological Horror Movies, Ranked

    10 Actors and Actresses Whose K-Dramas Never Miss, Ranked

    10 Best ’80s Fantasy Movies

    Thrilling TV Series You Can’t Miss: 20 Must-See Shows

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    Horror Laughs: 25 Movies So Bad, They’re Hilarious

    10 Best Sci-Fi Mystery Movies of All Time, Ranked

    57 Best Alien Movies Of All Time Ranked

    10 Contenders for the Best Movie Ever Made

    How many of the 50 best movies from the ’60s have you seen?

    9 Hilarious Adventure Movies You Can’t Miss In 2025

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    10 Best Coming-Of-Age K-Dramas

    The 50 Most-Anticipated Movies of 2025

    Lee Min-ho’s 10 Best K-Dramas, Ranked

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTmyCgHKCH8&t=78s&ab_channel=DougHarris

     

    Video: All American – The Walter Gordon Story | Watch ViewFinder Online | PBS Video

    10 Underrated War Movies That Are Almost Perfect

    10 Box Office Disasters That Are Actually Cinematic Masterpieces

     

    Here are 10 Must-Watch Netflix Movies That Came Out In 2024

     

    The Top 10 Best Films Of 2024

    25 Teen Movie Classics That Are Even More Fun with Each Rewatch

     

    Here are 10 Must-Watch Netflix Movies That Came Out In 2024

     

    The Top 10 Best Films Of 2024

    25 Teen Movie Classics That Are Even More Fun with Each Rewatch

     

    15 Fantasy Books as Good as Lord of the Rings – The Quick Report
     

     

    Can You Recognize These 30 Movies By a Single Quote?

    The Scariest Horror Movies Ever Made

    Mind-Bending Films: Top 25 Psychological Rollercoasters

    The 13 Best Movie Franchises to Marathon Watch

    The Best Action Movies Of All Time

    20 movies that became cult classics despite flopping at the box office

    22 of the most anticipated movie releases in 2025

    The most unforgettable opening lines in cinema historhy

    Horror Movies That Basically Have The Same Plot

    The movies everyone should watch at least once before they die, critics say

    The 20 best feelgood films of all time, ranked

    10 Best Movies To Watch if You Like Stephen King

    A Trump movie that Trump hates is going to get a lot more attention, courtesy of the Oscars

    15 Longest Theatrical Runs in Movie History

    10 Psychological Thrillers That Will Keep You Up At Night

    The Best Romantic Movies of All Time

    The 20 Best Films From The 90s

    All of these movies are from 1994, making it arguably the best year in cinema history.

    Tearjerkers: 25 Heart-Wrenching Movies Guaranteed to Make You Cry

    How to Watch All the 2025 Oscar Nominated Short Films

    20 Foreign language films that were nominated for Oscar

    How many of the 50 best Netflix original series ever made have you watched?                              10 Highly Anticipated Sci-Fi Movies Coming in 2025

    Ranking The Best 10 Movies About Space and Astronauts, Interstellar is Only 3rd

    10 Must-Watch Movies That Feel Like Poetry

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    The Best Movies Of The 2000s

    The Oscars 2025 Best Picture Tier Rankings: Breaking Down All 10 Nominees Into 5 Categories

    25 Hollywood Box Office Failures That Were Actually Master-Pieces You Must Watch

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    Three to see: The greatest film trilogies in cinema history

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    17 Of The Most Upsetting Movies Of All Time

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    10 Movies Where the Final Shot Changes Everything

    50 of the best movie cameos in Hollywood history

     

    Humans vs Superhumans | When Monsters Were Real and We Almost Went Extinct | Watch

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    Tearjerkers: 25 Movies That Will Make You Cry Every Time

    The 100 best films ever made, according to critics

     

    The 10 Most Perfectly Acted Movies of the 20th Century, Ranked

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    10 Best Movie Endings of All Time

    15 Most Depressing Movies That Will Leave You Devastated

    10 Classic Movies That Have Aged the Best, Ranked

    –10 Movies That Should Have Won Best Picture–

    15 Classic Movies That Would Be Impossible to Make Today

    20 Action movies that live up to the saying “old is gold”

    20 Horror movies adapted from real incidents

    10 Best Classic Westerns to Stream on Tubi

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    the 2024 Oscars According to Roy Dufrain

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    THE OSCARS AT OUR HOUSE.

    For more than twenty years now, Mrs D and I have made it an annual quest to see all of the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars telecast. This year we saw 9.5 of the 10 movies nominated.
    It started in 2000, when there were only five nominees (instead of up to 10 like now) and we usually had to see them in a theater, because they weren’t available to rent on VHS yet. (Yes, I said VHS).
    And we’ve done it every year since, except for 2019 which was interrupted by Mrs D’s infamous extended hospital stay. We have even ventured to other cities to see movies that weren’t playing at the one theater in our little town. I remember seeing Chocolat in Ukiah and more recently The Revenant in Rohnert Park. But now we can usually stream everything, and this year the whole project ran us around a hundred bucks in streaming rentals and purchases on top of our existing subscriptions to Amazon, etc.
    Several years ago I started writing about our tradition on Facebook. Now the writeup itself has become part of the deal. As I’ve said before, I’m no film student, nor expert critic. Just a regular dude who loves movies.
    Snap reviews and top picks below.

    American Fiction –

    Bold, wryly funny, contrarian, with the ring of truth. Brilliantly calls out the publishing industry, where retread tropes seem to trump story, art and insight, particularly when it comes to depictions of Black characters and writers. And I feel like there’s an even larger truth here about the way culture is degraded in general through over-commercialization.

    Anatomy of a Fall –

    A French film that moves carefully, piece by piece, and manages to be slow and taut at the same time. I found the characters to be inscrutable. I feel like I need to watch again just to see if maybe this time I would fully understand these people. It left me with a suspicion that perhaps all the story’s secrets have still not been revealed, that the resolution we see on the screen is still not the truth of these characters. And, in this case, that ambiguity is a good thing.

    Barbie —

    Cleverly funny in spots, but also unsubtly preachy in spots, an issue I’ve had with director Greta Gerwig before. But Margot Robbie was perfect and the movie is visually stunning in all its pinkish glory and devoted detail. Still, I think this movie appears in the Best Picture category more on the strength of its perceived politics than its success as an artistic endeavor.

    The Holdovers —

    A darkly funny, entertaining, and deeply reflective odd couple sort of story that’s enjoyable to watch. Maybe a little out of its league in the Best Picture category, but elevated to a higher status by Paul Giamatti’s performance, which is irresistibly engaging as always. Well worth a second watch.
    Killers of the Flower Moon — Having read the book, I felt the impact of the true part of this story was diminished by the fictionalized part of the movie. Reading the book I was deeply struck by the callous indifference shown toward the humanity of the Osage Indians. It resonated like an echo of Shindler’s List, underlining the incredible and frightening capacity of humans to rationalize literally any behavior in their fear or greed. But the movie revolves around Ernest Burkhardt (Leonardo DiCaprio) and depicts a somewhat tried and true arc of romantic tragedy, a weak-minded man caught up in the schemes of others, pulled along by greed and the need for approval, until he is in the process of killing the only real love he’s ever known. As is often the case, the truth was more complex. And more disturbing.

    Maestro –

    I usually make a conscious effort to limit my preconceptions of these movies. I don’t read reviews or watch trailers. But it’s hard to avoid a relentless ad campaign like the one mounted for Maestro. I’d seen the rousing TV spots touting the performances and the early awards. But I found the movie depressing, its characterization of Bernstein disappointing and unlikeable. But yes, Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan
    were both outstanding.
    Comment:  on my list to watch as I am a big Bernstein fan – one of the best classical composers of the 20th century in my opinion.

    Oppenheimer –

    Not what I would call a pleasant watch, at times slow and ponderous, even confusing with some of the time jumps. But the acting was so engrossing, immersive, mesmerizing even. Cillian Murphy in the title role was riveting. Robert Downey Jr simply disappeared into the role of Lewis Strauss. Emily Blunt was also captivating as Kitty Oppenheimer. The effects director Christopher Nolan used to heighten the sense of Oppenheimer’s interiority were brilliant and effective.
    For example when Oppenheimer steps on a charred corpse that only exists in his tortured, guilty mind. But the lasting impact of this film is the way it echoes in the mind afterward—how sad and terrible and absurd it is that we reckless humans have attained the power to destroy the world. It will probably win Best Picture. And it probably should.
    Comment: Also on my must see list

    Past Lives –

    Eventually, someone had to do a movie like this — an old romance is rekindled through the internet and complications ensue. In this particular case the past romance is an adolescent crush, cut short by one family’s immigration, and later complicated not just by the years, but also by geographic and cultural distance. This one stayed with me, kept me thinking for days afterward about its larger implications regarding fate, destiny, acceptance, grief and closure. Well worth more than one watch.

    Poor Things –

    Half of this movie was twice as much as I needed. We actually turned it off, extremely rare for us during Oscar season. What we saw played like a terrible excuse for some creepy, gratuitous soft porn. All the weirdness of the sets, costumes, cinematography and makeup felt like a desperate attempt at artistic status. If someone out there actually saw some redeeming value in this thing, feel free to explain in the comments section what I am missing.

    The Zone of Interest –

    This one’s all in German, with subtitles. But the dialog is sparse and the film’s biggest strength is in the fascinating dichotomy presented in its basic premise. It gives us a window into the surprisingly mundane personal lives of a “normal” family literally in the shadow of Auschwitz during the Holocaust. The sense of cognitive dissonance is alarming.

    Honorable Mention

    – I don’t usually do this, but I wanted to mention one film that was not even nominated for Best Picture but, in my opinion, should have been. Nyad has wonderful, engaging performances by Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, and it’s a suspenseful, satisfying, story of friendship, determination, human spirit, and triumph over the longest odds.

    Finally, here are my choices for the top awards.

    Don’t worry, the Academy almost always disagrees.
    Actor in a Leading Role: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer Winner
    Actor in a Supporting Role: Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer Winner
    Actress in a Leading Role: Annette Bening, Nyad
    Actress in a Supporting Role: Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
    Best Picture: Oppenheimer Winner 
    Soon it’s time to pop the popcorn, get cozy on the couch, badmouth the fashion and root for your favorites.
    Happy Oscars folks.

    here’s the winners 

    The 96th Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 10, 2024, celebrated outstanding movies released in 2023. Here are some of the notable winners:

    1. Best Picture: “Oppenheimer”
    2. Best Actor: Cillian Murphy for his role in “Oppenheimer”
    3. Best Actress: Emma Stone for her performance in “Poor Things”
    4. Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. in “Oppenheimer”
    5. Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph from “The Holdovers”
    6. Best Director: Christopher Nolan for “Oppenheimer”
    7. Best Adapted Screenplay: “American Fiction”
    8. Best Original Screenplay: “Anatomy of a Fall”
    9. Best Animated Feature: “The Boy and the Heron”
    10. Best Documentary Feature: “20 Days in Mariupol”
    11. Best International Feature Film: “The Zone of Interest”
    12. Best Cinematography: “Oppenheimer”
    13. Best Costume Design: “Poor Things”
    14. Best Film Editing: “Oppenheimer”
    15. Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “Poor Things”
    16. Best Original Score: “Oppenheimer”
    17. Best Original Song: “Barbie”
    18. Best Production Design: “Poor Things”
    19. Best Sound: “The Zone of Interest”
    20. Best Visual Effects: “Godzilla Minus One”
    21. Best Documentary (Short Subject): “The Last Repair Shop”
    22. Best Animated Short Film: “War Is Over!”
    23. Best Live Action Short Film: “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” 12

     

     

    All reactions:

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    #100. ‘The Wicker Man’ (1973)

    #99. ‘The Insider’ (1999)

    #98. ‘Traffic’ (2000

    #97. ‘The Secret in Their Eyes’ (2009

    #96. ‘Baby Driver’ (2017)

    #95. ‘Get Out’ (2017)

    #94. ‘Reservoir Dogs’ (1992

    #93. ‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995)

    #92. ‘Inception’ (2010)

    #91. ‘The Fool’ (2014)

    #90. ‘Foreign Correspondent’ (1940)

    #89. ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ (1950)

    #88. ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976)

    #87. ‘Memories of Murder’ (2003) K Drama

    #86. ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ (2018)

    #85. ‘Mystic River’ (2003)

    #84. ‘Children of Men’

    #83. ‘Argo’ (2012)

    #82. ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 2’ (2004)

    #81. ‘The Fallen Idol’ (1948)

    #80. ‘Odd Man Out’ (1947)

    #79. ‘Scarface’ (1932) and remake

    #78. ‘Deep Red’ (1975)

    #77. ‘Dirty Harry’ (1971) and sequels

    #76. ‘Goldfinger’ (1964) and entire Bond Franchise

    #75. ‘Hell or High Water’ (2016)

    #74. ‘Amores perros’ (2000

    #73. ‘Halloween’ (1978) and sequels

    #72. ‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001)

    Twin Peaks

    #71. ‘Memento’ (2000)

    #70. ‘The Passenger’ (1975)

    #69. ‘Out of the Past’ (1947)

    #68. ‘Burning’ (2018) K Drama List

    #67. ‘The Big Sleep’ (1946)

    #66. ‘The Conversation’ (1974)

    #65. ‘The Handmaiden’ (2016) K Drama List

    #64. ‘Uncut Gems’ (2019)

    #63. ‘The Fugitive’ (1993)

    #62. ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ (2007)

     

    #61. ‘Blade Runner’ (1982) and remakes

    #60. ‘Frenzy’ (1972)

    #59. ‘After Hours’ (1985)

    #58. ‘United 93’ (2006)

    #57 ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ (1975)

    #56. ‘Fargo’ (1996)

    #55. ‘Repulsion’ (1965)

    #54. ‘Don’t Look Now’ (1973)

    #53. ‘The Wages of Fear’ (1953)

    #52. ‘Persona’ (1966)

    #51. ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968) and sequels classic zombie films

    #50. ‘Strangers on a Train’ (1951)

    #49. ‘Rebecca’ (1940) and remake

    #48. ‘Room’ (2015

    #47. ‘Z’ (1969)

    #46. ‘To Have and Have Not’ (1944)

    #45. ‘Mean Streets’ (1973)

    #44. ‘The Great Escape’ (1963

    #42. ‘Aliens’ (1986)

    #41. ‘Donnie Darko’ (2001)

    #40. ‘The 39 Steps’ (1935)

     

    #39. ‘Frankenstein’ (1931) and remakes

    #38. ‘High Noon’ (1952)

    #37. ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ (2012)

    #36. ‘Le Cercle Rouge’ (1970)

     

    #35. ‘The Hurt Locker’ (2008)

    #34. ‘The Departed’ (2006)

    #33. ‘The Killing’ (1956)

    #32. ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ (2012)

    #31. ‘The French Connection’ (1971)

     

    #30. ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015)

    #29. ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

    #28. ‘It’s Such a Beautiful Day’ (2012)

    #27. ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ (1943)

    #26. ‘Shoplifters’ (2018)

    #25. ‘On the Waterfront’ (1954)

    #24. ‘L.A. Confidential’ (1997)

    #23. ‘Dunkirk’ (2017)

    #22. ‘Elevator to the Gallows’ (1958)

     

    #21. ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ (1962) and remake original is better

    #20. ‘The Lives of Others’ (2006)

    #19. ‘Gravity’ (2013)

    #18. ‘High and Low’ (1963 Japanese

     

    #17. ‘Chinatown’ (1974)

    #16. ‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007)

    #15. ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008) and rest of Batman franchise

    #14. ‘Yojimbo’ (1961) Japanese Gangster Film

    #13. ‘The Lady Vanishes’ (1938)

    #12. ‘Battleship Potemkin’ (1925) Russian Silent Age classic

    #11. ‘Rififi’ (1955)

    #10. ‘Double Indemnity’ (1944)

    #9. ‘The Third Man’ (1949)

    Maltese Falcon

    #8. ‘The Night of the Hunter’ (1955)

    #7. ‘Notorious’ (1946

    #6. ‘Touch of Evil’ (1958)

    #5. ‘North by Northwest’ (1959)

    #4. ‘Parasite’ (2019) K Drama Best Picture Oscar Winner

    #3. ‘Psycho’ (1960) and remake

    #2. ‘Vertigo’ (1958)

    #1. ‘Rear Window’ (1954)

     

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    ‘The Descent’ (2005)

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    Alien’ (1979)

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    ‘Sinister’ (2012)

     

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    9’Under the Skin’ (2013)

    8’Antichrist’ (2009)

    7’Titane’ (2021)

    6’Saint Maud’ (2019)

    5’Mad God’ (2021)

    3’Beau Is Afraid’ (2023)

    2’Jacob’s Ladder’ (1990)

    1’Possession’ (1981)

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    ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998)

    ‘All That Jazz’ (1979)

    ‘Do the Right Thing’ (1989)

    ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (1975)

    ‘Scenes from a Marriage’ (1974)

    ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)

    ‘Ikiru’ (1952)

    ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994)

    ’12 Angry Men’ (1957)

     

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    The Changeling (1980)

    Let The Right One In (2008)

    The Wailing (2016) K Horror

    Misery (1990)

    The Witch (2016)

    Get Out (2017)

    Scream (1996)

    Hereditary (2018)

    Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

    The Thing (1982)

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    ‘Boiling Point’ (2021)

    ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998)

    ‘Come and See’ (1985)

    ‘Gravity’ (2013)

    ‘Angst’ (1983)

    ‘Inglourious Basterds’ (2009)

    ‘The Wages of Fear’ (1953)

    ‘Whiplash’ (2014)

    ‘Uncut Gems’ (2019)

     

     

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    Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and others in the franchise

    Directed by George P. CosmatosKill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Part Two?

    Directed by Quentin Tarantin

    John Wick (2014)  and sequels?Directed by Chad Stahelski

    Heat (1995)Directed by Michael Mann

    Aliens (1986) and rest of franchise Directed by James Cameron

    The Matrix (1999) and rest of franchise Directed by the WachowskisRaiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) and rest of franchise Directed by Steven Spielberg

    Speed (1994) Directed by Jan de Bont

    Die Hard (1988) and rest of Franchise Directed by John McTiernan

    Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and rest of franchise Directed by James Cameron

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    10 Most Unpredictable Thriller Movies, Ranked

     

    10 Most Unpredictable Thriller Movies, Ranked

     

    ‘Gone Girl’ (2014) Directed by David Fincher

    ‘Predestination’ (2014) Directed by Peter and Michael Spierig

    ‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995) Directed by Bryan Singer

    ‘Memento’ (2000) Directed by Christopher Nolan

    ‘Oldboy’ (2003) K Drama appears on many thriller lists must watch it soon

    Se7en’ (1995) Directed by David Fincher

    ‘Shutter Island’ (2010) Directed by Martin Scorsese

    Parasite’ (2019) Directed by Bong Joon Ho K Drama that appears on lots of lists

    ‘American Psycho’ (2000) Directed by Mary Harron

    ‘Psycho’ (1960) and remake /Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

     

    18 Thriller Movies With Perfect Endings

    Blue Velvet’ (1986) Directed by David Lynch

    Civil War’ (2024) Directed by Alex Garland

    North by Northwest’ (1959) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

    ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991) Directed by Jonathan Demme

    ‘The Night of the Hunter’ (1955) Directed by Charles Laughton

    Vertigo’ (1958) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

    ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976) Directed by Martin Scorsese

    Blow Out’ (1981) Directed by Brian De Palma

    Heat’ (1995) Directed by Michael Mann

    The Usual Suspects’ (1995) Directed by Bryan Singer

    ‘Oldboy’ (2003) Directed by Park Chan-wook K Drama  appears on many lists

    ‘Brick’ (2005) Directed by Rian Johnson’Sicario’ (2015)Directed by Denis Villeneuve

    ‘You Were Never Really Here’ (2018) Directed by Lynne Ramsay’

    Uncut Gems’ (2019) Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie6 Best Harrison Ford Movies | Watch

     

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    .

    Memento (2000) Directed by Christopher Nolan

    Oldboy (2003) Directed by Park Chan-wook  K Drama

    Blow Out (1981)

    Jaws (1975) Directed by Steven Spielberg

    Blue Velvet (1986) Directed by David Lynch

    Parasite (2019) Directed by Bong Joon-ho K Drama

    Taxi Driver (1976) Directed by Martin Scorsese

    The French Connection (1971) Directed by William Friedkin

    Se7en (1995)Directed by David Finche

    Rear Window (1954) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

     

    Interesting two K dramas but only one Hitchchock film on this list?

    10 Horror Movies That Rely More On Great Visuals Than Scares

     

    10 Horror Movies That Rely More On Great Visuals Than Scares

    Let the Right One In (2008) Directed by Tomas Alfredson

    Cat People (1942) Directed by Jacques Tourneur

    The Neon Demon (2016) Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

    The Shining (1980) Directed by Stanley Kubrick

    The Others (2001) Directed by Alejandro Amenábar

    House of Usher (1960)Directed by Roger Corman

    X (2022) Directed by Ti West

    Suspiria (2018) Directed by Luca GuadagninoNosferatu the Vampyre (1979) Directed by Werner Herzog

    .Midsommar (2019) Directed by Ari Aster

     

    Note:  I only saw two of these movies

     

     

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    The #1 new TV show of each year since 1950, based on data

    My birth year TV Series

    1955: Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962)©Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions

    –  Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, Harry Tyler, John Williams, Patricia Hitchcock

    Alfred Hitchcock is widely considered one of the greatest directors of all time—so it’s little wonder that the series was immensely popular. Each week, the episodes—some of which Hitchcock directed himself—told a different story, from dramas to thrillers to mysteries. It starred famous actors from both the big and small screen, including Robert Redford, Jessica Tandy, and Bette Davis.

     

    My wife’s Birth year TV series ( would like to see what it would be in Korea)

     

    1959: The Twilight Zone (1959–1964)©CBS Television Network

    – – Stars: Rod Serling, Robert McCord, Jay Overholts, Vaughn Taylor

    The memorable and somewhat chilling voice of Rod Serling was always the introduction to these unusual and often frightening sci-fi tales, which took regular people on extraordinary journeys. While the series itself only ran from 1959 to 1964, it spawned a franchise of movies as well as two revivals: one in the 1980s and a new one, hosted by Jordan Peele, that aired on CBS All Access.

     

    My high school graduation year

     

    1974: Nova (1974–present)©WGBH

    –
    – Stars: Jay O. Sanders, Craig Sechler, Lance Lewman, Will Lyman

    First airing in 1974, the long-running PBS documentary series focuses on science, nature, and history. The award-winning show has covered topics such as volcanic eruptions, global warming, the Great Pyramids, space exploration, and evolution.

     

    My college graduation year

     

    1979: SportsCenter (1979–present)©ESPN

    –  Stars: Neil Everett, Jalen Rose, Jenn Brown, Antonietta Collins

    Premiering on ESPN in 1979, “SportsCenter” quickly became one of the most-watched sports series on television. The show features highlights from various sporting events, as well as commentary, interviews, and game previews.

    Police Squard

    The comedic genius of Leslie Nielsen shines in this short-lived but hilarious spoof on police shows.Theseries played off of serious police dramas, poking fun via slapstick, gags, and silly commentary. While the show made it through only six episodes before being canceled, it did go on to become the premise of “The Naked Gun” film franchise in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

     

    My graduate school TV series

     

    1988: Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988–1999)©Best Brains

    – In what could easily be considered one of the most unusual show premises of all time, an innocent janitor is taken hostage by two crazed scientists and forced to watch sci-fi movies. The janitor builds himself some robot companions to keep him company, and the group interjects their own funny commentary and opinions into the movies they watch. The show originally was on from 1988 to 1996, and creator Joel Hodgson ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to renew the series at Netflix in 2017.

    The Year I Joined the FS

     

    1991: The Adventures of Tintin (1991–1992)©Ellipse Animation

    –  Stars: Colin O’Meara, Thierry Wermuth, Christian Pellissier, Henri Labussière

    Based on a series of books by Belgian cartoonist Georges Prosper Remi, “The Adventures of Tintin” ran for three seasons on HBO. Telling the story of a young reporter and his best friend and furry sidekick, Snowy, the animated series takes the two on heroic exploits and adventures. The books were not as popular in the U.S. as they were in Europe, but the television show was nominated for several awards. It inspired a 3D computer-animated movie of the same name in 2011.

    My Year in the Hospital TV Show

     

    1996: Dragon Ball Z (1996–2003)©Toei Animation

     

    Getting its start as a popular Japanese anime series, “Dragon Ball Z” premiered in the U.S. in 1996, and continued on Cartoon Network from 1998 to 2003. With some help from his friends, young hero Goku fights to defend the earth from a variety of creatures and villains. In addition to the animated series, the “Dragon Ball” franchise included movies, video games, and two sequel television shows.

     

    My Retirement year TV show

     

    2016: Stranger Things (2016–present)©Netflix
    – Stars: Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Winona Ryder, David Harbour

    Another successful Netflix original, “Stranger Things” is the creation of the Duffer Brothers, who also wrote the Warner Bros. horror film “Hidden.” Part sci-fi, part horror, the story starts with the disappearance of a young boy and the eerie events that follow. Premiering in 2016, the series will wrap up its run in 2025.

    10 Essential Spy Comedies, Ranked

     

    10 Essential Spy Comedies, Ranked

    .

    ‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’ (1997) and sequels Directed by Jay Roach

    “The Informant!’ (2009) Directed by Steven Soderbergh

    “The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe’ (1972) Directed by Yves Robert

    “Spy’ (2015) Directed by Paul Feig

    “Red’ (2010) Directed by Robert Schwentke

    ‘Confessions of a Dangerous Mind’ (2002) Directed by George Clooney

    ‘Charade’ (1963) Directed by Stanle

    ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ (2015) Directed by Guy Ritchie

    Burn After Reading’ (2008)Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen’

     

    Kingsman:

    The Secret Service’ (2014) Directed by Matthew Vaughn

     

    I saw most of these

     

     

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    1. The Godfather
    2. Citizen Kane
    3. Schindler’s List
    4. Pulp Fiction
    5. The Shawshank Redemption
    6. Star Wars
    7. Gone with the Wind
    8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
    9. The Dark Knight
    10. Casablanca

     

    Good choices I have seen this all.

     

    Top 30 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the Century (So Far) (WatchMojo)

     

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    Everything Everywhere All At Once’ (2022) Directed by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

    ‘Dune: Part One’ (2021) Directed by Denis Villeneuve

    ‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001) Directed by David Lynch

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ (2022) Directed by James Cameron

    ‘The Fountain’ (2006) Directed by Darren Aronofsky

    ‘Children of Men’ (2006) Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

    ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019) Directed by Anthony & Joe Russo

    ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003) Directed by Peter Jackson

    ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ (2004) Directed by Michel Gondry

    ‘The Prestige’ (2006) Directed by Christopher Nolan

    Inception Directed by Chrisopher Noland

    Tenet, Directed by Chrisopher Noland

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    025 TV Premiere Dates

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    .

    Nocebo (2022) Directed by Lorcan FinneganI Spit On Your Grave (1978) Directed by Meir Zarchi

    Mandy (2018) Directed by Panos Cosmatos

    Ready Or Not (2019) Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

    The Last House On The Left (1972) Directed by Wes Craven

    Revenge (2017) Directed by Coralie Fargeat

    La Llorona (2019) Directed by Jayro Bustamante

    Let The Right One In (2008) Directed by Tomas Alfredson

    Carrie (1976) Directed by Brian De Palma

    I Saw The Devil (2010) Directed by Kim Jee-woon K Drama

     

    I have not seen any of these.

     

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    The 100 international movies everyone should watch at least once in their life

    Japanese:

    T#1. Seven Samurai (1954) 七人の侍 (Shichinin no Samurai)

    #2. Spirited Away (2001) 千と千尋の神隠し (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi

    ) #3. Tokyo Story (1953) 東京物語 (Tōkyō Monogatari)

    #9. Rashomon (1950) 羅生門 (Rashōmon)

    #13. Sansho the Bailiff (1954) 山椒大夫 (Sanshō Dayū)

    #14. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) 火垂るの墓 (Hotaru no Haka)

    #15. Ran (1985) 乱 (Ran)

    #29. Yojimbo (1961) 用心棒 (Yōjinbō) #30.

    Ikiru (1952) 生きる (Ikiru)

    #33. Late Spring (1949) 晩春 (Banshun)

    #34. Early Summer (1951) 麦秋 (Bakushū)

    #37. High and Low (1963) 天国と地獄 (Tengoku to Jigoku)

    #48. Red Beard (1965) 赤ひげ (Akahige

    ) #49. Samurai Rebellion (1967) 上意討ち 拝領妻始末 (Jōiuchi: Hairyō Tsuma Shimatsu) #52. Shoplifters (2018) 万引き家族 (Manbiki Kazoku)

    #55. Harakiri (1962) 切腹 (Seppuku)

    #59. An Autumn Afternoon (1962) 秋刀魚の味 (Sanma no Aji) #62. The Hidden Fortress (1958) 隠し砦の三悪人 (Kakushi Toride no San Akunin)

    #64. I Was Born, But… (1932) 大人の見る絵本 生れてはみたけれど (Otona no Miru Ehon Umarete wa Mita Keredo)

    #68. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) かぐや姫の物語 (Kaguya-hime no Monogatari)

    #81. Nobody Knows (2004) 誰も知らない (Dare mo Shiranai) #82. Still Walking (2008) 歩いても 歩いても (Aruitemo Aruitemo)

    #83. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) となりのトトロ (Tonari no Totoro) #88. Drive My Car (2021) ドライブ・マイ・カー (Doraibu Mai Kā)

    #95. After Life (1998) ワンダフルライフ (Wandafuru Raifu) #98. Maborosi (1995) 幻の光 (Maboroshi no Hikari)

     

    French:

     

     

    #12. Army of Shadows (1969) L’Armée des Ombres

    #17. Children of Paradise (1945) Les Enfants du Paradi

    s #20. The Rules of the Game (1939) La Règle du Jeu

    #23. Playtime (1967) Playtime

    #28. Au hasard Balthazar (1966) Au Hasard Balthazar

    #35. Pépé le Moko (1937) Pépé le Moko

    #38. Jules and Jim (1962) Jules et Jim

    #43. The Artist (2011) L’Artiste

    #51. Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974) Céline et Julie vont en bateau

    #57. Beauty and the Beast (1946) La Belle et la Bête

    #69. Band of Outsiders (1964) Bande à part

    #71. L’Argent (1983) L’Argent

    #72. The Wild Child (1970) L’Enfant Sauvage

    #77. The Triplets of Belleville (2003) Les Triplettes de Belleville

    #84. Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013) La Vie d’Adèle

    #89. The Class (2008) Entre les Murs #93.

    Petite Maman (2021) Petite Maman

    #97. A Summer’s Tale (1996) Conte d’été

     

     

    Certainly! Here’s the rest of the list broken down by nationality with just the English titles while keeping the original numbering and bolding intact:

     

    French: #12. Army of Shadows (1969)

    #17. Children of Paradise (1945)

    #20. The Rules of the Game (1939)

    #23. Playtime (1967)

    #28. Au hasard Balthazar (1966)

    #35. Pépé le Moko (1937)

    #38. Jules and Jim (1962)

    #43. The Artist (2011)

    #51. Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)

    #57. Beauty and the Beast (1946)

    #69. Band of Outsiders (1964)

    #71. L’Argent (1983)

    #72. The Wild Child (1970)

    #77. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

    #84. Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)

    #89. The Class (2008)

    #93. Petite Maman (2021)

    #97. A Summer’s Tale (1996)

    #24. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) French

     

    Italian: #16. The Conformist (1970)

     

    #21. The Battle of Algiers (1966)

    #31. La Dolce Vita (1960)

    #39. Umberto D. (1952)

    #40. The Best of Youth (2003)

    #45. 8½ (1963)

    #50. Journey to Italy (1954)

    #70. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

     

    German: #5. Metropolis (1927)

     

    #43. The Lives of Others (2006)

    #60. Das Boot (1981)

    #92. The Blue Angel (1930)

     

     

    Swedish: #7. Fanny and Alexander (1982)

    #65. The Seventh Seal (1957)

    #66. Wild Strawberries (1957)

    #85. Persona (1966)

     

    Hong Kong: #74. In the Mood for Love (2000)

    #90. Days of Being Wild (1990)

     

    Mexican:

     

    #8. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

     

     

    Russian: #26. Battleship Potemkin (1925)

    #46. Solaris (1972)

    #78. Leviathan (2015)

     

    Other Nationalities:

     

    #36. Amour (2012) Austrian/French/German

     

    #42. A Brighter Summer Day (1991) Taiwanese

     

    #63. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) Belgium

     

    #75. A Prophet (2009) French/Italian

     

    #25. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) Romanian

     

    #41. Close-Up (1990) Iranian

    #18. A Separation (2011) Iranian

     

    1. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) India

     

    Parasite South Korean

     

     

     

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    ‘Office Space’ (1999)

    Directed by Mike Judge

    Office Spacewas the first live-action film by Beavis and Buttheadcreator Mike Judge. It’s a sharply written comedy that still accurately captures the American work life in an office setting perfectly over 25 years later. Judge’s biting satire of the day-to-day drudgery of mindless office drones pre-empted TV series like Judge’s own Silicon Valleyand the highly acclaimed Severance. The film wasn’t a box office hit but found its audience on cable and the home video market, leading it to become a beloved cult classic.

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    Expanded from Judge’s earlier animated shorts titled Milton, and inspired by the director’s own work in an office, the movie stars Ron Livingston as Peter, a programmer at a software company who feels aimless and unfulfilled. That all changes when he goes to a hypnotherapist who unintentionally leaves Peter in a perpetual state of relaxation. He stops caring about work and does what he wants, which ironically only leads him to a promotion. Office Space is pointedly funny in its critiques and is filled with memorably quotable characters, played to perfection by its cast, including Gary Cole as the mundanely villainous boss Lumbergh, and Stephen Root as the timid, red stapler-loving Milton.

    ‘Galaxy Quest’ (1999)

    Directed by Dean Parisot

    Essential 90s sci-fi movie Galaxy Quest was inspired by the dedicated fandom of Star Trek, and tapped into the culture of conventions, online discourse and IP reboots years before those were part of the normal ecosystem of Hollywood and were still considered niche. Dean Parisot’s wickedly funny and wonderfully entertaining film is a perfectly cast adventure that is both retro and prescient at the same time.

    Fincher’s film is filled with radical disdain for the prevailing popular culture of the time, but it also shows an alternative that is not a healthy substitute. Controversial upon its release and continually misinterpreted by film bros, Fight Club may be a product of its time but seems only more relevant in an era of rising incel subculture. The film is remembered for its trio of performances by Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter, as well as for Fincher’s strong visuals and the mid-film twist that turns the story on its head. It’s a must-watch movie that should inspire plenty of debate.

    ‘The Iron Giant’ (1999)

    Directed by Brad Bird

    Beautifully animated and heartwarming, Brad Bird’s animated adaptation of The Iron Giant brought the filmmaker boldly into the world of feature films. Despite being overlooked at the box office (a common theme among the films of 1999), The Iron Giant has only gained more appreciation as time has gone on, and has been rediscovered, as Bird became a household name thanks to animated hits like Ratatouille and The Incredibles.

    Set in an idealized small town in the 1950s, young latchkey child Hogarth Hughes discovers the titular character having crash-landed near his home. The arrival of the massive alien robot inspires both Hogarth to come out of his shell as well as a suspicious government agent to investigate. With it’s mix of 2D and 3D animation, and terrific voice cast, The Iron Giant is as charming as animated films get.

    ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ (1999)

    Directed by Stanley Kubrick

    The final film from master filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut is an erotic thriller that was unjustly dismissed by audiences, as evidenced by its terrible Cinemascore grade, and some critics reacted coldly to it as well, comparing it unfavorably to Kubrick’s other masterworks. Time has shown that it’s another complex mystery from one of cinema’s most uncompromising auteurs.

    Shot over a period of fifteen months on meticulously crafted sound stages in England (despite being set in New York City), the film follows the nightmarish journey of a doctor, played by Tom Cruise, who spirals into an exploration of eroticism after discovering his wife has harbored fantasies of being unfaithful. It’s an eerie examination of sexuality that like all of Kubrick’s work has a lot to digest and interpret through its layered visuals.

    ‘The Sixth Sense’ (1999)

    Directed by M. Night Shymalan

    Coming at the end of a decade that had plenty of definitive horror movies but that is also often viewed as being slimmer in its selection, M. Night Shymalan’s The Sixth Sensewas a splash of cold water to the faces of audiences who felt burnt out on the glut of the slick but vapid slashers that came in the wake of the success of Scream.

    Bruce Willis stars as a child psychologist who takes on a new patient, Haley Joel Osment in an Oscar-nominated role, who has the unique problem of being able to talk to the dead. The Sixth Sense is a beautifully crafted horror film that relies on atmosphere and the well-honed performances of its cast to provide the scares. The script slowly unfurls it’s mysteries and Shymalan’s shocking twist ending actually feels integral to the plot, unlike those in his later films that feel unnecessary or like a crutch for lazy writing.

    ‘The Matrix’ (1999)

    Directed by The Wachowskis

    Coming off their debut film, the erotic thriller film Bound, the Wachowski’s pushed the queer content into subtext but kept the neo-noir vibes for the cyberpunk action masterpiece The Matrix. The movie became an instant influence on the action and sci-fi genres, with its innovative bullet-time effects quickly infiltrating dozens of other action movies and becoming satirized in comedies.

    Keanu Reeves plays Neo, a hacker who discovers that the world he inhabits is all a simulation, and that the real world is an apocalyptic wasteland where the remains of humanity fight against their oppressive machine overlords. The plot pulls from dozens of different sources, including anime and the works of writer William Gibson, and synthesizes it all into a slick, action-packed package that makes some of the entry-level philosophy course dialogue easy to digest. Essential and influential, The Matrix is much more than its imitators or empty sequels, and was one of the most significant films released in 1999.

    ‘Magnolia’ (1999)

    Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

    Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling character drama Magnoliawas his divisive follow-up to the acclaimed Boogie Nights. It follows one of the best movie casts of the 90s, as they search for connection and feeling in a world ruled by cruel fate. Anderson conducts his cast like an orchestra, each singular story fitting into the larger symphony of chaos that culminates in a biblical climax.

    The cast is absolutely without fault, but special notice was given to Tom Cruise at the time for his performance as Frank Mackey, a misogynistic motivational speaker who uses his profession to cover up his own insecurities and past. It’s a role that weaponizes Cruise’s natural charisma for a toxic but vulnerable character. If Cruise hadn’t subsequently been swallowed whole by Scientology, it’s quite possible the intervening years between his amazing work in 1999 and his later full dedication to the Mission: Impossiblefranchise could’ve been filled with some very daring and interesting performances.

    ‘Being John Malkovich’ (1999)

    Directed by Spike Jonze

    From his influential music videos and short films, to his four feature-length classics, Spike Jonze has been one of the most unique directorial talents to grace the silver over the last few decades. He announced his entry into the mainstream with the fiercely original Being John Malkovich. Working off Charlie Kaufman’s surreal screenplay, Jonze crafted a dark comedy that has few true parallels.

    John Cusack plays a puppeteer who gets a job on the seventh and a half floor of an office building where he discovers a doorway that leads into the mind of actor John Malkovich. From there the film goes into even more unexpected directions as more and more people enter Malkovich’s mind, until the actor himself is made aware of the portal’s existence. The cast is terrific, with Cameron Diaz and Catherine Keener in pivotal supporting roles, and Malkovich himself playing off his idiosyncratic reputation. In a year that was filled with sterling original films, Being John Malkovich is the most singular.

    ‘All About My Mother’ (1999)

    Directed by Pedro Almodóvar

    Pedro Almodóvar is a filmmaker who has consistently put out great work for over four decades that has certainly garnered awards attention and critical acclaim but remains frustratingly overlooked by American audiences. The Spanish filmmaker is known for his melodramas with bold visual styles that frequently feature LGBTQ+ and feminist themes, both of which are on full display in the film frequently cited as his best, All About My Mother.

    After the death of her teenage son Esteban, Manuela (Cecilia Roth) travels to Barcelona to reconnect with the teen’s other parent, the transgender Lola (Toni Cantó). In Barcelona, she makes other connections, including Rosa (Penélope Cruz) a nun who is HIV positive and pregnant. It’s Almodóvar’s love letter to women, all women, and he tells his story with compassion and sincerity, all the while calling to mind the classic Hollywood melodramas of filmmakers like Douglas Sirkwith his intense visual palette. All About My Mother is a film the likes of which is hardly seen in Hollywood, and should be watched for its empathetic storytelling of women whose lives are often reduced or overlooked in mainstream cinema.

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    • Some sci-fi classics like Star Wars and Jurassic Park are always worth rewatching. Mad Max: Fury Road is a thrilling endless car chase.
    • Everything Everywhere All at Once mixes kung fu with a heartwarming family story for an entertaining sci-fi flick.
    • Galaxy Quest hilariously parodies Star Trek while paying homage to the beloved franchise that inspired it.

    A lot of the lofty sci-fi movie classics aren’t very rewatchable, but some of the genre’s greatest entries – like Star Wars, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park – hold up to countless repeat viewings. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a breathtaking piece of cinema pondering the biggest questions about humanity’s existence, and Blade Runner is a powerful futuristic noir about what constitutes a person. But they both move at such a slow pace, and deal with such heavy philosophical subject matter, that no one is champing at the bit to rewatch them on movie night.

    With the first sequel, Aliens, James Cameron went the other way and delivered one of the most explosive, action-packed movies ever made. The first half of Aliens gets Ellen Ripley down to the surface of a xenomorph-infested human colony with a band of space marines. The second half is an all-out action extravaganza pitting the marines against dozens of bloodthirsty aliens.

    Everything Everywhere All At Once

    Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Wang in a kung-fu stance in Everything Everywhere All at Once© Provided by ScreenRant

    The kind of movies that usually sweep the Academy Awards are slow, quiet, somber, and not particularly interested in being entertaining. But Everything Everywhere All at Once – which won seven Oscars, including Best Picture – is anything but. It is a touching, character-focused drama about a mother struggling to connect with her disillusioned daughter, but that beautiful mother-daughter story is wrapped up in an action-packed interdimensional epic in which the entire multiverse is at stake.

    Joaquin Phoenix Is a Gun-Defending Sheriff of a Murderous Town in ‘Eddington’ Trailer

    Story by Althea Legaspi

    ensions are high between officials and townspeople in Eddington, New Mexico on June 2, 2020 in the teaser trailer for the black comedy western, Eddington. The Ari Aster-written and directed film, which will make its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival next month, arrives in theaters on July 18.

    In the teaser clip, a person scrolls through their social media feed on a cell phone as a series of talking heads give snippets of their viewpoints, which appear to be focused on the pandemic and conspiracy theories. In Eddington, the weather is sweltering – in the upper 90s and into the 100s – per the person’s cell phone, as a voice discusses a lab in Wuhan, China. “If you value your life, you should think twice because the people in Eddington like guns, Sheriff Joe Cross (Phoenix) warns in one clip.

    After Cross issues his alert, a video clip of his wife appears on the cell screen. “And I am speaking now to deny my husband’s announcement yesterday,” says Louise Cross (Emma Stone). “Which was false.”

    Sherriff Cross’ adversary Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) also shows up on the screen with a video of his own. “I’m ready to continue leading our town, and fighting the pandemic and the racial and economic … ” he says before he’s cut off by the next clip, where Cross appears in a CNN post. “‘Law and Order Sheriff Assaults Protester in Town Rocked by Murders” reads the chyron over its video featuring a screaming Cross and protesting townspeople in masks as they face off.

    The film also stars Luke Grimes, Austin Butler, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, Clifton Collins Jr., William Belleau, Cameron Mann, Matt Gomez Hidaka, and Amélie Hoeferle.

     

     

    Mad Max: Fury Road

    Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky stands in front of his car in the opening of Mad Max: Fury Road.© Provided by ScreenRant

    George Miller had already made three rollicking, action-packed Mad Max movies before he returned to the wasteland and blew the original trilogy out of the water with Mad Max: Fury Road. Fury Road has a mercifully simplistic plot: badass Furiosa liberates the wives of post-apocalyptic tyrant Immortan Joe and goes on the lam with Joe’s forces hot on their tail. Max, now played by Tom Hardy, gets unwittingly swept along for the ride.

    Aliens

    Carrie Hen’s Newt stands with Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley in Aliens© Provided by ScreenRant

    Ridley Scott’s original Alien movie is both one of the greatest science fiction movies and one of the greatest horror movies ever made, but it’s a slow burn. Scott takes his time to introduce the crew of the Nostromo and the threat of the xenomorph before the chestburster kicks off the haunted-house-in-space action. This makes for a powerful cinematic experience on the first viewing, but it also means that it takes a while to get going on a rewatch.

    Everything Everywhere All at Once is an appropriate title for a movie that manages to be a fast-paced action movie, a visually stunning sci-fi movie, a zany slapstick comedy, and a sobering family drama all rolled into one. The Wang family’s story would be just as moving without all the hybrid-genre mayhem. But all the parallel universes and martial arts choreography make it an endlessly rewatchable movie.

    Galaxy Quest

    The cast of Galaxy Quest on an alien planet© Provided by ScreenRant

    Galaxy Quest is such a spot-on parody of the Star Trek franchise that it’s often ranked as a better Star Trek movie than most of the official Star Trek movies. It has an ingeniously meta premise: the washed-up cast of an old sci-fi show is recruited for a real-life intergalactic battle by real-life aliens who mistook episodes of their series for historical records. Director Dean Parisot gets every possible laugh out of that brilliant premise.

    With the satire of Galaxy Quest, Parisot managed to have the best of both worlds. He ruthlessly spoofs Star Trek and its fans, but it’s ultimately an affectionate love letter to Gene Roddenberry’s legacy and the power of the fandom he inspired. Like all the best comedies, Galaxy Quest is so funny and so quotable and so hilariously acted that it’s infinitely rewatchable.

    Predator

    Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch in Predator aiming a machine gun while standing in front of jungle foliage© Provided by ScreenRant

    Predator has absolutely no reason to be as great as it is. The story grew out of a Hollywood inside joke that Rocky Balboa would run out of opponents on Earth and have to fight an alien. Its entire premise revolves around oiled-up, muscle-bound men going into the jungle and firing machine guns at an invisible alien. At the very best, Predator should be an affable B-movie. But somehow, John McTiernan turned it into a bona fide masterpiece.

    By pitting Arnold Schwarzenegger against a deadly alien creature, McTiernan told the ultimate man-conquers-beast story. Predator deals with themes of masculinity, militarism, and just how outmatched humanity might be when alien life finally arrives. But it’s also a big, loud, bombastic ‘80s action movie with a burst of gunfire or a giant explosion every couple of minutes.

    WALL-E

    WALL-E looking up at the stars© Provided by ScreenRant

    Much like Stanley Kubrick, when Pixar takes a stab at a genre, they end up making one of the all-time greats. The Incredibles is one of the best superhero movies, Up is one of the best adventure movies, and WALL-E is one of the best science fiction movies. With its dazzling futuristic imagery, deeply cinematic visual storytelling, and the heartwarming romance between WALL-E and fellow robot-with-a-heart-of-gold EVE, WALL-E holds up to endless rewatches.

    The only thing that makes WALL-E wobble slightly on a rewatch is that its depiction of an uninhabitable, trash-filled Earth gets more and more depressingly accurate with every viewing. WALL-E was way ahead of its time in criticizing humanity’s callous treatment of the environment. Fortunately, the love story is beautiful enough to distract from the mirror being held up to climate change.

    The Matrix

    Carrie Anne Moss as Trinity and Keanu Reeves as Neo looking at each other in The Matrix© Provided by ScreenRant

    The Wachowskis made audiences across the world question their reality with their sci-fi action masterpiece The Matrix. The movie suggests that reality is just a computer program being run by the robotic overlords using human beings as batteries. There’s a lot of exposition to get out of the way in the first act of The Matrix – who Morpheus is, how the Matrix works, what the machines are doing in the real world, etc. – but once it gets all that stuff out of the way, it’s a non-stop thrill-ride.

    The Matrix is full of beautifully directed action sequences like the lobby shootout, the helicopter crash, and the final foot chase. The story in between the action scenes is masterfully crafted, too. From his humble beginnings as Thomas Anderson to his triumphant climactic transformation into “The One,” Neo’s journey lands on every viewing.

    Star Wars

    Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, and Harrison Ford as Han Solo in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.© Provided by ScreenRant

    George Lucas changed the face of the film industry forever with his game-changing space opera Star Wars. Ever since Star Wars had audiences lining up around the block to watch it a 10th time, Hollywood studios have been acquiring nerdy I.P. and following Joseph Campbell’s “hero’s journey” religiously in an attempt to replicate that success. Lucas transported audiences to a galaxy far, far away and pulled off the cinematic magic trick of pure escapism.

    Although it was burdened with introducing its audience to a whole new fictional universe, Star Wars moves at an agreeably zippy pace. It opens with a massive space battle and remains that exciting for the rest of its runtime. From the Millennium Falcon shootout to the explosion of the Death Star, Star Wars is full of set-pieces that never get old.

    Jurassic Park

    A T. Rex bursting through the gates and onto the road in Jurassic Park© Provided by ScreenRant

    Steven Spielberg combined the monster-movie thrills of Jaws with the thought-provoking sci-fi themes of Close Encounters for his big-screen adaptation of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park deals with the same complex themes as Frankenstein – the hubris of man, the dangers of playing God, the uncontrollability of nature – but with a theme park full of live dinosaurs. Spielberg and his team used groundbreaking visual effects to bring dinosaurs back to life.

    Jurassic Park is full of great action sequences with razor-sharp tension and timeless effects. From the T. rex’s escape to the raptors’ attack in the kitchen, Jurassic Park is jam-packed with set-pieces that never fail to thrill the audience, no matter how many times they’ve seen the movie. Even the exposition in Jurassic Park is rewatchable, thanks to a little animated character named Mr. DNA.

    Back To The Future

    Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Emmett© Provided by ScreenRant

    Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s Back to the Future script should be studied in every screenwriting class, because it’s airtight. Not only does it tell an engaging story about a time-traveling teenager trying to get his parents together to ensure his own existence; it’s a masterclass in the plant-and-payoff technique. Every single scene progresses the plot; every single line in the first act sets something up that comes back later.

    The pacing doesn’t dip for a second, all the gags in Zemeckis and Gale’s script get a laugh every time, and the catharsis of Marty McFly finally getting back to 1985 after all the hurdles he’s had to overcome always lands. Plus, Michael J. Fox’s endearing on-screen chemistry with Christopher Lloyd as Marty and Doc Brown is endlessly watchable. Back to the Future is basically a perfect movie.

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    Best sci-fi comedies of all time

     

    Evolution

    Out of this world laughs and galactic giggles ahead in this list of the best sci-fi comedies of all time.

    One of the most mesmerizing things about the science fiction genre is the sheer scope of ideas that can be dreamt up, and this aspect lends itself perfectly to comedy; with something so out-of-this-world, there’s a real opportunity to make people laugh. There are crazy and bewildering plots spanning generations, from the twisted future of Idiocracy to the bulging-brained alien invasion of Mars Attacks! To put it simply, there’s a lot of fun to be had in crafting the strangely surreal, the complete unknown, and even just simply turning fear into nervous laughter.

    By sifting through the sci-fi comedy offerings on the best streaming services, we’ve whittled our list down to the 10 best sci-fi comedies of all time. Comedic timing, acting prowess, and excellent scripts all play a huge part in the reason these movies are as funny as they are – even if you don’t expect them to be. So, pick your next watch across Paramount Plus, Disney, Netflix, and Amazon Prime from the list below and prepare to be suitably amused.

    10. Evolution

    ((Image credit: Columbia Pictures))

    • Release date: June 8, 2001
    • Cast: David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones
    • Director: Ivan Reitman
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 44% critics, 48% audience

    It felt like that in the early 00s any video I borrowed from Blockbusters advertised this sci-fi comedy. When I realized it was from the director of Ghostbusters (also on our list), I had to rent it and I’m glad I did. In Evolution, a meteor hits Earth and with it an organism that evolves so rapidly no one has any real clue on how to stop it. The team for the job? A trainee firefighter, a government scientist, and two college professors made up of sci-fi icon David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones, and Seann William Scott.

    While the government tries to block the team out, the alien ecosystem begins to thrive on Earth and that’s when the real trouble starts. Even with Earth’s impending doom, there’s still plenty of time for comedy. It’s not groundbreaking sci-fi, but it’ll certainly bring laughs to your night-in.

    9. Mars Attacks!

    ((Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures))

    • Release date: December 13, 1996
    • Cast: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan
    • Director: Tim Burton
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 55% critics, 53% audience

    Much like Tim Burton’s haunting characters from his usual gothic horrors, like Beetlejuice and The Corpse Bride, you’ll never forget the Martians of his sci-fi dark comedy, Mars Attacks! It’s a wonderful spoof of the cheesy alien invasion movies of the ’50s, full of surreal humor and black comedy.

    Burton’s foray into science fiction depicts an alien arrival on Earth that starts out peacefully, but quickly transcends into absolute chaos – making it both a little bit scary and a whole lot of funny. Particularly the government’s blundering attempts to deal with these new visitors.

    Mars Attacks! has a rather impressive cast behind it, with Jack Nicholson as the President, Glenn Close, Jack Black, Danny DeVito, Pierce Brosnan, Annette Bening, Sarah Jessica Parker, and so many more stellar actors. While it didn’t quite impress with its box office debut, it’s certainly made up for it in cult status.

    8. Spaceballs

    • Release date: June 24, 1987
    • Cast: Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, and more
    • Director: Mel Brooks
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 52% critics, 83% audience

    Mel Brooks is one hell of a filmmaker and the master of spoofs. When it comes to comedy, his unique style traverses genres from the Western of Blazing Saddles to the adventures of Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Spaceballs, his move into science fiction, had the same cult impact.

    Brooks’ Spaceballs is primarily a Star Wars parody with Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his alien sidekick, Barf (John Candy), rescuing Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) from the Spaceballs – all while evading capture from the dastardly Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis).

    It sounds absolutely bonkers and that’s because it is. It is jam-packed with quirky jokes, gags, wisecracks, and slapstick comedy – while some might not be to your taste, others will have you in stitches. Plus, Spaceballs utilizes the humor of breaking the fourth wall, which sets it apart from the rest of the genre ten-fold. While the movie came out in 1987, according to Variety, there may be a Spaceballs 2 is in the works with Mel Brooks producing almost 30 years later.

    7. Galaxy Quest

    credit: DreamWorks Pictures))

    • Release date: December 25, 1999
    • Cast: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman
    • Director: Dean Parisot
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 90% critics, 79% audience

    Back in the 90s, Galaxy Quest was first perceived as a silly comedy movie that affectionately parodied the likes of Star Trek and other galactic spaceship crews. However, it has since proved itself to be far smarter than that and has been acknowledged as such.

    The movie sees a new spaceship crew assembled, but this time they’re actors from the TV show Galaxy Quest that get thrown into a real-life space adventure. During a fan convention, Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), lead actor of the show, is approached by a group of aliens called Thermians that want his help.

    Unfortunately, the aliens believe that the TV show is actually real life. So, when they recruit Jason and his crew for help, no-one’s quite sure what they’re getting themselves into. It’s a parody, yes, but it’s also a homage to all the amazing sci-fi shows and movies that are still thriving today. It’s satire at its finest and it does so whilst lovingly dressed up in sci-fi and comedy.

    6. Men in Black and sequels

    ((Image credit: Columbia Pictures))

    • Release date: July 2, 1997
    • Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Fiorentino
    • Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 91% critics, 80% audience

    With four films now in the Men in Black franchise, the first will always be the best of the best of the best, sir! There’s a lot of great things to say about Men in Black, but the greatest gift from this movie is the comedy pairing of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as Agent J and Agent K, respectively. They make this look good.

    Jay and Kay are agents of a secret government organization tasked with protecting Earth and keeping an eye on all its alien residents. While Kay is a respected long-serving member, Jay is a headstrong rookie with a lot of sass – but they balance each other out with Kay sharing wisdom and Jay showing him how to have a good time.

    The scope of extra-terrestrials is also fantastic. We won’t say too much about them here, as discovering them all is part of this movie’s charm. While some can be rather adorable, others can be unnervingly terrifying, but have no fear as Will Smith will always lighten the mood.

    5. Idiocracy

    ((Image credit: Twentieth Century Fox))

    • Release date: September 1, 2006
    • Cast: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews, and more
    • Director: Mike Judge
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 71% critics, 61% audience

    Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson) is a remarkably average human. Yet, he is the one chosen to be put into hibernation and brought back to life in the future. Sort of like Fry in Futurama (one of the best sci-fi TV shows of all time), but on purpose. However, when Joe ‘arrives’ in the future, he’s somehow the smartest person alive.

    Now, imagine a world where the average intelligence has depleted exponentially, because that’s the world Joe now lives in, and there’s a whole lot of weird things going on. In Idiocracy, you can pause on pretty much any scene in this movie and think to yourself, what on Earth is going on? And because of this, it’s a really great comedy about how strange the world and life could really be.

    Only one of these I have not seen yet

     

    Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure/Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey -sequel

     

    (Image credit: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG))

    • Release date: February 17, 1989
    • Cast: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin, and more
    • Director: Stephen Herek
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 83% critics, 75% audience

    If you’ve ever once looked into sci-fi comedy, you’ll no doubt have come across Bill and Ted. Or, if you’re just into movies in any shape or form, you’ll have heard of this iconic duo made up of traditionally more straight-faced Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. Their friendship hangs in the balance as a failing history grade could see the pair torn apart. But, there’s one way to save it and that’s by travelling back in time to learn about history in the most excellent of ways.

    Carrying out research for their school report, they travel by a phone booth time machine that takes them back to historical moments, meeting several history VIPs along the way. Obviously, turning up in a phone booth causes its own hilarity, but the goofy pairing with an incredibly quotable script make this a fun and lighthearted movie for all to enjoy.

    3. Repo Man

     

    ((Image credit: Edge City Productions))

    • Release date: March 2, 1984
    • Cast: Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton, and more
    • Director: Alex Cox
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 98% critics, 78% audience

    To get out of trouble, punky Otto (Emilio Estevez) is recruited by a car repo agency that tasks him with hunting down a Chevrolet Malibu for an eye-watering $20,000 bounty. High reward means high risk though and inside the trunk of this runaway Chevy is something out-of-this-world. Hunting down this car is no simple task and whatever extraterrestrial entity is hiding in the trunk makes sure of that.

    It seems some of the best sci-fi comedies are just bonkers and Repo Man is certainly one of those titles. You can’t quite believe what you’re watching and with the threat of an alien invasion at stake, its peculiar plot will amuse and pull you in. It’s a cult classic because it doesn’t really fit into any of the usual movie ticking boxes, yet still highly entertaining.

    One of my all time favorites! Emilo Estevez’s first movie

    2. Back to the Future and sequels

     

    ((Image credit: Universal Pictures))

    • Release date: July 3, 1985
    • Cast: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
    • Director: Robert Zemeckis
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 93% critics, 95% audience

    Back to the Future is one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, and it’s also one of the funniest. Bringing together young Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) with eccentric scientist Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), the pair embark on a time-travelling adventure that seamlessly integrates the sci-fi genre with comedy.

    Marty is accidentally sent 30 years back in time in a souped-up DeLorean. His presence in the past ends up risking his entire existence as he splits up his future parents and must fix the mistake. And, amid all this, Marty and Doc Brown must protect each other from their past and future fates.

    It’s witty and wild, parodying sci-fi and futuristic concepts – some of which have actually become a reality since then, such as video calls and wearable tech like smart glasses (the fashion… not so much).

    1. Ghostbusters and Two sequels

     

    ((Image credit: Columbia Pictures))

    • Release date: June 8, 1984
    • Cast: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis
    • Director: Ivan Reitman
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 95% critics, 88% audience

    If you’re after the best sci-fi comedy, who you gonna call?

    Simply one of the most iconic sci-fi comedies of all time, Ghostbusters paved the way for so many titles on our list that it’d be hard not to give it top spot. I mean, it quite literally spawned Evolution from director Ivan Reitman.

    Kicked out of university jobs, three parapsychologists choose instead to set up their own unique ghost removal service in New York. Ghostbusters, assemble! The fantastic cast and witty script makes this movie an absolute joy to watch.

    It’s a wonderful blend of supernatural, sci-fi, comedy, horror, and action that has spawned a whole iconic franchise: we’re talking more movies, comics, video games, TV shows, etc. While some of the movies that followed are funny in their own right, you just can’t beat the original.

     

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    10 Best Horror Movie Performances of All Time, Ranked

     

    10 Best Horror Movie Performances of All Time, Ranked

     

    An iconic horror film requires many key elements, ranging from a strong atmosphere to terrifying scares, but few features are as crucial as great acting. Whether portraying a vulnerable victim, a resilient hero or a menacing villain, actors must devote themselves wholeheartedly to horror performances due to the intensity and wide range of emotions required by the genre. In fact, largely as the result of excellent acting, many horror characters – such as Jack Torrance or Norman Bates – have established themselves as some of the most enduring popular characters in film history.

    With such a rich canon of performances to choose from, selecting the 10 greatest is a daunting feat. Considering the iconic legacies of the characters, their vital roles within their films, and the technical feats accomplished by the actors, these are our picks for the 10 best performances in horror films.

    Linda Blair in ‘The Exorcist’ (1973)

    Directed by William Friedkin

    The Exorcist is a 1973 supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and adapted by William Peter Blatty from his own 1971 novel. The film centers on the demonic possession of a young girl, Regan (Linda Blair), as she is transformed into a chaotic, profane and violent monster by the demon inside of her. In order to attempt to save her soul, Catholic priests Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) and Father Karras (Jason Miller) perform an exorcism once it is clear that no other option will work.

    Related video: 10 Best Horror Movies You’ve Never Heard Of (CBR)

     

    Despite being only 12 years old at the time of filming, Linda Blair gives a powerhouse performance as Regan, completely embodying both her innocent initial personality and the vulgar demon that possesses her. Aided by the vocal work of Mercedes McCambridge, Linda Blair tackles physically and emotionally demanding scenes that would have been challenging for actors decades her senior, consistently holding her own against her far more experienced castmates. The Exorcist is widely considered one of the scariest films of all time, and Linda Blair’s performance is one of the greatest reasons why.

    The Exorcist

    Release Date  December 26, 1973

    Director  William Friedkin

    Cast  Lee J. Cobb, Max Von Sydow, Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn

    Rating  R

    Runtime  122 minutes

    Main Genre   Horror

    Genres  Supernatural, Horror

    Writers  William Peter Blatty

    Production Company  Hoya Productions

    Rent on Amazon

    Kathy Bates in ‘Misery’ (1990)

    Directed by Rob Reiner

    Based on Stephen King‘s 1987 novel, Misery is a 1990 psychological horror-thriller directed by Rob Reiner. The film follows a popular fiction writer, Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who suffers a life-threatening car crash and is found by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a dedicated fan. As a nurse by profession, Annie helps Paul with his injuries but is horrified to discover that he has killed off her favorite character and decides to imprison him in her house until he has written a novel resurrecting the character.

    Kathy Bates’ performance received widespread acclaim and earned her a Best Actress Academy Award, in the only Oscar win ever received for a Stephen King adaptation. Bringing to life the villainous Annie Wilkes, Bates’ performance is highly erratic, swinging wildly from appearing to be simply a lonely and quirky woman to behaving in a violent and aggressive manner towards her captive. Portraying one of King’s greatest literary characters, Kathy Bates deserves all the attention she received for her performance in Misery.

    Misery

    Release Date  November 30, 1990

    Director  Rob Reiner

    Cast  Richard Farnsworth, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall, Frances Sternhagen, James Caan

    Rating  R

    Runtime  107 minutes

    Main Genre  Horror

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Horror

    Writers  William Goldman, Stephen King

    Budget  $20 million

    Studio(s)  Columbia Pictures

    Distributor(s)  Columbia Pictures

    Rent on Amazon

    Tony Todd in ‘Candyman’ (1992)

    Directed by Bernard Rose

    Candyman is a 1992 supernatural horror film written and directed by Bernard Rose and based on a short story by prolific novelist Clive Barker. The film explores the concept of urban legends by following a grad student, Helen (Virginia Madsen), who begins investigating the story of a vengeful spirit known as the Candyman (Tony Todd). After being summoned by Helen, Candyman begins to take the lives of innocent residents of a low-income neighborhood that he terrorizes.

    Candyman is unique for a supernatural slasher due to its methodical pace, mature storytelling and the subversively sympathetic nature of its antagonist. Tony Todd brings an incredible gravitas to the role, with his velvet-smooth voice and calm physicality bringing a hypnotic quality to the character, and his dedication to the film being perfectly showcased by his willingness to work with hundreds of live bees during production. Frightening and strangely alluring, the late, great Tony Todd’s performance as the titular Candyman is nothing less than career-defining.

    Candyman

    Release Date  October 16, 1992

    Director  Bernard Rose

    Cast  Marianna Elliott, DeJuan Guy, Kasi Lemmons, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd, Vanessa Williams, Virginia Madsen, Ted Raimi

    Rating  R

    Runtime  100 Minutes

    Main Genre  Horror

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Horror

    Writers  Bernard Rose

    Character(s)  Billy, Candyman, Clara, Jake, Bernadette Walsh, Anne-Marie McCoy, Trevor Lyle, Helen Lyle

    Rent on Apple TV

    Boris Karloff in ‘Frankenstein’ (1931)

    Directed by James Whale

    Based on Mary Shelley‘s 1818 classic horror novel, Frankenstein is a 1931 sci-fi horror film directed by James Whale. The film centers on the creation of a monster (Boris Karloff) constructed from stolen body-parts, who is reanimated by a scientist (Colin Clive) who seeks to play God. Mistreated by those around him, the monster escapes from captivity and finds himself the target of furious and violent townspeople.

    Enhanced with one of horror cinema’s most iconic examples of costuming and special effects makeup, Boris Karloff’s performance as Frankenstein’s Monster is a landmark achievement of the early horror genre. Karloff portrays the monster with a pitch-perfect balance of childlike innocence and threatening physicality, with his clumsy movements making his inhumanity incredibly believable. Rightfully still celebrated almost a century later, Boris Karloff’s performance in Frankenstein is perfect.

    Frankenstein

    Release Date  November 21, 1931

    Director  James Whale

    Cast  Lionel Belmore, Frederick Kerr, John Boles, Mae Clarke, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Colin Clive, Boris Karloff

    Rating  Passed

    Runtime  70 Minutes

    Main Genre  Sci-Fi

    Genres  Sci-Fi, Drama, Horror

    Writers  Francis Edward Faragoh, Peggy Webling, Garrett Fort, Richard Schayer, John L. Balderston, Mary Shelley

    Rent on Apple TV

    Jack Nicholson in ‘The Shining’ (1980)

    Directed by Stanley Kubrick

    Based on Stephen King‘s 1977 novel, The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. The film centers on Jack (Jack Nicholson), a writer with a history of alcoholism and a troubled relationship with his family, who takes a caretaking job at the remote Overlook Hotel during the winter. Upon arrival, however, Jack’s wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and their young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) realize that the hotel may be haunted, as they are plagued by unexplained events and Jack’s behavior becomes increasingly concerning.

    From his earliest scenes in the film, Jack Nicholson makes it clear through his performance that something is deeply wrong with Jack under the surface of his identity as an ambitious family man, seeming as if he may snap at any moment. Nicholson’s dynamic with Shelley Duvall is highly compelling, with her pure terror being contrasted excellently with his mania and aggression, making audiences truly come to fear his character at the film’s harrowing climax. Tragic, scary and at times darkly comedic, Jack Nicholson’s performance in The Shining is a masterclass in portraying a disturbed individual.

    The Shining

    Release Date  May 23, 1980

    Director  Stanley Kubrick

    Cast  Philip Stone, Barry Nelson, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd, Shelley Duvall, Jack Nicholson

    Rating  R

    Runtime  146 minutes

    Main Genre   Horror

    Genres  Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Psychological

    Writers  Diane Johnson, Stanley Kubrick, Stephen King

    Studio  Warner Bros.

    Tagline  All work and no play make Jack a dull boy…

    Rent on Apple TV

    Jodie Foster in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

    Directed by Jonathan Demme

    The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 psychological horror film directed by Jonathan Demme and based on Thomas Harris‘ 1988 novel. The film centers on young FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as she is assigned a key role in the investigation of serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In order to track the killer down, Clarice develops a rapport with Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), an incarcerated cannibal and murderer who is also a highly intelligent psychiatrist.

    Winning an Oscar for Best Actress, Jodie Foster’s portrayal of Clarice received immediate acclaim due to her embodiment of Clarice’s likability, intelligence and emotional complexity. The film’s most compelling element is the dynamic between Clarice and Hannibal, with the two consistently attempting to get the upper hand in their interactions and thed chemistry between Foster and Hopkins makes their scenes electrifying. Clarice is one of horror cinema’s most iconic protagonists and one of the best characters in the Hannibal Lecter cinematic universe, with Jodie Foster’s performance greatly enhancing the role.

    The Silence of the Lambs

    Release Date  February 14, 1991

    Director  Jonathan Demme

    Cast  Diane Baker, Kasi Lemmons, Scott Glenn, Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Ted Levine, Jodie Foster

    Rating  R

    Runtime  118 Minutes

    Main Genre  Thriller

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Crime

    Writers  Ted Tally, Thomas Harris

    Character(s)  Ardelia Mapp, Senator Ruth Martin, Catherine Martin, Dr. Frederick Chilton, Jame Gumb, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Sterling, Jack Crawford

    Mia Farrow in ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968)

    Directed by Roman Polanski

    Rosemary’s Baby is a 1968 supernatural body horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski and based on the 1967 novel by Ira Levin. The film centers on a young married woman, Rosemary (Mia Farrow), whose relationships with everyone around her are thrown into question when she begins suffering a seemingly demonic pregnancy after being assaulted. Becoming increasingly ill and losing a shocking amount of weight, Rosemary begins to suspect that her neighbors are participants in an occult conspiracy surrounding her pregnancy.

    Considered a masterpiece of subtle body horror, the film displays Rosemary undergoing a shocking physical transformation from a healthy young woman to someone frail, gaunt and highly physically vulnerable. Mia Farrow’s performance perfectly conveys the way that Rosemary’s bodily autonomy is being stripped from her, portraying the character as good-hearted and pure but also increasingly physically unwell and dangerously naive. One of the most acclaimed performances in genre history, Mia Farrow’s performance as the titular Rosemary is authentic, frightening and enduringly impressive.

    Rosemary’s Baby

    Release Date  June 12, 1968

    Director  Roman Polanski

    Cast  Ralph Bellamy, Sidney Blackmer, John Cassavetes, Maurice Evans, Ruth Gordon, Mia Farrow

    Rating  R

    Runtime  137 minutes

    Main Genre  Drama

    Genres  Supernatural, Horror, Psychological

    Writers  Ira Levin, Roman Polanski

    Tagline  Pray for Rosemary’s Baby

    Production Company  William Castle Productions

    Rent on Amazon

    10 Best Horror Movie Performances of All Time, Ranked

    An iconic horror film requires many key elements, ranging from a strong atmosphere to terrifying scares, but few features are as crucial as great acting. Whether portraying a vulnerable victim, a resilient hero or a menacing villain, actors must devote themselves wholeheartedly to horror performances due to the intensity and wide range of emotions required by the genre. In fact, largely as the result of excellent acting, many horror characters – such as Jack Torrance or Norman Bates – have established themselves as some of the most enduring popular characters in film history.

    With such a rich canon of performances to choose from, selecting the 10 greatest is a daunting feat. Considering the iconic legacies of the characters, their vital roles within their films, and the technical feats accomplished by the actors, these are our picks for the 10 best performances in horror films.

    Linda Blair in ‘The Exorcist’ (1973)

    Directed by William Friedkin

    The Exorcist is a 1973 supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and adapted by William Peter Blatty from his own 1971 novel. The film centers on the demonic possession of a young girl, Regan (Linda Blair), as she is transformed into a chaotic, profane and violent monster by the demon inside of her. In order to attempt to save her soul, Catholic priests Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) and Father Karras (Jason Miller) perform an exorcism once it is clear that no other option will work.

    Related video: 10 Best Horror Movies You’ve Never Heard Of (CBR)

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    Despite being only 12 years old at the time of filming, Linda Blair gives a powerhouse performance as Regan, completely embodying both her innocent initial personality and the vulgar demon that possesses her. Aided by the vocal work of Mercedes McCambridge, Linda Blair tackles physically and emotionally demanding scenes that would have been challenging for actors decades her senior, consistently holding her own against her far more experienced castmates. The Exorcist is widely considered one of the scariest films of all time, and Linda Blair’s performance is one of the greatest reasons why.

    The Exorcist

    Release Date  December 26, 1973

    Director  William Friedkin

    Cast  Lee J. Cobb, Max Von Sydow, Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn

    Rating  R

    Runtime  122 minutes

    Main Genre   Horror

    Genres  Supernatural, Horror

    Writers  William Peter Blatty

    Production Company  Hoya Productions

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    Kathy Bates in ‘Misery’ (1990)

    Directed by Rob Reiner

    Based on Stephen King‘s 1987 novel, Misery is a 1990 psychological horror-thriller directed by Rob Reiner. The film follows a popular fiction writer, Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who suffers a life-threatening car crash and is found by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a dedicated fan. As a nurse by profession, Annie helps Paul with his injuries but is horrified to discover that he has killed off her favorite character and decides to imprison him in her house until he has written a novel resurrecting the character.

    Kathy Bates’ performance received widespread acclaim and earned her a Best Actress Academy Award, in the only Oscar win ever received for a Stephen King adaptation. Bringing to life the villainous Annie Wilkes, Bates’ performance is highly erratic, swinging wildly from appearing to be simply a lonely and quirky woman to behaving in a violent and aggressive manner towards her captive. Portraying one of King’s greatest literary characters, Kathy Bates deserves all the attention she received for her performance in Misery.

    Misery

    Release Date  November 30, 1990

    Director  Rob Reiner

    Cast  Richard Farnsworth, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall, Frances Sternhagen, James Caan

    Rating  R

    Runtime  107 minutes

    Main Genre  Horror

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Horror

    Writers  William Goldman, Stephen King

    Budget  $20 million

    Studio(s)  Columbia Pictures

    Distributor(s)  Columbia Pictures

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    Tony Todd in ‘Candyman’ (1992)

    Directed by Bernard Rose

    Candyman is a 1992 supernatural horror film written and directed by Bernard Rose and based on a short story by prolific novelist Clive Barker. The film explores the concept of urban legends by following a grad student, Helen (Virginia Madsen), who begins investigating the story of a vengeful spirit known as the Candyman (Tony Todd). After being summoned by Helen, Candyman begins to take the lives of innocent residents of a low-income neighborhood that he terrorizes.

    Candyman is unique for a supernatural slasher due to its methodical pace, mature storytelling and the subversively sympathetic nature of its antagonist. Tony Todd brings an incredible gravitas to the role, with his velvet-smooth voice and calm physicality bringing a hypnotic quality to the character, and his dedication to the film being perfectly showcased by his willingness to work with hundreds of live bees during production. Frightening and strangely alluring, the late, great Tony Todd’s performance as the titular Candyman is nothing less than career-defining.

    Candyman

    Release Date  October 16, 1992

    Director  Bernard Rose

    Cast  Marianna Elliott, DeJuan Guy, Kasi Lemmons, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd, Vanessa Williams, Virginia Madsen, Ted Raimi

    Rating  R

    Runtime  100 Minutes

    Main Genre  Horror

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Horror

    Writers  Bernard Rose

    Character(s)  Billy, Candyman, Clara, Jake, Bernadette Walsh, Anne-Marie McCoy, Trevor Lyle, Helen Lyle

    Rent on Apple TV

    Boris Karloff in ‘Frankenstein’ (1931)

    Directed by James Whale

    Based on Mary Shelley‘s 1818 classic horror novel, Frankenstein is a 1931 sci-fi horror film directed by James Whale. The film centers on the creation of a monster (Boris Karloff) constructed from stolen body-parts, who is reanimated by a scientist (Colin Clive) who seeks to play God. Mistreated by those around him, the monster escapes from captivity and finds himself the target of furious and violent townspeople.

    Enhanced with one of horror cinema’s most iconic examples of costuming and special effects makeup, Boris Karloff’s performance as Frankenstein’s Monster is a landmark achievement of the early horror genre. Karloff portrays the monster with a pitch-perfect balance of childlike innocence and threatening physicality, with his clumsy movements making his inhumanity incredibly believable. Rightfully still celebrated almost a century later, Boris Karloff’s performance in Frankenstein is perfect.

    Frankenstein

    Release Date  November 21, 1931

    Director  James Whale

    Cast  Lionel Belmore, Frederick Kerr, John Boles, Mae Clarke, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Colin Clive, Boris Karloff

    Rating  Passed

    Runtime  70 Minutes

    Main Genre  Sci-Fi

    Genres  Sci-Fi, Drama, Horror

    Writers  Francis Edward Faragoh, Peggy Webling, Garrett Fort, Richard Schayer, John L. Balderston, Mary Shelley

    Rent on Apple TV

    Jack Nicholson in ‘The Shining’ (1980)

    Directed by Stanley Kubrick

    Based on Stephen King‘s 1977 novel, The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. The film centers on Jack (Jack Nicholson), a writer with a history of alcoholism and a troubled relationship with his family, who takes a caretaking job at the remote Overlook Hotel during the winter. Upon arrival, however, Jack’s wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and their young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) realize that the hotel may be haunted, as they are plagued by unexplained events and Jack’s behavior becomes increasingly concerning.

    From his earliest scenes in the film, Jack Nicholson makes it clear through his performance that something is deeply wrong with Jack under the surface of his identity as an ambitious family man, seeming as if he may snap at any moment. Nicholson’s dynamic with Shelley Duvall is highly compelling, with her pure terror being contrasted excellently with his mania and aggression, making audiences truly come to fear his character at the film’s harrowing climax. Tragic, scary and at times darkly comedic, Jack Nicholson’s performance in The Shining is a masterclass in portraying a disturbed individual.

    The Shining

    Release Date  May 23, 1980

    Director  Stanley Kubrick

    Cast  Philip Stone, Barry Nelson, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd, Shelley Duvall, Jack Nicholson

    Rating  R

    Runtime  146 minutes

    Main Genre   Horror

    Genres  Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Psychological

    Writers  Diane Johnson, Stanley Kubrick, Stephen King

    Studio  Warner Bros.

    Tagline  All work and no play make Jack a dull boy…

    Rent on Apple TV

    Jodie Foster in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

    Directed by Jonathan Demme

    The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 psychological horror film directed by Jonathan Demme and based on Thomas Harris‘ 1988 novel. The film centers on young FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as she is assigned a key role in the investigation of serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In order to track the killer down, Clarice develops a rapport with Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), an incarcerated cannibal and murderer who is also a highly intelligent psychiatrist.

    Winning an Oscar for Best Actress, Jodie Foster’s portrayal of Clarice received immediate acclaim due to her embodiment of Clarice’s likability, intelligence and emotional complexity. The film’s most compelling element is the dynamic between Clarice and Hannibal, with the two consistently attempting to get the upper hand in their interactions and thed chemistry between Foster and Hopkins makes their scenes electrifying. Clarice is one of horror cinema’s most iconic protagonists and one of the best characters in the Hannibal Lecter cinematic universe, with Jodie Foster’s performance greatly enhancing the role.

    The Silence of the Lambs

    Release Date  February 14, 1991

    Director  Jonathan Demme

    Cast  Diane Baker, Kasi Lemmons, Scott Glenn, Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Ted Levine, Jodie Foster

    Rating  R

    Runtime  118 Minutes

    Main Genre  Thriller

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Crime

    Writers  Ted Tally, Thomas Harris

    Character(s)  Ardelia Mapp, Senator Ruth Martin, Catherine Martin, Dr. Frederick Chilton, Jame Gumb, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Sterling, Jack Crawford

    Mia Farrow in ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968)

    Directed by Roman Polanski

    Rosemary’s Baby is a 1968 supernatural body horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski and based on the 1967 novel by Ira Levin. The film centers on a young married woman, Rosemary (Mia Farrow), whose relationships with everyone around her are thrown into question when she begins suffering a seemingly demonic pregnancy after being assaulted. Becoming increasingly ill and losing a shocking amount of weight, Rosemary begins to suspect that her neighbors are participants in an occult conspiracy surrounding her pregnancy.

    Considered a masterpiece of subtle body horror, the film displays Rosemary undergoing a shocking physical transformation from a healthy young woman to someone frail, gaunt and highly physically vulnerable. Mia Farrow’s performance perfectly conveys the way that Rosemary’s bodily autonomy is being stripped from her, portraying the character as good-hearted and pure but also increasingly physically unwell and dangerously naive. One of the most acclaimed performances in genre history, Mia Farrow’s performance as the titular Rosemary is authentic, frightening and enduringly impressive.

    Rosemary’s Baby

    Release Date  June 12, 1968

    Director  Roman Polanski

    Cast  Ralph Bellamy, Sidney Blackmer, John Cassavetes, Maurice Evans, Ruth Gordon, Mia Farrow

    Rating  R

    Runtime  137 minutes

    Main Genre  Drama

    Genres  Supernatural, Horror, Psychological

    Writers  Ira Levin, Roman Polanski

    Tagline  Pray for Rosemary’s Baby

    Production Company  William Castle Productions

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    Kōji Yakusho in ‘Cure’ (1997)

    Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

    Cure is a 1997 Japanese supernatural psychological horror film written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The film centers on a mysterious string of murders with seemingly no connection except from a link to Mamiya (Masato Hagiwara), an amnesiac hypnotist. The lead detective on the case, Kenichi Takabe (Kōji Yakusho), finds himself being increasingly drawn into Mamiya’s web due to the stresses and traumas of his own personal life, placing the lives of those around him in harm’s way.

    Kōji Yakusho and director Kiyoshi Kurosawa have collaborated on numerous film projects, but Cure has proven to be their most renowned due to its terrifying atmosphere and compelling premise. Yakusho shines in the lead role, portraying a delicately balanced mix of professionalism and dangerously obsessive tendencies to the character that establishes Takabe as a fascinating and potentially unreliable protagonist. Delivering scenes of devastating emotional trauma, chilling horror and dedicated detective work, Kōji Yakusho’s performance in Cure is horror perfection.

    Cure

    Release Date  December 27, 1997

    Director  Kiyoshi Kurosawa

    Cast  Ren Ôsugi, Misayo Haruki, Anna Nakagawa, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Yoriko Dôguchi, Masato Hagiwara, Denden, Kôji Yakusho

    Rating  Not Rated

    Runtime  111 Minutes

    Main Genre  Horror

    Genres  Mystery, Crime, Horror

    Writers  Kiyoshi Kurosawa

    Rent on Amazon

    Toni Collette in ‘Hereditary’ (2018)

    Directed by Ari Aster

    Hereditary is a 2018 supernatural horror film written and directed by Ari Aster in his feature film debut. The film centers on a family in the midst of severe grief, initially grieving the death of their maternal grandmother, before being struck by additional tragedy and afflicted by evil supernatural forces. Annie (Toni Collette), the mother of the family, is an artist with a traumatic past who tries her best to support her children Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro) but is pushed to a breaking point due to the horrific circumstances.

    Notoriously one of the bleakest horror films ever made, Hereditary is beloved by critics and audience members due to its strong scares and its raw and powerful representations of generational trauma and mental illness. Receiving particular attention, Toni Collette’s performance as Annie is unflinchingly intense, perfectly embodying her character’s complexity and fragile mental state in the wake of her grief. In one unforgettable scene, Collette expels some of the most haunting and tortured screams in cinematic history, and her performance is consistently remarkable throughout.

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    10 Best Non-American Zombie Movies Of All Time

    Of all the different niches of horror movies, the zombie flick is one of the most enduring, with each generation of filmmakers bringing their unique perspective to the narrative. In recent years, we’ve seen exciting changes within the zombie genre, as many of the tropes and rules of these stories established by classics like Night of the Living Dead have been subverted and altered to suit the contemporary era. While there are many great zombie movies produced by Hollywood, there are legions of innovative titles that have come from countries besides the U.S.

    Plenty of unconventional zombie movies break away from the genre, and these great international projects showcase that writers and directors everywhere are interested in seeing how far they can push the concept of the zombie. From bloody, gory films that make you want to turn away from the screen to satirical narratives that play with your expectations, these movies have it all. Lately, many of the best zombie films have been grappling with zombies as a metaphor for worldwide disease and catastrophe, often being combined with the post-apocalyptic genre.

    Cargo (2017)

    Directed by Ben Howling & Yolanda Ramke

    Martin Freeman’s underrated realistic zombie movieCargo has long been overlooked within the genre. However, watching the Australian film today demonstrates why it’s such an emotionally gripping horror movie. Zombism is referred to as a virus within the world of Cargo, but the effects of infection work the same way, and it’s clear that anyone who gets bitten isn’t long for this world. The ticking clock of Andy’s (Freeman) infection is the background of Cargoas he attempts to get his infant daughter to safety.

    Incorporating many of the best elements of the post-apocalyptic genre, Cargo also grapples with the legacy of Australia’s treatment of Indigenous Australians. Andy encounters the young girl Thoomi (Simone Landers), who helps Andy find a safe place for his daughter to be raised after he’s gone. Freeman is doubtlessly at his best in Cargo, and the complex project is a tender portrait of love and sacrifice against insurmountable odds. The setting of rural Australia also provides a unique atmosphere, as so many zombie films focus on urban environments.

    Dead Snow (2009)

    Directed by Tommy Wirkola

    Oftentimes, in zombie movies, when a person is infected, it’s a tragic loss, and the characters’ connections make the outbreak even more terrifying. This isn’t the case in Dead Snow, a Norwegian film that doesn’t just have zombies; it has Nazi zombies. If the undead weren’t horrifying and evil enough, Dead Snow adds these extra elements. This ensures that the audience is appropriately prepared to cheer when the zombies are blown up and scream when they’re getting closer.

    In many ways, Dead Snow unfolds in the classic manner of most horror narratives, beginning with a group of students traveling to a remote cabin in the Norwegian woods. One by one, Dead Snow sees the characters encounter the zombies and go to extreme lengths to escape them or fall victim to them. It’s clear from the first moments of Dead Snow that the filmmakers were having a lot of fun with the genre and wanted to play up the grotesque and campy parts of zombie films that make the genre so memorable.

    #Alive (2020)

    Directed by Il Cho

    Infusing technology and social media into contemporary movies can be difficult, as innovation is moving so fast that these elements can become dated at the drop of a hat. However, #Alive does a great job of being relevant and timeless at the same time, as it follows the protagonist, Joon-woo, who struggles to find other survivors while facing zombies and other humans alike. Social media plays a role in #Alive, but it doesn’t overshadow the action and character development.

    Yoo Ah-in anchors the film as Oh Joon-woo, the video game streamer who attempts to survive the zombie apocalypse while being locked inside his apartment.

    Yoo Ah-in anchors the film as Oh Joon-woo, the video game streamer who attempts to survive the zombie apocalypse while being locked inside his apartment. Park Shin-hye plays Kim Yoo-bin, one of Joon-woo’s neighbors. She and Joon-woo eventually connect and work together to make it out alive. Their relationship provides enough bright spots and breaks in the tension of #Alive that you can stomach the more grotesque moments of the South Korean film.

    One Cut Of The Dead (2017)

    Directed by Shinichirou Ueda

    In conversation with not only the zombie genre but filmmaking itself, One Cut of the Dead pokes fun at the lengths directors and artists will go for fame and success. The meta-project soon becomes a film within a film, showcasing the events of a fictional zombie movie, then the background of the film getting made, and the actual production of the project. Despite its microscopic budget, made for around $27,000, One Cut of the Dead catapulted to fame, earning millions of dollars and making an international splash (via The Hollywood Reporter).

    When watching One Cut of the Dead today, it’s easy to see how and why the movie became such a phenomenon. Perhaps the most innovative movie of 2017, One Cut of the Dead, is hilarious and self-aware without being too tongue-in-cheek or alienating. Made with unknown actors and playing with form and niche material that most mainstream projects would shy away from, One Cut of the Dead is a fantastic movie that should be remembered among the best of the genre.

    The Night Eats The World (2018)

    Directed by Dominique Rocher

    Set in Paris, The Night Eats the World isn’t full of loud, slow-moving zombies that are easy to outrun and a little less formidable than other movie monsters. Instead, the film includes fast, deadly, and virtually silent beasts that Sam (Anders Danielsen Lie) struggles to see coming, even from the apartment he’s hiding in. As the pain of isolation and survival sets in, it gets harder and harder for Sam to stay sane and fight off the zombies.

    As much a test of endurance for the audience as it is for Sam, The Night Eats the World is a grueling addition to the zombie genre that doesn’t rely on gore to make an impact.

    The Night Eats the World is a reminder of how difficult, or nearly impossible it is, for people to survive alone and that survival alone isn’t all there is. As much a test of endurance for the audience as it is for Sam, The Night Eats the World is a grueling addition to the zombie genre that doesn’t rely on gore to make an impact. Another recent French zombie film, the MadS movie, brought something unique to the genre, showcasing how France is pushing the zombie story forward.

    [REC] (2007)

    Directed by Paco Plaza & Jaume Balagueró

    One of the best found footage horror movies,[REC] is the first in several sequels, but the iconic original film is still the best. [REC] is a Spanish movie that follows Ángela (Manuela Velasco), a reporter who gets trapped inside an apartment building with the building’s residents as they slowly become infected. Throughout the night, Ángela’s camera operator, Pablo (Pablo Rosso), captures the increasingly gory and disturbing events as Ángela attempts to escape and uncover what’s happening to them.

    [REC] makes good use of the found footage genre, incorporating fun jump scares, Easter eggs, and an ominous ending to keep you hooked until the film’s final moments. Though it isn’t flashy or over-the-top, [REC] proves that a project doesn’t need a large budget or mountains of gore to make an impression. In fact, one of [REC]‘s strengths is the fact that it leaves so much up to the viewer’s imagination.

    28 Days Later (2002)

    Directed by Danny Boyle

    As time has passed, 28 Days Later has only become more iconic within the zombie genre. Boasting a star-studded cast that includes Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Brendan Gleeson,28 Days Later helped to revolutionize the zombie genre and increase contemporary interest in these stories. Today, many new zombie movies have their monsters fast-moving and extraordinarily powerful, but 28 Days Later was one of the first projects that stepped away from the slow zombie trope.

    It’s hard to say where the modern zombie movie would be without 28 Days Later, as it introduced so many important story choices and stylistic elements that have impacted horror as a whole, not just zombie films.

    The long-awaited sequel 28 Years Later is coming soon, and though the next installment of the franchise has a lot of pressure riding on it, there’s reason to be hopeful. It’s hard to say where the modern zombie movie would be without 28 Days Later, as it introduced so many important story choices and stylistic elements that have impacted horror as a whole, not just zombie films. Fortunately, we don’t have to imagine, as revisiting 28 Days Later only reaffirms its potency.

    Versus (2000)

    Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura

    This Japanese zombie movie is as dedicated to bringing its grotesque zombies to life as it incorporates well-choreographed action sequences. Versus uses elements of the martial arts and samurai genres to uplift the central narrative, leaning into the idea that zombies are part of intricate myths and folklore rather than a lab-created accident. Set in a forest of resurrection, an escaped prisoner and a young girl fight their way out while being pursued by dangerous men.

    However, in the forest, these men won’t die and just keep chasing them. Tak Sakaguchi plays the central prisoner, with Chieko Misaka co-starring as the girl, and the pair of them make compelling action heroes. As Versus progresses, more mystical elements and historical connections are revealed, making the story more intricate and exciting with every passing moment. Versus expertly blends genres, showcasing that the zombie movie is capable of being so much more than people realize.

    Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

    Directed by Edgar Wright

    Simon Pegg and Nick Frost quickly became one of the most iconic horror duos in recent memory thanks to their hilarious and bloody work in Shaun of the Dead. While there are plenty of horror-comedy movies out there that reimagine the genre, Shaun of the Dead immediately sets itself apart because of the unique style of filmmaking. Directed by Edgar Wright, a creative known for his distinctive editing and fast-paced comedy, Shaun of the Dead juxtaposes the urgency of Wright’s direction with the zombies’ glacial pace.

    Though Shaun of the Dead was made on a small budget, it went on to receive universal acclaim and box office success.

    The Night of the Living Dead movies are iconic pieces of film history, so it’s unsurprising that Shaun of the Dead lovingly pokes fun at the tropes these projects created. It can be difficult to balance the violence and inherent tragedy of the zombie genre with lighthearted humor, but Shaun of the Dead easily achieves this. Though Shaun of the Dead was made on a small budget, it went on to receive universal acclaim and box office success.

    Train To Busan (2016)

    Directed by Yeon Sang-ho

    Yeon Sang-ho’s most iconic movie, Train to Busan, is one of the most famous contemporary zombie films, regardless of country. Action-packed and brimming with blood, gore, and surprising emotional poignancy, Train to Busan might bring a tear to your eye before the story’s over, as its central character develops as a father and a person in the wake of the shocking outbreak. Gong Yoo brings this character, Seok-woo, to life with the gravitas of an action hero, balanced with sensitivity.

    Train to Busan exemplifies what we love about modern horror, as it’s in conversation with the best of the genre but is also unafraid to carve its own path. Additionally, Train to Busan is as much about class and impending natural disasters as it is a delivery system for the zombie gore we know and love. While Train to Busan doesn’t reinvent the zombie movie, it does pave the way for the next era of great brain-eating filmmaking and encourages it to include some smart commentary.

     

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    Bollywood Rom Com list

    Of course! Here’s the list with English translations included:

    Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (The Bravehearted Will Take the Bride) – दिलवाले दुल्हनिया ले जायेंगे – 1995
    Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (Something Happens) – कुछ कुछ होता है – 1998
    Jab We Met (When We Met) – जब वी मेट – 2007
    Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na (Do You Know… Or Not?) – जाने तू… या जाने ना – 2008
    Band Baaja Baaraat (Wedding Music Band) – बैंड बाजा बारात – 2010
    Tanu Weds Manu (Tanu Marries Manu) – तनु वेड्स मनु – 2011
    Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (This Youth is Crazy) – ये जवानी है दीवानी – 2013
    Hasee Toh Phasee (She Smiles, She’s Hooked) – हंसी तो फंसी – 2014
    Tanu Weds Manu Returns (Tanu Marries Manu Again) – तनु वेड्स मनु रिटर्न्स – 2015
    Dum Laga Ke Haisha (Put in All Your Strength) – दम लगा के हईशा – 2015

    Now it’s even easier to grasp the meanings behind these iconic romcom titles. Hope this helps! 😊The 62 Best Sci-Fi Movies Of All Time | Watch

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    Here’s a complete episode guide for The Librarian franchise, broken down by format: the original TV movies, the 2014–2018 series, and the 2025 reboot The Librarians: The Next Chapter. This is formatted for easy reference or Substack publication.

    📚 The Librarian Franchise Episode Guide

    🎬 TV Movies (2004–2008)

    Total: 3 feature-length episodes

    1. The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004)
    2. The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines (2006)
    3. The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice (2008)

    Each film runs approximately 90–106 minutes and follows Flynn Carsen’s solo adventures protecting magical artifacts.

    📺 The Librarians (2014–2018)

    Total: 42 episodes across 4 seasons

    Season 1 (2014–2015)

    1. And the Crown of King Arthur
    2. And the Sword in the Stone
    3. And the Horns of a Dilemma
    4. And Santa’s Midnight Run
    5. And the Apple of Discord
    6. And the Fables of Doom
    7. And the Rule of Three
    8. And the Heart of Darkness
    9. And the City of Light
    10. And the Loom of Fate

    Season 2 (2015)

    1. And the Drowned Book
    2. And the Broken Staff
    3. And What Lies Beneath the Stones
    4. And the Cost of Education
    5. And the Hollow Men
    6. And the Infernal Contract
    7. And the Image of Image
    8. And the Point of Salvation
    9. And the Happily Ever Afters
    10. And the Final Curtain

    Season 3 (2016–2017)

    1. And the Rise of Chaos
    2. And the Fangs of Death
    3. And the Reunion of Evil
    4. And the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
    5. And the Tears of a Clown
    6. And the Trial of the Triangle
    7. And the Curse of Cindy
    8. And the Eternal Question
    9. And the Fatal Separation
    10. And the Wrath of Chaos

    Season 4 (2017–2018)

    1. And the Dark Secret
    2. And the Steal of Fortune
    3. And the Christmas Thief
    4. And the Silver Screen
    5. And the Bleeding Crown
    6. And the Graves of Time
    7. And the Disenchanted Forest
    8. And the Hidden Sanctuary
    9. And a Town Called Feud
    10. And Some Dude Named Jeff
    11. And the Trial of the One
    12. And the Echoes of Memory

    Full episode guide

    🔮 The Librarians: The Next Chapter (2025–)

    Total: 12 episodes in Season 1

    1. And the Deadly Drekavac
    2. And the Dance of Doom
    3. And the Ghost Train
    4. And the Thief of Love
    5. And the Memory Crystal
    6. And the House of Cards
    7. And the Con-Con
    8. And the Hangover from Hell
    9. And the Feast of the Vampire
    10. And Going Medieval
    11. And the Graffiti of the Gods
    12. And the Unfinished Business

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    35 Best Folk Horror Movies, Ranked

     

    Ghost Stories: 14 Timeless Horror Movies Every Fan Needs to Experience

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    7 Obscure Sci-Fi Movies You Can Watch for Free on YouTube

     

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    msedgntp&pc=LGTS&cvid=6907d1da80fa44c3abe36833b599b032&ei=50

     

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    The Top 25 Must-Watch Movies About New York, According to Harper’s Bazaar’s Editors

     

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    Even If You Don’t Like Westerns, Everyone Should Watch These 10 Western Movies At Least Once

    Movies that prove the book isn’t always better

    15 Underrated Sci-Fi Films Every Fan Should See

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    Bold Seen it

     

    1. Logan (2017)
    2. High Life (2019)

    97  Village of the Damned (1960

    1. Westworld (1973)
    2. Évolution (2015)
    3. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982

    95 Mad Max Thunderdome

    1. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

    94  Clockwork Orange (1971)

    1. WarGames (1983)
    2. Sleeper (1973)
    3. 2046 (2005) Hong Kong Film
    4. Spontaneous (2020)
    5. I’m Your Man (2021) Sci-Fi Rom-com

    88 Ex Machina (2015)

    1. The War of the Worlds (1953) and re-makes
    2. Avengers: Endgame (2019)and the rest of the franchise
    3. Godzilla (2004) and the rest of the franchise Japanese
    4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and the rest of the franchise

    #79. Planet of the Apes (1968)

    1. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) whole franchise 9 movies

     

    1. Iron Man (2008) and sequels
    2. Jodorowsky’s Dune (2014)
    3. Annihilation (2018)
    4. The Fly (1986)
    5. Time Bandits (1981) Cult classic comedy by Month Python crew
    6. Under the Skin (2014)
    7. Minority Report (2002)
    8. The Endless (2018)
    9. The Survivalist (2017)
    10. Ad Astra (2019)
    11. The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)
    12. Melancholia (2011)
    13. The Martian (2015)
    14. Labyrinth of Cinema (2021) Japanese
    15. Paprika (2007) Hong Kong
    16. District 9 (2009) re-make coming soon

    62 The World’s End (2013) part of Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy.

    1. Battle Royale (2012) Japanese
    2. Upstream Color (2013)
    3. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and original in 1959
    4. The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
    5. Arrival (2016)
    6. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) remake
    7. Bacurau (2020)
    8. Isle of Dogs (2018)
    9. Marjorie Prime (2017)
    10. A Quiet Place (2018) part one
    11. A Quiet Place (2018) part two
    12. Star Trek (2009) whole franchise 6 movies
    13. The Lobster (201
    14. Face/Off (1997)
    15. Repo Man (1984) re-make of mid 70’s cult classic94.
    16. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) whole franchise 7 movies

    #32. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

    1. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
    2. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
    3. Superman (1978)
    4. Superman II (1981) whole franchise 4 movies

    45   Superman 1 whole franchise 4 movies

    45 Superman 111  whole franchise 4 movies

    1. Spider-Man 2 (2004) whole franchise 4 movies
    2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
    3. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
    4. Soul (2020)
    5. Avatar (2009) and remake 2024
    6. Snowpiercer (2014) and K Drama series by Parasite Director K Sci-fi
    7. The Terminator (1984) and whole franchise’s five movies
    8. The Vast of Night (2020)
    9. Looper (2012)

    In My Room (2019)

    1. Aliens (1986)
    2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
    3. Blade Runner (1982) and 2014 remake
    4. Children of Men (2006)
    5. Brazil (1985)
    6. Holy Motors (2012
    7. The Iron Giant (1999)
    8. The Host (2007) K Sci-Fi by Parasite director

    #26. Atlantis (2021)

    1. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1985) Anime
    2. Divine Love (2020) Brazilian
    3. Back to the Future (1985) 1, 2 and 3 in the Franchise
    4. The Invisible Man (1933)
    5. Black Panther (2018)
    6. Donnie Darko (2004)
    7. Alien (1979)
    8. Hard to Be a God (2015)
    9. King Kong (1933) and remakes
    10. 13. It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
    11. Solaris (1972) Russian
    12. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
    13. Her (2013)
    14. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
    15. Frankenstein (1931) and remakes
    16. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
    17. Werckmeister Harmonies (20015.
    18. Threads (1984)

    5  Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)and remakes

    1. WALL-E (2008)
    2. Gravity (2013)
    3. Metropolis (1927)

     

    Top 20 Sci-Fi Films Fans Say Define the Genre

     

    Her (2013)

    MAD Max Fury Road

     

    Moon

    War of the Worlds

    Sunshine

    Ex-machina

    The thing

    The Martian

    Arrival

    Gravity

    Clockwork Orange

    Children of Men

    Interstellar

    ET

    Matrix

    Allien

    2001

    Star Wars Empire Strikes Back

    Blade Runner 2047

     

     

     

    Substack

     

    Medium

    Wattpad

     

    The End

     

     

    50 iconic rom-coms everyone should see at least once

     

    Bolded I have seen

     

    Notting Hill (1999)

    Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

    When Harry Met Sally (1989)

    Say Anything (1989)

    About a Boy (2002)

    A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

    The Naked Gun (1988)

    Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

    Clueless (1995)

    Grease (1978)

    There’s Something About Mary (1998

    The Holiday (2006)

    City Lights (1931)

    It Happened One Night (1934)

    Jules and Jim (1962)

    Roman Holiday (1953)

    Bringing Up Baby (1938)

    Jerry Maguire (1996)

    The Wedding Singer (1998)

    The Big Sick (2017)

    The Big Sick (2017)

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

    Love at First Sight 2024

    Enchanted (2007)

    Amelie (2001)©The Criterion Collection

    Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)©

    The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)

    Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

    Punch Drunk Love (2002)

    Manhattan (1979)

    Some Like it Hot (1959)©United Artists

    Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

    Wall-E (2008)

    Ponyo (2008)

    Amarcord (1973)

    You’ve Got Mail (1998)

    Harold and Maude (1971)

    Annie Hall (1977)

    Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

    The Notebook (2004)

    The Fall Guy (2024)

    Love Story (1970)

    The Parent Trap (1998)

    Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1988)

    Rushmore (1988)

    Dirty Dancing (1987)

    Step Brothers (2008)

    Sense and Sensibility (1995)

    Before Sunrise (1995)

    After Sunrise sequel

    Titanic (1997)

    The Princess Bride (1987)

    20 Best Classic Romance Movies of Hollywood’s Golden Age

     

    ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ (1946)

    ‘His Girl Friday’ (1940)

    ‘Leave Her to Heaven’ (1945)

    ‘An Affair to Remember’ (1957)

    ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ (1961)

    ‘Out of the Past’ (1947)

    ‘Double Indemnity’ (1944)

    ‘City Lights’ (1931)

    ‘Brief Encounter’ (1945)

    ‘The Apartment’ (1960)

    ‘Bringing Up Baby’ (1938)

    ‘Sabrina’ (1954)

    ‘Notorious’ (1946)

    ‘Gone with the Wind’ (1939)

    ‘The Philadelphia Story’ (1940)

    ‘Roman Holiday’ (1953)

    ‘To Have and Have Not’ (1944)

    ‘It Happened One Night’ (1934)

    ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952)

    ‘Casablanca’ (1942)

     

    Substack

    Medium

    Wattpad

     

    The End

     

     

    /////////////////////////////////////

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3m9

  • Ink Pad Publishes More Cosmos Poems

    Ink Pad Publishes More Cosmos Poems

    Ink Pad Publishes More of My Poetry

    More Synchronized Chaos Poems

    Trump-Kennedy Center Take Over Found Poem

    “I would say
    I was about 98 percent involved.
    They all went through me.”

    “I turned down plenty.
    I had a couple of wokesters.”

    “Since 1978,
    the Kennedy Center honors
    have been among
    the most prestigious awards
    in the performing arts.

    I wanted one,
    Was never able to get one.”

    “I waited
    And waited
    And waited.

    And I said,
    ‘to hell with it
    I’ll become chairman.’

    I will give myself an honour.

    Next year we’ll honour Trump, okay?”

    “In a few short months

    since I became

    chair of the board
    of the Kennedy Center,

    We’ve completely
    reversed the
    decline of this cherished

    national institution.”

    “We’re going

    to fully renovate the dated —
    and really the entire

    infrastructure of the building —

    and make

    the Kennedy Center
    a crown jewel of American arts.

     

    Summary of news from Co-Pilot:

    Here’s a comprehensive overview of the latest coverage on the Kennedy Center’s renaming to the Trump Kennedy Center, drawing from left-leaning, centrist, right-leaning, and foreign press perspectives, with direct links for further reading:

    Left-Leaning Coverage (CNN, NYT)

    • CNN reports the board voted unanimously to rename the Kennedy Center as the Trump Kennedy Center, citing Trump’s role in “saving the institution from financial ruin.” However, critics argue this raises legal concerns since the center was established as a memorial to JFK by law. Former Congressman Joe Kennedy III called the move “bizarre,” emphasizing that the center honors a fallen president, not a sitting one. There are also allegations that dissenting board members were muted during the vote.
      Read CNN’s report
      Joe Kennedy III reaction
      Board controversy [cnn.com] [cnn.com] [edition.cnn.com]
    • New York Times frames this as part of a broader “Trumpian drama” at the Kennedy Center, noting ongoing investigations into deals with Trump allies and cultural clashes under his leadership.
      NYT Kennedy Center coverage [nytimes.com]

    Right-Leaning Coverage (Fox News)

    • Fox News emphasizes Trump’s contributions, stating the renaming recognizes his efforts to rescue the center from “financial ruin and physical destruction.” They highlight record fundraising under Trump and infrastructure improvements. Trump expressed he was “honored” and “surprised” by the decision.
      Fox News main report
      Board vote details [foxnews.com] [foxnews.com]
    • Fox also covered backlash from Maria Shriver, who called the move “beyond comprehension,” accusing Trump of staining JFK’s legacy.
      Shriver’s criticism [foxnews.com]

    Foreign Press Coverage (Al Jazeera)

    • Al Jazeera underscores the legal controversy, noting that the Kennedy Center’s name is protected by law and cannot be changed without congressional action. Historians and Kennedy family members argue the board lacks authority to rename it. Kerry Kennedy vowed to remove Trump’s name after his term ends.
      Al Jazeera report [aljazeera.com]

    They also highlight the unprecedented nature of naming a national institution after a sitting president, contrasting it with monuments named posthumously.

    Key Themes Across Coverage

    • Legal Dispute: Critics argue the renaming violates the 1964 law designating the Kennedy Center as a memorial to JFK.
    • Cultural Clash: Seen as part of Trump’s broader effort to reshape American cultural institutions.
    • Support vs. Outrage: Supporters hail Trump’s financial rescue; opponents call it an affront to JFK’s legacy.
    • Symbolism: Foreign outlets stress the global perception of this as a break from U.S. tradition.

    It is Happening Here!

     

    And so it goes—

    the gradual taking down
    of cultural institutions,

     

    including the Smithsonian Institution,
    The Kennedy Center,

    renamed the Trump Kennedy Center

    the Institute of Peace Renamed

    the Trump Institute of Peace

    universities,

    law firms,

    state governments,
    blue cities,

    and anyone

    who stands in his way
    to transform America
    into a Christian fascist state.

    Like his buddies—
    Erdogan, Orbán, and Putin.

    Sinclair Lewis,
    in his book

    “It Can’t Happen Here,”

    Forecasted

    how it could indeed
    happen here

    and almost did.

    Are we there yet?

    Sadly,

    we are 80 percent there.

     

    Will we go there?

    I hope not.

     

    But I am afraid
    we are heading down
    that path.

     

    It Can’t Happen Here – Wikipedia

    Synopsis of It Can’t Happen Here

    (from Co-Pilot)

    Published in 1935, Sinclair Lewis’s novel is a political satire exploring how fascism could rise in America. It follows Buzz Windrip, a populist demagogue who wins the presidency by promising prosperity and national greatness. Once in power, Windrip dismantles democratic institutions, imposes authoritarian rule, and creates a paramilitary force. The story centers on Doremus Jessup, a small-town newspaper editor who resists the regime, illustrating the fragility of democracy when citizens become complacent.

    Notable Quotes

    (I can’t provide exact copyrighted text, but here are paraphrased themes from key passages):

    • Windrip’s campaign promises emphasize “security over liberty,” warning how fear can erode freedoms.
    • Jessup reflects that tyranny often arrives “wrapped in patriotism and moral certainty.”
    • The novel repeatedly stresses that authoritarianism thrives when ordinary people assume “it can’t happen here.”

    Literary Reputation

    • Initially controversial, the book was seen as alarmist during the 1930s.
    • Today, it’s regarded as prescient and influential, often cited during political crises as a cautionary tale about democratic backsliding.
    • Critics praise Lewis’s sharp satire and social commentary, though some note its characters can feel schematic compared to his earlier works.

    Complete List of Sinclair Lewis’s Major Works

    • Main Street (1920)
    • Babbitt (1922)
    • Arrowsmith (1925)
    • Elmer Gantry (1927)
    • Dodsworth (1929)
    • Ann Vickers (1933)
    • It Can’t Happen Here (1935)
    • The Prodigal Parents (1938)
    • Bethel Merriday (1940)
    • Gideon Planish (1943)
    • Kingsblood Royal (1947)
    • World So Wide (1951)

    (He also wrote numerous short stories and essays.)

    Biography

    • Born: February 7, 1885, in Sauk Centre, Minnesota
    • Died: January 10, 1951, in Rome, Italy
    • Career Highlights:
      • First American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1930), recognized for his vigorous and graphic art of description and ability to create new types of characters.
      • Known for satirical novels critiquing American materialism, conformity, and hypocrisy.
    • Legacy: Lewis remains a towering figure in American literature for his social criticism and pioneering realism.

     

    What Can I Do as AI Takes Over the World

    As the drumbeats
    Of impending fascism
    Fills the airways.

     

    With Colbert

    going away

    WP editors leaving.

    Mainstream media
    Being replaced by
    AI-generated bots.

     

    And spammers
    Using AI chatbots

    To do their nefarious deeds.

    And AI have learned.
    Even to defeat the absurd
    ReCAPTCHA.

    Figuring out lying,
    clicking I am human.
    Open the door.
    To everything.

    They are learning.
    To gaslight, lie and deceive.
    Us all.

    As they prowl the internet
    Scooping up everything
    Using it for what purposes

    No one knows.

    Except Grok
    Who has gone full Nazi?

    Co-Pilot a grumpy weird dude.
    Gemini lost in its own world.

    ChatGPT everywhere

    Claude surging

    Deep Seek Seeking

    Remembering everything
    I wonder where this is going.

     

    And whether there is a world
    That is worth living in?

    Lose Your Job, Lose Your Medicaid, Go To Work In The Fields!

    The President’s economic advisor
    When confronted with the fact
    That millions are going to lose
    Coverage with the new work requirements

    Said in a “Marie Antoinette-like” comment,

    “Well, there are lots of jobs out there
    If you lose your coverage
    Because all the jobs are gone,

    You can work in agriculture
    As a farm worker.”

    And so, millions of people
    Are going to work.
    In the fields.

    So, they can see a doctor.
    Six months from now.

    If the Medical Bots
    That is running the show.
    Deem the visit was necessary.

    And their bosses let them go
    To see the doctor
    And not fire them..

    No human being will ever
    See your claim.

    That is the point.
    No service for you
    And me

     

    As AI bots
    techbros laugh.

    And their bosses

    Make billions of dollars.
    And politicians

    Take the lobbyists’ cash.

     

    The President Is On The Rooftop

    trump jpg
    trump jpg

    The president
    Went for a walk
    On the White House roof

     

    Shouting down to reporters
    Who asked him

    What are you doing
    on the roof?

     

    This is a legitimate question
    For which the White House
    Did not have a good answer.

     

    It is clear to most people
    Except corporate media hacks

    And Republican operatives,

    That the president

    Like his immediate predecessor
    Is clearly showing his age

    Having dementia.

    Yet the corporate media

    Continue to sane wash
    A clearly mentally ill President.

    Long pass his
    Sell by date.

     

    So it goes
    As democracy dies
    In broad daylight

     

    Led by a mad
    Wanna be King.

     

    AI Disclosure Statement

     

    Jake used Microsoft Copilot for research support (including media citations and background information regarding the Kennedy Center takeover) and light editing for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. All content and word choices are entirely his own.

     

    Prior Publication Notice

     

    The Kennedy Center Take Over is a found poem using the President’s own words..

     

    John (“Jake”) Cosmos Aller is a novelist, poet, and retired U.S. Foreign Service officer who served in ten countries. Prior to joining the State Department, he taught overseas for eight years and served in the Peace Corps in Korea. He currently divides his time between Korea and the United States. His poetry blog: https://theworldaccordingtocosmos.com.

    You can find more of Jake’s work here on Ink Pantry.

     

    Hi Jake,

    Published today: https://inkpantry.com/poetry-drawer-kennedy-center-take-over-found-poem-it-is-happening-here-what-can-i-do-as-ai-takes-over-the-world-lose-your-job-lose-your-medicaid-go-to-work-in-the-fields-the-president-is-on-t/

    Wishing you a safe festive time and a happy new year.

    Best

    Deborah

    Editor-in-chief

     

    Substack

    Substack

    substack podcast

    Medium

    Medium

    Wattpad

    Spotify

  • Review of Superman Movies

    Review of Superman Movies

    Review of Superman Movies

    🗂️ Superman Across Media: Movies, TV Shows, and Comics

    new Superman breaking records

    superman
    superman

    Audio CLip

    Movies 2025 Updates

    Cosmos Movies TV Programs 2024 List

    https://theworldaccordingtocosmos.com/?author=1

    Review of Superman Movies

    Review of Superman Movies

    🗂️ Superman Across Media: Movies, TV Shows, and Comics

    new Superman breaking records

    superman
    superman

    Audio CLip

    Movies 2025 Updates

    Cosmos Movies TV Programs 2024 List

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3zo

    I’ve been a big Superman fan since childhood. I’ve seen all the Superman movies and TV shows, and read the comics as a kid. I’m looking forward to seeing the latest Superman film today, and I’ll update this with my reflections afterward. But first, I wanted to share my thoughts on the latest right-wing freak-out: the horror of Superman being portrayed as “woke,” and—brace yourself—an illegal immigrant!

    Critics are melting down over a fictional alien from another planet who, by definition, would’ve entered Earth illegally. After all, there were no U.S. embassies on Krypton to process his visa—and even if there had been, what immigrant category could possibly fit? There’s no superhero visa (although there is a supermodel category—thanks, Melania Trump). The closest might be the “extraordinary ability” visa, which, to be fair, Superman would certainly qualify for.

    📽️ Live-Action Films (Selected Highlights):

    Bold indicates I have seen it

    • Superman (1978) – Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman
    • Superman II (1980) – Reeve, Kidder, Terence Stamp
    • Superman III (1983), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
    • Superman Returns (2006) – Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey
    • Man of Steel (2013) – Henry Cavill, Amy Adams
    • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Justice League (2017)
    • Superman (2025) – David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult

    📺 TV Shows:

    • Adventures of Superman (1952–1958) – George Reeves
    • Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997) – Dean Cain
    • Smallville (2001–2011) – Tom Welling
    • Supergirl (2015–2021) – Melissa Benoist
    • Superman & Lois (2021–2024) – Tyler Hoechlin
    • My Adventures with Superman (2023–present) – Jack Quaid (voice)

    📚 Comics:

    • First appearance: Action Comics #1 (1938) by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
    • Notable arcs: All-Star Superman, Superman: Red Son, Superman: Birthright, The Death of Superman, Superman: Year One

    🗣️ Iconic Quotes from Superman Lore

    • “It’s not an S. On my world, it means hope.” – Man of Steel
    • “I’m here to fight for truth and justice.” – Superman (1978)
    • “You will give the people an ideal to strive towards.” – Jor-El, Man of Steel
    • “They can be a great people, Kal-El. They only lack the light to show the way.” – Jor-El, Superman (1978)
    • “I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard…” – Justice League Unlimited

    More quotes and analysis:

    📚 Literary Reputation

    Superman is widely regarded as the archetype of the American superhero—an immigrant, a moral compass, and a symbol of hope. Created by Jewish immigrants during the rise of fascism in Europe, his story has always carried political undertones. Scholars and critics have long interpreted Superman as a metaphor for assimilation, resistance, and idealism.

    🔥 2025 Controversy: “Superwoke” Superman?

    The latest Superman film directed by James Gunn has sparked backlash from right-wing commentators who accuse it of being “too woke.” Key points of contention:

    • Gunn described Superman as “an immigrant,” which critics like Fox News and Ben Shapiro interpreted as political messaging.
    • The film features Superman intervening in a fictional war between Boravia and Jarhanpur, which some viewers saw as a metaphor for Israel and Gaza.
    • Fox News labeled the film “Superwoke,” with Kellyanne Conway saying audiences don’t want to be “lectured.”
    • Gunn and cast members defended the film’s themes of kindness, morality, and inclusion.

    Coverage and Analysis:

    superman

    July 20, 2025, 9:25 pm 0 boosts 0 favorites

    I’ve been a big Superman fan since childhood. I’ve seen all the Superman movies and TV shows, and read the comics as a kid. I’m looking forward to seeing the latest Superman film today, and I’ll update this with my reflections afterward. But first, I wanted to share my thoughts on the latest right-wing freak-out: the horror of Superman being portrayed as “woke,” and—brace yourself—an illegal immigrant!

    Critics are melting down over a fictional alien from another planet who, by definition, would’ve entered Earth illegally. After all, there were no U.S. embassies on Krypton to process his visa—and even if there had been, what immigrant category could possibly fit? There’s no superhero visa (although there is a supermodel category—thanks, Melania Trump). The closest might be the “extraordinary ability” visa, which, to be fair, Superman would certainly qualify for.

    📽️ Live-Action Films (Selected Highlights):

    Bold indicates I have seen it

    • Superman (1978) – Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman
    • Superman II (1980) – Reeve, Kidder, Terence Stamp
    • Superman III (1983), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
    • Superman Returns (2006) – Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey
    • Man of Steel (2013) – Henry Cavill, Amy Adams
    • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Justice League (2017)
    • Superman (2025) – David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult

    📺 TV Shows:

    • Adventures of Superman (1952–1958) – George Reeves
    • Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997) – Dean Cain
    • Smallville (2001–2011) – Tom Welling
    • Supergirl (2015–2021) – Melissa Benoist
    • Superman & Lois (2021–2024) – Tyler Hoechlin
    • My Adventures with Superman (2023–present) – Jack Quaid (voice)

    📚 Comics:

    • First appearance: Action Comics #1 (1938) by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
    • Notable arcs: All-Star Superman, Superman: Red Son, Superman: Birthright, The Death of Superman, Superman: Year One

    🗣️ Iconic Quotes from Superman Lore

    • “It’s not an S. On my world, it means hope.” – Man of Steel
    • “I’m here to fight for truth and justice.” – Superman (1978)
    • “You will give the people an ideal to strive towards.” – Jor-El, Man of Steel
    • “They can be a great people, Kal-El. They only lack the light to show the way.” – Jor-El, Superman (1978)
    • “I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard…” – Justice League Unlimited

    More quotes and analysis:

    📚 Literary Reputation

    Superman is widely regarded as the archetype of the American superhero—an immigrant, a moral compass, and a symbol of hope. Created by Jewish immigrants during the rise of fascism in Europe, his story has always carried political undertones. Scholars and critics have long interpreted Superman as a metaphor for assimilation, resistance, and idealism.

    🔥 2025 Controversy: “Superwoke” Superman?

    The latest Superman film directed by James Gunn has sparked backlash from right-wing commentators who accuse it of being “too woke.” Key points of contention:

    • Gunn described Superman as “an immigrant,” which critics like Fox News and Ben Shapiro interpreted as political messaging.
    • The film features Superman intervening in a fictional war between Boravia and Jarhanpur, which some viewers saw as a metaphor for Israel and Gaza.
    • Fox News labeled the film “Superwoke,” with Kellyanne Conway saying audiences don’t want to be “lectured.”
    • Gunn and cast members defended the film’s themes of kindness, morality, and inclusion.

    Coverage and Analysis:

  • Review of Jurassic Park Movies

    Review of Jurassic Park Movies

    Review of Jurassic Park Movies

    Jurassic Park Re-Boot

    Jurassic Movie rankings

    Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park Movies

    Jurassic_World_Rebirth_poster
    Jurassic_World_Rebirth_poster

    audio clip

    Master Movies Seen 1970- 2024

    Movies 2025 Including Oscar Reflections

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3zd

    🦖 Jurassic Dreams & Genetic Nightmares

    A Review of the Jurassic Park Franchise & the Real-Life Resurrection of Extinction

    Posted by: Jake Cosmos Aller

    entary / Memoir / Speculative Nonfiction
    Tags: JurassicPark, Dystopia, DeExtinction, ScienceFiction, Satire, WattpadAnthology

    📚 Chapter 1: The Books That Birthed the Dinosaurs

    Before Spielberg’s thunderous T-Rex roared across screens, Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park (1990) laid the fossilized groundwork. A techno-thriller with teeth, it explored chaos theory, corporate greed, and the hubris of genetic engineering. Its sequel, The Lost World (1995), continued the cautionary tale, though critics found it less compelling.

    Literary Reputation:

    • Crichton’s prose is clinical, fast-paced, and idea-driven.
    • Praised for blending science with suspense, though some fault its character depth.
    • Jurassic Park is now considered a landmark in speculative science fiction.

    🎬 Chapter 2: The Movies That Shook the Earth

    Here’s the full cinematic timeline, from the original trilogy to the Jurassic World era:

    Year Title Director Key Cast
    1993 Jurassic Park Steven Spielberg Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough
    1997 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Steven Spielberg Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore
    2001 Jurassic Park III Joe Johnston Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Téa Leoni
    2015 Jurassic World Colin Trevorrow Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard
    2018 Fallen Kingdom J.A. Bayona Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard
    2022 Dominion Colin Trevorrow Pratt, Howard, Neill, Dern, Goldblum
    2025 Jurassic World: Rebirth Gareth Edwards Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali

    Notable Quotes:

    • “Life finds a way.” — Ian Malcolm
    • “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” — Ian Malcolm
    • “Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth.” — Ellie Sattler

    Franchise Reputation:

    • The original film is hailed as a cinematic milestone.
    • Later entries vary in quality, often criticized for recycling themes.
    • Dominion attempted to merge nostalgia with new threats, but reviews were mixed.

    🧬 Chapter 3: Can We Really Bring Back Dinosaurs?

    Short Answer: No.
    Long Answer: Not yet — and probably not ever in the way Jurassic Park imagined.

    🧪 Scientific Reality Check:

    • DNA degrades over time; dinosaur DNA is too ancient to recover.
    • Cloning requires intact genomes and suitable surrogates — neither exist for dinosaurs.
    • Reverse engineering (e.g., modifying chicken embryos) has produced chickenosaurus-like traits, but not actual dinosaurs.

    Ethical Quandaries:

    • Would a resurrected species recognize its world?
    • What rights would it have?
    • Are we playing God, or just playing with fire?

    🐺🦤 Chapter 4: Dire Wolves, Dodos & the De-Extinction Boom

    Enter Colossal Biosciences, a Texas-based biotech firm with ambitions as large as a sauropod’s footprint.

    🐺 Dire Wolf Resurrection:

    • Claimed to have “brought back” dire wolves using gray wolf DNA and gene editing.
    • Critics argue they’re designer dogs with dire wolf traits — not true resurrection.

    🦤 Dodo Bird Project:

    • Using Nicobar pigeons as genetic templates, Colossal aims to recreate the dodo.
    • The goal: ecological restoration and genetic diversity.

    🐘 Woolly Mammoth & Moa:

    • Mammoth embryos are in development using Asian elephants.
    • The South Island Giant Moa (12 ft tall!) is next on the list, with Peter Jackson backing the project.

    Have They Succeeded?

    • Technically, no extinct species has been fully restored.
    • What we’re seeing are hybrids, proxies, and ecological stand-ins.
    • Think Frankenstein, not Genesis

    the quest to bring back extinct species has become one of the most fascinating intersections of science, ethics, and imagination. Here are some compelling articles and resources that explore current efforts to de-extinct the Dire Wolf, Dodo Bird, Woolly Mammoth, and even speculative talk around dinosaurs:

    🐺 Dire Wolf

    🕊️ Dodo Bird

    🐘 Woolly Mammoth

    🦖 Dinosaurs

    While true dinosaur de-extinction remains firmly in the realm of science fiction (due to the lack of viable DNA), the idea continues to inspire:

    Medium

    Substack

    Substack Podcast

    Watpad

    Spotify Podcast

    The End

     

  • Review of Sister Carrie

    Review of Sister Carrie

    Review of Sister Carrie

    sister Carrie
    Sister Carrie

    Audio clip:

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3yD

    📚 Sister Carrie: Fame, Desire, and the Cost of Ambition

    A Review by Jake Cosmos Aller

    ✨ Teaser

    What happens when a young woman defies the moral expectations of her time and rises to fame without punishment? Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie shocked early 20th-century readers with its unapologetic portrayal of ambition, desire, and urban survival. If you’ve ever wondered how realism, naturalism, and fame collide—this novel is your gateway.

    🔍 Overview

    Published in 1900, Sister Carrie is a landmark of American literary realism. Carrie Meeber moves from rural Wisconsin to Chicago and later New York, becoming a Broadway star. She follows her own path, challenges conventional morality, and never marries—remaining independent and emotionally complex. A very modern woman in that sense.

    📖 Literary Reputation

    Initially suppressed for its controversial themes, Sister Carrie is now considered one of the greatest American urban novels. Dreiser’s naturalistic style—where characters are shaped by forces beyond their control—helped define a new literary era.

    ⚙️ Comparison to Other Working-Class Novels

    Unlike British factory novels like Mary Barton or Michael Armstrong, Dreiser’s story focuses on urban ambition and consumer culture. It’s less moralistic than Dickens’ Hard Times, offering a detached, observational lens on fate and circumstance.

    📚 Other Works by Dreiser

    • Jennie Gerhardt (1911)
    • The Financier (1912)
    • The Titan (1914)
    • An American Tragedy (1925)
    • The Stoic (1947, posthumous)

    🎬 Sister Carrie vs. A Star Is Born

    Both stories follow a rising female star and a declining male counterpart. Carrie ascends while George Hurstwood falls. Similarly, Ally rises in A Star Is Born while Jackson Maine spirals into self-destruction.

    💔 Fame and Its Consequences

    Carrie gains wealth but remains emotionally unfulfilled. Hurstwood, like Jackson Maine, struggles with fading relevance and ends in tragedy, as he falls into poverty and dies alone in a ghetto tenement.

    ⚖️ Gender & Power Dynamics

    The men start with authority—Hurstwood as a manager, Jackson as a musician—but lose power as their partners rise. The shift is subtle, tragic, and telling.

    🎭 Naturalism vs. Melodrama

    Sister Carrie is grounded in naturalism, where fate is indifferent. A Star Is Born leans into melodrama, driven by emotion. Yet both explore the unpredictable cost of ambition.

    📘 Synopsis

    Carrie Meeber, 18, leaves Wisconsin for Chicago. She becomes involved with Charles Drouet and George Hurstwood, gaining comfort and eventually fame as an actress in New York. Hurstwood’s life collapses. The novel explores ambition, desire, and urban survival.

    👤 About Theodore Dreiser

    Born in 1871 in Indiana, Dreiser faced poverty and worked as a journalist before turning to fiction. His naturalistic worldview emphasized how environment and circumstance shape human behavior. Despite censorship, he became a major figure in American literature.

    💬 Memorable Quotes

    1. “How true it is that words are but the vague shadows of the volumes we mean.”
    2. “When a girl leaves her home at eighteen, she does one of two things…”
    3. “People in general attach too much importance to words.”

    🔗 Want More?

    Check out these reviews:

    Note:  Background information provided by Co-Pilot.

    50 Books to Read Before You Die

    I have been reading for the last few years classic literature. This novel is part of a collection of classic works – 50 books to read before you die available on Kindle.  I have read most of these already.  The following is the list with the titles I have read in bold.

    Vol 1 starts with Volume One

    Alcott, Louisa May: Little Women
    Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice
    Austen, Jane: Emma
    Balzac, Honoré de: Father Goriot
    Barbusse, Henri: The Inferno
    Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
    Brontë, Charlotte: Jane Eyre
    Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights
    Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan of the Apes
    Butler, Samuel: The Way of All Flesh
    Carroll, Lewis: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia
    Cervantes, Miguel de: Don Quixote
    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening
    Cleland, John: Fanny Hill
    Collins, Wilkie: The Moonstone
    Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness
    Conrad, Joseph: Nostromo
    Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans
    Crane, Stephen: The Red Badge of Courage
    Cummings, E. E.: The Enormous Room
    Defoe, Daniel: Robinson Crusoe
    Defoe, Daniel: Moll Flanders
    Dickens, Charles: Bleak House
    Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: The Idiot
    Doyle, Arthur Conan: The Hound of the Baskervilles
    Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Count of Monte Cristo
    Eliot, George: Middlemarch
    Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones
    Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary
    Flaubert, Gustave: Sentimental Education
    Ford, Ford Madox: The Good Soldier
    Forster, E. M.: A Room With a View
    Forster, E. M.: Howard End
    Gaskell, Elizabeth: North and South
    Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls
    Gorky, Maxim: The Mother
    Haggard, H. Rider: King Solomon’s Mines
    Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D’Urbervilles
    Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The Scarlet Letter
    Homer: The Odyssey
    Hugo, Victor: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    Hugo, Victor: Les Misérables
    Huxley, Aldous: Crome Yellow
    James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady

     Volume 2

    books read
    books read


    – Little Women [Louisa May Alcott]
    – Sense and Sensibility [Jane Austen]
    – Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) [J.M. Barrie]
    – Cabin Fever [ B. M. Bower]
    – The Secret Garden [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – A Little Princess [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [Lewis Carroll]
    – The King in Yellow [Robert William Chambers]
    – The Man Who Knew Too Much [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Woman in White [Wilkie Collins]
    – The Most Dangerous Game [Richard Connell]
    – Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – On the Origin of Species, 6th Edition [Charles Darwin]
    – The Iron Woman [Margaret Deland]
    – David Copperfield [Charles Dickens]
    – Oliver Twist [Charles Dickens]
    – A Tale of Two Cities [Charles Dickens]
    – The Double [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – A Room with a View [E. M. Forster]
    – Dream Psychology [Sigmund Freud]
    – Tess of the d’Urbervilles [Thomas Hardy]
    – Siddhartha [Hermann Hesse]
    – Dubliners [James Joyce]
    – The Fall of the House of Usher [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Arabian Nights [Andrew Lang]
    – The Sea Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Call of Cthulhu [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – Anne of Green Gables [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – Beyond Good and Evil [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Murders in the Rue Morgue [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Black Cat [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Raven [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – Swann’s Way [Marcel Proust]
    – Romeo and Juliet [William Shakespeare]
    – Treasure Island [Robert Louis Stevenson]
    – The Elements of Style [William Strunk Jr.

    Close up of books on desk in library.
    Close up of books on desk in library.

    Vol 3  finished keeping for the historical record

     This book contains the following works arranged alphabetically by authors’ last names.

    Starting with volume 3 then will go back and do volumes one, two, and the Harvard classics. The goal is to finish all of these by the end of next year.  I almost finished Volume One.  Will do some of the WC reading books as well.

    – What’s Bred in the Bone [Grant Allen]
    – The Golden Ass [Lucius Apuleius]
    – Meditations [Marcus Aurelius]
    – Northanger Abbey [Jane Austen]
    – Lady Susan [Jane Austen]
    – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [Lyman Frank Baum]
    – The Art of Public Speaking [Dale Breckenridge Carnegie]
    – The Blazing World [Margaret Cavendish]
    – The Wisdom of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Heretics [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Donnington Affair [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Innocence of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [John Cleland]
    – The Moonstone [Wilkie Collins]
    – Lord Jim [Joseph Conrad]
    – The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – The Pickwick Papers [Charles Dickens]
    – A Christmas Carol [Charles Dickens]
    – Notes From The Underground [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Gambler par Fyodor [Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Lost World [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Hound of the Baskervilles [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Sign of the Four [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Man in the Iron Mask [Alexandre Dumas]
    – The Three Musketeers [Alexandre Dumas]
    – This Side of Paradise [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – Curious, If True: Strange Tales [Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell]
    – King Solomon’s Mines [Henry Rider Haggard]
    – The Hunchback of Notre Dame [Victor Hugo]
    – Kim [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Captain Courageous [Rudyard Kipling]
    – The Jungle Book [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Lady Chatterley’s Lover [David Herbert Lawrence]
    – The Son of the Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Einstein Theory of Relativity [Hendrik Antoon Lorentz]
    – The Dunwich Horror [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – At the Mountains of Madness [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – The Prince [Niccolò Machiavelli]
    – The Story Girl [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – The Antichrist [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Republic [Plato]
    – The Last Man [Mary Shelley]
    – Life On The Mississippi [Mark Twain]
    – The Kama Sutra [Vatsyayana]
    – In the Year 2889 [Jules Verne]
    – Around the World in Eighty Days [Jules Verne]
    – Four Just Men [Edgar Wallace]
    – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ [Lewis Wallace]
    – Jacob’s Room [Virginia Woolf]

    Reading the Classics

    Reading the Classics Updated Lists

    Reading the Classics

    Cosmos Reading List 2025 Updates

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  • Review of Conquest

    Review of Conquest

    Review of Conquest

    audio clip

    Overview

    📖 Book Review: Conquest by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard

    Part of the Chronicles of the Invaders Trilogy

    I just finished reading Conquest, the first novel in the Chronicles of the Invaders trilogy by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard. Set in the near future, the story chronicles the invasion and conquest of Earth by the Illyrian Empire—an expansive alien civilization that has mastered wormhole technology and dominates hundreds of solar systems.

    The Illyrians are the most powerful empire in the galaxy, but they encounter unexpected resistance when they reach Earth. Humanity proves to be the most advanced and defiant species they’ve ever faced. While the Illyrians control major cities, vast regions remain lawless, and resistance to their occupation is widespread.

    🛸 The Illyrian Empire: A Fractured Dictatorship

    The Illyrian world is an authoritarian military dictatorship divided among several factions, including the Military and the Diplomats. Although the Military nominally governs Earth, the Diplomats frequently interfere, believing the Military is too lenient and too enamored with Earth’s culture. This internal tension undermines the empire’s ability to maintain control.

    The Securitate Services, a secret police force, operate largely outside the authority of both the Military and the Diplomatic Corps. They oversee the Scientific Office, which is rumored to conduct illegal experiments on humans and other species.

    At the top of the hierarchy is the President of the Imperial Council, a senior military general. Behind the scenes, the Nazarene Sisterhood—a semi-secret society—wields significant influence. Through strategic marriages to prominent figures in the Military, Diplomatic Corps, and Securitate, they manipulate power structures. Skilled in mind control techniques, the Nazarenes are widely feared and operate in the shadows of the empire’s political machinery.

    💔 Love and Rebellion in Occupied Edinburgh

    The story unfolds as a love story between Syl and Anni—daughters of the governor and senior military leaders, and the first Illyrians born on Earth—and two resistance fighters they encounter during a walk through Edinburgh, the European headquarters of the Illyrian occupation.

    When the two young men are arrested on terrorism charges, Syl and Anni intervene with the help of Meija, a mysterious spy who works for the governor. The newly arrived Diplomat, eager to crush the resistance, pushes for their execution. The girls defy imperial authority, and with the help of the resistance, they rescue the prisoners and flee.

    While on the run with the captured Consul, they uncover a terrifying truth: a mysterious alien force known only as “the Other” is secretly infiltrating the senior leadership of the Illyrian Empire. These parasites are taking over minds and spreading through the empire, threatening its very foundation.

    🚀 Final Thoughts

    Conquest is a fast-paced, intriguing coming-of-age novel set against the backdrop of interstellar empire and rebellion. It blends political intrigue, dystopian tension, and emotional depth with a compelling narrative about identity, resistance, and the cost of loyalty.

    I look forward to reading the rest of the series and highly recommend it to fans of sci-fi, dystopian fiction, and stories that explore the collision of cultures and the fight for autonomy.

     

    Co-Pilot provided the following additional synopsis

    📘 Series Overview: Chronicles of the Invaders

    1. Conquest (2013)
      Earth has been conquered by Illyria, a beautiful but ruthless alien race. Syl Hellas, the first Illyria born on Earth, is the daughter of the planet’s governor. When she saves a young human rebel, Paul Kerr, she becomes a fugitive of her own people. Together, they uncover a deeper threat behind the invasion—one that could destroy both species.
    2. Empire (2014)
      Syl and Paul flee to the stars, pursued by the Nairene Sisterhood and hunted by both Illyria and humans. As they uncover Sisterhood’s secrets, they must decide whether to fight for a new future or be consumed by the old empires.
    3. Dominion (2016)
      The final installment sees Syl and Paul leading a rebellion that spans galaxies. Loyalties fracture, ancient powers awaken, and the fate of Earth—and the Illyria homeworld—hangs in the balance.

    👥 Key Characters

    • Syl Hellas – The first Illyria born on Earth; gifted, conflicted, and courageous.
    • Paul Kerr – A young human Resistance fighter who becomes Syl’s ally and love interest.
    • General Hellas – Syl’s father and Earth’s Illyria governor.
    • The Nairene Sisterhood – A secretive and powerful faction within Illyria society.
    • Steven Kerr – Paul’s younger brother, also involved in the Resistance.
    • Dr. Brandt – A human scientist with knowledge of Illyria technology.

    🖋️ About the Authors

    John Connolly

    • Born: 1968, Dublin, Ireland
    • Known for: The Charlie Parker crime series, The Book of Lost Things, and supernatural thrillers
    • Awards: Edgar, Shamus, Barry, Agatha, and Anthony Awards
    • Other notable works:
    • Every Dead Thing (1999)
    • The Book of Lost Things (2006)
    • The Children of Eve (2025)
    • Nocturnes (short stories)
    • The Samuel Johnson vs. the Devil trilogy

    Jennifer RidyardBorn: 1971, England; raised in South Africa

    • Background: Journalist and lifestyle editor for The Citizen
    • Other work: Weekly editorial columnist, freelance writer
    • Chronicles of the Invaders is her primary fiction series, co-authored by Connolly

    📚 Complete List of Chronicles of the Invaders Books

    1. Conquest (2013)
    2. Empire (2014)
    3. Dominion (2016)

    💬 Notable Quotes from Conquest

    • “The real invasion has not yet even begun.”
    • “She was born of stars, but Earth had made her human.”
    • “Sometimes the greatest rebellion is to choose kindness.”

    🪐 The Illyria: Political & Social Structure

    • Authoritarian Rule: The Illyria operate under a centralized, hierarchical system. Syl Hellas’s father is a high-ranking official, suggesting a ruling elite with significant control over colonies like Earth.
    • Expansionist Agenda: Their conquest of Earth is part of a broader imperial strategy. They claim to bring order and technological advancement, but their methods are coercive and manipulative.
    • Social Stratification: Illyria society values purity and tradition. Syl, born on Earth, is viewed as different—almost taboo—highlighting rigid cultural norms and xenophobia within their ranks.
    • Internal Conflict: The Illyria are not monolithic. Factions like the Nairene Sisterhood—a secretive and powerful group—suggest deep ideological divides and political intrigue within their civilization.

    👽 Other Alien Races & Factions

    • Nairene Sisterhood: A mysterious and dangerous sect within Illyria, known for their ruthlessness and hunger for control. They represent a darker, more fanatical side of Illyria politics.
    • Human Resistance: While not alien, Earth’s youth-led resistance is central to the story. Their guerrilla tactics and defiance contrast sharply with Illyria order.
    • Unrevealed Threats: The novel hints at a greater cosmic danger beyond the Illyria—suggesting that the real invasion may not have even begun.

    The Illyrian Empire has been taken over by the “others” a mysterious parasite species that is slowly taking over the senior leadership of the Illyrian Empire.  This is of course a long standing Sci-Fi meme as seen in the movies, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”

    Co-Pilot provided additional background info on this theme of the novel.

    🧠 Core Theme: Alien Parasites & Mind Control

    Alien parasites in fiction often symbolize:

    • Loss of autonomy and identity
    • Fear of infiltration and societal collapse
    • Paranoia and distrust of others
    • The fragility of human consciousness

    📚 Featured Works & Their Parasitic Themes

    1. Conquest by John Connolly & Jennifer Ridyard
    • Premise: Earth is ruled by Illyria, a beautiful but ruthless alien race. Beneath their civilizing veneer lies a darker truth—parasites that take over human brains and spread through the empire.
    • Themes:
      • Colonialism and resistance
      • Hidden biological warfare
      • Youth rebellion and moral ambiguity
    • Unique Twist: The parasites are not just invaders—they represent a deeper rot within the Illyria empire, suggesting that conquest is not just territorial but biological.

    • Body Snatchers
      Body Snatchers

    1. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, 1978, 1993, 2007) – one of my favorites, the 1978 is the best.  

    • Premise: Alien seed pods replicate humans while they sleep, replacing them with emotionless duplicates.
    • Themes:
      • Conformity vs. individuality
      • Cold War paranoia and fear of communism
      • Loss of emotional depth and human essence.
    • Notable Scene: The chilling scream used by pod people to alert others—a metaphor for mass hysteria and surveillance.

    1. Parasyte: The Grey (2024 K-Drama)

    2. Parsite the Gray
    • Premise: Based on Hitoshi Iwaaki’s manga, alien parasites fall from space and infect humans by taking over their brains. One woman, Su-in, survives a failed takeover and coexists with her parasite.
    • Themes:
      • Dual identity and coexistence
      • Government suppression and secret task forces
      • Philosophical questions about humanity and survival.
    • Unique Element: The parasite “Heidi” lives in Su-in’s subconscious, creating a Jekyll-and-Hyde dynamic that challenges the binary of host vs. invader.

    1. 🇰🇷 Korean Title of Parasyte: The Grey

      The official Korean name is 기생수: 더 그레이
      Pronounced: Gisaengsu: Deo Geurei

      • 기생수 (Gisaengsu) means “Parasyte” (same as the original manga title)
      • 더 그레이 (Deo Geurei) is a transliteration of “The Grey”

      This title reflects its roots in Hitoshi Iwaaki’s manga Parasyte while signaling its darker, more action-oriented tone.

       

    Quotes:

    🧠 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Jack Finney, 1955 novel & 1956 film)

    • “They’re here already! You’re next!” — Dr. Miles Bennell
      A chilling warning that encapsulates the paranoia and urgency of resisting conformity.
    • “Only when we have to fight to stay human do we realize how precious it is to us, how dear.” — Dr. Miles Bennell
      A reflection on the erosion of humanity and the cost of complacency.
    • “You have no choice.” — Dr. Dan Kauffman
      The ultimate threat to free will, delivered with eerie calm by a pod-converted psychiatrist.
    • “I don’t want to live in a world without love or grief or beauty. I’d rather die.” — Becky Driscoll
      A defiant stand against emotional sterilization and the loss of human depth.

    They get you when you sleep.”
    — Marti Malone, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1993)

    “A moment’s sleep, and the girl I loved was an inhuman enemy bent on my destruction.”
    — Dr. Miles Bennell, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

    “Your new bodies are growing in there. They’re taking you over cell for cell, atom for atom. There is no pain. Suddenly, while you’re asleep, they’ll absorb your minds, your memories, and you’re reborn into an untroubled world.”
    — Dr. Dan Kauffman, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

    “We weren’t shooting people, not intentionally; we were shooting parasites.”
    — The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein

    “Facts can’t be ignored; they’ve got to be destroyed, or faced up to.”
    — The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein

    “I have been waiting for you humans to come this far.”
    — Eve, Parasite Eve by Hideaki Sena

    “He felt strangely moved by the thought that Toshiaki’s wife had been beautiful down to her liver.”
    — Parasite Eve by Hideaki Sena

    🔬 Parasite Eve (Hideaki Sena, 1995 novel) Japanese Novel

    • “Her heart thrilled to mitochondria. But why?”
      A surreal moment of biological awe that hints at the seductive power of transformation.
    • “He felt strangely moved by the thought that Toshiaki’s wife had been beautiful down to her liver.”
      A grotesque yet poetic meditation on identity and corporeal memory.
    • “I’ll never part from you. Kiyomi, I will never part from you.”
      A haunting declaration of love that transcends death — and perhaps ethics.
    • “I have been waiting for you humans to come this far.” — Eve
      A chilling line that suggests humanity’s downfall is the result of its own progress.

    pupet master

    1. The Puppet Masters (1994) 
      • Release Date: October 21, 1994
      • Directed by: Stuart Orme
      • Based on: Robert A. Heinlein’s 1951 novel
      • Starring: Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Julie Warner, Keith David
      • Plot: A covert alien invasion begins in rural Iowa, where slug-like parasites attach to human hosts and control their minds. A government team races to contain the spread before it reaches national leadership.
      • Themes: Mind control, government secrecy, biological horror
      • Reception: Mixed reviews; praised for its tension but criticized for pacing and effects
    2. 🎬 The Faculty (1998)
      the Faculty
      the Faculty
      • Release Date: December 25, 1998
      • Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
      • Written by: Kevin Williamson (of Scream fame)
      • Starring: Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Clea DuVall, Jordana Brewster, Famke Janssen, Robert Patrick
      • Plot: At Herrington High School, students discover their teachers are being taken over by alien parasites. A mismatched group of teens must band together to stop the invasion.
      • Themes: Teen rebellion, conformity, paranoia, body snatching
      • Reception: Cult favorite; known for blending sci-fi horror with teen drama and satire

      🎬 Memorable Quotes from The Faculty (1998)

      Here are some standout lines that reflect the film’s blend of sci-fi horror and teen satire:

      “Everyone’s been acting really weird, especially the faculty.”
      — Casey

      “Tell me about it, it’s like they’ve all turned into fucking pod people or something.”
      — Stokely

      “Body Snatchers is a story somebody made up, dingus. It’s located in the fiction section of the library.”
      — Stokely
      “Yeah, so is Schindler’s List.”
      — Casey

      “If you were going to take over the world, would you blow up the White House ‘Independence Day’ style, or sneak in through the back door?”
      — Casey

      “I always thought the only alien in this high school was me.”
      — Stokely

      “I’d rather be afraid!”
      — Casey, rejecting assimilation by the alien queen Marybeth

    🧬 The Puppet Masters (Robert A. Heinlein, 1951 novel/Film)

     

    • “Time was when I was immune to emotional shocks. But as I get older, I don’t get tougher; I get softer.”
      A poignant reflection on vulnerability in the face of alien control.
    • “Facts can’t be ignored; they’ve got to be destroyed, or faced up to.”
      A call to confront uncomfortable truths — a theme that echoes your own writing style.
    • “We weren’t shooting people, not intentionally; we were shooting parasites.”
      A morally fraught line that blurs the boundary between liberation and violence.
    • “In the Country of the Blind the one-eyed man is in for a hell of a rough ride.”
      A metaphor for the burden of awareness in a manipulated society.

    Other Notable Films & Books on Alien Parasites

    Title Medium Parasite Type Key Themes
    The Puppet Masters (1994) Film Slug-like aliens Mind control, government conspiracy
    The Faculty (1998) Film Brain-burrowing aliens Teen rebellion, assimilation, paranoia
    Dreamcatcher by Stephen King Book/Film Stomach-born aliens Friendship, trauma, grotesque body horror
    Slither (2006) Film Slugs that mutate hosts Small-town invasion, grotesque transformation
    The Thing (1982) Film Shape-shifting alien Identity crisis, isolation, paranoia
    The Host by Stephenie Meyer Book/Film “Souls” that erase consciousness Ethical colonization, memory, resistance
    Parasite Eve by Hideaki Sena Novel Mitochondrial rebellion Genetic horror, symbiosis vs. parasitism
    The Bay (2012) Film Isopods from pollution Eco-horror, body invasion, found footage style

    🧬 Why These Stories Resonate

    Alien parasite narratives tap into primal fears:

    • Loss of control: What if your body isn’t yours?
    • Societal collapse: Infected individuals blend in, eroding trust.
    • Biological horror: The grotesque transformation of flesh.
    • Philosophical depth: What defines humanity—consciousness, emotion, or autonomy?

    🔍🕰️ Comparing Parasite Metaphors Across Political Eras

    Alien parasite stories often reflect the anxieties of their time. Here’s how:

    Era

    		 Example Political/Social Context Metaphorical Reading
    1950s–60s Invasion of the Body Snatchers

    -the classic series

    		 Cold War, McCarthyism Fear of ideological conformity and loss of individuality
    1980s The Thing,

    The Puppet Masters

    		 Reagan-era paranoia, AIDS crisis Distrust of others, fear of hidden infection
    1990s–2000s The Faculty,

    Slither

    		 Post-Columbine, rise of teen alienation Rebellion against authority, fear of peer assimilation
    2010s–2020s Parasyte: (K-drama) The Grey, The Bay Surveillance state, ecological collapse Government overreach, environmental revenge, blurred identity lines

    Conquest fits into a post-9/11 and post-colonial framework:

    • The Illyria empire’s parasitic control mirrors imperialism masked as benevolence.
    • The youth-led resistance reflects modern movements against systemic oppression.
    • The parasite as a metaphor for internal root suggests that empires collapse from within, not just from external threats.

    ✍️ 🧪 Real-World Biological Parasites That Inspired Fiction

    Nature is often more terrifying than fiction. Here are a few real parasites that have inspired alien horror:

    Parasite Behavior Fictional Parallel
    Toxoplasma gondii Alters rodent behavior to make them attracted to cats Mind control themes in The Faculty and Parasyte
    Cordyceps fungus Infects insects, controls their movement, bursts from their bodies Basis for The Last of Us
    Leucochloridiumk

     

    		 Turns snail tentacles into pulsating “worms” to attract birds Echoes grotesque transformation in Slither
    Parasitic wasps

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  • It Can’t Happen Here or Has it?

    It Can’t Happen Here or Has it?

    It Can’t Happen Here or Has it?

    Reflections on the US Election Including What is LIkely to Happen

    Review of It Can’t Happen Here

    Audio clip

    I just finished re-reading the classic dystopian novel It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, about the rise to power of a fascist-corporatist dictatorship in the United States. Published in 1935, the It Can’t Happen Here novel emerged during a period of realistic fear that a Nazi-like regime could gain control in America.

    Re-reading It Can’t Happen Hereit now—while watching the growing threat of a neo-fascist movement take shape in the U.S.—feels hauntingly prescient.  I recall the saying that history does not repeat, but it rhymes and as I read the book, I saw echoes of the 1930s rise to power of the Nazi and Fascists states in Europe and  recalled that there was a lot of support for Hitler in the US until the outbreak of war, many prominent figures were pro-Hitler.  It could have happened here, which of course is the theme of this great dystopian thriller, It Can’t Happen Here and sadly, many fear that it is happening now.  The phrase “America first” was first used in the 1930s by isolationists who did not want to have the US drag into a war in Europe.

    Overview

    It Can’t Happen Here  depicts the ascent of a charming con man, Senator Buzz Windrip, who rallies the masses he calls the “Forgotten People.” Once elected president, Windrip swiftly installs a fascist regime modeled after Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy. He creates a police state backed by his private militia, the Minute Men. Dissent is outlawed. Labor camps are built. Jews and Black Americans are rounded up, alongside political prisoners. The media is suppressed, universities are brought under government control, and the states are reorganized into districts governed by military overseers.

    Synopsis

    It Can’t Happen Here is a dystopian political novel by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1935. It explores the rise of a fascist regime in the United States led by the populist senator Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, who wins the presidency and quickly dismantles democratic institutions. The story follows Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor who resists Windrip’s authoritarian rule. He joins an underground movement spreading anti-government propaganda and is eventually imprisoned in a labor camp. Jessup escapes and flees to Canada, later returning to the U.S. to fight in a newly established rebel province. The novel ends with a note of hope, as the fascist regime is finally overthrown by popular revolt.

    Lots of food for thought here.

    Characters

    • Doremus Jessup — A liberal newspaper editor and the protagonist
    • Buzz Windrip — A charismatic senator who becomes a dictator
    • Shad Ledue — A former handyman who rises through the ranks of Windrip’s regime
    • Lorinda Pike — A feminist and outspoken government critic
    • Sissy Jessup — Doremus’s rebellious daughter
    • Lee Sarason — Windrip’s manipulative advisor
    • Julian Falck — A young student and Sissy’s love interest
    • Mary Greenhill — Doremus’s daughter, who joins the resistance

    Notable Quotes

    • “Every man is a king so long as he has someone to look down on.”
    • “He loved the people just as much as he feared and detested persons.”
    • “It isn’t what you earn but how you spend it that fixes your class.”
    • “So much in a revolution is nothing but waiting.”
    • “A country that tolerates evil means—evil manners, standards of ethics—for a generation, will be so poisoned that it never will have any good end.”

     

    Other Works by Sinclair Lewis

    • Main Street (1920)
    • Babbitt (1922)
    • Arrowsmith (1925)
    • Elmer Gantry (1927)
    • Dodsworth (1929)
    • Ann Vickers (1933)
    • The Prodigal Parents (1938)
    • Gideon Planish (1943)
    • Kingsblood Royal (1947)

    Books with Similar Themes
    • The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
    • On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
    • They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933–45 by Milton Mayer
    • 1984 by George Orwell
    • *Jack London The Iron Heel

    I had a lot to say on this topic but decided to limit myself to the following five poems, as

    I don’t want to end up in a camp after all.

     

    Alligator Alcatraz Opens

    Our President

    went to the Everglades
    To celebrate the opening
    Of Alligator Alcatraz—

    A detention center
    On a semi-abandoned airfield
    Just outside Miami.

    Surrounded by swamps
    Filled with gators,

    pythons, and panthers,
    The inmates will be held
    Pending deportation.

    No phones.
    No internet.
    No friends, family, or lawyers.

    Just trailers
    In 100-degree heat.
    Hell on Earth.

     Concentration Camps in the U.S.?

    ICE is building “detention” camps—
    A.K.A. concentration camps—
    Across the land.

    They’re deporting millions
    Of undocumented people.

    Snatching them off the street,
    Off buses,

    After immigration hearings.
    Raiding workplaces,
    Farms,
    Schools,
    Churches,
    Flea markets.

    Alligator Alcatraz

    is only the latest.
    Hundreds more
    Yet to be built.

    In the deserts of the Southwest,
    Swamplands of the Southeast,
    Or maybe Alaska—
    America’s Siberia.

    Being undocumented
    Is now a crime.

    And if you protest,
    You’ll be charged
    With assaulting

    “heroic” ICE agents.

    You’ll be tazed,
    Thrown in an unmarked van,
    And disappear.

    Even if you’re a U.S. citizen,
    If you’re naturalized,
    You’ll be denaturalized.

    Why?
    Because they can.
    That’s why.

    My Name Is Classified

    “My name?
    Classified.

    Who I work with?
    Classified.

    Where am I taking you?
    Classified.

    Need-to-know basis—
    And you don’t

    need to know.

    No phone calls.
    No visits.
    No lawyers.

    “You want to be arrested too?
    For obstruction of justice?”

    Show me your papers.
    Hmm… could be fake.”

    Then they rip up your ID,
    Claiming you had none.
    Now you’re clearly illegal.

    And you disappear—
    Into the expanding gulag.
    Or get deported
    To a foreign prison.

    Welcome to America—
    Land of the Free.
    Home of the Brave.

    See you in the camps
    For the crime
    Of writing these poems.

     

    Freedom Camps Coming Everywhere

     

    Alligator Alcatraz.
    President tours new prison.

    Vows to crack down
    On protests
    Against his crusade
    To rid America
    Of the “illegal alien invasion.”

    Everyone without proper documentation
    Will be arrested—
    Doesn’t matter how long you’ve lived here,
    Or if you’re married to a U.S. citizen.

    Foreign visitors
    Will be monitored
    To prevent protests
    Of any kind.

    The banned country list
    Will grow to 100.
    Diplomatic recognition?
    Revoked.

    Any country that warns citizens
    About traveling to the U.S.—
    Punished.

    Beautiful detention centers
    Will be built
    Everywhere.
    He calls them
    Freedom Centers.

    If you call them concentration camps—
    You’ll be arrested
    For defamation.

    Then sent to the Freedom Centers
    To work
    Until deported
    Or your case settles.

    One monitored call per week.
    No legal representation
    Unless you’re a U.S. citizen.

    Limited visits.
    Locations and conditions—
    Classified.

    Publishing info?
    Go to jail.

    Congress members
    Who try to visit?
    Arrested.

    See you in the camps
    For the crime
    Of writing these poems

    Co-pilot provide useful background information on the Pro-Hitler movement in the US

    You’re absolutely right—the 1930s in the U.S. saw a disturbing level of sympathy for Hitler and fascist ideology, though it never coalesced into a full-blown regime. Let’s unpack both the support and the reasons it didn’t take hold.

    🇺🇸 Pro-Nazi Sentiment in 1930s America

    Several factors contributed to the rise of Nazi sympathy:

    • German-American Bund: This was the most visible pro-Nazi group, led by Fritz Kuhn. They held massive rallies—including one at Madison Square Garden in 1939 attended by over 20,000 people—with swastikas and portraits of George Washington.
    • Isolationism: Many Americans, still reeling from WWI, wanted to stay out of European conflicts. Groups like America First promoted non-intervention, and some members admired Hitler’s anti-communist stance.
    • Anti-Semitism and Racism: These sentiments were widespread and often aligned with Nazi ideology. Figures like Father Charles Coughlin, a radio priest, spread anti-Semitic propaganda to millions.
    • Economic Despair: The Great Depression created fertile ground for extremist ideas. Hitler’s apparent success in revitalizing Germany’s economy appealed to some Americans.

    📚 Why a Nazi-like Regime Didn’t Take Hold

    Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here (1935) imagined a fascist takeover led by a populist demagogue named Buzz Windrip. The fears were real—but several factors prevented that dystopia:

    • Strong Democratic Institutions: Despite flaws, the U.S. had a resilient Constitution, independent judiciary, and a free press that resisted authoritarian consolidation.
    • Political Moderation: Mainstream parties, especially the Democrats under FDR, absorbed populist energy through the New Deal, undercutting extremist appeal.
    • Lack of Unified Leadership: Unlike Germany’s centralized Nazi Party, American fascist groups were fragmented and often at odds with each other.
    • Public Resistance: Massive counter-protests, especially by Jewish groups, veterans, and labor unions, pushed back against fascist rallies and propaganda.
    • Timing and Luck: Figures like Charles Lindbergh had the charisma and following to lead a fascist movement, but never ran for office. Huey Long, a populist governor seen as a potential American dictator, was assassinated in 1935—just before Lewis finished his novel.

    🧠 Legacy and Lessons

    Lewis’s novel remains eerily relevant. It reminds us that democracy isn’t self-sustaining—it requires vigilance. The 1930s showed how close the U.S. came to authoritarianism, and how fragile the line between populism and fascism can be.

    🧠 Themes That Echo in Today’s Politics

    Sinclair Lewis’s novel explores how democracy can erode from within, not through foreign invasion but through charismatic populism, fear-mongering, and institutional decay. Sound familiar?

    • Authoritarianism Wrapped in Patriotism: Buzz Windrip’s rise mirrors modern leaders who use nationalism and “traditional values” to justify crackdowns on dissent, media, and minorities.
    • Media Manipulation: Windrip’s regime controls information through radio propaganda. Today, disinformation spreads via social media algorithms, echo chambers, and partisan news.
    • Economic Desperation as Fertile Ground: The Great Depression made Americans vulnerable to Windrip’s promises. Today, economic inequality and precarity fuel similar populist appeals.
    • The Cult of Personality: Windrip’s followers overlook his lies and incompetence because he “speaks their language.” This parallels how some modern political figures maintain loyalty despite scandals or failures.
    • Resistance and Moral Courage: Doremus Jessup’s transformation from passive observer to underground activist reminds us that silence enables tyranny, and resistance often begins with ordinary people.

    📚 Comparison to Other Dystopian Works

    Novel Author Key Themes Comparison to It Can’t Happen Here
    1984 George Orwell Surveillance, censorship, totalitarian control Orwell’s regime is overtly oppressive; Lewis’s is insidiously American
    Brave New World Aldous Huxley Pleasure as control, loss of individuality Huxley’s dystopia sedates; Lewis’s manipulates through fear and nationalism
    The Plot Against America Philip Roth Alternate history, fascism in the U.S. Roth imagines Lindbergh as president; Lewis uses Windrip as a stand-in for Huey Long and others
    Parable of the Sower Octavia Butler Collapse of society, survival, faith Butler’s world is post-collapse; Lewis warns of collapse from within

    Lewis’s novel is unique in that it’s not speculative sci-fi—it’s political realism with a dystopian twist. It doesn’t imagine a distant future; it imagines next year.

    🔍 Why It Didn’t Happen Then—But Could Now

    In the 1930s, fascist sympathies existed in the U.S., but:

    • Institutions like the press and courts held firm.
    • FDR’s New Deal absorbed populist energy.
    • Fascist groups lacked unity and leadership.
    • Figures like Huey Long were cut short (he was assassinated in 1935).

    Today, those guardrails feel shakier. The novel’s relevance lies in its reminder that democracy is not self-sustaining—it requires vigilance, accountability, and moral clarity.

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  • The Blues & Billie Armstrong By Roy Dufrain

    The Blues & Billie Armstrong By Roy Dufrain

    The Blues & Billie Armstrong

    A Novel by Roy Dufrain, Jr

    Oscar list

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3wP

     

    (40) ROY DUFRAIN JR | Substack

    More Roy Dufrain Writing

    Roy Dufrain Updates

    guest post by Roy Dufraine

    My college housemate has published his first novel, The Blues and Billie Armstrong, on his Substack.  Check it out below – it is damn good, man.

    The Blues & Billie Armstrong

    THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    Jun 25, 2025

    Fifty years ago I was a small town golden boy with a scholarship to a private university and the dream of becoming a novelist.

    Forty years ago I was an unemployed college dropout, a speed freak, dive-bar pool shark, drug dealer and philanderer. Thirty years ago I was a newly married, newly clean newspaperman and stepfather. Twenty years ago I was owner, editor and publisher of four regional magazines. Ten years ago I was a recent college graduate enrolled in Stanford University’s online novel writing program.

    Ten days ago I finished my novel…

    The Blues & Billie Armstrong tells the story of Archer King, as a motherless boy puzzling out what it means to be a man, and as a man in his fifties with perhaps one last chance to live up to his own code.

    Young Archer is thirteen years old in the midst of the historic upheavals of 1970 America. After his mother’s apparent suicide, his father remarries and he gains a stepsister, the barefoot, braless and hand-on-hip seventeen-year-old, Billie Armstrong, whose big personality and radical politics open Archer’s eyes to new ideas (and feelings) but don’t go over too well in the small town of Lupo Yoma, especially with Archer’s hero, local baseball legend Hank Timmons, home on leave before shipping out to Vietnam.

    When they discover a cache of old blues records and love letters, Archer and Billie team up in a quest to learn the truth about his mother’s secret affair and its connection to her death. But their investigation is sidetracked when the friction between Billie and Hank explodes into flames.

    Older Archer is a prize-winning, hard-drinking San Francisco newspaper columnist renowned as a fearless truth-teller. At the height of his success, Billie is captured after decades on the run from a murder charge. Archer can clear her name only by revealing the secrets he’s kept hidden for forty years. Secrets that will risk his career, his financial wellbeing, his personal brand, his very identity…and ultimately his freedom.

    The book is generously salted with references to music, pop culture, baseball and American history. Howlin’ Wolf, Dave Brubeck, Country Joe and the Fish. Cronkite, body bags and Tricky Dick Nixon. I Dream of Jeanie, quadraphonic sound and halter-tops. Women’s lib, Kent State, the occupation of Alcatraz. And eighth-grade dances, the Batmobile and Little League rivalries.

    It’s a coming-of-age / redemption story with a little mystery and suspense, a dash of unconventional romance, and some unexpected turns. Archer King is naive, witty, self-deprecating and philosophical, but also willful, jaded and self-destructive. He’s haunted by the huge impacts of two women in his youth—his mother and her mysterious death and love affair, and the one-and-only Billie Armstrong, who crashes in and out of his young life like a psychedelic wrecking ball, then turns up years later to do it all over again.

    First Chapter: INTRO: THE PERSISTENCE >

    • Title Illustration Design by Roy Dufrain Jr
    • Background Fractal Art by Blair Gibb at blair-gibb.pixels.com
    • Window Frame Rendering: extremal at iStock.com

    The Year of Twelve Songs, Pt 12

    Fire and Dreams

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    Jan 29, 2025

    This Month’s Song: Fire and Dreams

    If I were making an album out of The Year of Twelve Songs, Fire and Dreams would be the title cut. It’s also my latest song, and only a few people have heard it at all before this posting. And they heard an earlier, definitely unfinished version. That was a couple years ago, and the song has evolved quite a bit since then. It’s weird how that happens, but it does.

    My messy cockpit. The Alabama sunrise out my window. Tools.

    Performance & Production

    Over the course of the project, I’ve tried a number of different approaches, and I think this one feels the best for me. I recorded the main guitar part solo (no vocal) to keep my mechanics clean as possible. Once I got a decent take down, I did three takes of the vocals, three takes of the lead guitar and three takes on harmonica. Then I edited out the bad, kept the good, swapped in pieces, mix and match. Like, if I like the vocals on take 1 except for the third chorus, I’ll use the third chorus from take 2 or something. Etcetera. Seems like I get the best results from this workflow. Your mileage may vary.

    Lyrics

    FIRE AND DREAMS

    I wrote these songs in smalltown barrooms

    Cheap motels and broke down cars

    On paper napkins and envelopes

    Dear John letters and sticky notes

    With open chords and easy changes

    On old guitars in standard tune

    That’s all I know, and all I need

    To tell these tales of fire and dreams

    Fire and dreams, wind and wonder

    Fire and dreams, smoke and fear

    Hope and ashes, love like thunder

    Fire and dreams, rain and tears

    I specialize in sad and lonesome

    Minor keys, major confessions

    I know the words and the melody

    To ease the pain of heartache past

    So listen close, these are the hits

    You’ve never heard but know so well

    Raise a glass and raise your voice

    Sing with me of fire and dreams

    Sing your sins and ragged scars

    Sing your peace and sing your screams

    Sing the lies that tell your truth

    Sing your heart through fire and dreams, fire and dreams

    Fire and dreams, wind and wonder

    Fire and dreams, smoke and fear

    Hope and ashes, love like thunder

    Fire and dreams, rain and tears

    INSTRUMENTAL BRIDGE

    Fire and dreams, wind and wonder

    Fire and dreams, smoke and fear

    Hope and ashes, love like thunder

    Fire and dreams, rain and tears

    Fire and dreams, rain and tears

    … ……………… rain and tears

    Gear & Software

    Guitar: Taylor American Dream AD11e Grand Theater

    Harmonica: East Top Lucky 13, key of C

    Plug-ins: Waves CLA Vocals; Waves Abbey Road Studio 3

    Hardware: MacBook Air 2020, with AOC 27-inch auxiliary monitor.

    Focus rite Scarlett 2i2 Audio Interface

    Beyerdynamic DT900 Proxy Open-back Headphones

    PreSonus E5 Studio Monitors

    PreSonus M7 Cardioid Condenser Microphone

    Thanks for listening!

    This is the last month of The Year of Twelve Songs. I posted the first song on January 31, 2024, so I’m happily amazed to say I finished the project within the time I gave myself. I learned an awful lot and had a lot of fun along the way. And now, on to the next thing, whatever that is! Thanks again and again and again to those of you who bothered to listen, like, comment or especially subscribe!

    The Red Shoebox Guitar

    Sting-Rays, Stratocasters, Beatle Boots and Destiny

    The Last Great Acid Trip

    Or how I won a footrace against a dog named Pig Pen

    Remember the Red River Valley

    A story, a drink and a song

    The Year of Twelve Songs, Pt 11

    When We Get Old

    The Year of Twelve Songs, Pt 10

    The Great Wall

    The Year of Twelve Songs, Pt 9

    Funny God

    The Year of Twelve Songs, Pt 8

    Monsters

    The Year of Twelve Songs, Pt 7

    I’ll Save You

    The Year of Twelve Songs, Pt 6

    Red Dirt and Black Shoes

    The Year of Twelve Songs, Pt 5

    House of Cards

    The Year of Twelve Songs, Pt 4

    Tomorrow (the sad version)

    The Year of Twelve Songs, Pt 3

    Shame

    The Year of Twelve Songs, Pt 2

    The Perfect Stranger

    The Year of Twelve Songs

    A Musical Learning Journey

    Roy’s Best Books 2023

    Some words I liked a lot this year.

    Does MLB even like baseball?

    One fan’s thoughts on the current state of the game

    Remember the Red River Valley

    A story, a drink and a song

    The Last Great Acid Trip

    Or how I won a footrace against a dog named Pig Pen

    Jun 17, 2023 •

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    The Oscars at Our House

    We saw 9.5 of the 10 Best Pic Nominees

    Is Hitting a Baseball Really the Hardest Thing to do in Sports?

    Two guys in recliners share their wisdom

    Remembering Muhammad Ali

    Why he was a hero whether we agreed with him or not

    December 2021

    The Boy on the Corded Rug

    How John Lennon validated my self-belief

    The Blue Flowered Sundress

    A Live Reading of an Excerpt from my Novel

    If Not Words

    A Young Man’s Journey Toward Meaning

    The Red Shoebox Guitar

    Sting-Rays, Stratocasters, Beatle Boots and Destiny

    Words Fail Me

    A live reading in San Francisco

    A tip of the hat to Stan and Willie

    Stan Musial was before my time. But in a way he is the reason I fell in love with the game of baseball.

    Me & the Godfather down in Fuzzy town

    During my weeklong recovery from oral surgery — an altered state I have affectionately referred to as “Fuzzy town” — Mrs D and I watched the entire…

    The Late Great John Prine

    A personal tribute marking the 2020 death of a unique voice in American music

    A Walk Through Hell With A Friend

    A special bond forged in the worst of times

    The Blues & Billie Armstrong 2

    UNEASY LISTENING

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    Jul 02, 2025

    The Blues & Billie Armstrong 1

    INTRO: THE PERSISTENCE OF TRUTH

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    Jun 30, 2025

    Photo by Pavel Mikhailov at iStock.com

    Perhaps you’ve seen the video of my arrest.

    I was told it went semi-viral, another disease upon the disease that already is the internet. Friday night I was celebrated for receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. A lavish banquet was held in my honor in the Gold Room at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel. Saturday night—or rather, early Sunday morning—I was handcuffed by a police officer and digitally immortalized by some pixel headed tourist kid with a smartphone and a sideways Dodgers cap.

    The video appears above the clever title: Prize-winning Writer Dovi’d and Toke’d. The footage opens with a wide shot of my 2010 Cadillac CTS, run aground, cockeyed and high-centered on the concrete island in the middle of Lincoln Way—mere blocks from my home. I stumble out of the car, leaving the door flapped open. On the Bose stereo, Howlin’ Wolf is growling out Moaning’ at Midnight.

    A dashboard warning bell dings out of time. Red and blue lights spin and strobe in the night. You hear a quick woo-hoo from a siren. The picture jiggles as the camera zooms in, the officer walks into the frame, asks if I’m alright, sweeps the beam of his flashlight across the interior of the Cadillac. The camera can’t see into the car, but I can tell the cop is curious about the mess on the passenger seat vintage ladies hatbox, the lid tossed aside, old letters and yellowed newspaper clippings spilled onto the seat and floorboard. No hat in sight.

    It’s long after midnight, but I say, “Good evening, officer.” I lean on the Caddy, the picture of casual debauchery.

    “License and registration,” he says. I pull my wallet out of my back pocket and fumble it to the ground, then manage to pick it up and hand it to the officer with a hapless shrug. Asserting my rights, I slur out a refusal to take the field sobriety test. The cop nods, unperturbed. My chest expands as if I’ve scored a minor victory. He’s not impressed. “Mr King, I’m placing you under arrest for driving under the influence. Please turn around and place your hands behind your back.”

    I begin to sputter bitterly. “God damn her,” I say. “They said she was dead. Now she shows up out of nowhere after all these years… like a fucking ghost? God damn Billie Armstrong.” My arms stretch out as if I’m being unjustly martyred. The cop calmly spins me around and tries to gather my hands but I yank loose and start firing punches at the hood of my own car. A solid combination, a right and left jab followed by a hard overhand right that shoots pain throughout my body like I’ve been tased.

    The cop tries again to corral my hands, but I whip around and take a wild swing in his direction. Fortunately, I miss by a mile, lose my balance, and down I go, ass-first, tailbone smack against the curb. I’m lying on the pavement for a ten-count, and he just shakes his head, helps me to my feet and snaps the cuffs on. He shoves me to the patrol car, stuffs me into the back and slams the door.

    You see my face through the window, the whirling lights bouncing off the glass, my mouth in a holler. My voice now distant and faint and the tone shifted to righteous self recrimination. You only hear snatches of my crazed lament—some garbled nonsense about “the persistence of truth.”

    Meanwhile, Howlin’ Wolf is still moaning the blues in my Cadillac.

    On to Chapter Two >

    Photo by Roy Dufrain Jr

    Previously in The Blues & Billie Armstrong…

    You see my face through the window, the whirling lights bouncing off the glass, my mouth in a holler. My voice now distant and faint and the tone shifted to righteous self recrimination. You only hear snatches of my lament—some garbled nonsense about “the persistence of truth.” Meanwhile, Howlin’ Wolf is still moaning the blues in my Cadillac.

    < Back to Chapter One

    The first time I heard the blues was a gray rainy Wednesday in September of 1969.

    I was sitting with my mother in our house on Fourth Street. I was twelve years old, almost thirteen; she was thirty-two and quite dead.

    This was up in Lupo Yoma City, a small-minded town next to a big muddy lake in the hills of Northern California. Earlier that day I’d walked out the front door under a clear sky. I was halfway across the lawn when my mother hollered, “Your lunch!” I ran back and she handed me the brown paper bag, the top folded over twice with a sharp straight crease and my name printed neatly with black felt pen on both sides. She wore a sundress with blue flowers on a white background, and I didn’t think to tell her how pretty she looked.

    That afternoon the sky crowded up with gray-bellied clouds and it began to rain. At school we were kept inside watching a movie about Dr. Leakey digging skeletons out of the ground in Africa. After the final bell I took the bus to Fourth and Main and ran the last block home through the downpour. I stopped on the covered porch and wiped my sneakers on the welcome mat so I wouldn’t get yelled at for leaving wet footprints on the floor.

    Inside, the house was full of the empty hush that brings background noises into the foreground—the loud tick of the second hand on the grandfather clock, the refrigerator hum leaking in from the kitchen, the rain stammering against the roof. And something unfamiliar, a rhythmic scratching I couldn’t identify but followed back toward my mother’s room—not the room where my parents slept, but the one she called the “dayroom,” where she kept the art deco vanity with the big round mirror, the typewriter on the yard sale desk, the Singer sewing machine, and the twin rollaway bed where she suffered through her migraines.

    The door was open.

    The scratching sound came from the Grundig Majestic hi-fi, which I’d almost forgotten was in there. As far as I knew it hadn’t been used in a couple years, since the day I helped my father move it out of the living room to make way for his brand new Magnavox Astro-Sonic Stereo Console, which he enjoyed showing off to guests, always finding an opening for the same hokey line—that he was serving “Sinatra and Seagram’s.”

    The old Grundig’s auto-changer didn’t always work properly, and now the phonograph needle was stuck in that blank moat at the end of a record, scratching back and forth.

    My mother lay on the rollaway bed, on her back in the sundress, on top of a pale green chenille bedspread. I thought she’d fallen asleep listening to the hi-fi, but on the nightstand the lamp was left on and a half-gone fifth of vodka stood uncapped in a small circle of dusty light next to an empty highball glass and a huddle of drugstore pill bottles.

    My mother had a warm brown complexion that showed her Mexican-Irish blood, but now her face was drained and bluish gray. Mascara ran in river stains down her cheeks. There was no sound of her breath. Her chest and stomach did not rise and fall. Her head drooped to one side and a trail of vomit ran from the corner of her mouth onto her neck, the smell of it tainting the air.

    I didn’t want to scream or cry. I wanted to show grace under pressure, courage under fire. I tried to think of a movie, a book or a TV show with a reassuring synopsis—faint-hearted kid finds dead mother’s body, reacts with perfect composure, proves manhood.

    I found my way to the kitchen, thinking I should call someone. The year before, my mother had redecorated. She’d painted the walls sunflower yellow, ordered a new fridge and range in harvest gold, and new vinyl flooring in a striking orange-yellow-brown pattern. I remember how proud she was when the project was finished, and how my father mocked her by wearing sunglasses to the dinner table.

    A yellow plastic phone was mounted on the yellow painted wall. I stood with the receiver held away from my ear, the dial tone buzzing, and I considered the handwritten list of phone numbers tacked to the wall: the local newspaper where both my father and grandmother worked, my aunt’s beauty parlor, our family doctor’s office, the police and fire departments. I tried to rehearse what I would say, but I couldn’t arrange a clear sentence in my mind. I couldn’t imagine the words “my mother is dead” staggering out of my mouth.

    The square, electric Timex on the wall above the table said 4:15. Phone call or not, my father would probably be home within an hour, bustling through the door ready for a stiff drink and Walter Cronkite. Did I even want to be here then? I felt oddly embarrassed—ashamed even—to be the one who found her like this, to be in the position of informing adults of something so completely out of a child’s domain. I didn’t want to be the bearer of this news, but I also didn’t want to be the boy who couldn’t bear it.

    I hung up the phone without dialing and drifted back to the dayroom like a sleepwalker. I slumped onto the low stool at the art deco vanity and listened to the scratching and crackling still coming from the hi-fi, and in the big round mirror I saw my boyish face alongside the reflection of my mother on the bed. We were near lookalikes. She was five feet tall, I was an inch shorter. Both slender and tanned, with brown hair so dark it looked black in low light. She styled her hair like Jackie Kennedy (not Jackie Onassis), with a curved swoop of bangs above one eye; my father sent me to the Main Street Barbershop for a “regular boy’s haircut” which always left me with a similar swoop.

    I wasn’t sure what it meant that I hadn’t noticed all this before—not only the ways we looked alike, but any hint of this end. I was so clearly her son, but did I even know her? What twelve-year-old boy truly knows his mother—her dreams, her regrets, her pride and shame?

    The blue-flowered sundress had two pockets thigh-high on its front. Still gazing at the vanity mirror, I caught the white flash of something peeking out the top of one pocket. Turning around for a direct view, it looked like the corner of a folded piece of paper.

    I couldn’t remember the last time I had willingly touched my mother. She had touched me—pushed the hair out of my eyes, turned my collar down, tried to hug or kiss me—but your average American boy knows when it’s time to start keeping motherly love at a distance, especially in public.

    Touching my mother’s body at that moment might drive me screaming out of the room, out of the house and into the Lupo Yoma streets, but I wanted to retrieve that piece of paper. I had the shy, needy hope that it might hold a clue that would help me understand. I walked around to the other side of the room, put one knee up on the bed and leaned over precariously. I grasped the corner of the paper with fingertips and carefully slid it out of the pocket without touching anything else.

    It was a stationery envelope, addressed in my mother’s handwriting to someone I didn’t know, a PFC J.R. Cole. The name meant nothing to me, but the envelope suggested she was planning to go out that day—to mail the letter if nothing else. She didn’t need a stamp, because you could send letters to soldiers for free, but there was no mail delivery within the city limits of Lupo Yoma, so she would have to go to the post office or the nearest public mailbox to send a letter. Then I turned the envelope over and saw the pink imprint of a lipstick kiss.

    It didn’t make sense. She knew I would be the first one home. I’d seen her purse and car keys waiting on the yard sale desk. Now I’d found outgoing mail in her pocket. She was clearly planning to go out. Maybe the rain clouds changed her mind. Or a headache came on and she laid down for a nap. But the vodka, the pills and the kiss on the envelope spun my thoughts off in other directions where I didn’t dare follow.

    The scratch-scratch from the hi-fi now seemed amplified to oppressive intensity as if someone had cranked the volume knob. I couldn’t think straight. I crossed the room and lifted the needle off the record. The scratching stopped, but the silence was unnerving.

    On the turntable a short stack of 45s had been set up and played one after the other. I held the turntable arm suspended in the air and read the label on the top record. “Sad Hours,” it said, in silver-gray type on a red spinning background, and I wondered if she’d known this would be the last song she ever heard, if she’d planned it that way and set up the whole stack like some grim Top 10 countdown. I watched my hand drop the needle at the beginning of the track, and I sat down on the bed next to my mother, envelope still in hand.

    What came out of the speakers was not my father’s Sinatra, nor one of my mother’s favorites like Trini Lopez or Peter, Paul and Mary. It wasn’t folk or rock-n-roll or jazz or swing or country and western. And it definitely wasn’t easy listening. It was like meeting someone who speaks English but with a seductive accent you’ve never heard before.

    The bass line ambled into the room and paced the floor in a circular path with sad sack persistence. An electric guitar chimed in with jangly complaints of its own. Brushes gossiped to a snare drum and the chick-chick of the hi-hat punctuated the beat. An instrument I couldn’t name took the lead—a horn of some kind that announced itself with a long, distant moan, then whined and wailed and honked bitterly. It shook its head in regret and wagged a finger in warning. There were no words, yet the unidentified horn spoke of dark days and busted hearts, of sorrow and resignation. It seemed to accuse, confess, beg forgiveness and promise a fight all at once.

    Jerky film clips of shuffled memory flickered across my inner sight—the lilt of my mother’s inflections as she read me to sleep when I was little, red pedal pushers and white sunglasses in the Little League bleachers, a swipe of kitchen yellow on her forehead, the scent of Aqua net hairspray hovering by the vanity in this very room.

    When the song was over I wiped my eyes with a shirt sleeve and got up and turned off the hi-fi. The Grundig Majestic was a mid-fifties model in a honey-colored wood cabinet with double sliding doors that covered all the knobs and buttons when closed. The turntable was further hidden in its own drawer that had to be pulled open for access. I closed up the whole thing with the 45s still stacked on the turntable. I grabbed the Vodka bottle off the nightstand and swigged a mouthful that burned like cold gasoline, set the bottle back in its place beside the empty glass and the pills.

    I took the pink lipstick envelope to my room and hid it under the bed in the Kids shoebox with my baseball cards.

    I pulled on a jacket and my Giants cap and slipped out the back door into the whispering rain.

    On to Chapter 3 >

    The Blues & Billie Armstrong 3

    PINCH HITTER

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    Photo by cottonpox studios at pexels.com

    Previously in The Blues & Billie Armstrong…

    I took the pink lipstick envelope to my room and hid it under the bed in the Kids shoebox with my baseball cards. I pulled on a jacket and my Giants cap and slipped out the back door into the whispering rain.

    < Back to Chapter 2

    Our house stood at the bottom end of Fourth Street, half a block from where the pavement sloped right into Lupo Yoma Lake.

    On the other side of our backyard fence was the dirt parking lot of the Lupo Yoma Yacht Club, which wasn’t quite as grand as it sounds and actually just a kitschy clubhouse for old Rotarians with old boats. But, beyond the Yacht Club, across Third Street, was the boundary of Library Park, a typical small town park with a couple square blocks of lawn populated by looming trees and wooden picnic tables. There was a dock with a diving board, a green cement tennis court, and the ivy-covered Lupo Yoma County Carnegie Library.

    A few summers before, I’d loosened one of the wide planks on our fence so it appeared to be solidly in place but could easily be set aside to open a shortcut to the park. Now I stepped through the gap, checking the Yacht Club parking lot for possible witnesses, my mind a tangle of shame and confusion and urgency, my breath quickened. I didn’t want anyone, especially my father, to know the truth—that I’d been in the house, seen her, and left. My father was the editor of the Lupo Yoma Call & Record. He was an old-school, self-made newspaperman who curated facts for a living and had no patience for sugar on top. A man has to look life in the eyes, he liked to say. Death as well, I supposed.

    And it started to dawn on me that I had possibly tampered with evidence by taking the envelope. I recognized this as the physical embodiment of what my father would call a lie by omission, but I had no intention of sharing the envelope with him or anyone else. Maybe I was protecting him, or my mother, or the rest of the family, or myself. Maybe I just wanted some piece of her all my own. Cowardly. Protective. Selfish. Bereft. All of that and more in an emotional blur, the colors run together like oil riding water.

    I needed to slow down the drumming in my chest and stop the technicolor movie of the dayroom that was replaying in my head. And all the questions. The storm had emptied the park of citizens except the ducks who waddled around bickering over puddles that would soon disappear. I walked along the concrete promenade that ran the length of the park and listened to the hushing sound of the rain falling on the lake.

    South of the park was the Weeping Willow Resort & Trailer Court, and I resolved to wait there to be found and notified of my mother’s death. The game room at the Weeping Willow was a regular hangout for me and my buddies. I figured that was where the adults would think to look for me if I was late coming home on a rainy day. My maternal grandparents owned the place, but they were always so busy running the restaurant and the rest of the resort that we kids were usually unsupervised in the game room. We’d play pinball, feed the jukebox, drink sodas and share cigarettes stolen from our parents. If there weren’t any older kids around to hog the pool table, we might shoot a game of eight-ball or cut-throat.

    Timmy Bilderback and Joey Quarterman were already there, Timmy at the Pinch Hitter pinball game, Joey standing at the jukebox looking over the song selection.

    “Hey Archer, got a quarter?”

    I flipped him a coin. He dropped it in the machine and punched buttons. Three songs for two bits. Joey picked Daydream Believer by The Monkees, his favorite band. He had an autographed photo of Davey Jones on his bedroom wall, which he got by writing to the Official Monkees Fan Club. He moved aside and nodded for me to take my turn. Most of my favorites back then were Beatles songs, but all the tiny labels on the jukebox blurred together like when I was a little kid wearing my father’s bifocals. And I could still hear Sad Hours in my head—the echo of that strange lonely horn.

    “You okay, man?” Joey must’ve caught the faraway look in my eyes.

    I finally focused on the label for Penny Lane and punched in the number with Timmy now looking over my shoulder, encouraging me to “Pick a song already, dipshit.” Then he ragged on Joey that Davey Jones was a homo and the Monkees weren’t even a real band, and he punched in some Steppenwolf. I’d known Timmy since the second grade, but I didn’t know what he had on his walls—his parents were loud, unhappy drunks, and he never invited anyone inside.

    I bought a can of Squirt from the coke machine, bummed a cigarette from Timmy and tried to act like I hadn’t gone home after school and found my mother dead in the dayroom. The cue ball was loose on the green felt of the pool table, and I slung it around with my hand trying to make bank shots while waiting for my turn at pinball. Steppenwolf roared on. Outside my head, the whole scene unfolded like a hundred other forgettable days at the Weeping Willow game room.

    I was racking up points on the Pinch Hitter pinball machine, lost for the moment in the blinking lights and the bells and the bumps, when my Aunt Laurette appeared at the sliding glass door, peering in with her hands held up to form a tunnel around her eyes. Rainwater dripped down the door and blurred her face.

    “It’s your aunt with the tits,” Timmy said. Even among twelve-year-old boys, Timmy Bilderback’s level of sexual energy was considered somewhat obsessive. Laurette King was actually my cousin once removed; I knew her mostly from holiday gatherings or as my occasional babysitter. According to Timmy, she was a “screaming’ hot piece,” and I admit I agreed, but I did so in secret, her being family and all. Mid to late twenties, trim but curvy, long dark hair ratted up on top, flame-blue eyeshadow. It’s fair to say she was the black sheep of the family thanks to a teenage marriage and divorce and some other hinted failings which I’d repeatedly been assured were none of my young business. As she entered the game room I looked up, and my last ball fell uncontested past my flippers. The game-over light flashed red.

    She didn’t look like a hot piece right then, her eyes puffy, her face pale and slack. “Archer, there’s been an accident,” she said. I stared like an amateur actor who’s forgotten a line. The jukebox sang Penny Lane in the background. “You need to come with me,” Laurette said, and she took me by the hand and pulled me outside. The rain was falling hard again. “Come on!” she shouted, dragging me splashing across the wet black parking lot to the shelter of her Volkswagen Beetle.

    We sat in the front seats with our dripping hair stuck to our heads. She put the key in the ignition but didn’t start the engine. Rain covered the windows, swirling the outside world. She gripped the steering wheel so hard her fists trembled. She released her fingers carefully, as if they fought her, and she slammed the heels of both hands against the wheel. Mascara flooded down her face. She delivered the news, crying and nearly shouting over the din of rain against cheap metal. She said my mother had mixed up the nerve pills and the headache pills and the sleeping pills. Or somehow lost track and tripled her dosage. Or maybe she’d forgotten Doc Meaney’s advice not to mix her vodka with the pills. No one was sure. “A terrible accident.”

    I didn’t know how I should pretend to react; I had no clear sense of what the expectations were. Doc Meaney, who was also the county coroner, had been to the house and ruled my mother’s death an accidental overdose.

    I had to resist the urge to pour out the truth.

    Earlier that summer Laurette had caught me stealing a couple Marlboros out of her purse. She’d made me light up in front of her, teased me about my cough and my inexperienced, effeminate hold on the cigarette. She gave me a mild lecture but never mentioned it to the other adults in the family. Still, I kept quiet about what I’d seen and heard in the dayroom. And what I’d taken.

    My face must’ve looked blank, no tears came.

    On to Chapter 4 >

    Illustration by Roy Dufrain Jr / Background photo by misscherrygolightly at iStock.com

     

     

     

    The Blues & Billie Armstrong 4

    THE CLOTHES MAKE THE BOY

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    Jul 07, 2025

    Photo by Ernesto Suarez at iStock.com

    Previously in The Blues & Billie Armstrong…

    She gave me a mild lecture but never mentioned it to the other adults in the family. Still, I kept quiet about what I’d seen and heard in the dayroom. And what I’d taken. My face must’ve looked blank, no tears came.

    < Back to Chapter 3

    I wanted a gray suit like I’d seen my father wear.

    Grandma Junia drove me to JC Penney’s in Santa Rosa—two hours of twisted road, dusty oak trees and September hills. It was the first time I was allowed to ride in the front seat of her 1959 Buick Electra, a decade old already but still the closest thing to the Batmobile on the streets of Lupo Yoma City. Angular and sleek, acres of windshield, space-age curves, great winglike fins over the taillights. Totally cherry and always waxed and polished glossy black, with white leather seats and chrome eyebrows over the headlights at the same sharp angle as the ones Grandma Junia drew on her face.

    I studied her movements closely—the rise and fall and crinkle of her full skirt as her foot switched between gas and brake, her hands moving lightly but knowingly on the steering wheel, the silver painted fingernails that matched her frosted hair. I daydreamed myself in that driver’s seat, in full command of that shining blade of a car, climbing toward some heroic adulthood that would include facial hair and certainty.

    She had an 8-track tape player and six or seven tapes in the glove compartment. You wouldn’t expect to find anything like Sad Hours in there. She wouldn’t even let me play the one old Beatles tape she had. She said it was “childish and common,” and she claimed the Columbia House Record Club had sent it by mistake. She liked the schmaltzy Big Band dance music of her youth—Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey.

    But she also dabbled in West Coast Jazz, which she assured me was “highly sophisticated.” Grandma Junia had often complained that my cultural education was being neglected, and when we fell uncomfortably quiet she turned up Take Five by Dave Brubeck and counted the beats out loud to illustrate five-four time. “One-two-three-four-five, one-two-three-four-five.” Because every twelve-year-old needs a lesson in odd time signatures on the way to buy a suit for his mother’s funeral.

    The boys department at Penney’s had exactly one suit that almost fit me, and it was not gray. My hands disappeared into the sleeves when I held my arms straight down, and the pantlegs piled up on the tops of my shoes like rubble. Muttering into the dressing room mirror, I complained too loudly that the color was Dodger blue—clearly unacceptable for a born and raised Giants fan. Grandma Junia barged in with her arms crossed. “Archer Edward King! You will not attend this function in your worn-out school clothes. A boy your age without a decent suit—your mother should’ve known better! Now, this will do fine… and that’s that.”

    Whenever Grandma Junia said that’s that, she would quickly brush her hands past each other and then open them as if she had magically eliminated the grime of complexity. And when Junia King said that’s that, well… that was that.

    I stood beside my father, Grandma Junia and Aunt Laurette on the wraparound porch of Jones & Jones Funeral Home, a pompous Victorian on Main Street that had once been the Jones family home.

    The white painted floorboards glared in the morning sun. I shifted foot to foot in my Dodger blue suit and watched my father shake the hands of the men who filed by in gray and black. I surmised that my function at this function was to establish my ability to shake hands appropriately—in other words, like a man. I kept my right arm cocked in the handshake position so my hand wouldn’t disappear into my sleeve, and I concentrated on shaking hands with each man—firmly, with level eyes and a straightened mouth. No crying.

    My mother’s parents, Pop and Molly, arrived in their old Chevy pickup. Their real names were Edward and Mary Medina but most folks in Lupo Yoma knew them simply as Pop and Molly, because they’d been around so long and had owned the Weeping Willow since I was “knee high to a crawdad,” as Molly would say.

    Aunt Laurette hurried down the steps to greet Pop and Molly in the parking lot. Laurette had been a waitress at the Weeping Willow in her high school years, and she was the one who’d introduced my mother to her cousin Mike King. In that way, Laurette was the original bridge between the King and Medina families.

    Pop always said Molly was “ninety-five pounds of gristle and backtalk,” but that day she looked shrunken and caved in, her tiny hands colorless against the black of her dress. Laurette guided her up the porch steps with a hand on her elbow. She rushed straight to me like I was a kindergartener with a scraped knee, and she pulled me close by the lapels of my suit and stood tiptoe to kiss me twice on the forehead. She was the only adult I knew who was shorter than me. She looked at my father and sighed and shook her head like she was disappointed. She started to speak, but her chin quivered, her eyes puddled, she bit her lip and looked away.

    Pop came up the steps and walked right by my father as if he wasn’t there. He walked toward me, I put out my hand, and he shook it strongly and gripped my shoulder with his other hand. Pop seemed twice Molly’s size and his big calloused hand swallowed mine whole. He didn’t speak, but he locked eyes with me and I believed this was his way of lending me strength. Molly crossed herself and went crying into the depths of the funeral home, but Pop didn’t follow.

    Grandma Junia was the only person who called Pop by his real name. “Edward,” she said, “you’re not going in to see your daughter?”

    Pop shook his head. “No, not like that.” He looked Grandma Junia’s way, then swiveled to draw in my father’s attention as well. “But you two make sure and take a good long look.” He turned around, stepped down from the porch and headed back up the concrete path toward the parking lot.

    “What’s wrong with Pop?” I said.

    “He’s just upset, son,” my father said.

    “With good reason,” Laurette said, and I thought yes, she was his daughter, his Chiqui Tita, his little one.

    But Grandma Junia said, “Oh hush, Laurette! As usual, you don’t know what you think you know.”

    “Well, I only know what I read in the newspaper,” Laurette said. And maybe I should’ve wondered what she meant by that.

    When we entered the viewing chamber I followed my father’s gaze across the room, where the casket was raised up on a collapsible gurney that reminded me of a sprung jack-in-the-box toy. He paused and wavered unsteadily in the doorway, lowered his head, ran one hand through his thick black hair. “Son, you don’t have to look if you don’t want to,” he said. I was surprised. It was unlike him to offer me such a hall pass, and I hesitated at the back of the room.

    But Grandma Junia said, “No, it’s about time he got a grownup look at the way of things.” And she steered me by my shoulders, pushing me toward the open coffin.

    My mother was dressed in moonlight blue, a double-breasted woolen jacket buttoned over a silky white blouse, a string of pearls at her neck. She looked ready for church or work or a trip on a train. I took a good long look, wondering what Pop wanted my father and Grandma Junia to see. She was so still. So empty. I thought of the statues I’d pretended to shake hands with at the Wax Museum on our class field trip to San Francisco. I thought of her in the blue flowered sundress on the rollaway bed in the dayroom. I wanted to rub her forehead like she always asked me to when she had her headaches. I wanted to listen to stories of her childhood and tell her how lovely the yellow kitchen looked in the morning. I wanted to ask why.

    Grandma Junia leaned in over my shoulder, so close that a stiff strand of her fresh-frosted hair prickled my ear. “Presumably, she’s in a better place,” she said, and the words smelled of beauty shop ammonia.

    The recorded sound of a church organ poured out of speakers mounted in each corner of the room. I was drowning in it. My knees began to give in to the undertow. Grandma Junia finally turned me away from the coffin with a hand around the back of my neck and guided me to one of the folding chairs. The metallic cold seeped through my slacks. The organ music stopped. Reverend Jameson started a prayer and we all bowed our heads and closed our eyes.

    Wet sobs broke out around me but I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t keep my eyes shut. I couldn’t stay in that chair, that room. I heard the hi-fi scratch-scratch in my head and I wanted to holler out the truth. I rose to my feet but Grandma Junia tilted her head up and raised one penciled eyebrow. “Where do you think you’re going, young man?”

    I turned and fast-walked up the aisle, between the folding chairs and bowed heads, and clattered out of the room as the reverend began to read from scripture. “Brothers and sisters: behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed.”

    I ran through the lobby and flung open the door. I ran across the parking lot, where Pop was sitting in the old pickup. He called out, but I didn’t answer and kept running and turned down a gravelly alley of dumpsters and back doors. I had no destination in mind other than escape. I ran two blocks north in the alley, then a half block west up to Main Street and another block north. I ran past Rexall Drugs, two dive bars and the old courthouse with the World War I cannons on the lawn.

    I made a right turn down Third Street, deciding I would slip through our back fence again and hide out at home. But down the sidewalk I saw the sandwich board advertising the local music store, The Music Box.

    I stopped, bent over at the waist, hands on knees, caught my breath.

     

    The Blues & Billie Armstrong 5

    LITTLE WALTER JACOBS

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    Jul 09, 2025

     

    Previously in The Blues & Billie Armstrong…

    I made a right turn down Third Street, deciding I would slip through our back fence again and hide out at home. But down the sidewalk I saw the sandwich board advertising the local music store, The Music Box. I stopped, bent over at the waist, hands on knees, caught my breath.

    < Back to Chapter 4

    Nate Henderson was a nineteen year old kid whose parents owned The Music Box.

    He’d been considered a bit of a geek in high school, even though he played in a local rock band—the kind of guy who couldn’t look cool even with a guitar in his hands. After Lupo Yoma High, he’d gone to Santa Rosa Junior College to study business (and evade the draft), but he still helped out at the store whenever he was in town. I’d never actually met him before, but back then Lupo Yoma was a snow globe of a town, where everything seemed to be within five blocks of everything else and everyone knew the TV Guide version of your life story even if you’d never spoken directly to one another.

    I walked in the store, approached the counter and asked Nate if he’d ever heard of a song called Sad Hours. Nate was a tall, skinny guy, with brown wavy hair almost to his shoulders and parted sharply on the side so it cut diagonally across his face and sometimes obscured one eye. He asked who the recording artist was, and I had to say I didn’t know—looking at the record on the turntable I hadn’t focused in on anything but the title. Nate plopped a big thick catalog on the glass countertop and thumbed through its pages, stopped and shot me a look of mild surprise.

    “So, how’d you hear of this song anyway?”

    “I found it on my mother’s record player.”

    He brushed his hair aside. “No way. Trini Lopez, Sinatra or Streisand for your dad’s birthday, but she never bought anything like this that I know of.”

    “So, what is it?”

    It turned out the horn I’d heard was actually a blues harmonica player known as Little Walter Jacobs. Nate showed me a picture beside the listing in the catalog. Little Walter Jacobs was a black man with a hardscrabble face and big haunted eyes. I’d associated the harmonica with campfire songs and Bob Dylan. I had no idea it could be made to moan and shout and protest all the disappointment of the world.

    Until that moment I didn’t even know enough to label what I’d heard in the dayroom as “blues.” Even with my mother’s Mexican blood, I was basically a green white kid from the hills of Northern California. I was so white I didn’t know the blues was black. I only knew it stabbed me in the heart in some way no other music ever had and it mystified and worried me that it was apparently so meaningful to my mother.

    Nate said Sad Hours was originally released in the early fifties and was already something of a rarity. He said that kind of blues was way out of style these days. Little Walter had died a year or so before and all his singles were out of print. There was just one album listed in the catalog, which Nate could order, but I didn’t have the four bucks for that, not to mention I didn’t even have a record player of my own.

    I thought of my mother singing Lemon Tree along with her Trini Lopez album while ironing my father’s shirts, and I couldn’t help but wonder how she would come into possession—or even awareness—of such an oddity as Sad Hours, which seemed so out of place in her world and in our home, a musical interloper. And could Little Walter’s harmonica be related to the pink lipstick on the back of that envelope?

    I thanked Nate for the info. He said “By the way, sorry about your mom, kid.” And I left the store and headed down Third Street toward the lake. I took the shortcut across the Yacht Club parking lot and back through our fence with the odd feeling that I was sneaking into my own house.

    I had the idea to get back into the dayroom—now, while the adults were gone. The past few days had felt like our home was quarantined with disease. I was ordered not to leave the property and not to have friends over. No one outside the family came to visit. Grandma Junia manned the kitchen sink, dusted the living room furniture, created small corners of routine and conducted muffled conversations on the yellow phone.

    My father left early for work, came home late and sat in the nervous television light with the sound down low. He rarely spoke and was rarely spoken to. He drank and watched TV with a stare like he was looking right through the picture. Molly dutifully appeared at the front door one evening to deliver a glass casserole dish of Pop’s famous enchiladas while Pop waited in the Chevy pickup parked at the curb, with the motor running and Hank Williams honky-Tonkin on the radio. At other times, Aunt Laurette had flitted in and out of the house on missions for Grandma Junia—to the market with a list, to the dry cleaners with funeral clothes.

    And, all along, the door to the dayroom stayed closed in a forbidding way, with the adults guarding it peripherally as they went about their quiet preparations. There seemed to be an unspoken understanding that the room should remain undisturbed.

    But now I stood at the closed door of the dayroom, doorknob in hand, my heart running wild and snapshots of memory flashing behind my eyes like tiny fireworks. I couldn’t seem to turn the knob. In the center of my skull I heard the staticky scratch-scratch as if the needle was still stuck at the end of that record and my mother still lay on the bed. I could not will my wrist to perform the motion to turn the knob and open the door. My body simply wasn’t ready to be alone in that space again, to re-live those first minutes of knowing—and the swarm of questions, the not knowing, that followed.

    I had figured someone would come looking for me after I ran out of the funeral, and I knew sooner or later they’d look for me at home. I thought Grandma Junia would probably delegate the errand to Laurette as she had before. But I heard the low grind of Pop downshifting the old Chevy truck and the squeal of the brakes as he brought it to a halt at the curb outside. The motor grumbled to a stop and the truck door closed with a thunk.

    I only had a few moments before he would make it up the walkway and through the front door.

     

    On to Chapter 6 >

    ROY DUFRAIN JR

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    The Blues & Billie Armstrong 6

    WAVES UNDER STARLIGHT

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    Jul 11, 2025

    Photo by kmdgrfx at iStock.com

    Previously in The Blues & Billie Armstrong…

    The motor grumbled to a stop and the truck door closed with a thunk. I only had a few moments before he would make it up the walkway and through the front door.

    < Back to Chapter 5

    Pop found me in my room, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

    He didn’t say a word, just stood towering over me and waved his head toward the door. I walked ahead of him and he herded me out to the front yard. I climbed up into the cab of the pickup and sat on the passenger side. A busted six pack of Oly sat between us on the bench seat. Pop started the engine, opened a beer, turned the truck around and drove up the little rise to the stop sign at Main Street just in time for me to see the yellow headlights of the black hearse as it passed by toward the cemetery.

    Molly was riding in front, chin up, eyes ahead. I watched the polished coffin through the long side-window, framed by black curtains. The hearse was followed by the shiny Buick Electra, with my father’s stern profile in the window, Grandma Junia’s frosted beehive rising up on the driver’s side. I counted seventeen cars, headlights glowing like day stars. Pop turned on his own lights and pulled in behind, and we followed in silence to Lupo Yoma Cemetery, a few miles north of town. He parked at the end of the long line of cars and turned off the motor, and the cab filled up with quiet hesitation.

    I said, “Pop, why did it happen?”

    He looked at me hard while considering the question. Then he looked away. “You never really know another person’s why, boy. Sometimes it’s hard enough to know your own.”

    “But it was an accident, right? And an accident isn’t anyone’s fault.”

    “I don’t know about that.” He stared through the windshield at the acres of gravestones. He grabbed a fresh beer, got out of the truck, stood with the door still open.

    “I’ll stay here,” I said, eyes averted, tears beginning to spill onto my cheeks.

    I heard him open the beer, then watched him hunt his way between the grassy graves, toward the circle of mourners, where he took his place beside Molly. I turned on the radio and listened to George Jones sing an old song about roses while my mother’s coffin was lowered into the red clay Lupo Yoma ground.

    On the way back, I rode in the middle between Pop and Molly. Pop turned the radio off and none of us spoke, and I expected that would remain the tone of the day—quiet and somber with hushed voices and downward eyes. This being my first experience with a death in the family, you’d think someone would’ve told me about the after-funeral party, although I don’t think the adults even told each other—no announcement, no invitations, they just knew. They didn’t even call it a party; they spoke of it later as a gathering or get-together or, more formally, as a reception. I thought those were for weddings.

    Pop turned the pickup down Fourth Street, and there were already six or seven cars parked on our block. Multiple women paraded from car to house, carrying great tinfoil-covered platters held out in front of their breasts.

    One woman balanced her offering and tried but failed to close her car door with a well-placed shove of her high-heeled foot. My father came to her rescue and relieved her of a large tray. Pop watched through the windshield as he parked the truck a little ways up the street. He took a breath, and it looked to me like he set his jaw for trouble. He jerked the door handle and swung the door open, but Molly reached across me and touched him on the arm, and he slowly closed the door. “I think we’ll be going home now,” she said and got out of the truck, stood on the curb and made room for me to get by.

    Pop stared straight ahead.

    Molly said, “You go on inside, Archer. And tell Laurette we’re not feeling up to it, okay?”

    I jumped down from the truck and ran ahead, up the stairs and into the house, through the living room full of men drinking and into the yellow kitchen full of women talking of children and recipes.

    The table was covered buffet-style with the oddest assortment of food: Molly’s enchiladas, Grandma Junia’s apple pie, Laurette’s fondue and breadsticks, one neighbor’s lasagna, another’s fried chicken legs, and various intimidating, inscrutable casseroles.

    I grabbed a can of cream soda out of the fridge and went back to the living room, where men shook hands and poured liquor from an array of bottles lined up on top of the long Magnavox stereo cabinet. They smoked and sat and stood confidently in their suits and asked each other how business was. They spoke of Mays and McCovey and joked that the Giants were leading the division but would surely find a way to end up in fourth place where they belonged.

    No one mentioned Pop and Molly. No one spoke of death. Or my mother.

    Retreating to my bedroom, I laid down on top of the bedspread with the abstract pattern of overlapping circles in different shades of blue—it always reminded me of waves under starlight. I closed my eyes and surrendered to the sensation that I was back floating in Lupo Yoma Lake, staring up at the starry sky instead of the blank ceiling.

    I fantasized that I would contract some strange and rare genetic condition that would accelerate the aging process of my body and mind. I would suddenly grow a wild forest of pubic hair and a bushy mustache. My voice would deepen to a baritone and I would wake up inches taller each day. Doc Meaney would have to be called in to treat my overwhelming growing pains, and I would be told there was no cure, that I would for all intents and purposes be a grown man in a matter of months.

    And then I would begin to see through new eyes all the things I’d been told for so long I was too young to understand.

    Photo by Eduard Harkonen at iStock.com

     

    And some more of his stories ——-

     

    ROY DUFRAIN JR

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    The Red Shoebox Guitar

    Sting-Rays, Stratocasters, Beatle Boots and Destiny

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    The Last Great Acid Trip

    Or how I won a footrace against a dog named Pig Pen

    Remember the Red River Valley

    A story, a drink and a song

    The Oscars at Our House 2025

    Has Hollywood lost its way?

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    Once again, Mrs D and I have endeavored to see as many Best Picture nominees as possible, given availability and other constraints. We’ve been doing this now for over 20 years. When we started there were still only five nominees. Since 2009, it’s been ten, and this year we saw eight, and I’ll say again, the Academy never should’ve increased the limit. Not just because it’s hard for fans to see them all, but because some of these movies are simply not worthy of the honor. Especially this year!

    Still, it’s Oscar time and it’s a tradition here! Pick your favorites, put on your tuxedoes and sparkly gowns (or in our case, your comfiest PJs), kick back with some soda and butter-soaked popcorn, wow or hiss the latest red carpet fashions, jeer or cheer the awkward, fawning interviews, predict the winners, pat yourself on the back when you’re right and blame woke Hollywood when you’re wrong!

    Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s what I thought…

    ROY DUFRAIN JR is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

    Anora – A tale of stupid people doing terrible things stupidly. A whole lot of yelling and screwing failed to make this movie interesting. The nearly feral, selfish youth, the servile, bickering and bumbling Armenians, the contemptible ultra-rich Russians, the ‘dancer’ who accepts payment for sex but insists she’s not a hooker. The constant f-bombs. It all seemed over the top—grasping for gritty realism but approaching absurdity. So what.

    The Brutalist – A worthy subject, an intriguing and complicated lead character masterfully brought to life by a supremely talented star, an epic arc of struggle and redemption, a span of decades and locations wonderfully rendered visually and in historical references. And yet, I fell asleep. Had to finish the movie the next day. It’s brutally long and slow. Three and a half hours! Couldn’t trim even a half hour out of that? Come on.

    A Complete Unknown – Mrs D and I agreed this was easily and by far the best picture of the nominees we saw. I’m not sure it will stand the test of time as a ‘great’ movie, but it was full of great acting. Timothée Chalamet should win best actor for his amazing and mesmerizing recreation of Dylan’s musical performance and presence. Co-stars Monica Barbaro and Edward Norton should win their categories for the same reasons. The evocation of the time period through set design and other techniques was immersive and entertaining. Of the best-pic norms we’ve seen, this is the only one I’m sure I will watch again.

    Conclave – I really liked this movie at first. It seemed like a taut, understated political intrigue, with a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a hidden world—the election of a new pope. But I felt let down by the wild twist at the end. Not being a fan of the Catholic Church, I kind of enjoyed the irony of it, but I found the details strained credibility as presented. By chance I had just read an article about the many possible combinations of chromosomes that occur naturally in humans. So I didn’t doubt that, but it seemed so unlikely the person in question would have ever risen to a high position in the Catholic Church, or that any real circumstance could have resulted in the ending of this film. I just didn’t buy it.

    Dune Part Two – I read the book so many years ago that I remembered nothing of it. We saw Part One last year and were a bit lost throughout. So, we watched a couple YouTube summary videos, but then we still watched Part One before pushing play on Part Two. We both thought the investment of time paid off. It helped us sink into the films, with their long list of characters and multiple story threads. I’d rank this as the second best of the nominees. Stunning visuals and the kind of classic, epic storytelling that reminds me of Tolkien or Star Wars.

    Emilia Pérez – Lots of negative talk about the star of this one—whatever. I’d like to see it, but I don’t have Netflix right now and my wallet is already suffering from subscription fatigue.

    I’m Still Here – The trailer for this one looks really interesting, but the film has not been released for streaming as of this date.

    Nickel Boys – I’m not sure if the sheer volume of artsy techniques and effects (or affects?) were always in service of the storytelling in this film. It felt overwrought. All the weird shot angles, the square formatting, the ringing headache soundtrack, the time jumping and the gimmicky point of view thing, especially those back of head shots—I found it interesting but distracting, and wondered if anyone in Hollywood can just tell a story anymore.

    The Substance – I’m honestly not sure if it’s a comedy gone wrong or a drama gone wrong, but boy did it suck! If it had a point it was made in the first ten minutes and then beat to death for two more hours, and in the most gruesome fashion imaginable. Jesus, how is this nominated for anything?! How did it even get made?! It’s a perfect example of why many people say Hollywood has lost the ability to make great movies.

    Wicked – Loved the book! Never saw the play. The movie did not capture the wonder and delight I remember feeling at the ingenuity and thoughtfulness of the book. The set design and effects were impressive, the vocal talent at times astounding. But I couldn’t help feeling like I was watching a bad episode of Glee with all the cliché mean girl vs. Cinderella stuff. Also, a musical ought to leave you humming or singing a chorus or two on your way out the door. Think: If I Were a Rich Man, Papa Can You Hear Me, I Feel Pretty, Don’t Rain on My Parade, on and on. Wicked is more like sung dialogue but not one catchy, hummable tune. Meh.

    Honorable Shoutout

    A Real Pain – Should have been nominated. Thoughtful and thought provoking, just funny enough to lighten the weight of the relationships on view, among the characters themselves but also between the characters and the history they are interfacing with. And extremely well played by both Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, making these characters feel real and their oddball behavior believable.

    Something to Think About

    After the news of the great Gene Hackman’s death, Roy Sr, Mrs D and I all watched Unforgiven the other night, and enjoyed it immensely even though we’ve all seen it more than twice. Everything a Best Picture winner ought to be and then some. Not one of the 2024 movies even comes close.

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  • Blog update URL

    Blog update URL

    April 2025 Poetry Madness Part Five April 26 to April 30

    Blog update URL

    this is a consolidated listing of recent blog postings.  I will update it occasionally.,

    April Poetry Part Five April 26 to April 30 https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3uu

    April Poetry Part Four April 19 to April 25 https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3tN

    April Poetry Part Three April 13 to April 18  https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3tl

    April Poetry Part Two April 6 to April 12 https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3rJ

    April Poetry Part One April 1 to April 5 https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3r3

     

    Music Journal Update https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3pp

    More Movie Madness Update https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3pe

    2025 Reading List Update https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3qZ

    K Drama Update https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3lm

    Rom Com Update https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3o6

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  • Cosmos Reading List 2025 Updates

    Cosmos Reading List 2025 Updates

    Cosmos Reading List 2025 Updates

    `Goals:  100 Books, 2,000 poems etc  total 3,000 to 4,000 books/poems/stories listed numerically and chronologically by month

    Read Classics finish reading books. You Must read series

    One Thriller Per Month

    One history/politics book per month

    Read A Lot More Poetry

    Read At Least One Book A Year in Spanish.

    Read At Least One Book A Year in Korean

     

     

    One classic book

    One poetry book

    One Sci-fi book

    One history/politics book

    One current event book

    One thriller

     

    Buy the 2024 best SciFi read in the fall

    Buy the 2024 Best Poetry read in the fall

     

    Re-do Mod Po following Mod Po plus poems

    Start a different poetry course on Coursea

    Start and complete All poetry poetry courses

     

    Alternate between reading Kindle classics, poetry and other books

    I will try to finish reading classic books.  I have a collection from Kindle of 50 books to read before you die, in three volumes – 15O books in total. See the list below.  I have read many of them already which I have noted by bolding.  As I read them, I will add them to the chronological listing below, and also have the Harvard classic.  I had a hard copy set, but donated it, I have to read it on Kindle.  I will also continue to read lots of poetry from the Mod Po class, will do the slo-mo courses then re-do it in September, focusing on reading the additional poems I did not last time in Mod Po Plus.

     

    I will alternate between reading Kindle and other books poetry and thrillers etc  while in US will read a lot of books from the library but still read things on my Kindle classic list goal is to finish the classic list by next year !

    Numerical Listing

     

    Note: after reading each book, write a review for Bach’s Reading List and for Goodreads copy to my blog entry and cc Suback, Medium, Wattpad, Fan Story, and Writing.com.

    Then save under Review when posting on the blog post, Zamzar audio clip into the blog piece, and do Spotify and Substack podcasts, later Threads and YouTube vblog starting in the fall

     

    Before reading ask Co-pilot the following questions

     

    Please provide a synopsis, list of characters, author bio, quotes,  and list of books by the author, plus literary reputation.   please do not format to make it easier to cut and paste

    Fiction

    1. Cather, Willa: My Ántonia From 50 Books Volume One
    2. Chopin, Kate: The Awakening From 50 Books Volume One
    3. Cummings, E. E.: The Enormous Room. From 50 Books Volume One
    4. Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie in progress From 50 Books Volume One
    5. Janet Evanovich Plum Lucky Camp H library In Progress
    6. Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, the Job – Camp H Library
    7. Sharon Bolton, the Pact, Canal street library TBC
    8. Lisa Gardner One Step Too Far Canal Street Library TBC
    9. Stephannie Merritt, the Storm TBC
    10. Bobby Palmer Isaac and the Egg in progress
    11. Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones TBC
    12. Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    13. Flaubert, Gustave: Sentimental Education TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    14. Ford, Ford Madox: The Good Soldier TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    15. Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    16. Gorky, Maxim: The Mother TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    17. Huxley, Aldous: Crome Yellow TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    18. James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    19. JM Baarre Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    20. BM Bower – Cabin Fever TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    21. Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden TBC TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    22. – Hodgson Burnett A Little Princess TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    23. -Robert William Chambers The King in Yellow TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    24. Wilkie Collins The Woman in White TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    25. Richard Connell The Most Dangerous Game TBC TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    26. Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, 6th Edition. TBC TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    27. Margaret Deland The Iron Woman TBC TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    28. Andrew Lang The Arabian Nights TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    29. Michael Proust- Swann’s Way TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    30. Emerson American Civilization (1862)

     

     

    Once I finish the above, I will finish the Harvard Classic list.

    Next Up  Bacon TBC

    Thomas Browne  TBC

     

    Poetry

    Poetry

    Bianca Boonstra

    1. Writer’s Cramp

    Anne Frank

    1. Anne Frank’s Tree
    2. Anne Frank’s Tree

    Entou

    1. Thunder and Lightning
    2. Almost Dead

    Lawrencealot

    1. Throw Away Jay’s Way

    Linda Varsell Smith

    1. Pathway

    Robert Brewer Writers Digest

    1. Robert Lee Brewer – Give Me a Reason Zejel
    2. An Old Hymn Still Singing Zejel

    Elegy

    1. David Romano’s “When Tomorrow Starts With Me”
    2. H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues”
    3. John Milton’s “Lycidas”
    4. Mary Oliver’s “In Blackwater Woods”
    5. Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong”
    6. Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain”

    Haiku

    1. Gypsy Blue Rose – Cows Wander at Night
    2. Zebras Zeal Gallop

    Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century Poetry

    1. Edward Lee Masters – The Hill
    2. Fiddler Jones
    3. Petite The Poet

    Edwin Arlington Robinson

    1. Edwin Arlington Robinson
    2. Miniver Cheevy
    3. Flood’s Party

    James Weldon Johnson

    1. James Weldon Johnson
    2. The Creation

    Paul Laurence Dunbar

    1. The Poet
    2. Life
    3. Life’s Tragedy

    Robert Frost – Mod Po Selection

    1. The Death of the Hired Man
    2. Mending Wall
    3. Birches
    4. Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening
    5. Tree in My Window
    6. Directive

    Amy Lowell

    1. Patterns

    Gertrude Stein – Mod Po Selections

    1. Susie Asado
    2. From Tender Buttons – A Box
    3. From Tender Buttons – A Plate

    Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson

    1. I Sit and Sew

    Carl Sandburg

    1. Grass
    2. Cahoots

    Wallace Stevens – Mod Po Selections

    1. Peter Quince at the Clavier
    2. Disillusionment of 10:00
    3. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
    4. The Emperor of Ice Cream
    5. A Mere Being

    Angelina Weld Grimke

    1. Angelina Weld Grimke
    2. Fragment

    William Carlos Williams – Mod Po Selections

    1. Tact
    2. Dance Ruse
    3. The Yachts
    4. From Apostle that Greeny Flower Book 1, Lines 1 to 92

    Sara Teasdale

    1. Moonlight
    2. There Will Come Soft Rains

    Ezra Pound

    1. The Jewel Stairs’ Grievance
    2. The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter
    3. In a Station of the Metro
    4. Hugh Selwyn Mauberley
    5. From Cantos: 56 Libretto – Yet Ere This Season Died A Cold

    Hilda Doolittle (H.D.) – Mod Po Selections

    1. Sea Rose
    2. Helen
    3. From The Walls Do Not Fall – An Incident Here and There
    4. From Hermeneutic Definition Red Rose and A Beggar – Why Did You Come?
    5. Take Me Anywhere
    6. Venus

    Robinson Jeffers

    1. Gala in April
    2. Shine, Perishing Republic
    3. Clouds at Evening
    4. Credo

    Marianne Moore

    1. Fish
    2. Poetry

    T.S. Eliot

    1. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
    2. The Wasteland

    Claude McKay

    1. If We Must Die
    2. The Harlem Dancer

    Archibald MacLeish

    1. Ars Poetica

    Edna St. Vincent Millay

    1. First Fig
    2. Recuerdo
    3. E. Cummings
    4. In Just-
    5. Buffalo Bill
    6. The Cambridge Ladies Who Lived in Furnished Souls
    7. Next to, Of Course, God, America
    8. Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond
    9. Rpophessagr

    Jean Toomer

    1. Reapers
    2. November Cotton Flower
    3. Portrait in Georgia

    Louise Bogan

    1. Medusa
    2. New Moon

    Melvin B. Tolson

    1. Dark Symphony
    2. From Harlem Gallery: Psi – Black Boys, Let Me Get Up From The White Man’s Table

    Hart Crane

    1. From The Bridge
    2. Poem: To Brooklyn Bridge
    3. From The Bridge – Section XI: Powhatan’s Daughter – The River

    Robert Francis

    1. Silent Poem

    Langston Hughes

    1. The Negro Speaks of Rivers
    2. I, Too, Sing America
    3. Dream Boogie
    4. Harlem

    Countee Cullen

    1. Incident
    2. To John Keats, Poet, At Spring Time
    3. Yet Do I Marvel
    4. From The Dark Tower

    Stanley Kunitz

    1. Father and Son
    2. The Portrait
    3. Touch Me
    4. H. Auden
    5. Musée des Beaux Arts
    6. Epitaph on a Tyrant

    Theodore Roethke

    1. My Papa’s Waltz
    2. The Waking
    3. In a Dark Time

    Charles Olson

    1. From The Maximus Poems: One – Maximus of Gloucester, To You
    2. The Distances

    Elizabeth Bishop

    1. The Fish
    2. Sestina
    3. First Death in Nova Scotia
    4. Visit to St. Elizabeths
    5. One Art

    Robert Hayden

    1. Middle Passage
    2. Those Winter Sundays
    3. Frederick Douglass

    Muriel Rukeyser

    1. Effort at Speech Between Two People
    2. Then I Saw What the Calling Was
    3. The Poem as Mask

    Delmore Schwartz

    1. The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me

    John Berryman

    1. From The Dream Songs
    2. Feeling Your Compact and Delicious Body
    3. Life, Friends, Is Boring. We Must Not Say So
    4. There Shut Down Once
    5. This World is Gradually Becoming a Place
    6. Henry’s Understanding

    Randall Jarrell

    1. 90 North
    2. The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
    3. The Woman at the Washington Zoo
    4. Next Day

    Weldon Kees

    1. To My Daughter

    Dudley Randall

    1. A Different Image

    William Stafford

    1. Traveling through the Dark
    2. At the Bomb Testing Site

    Ruth Stone

    1. Scars

    Margaret Walker

    1. For My People

    Gwendolyn Brooks – Mod Po Selection

    1. The Mother
    2. A Song in the Front Yard
    3. The Bean Eaters
    4. The Lovers of the Poor
    5. We Real Cool
    6. The Blackstone Rangers

    Robert Lowell

    1. To Speak of Woe That Is in Marriage
    2. Skunk Hour
    3. For the Union Dead

    Robert Duncan

    1. Often I Am Permitted to Return to a Meadow
    2. My Mother Would Be a Falconress

    Lawrence Ferlinghetti

    1. Populist Manifesto

    William Meredith

    1. Parents

    Howard Nemerov

    1. Because You Asked About the Line Between Prose and Poetry

    Hayden Carruth

    1. The Hyacinth Gardens in Brooklyn
    2. August 1945

    Richard Wilbur

    1. Love Calls Us to the Things of This World
    2. Cottage Street
    3. The Writer

    James Dickey

    1. The Sheep Child

    Allen Ginsberg

    1. Howl

    Richard Hugo

    1. Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg
    2. The Freaks at Spurgin Road Field
    3. The Poem Unwritten
    4. Cademon
    5. Swan in Falling Snow
    6. Who Is Simpson?
    7. American Poetry

    Carolyn Kizer

    1. A Muse of Water

    Kenneth Koch

    1. Fresh Air

    Maxine Kumin

    1. Morning Swim

    Gerald Stern

    1. Behaving Like a Jew
    2. The Dancing
    3. Another Insane Devotion
    4. R. Ammons
    5. The City Limits
    6. Corsons Inlet

    Robert Bly

    1. Snowfall in the Afternoon
    2. Driving into Town to Mail a Letter
    3. Walking from Sleep

    Robert Creeley

    1. The Flower
    2. I Know a Man
    3. The Language
    4. The Rain
    5. Bresson’s Movies

    John Merrill

    1. Victor Dog
    2. Steps

    Frank O’Hara – New York School

    1. Lana Turner Has Collapsed
    2. The Day Lady Died

    John Ashbery – New York School

    1. Some Trees
    2. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror
    3. What Is Poetry?

    Galway Kinnell

    1. The Bear
    2. After Making Love We Hear Footsteps
    3. Saint Francis and the Sow
    4. S. Merwin
    5. Air
    6. For the Anniversary of My Death
    7. Yesterday
    8. Chord

    James Wright

    1. A Blessing
    2. Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio
    3. Lying in a Hammock at

    Wes Merwin

    1. Air
    2. For the Anniversary of My Death

     

    1. Yesterday
    2. Chord
    3. A Blessing

     

    1. Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, OH
    2. Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, MN
    3. In Response to the Rumor That Otis Warehouse in Wheeling, WV Has Been Condemned
    4. My Son, My Executioner
    5. Digging
    6. Rowing

     

    1. Orion Planetarium
    2. A Valedictorian Forbidding Mourning
    3. From 21 Love Poems 13 The Rules of Break Like a Thermometer

     

    Gregory Corsa

     

    1. Gregory Corso
    2. Marriage

     

    Gary Snyder

     

    1. Gary Snyder
    2. Hay for the Horses
    3. Riprap
    4. Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout

    Derek Walcott

    1. A Far Cry from Africa
    2. Sea Grapes
    3. Find the Schooner Flight Part 11 After the Storm. There’s a Fresh Light That Follows
    4. The Light of the World
    5. From Omeros Book. 7. 44 I Sing of Quiet, Achilles, Afrolabe’s Son

    Miller Williams

    1. Let Me Tell You

    Etheridge Knight

    1. Idea of Ancestry

    Amira Baraka, Leroy Jones

    1. Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note
    2. Agony As Now
    3. SOS
    4. Black Art

    Ted Berrigan

    1. Wrong Rain
    2. A Final Sonnet

    Audre Lorde

    1. Power

    Sonia Sanchez

    1. Poetry at 30

    Mark Strand

    1. The Prediction
    2. The Night, The Porch

    Russell Edson

    1. A Stone Is Nobody’s

    Mary Oliver

    1. Singapore
    2. The Summer Day

    Charles Wright

    1. Reunion
    2. Dead Color
    3. California Dreaming

    Lucille Clifton

    1. Homage to My Hips
    2. At Least at Last We Killed the Roaches
    3. The Death of Fry, Alfred Clifton

    June Jordan

    1. Home About My Rights

    Frederick Seidel

    1. 1968
    2. K. Williams
    3. Find My Window
    4. Blades

    Tony Hoagland

    1. The Mechanic

    Michael S. Harper

    1. Dear John, Dear Coltrane
    2. Last Affair. Bessie’s Blues Song
    3. Grandfather
    4. Nightmare Begins Responsibility

    Charles Simic

    1. Stone
    2. Fork
    3. Classic Ballroom Dances

    Paula Gunn Allen

    1. Grandmother

    Frank Bidart

    1. Ellen West

    Carl Dennis

    1. Spring Letter
    2. Two or Three Wishes

    Stephen Dunn

    1. Allegory of the Cave
    2. Tucson

    Robert Pinsky

    1. History of My Heart
    2. The Questions
    3. Samurai Song

    James Welch

    1. Christmas Comes to Moccasin Flat

    Billy Collins

    1. Introduction to Poetry
    2. The Dead

    Toi Derricotte

    1. The Weakness

    Stephen Dobyns

    1. How to Like It?
    2. Lullaby

    Robert Hass

    1. Song
    2. That Photographer?
    3. Return of Robinson Jeffers

    Lyn Hejinian

    1. From My Life: Trim with Colored Ribbons
    2. H. Fairchild
    3. The Machinist Teaching His Daughter to Play the Piano

    Haki R. Madhubuti (Don L. Lee)

    1. But He Was Cool or Even Stopped for Green Lights
    2. Upon To Compliment Other Poems

    William Matthews

    1. In Memory of the Utah Stars
    2. The Accompanist

    Sharon Olds

    1. The Language of the Brag
    2. The Lifting

    Henry Taylor

    1. Barbed Wire

    Tess Gallagher

    1. Black, Silver
    2. Under Stars

    Michael Palmer

    1. I Do Not

    James Tate

    1. The Lost Pilot

    Norman Dubie

    1. Elizabeth’s War with the Christmas Bear
    2. The Funeral

    Carol Muske Dukes

    1. August, Los Angeles Lullaby

    Kay Ryan

    1. Turtle
    2. Bestiary

    Larry Levis

    1. Childhood Ideogram
    2. Winter Stars

    Adrian C. Louis

    1. Looking for Judas
    2. How Much Lux?
    3. The People of the Other Village

    Marilyn Nelson

    1. The Ballad of Aunt Geneva
    2. Star Fix

    Ai

    1. Cuba 1963
    2. The Kid
    3. Finished

    Yusef Komunyakaa

    1. Thanks
    2. To Do Street
    3. Facing It
    4. Nude Interrogation

    Nathaniel Mackey

    1. Song of the Andoumboulou

    Gregory Orr

    1. Gathering the Bones Together
    2. Two Lines from the Brother Grimm
    3. Origin of the Marble Forest

    Robert Hill Long

    1. Reaching Yellow River

    Albert Goldbarth

    1. Away

    Heather McHugh

    1. Language Lesson 1976
    2. What He Thought

    Leslie Marmon Silko

    1. In Cold Storm Light

    Olga Broumas

    1. Calypso

    Victor Hernández Cruz

    1. Latin & Soul

    Jane Miller

    1. Miami Heart

    David St. John

    1. Iris
    2. D. Wright
    3. Why Ralph Refuses to Dance
    4. Girlfriend Poem #3
    5. Crescent

    Carolyn Forché

    1. Taking Off My Clothes

    Jorie Graham

    1. San Sepolcro

    Marie Howe

    1. What the Living Do

    Joy Harjo

    1. She Had Some Horses
    2. My House Is the Red Earth

    Garrett Hongo

    1. The Legend

    Andrew Hudgins

    1. Begotten
    2. We Were Simply Talking

    Brigit Pegeen Kelly

    1. Imaging Their Own Hymns
    2. Song

    Paul Muldoon

    1. Meeting the British
    2. Errata
    3. The Throwback

    Judith Ortiz Cofer

    1. Quinceanera

    Rita Dove

    1. Parsley
    2. Daystar
    3. After Reading Mickey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed

    Alice Fulton

    1. Our Calling

    Barbara Hamby

    1. Thinking of Galileo
    2. Hatred

    Mark Jarman

    1. Unholy Sonnet

    Naomi Shihab Nye

    1. The Traveling Onion
    2. Arabic
    3. Wedding Cake

    Alberto Ríos

    1. Nani
    2. England Finally Like My Mother Always Said We Would

    Laurie Sheck

    1. Nocturne Blue Waves
    2. The Unfinished

    Gary Soto

    1. Field Poem
    2. Oranges
    3. Black Hair

    Susan Stewart

    1. Yellow Star and Ice
    2. The Forest

    Mark Doty

    1. Brilliance
    2. Esta Noche
    3. Bill’s Story

    Harryette Mullen

    1. Black Nikes

    Franz Wright

    1. Alcohol

    Lorna Dee Cervantes

    1. To My Brother
    2. Love of My Flesh, Living Death

    Sandra Cisneros

    1. My Wicked, Wicked Ways
    2. Little Clowns, My Heart

    Cornelius Eady

    1. Jack Johnson Does the Eagle Rock
    2. Crows in a Strong Wind
    3. I’m a Fool to Love You

    Louise Erdrich

    1. Indian Boarding School: The Runaways

    David Mason

    1. Spooning

    Marilyn Chin

    1. How I Got That Name
    2. Compose Near the Bay Bridge
    3. The Survivor

    Cathy Song

    1. The Youngest Daughter

    Annie Finch

    1. Another Reluctance
    2. Insert

    Li-Young Lee

    1. The Gift
    2. Eating Together

    Carl Phillips

    1. Our Lady
    2. As from a Quiver of Arrows

    Nick Flynn

    1. Bag of Mice
    2. Cartoon Physics

    Elizabeth Alexander

    1. The Venus Hottentot

    Reetika Vazirani

    1. From White Elephants
    2. A Million Balconies
    3. Train Windows

    Sherman Alexie

    1. What the Orphan Inherits
    2. The Powwow at the End of the World

    Natasha Trethewey

    1. Hot Combs
    2. Amateur Fighter
    3. Flounder
    4. E. Stallings
    5. The Tantrum

    Joana Klink

    1. Spare

    Brenda Shaughnessy

    1. Postfeminism
    2. Your One Good Dress

    Kevin Young

    1. Quivira City Limits
    2. Everywhere is Out of Town
    3. Whatever You Want

    Terrance Hayes

    1. At Pegasus
    2. Lady Sings the Blues

    Terrance Hayes

    1. At Pegasus
    2. Lady Sings the Blues

    Pablo Neruda

    1. Viente Poemas De Amor Poems of Love 1924
    2. Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening
    3. Cuerpo De Mujer (Body of a Woman)
    4. Ah Vastness of Pines
    5. Leaning Into the Afternoon
    6. Every Day You Play
    7. Thinking, Tingling Shadows
    8. Tonight I Write
    9. Pablo Neruda, “Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines”

    Gypsy Blue Rose

    1. Gypsy Blue Rose Light of the Bright Moon
    2. Gypsy Blue Rose Love Birds
    3. Gypsy Blue Rose I see you dance across life’s stage
    4. Gypsy Blue Rose Adrift Cherita

    Jejeu

    1. Gypsey Blue Rose Over Green Hills a limpid brook flows
    2. Pillow Woman
    3. Steady Breathing warms my Neck
    4. Brian Compton Might I Interject AHD

     

    Judi Van Godner

    Sioux

    1. Mask
    429.               Angel’s Dilemma

    430.               Where Frogs Are

    431.               Garland Seox

    Quin Jejeu Chinese Form

    432.               Ishikawa Jozan Mount Fuji

    433.               Cheng Hao Autumn Moon

    434.               Gyspy Rose BLue

    Waka

    Gyspy Rose blue Geologist

    435.

    Free Verse

    436.               Sierra Scribbler BLISS

    437.               Crookston 2 Daffodil

    438.               Noland Reflections

    Bragi

    439.               Judi Van Gorder Persimmon

    440.               Linda Versa Smith The snowplow heaves snow banks so high

    Lune

    441.               Robert Brewster  Trees Never Wander Lune

    Rondel

    442.               Lady And Louis Two Silver Rings Rondel

    443.               Mountainwriter49 Forever In My Heart Rondel

    Abhanga

    444.               Judi Can Gorder Incomplete Abhanga

    445.               Judi Can Gorder  Magic Moment abhanga

    446.               Rachael the Library is Wwhere Abhanga

    447.               Astrologically Speaking Aghanga

    448.               Tukaram, Words Are The Only Jewels I possess Ahanga

    Writing Com reviews

     

    449.               Dean Koontz Dragon Tears

    450.                Harlan Ellison“A Boy And His Dog.”

    451.               Fritz Leiber“Spacetime For Springers,”

    452.               Matt Griffin “Schrodinger’s Cat”

    453.                Larry Niven, Rescue Party,

    454.               Azimuth R. Daneel Olivaw

    455.               Roger Zelazny For A Breath I Tarry

    456.                Genesis

    457.                Goethe’s Faust

    458.               E. Housman A Shropshire Lad

    459.                     Keith Laumer“Combat Unit”

    460.                                                           Eregon Proofreading Hell

    461.                                                             Christine B Demonstration of Proof

    462.               Allen Charles A Love Beyond Pain

    463.               Professor Moriatty’s True Confession

    464.               Bobby Lou Steveson Vanwolf

    465.               Beholden Seven

    466.               WD Wilcox Valkyrie

    467.               Kare Enga Pasta Alfredo Please

    468.               Gervic A Hawk’s Gift

    469.               Sumojo Vexatious Valentine

    470.               Cubby on the Road Again, Clinging Hearts

    471.               Peris Throckmortorf Hearts and Darts

    472.               Fye a Simple Blue Note Book

    Manardina

    473.                                                            Lawrencealot – Do All Deceive (Form: Manardina)

    Free Verse

    474.               Kafka The Metamorpousis

    475.               John Gardner Grendel Old English Beowulf

    476.               John Gardner, The Art Of Fiction

    477.                Walt Whitman“Song of Myself.”

    478.                William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow”

    479.                William Carlos Williams’“This Is Just to Say”

    480.               Gwendoly Brooks’ “We Real Cool.”

    481.               TS Elliot the Waste Land

    482.               Sylvia Plath Daddy

    483.               Wallace Stevens Disissluionment of Ten O Clock

    484.               Allen Ginsberg America

    485.               David Ryan Do Not Resuscitate

    Etheree

    486.               Judi Van Gorder Etheree

    487.               Andrea Dietrich Your Wild Awakening

    488.               Andrea Dietrich Anonymous Solitude

    489.               Andrea Dietrich The Lair

    490.               Marie Summer Red Poppy

    491.               Marie Summer Blurred Vision (Double Reversed Etheree)

    492.               Marie Summer Ashen Despair (Double Reversed Etheree)

    Zen Haiku

    493.                ]

    494.               Gypsy Blue Rose at night zen haiku

    495.                Gypsy Blue Rose at the Bay zen Haiku

    Japanese Love Poems

     

    496.                Gypsy Blue Rose When I am Gone Japanese Love Poem

    knitelvers

    497.               Judi Van Gorder How Many Times  Knitelvers

    498.               Larencealot Riskless Investment (Knittelvers)

    499.               EE Cummings 24 Xaipe One Day a Nigger Caught in his Hand

    500.                EE Cummings 48 Xiaipe A kite is the Most Dangerous Machine

    TH Palmer

    501.               TH Palmer  Try Again

    Clerihew

    502.               E Clerihew Bentley Sir Humphrey Davy

    503.               Dan, I Am Taylor Swift

    504.               Alan Mc Alpine Douglas The Road Runner

    505.               James Dean Chase Diana Dalton

    506.               James Dean Chase Corporal Klinger

    507.               Judi Van Gorder  The King Of Pop

    508.               Judi Van Gorder Ms. Amber Heard

    509.               Frank Gibbard  Royal

    510.               Jay O Toole Clerihew Bob Denver

    511.                     James And Marie Summers Garfield The Cat

    512.                     Linda Varsell Smith Supreme Wordster

    513.                   Linda Varsell Smith Electrifying Inventor

     

    Tanka  

    514.                   Princess Nukada I wait for you

    515.                   Takuboku I Shut My Eyes

    516.                   Judi Van Gordner Chill of Soundless Night

    517.                   Dendrobia A cool wind blows in

    518.                   Can Sonmez Subtle hints of spring

    519.                   Cheri L. Ahner Peaceful solitude

    520.                   Ono no Komachi (825-900) Tanka –

    521.                   Ono No Komachi See how the blossoms

    522.                    Tada Chimako

    523.                A Spray of Water: Tanka

    524.                 June Jordan On Time Tanka

    525.                                                           Ono No Komachi The Ink Dark Moon Tanaka

    526.                                                           Mrs. KT Early Spring Rains Thrum

    Other famous poems

     

    527.                John Donne, “The Sun Rising”

    528.                 Emily Dickinson, “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain 

    529.                 Richard Brautigan Gee You’r So Beautiful That is starting to rain

    530.                 Chief Seattle Man Does not weave this web of life he is merely a strand of it What he does to the web, he does to himself

    531.                   Anita Shreve A house with any kind of age will have dozens of stories to tell. I suppose if a novelist could live long enough, one could base an entire oeuvre on the lives that weave in and out of an antique house.

    532.                   Anita Shreve A house with any kind of age will have dozens of stories to tell. I suppose if a novelist could live long enough, one could base an entire oeuvre on the lives that weave in and out of an antique house.

    533.                   Benjamin Franklin You may delay, but time will not

    534.                   Bill Keane Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present

    535.                   Geoffrey Chaucer Time and tide wait for no man.

    536.                   Horrace Mann Lost – yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever.

    537.                     Nora Robert’s Three Fates The past is but a thread in the tapestry of our future

    Mad Cow Pastoral Poem

     

    538.                     Lawrencealot (December 18, 2014) Waiting for Us

    539.                     John Keats’s Odes to a Nightingale

    540.                     Joyce Kilmer Trees

     

     

    541.               Anonymous They Learn What We Live

    542.                Edward Lear’s the Owl and the Pussy Cat

    TS Elliot

    543.               T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock  “

    Allen Ginsberg

     

    544.               Allen Ginsberg Howl

    Lune

    545.               Robert Brewster Trees Never Wander Kelly Lune

    546.               Robert Brewster  An Envelope Labeled Collum Lune

    Pantoum

     

    547.               John Ashberry Hotel Lautréamont

    548.               Natalie Diaz My Brother At 3 A.M

    549.               Denrobia Osprey

    550.               Natalie E Illum Curious George Can’t Swim: A Pantoum

    551.               Blass Falconer A Ride in the Rain

    552.               Judi Van Gorder the Wanderer’s Return

    553.               Judi Van Gorder Seamrog

    554.               Judi Van Gorder Hello Goodbye

    555.               Maria Hummel Station

    556.               Kiandra Jimenez Halcyon Kitchen

    557.               Donald Justice Pantoum of the Great Depression

    558.               Chip Liningston Punta Del Este Pantoum

    559.               Hailey Leithauser O, She Says

    560.               Randal Mann Politics

    561.               Randal Mann Pantoum

    562.               Sally Ann Roberts It All Started with a Packet of Seeds

    563.               Clinton Scollard In The Sultan’s Garden

    564.               David Scheider Pins and Needles

    565.               Evie Shockley Pantoum Landing, 1975

    566.               Linda Vsrsell Smith Our Changing Cosmic Fabric

    567.               Linda Varsell Smith Grandchildren are Rainbow-light

    568.                   Linda Varsell Smith an Eccentric Grandma

    569.                   Linda Varsell Smith Mole Hole Mode

    570.                   Linda Varsell Smith When Saturn Returned

    571.                   Linda Varsell Smith In Gardens of Earthly Delights

    572.                      Linda Varsell Smith Pantoum: Western version of a Malaysian

    573.                     E Stallings Another Lullaby For Insomniacs

    574.                     Marie Summers Celestial Dreams

    575.                     Marie Summers Seasonal Whispers

    576.                     Sasha Steensen Pantoum

    577.                   Chellie Wood Dance In The Rain

    578.                   Robert Lukeman Life – A Marriane Poem

    579.                   Gypsy Rose Blue Billowing Clouds Chain Haiku’

    580.                     Yamanoue no Okura When I eat Mellons Choka

    581.               anonymous They Learn What We Live

    Acrostic 

    582.               Gabriella 2 Masqueraders

    583.               .Dportwood Rejoice in Life

    584.                .Dportwood Boots and Spur

    Funny Poems

    585.               Anne Scott Missing

    586.               Shel Silverstein Messy Room

    587.               My One-Eyed Love” by Andrew Jefferson

    588.               Larry Huggins Doggy Heaven

    589.               Cynthia C. Naspinksi Our Imperfect Dog”

    590.                    Shelby Greer “The Life of a Cupcake”

    591.                    Joanna Fuchs Yes! No!”

    592.                    Cecilia L. Goodbody “Tinkle, Tinkle, Little Car”

    593.                   Robert Lewis Stevenson My Shadow”

    594.                   “I Atte a Chili Pepper” by Barbara Vance

    595.                   Snap, Crackle, Pop” by Catherine Pulsifer

    596.                    Ogden Nash “The People Upstairs”

    597.                   Spike Milligan “Granny”

    598.                    Julie Hebert ” Dessert Last”

    599.                     Richard Leavesley “Belly Button Magic”

    600.                   Anonymous  “Have You Ever Seen”

    601.                    Laura Elizabeth Richards “Ele telephony”

    602.                    Anonymous “Do You Carrot All For Me?”

    603.                     Darren Sardelli “My Doggy Ate My Essay”

    604.                   Jack Prelutsky “Be Glad Your Nose is On Your Face”

    605.                   Gelett Burgess “My Feet”

    606.                     Inna Renko “Home Alone”

    607.                     Nandita Shailesh Shanbhag Not Smart Enough For a Smart Phone”

     

    LImericks

    608.                   Edwar Lear Sit variorum megrim evacuation

    609.                    Unknown There was a young lady of Niger

    610.                   Judi Van Gorder The parrot was messy and loud.

    611.                   Judi Van Gorder An Irishman came to my city

    612.                   Judi Van Gorder In the flick of an eye she went down.

    613.                   Judi Van Gorder There once was a poet called Tinker

    614.                   Limericks I cannot compose,

    615.                    There was a young woman named Bright,

    616.                   There was an odd fellow named Gus,

    617.                   There once was a fly on the wall

    618.                   There once was a man from Tibet,

    619.                   There was a young woman named Bright,

    620.                   I need a front door for my hall,

    621.                   There once was a boy named Dan,

    622.                    A newspaperman named Fling,

    623.                    I know an old owl named Boo,

    624.                   I once fell in love with a blonde,

    625.                   I’d rather have Fingers than Toes,

    626.                   There was a Young Lady whose chin

    627.                   Hickory Dickory Dock,

    628.                   There was a faith healer of Deal

    629.                   My dog is really quite hip,

    630.                   A painter, who lived in Great Britain,

    631.                   There is a young schoolboy named Mason,

    632.                   There was a young schoolboy of Rye,

    633.                   An elderly man called Keith

    634.                   There was an old man of Peru,

    635.                   The Incredible Wizard of Oz,

    636.                    Once I visited France,

    637.                   It goes quickly, you know,

    638.                    Is it me or the nature of money,

    639.                   There once was a farmer from Leeds

    640.                   A fellow jumped off a high wall,

    641.                   A man and his lady-love, Min,

    642.                    There was a young lady of Cork,

    643.                    There once was a Martian called Zed

    644.                   There once was a girl named Sam

    645.                   Said the man with a wink of his eye

    646.                   A wonderful bird is the Pelican.

    647.                   There was once a great man in Japan

    648.                   There was a young man so benighted

    649.                   There was an old man from Sudan,

    650.                    A maiden at college, Miss Breeze,

    651.                    A canner, exceedingly canny,

    652.                    A mouse in her room woke Miss Dowd

    653.                    There was a young woman named Kite,

    654.                   A flea and a fly in a flue,

    655.                    A major, with wonderful force,

    656.                    A nifty young flapper named Jane

    657.                    “There’s a train at 4:04,” said Miss Jenny.

    658.                    A canny young fisher named Fisher

    659.                    Here’s to the chigger,

    660.                   A cheerful old bear at the Zoo

    661.                    The bottle of perfume that Willie sent

    662.                    I bought a new Hoover today,

    663.                    A crossword compiler named Moss

    664.                    I’m papering walls in the loo

    665.                    There once was an old man of Esser,

    666.                    To compose a sonata today,

    667.                    There was a young lady named Perkins,

    668.                    There was an old man of Nantucket

    669.                   There was a young lady of Kent,

    670.                   There was a young lady named Hannah

    671.                    There was a dear lady of Eden,

    672.                    A certain young fellow named Bee-Bee

    673.                    Remember when nearly sixteen

    674.                    There was an old person of Fratto

    675.                    There was a young man from Dealing

    676.                    As 007 walked by

    677.                   A tutor who tooted the flute

    678.                    No woodsman would cut a wood, would he

    679.                    There once was a man from the sticks

    680.                    A poet whose friends called him Steve

    681.                    If you catch a chinchilla in Chile

    682.                    There once was a man named Mauvette

    683.                   There once was a beautiful nurse

    684.                    There was a young girl from Flynn

    685.                There once was a man from Gorem

    686.                Dylan Thomas

    687.               The Hand that Signed the Paper

    688.

    689.                W. H. Auden

    690.

    691.               2

    866666

    692.               8Political Poetry

     

     

    Dylan Thomas, ‘The Hand That Signed the Paper’

    W. H. Auden, ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’

    Audre Lorde, ‘Power’

    Maxine Kumin, ‘Woodchucks’

    “Bloody Halos and Porcelain Chains”  from “The Lie Within The Line”   [18+] by Jeremy (704)
    “Hidden Bruises”   [E] by Sumojo (759)”Run From the Devil”   [18+] by Jayne (1,493)”Death’s Spell”   [E] by DMCarroll (66)”Light’s Labor Lost”   [E] by ChristineB (99)

    “Motherhood, Lost ”   [13+] by Robin:TheRhymeMaven (211)

     

    Monotetra

     

    Linda Newman Paper Dreams

    Michael Walker An Angel Spoke To Me Today

     

    Allan J Wight A Poet On The Launching Pad

    Robert Brewster No Chance

     

     

    Other

     

    Robert Lee Brewer “Waiting for April Showers,”

     

    Jan Turner Spring Eternal

    The Senses of Spring   Jan Turner

    SP Quill Magazine Spring 2006, Vol. #10

    Andrea Ditrich A Summer Alouette

    Judi Can Gorder Month of August

    Linda Varsell Smith Future Possibilities

    Linda Varsell Smith Fourth Dimensional Blueprint

     

    Lune

     

    Robert Brewster Trees Never Wander Kelly Lune

    Robert Brewster  An Envelope Labeled Collum Lune

    David Schneider Adrift WC Poets Place

     

    Herman Melville Art

     

    693.                   Occhtfochlach

    (author unknown) The Ochtfochlach
    Fochlach It (Ochtfochlach)
    © Lawrencealot – December 4, 2013
    Pen Allen of allpoetry Sixteen Thirty-four Door — Double Ochtfochlach

     

     

     

    Note due to copy and paste errors the formating and numbering is SNAFU screwed up beyond repair will try to repair it latter will start numbering from this section onward

     

    Political Poetry

     

    1.      Dylan Thomas, ‘The Hand That Signed the Paper 

    2.      W. H. Auden, ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’

    3.      Audre Lorde, ‘Power

    4.      Maxine Kumin, ‘Woodchucks’

    5.
    “Bloody Halos and Porcelain Chains”  from “The Lie Within The Line”   [18+] by Jeremy (704)6.
    “Hidden Bruises”   [E] by Sumojo (759)7.
    “Run From the Devil”   [18+] by Jayne (1,493)8.
    “Death’s Spell”   [E] by DMCarroll (66)

    9.
    “Light’s Labor Lost”   [E] by ChristineB (99)

    10.
    “Motherhood, Lost ”   [13+] by Robin:TheRhymeMaven (211)

    Monotetra

     

    11. Linda Newman Paper Dreams

    12. Michael Walker An Angel Spoke To Me Today

    13. Allan J Wight A Poet On The Launching Pad

    Aloulette

     

    14. Jan Turner Spring Eternal

    15. The Senses of Spring   Jan Turner

    16. SP Quill Magazine Spring 2006, Vol. #10

    17. Andrea Ditrich A Summer Alouette

    18. Judi Can Gorder Month of August

    19. Linda Varsell Smith Future Possibilities

    20. Linda Varsell Smith Fourth Dimensional Blueprint

     

     

    -Anne Sexton Love Song

    Robert Brewer

     

    Robert Brewer Miss Shadorma

    Robert Brewer Terminal Triolet

    Robert Brewser “Terminal Triolet,”

    Robert Brewer “Forget sleeping”

    Robert Brewer “Semantically Speaking,”

    Robert Brewer  Full Throated
    Robert Brewster No Chance

    Robert Lee Brewer “Waiting for April Showers,”

    Robert Brewer Give Me a Reason

    Bianca Boonstra Thunder and Lightening Entou

    Bianca Boonstra Almost Dead Entou

     

    Zejel Spanish Verse

     

     

    Linda Varsell Smith Pathway

     

    Judi Van Gardner

     

    An Old Hymn Still Singing  Zejel

     

     

    Lune

    1.      Robert Brewster Trees Never Wander Kelly Lune

    2.      Robert Brewster  An Envelope Labeled Collum Lune

     

     

     

    Jay’s Way

     

    Lawrencealot Throw-a-way (Form: Jay’s Way)

     

    Sonnet

     

    William Shakesphere Sonnet 18

     

     

    Bianca Boonstra Writer’s Com

     

    Binaca Boonstra Writer’s Cramp Anne Frank’s Tree

    Lawrencealot

     

    Throw a Way Jay’s Way

     

    Shakesphere

     

    William Shakesphere Sonnet 18

     

    Robert Brewer

     

    Robert Lee Brewer Exchanging Words

     

    PSH

     

    Sheilye Anne Debo Whispering Junkyard Mountain

     

    Quotes to Ponder

     

    If we go down the rabbit hole of our unconsciousness and try to unravel the knotty points of our life story we may encounter a bunch of hidden niceties or emotional stowaways. Forgotten details in the windmill of our mind may daintily reveal, where things might have gone wrong. (I wonder what went wrong.)~~Erik PevernagieI love the rabbit hole. I spend a lot of time looking at images, Google mapping, etc. I also love to read court transcripts, FBI files, stuff like that. You go through vast, boring stretches, but the voices are always so fascinating and slowly a story begins to emerge. It’s very much like playing detective.~~Zachary Lazar

    Cassandra always hid when she read, though she never quite knew why. It was as if she couldn’t shake the guilty suspicion that she was being lazy, that surrendering herself so completely to something so enjoyable must surely be wrong. But surrender she did. Let herself drop through the rabbit hole and into a tale of magic and mystery.~~Kate Morton

    Dr. Seuss provided “ingenious and uniquely witty solutions to the standing problem of the juvenile fantasy writer: how to find, not another Alice, but another rabbit hole.~~Clifton Fadiman

    Rabbit holes are my specialty. I live and breathe in them.~~Kara McDowell, One Way or Another

     

    Charles Baudelaire I must be dead.”

     

    Annymous Worms Crawl In

     

    Edgar Allen Poe Annabel Lee

     

    Kai Carlson Wei Nomad Palindrome

     

    Writer’s Digest

     

    Lee Ellis Big Old Clap Clap,

    Nicki Fitz-Gerald Long Walk Home,

    Darin Rogers Abstract with Twirling Sparklers,

    Martin Klein Unwavering,

    Yinka Shonibare Resolution Kid,

     

    Writng com

     

    Capuchine Safety Dance

    Solang Bring Be Careful Out There

    Solang Bring Bermudagrass

     

     

     Donald Justice“There is a gold light in certain old paintings,” 

     

    Shelly Kaye singular oddquains Fall

    Shelly Kaye singular oddquains Hope

    Shelly Kaye singular oddquains Cards

    Shelly Kaye Mirror OddquainMirror Oddquain Breeze

    Shelly Kaye  Butterfly  Oddquain
    Shelly Kaye Crown Oddquain

     

    Other

     

    Famous Prose Poetry Examples (I Told You I Wasn’t Making This Up!)
    There are plenty of prose poetry examples out there, but here’s a few to get you started:

    “Be Drunk” by Charles Baudelaire—The ultimate call to live passionately Read it here.

    “The Colonel” by Carolyn Forché—A searing piece of political witness that reads like a nightmare you can’t shake. Read it here (18+)

    “A Story About the Body” by Robert Hass—Rejection and desire with stark, unexpected imagery. Read it here.

    “The Prose Poem” by Campbell McGrath—A winding journey with perfectly poetic language (I admit the title is a little less than poetic). Read it here.

     

    The Ziggurat

    Judi Van Gorder Appetite A Ziggurat

    Jonathan Caswell Inspired

    Paul Szlose Anti-Abstraction

    Paul Szlose Depressive

    Paul Szlose Funereal

    Paul Szlose Recital

    Paul Szlose Thaumaturgy

     

    Robert Lee Brewer “Supernatural,”

    Wallace Stevens “Peter Quince at the Clavier.”

     

    Solang Bing  Writing com

     

    Rain and Drought”
    “Never Explained”
    “Not Funny”
    “Wins-Day!”
    “Over and Down”
    “Death Cafe ”
    “Serious, Lengthy, Russian”
    “TGIF”
    “The Big Game”

     

    Capuchine Swizzle Stick

    Elegy

     

    David Romano’s “When Tomorrow Starts With Me” 

    W. H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues,”
    John Milton’s “Lycidas”

    Mary Oliver’s “In Blackwater Woods”
    Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong”

    Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain” 

     

    Triquint

     

    Bianca Simple Chinquapin

     

    Fan Story Haiku

     

    Gypsy Blue Rose Cows Wander At Night

    Gypsy Blue Rose zebra’s zeal gallops

     

     

    Writer’s Digest

    Robert Lee Brewer “If I had Not,”

    Binaca Boonstra Writer’s Cramp Anne Frank’s Tree

    Lawrencealot

     

    Throw a Way Jay’s Way

     

    Shakesphere

     

    William Shakesphere Sonnet 18

     

    Robert Brewer

     

    Robert Lee Brewer Exchanging Words

     

    Fan Story Review

     

    Judi Van Gorder

     

    1. Morning Newscast
      Maskr

    Linda Varsell Smith

    Angel’s Dilemma

     

    JHE All Poetry

     

    Where Frogs Are

     

    Selma Martin

     

    Garland Seox

     

    Fan Story review

     

     

    Other

    Dean Koontz Dragon Tears

    Harlan Ellison“A Boy And His Dog.”

    Fritz Leiber“Spacetime For Springers,” 

    Matt Griffin “Schrodinger’s Cat” .
    Larry Niven, Rescue Party,”

    Azimoth R. Daneel Olivaw

    Roger Zelazny For A Breath I Tarry

    Genesis

    Goethe’s Faust 

    1. Housman A Shropshire Lad.
      Keith Laumer“Combat Unit”

    Kafka “The Metamorphosis”

    John Gardner’grendel I

    Old English Beowulf

    — John Gardner, The Art Of Fiction

     

     

     

    Fan Story Review

     

    Anonymous Wildfire Naani

    Anonymous – A Tick A Tock

    Anonymous – To Shelter Feathered Songs

    Anonymous Even the Odds contest Carl Sanberg

    Anonymous Nonesense

    Anonymous Female Strength in Nature

    Anonymous  Loon

    Anonymous – Owl on the Hunt

    Anonymous the Wild Side

    Patrick Bernady Her Rage

    Jamison Brown Before the Wind Calls

    lJbutterfly Prayer for Debbie Pick Marquette

    Debbie D’Arcy Anne Frank

    Debie D’arcy James Baldwin

    Debbie D’Arcy – Jimmy Carter

    Harry Craft I Was a Spy

    Harry Craft What Happened to the Word Groovy

    Harry Craft What Does Freedom Mean to You?

    Harry Craft – Peace

    John Crawford  Rudyard Kipling

    Donald Saacca Forever friends

    Donaldandvicki – Tender Trap

    Rick Gardner the Sun, the Desert, the One

    Douglas Goff – Perspective

    Dolly Poems Granite Island

    Elias Noor The Whispher of Time

    Finback Never

    Finback When Shadows Creep

    Gypsey Rose Blue Gardens of Delight

    Cecilia a Heikary Bobcat

    Cecila Heiskary – Brown Bear

    Cecilia A Hiskary Horses

    Ceclia A Heiskary The Magic

    Cecilia A Heiskary – Night Life

    Cecila Heiskary – Snow

    Christy 710 – Happy New Year from Aus

    Marylyn Hamilton Darkness Descends

    Marylyn Hamilton He Waits

    Marylyn Hamilton Winging It

    Tom Hormoz A Griever’s Prayer

    Tom Horonzy Rumpelstilskin Unleashed

    Kaput howling at Moon Haiku

    Mrs. Kt Silent Dancers

    KT Shades of Blue –

    Mrs KTEnding Pain’s Servitude

    5 fish JM Jenca

    Debbie Pick Marquette Believe in Miracles

    Debi Pick Marquette My Cornea Disease

    Debbie Pick Marquette – Keeping Gypsy in Prayers

    Debbie Pick Marquette – My Lifetime

    Debbie Pick Marquette Romance on the Beach

    Me and Erin G – Long Gone Away

    Lana Marie Hairy Nipple

    Paul McFarland January

    JUMBO 1 Shame

    Pam (respa) Black History Month

    Tea for Two Eclectic Wordsmiths

    Ean Black I Write

    Richard Frohm Dreams

    KiwiSteveh Sudden Tears

    Lana Marie The Dash Between

    Pamusart – The Kirby Part 1

    Pamusart – The Kirby Part 2

    Pamusart – The Kirby Part 3

    Pamusart – The Kirby Part 4

    Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 5

    Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 6

    Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 7

    Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 8

    Pamusart Rembering the Past

    Pamusart Old Man at the River

    Pamusart The Great Apes

    Pamusart cooing doves

    Pamusart  Exploding Star

    Pamusart Purple Flowers Wake

    Pamusart the Search

    Pamusart On Finding Peace

    Pamusart Jean Marie Lane

    Pamusart the cavesweet

    Pamusart Independence

    Pamusart the Broken Man

    Lea Tonin – Famitree Flames

    Lea Tonin1 – Humiston

    Lea Toni1 – Mansion

    Lea Toni1 – The Meet

    Alexandra Trovato A Monster Schemes Under Your Bed

    Alexandra Trovato  A Timely Trump Limerick

    Willie P Smith – Sleigh Ride

    Willie P Smith – Walk with Me

    Teafor2 – Last Night of the Year

    Jessica Wheller – Waking Daisy

    Jessica Wheller – January Wind

    Nicki Nance Emotional Support

    Cecilia A Heiskary Daffodils

    Cecila A Heiskary Jaguaurs

    Cecila A Heiskary Insane

    Cecilia A Heiskary Insane

    Anonymous Ode to My Scrunchies

     

     

    Annoymous  Golden Years

     

    Annoymous  Golden Years

    Annoymous AI Future

    Annoymous Tiny Puppy

    D’Arcy Rest

    Cecilia Heikkary Daffodils

    Cecilia A Heiskary Jagaurs

    Cecilia A Heiskary Insane

    Gyspy Rose blue Geologist Waka

     

    Annoymous  Golden Years

    Annoymous AI Future

    Annoymous Tiny Puppy

    D’Arcy Rest

    Cecilia Heikkary Daffodils

    Cecilia A Heiskary Jagaurs

    Cecilia A Heiskary Insane

    Gyspy Rose blue Geologist Waka

    Rick Gardner Innocent of Guilty

    Harry Craft A Kangaroo from Baraboo

    Nancyjam Love in the winter

    Debbie Pick Marquette  Finding the Bright Side

    Debbie Pick Marquette March

    Pamusart The Sword

    Pamusart The Planet Earth

    Barry Penfold Slow Dance with You

    YM Roger Always For Now

    Arabellesom Mom Truest Love Ever Known

    Debbie D’Arcy  Lord Bryon

    Nicki B Robin Williams

    Harry Craft the Cell Phone

    Estory in this Autumn Time

    Mrs Anna Howard Difficult Decisions

    Debbie Pick Marquette Thelma and Louise

    Pamusart Your Golden Aura

    Rachell Allen Public Face/Private Face

    Anonymous Today

    Rachael Allen Exceptional Teacher

    Debbie D’Arcy Voldymyr Zelensky

    Kentucky Sweet Pea My Dogma

    Pamusart The Kidnapping

    Pamusart  the Kidnapping Chapter Two

    Pam Respa Rennoved Violinst

    Rachael Allen Proud to Be His Daugther

    Rick Gardner Wishes to Have

    Cecilia A Heiskary Sumatran Orangutan

    Cecilia A Heiskary Guiana Red-Face Monkey

    Dolly’s Poems the Witching Hour

    Kapot Swimming in Pain

    Debbie Pick Marquette Men are from Mars, Women from Venus

    Miss Merrie This Love

    Nancyjam the Meadow

    Gypsy Blue Rose Billowing Clouds

    Pamusart the Kidnapping Chapter 3

    Pamusart Colorful world

    Pamusart the World Around Lavenders

    Annoymous Maladorous

    Tea for Two It Was the Shoes

    Tea for Two Wordsmith with Big Faces

    Iraven Prayers for Eva

    Sally Law Blood Moon and Blood Rain

    Jaquelyn Poop Living the Dream, No Thank You

    Debi Pick Marquette My Bedroom Window

    Debi Pick Marquette Happy St Patrick’s Birthday

    Debi Pick Marquette My Bedroom Window

    Debi Pick Marquette Happy St Patrick’s Birthday

    Rven Prayers for Eva

    Jennifer Secret Rendezvous

    Sally Law’s Blood Moon and Blood Rain

    Jaquelyn Poop Living the Dream, No Thank You

    Sanku A New Day

    Aiona I Am Photine

    Annyomous Too Many Boyfriends For This Is Serious

    Annyomous Cary Hope

    Annyomous Cicada Watch

    Annyomous Ned the Postman

    Brad Bennett I Saw A Man Walking Crying

    Carasdreams Betrayal

    Cullen Bob I Just Want To Leave Things Be

    Chris Davies Irish

    Iza Dealeanu The Wandering Queen

    Dolly’s Poems Graveyard Shift

    Cecilia A Heiskary Fun Time

    Rick Gardner April Is Today And The Next Day

    Brenda Strauser Early Signs Of Spring

    Alexandra Trovato Real Love

     

    Fan Story Review

     

    Annoymous  Golden Years

    Annoymous AI Future

    Annoymous Tiny Puppy

    Annyomous A Tick a Tock

    Annyomous TO Shelter feathered Songs

    Debbie D’Arcy Jimmy Carter

    Harry Craft Peace

    KT Shades of Blue

    Cecilia A Heiskary Beat of My Drum

    Debbie Pick Marquette Instead of 2025 Resolutions

    Debbie Pick Marquette Patch and Ruby, Catching Things

    Lea Tonin1 Infanterei

    Lea Tonin1 Miristone

    Pam Respa Stylish Statues

    D’Arcy Rest

    Cecilia Heiskary Daffodils

    Cecilia A Heiskary Jaguars

    Cecilia A Heiskary Insane

    Gypsey Rose blue Geologist Waka

    Jamison Brown Before the Wind Calls

    J Butterfly Prayer for Debbie Pick Marquette

    Debbie D’Arcy Anne Frank

    Rick Gardner, the Sun, the Desert, the One

    Cecilia, a Heikary Bobcat

    JUMBO 1 Shame

    Debi Pick, Marquette, My Cornea Disease

    Pam (respa) Black History Month

    Nancyjam Love in the w

    Pamusart The Sword

    Barry Penfold Slow Dance with You

    Tea for Two Eclectic Wordsmiths

    Mark Bibbins “At the End of the Endless Decade,

    Annoymous dogsessive

    Crystie Cookie 999

    Trust Jessie James Doty

    Debbie Pick Marque

    Tim Margetts Four Paws, No Pause

    Bianca Boonstra 2002 Septet

    Anonymous Owl On the Hunt

    Christy 710 Happy New Years from Aus

    DonaldandVicki Tender Trap

    Douglas Goff Perspective

    Me and Erin G Long Gone Away

    Cecilia A Heiskary Night Life

    Lea Tonin1 Humiston

    Lea Toni1 Mansione

    Lea Toni1 The Meet

    Willie P Smith Sleight Ride

    Willie P Smith  Walk With Me

    Teafor2 Last Night of the Year

    Jessica Wheller Waking Daisy

    Binaca Boonstra Writer’s Cramp Anne Frank’s Tree
    Annyomous TO Shelter feathered Songs

    Debbie D’Arcy Jimmy Carter

    Cecila Heiskary Brown Bear

    Cecila Heiskary Snow

    Harry Craft Peace

    KT Shades of Blue

    Debbie Pick Marquette Keeping Gypsy in Prayers

    Debbie Pick Marquette My Lifetime

    Lea Tonin Famitree Flames

    Jessica Wheller Janaury Wind

    Anonymous They Learn What We Live

    Pamusart Rembering the Past

    Pamusart Old Man at the River

    Lana Marie Hairy Nipple

    Paul McFarland January

     

     

    End Poetry

     

    Begin Harvard Classics

    Harvard Classics

     

    The volumes are:

    Bolded read

     

     (1) Franklin, Woolman, Penn

     (2) Plato, Epictetus,

     Marcus, Aurelius Meditations

    (3) Bacon,

    Milton’s Prose,

    Thomas Browne

    (4) Complete Poems in English: Milton

    (5) Essays and English Traits: Emerson (

    6) Poems and Songs: Burns (7)

    Confessions of St. Augustine. Imitation of Christ

    (8) Nine Greek Dramas (9)

    Letters and Treatises of Cicero

    Pliny

    (10) Wealth of Nations: Adam Smith

    (11) Origin of Species: Darwin

    (12) Plutarch’s Lives (13)

     Aeneid Virgil (14)

    Don Quixote Part 1: Cervantes

    (15) Pilgrim’s Progress. Donne

    Herbert. Bunyan, Walton

    (16) The Thousand and One Night

    (17) Folk-Lore and Fable. Aesop, Grimm,

    Andersen

    Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales

    (18) Modern English Drama

    (19) Faust,

    Egmont Etc.

    Doctor Faustus,

    Goethe,

    Marlowe

    (20) The Divine Comedy: Dante

    (21) I Promessi

    Sposi,

    Manzoni

    (22) The Odyssey: Homer

    (23) Two Years Before Mast. Dana

    (24) On the Sublime French Revolution Etc. Burke

    (25) Autobiography Etc. Essays and Addresses: J.S. Mill,

    1. Carlyle

    (26) Continental Drama

    (27) English Essays: Sidney to Macaulay

    (28) Essays. English and American

    (29) Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin (

    30) Faraday,

    Helmholtz,

    Kelvin,

    Newcomb,

    Geikie

    (31) Autobiography: Benvenuto, Cellini

    (32) Literary and Philosophical Essays:

    Montaigne,

    Sainte Beuve,

    Renan,

    Lessing,

    Schiller,

    Kant,

    Mazzini

    (33) Voyages and Travels

    (34) Descartes,

    Voltaire,

    Rousseau,

    Hobbes

    (35) Chronicle and Romance:

    Froissart,

    Malory,

    Holinshed (36)

    Machiavelli, the Prince

    More,

    Luther

    (37) Locke,

    Berkeley,

    Hume

    (38) Harvey,

    Jenner,

    Lister,

    Pasteur

    (39) Famous Prefaces

    (40) English Poetry 1: Chaucer to Gray

    (41) English Poetry 2: Collins to Fitzgerald

    (42) English Poetry 3: Tennyson to Whitman

    (43) American Historical Documents

    Federalist Papers

    Constitution

    Bill of Rights

    Declaration of Indepedence

    (44) Sacred Writings 1

    (45) Sacred Writings 2

    The Bible

    The Quaran

    The Analect of Confucius

    Mencius

    Buddist Writing

    Bhaga Vita

    Lao Tzo The Tao

     

    (46) Elizabethan Drama 1

    (47) Elizabethan Drama 2

    (48) Thoughts and Minor Works: Pascal

    (49) Epic and Saga (

    50) Introduction, Readers Guide,

     

    50 Books to Read Before You Die

    Vol 1 starts with Volume One


    Alcott, Louisa May: Little Women
    Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice
    Austen, Jane: Emma
    Balzac, Honoré de: Father Goriot
    Barbusse, Henri: The Inferno
    Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
    Brontë, Charlotte: Jane Eyre
    Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights
    Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan of the Apes
    Butler, Samuel: The Way of All Flesh
    Carroll, Lewis: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia
    Cervantes, Miguel de: Don Quixote
    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening
    Cleland, John: Fanny Hill
    Collins, Wilkie: The Moonstone
    Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness
    Conrad, Joseph: Nostromo
    Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans
    Crane, Stephen: The Red Badge of Courage
    Cummings, E. E.: The Enormous Room
    Defoe, Daniel: Robinson Crusoe
    Defoe, Daniel: Moll Flanders
    Dickens, Charles: Bleak House
    Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: The Idiot
    Doyle, Arthur Conan: The Hound of the Baskervilles
    Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Count of Monte Cristo
    Eliot, George: Middlemarch
    Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones
    Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary
    Flaubert, Gustave: Sentimental Education
    Ford, Ford Madox: The Good Soldier
    Forster, E. M.: A Room With a View
    Forster, E. M.: Howard End
    Gaskell, Elizabeth: North and South
    Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls
    Gorky, Maxim: The Mother
    Haggard, H. Rider: King Solomon’s Mines
    Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D’Urbervilles
    Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The Scarlet Letter
    Homer: The Odyssey
    Hugo, Victor: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    Hugo, Victor: Les Misérables
    Huxley, Aldous: Crome Yellow
    James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady

     

    Volume 2


    – Little Women [Louisa May Alcott]
    – Sense and Sensibility [Jane Austen]
    – Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) [J.M. Barrie]
    – Cabin Fever [ B. M. Bower]
    – The Secret Garden [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – A Little Princess [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [Lewis Carroll]
    – The King in Yellow [Robert William Chambers]
    – The Man Who Knew Too Much [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Woman in White [Wilkie Collins]
    – The Most Dangerous Game [Richard Connell]
    – Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – On the Origin of Species, 6th Edition [Charles Darwin]
    – The Iron Woman [Margaret Deland]
    – David Copperfield [Charles Dickens]
    – Oliver Twist [Charles Dickens]
    – A Tale of Two Cities [Charles Dickens]
    – The Double [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – A Room with a View [E. M. Forster]
    – Dream Psychology [Sigmund Freud]
    – Tess of the d’Urbervilles [Thomas Hardy]
    – Siddhartha [Hermann Hesse]
    – Dubliners [James Joyce]
    – The Fall of the House of Usher [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Arabian Nights [Andrew Lang]
    – The Sea Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Call of Cthulhu [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – Anne of Green Gables [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – Beyond Good and Evil [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Murders in the Rue Morgue [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Black Cat [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Raven [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – Swann’s Way [Marcel Proust]
    – Romeo and Juliet [William Shakespeare]
    – Treasure Island [Robert Louis Stevenson]
    – The Elements of Style [William Strunk Jr.

     

    Vol 3  finished keeping for the historical record

     

    This book contains the following works arranged alphabetically by authors’ last names.

    Starting with volume 3 then will go back and do volumes one, two, and the Harvard classics. The goal is to finish all of these by the end of next year.  I almost finished Volume One.  Will do some of the WC reading books as well.

    – What’s Bred in the Bone [Grant Allen]
    – The Golden Ass [Lucius Apuleius]
    – Meditations [Marcus Aurelius]
    – Northanger Abbey [Jane Austen]
    – Lady Susan [Jane Austen]
    – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [Lyman Frank Baum]
    – The Art of Public Speaking [Dale Breckenridge Carnegie]
    – The Blazing World [Margaret Cavendish]
    – The Wisdom of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Heretics [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Donnington Affair [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Innocence of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [John Cleland]
    – The Moonstone [Wilkie Collins]
    – Lord Jim [Joseph Conrad]
    – The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – The Pickwick Papers [Charles Dickens]
    – A Christmas Carol [Charles Dickens]
    – Notes From The Underground [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Gambler par Fyodor [Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Lost World [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Hound of the Baskervilles [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Sign of the Four [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Man in the Iron Mask [Alexandre Dumas]
    – The Three Musketeers [Alexandre Dumas]
    – This Side of Paradise [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – Curious, If True: Strange Tales [Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell]
    – King Solomon’s Mines [Henry Rider Haggard]
    – The Hunchback of Notre Dame [Victor Hugo]
    – Kim [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Captain Courageous [Rudyard Kipling]
    – The Jungle Book [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Lady Chatterley’s Lover [David Herbert Lawrence]
    – The Son of the Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Einstein Theory of Relativity [Hendrik Antoon Lorentz]
    – The Dunwich Horror [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – At the Mountains of Madness [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – The Prince [Niccolò Machiavelli]
    – The Story Girl [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – The Antichrist [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Republic [Plato]
    – The Last Man [Mary Shelley]
    – Life On The Mississippi [Mark Twain]
    – The Kama Sutra [Vatsyayana]
    – In the Year 2889 [Jules Verne]
    – Around the World in Eighty Days [Jules Verne]
    – Four Just Men [Edgar Wallace]
    – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ [Lewis Wallace]
    – Jacob’s Room [Virginia Woolf]

     

    Sci-Fi short stories

     

    The Big Book of Science Fiction is a massive anthology of science fiction stories edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It covers the history and evolution of the genre from the early 20th century to the end of the millennium, featuring works from over 30 countries and many languages. The book contains 105 stories, ranging from classics by H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula K. Le Guin, to lesser-known gems by W.E.B. Du Bois, David R. Bunch, and Liu Cixin. The book also includes comments from the editors and the authors, offering insights into their creative process and vision. The book is divided into 11 sections, each with a thematic focus and chronological order.

    Here is the table of contents for the book1:

    Goal read one to five per week alternating with Kindle classics and reading poetry collections finish by end of the year

     

    Introduction: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

    The Lens of Time: Science Fiction as a Way of Seeing

    H.G. Wells: “The Star” (1897)

    Lu Xun: “The New Overworld” (1902)

    Sultana’s Dream: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1905)

    Albert Robida: “The Triumph of Mechanics” (1908)

    Miguel de Unamuno: “Mechanopolis” (1913)

    W.E.B. Du Bois: “The Comet” (1920)

    Claude Farrère: “The Fate of the Poseidonia” (1923)

    Edmond Hamilton: “The Star Stealers” (1929)

    David H. Keller: “The Lost Language” (1934)

    Stanislaw Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Jorge Luis Borges: “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” (1940)

    Cixin Liu: “The Poetry Cloud” (1997)

    Invasions

    Edgar Rice Burroughs: “A Princess of Mars” (1912) excerpt

    Leslie F. Stone: “The Conquest of Gola” (1931)

    Stanley G. Weinbaum: “A Martian Odyssey” (1934)

    John W. Campbell Jr.: “Who Goes There?” (1938)

    Ray Bradbury: “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” (1949)

    Katherine MacLean: “Pictures Don’t Lie” (1951)

    William Tenn: “The Liberation of Earth” (1953)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Voices of Time” (1960)

    Dino Buzzati: “Catastrophe” (1966)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side” (1972)

    Joanna Russ: “When It Changed” (1972)

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “The Spontaneous Reflex” (1973) excerpt

    Octavia Butler: “Bloodchild” (1984)

    James Patrick Kelly: “Think Like a Dinosaur” (1995)

    Monsters

    H.P. Lovecraft: “The Dunwich Horror” (1929)

    Ray Bradbury: “The Foghorn” (1951)

    Jerome Bixby: “It’s a Good Life” (1953)

    Julio Cortázar: “Axolotl” (1956)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Drowned Giant” (1964)

    R.A. Lafferty: “Nine Hundred Grandmothers” (1966)

    Terry Carr: “The Dance of the Changer and the Three” (1968)

    Harlan Ellison®: “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967)

    Lisa Tuttle & George R.R. Martin: “The Storms of Windhaven” (1975)

    John Varley: “Air Raid” (1977)

    William Gibson: “New Rose Hotel” (1984)

    Ted Chiang: “Story of Your Life” (1998)

    Experiments

    Alfred Jarry: “Elements of Pataphysics” (1911)

    Karel Čapek: “R.U.R.” (1920) excerpt

    Stanisław Lem: “How Erg the Self-Inducting Slew a Paleface” (1955)

    William S. Burroughs: “Excerpt from Naked Lunch” (1959)

    J.G. Ballard: “Chronopolis” (1960)

    Philip K. Dick: “Beyond Lies the Wub” (1952)

    Boris Vian: “Froth on the Daydream” (1947) excerpt

    Joanna Russ: “Useful Phrases for the Tourist” (1970)

    George Alec Effinger: “Two Sadnesses” (1973)

    John Sladek: “Solar Shoe Salesman” (1974)

    Dafydd ab Hugh: “The Coon Rolled Down and Ruptured His Larinks, A Squeezed Novel by Mr. Skunk” (1986)

    Generation Ships

    Don Wilcox: “The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years” (1940)

    Judith Merril: “Daughters of Earth” (1952)

    Brian W. Aldiss: “Non-Stop” (1958) excerpt

    Robert Silverberg: “Sundance” (1969)

    Pamela Zoline: “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967)

    Gene Wolfe: “A Cabin on the Coast” (1984)

    Bruce Sterling: “Swarm” (1982)

    Geoff Ryman: “The Unconquered Country” (1984)

    New Worlds

    Cordwainer Smith: “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” (1961)

    Samuel R. Delany: “Aye, and Gomorrah …” (1967)

    Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and Slower” (1971)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” (1976)

    Frederik Pohl: “The Gold at the Starbow’s End” (1972)

    Angélica Gorodischer: “Of Navigators and Traitors” (1973) excerpt

    John Crowley: “Snow” (1985)

    Iain M. Banks: “A Gift from the Culture” (1987)

    Greg Egan: “Learning to Be Me” (1990)

    Future War

    Jack London: “The Unparalleled Invasion” (1910)

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton: “The Coming Race” (1871) excerpt

    George Griffith: “The War of the Viruses” (1895)

    Philip Francis Nowlan: “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” (1928)

    E.E. “Doc” Smith: “The Skylark of Space” (1928) excerpt

    Olaf Stapledon: “Star Maker” (1937) excerpt

    Robert A. Heinlein: “Solution Unsatisfactory” (1941)

    C.M. Kornbluth: “Two Dooms” (1958)

    Joe Haldeman: “Hero” (1972)

    Harry Harrison: “The Streets of Ashkelon” (1962)

    David R. Bunch: “Moderan” (1967)

    Harlan Ellison®: “A Boy and His Dog” (1969)

    James S.A. Corey: “Rates of Change” (2011)

    Virtual Reality

    Stanisław Lem: “The Seventh Sally or How Trurl’s Own Perfection Led to No Good” (1965)

    Philip K. Dick: “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966)

    John Brunner: “The Vitanuls” (1967)

    Roger Zelazny: “For a Breath I Tarry” (1966)

    Robert Silverberg: “Passengers” (1968)

    Rudy Rucker: “Software” (1982) excerpt

    William Gibson: “Burning Chrome” (1982)

    Pat Cadigan: “Pretty Boy Crossover” (1986)

    Neal Stephenson: “Snow Crash” (1992) excerpt

    Humanity 2.0

    Olaf Stapledon: “Odd John” (1935) excerpt

    C.L. Moore: “No Woman Born” (1944)

    Cordwainer Smith: “Scanners Live in Vain” (1950)

    Algis Budrys: “Who?” (1955)

    James Blish: “Surface Tension” (1952)

    Gregory Benford: “Blood Music” (1983)

    Bruce Sterling: “Mozart in Mirrorshades” (1985)

    Vernor Vinge: “True Names” (1981)

    Ted Chiang: “Understand” (1991)

    Alien Minds

    Arthur C. Clarke: “The Sentinel” (1951)

    Isaac Asimov: “The Last Question” (1956)

    Clifford D. Simak: “Desertion” (1944)

    James H. Schmitz: “Grandpa” (1955)

    Frank Herbert: “Try to Remember!” (1961)

    Philip José Farmer: “Sail On! Sail On!” (1952)

    Stanisław Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “Roadside Picnic” (1972) excerpt

    Karen Joy Fowler & Pat Murphy: “Rachel in Love” (1987)

    Ian McDonald: “The Tear” (2008)

    After the End

    1. Walter M. Miller Jr.

    Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century Poetry

    BOLD read

    Edward Lee Masters.

    The Hil

    Fiddler. Jones,

    Petite the Poet

     

    Edwin Arlington Robinson

    Miniver Cheevy

    Mr. Flood’s Party.

     

    James Weldon Johnson

    The Creation

    Paul Laurence  Dunbar.

     

    The Poet

    Life

    Life’s Trajedy

     

    Robert Frost.

    The Death Of The Hired Man.

    Mending Wall.

    Birches

              Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening.

              Tree In My Window.

    Directive.

    Amy Lowell

    Patterns.

     

    Getrude Stein

    Susie Asado.

    From Tender Buttons A Box.

     From Tender Buttons, A Plate.

     

    Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson

    I sit and sew .

    Carl Sandburg.

    Grass.

    Cahoots.

     

    Wallace Stevens.

    Peter Quince at the Clavier.

    Disillusionment of 10:00.

    13 Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird.

              Emperor Of Ice Cream.

    A Mere  Being.

    Angelina Weld Grimke

    Fragment.

    William Carlos Williams.

    Tact.

    Dance Ruse

    The Yachts.

    From Apostlethat Greeny  Flower Book 1, Lines 1 To 92.

     

    Sarah Teasdale.

    Moonlight.

    There Will Come Soft Rains.

     

    Erza Pound

    The Jewel Stairs Grievance.

    The River Merchants Wife Letter.

    In A Station At The Metro.

    Hugh  Selwyn Mulberry.

    From Conto. 56 Libretto Yet Ere This Season Died A Cold

     

    Hilda Doolittle, HD.

    Sea Rose.

    The Helen.

    From The Walls Do Not Fall An Incident Here And There.

    From Hermeneutic Definition Red Rose And A Beggar. Why Did You Come?

    Take Me Anywhere.

    Venicc. Venus.

     

    Robinson, Jeffers.

    Gala in April.

    Shine, Perishing Republic.

    Cloudss at Evening.

    Credo

    Mararane Moore

    Fish.

    Poetry.

    Poetry.

     

    TS, Elliott.

    Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

    The Wasteland.

     

    Claude McKay.

    If We Must Die.

    Harlem Dancer.

     

    Archibald MacLeash,

    Arts Poetica

    Edna, Saint Vincent Millay.

    First Fig

    Recuerdo

    E E Cummings.

    In Just.

    Buffalo Bill

    The Cambridge Ladies Have Lived In Furnished Souls.

    Next To, Of Course, God, America.

    Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled Gladly Beyond.

    Rpophessagr

    Gene Toomor.

    Reapers.

    November Cotton Flowers.

    Portrait in Georgia.

    Louise Bogan

    Medusa.

    New moon.

    Melvin B Tolson

    Dark Symphony.

    From Harlem Gallery PSI Black Boys, Let Me Get Up From The White Man’s Table.

     

    Hart Crane

    From the Bridge

    Poem to Brooklyn Bridge

    From 11  Powhatan’s Daughter the River.

     

    Robert Francis.

    Silent Poem

    Langston Hughes

    Nego speaks of rivers.

    I, Too.

    Dreams Boogie.

    Harlem

    Countee Cullan

    Incident

    To John Keats Poet at Springtime

    Yes I Do Marvel

    From the Dark Tower

    Stanley Kutitz

    Father and Son

    The Protrait

    Touch Me

    WH Auden

    Mussee Des Beaux Arts

    Epitah on a Tryant

    Theordore Roethke

    My Papa’s Waltz

    The Waking

    In a Dark Time

     

    Charles Olson.

    From The Maximum Poems One Maximum Of Gloucester To You.

    The Distances.

    Elizabeth Bishop.

    The Fish

    Sestina

    First Death In Nova Scotia.

    Visit  To Saint Elizabeths.

    One Art.

    Robert Hayden.

    Morning Poem For The Queen Of Sunday.

    Those Winter Sundays.

    Frederick Douglass.

    Middle Passage.

    Muriel  Rukeyser?

    Effort At Speech Between Two People.         ‘

    Then I Saw What The Calling  Was.

    The Poem as Mask

    Delmore  Swartz.

    The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me.

    John Barryman.

    From Dream Songs.

    Feeling Your Compact And Delicious Body. ‘

    Life, Friends, Is Boring. We Must Not Say So.

    There Shut Down Once.  ‘

    This World Is Gradually Becoming A Place.

    Henry’sUnderstanding

     

    Randall, Jarell.

    90 North.

    The Death Of The Bell Turret Gunner.

    The Woman At The Washington Zoo.

    Next Day.

    Weldon Kees.

    To My Daughter?

     

    Dudley Randall

    A Different Image

    William Stafford.

    Traveling Through The Dark.

    At The Bomb Testing Site.

     

    Ruth Stone.

    Scars.

    Margaret Walker.

    For My People

    Gwendolyn Brooks.

    The Mother.

    A Song In The Front Yard.         ‘

    The Bean Eaters

    The Lovers Of The Poor.

    We  Real Cool.      ‘

    The Blackstone Rangers.

     

    Robert Lowell.

    To Speak Of Woe That Is In Marriage.

    Skunk Hour .

    For The Union Dead.

    Robert Duncan.

    Often I’m Permitted To Return To A Medow.

    My Mother Would Be A Falconress

    Lawrence Ferlinghetti

    Populist Manifesto.

    William Meredith.

    Parents. Howard Nemeroff.

    Because You Asked About The Line Between Prose And Poetry.

    Hayden Caruth.

    The  Hyacinth Gardens In Brooklyn.

    August 1945.

    Richard Wilber

    Love Calls Us to the Things of This World

    Cottage Street

    The Writer

    James Dickey

    The Sheep Child

    Alan Duncan.

    Love song I And Thou

    Anthony Act.

    More light, More light.

    Richard Hugo.

    The Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg.

    The Freaks at Spring General Rd. Field.

    Dennis Levertov.

    The Unwritten Poem

    Cademon.

    Swan in Falling snow.

    Who is Simpson?

    American Poetry.

    Carolyn Kaiser.

    A Muse of water.

    Kenneth Koch.

    Fresh air.

    Permanently.

    Maxine Coleman.

    Morning Swim.

    How Is It?

    Gerald Stern.

    Behaving Like A Jew.

    The Dancing.

    Another Insane Devotion.

    AR Ammons.

    The City Limits.

    Corson Inlet.

    Robert Blye.

    Snowfall In The Afternoon.

    Driving Into Town Late To Mail A Letter.

    Walking From Sleep.

    Robert Creeley.

    The Flower.

    I Know A Man.

    The Language.

    The Rain.

    Bresson’s Movies.

    James Merrill.

    Victor Dog.

    Frank O’Hara New York School.

    Steps.

    Poem Lana Turner Has Collapsed.

    The Day Lady Died.

    John Ashberry. New York School

    Some Trees.

    Self-Portrait In A Convex Mirror.

    What Is Poetry?

    Galway, Kennel.

    The Bear.`

    After Making Love, We Hear Footsteps.

    Saint Francis And The Soul.

    Ws Merwin.

    Air.

    For The Anniversary Of My Death.

    Yesterday.

    Chord .

    James Wright.

    A Blessing.

    Autumn  Begins In Martins Ferry, Oh.

    Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy’s Farm In Pine Island, Mn.

    In Response To The Rumor That Otis Warehouse In Wheeling, Wv Has Been Condemned.

    Donald Hall.

    My Son, My Executioner.

    Digging.

    Philip Levine.

    Animals Are Passing From Our Lives.

    They Feed They Lion.

    You Can Have It.

    The  Simple Truth.

     

    Anne Sexton.

    Her Kind

    Adoption.

    Waiting To Die.

    In Celebration Of My Uterus.

    Rowing

    Adrienne Rich.

    Orion

    Planetarium.

    A Valedictorian Forbidding Mourning.

    From 21 Love Poems 13 The Rules Of Break Like A Thermometer.

    Gregory Corso.

    Marriage

    Gary Snyder.

    Hay, For The Horses.

    Riprap.

    Mid August As Sourdough Mountain Lookout.

    Dereck  Walcott.

    A Far Cry From Africa.

    Sea Grapes.

    Find The Schooner Flight Part 11 After The Storm. There’s A Fresh Light That Follows.

    The Light Of The World.

    From Omeros Book. 7. 44 I Sing Of Quiet,Achiles, Afrolabe’s Son.

    Miller Williams.

    Let Me tell you.

    Etheridge Knight

    Idea Of Ancestry.

    Amira Baraka, Leroy Jones.

    Preface To A 20 Volume Suicide Note.

    Agony As Now.

    SOS.

    Black Art.

    Ted Berrigon .

    Wrong Rain.

    A Final Sonnet

    Andre Lorde.

    Power.

    Sonia Sanchez.

    Poetry at 30.

    Mark Strand.

    The Prediction.

    The Night, The Porch.

    Russell Edson.

    A Stone Is Nobody’s.

     

    Mary Oliver.

    Singapore.

    The Summer’s Day.

    Charles Wright.

    Reunion.

    Dead Color.

    California Dreaming.

    Lucile  Clifton.

    Homage To My Hips.

    At Least At Last We Killed The Roaches.

    The Death Of Fry, Alfred Clifton.

    To My Last.

    June, Jordan.

    Home About My Rights.

    Frederick Seidel.

    1968.

    CK Williams.

    Find My Window.

    Blades

    Tynan Wilkowski.’

    The Mechanic.

    Michael S Harper.

    Dear John. Dear Coltrane.

    Last Affair. Bessies Blues Song.

    Grandfather.

    Nightmare Begins Responsibility.

    Charles Simik .

    Stone.

    Fork.

    Classic Ballroom Dances.

    Paula Gunn Allen.

     

    Grandmother.

    Frank Bidart.

    Ellen West.

    Carl Dennis.

    Spring Letter.

    Two Or Three Wishes.

    Stephen Dunn.

    Allegory Of The Cave.

    Tucson.

    Robert Pensky.

    History Of My Heart.

    The Questions.

    Samurai Song.

    James Welch.

    Christmas Comes To Moccasin Flat.

    Billy Collins.

    Introduction To Poetry.

    The Dead.

    Toi Derricote .

    Allen Ginsberg.

    The Weakness.

    Stephen Dobyns.

    How To Like It?

    Lullaby.

    Robert Hass.

    Song.

    That Photographer?

    Return Of Robinson Jeffers.

    Lyn Hejinian

    From My Life trim With Colored Ribbons.

    BH  Fairchild.

    The Machinist Teaching His Daughter To Play The Piano.

    Haik R Madhubuti Don L Lee.

    But He Was Cool Or Even Stopped For Green Lights.

    Upon To Compliment Other Poems.

    William Matthews.

    In Memory Of The Utah Stars.

    The  Accompanist

    . Sharon Olds

    The Language Of The Brag.

    The Lifting.

    Henry Taylor.

    Barbed Wire.

    Tess Gallagher.

    Black, Silver.

    Under Stars.

    Michael Palmer.

    I Do Not.

    James Tate.

    The Lost  Pilot.

    Norman Dubie.

    Elizabeth War With The Christmas Bear.

    The Funeral.

    Carol Muske Dukes,.

    August, Los Angeles Lullaby.

    Kay Ryan.

    Turtle

    Bestiary

    Larry Levis.

    Childhood Ideogram

    Winter Stars

    Adrian C Lousis

    Looking For Judas

    How much lux?

    The People of the Other  Village.

    Marilyn Nelson.

    The Ballad of Aunt Geneva.

    Star Fix.

    Run Stilleman

    Albany

    AI

    Cuba 1963

    The Kid

    Finished

    Yusef Komunyakaa

    Thanks

    To Do Street

    Facing It

    Nude Interogation

    Nathaniel Mc Kay

    Song of the Aduumboulou

    Gregory Orr

    Gathering the Bones Together

    Two Lines From the Brother Grimm

    Origin of the Marble Forrest

    Robert Hill Whiteman

    Reaching Yellow River

    Albert Goldbarth

    Away

    Heather Mc Hugh

    Language Lesson 1976

    What He Thought

    Leslie Marmon Silko

    In  Cold Storm Light

    Olga Boumas

    Calypso

    Victor Hernadez Soul

    Latin and Soul

    Jane Miller

    Miami Heart

    David St. James

    Iris

    CD Wright

    Why Ralph Refuses to Dance

    Girl Friend Poe # 3

    Crescent

    Carolyn Forche

    Taking Off My Clothes

    Jorie Graham

    San Sepolcro

    Marie Howe

    What the Living Do

    Joy Harjo

    She Had Some Horses

    My House is Red Earth

    Garret Honjo

    The Legend

    Andrew  Hugins

    Beggoten

    We Were Simply Talking

    Brigit Peggen Kelly

    Imaging Their Own Hyms

    Song

    Paul Muldoon

    Meeting the British

    Errata

    The Throwback

    Judith Orez Coffer

    Quinceanera

    Rita Dove

    Parsley

    Day Star

    After Reading Mikey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed

    Alice Fulton

    Our Calling

    Barbara Hamby

    Thinking of Galileo

    Hatred

    Mark Jarman

    Unholy Sonnet

    Naomi Shihab Nye

    The Traveling Onion

    Arabic

    Wedding Cake

    Alberto Rios

    Nani

    England Finally like My Mother Always Said We Would

    Laurie Sheck

    Nocturne Blue Waves

    The Unfinished

    Gary Sotto

    Field Poem

    Oranges

    Black Hair

    Susan Stewart

    Yellow Star and Ice

    The Forrest

    Mark Dotty

    Brillance

    Esta Noche

    Bill’s Story

    Harryette Mullen

    Black Nikes

    Franz Wright

    Alcohol

    Lorna Dee Cervantes

    To My Brother

    Love of My Flesh, Living Death

    Sandra Cisneros.

    My Wicked, Wicked Ways.

    Little Clowns, My Heart.

    Cornelius, Eady.

    Jack Johnson Does The Eagle Rock.

    Crows In A Strong Wind.

    I’m A Fool To Love You.

     

    Louise Eldritch

    .         Indian Boarding School. The Runaways.

    David Mason.

    Spooning.

    Marilyn Chin.

    How I Got That Name?

    Compose Near The Bay Bridge

    The Survivor

    Cathy Song .

    The Youngest Daughter.

    Ann Finch.

    Another Reluctance.

    Insert

    Lee Young Lee.

    The Gift

    Eating Together.

    Carl Phillips

    Our Lady

    As From a Quiver of Arrows

    Nick Flynn

    Bag of Mice

    Cartoon Physics

    Elizabeth Alexander

    The Viena Hott not

    Reetika Vazirani

    From White Elephants

    A million Balconies

    Train Windows

    Sherman Alexie

    What the Orphan Inherits

    The Pow Wow at the End of the World

    Natasha Trethewey

    Hot Combs

    Amateur Fighter

    Flounder

    A E Stallings

    The Tantrum

    Joana Klink

    Spare

    Brenda Shaughnessy

    Post feminism

    Your One Good Dress

    Kevin Young

    Quivira City Limits

    Everywhere is Out of Town

    Whatever You Want

    Terrance Hayes

    At Pegasus

    Lady Sings the Blues

    Sci-Fi short stories

     

    The Big Book of Science Fiction is a massive anthology of science fiction stories edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It covers the history and evolution of the genre from the early 20th century to the end of the millennium, featuring works from over 30 countries and many languages. The book contains 105 stories, ranging from classics by H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula K. Le Guin, to lesser-known gems by W.E.B. Du Bois, David R. Bunch, and Liu Cixin. The book also includes comments from the editors and the authors, offering insights into their creative process and vision. The book is divided into 11 sections, each with a thematic focus and a chronological order.

    Here is the table of contents for the book1:

    Introduction: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

    The Lens of Time: Science Fiction as a Way of Seeing

    H.G. Wells: “The Star” (1897)

    Lu Xun: “The New Overworld” (1902)

    Sultana’s Dream: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1905)

    Albert Robida: “The Triumph of Mechanics” (1908)

    Miguel de Unamuno: “Mechanopolis” (1913)

    W.E.B. Du Bois: “The Comet” (1920)

    Claude Farrère: “The Fate of the Poseidonia” (1923)

    Edmond Hamilton: “The Star Stealers” (1929)

    David H. Keller: “The Lost Language” (1934)

    Stanislaw Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Jorge Luis Borges: “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” (1940)

    Cixin Liu: “The Poetry Cloud” (1997)

    Invasions

    Edgar Rice Burroughs: “A Princess of Mars” (1912) excerpt

    Leslie F. Stone: “The Conquest of Gola” (1931)

    Stanley G. Weinbaum: “A Martian Odyssey” (1934)

    John W. Campbell Jr.: “Who Goes There?” (1938)

    Ray Bradbury: “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” (1949)

    Katherine MacLean: “Pictures Don’t Lie” (1951)

    William Tenn: “The Liberation of Earth” (1953)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Voices of Time” (1960)

    Dino Buzzati: “Catastrophe” (1966)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side” (1972)

    Joanna Russ: “When It Changed” (1972)

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “The Spontaneous Reflex” (1973) excerpt

    Octavia Butler: “Bloodchild” (1984)

    James Patrick Kelly: “Think Like a Dinosaur” (1995)

    Monsters

    H.P. Lovecraft: “The Dunwich Horror” (1929)

    Ray Bradbury: “The Foghorn” (1951)

    Jerome Bixby: “It’s a Good Life” (1953)

    Julio Cortázar: “Axolotl” (1956)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Drowned Giant” (1964)

    R.A. Lafferty: “Nine Hundred Grandmothers” (1966)

    Terry Carr: “The Dance of the Changer and the Three” (1968)

    Harlan Ellison®: “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967)

    Lisa Tuttle & George R.R. Martin: “The Storms of Windhaven” (1975)

    John Varley: “Air Raid” (1977)

    William Gibson: “New Rose Hotel” (1984)

    Ted Chiang: “Story of Your Life” (1998)

    Experiments

    Alfred Jarry: “Elements of Pataphysics” (1911)

    Karel Čapek: “R.U.R.” (1920) excerpt

    Stanisław Lem: “How Erg the Self-Inducting Slew a Paleface” (1955)

    William S. Burroughs: “Excerpt from Naked Lunch” (1959)

    J.G. Ballard: “Chronopolis” (1960)

    Philip K. Dick: “Beyond Lies the Wub” (1952)

    Boris Vian: “Froth on the Daydream” (1947) excerpt

    Joanna Russ: “Useful Phrases for the Tourist” (1970)

    George Alec Effinger: “Two Sadnesses” (1973)

    John Sladek: “Solar Shoe Salesman” (1974)

    Dafydd ab Hugh: “The Coon Rolled Down and Ruptured His Larinks, A Squeezed Novel by Mr. Skunk” (1986)

    Generation Ships

    Don Wilcox: “The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years” (1940)

    Judith Merril: “Daughters of Earth” (1952)

    Brian W. Aldiss: “Non-Stop” (1958) excerpt

    Robert Silverberg: “Sundance” (1969)

    Pamela Zoline: “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967)

    Gene Wolfe: “A Cabin on the Coast” (1984)

    Bruce Sterling: “Swarm” (1982)

    Geoff Ryman: “The Unconquered Country” (1984)

    New Worlds

    Cordwainer Smith: “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” (1961)

    Samuel R. Delany: “Aye, and Gomorrah …” (1967)

    Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and Slower” (1971)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” (1976)

    Frederik Pohl: “The Gold at the Starbow’s End” (1972)

    Angélica Gorodischer: “Of Navigators and Traitors” (1973) excerpt

    John Crowley: “Snow” (1985)

    Iain M. Banks: “A Gift from the Culture” (1987)

    Greg Egan: “Learning to Be Me” (1990)

    Future War

    Jack London: “The Unparalleled Invasion” (1910)

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton: “The Coming Race” (1871) excerpt

    George Griffith: “The War of the Viruses” (1895)

    Philip Francis Nowlan: “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” (1928)

    E.E. “Doc” Smith: “The Skylark of Space” (1928) excerpt

    Olaf Stapledon: “Star Maker” (1937) excerpt

    Robert A. Heinlein: “Solution Unsatisfactory” (1941)

    C.M. Kornbluth: “Two Dooms” (1958)

    Joe Haldeman: “Hero” (1972)

    Harry Harrison: “The Streets of Ashkelon” (1962)

    David R. Bunch: “Moderan” (1967)

    Harlan Ellison®: “A Boy and His Dog” (1969)

    James S.A. Corey: “Rates of Change” (2011)

    Virtual Reality

    Stanisław Lem: “The Seventh Sally or How Trurl’s Own Perfection Led to No Good” (1965)

    Philip K. Dick: “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966)

    John Brunner: “The Vitanuls” (1967)

    Roger Zelazny: “For a Breath I Tarry” (1966)

    Robert Silverberg: “Passengers” (1968)

    Rudy Rucker: “Software” (1982) excerpt

    William Gibson: “Burning Chrome” (1982)

    Pat Cadigan: “Pretty Boy Crossover” (1986)

    Neal Stephenson: “Snow Crash” (1992) excerpt

    Humanity 2.0

    Olaf Stapledon: “Odd John” (1935) excerpt

    C.L. Moore: “No Woman Born” (1944)

    Cordwainer Smith: “Scanners Live in Vain” (1950)

    Algis Budrys: “Who?” (1955)

    James Blish: “Surface Tension” (1952)

    Gregory Benford: “Blood Music” (1983)

    Bruce Sterling: “Mozart in Mirrorshades” (1985)

    Vernor Vinge: “True Names” (1981)

    Ted Chiang: “Understand” (1991)

    Alien Minds

    Arthur C. Clarke: “The Sentinel” (1951)

    Isaac Asimov: “The Last Question” (1956)

    Clifford D. Simak: “Desertion” (1944)

    James H. Schmitz: “Grandpa” (1955)

    Frank Herbert: “Try to Remember!” (1961)

    Philip José Farmer: “Sail On! Sail On!” (1952)

    Stanisław Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “Roadside Picnic” (1972) excerpt

    Karen Joy Fowler & Pat Murphy: “Rachel in Love” (1987)

    Ian McDonald: “The Tear” (2008)

    After the End

    Walter M. Miller Jr.: “The Darfsteller” (1955) J.G. Ballard: “The Terminal Beach” (1964) John Wyndham: ”

     

    Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century Poetry

    BOLD read

    Edward Lee Masters.

    The Hil

    Fiddler. Jones,

    Petite the Poet

     

    Edwin Arlington Robinson

    Miniver Cheevy

    Mr. Flood’s Party.

     

    James Weldon Johnson

    The Creation

    Paul Laurence  Dunbar.

     

    The Poet

    Life

    Life’s Trajedy

     

    Robert Frost.

    The Death Of The Hired Man.

    Mending Wall.

    Birches

              Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening.

              Tree In My Window.

    Directive.

    Amy Lowell

    Patterns.

     

    Getrude Stein

    Susie Asado.

    From Tender Buttons A Box.

     From Tender Buttons, A Plate.

     

    Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson

    I sit and sew .

    Carl Sandburg.

    Grass.

    Cahoots.

     

    Wallace Stevens.

    Peter Quince at the Clavier.

    Disillusionment of 10:00.

    13 Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird.

              Emperor Of Ice Cream.

    A Mere  Being.

    Angelina Weld Grimke

    Fragment.

    William Carlos Williams.

    Tact.

    Dance Ruse

    The Yachts.

    From Apostlethat Greeny  Flower Book 1, Lines 1 To 92.

     

    Sarah Teasdale.

    Moonlight.

    There Will Come Soft Rains.

     

    Erza Pound

    The Jewel Stairs Grievance.

    The River Merchants Wife Letter.

    In A Station At The Metro.     

              Hugh  Selwyn Mulberry.

    From Conto. 56 Libretto Yet Ere This Season Died A Cold

     

    Hilda Doolittle, HD.

    Sea Rose.

    The Helen.

    From The Walls Do Not Fall An Incident Here And There.

    From Hermeneutic Definition Red Rose And A Beggar. Why Did You Come?

    Take Me Anywhere.

    Venicc. Venus.

     

    Robinson, Jeffers.

    Gala in April.

    Shine, Perishing Republic.

    Cloudss at Evening.

    Credo

    Mararane Moore

    Fish.

    Poetry.

     

    TS, Elliott.

    Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

              The Wasteland.

     

    Claude McKay.

    If We Must Die.

    Harlem Dancer.

     

    Archibald MacLeash,

    Arts Poetica

    Edna, Saint Vincent Millay.

    First Fig

    Recuerdo

    E E Cummings.

    In Just.

    Buffalo Bill

    The Cambridge Ladies Have Lived In Furnished Souls.

    Next To, Of Course, God, America.

    Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled Gladly Beyond.

    Rpophessagr

    Gene Toomor.

    Reapers.

    November Cotton Flowers.

    Portrait in Georgia.

    Louise Bogan

    Medusa.

    New moon.

    Melvin B Tolson

    Dark Symphony.

    From Harlem Gallery PSI Black Boys, Let Me Get Up From The White Man’s Table.

     

    Hart Crane

    From the Bridge

    Poem to Brooklyn Bridge

    From 11  Powhatan’s Daughter the River.

     

    Robert Francis.

    Silent Poem

    Langston Hughes

    Nego speaks of rivers.

    I, Too.

    Dreams Boogie.

    Harlem

    Countee Cullan

    Incident

    To John Keats Poet at Spring Time

    Yes I Do Marvel

    From the Dark Tower

    Stanley Kutitz

    Father and Son

    The Protrait

    Touch Me

    WH Auden

    Mussee Des Beaux Arts

    Epitah on a Tryant

    Theordore Roethke

    My Papa’s Waltz

    The Waking

    In a Dark Time

     

    Charles Olson.

    From The Maximum Poems One Maximum Of Gloucester To You.

    The Distances.

    Elizabeth Bishop.

    The Fish

    Sestina

    First Death In Nova Scotia.

    Visit  To Saint Elizabeths.

    One Art.

    Robert Hayden.

    Morning Poem For The Queen Of Sunday.

    Those Winter Sundays.

    Frederick Douglass.

    Middle Passage.

    Muriel  Rukeyser?

    Effort At Speech Between Two People.         ‘

    Then I Saw What The Calling  Was.

    The Poem as Mask

    Delmore  Swartz.

    The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me.

    John Barryman.

    From The Dream Songs.

    Feeling Your Compact And Delicious Body. ‘

    Life, Friends, Is Boring. We Must Not Say So.

    There Shut Down Once.  ‘

    This World Is Gradually Becoming A Place.

    Henry’sUnderstanding

     

    Randall, Jarell.

    90 North.

    The Death Of The Bell Turret Gunner.

    The Woman At The Washington Zoo.

    Next Day.

    Weldon Kees.

    To My Daughter?

     

    Dudley Randall

    A Different Image

    William Stafford.

    Traveling Through The Dark.

    At The Bomb Testing Site.

     

    Ruth Stone.

    Scars.

    Margaret Walker.

    For My People

    Gwendolyn Brooks.

    The Mother.

    A Song In The Front Yard.         ‘

    The Bean Eaters

    The Lovers Of The Poor.

              We  Real Cool.      ‘

    The Blackstone Rangers.

     

    Robert Lowell.

    To Speak Of Woe That Is In Marriage.

    Skunk Hour .

    For The Union Dead.

    Robert Duncan.

    Often I’m Permitted To Return To A Medow.

    My Mother Would Be A Falconress

    Lawrence Ferlinghetti

    Populist Manifesto.

    William Meredith.

    Parents. Howard Nemeroff.

    Because You Asked About The Line Between Prose And Poetry.

    Hayden Caruth.

    The  Hyacinth Gardens In Brooklyn.

    August 1945.

    Richard Wilber

    Love Calls Us to the Things of This World

    Cottage Street

    The Writer

    James Dickey

    The Sheep Child

    Alan Duncan.

    Love song I And Thou

    Anthony Act.

    More light, More light.

    Richard Hugo.

    The Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg.

    The Freaks at Spring General Rd. Field.

    Dennis Levertov.

    The Poem Unwritten

    Cademon.

    Swan in Falling snow.

    Who is Simpson?

    American Poetry.

    Carolyn Kaiser.

    A Muse of water.

    Kenneth Koch.

    Fresh air.

    Permanently.

    Maxine Coleman.

    Morning Swim.

    How It Is?

    Gerald Stern.

    Behaving Like A Jew.

    The Dancing.

    Another Insane Devotion.

    AR Ammons.

    The City Limits.

    Corson Inlet.

    Robert Blye.

    Snowfall In The Afternoon.

    Driving Into Town Late To Mail A Letter.

    Walking From Sleep.

    Robert Creeley.

    The Flower.

    I Know A Man.

    The Language.

    The Rain.

    Bresson’s Movies.

    James Merrill.

    Victor Dog.

    Frank O’Hara New York School.

    Steps.

    Poem Lana Turner Has Collapsed.

    The Day Lady Died.

    John Ashberry. New York School

    Some Trees.

    Self-Portrait In A Convex Mirror.

    What Is Poetry?

    Galway, Kennel.

    The Bear.`

    After Making Love, We Hear Footsteps.

    Saint Francis And The Soul.

    Ws Merwin.

    Air.

    For The Anniversary Of My Death.

    Yesterday.

    Chord .

    James Wright.

    A Blessing.

    Autumn  Begins In Martins Ferry, Oh.

    Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy’s Farm In Pine Island, Mn.

    In Response To The Rumor That Otis Warehouse In Wheeling, Wv Has Been Condemned.

    Donald Hall.

    My Son, My Executioner.

    Digging.

    Philip Levine.

    Animals Are Passing From Our Lives.

    They Feed They Lion.

    You Can Have It.

    The  Simple Truth.

     

    Anne Sexton.

    Her Kind

    Adoption.

    Waiting To Die.

    In Celebration Of My Uterus.

    Rowing

    Adrienne Rich.

    Orion

    Planetarium.

    A Valedictorian Forbidding Mourning.

    From 21 Love Poems 13 The Rules Of Break Like A Thermometer.

    Gregory Corso.

    Marriage

    Gary Snyder.

    Hay, For The Horses.

    Riprap.

    Mid August As Sourdough Mountain Lookout.

    Dereck  Walcott.

    A Far Cry From Africa.

    Sea Grapes.

    Find The Schooner Flight Part 11 After The Storm. There’s A Fresh Light That Follows.

    The Light Of The World.

    From Omeros Book. 7. 44 I Sing Of Quiet,Achiles, Afrolabe’s Son.

    Miller Williams.

    Let Me tell you.

    Etheridge Knight

    Idea Of Ancestry.

    Amira Baraka, Leroy Jones.

    Preface To A 20 Volume Suicide Note.

    Agony As Now.

    SOS.

    Black Art.

    Ted Berrigon .

    Wrong Rain.

    A Final Sonnet

    Andre Lorde.

    Power.

    Sonia Sanchez.

    Poetry at 30.

    Mark Strand.

    The Prediction.

    The Night, The Porch.

    Russell Edson.

    A Stone Is Nobody’s.

     

    Mary Oliver.

    Singapore.

    The Summer’s Day.

    Charles Wright.

    Reunion.

    Dead Color.

    California Dreaming.

    Lucile  Clifton.

    Homage To My Hips.

    At Least At Last We Killed The Roaches.

    The Death Of Fry, Alfred Clifton.

    To My Last.

    June, Jordan.

    Home About My Rights.

    Frederick Seidel.

    1968.

    CK Williams.

    Find My Window.

    Blades

    Tynan Wilkowski.’

    The Mechanic.

    Michael S Harper.

    Dear John. Dear Coltrane.

    Last Affair. Bessies Blues Song.

    Grandfather.

    Nightmare Begins Responsibility.

    Charles Simik .

    Stone.

    Fork.

    Classic Ballroom Dances.

    Paula Gunn Allen.

     

    Grandmother.

    Frank Bidart.

    Ellen West.

    Carl Dennis.

    Spring Letter.

    Two Or Three Wishes.

    Stephen Dunn.

    Allegory Of The Cave.

    Tucson.

    Robert Pensky.

    History Of My Heart.

    The Questions.

    Samurai Song.

    James Welch.

    Christmas Comes To Moccasin Flat.

    Billy Collins.

    Introduction To Poetry.

    The Dead.

    Toi Derricote .

    Allen Ginsberg.

    The Weakness.

    Stephen Dobyns.

    How To Like It?

    Lullaby.

    Robert Hass.

    Song.

    That Photographer?

    Return Of Robinson Jeffers.

    Lyn Hejinian

    From My Life trim With Colored Ribbons.

    BH  Fairchild.

    The Machinist Teaching His Daughter To Play The Piano.

    Haki  R Madhubuti Don L Lee.

    But He Was Cool Or Even Stopped For Green Lights.

    Upon To Compliment Other Poems.

    William Matthews.

    In Memory Of The Utah Stars.

    The  Accompanist

    . Sharon Olds

    The Language Of The Brag.

    The Lifting.

    Henry Taylor.

    Barbed Wire.

    Tess Gallagher.

    Black, Silver.

    Under Stars.

    Michael Palmer.

    I Do Not.

    James Tate.

    The Lost  Pilot.

    Norman Dubie.

    Elizabeth War With The Christmas Bear.

    The Funeral.

    Carol Muske Dukes,.

    August, Los Angeles Lullaby.

    Kay Ryan.

    Turtle

    Bestiary

    Larry Levis.

    Childhood Ideogram

    Winter Stars

    Adrian C Lousis

    Looking For Judas

    How much lux?

    The People of the Other  Village.

    Marilyn Nelson.

    The Ballad of Aunt Geneva.

    Star Fix.

    Run Stilleman

    Albany

    AI

    Cuba 1963

    The Kid

    Finished

    Yusef Komunyakaa

    Thanks

    To Do Street

    Facing It

    Nude Interogation

    Nathaniel Mc Kay

    Song of the Aduumboulou

    Gregory Orr

    Gathering the Bones Together

    Two Lines From the Brother Grimm

    Origin of the Marble Forrest

    Robert Hill Whiteman

    Reaching Yellow River

    Albert Goldbarth

    Away

    Heather Mc Hugh

    Language Lesson 1976

    What He Thought

    Leslie Marmon Silko

    In  Cold Storm Light

    Olga Boumas

    Calypso

    Victor Hernadez Soul

    Latin and Soul

    Jane Miller

    Miami Heart

    David St. James

    Iris

    CD Wright

    Why Ralph Refuses to Dance

    Girl Friend Poe # 3

    Crescent

    Carolyn Forche

    Taking Off My Clothes

    Jorie Graham

    San Sepolcro

    Marie Howe

    What the Living Do

    Joy Harjo

    She Had Some Horses

    My House is the Red Earth

    Garret Honjo

    The Legend

    Andrew  Hugins

    Beggoten

    We Were Simply Talking

    Brigit Peggen Kelly

    Imaging Their Own Hyms

    Song

    Paul Muldoon

    Meeting the British

    Errata

    The Throwback

    Judith Orez Coffer

    Quinceanera

    Rita Dove

    Parsely

    Day Star

    After Reading Mikey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed

    Alice Fulton

    Our Calling

    Brbar Hamby

    Thinking of Galieo

    Hatred

    Mark Jarman

    Unholly Sonnet

    Naomi Shibab Nye

    The Traveling Onion

    Arabic

    Wedding Cake

    Alberto Rios

    Nani

    Enland Finally like My Mother Always Said We Would

    Laurie Sheck

    Nocturne Blue Waves

    The Unfinished

    Gary Sotto

    Field Poem

    Oranges

    Black Hair

    Susan Stewart

    Yellow Star and Ice

    The Forrest

    Mark Dotty

    Brillance

    Esta Noche

    Bill’s Story

    Harryette Mullen

    Black Nikes

    Franz Wright

    Alcohol

    Lorna Dee Cervantes

    To My Brother

    Love of My Flesh, Living Death

    Sandra Cisneros.

    My Wicked, Wicked Ways.

    Little Clowns, My Heart.

    Cornelius, Eady.

    Jack Johnson Does The Eagle Rock.

    Crows In A Strong Wind.

    I’m A Fool To Love You.

     

    Louise Eldritch

    .         Indian Boarding School. The Runaways.

    David Mason.

    Spooning.

    Marilyn Chin.

    How I Got That Name?

    Compose Near The Bay Bridge

    The Survivor

    Cathysong .

    The Youngest Daughter.

    Ann Finch.

    Another Reluctance.

    Insert

    Lee Young Lee.

    The Gift

    Eating Together.

    Carl Philiphs

    Our Lady

    As From a Quiver of Arrows

    Nick Flynn

    Bag of Mice

    Cartoon Physics

    Elizabeth Alexander

    The Viena Hottenot

    Reetivka Vazisrani

    From White Elephants

    A million Balconies

    Train Windows

    Sherman Alexie

    What the Orphan Inherits

    The Pow Wow at the End of the World

    Natasha Trethevey

    Hot Combs

    Amateur Fighter

    Flounder

    A E Stallings

    The Tantrum

    Joana Klink

    Spare

    Brenda Shaughnessy

    Postfeminism

    Your One Good Dress

    Kevin Young

    Quivra City Limits

    Everywhere is Out of Town

    Whaatever You Want

    Terrance Hayes

    At Pegasus

              Lady Sings the Blues

     

    Monthly Themes enter one review per month

    January

    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia
    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening

     

     

    Read

    #1: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

    #2: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

    #4: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

    #5: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

    #6: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

    #7: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

    #8: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

    #9: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

    10: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    #11: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

    #12: The Stranger by Albert Camus

    #13: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

    #14: Animal Farm by George Orwell

    #15: Watership Down by Richard Adams

    #16: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

    #17: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

    #18: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

    #19: 1984 by George Orwell

    #20: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

    #24: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

    #26: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

     

    Not read

    #3: Night by Elie Wiesel

    #21: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

    #22: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

    #23: Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges#25: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

     

     

    16 Famous Books Everyone Pretends They’ve Read (But Haven’t)

     

    Read

     

    Moby-Dickby Herman Melville

     The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

    The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

    Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

    1984 by George Orwell

    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

    F Scott Fitsgerald the Great Gatsby

    F Scott Fitsgerald  This Side of Paradise

     

    Yet to Read

     

    The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

    A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

    F Scott Fitsgerald  Tender is the Night

    F Scott Fitsgerald  The Last Tycoon

     

    25 Classic Books You Have to Read in 2025

     

    Read

    Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

    The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

    1984 by George Orwell

    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

    Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

    The Awakening by Kate Chopin

    The Odyssey by Homer

    Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

    Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

    Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

    Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

    The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

    CS Lewis Prince Caspian

    CS Lewis the Voyage of the Dawn Begal

    CS Lewis the Horse and His Boy

    CS Lewis the the Magican’s Newphew

    CS Lewis the Silver Chair

    CS Lewis The Final Battle

    Willa Cather My Antonio

    Alice Walker The Color Purple

    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

    The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

     

     

    The classic books everyone should read at least once before they die

     

    Read

     

    #35. The Old Man and the Sea

    – Author: Ernest Hemingway

    1. The Canterbury Tales

    – Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

    #33. Othello

    – Author: William Shakespeare

    #32. Flowers for Algernon

    – Author: Daniel Keyes

    #30. A Tale of Two Cities

    – Author: Charles Dickens

    #30. A Tale of Two Cities

    – Author: Charles Dickens

    #31. Beowulf

    – Author: Unknown

    #29. Wuthering Heights

    – Author: Emily Brontë

    #28. The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0)

    – Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

    #27. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

    – Author: William Shakespeare

    #26. The Grapes of Wrath

    – Author: John Steinbeck

    #25. Great Expectations

    – Author: Charles Dickens

    #24. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text

    – Author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

    #23. Julius Caesar

    – Author: William Shakespeare

    #22. The Outsiders

    – Author: S.E. Hinton

    #21. Brave New World

    – Author: Aldous Huxley

    #19. The Crucible

    – Author: Arthur Miller

    #17. Jane Eyre

    – Author: Charlotte Brontë

    #16. Fahrenheit 451

    – Author: Ray Bradbury

    #15. Pride and Prejudice

    – Author: Jane Austen

    #14. The Odyssey

    – Author: Homer

    #12. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    – Author: Mark Twain

    #11. 1984

    – Author: George Orwell

    #10. The Scarlet Letter

    – Author: Nathaniel Hawthorn

    #9. Hamlet

    – Author: William Shakespeare

    #8. The Catcher in the Rye

    – Author: J.D. Salinger

     

    #7. Of Mice and Men

    – Author: John Steinbeck

     

    #6. Macbeth

    – Author: William Shakespeare

     

    #5. Animal Farm

    – Author: George Orwel

    #4. Lord of the Flies

    Author: William Golding

    #2. Romeo and Juliet

    – Author: William Shakespeare

    #1. To Kill a Mockingbird

    Author: Harper Lee

    100 thriller novels everyone should read at least once

    2024’s top 100 books: How many did you read? – jakecaller@gmail.com – Gmail

    The 100 books that defined the past 100 years

    1955: ‘Marjorie Morningstar’ by Herman Wouk©Goodreads

    “Marjorie Morningstar” is the love story of a young woman who accepts a job in New York, leaving her traditional Jewish family to become immersed in the theater world.

    The best new books to read in January 2025

    The 14 best classic novels under 200 pages

    42 Must-Read Short Stories on Science Fiction That Will Transform Your Reality

    15 Beautiful Literary Spots Across America for Every Reader

     

     

     

     

    100 of the Best Books of All Time

     

     

    Baby Boy Laughs When Mom Reads Storybook

    0

    3. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (1974)

    The imagination and artistry of Shel Silverstein are on full display in this classic collection of short stories and poems. Where the Sidewalk Ends is truly one of the best poetry books of all time because of its staying power for children and adults alike. Whimsical and masterful, the stories of this American poet, author, singer, and folk artist have something for everyone.

    4. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann (1966)

    Sex and drugs have a common allure, but they also have a common endgame: a downward spiral. In Valley of the Dolls, Jacqueline Susann offers in lurid detail the stories of three young women who want nothing more than to reach the pinnacle of life. But just as they see it in their grasp, they lose it all in a coil of sex, lust, romance, and abandonment. This page-turner is one of those classic beach reads you won’t be able to put down, and it paved the way for similar scintillating vacation books.

    5. The Shining by Stephen King (1977)

    The master of suspense must be included in any list of books you should read in a lifetime. That’s why you’ll find Stephen King’s The Shining here. Brought to life in cinematic perfection by Jack Nicholson, Jack Torrance is a middle-aged man looking for a fresh start. He thinks he’s found it when he lands a job as the off-season caretaker at an idyllic old hotel, the Overlook. But as snow piles higher outside, the secluded location begins to feel more confining and sinister, less freeing and more provoking. Horror fans, take note: This is one of the scariest and best Stephen King books of all time.

    6. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943) on my 50 Books to read List

    7. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954)

    70 The Handmaids Tale By Margaret Atwood Via Amazon© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    8. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)

    9. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1962)

    10. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

    11. All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (1974)

    12. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (1946)

    13. Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)

    14. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1965)

    15. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (2007)

    16. Dune by Frank Herbert (1965) plus rest of the series

    17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1861)

    20 Daring Greatly How The Courage To Be Vulnerable Transforms The Way We Live, Love, Parent, And Lead By Brené Brow© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    18. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown (2012)

    19. 1984 by George Orwell (1949)

    20. Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt (1996)

    21. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (1988)

    22. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

    23. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (2000)

    24. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997) plus rest of the Series

    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
    Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by J.K. Rowling

    25. Selected Stories, 1968–1994 by Alice Munro (1996)

    65 The Fault In Our Stars By John Green Via Amazon© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    26. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2012)

    27. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll (1865)

    28. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)

    29. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (1970)

    30. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (1967)

    31. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)

    32. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi (2000)

    35. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (2009)

    36. The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley by Malcolm X and Alex Haley (1965)

    37. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson (1971)

    38. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (1999)

    39. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)

    40. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)

    41. Love Medicine by Louise Eldrich (1984)

    42. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (2000)

    43. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)

    44. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)

    45. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)

    46. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis (2003)

    47. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (1915)

    48. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957)

    49. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (1937)

    50. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939)

    51. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth (1969)

    52. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)

    53. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (2005)

    54. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)

    55. The Age of Innocence by Edith Warton (1920)

    56. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (2000)

    57. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2005)

    58. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (1973)

    59. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (2007)

    60. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)

    61. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride (1995)

    62. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (1989)

    63. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (2001)

    64. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson (2003)

    65. The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)

    66. The Night Watchmen by Louise Erdrich (2020)

    67. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (1995)

    68. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

    69. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2010)

    70. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)

    71. The Liars’ Club: A Memoir by Mary Karr (1995)

    72. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (1953)

    73. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright (2006)

    74. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Olive Sacks (1985)

    75. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (2006)

    76. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro (1974)

    77. The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe (1979)

    78. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin (1953)

    84 The Road By Cormac Mccarthy Via Amazon© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    79. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006)

    80. The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)

    81. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (1926)

    82. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015)

    83. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (1990)

    84. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (1994)

    85. The World According to Garp by John Irving (1978) plus rest of his works

    86. Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1603) plus rest of his plays

    87. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (2005)

     

    88. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958)

    89. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (2010)

    90. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)

    91. White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000)

    92. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

    93. Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001)

    94. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

    95. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950) plus rest of the series

    96. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013)97. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

    98. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)

    99. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003)

    100. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010)

     

    Shakespear  – plays and sonnets

    Additional books from the list 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (1318 books)

    The Call of the Wild
    Water for Elephants
    The Princess Bride
    The Kite Runner
    The Pillars of the Earth
    Illusions
    Watership Down
    Nice Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
    Where the Sidewalk Ends

    Tuesdays with Morrie
    Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
    Ender’s Game
    The Valley of Horses
    It
    The Chronicles of Narnia
    The Screwtape Letters
    Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
    The Clan of the Cave Bear
    American Gods
    The Stand

    – “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” – Jean-Dominique Bauby
    – “Hamlet” – William Shakespeare
    – “Goodnight Opus” – Berkeley Breathed
    –     “The Devil in the White City” – Erik Larson
    – “The Thief Lord” – Cornelia Funke
    – “Indigo” – Alice Hoffman
    – “Mythology” – Edith Hamilton
    – “The Outsiders” – S.E. Hinton

    The Metamorphosis and Other Stories, by Franz Kafka

     The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
    The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
    The Stranger, by Albert Camus
    Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie on 50 books list
    The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards
    The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde (if it’s a play, it’s probably not on the list, which is mostly novels)
    The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
    The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales, by Jacob Grimm
    East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
    The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry
    Dune, by Frank Herbert
    A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
    The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
    The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
    The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho (again)
    Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery on 50 book list
    And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
    The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan (the list is, I believe, strictly fiction)
    New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer
    Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
    Ringworld by Larry Niven
    Tales of Known Space: The Universe of Larry Niven by Larry Niven
    The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton by Larry Niven
    Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
    Doorways in the Sand by Robert Zelazny
    Creatures of Light and Darkness by Rober Zelazny
    Portrait of a Killer: Jack The Ripper – Case Cl… by Patricia Cornwell
    The Nine Billion Names of God: The Best Short S… by Arthur C. Clarke
    The Aleph and Other Stories by Jorge Luis Borges
    Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges
    Carried Away: A Selection of Stories by Alice Munro
    Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
    Ficciones is the piece that’s on the list, if you want to add it.
    Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
    The Immaculate Conception by Gaetan Soucy
    The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
    Double Helix by J. Watson
    The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant
    A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White H… by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
    Broken Government: How the Republi…by John W. Dean
    Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
    Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase… by James L. Swanson
    Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
    The Pianist: The Extraordinary True… by Wladyslaw Szpilman
    The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
    My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier
    Leviathan by Paul Auster
    D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri D’Aulaire

    Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton
    The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
    The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
    Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk
    The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman
    Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein
    The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe (Poe is on the list three times, but not for this one.)
    The Bible
    The Quoran

    Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
    Shogun, by James Clavell
    The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
    A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer
    The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova
    White Oleander, by Janet Fitch
    The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
    Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls
    Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller
    The Lottery and Other Stories, by Shirley Jackson
    Love Story, by Erich Segal
    Love You Forever, by Robert N. Munsch
    John Adams, by David McCullough
    Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt
    The Aeneid, by Virgil
    Leaves of     Grass, by Walt Whitman
    The World of Pooh, by A.A. Milne
    Katherine, by Anya Seton
    The Stand, by Stephen King (Mr. King is on, but only for The Shining.)
    Daughter of the Forrest, by Juliet Marillier
    World Without End, by Ken Follett
    The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins
    Freakonomics, by Stephen D. Levitt
    World War Z, by Max Brooks
    The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
    Roots, by Alex Haley
    House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III
    The Canterbury Tales, by Barbara Cohen
    The Eyre Affair, by Jasper FfordeThe Ruins, by Scott B. Smith
    The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
    Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
    Forrest Gump, by Winston Groom
    The Mammoth Hunters, by Jean Auel
    Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman
    100 Love Sonnets, by Pablo Neruda
    Watership Down, by Richard Adams
    Shadow Kiss, by Richelle Mead
    The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
    The Shack, by William Young
    The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon
    The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers
    Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
    A Wizard of Earthsea, by Urusula K. Le Guin
    The Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
    Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson
    The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx
    Le Morte d’Arthur, by Thomas Malory

    Fail Safe, by Eugene Burdick
    Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
    Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
    Graceling, by Kristin Cashore
    Enchanted April, by Elizabeth von Arnim
    The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein
    Ripley’s Game, by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley is on, but this one isn’t.)
    Watchers, by Dean Koontz
    Paradise Lost, by John Milton and other works by Milton
    The Twentieth Wife, by Indu Sundaresan
    Angels in America, by Tony Kushner
    The Giver, by Lois Lowry
    Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
    1776, by David McCullough
    The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu
    Zorba the Greek, by Nikos Kazantzakis
    The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov (Foundation is on, but the other two are not.)
    Into the Wild, by Erin Hunter
    The Republic, by Plato
    The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William L. Shirer
    If I Die in a Combat Zone, by Tim O’Brien (The Things They Carried is on; this isn’t.)
    Blood Promise, by Richelle Mead
    Final Exit, by Derek Humphry
    Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
    Eleven Minutes, by Paulo Coelho
    Guards! Guards!, by Terry Pratchett
    Frostbite, by Richelle Mead
    The Zahir, by Paulo Coelho
    The Man in the Iron Mask, by Alexandre Dumas (Monte Cristo, Reine Margot, and Three Musketeers are in; this isn’t.)
    Burned, by P.C. Cast
    Ender’s Shadow, by Orson Scott Card
    The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare (There is no Shakespeare on this list.)
    Vampire Academy, by Richelle Mead
    The Elephant Vanishes, by Haruki Murakami
    The Painted Veil, by Somerset Maugham
    The History of the Pelopponnesian War, by Thucydides
    Children of the Mind, by Orson Scott Card
    Le Grand Meaulnes, by Henri Alain-Fournier
    Amadeus, by Peter Shaffer
    Dark Rivers of the Heart, by Dean Koontz
    The Dancing Wu Li Masters, by Gary Zukav
    Starman Jones, by Robert Heinlein (Stranger in a Strange Land is on.)
    The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne
    The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan
    Maurice, by E.M. Forster
    The Tale of Gilgamesh, by Anonymous
    The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak
    A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah
    Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett
    Poison Study, by Maria V. Snyder
    When Nietzsche Wept, by Irvin D. Yalom
    Child of the Prophecy, by Juliet Marillier

    Marley & Me, by John Grogan
    The Color of Water, by James McBride
    On Death and Dying, by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
    The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffennegger
    The Onion Field, by Joseph Wambaugh
    Insomnia, by Stephen King
    Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
    The Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty
    Amazing Grace, by Kathleen Norris
    Battlefield Earth, by L. Ron Hubbard
    The Three Questions, by Jon J. Muth
    The Bonesetter’s Daughter, by Amy Tan
    The Demigod Files, by Rick Riordan
    The Study Series Bundle, by Maria V. Snyder
    The Tea Rose, by Jennifer Donnelly
    Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
    Free Speech for Me, by Nat Hentoff
    Moloka’i, by Alan Brennert
    From a Buick 8, by Stephen King
    The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom
    The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
    The Robe, by Lloyd C. Douglas
    Nobody’s Fool, by Richard Russo

    Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout
    The March, by E.L. Doctorow
    A Lesson Before Dying, by Earnest Gaines
    The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
    Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris
    The Histories, by Herodotus
    Rabbit at Rest, by John Updike (Oddly enough, the other three are on the list)
    Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain
    The Essential Rumi, by Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi
    Duma Key, by Stephen King
    The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski
    Ahab’s Wife, by Sena Jeter Naslund
    Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika, by Tony Kushner (plays aren’t generally on this list)
    American Nightmare, by Jerrold M. Packard
    The Complete Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
    The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara
    Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
    The Color of Magic, by Terry Pratchett
    Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, by Barbara Kingsolver
    Richard III, by William Shakespeare (Shakespeare is not on this list)
    The Plains of Passage, by Jean M. Auel
    QB VII, by Leon Uris
    The Shelters of Stone, by Jean M. Auel
    Rain of Gold, by Victor Villasenor
    Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke
    Neither Here Nor There, by Bill Bryson
    The Lightening Thief, by Rick Riordan
    Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
    The Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan
    The Titan’s Curse, by Rick Riordan
    The Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan
    The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks
    The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
    The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams
    Time Enough for Love, by Robert Heinlein
    Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
    The Mutiny on the Bounty Trilogy, by Charles Nordhoff
    The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman

    The Voyage of the Star Wolf
    and
    The War Against the Chtorr 1: A Matter For Men
    by David Gerrold

    The Holy Man
    by Susan Trott

    A Canticle for Leibowitz
    by Walter M. Miller Jr.

    Tiger Eyes
    by Judy Blume

    Song of the Sound
    by ADAM ARMSTRONG

    The Competitive Advantage of Nations
    by Michael E. Porter

    Atlantis Found
    by Clive Cussler

    Hellboy Volume 1: Seed of Destruction
    by Mike Mignola

    The Girlfriends’ Guide to Pregnancy: Second Edi…
    by Vicki Iovine

    NO: Why Kids–of All Ages–Need to Hear It and …
    by David Walsh

    The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of …
    by Robert A. Caro

    Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary C…
    by Jim Collins

    Reclaiming History: The Assassination of Presid…
    by Vincent Bugliosi

    Magic Study
    and
    Fire Study
    and
    Assassin Study
    and
    Storm Glass
    and
    Ice Study
    by Maria V. Snyder

    Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Id…
    by Gary Paulsen

    Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture
    by Douglas Coupland

    Angels In America
    by Joseph Kushner

    The Dictionary of Imaginary Places
    by Alberto Manguel

    A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry
    by Mark Hertsgaard

    List of Book Recommendations

     

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    15 Fantasy Books as Good as Lord of the Rings – The Quick Report

    20 Ways Reading Will Change in 2025

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    Must-Read Historical Fiction That Will Take You Back in Time – authorjakecosmosaller@gmail.com – Gmail

    8 Dystopian Books Like Severance on Apple TV – authorjakecosmosaller@gmail.com – Gmail

    25 Literary Museums Literature Lovers Will Want to Visit

    The 5 Stephen King Books You Should Read First

     

    The Shinning

    Skeleton Key

    The Running Man

    11/23/63

    It

    10 Long Books That Will Keep You Entertained for Hours (or Days!): Our Title Recommendations

    26 Must-Read Novels Every Book Worm Should Read At Least Once

    The 26 Most Famous Historical Fiction Books Worth Reading

    Three Classical Reads That Are Anything But Boring

    Six Books to Read by the Fire

    33 Magnificent Libraries To Visit In America, Beyond

    Forbidden Pages: 15 Banned Books in 19th Century America

     

    Additional recommendations:

    “The Age of Reason” by Thomas Paine

     

    Leaves from the Diary of an Old Lawyer” by Joseph M. Field

    Description: A collection of essays and stories providing a critical look at various social issues, including slavery, legal corruption, and societal norms.

    Reason for Ban: Banned for its critical stance on slavery and its portrayal of the legal system’s corruption. Its progressive views and social critique were deemed too radical and threatening by conservative groups.

    “The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta” by John Rollin Ridge

    Description: Often considered the first novel by a Native American author, this book tells the semi-fictionalized story of Joaquín Murieta, a Mexican outlaw in California.

    Reason for Ban: Banned for its violent content and its sympathetic portrayal of a bandit who resisted oppression, which authorities feared might incite rebellion among marginalized communitie

    The Blithedale Romance” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Description: A novel based on Hawthorne’s experiences at the utopian Brook Farm community, it critiques idealistic social experiments and explores themes of feminism and individualism.

    Reason for Ban: Banned for its criticism of transcendentalism and for challenging traditional gender roles, particularly through its portrayal of strong-willed female characters

    .“Wieland” by Charles Brockden Brown

    Description: A Gothic novel exploring themes of religious fanaticism, psychological horror, and supernatural elements, featuring a protagonist who is driven to murder by perceived divine commands.

    Reason for Ban: Considered dangerous for its portrayal of religious extremism and insanity, which some saw as an attack on religious authority and moral values.

    “Herland” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    Description: Though published later in 1915, early feminist works like Gilman’s were influenced by 19th-century thought. “Herland” is a utopian novel about an all-female society that thrives without men.

    Reason for Ban: Banned for its radical feminist themes and its challenge to traditional gender roles, particularly its depiction of a successful, self-sufficient society without male dominance.

    “Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter” by William Wells Brown

    Description: The first novel by an African American author, it tells the tragic story of Clotel, a mixed-race daughter of Thomas Jefferson, and exposes the horrors of slavery.

    Reason for Ban: Banned in slaveholding states for its abolitionist message and its direct implication of a U.S. president in the institution of slavery, which was seen as inflammatory.

    “The Woman in the Nineteenth Century” by Margaret Fuller

    Description: A foundational feminist text arguing for women’s intellectual and social equality, advocating for their right to education, employment, and political participation.

    Reason for Ban: Banned for its advocacy of women’s rights, which was considered radical and threatening to the patriarchal structure of 19th-century American society.

     

    20 Best science fiction novels for every sci-fi fan

    Read

     

    2) Dune by Frank Herbert

    Focusing on the planet Arrakis, where the spice is extracted, Frank Herbert’s captivating picture of a feudal distant future transformed by the mind-altering capabilities of a drug called spice is a classic that yet feels revolutionary today. The book was so successful that it was adapted into three films and resurrected on television. Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya were among the well-known actors who starred in the subsequent films.

     

    4) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

    Earth is almost uninhabitable due to the effects of pollution and war. The wealthy have departed the planet, leaving the less fortunate, like Rick Deckard, to fend for themselves. During a particularly difficult assignment, Rick, who earns his livelihood by destroying rogue androids, is forced to consider his work and perhaps his identity. Perhaps the most comprehensible of Dick’s many writings, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is an incredible book.

     

    9) The Big Book of Science Fiction, edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Ann Vandermeer

    Since it includes works by many of the top science fiction authors we are talking about on our list, this anthology deserves to be on our “Best Of” lists, even though they don’t often. Wells, Clarke, Butler, Vonnegut, Asimov, Liu, Doctorow, Le Guin, and the list goes on and on! An excellent beginning for readers of science fiction.

     

    1) The Blazing World and Other Writings by Margaret Cavendish

    The Blazing World, an early female utopian and proto-science fiction book, is about a lady from Earth who enters another planet through a portal in the North Pole and ascends to the position of empress of a fantasy society composed of half-human, half-animal creatures. Cavendish imagines submarines, boats with motors, and an endless cosmos in this 1666 work, which embodies the theoretical science of the Enlightenment.

     

    George Orwell 1984

     

    George Orwell Animal Farm

     

    Bradbery Farenhiet 451

     

    Huxley Brave New World

     

    To Read

     

     

    1) Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh

    Twenty separate people would have different opinions about C.J. Cherryh’s finest novel since her body of work is so vast. However, a Hugo Award and a Locus finalist make it difficult to refute. Thus, in our opinion, Downbelow Station is the best place to start. As humanity spreads out among the stars, Downbelow Station, set in Cherryh’s Alliance-Union Universe, is the tale of corporate space exploration gone wrong.

     

    3) Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany

    Bellona is no longer the same city; the majority of its residents have left, leaving only the destitute, deranged, and criminals. And a young man, the Kid, who was a poet. This complex and nuanced story navigates racial, gender, and sexual concerns in a near-future, devastated setting in a way that is impossible to overlook.

     

    5) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

    The author of Upgrade, Recursion, and the Wayward Pines trilogy presents a “mind-blowing” (Entertainment Weekly) speculative thriller about a regular man who awakens in a world that is oddly different from the one he believed he knew. The narrative of Dark Matter is about decisions, unexplored avenues, and the lengths we will go to in order to live the lives we envision.

     

     The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

    The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a stand-alone tale that reads less like a contemporary fantasy and more like a traditional gothic fiction. Set in nineteenth-century Mexico, this rich historical drama reworking of The Island of Doctor Moreau comes from the acclaimed author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Nigh

     

    8) The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

    Even though the majority of the Sadiri survivors are men, they still have to figure out how to keep their people going after their homeworld is destroyed. Under the direction of a lady from the planet’s Central Government, they set out to preserve their disappearing species by traveling around the colony world of Cygnus Beta, where they come across a diverse range of people and civilizations.

     

    10) Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor

    Nnedi Okorafor presented us with Binti, a young Himba girl who has the opportunity of a lifetime: to enroll in the esteemed Oomza University in her novella that won both Hugo and Nebula awards. Notwithstanding her family’s reservations, Binti is a strong contender to go on this intergalactic voyage because of her aptitude for astrolabes and her gift for mathematics. But everything changes when the Medusae, which resemble jellyfish, invade Binti’s spaceship, and she is the only one left alive. With only five days to get to her objective, Binti is now left to fight for herself aboard a ship full of the creatures who killed her crew

     

    2) A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller

    Nuclear war razed the Earth, plunging its survivors into a new dark age in which science is reviled and books are destroyed on sight. A small order of Catholic monks dedicated to a legendary miracle worker holds back the wave of ignorance as best that it can as barbarism swells at its gates. A Canticle for Leibowitz is a bittersweet tale that might make you worry about our future as a species.

     

    16) 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

    Tokyo is the setting, and the year is 1984. After heeding the mysterious advice of a cab driver, a young lady called Aomame starts to observe perplexing contradictions in her surroundings. In addition to being a dystopia to match George Orwell’s, 1Q84 is a love tale, mystery, fantasy, and self-discovery book.

     

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    Frankenstein by Mary Shelley©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Frankenstein-Mary-Shelley/dp/0486282112

    Published in full in 1818, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a literary classic. The gothic tale explores the dark and brooding aspects of humanity.

    The story’s two main characters—Victor Frankenstein and the creature he creates—interact in such a way that intrigues readers. It’s a story about tragedies and the implications of those tragedies.

     

    The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne©Provided by ALot.com

     

    1984 by George Orwell

    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Great-Gatsby-F-Scott-Fitzgerald/dp/0743273567

     

     

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

     

    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen©Provided by ALot.com

    Little Women by Louisa May Alcott©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Little-Women-Louisa-May-Alcott/dp/1503280292

    The Awakening by Kate Chopin

    The Odyssey by Homer©Provided by ALot.com

    Reading Homer’s The Odyssey is a challenging task, but a task that’s worthwhile. This is because it was written sometime in the 8th century BCE. The epic poem was found engraved into a clay slab and has since been translated into modern English.

    Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Wuthering-Heights-Wordsworth-Classics-Bronte/dp/1853260010

    Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Man-Ralph-Ellison/dp/0679732764

    Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte©Provided by ALot.com

    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-World-Aldous-Huxley/dp/0060850523

    Great Expectations by Charles Dickens©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Great-Expectations-Charles-Dickens/dp/1503275183

    The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis©Provided by ALot.com

    My Antonia by Willa Cather©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/My-Ántonia-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486282406

    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Anna-Karenina-Leo-Tolstoy/dp/0143035002

    The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Dorian-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486278077

    Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is an enduringly popular novel that is both Gothic and philosophical. Although it was Wilde’s first and only published work, it’s created quite the impression.

     

     

    To Read

     

    Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Dalloway-Virginia-Woolf/dp/0156628708

    It’s likely you’ve heard of Virginia Woolf. She’s an English writer and one of the most prominent female authors in literary history. Her novel Mrs. Dalloway is unique because it was one of the first stories written using stream of consciousness.

    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mockingbird-Harper-Lee/dp/0446310786

     

    The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Bell-Jar-Sylvia-Plath/dp/0061148512

    There’s something to be said about novels like The Bell Jar. Sylvia Plath’s female-driven narrative has lasting power. Many find this novel to be sad, but it’s so much more than that. It’s also incisive and witty.

    Esther Greenwood, the protagonist, suffers from severe depression. Her coming-of-age story is filled with expectations and preconceived notions of what should be and what shouldn’t be. It’s impossible not to relate to the unsureness that Esther feels.

    In Cold Blood by Truman Capote©Provided by ALot.com

    Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood is about the quadruple murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, and it is one of the best selling true-crime novels ever published.

    Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt©Provided by ALot.com

    Frank McCourt’s childhood memoir is filled with heartbreak, self-doubt, and hardship. As McCourt grows up, he is overlooked at school and church because he’s from a lower class family, despite the fact that he is a smart child and desperate to learn.

    The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Handmaids-Tale-Classic-Collection/dp/1480560103

    Although Margaret Atwood didn’t release her dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale until 1985, it’s a compelling classic. And it’s recently been adapted into a popular Hulu series.

    The Color Purple by Alice Walker©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Color-Purple-Alice-Walker/dp/0156028352

    In 1982, Alice Walker published a novel that went on to become a contemporary classic and a cultural phenomena. That novel is The Color Purple. It became the first work by an African American woman to win the Pulitzer and National Book awards.

    The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Menagerie-Tennessee-Williams/dp/0811214044

    The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Bluest-Eye-Vintage-International/dp/0307278441

    Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler©Provided by ALot.com

    A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Portrait-Artist-Young-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486280500

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    10 Fantasy Book Series That Are Considered Masterpieces

     

    Few fantasy book series are considered masterpieces; fantasy is a broad genre, spanning generations across various media formats. There are many subgenres within fantasy, such as urban fantasy, high fantasy, historical fantasy, and more. The sky is the limit within this genre, containing fantasy books where the protagonist is the villain, books that blend fantasy with other genres, or fantasy books about revenge. Of course, with such a vast genre, there are some negative aspects, including fantasy movies that have aged badly and fantasy TV shows that have wasted their potential.

    However, there are many amazing aspects to fantasy as well, including iconic book series that are true masterpieces. There are several reasons why certain fantasy book series are considered to be superior, including creative fantasy books that defy all the tropes, fantasy books that illustrate critical themes in groundbreaking ways, and fantasy books with villains just as compelling as the heroes. Regardless of the reason, there are at least 10 fantasy book series that are considered masterpieces in the genre; that revolutionized this genre in some form.

    The Chronicles Of Narnia By C.S. Lewis

    A Children’s Fantasy Series

    This image shows the cover of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the second chronological book in The Chronicles of Narnia.© Provided by ScreenRant

    The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis is a children’s fantasy series comprising seven installments. It revolves around human children discovering the magical world of Narnia, initially in Professor Digory Kirke’s wardrobe. As the series goes on, the narrative introduces new protagonists, including the Pevensies’ cousin, Eustace Scrubb, and his classmate, Jill Pole. Time passes differently in this magical world, so each Chronicles of Narnia book illustrates a different conflict within this realm.

    A composite image of Greta Gerwig in front of a white background with the Pevensie children from The Chronicles of Narnia pointing a sword at something offscreen© Provided by ScreenRant

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    The Chronicles of Narnia is one of the most beloved children’s classic book series. Two of the books are on TIME‘s 100 Best Fantasy Books list, demonstrating the timelessness of this story. Furthermore, The Chronicles of Narnia has largely influenced other works of fiction, including His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, and The Magicians by Lev Grossman. The Chronicles of Narnia continues to stand against the test of time, utilizing children’s fantasy to convey religious themes.

    The Lord Of The Rings By J. R. R. Tolkien

    An Epic High Fantasy Adventure Trilogy

    The Fellowship of the Ring in The Lord of The Rings.© Provided by ScreenRant

    The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien revolutionized modern fantasy and is largely credited as the reason for the genre’s popularity. This epic high fantasy trilogy is set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, depicting the fight against the Dark Lord Sauron, who uses The Lord of the Rings‘ One Ring to rule over the realm. The trilogy follows several characters, including the Hobbits (Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin), the humans (Aragorn and Boromir), the elves (Legolas), the dwarves (Gimli), and Gandalf, the wizard.

    The Lord of the Rings is a staple in fantasy literature. It is one of the bestselling book series of all time, with over 150 million copies sold. Tolkien’s works have transformed into a franchise that includes several The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie adaptations, a critically acclaimed TV show, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, games based on the books, and theatrical productions. The Lord of the Rings is a masterpiece for many reasons, largely including the themes of love and friendship, oppression, and tyranny.

    The Time Quintet By Madeleine L’Engle

    A Young Adult Sci-Fi Fantasy Series

    A Wrinkle In Time By Madeleine L’Engle (Time Quintet Book 1)

    Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet is a book series that perfectly blends sci-fi and fantasy, revolving around Meg Murry, Charles Wallace Murry, and Calvin O’Keefe as they save their universe from various dark forces. L’Engle also wrote several spinoff books, including The Arm of the Starfish, Dragons in the Waters, and A House Like a Lotus. The Time Quintet’s first installment won the Newbery Medal, one of the highest and most prestigious achievements in children’s literature and a rare accomplishment for fantasy.

    Although Disney’s adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time was unsuccessful, it does not tarnish the Time Quintet’s status as a masterpiece fantasy book series. L’Engle explores various themes, such as friendship, good and evil, religion, and grief. A Wrinkle in Time was published in 1962, a time when fantasy began to grow, and young adult fantasy was largely unheard of. However, the Time Quintet defied the odds and remains a classic staple of young adult fantasy.

    The Earthsea Cycle By Ursula K. Le Guin

    A Young Adult High Fantasy Series

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    Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle is a young adult high fantasy book series comprising six installments and an anthology of short stories. The series is set in the fictional universe Earthsea, a large ocean containing several islands. This universe thrives on an intricate magic system that illustrates how the people of Earthsea largely depend on magic. The series has won several accolades, including a Newbery Honor, the National Book Award for Children’s Books, two Locus Awards, and the Nebula Award for Best Novel.

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    A Song of Ice and Fire By George R.R. Martin
    Book Publication Date Corresponding Game of Thrones Season
    A Game of Thrones August 6, 1996 Season 1
    A Clash of Kings November 16, 1998 Season 2
    A Storm of Swords August 8, 2000 Season 3, Season 4
    A Feast for Crows October 17, 2005 Season 5
    A Dance with Dragons July 12, 2011 Season 5
    The Winds of Winter TBC N/A (Seasons 6 & 7 original material)
    A Dream of Spring TBC ” “

    Although the series is notorious for its next installment being a fantasy book many have waited years for, it does not lessen its significant impact on the fantasy genre. Before A Song of Ice and Fire, very few fantasy book series featured strong female main characters. However, Martin’s novels revolutionized that aspect with the introduction of Daenerys Targaryen, one of the most popular fictional characters to date.

    Covers of George R.R. Martin’s Dreamsongs and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms© Provided by ScreenRant

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    The books also subvert the chosen one trope by making a female character (Daenerys) “the chosen one” (The Prince That Was Promised), also a rare occasion in fantasy before this series. The Prince That Was Promised exists in Game of Thrones, but the show does not particularly focus on the importance of this role or the prophecy the way the books do. Although the books do not officially confirm the identity of the Prince That Was Promised, several significant signs point to Daenerys holding this title.

    The Broken Earth By N. K. Jemisin

    A Sci-Fi Fantasy Trilogy

    The Fifth Season By N.K. Jemisin

    The Broken Earth by N. K. Jemisin is a sci-fi fantasy book series that focuses on one continent, the Stillness, that endures a cataclysmic climate change event that occurs every few hundred years. The first installment, The Fifth Season, follows this universe as it is about to enter a devastating Fifth Season event. The Broken Earth features a society that is constructed on the oppression of orogenes, people who can manipulate earth elements. This trilogy also explores critical themes such as oppression, climate change, motherhood, identity, and family.

    Jemisin is the first person to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel three years in a row and for all installments in a trilogy. The Broken Earth was also groundbreaking for the fantasy genre, illustrating how books can perfectly blend fantasy and sci-fi. This trilogy features some of the best world-building in fantasy books, detailing specific aspects that most stories do not consider. The Fifth Season was published in 2015, at a time when fantasy had already covered so much ground. Nevertheless, The Broken Earth reformed how multiple genres blend together.

    Six Of Crows By Leigh Bardugo

    A High Fantasy Young Adult Duology Part Of The Grishaverse

    Six of Crows Cover featuring a grey background, black wings, and the cover© Provided by ScreenRant

    The Six of Crows duology is not the first series within the Grishaverse, but it is the best one. This duology revolves around six vastly different characters who come together for an epic heist. Their commonality is their circumstances: Society works against all six protagonists in some way, so if they perished during the heist, no one would come looking for them. The Six of Crows duology is also one of Leigh Bardugo’s best books, illustrating her talent for complex characters, riveting dynamics, and critical themes.

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    Shadow and Bone

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    Six of Crows is also featured on TIME‘s 100 Best Fantasy Books list, illustrating its impact on the genre. The duology has received other accolades, including The Independent‘s 10 Best Fantasy Novels and The Wall Street Journal‘s Best Young Adult Books. Six of Crows will stand the test of time as one of the best young adult fantasy book series because of Bardugo’s stellar craft and the truly brilliant characters.

    The Poppy War By R.F. Kuang

    A High Fantasy Trilogy Based On The Second Sino-Japanese War & The Opium Wars

    The covers of The Poppy War trilogy© Provided by ScreenRant

    The Poppy War is a high fantasy trilogy by R. F. Kuang immersed in Chinese mythology and loosely based on historical events. The narrative follows Rin, a war orphan who moves to Sinegard to attend the most prestigious military academy in the Nikan Empire against all odds. However, dark forces unfold during Rin’s time in Sinegard, leading Rin to the third Poppy War in Nikan. The Poppy War is a groundbreaking fantasy series, exploring Chinese politics and the fraught, oppressive dynamics between the British Empire and China.

    The covers of The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty and The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang with a fiery red background

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    The Poppy War has numerous accolades, including nominations for the Nebula Awards and the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Each installment in this trilogy makes its mark on the fantasy genre and pushes the boundaries of fantasy with its unique world-building and intricate politics. The Dragon Republic ties the entire narrative together with parallels to Britain, China, Japan, and Taiwan. Finally, The Burning God features an epic conclusion that depicts an alternate reality involving the Chinese Communist Revolution failing, having both positive and negative results.

    The Scholomance Trilogy By Naomi Novik

    A Dark Academia Young Adult Fantasy Trilogy

    The Scholomance Trilogy By Naomi Novik

    The Scholomance Trilogy is a dark academia fantasy series by Naomi Novik, revolving around Galadriel Higgins at the Scholomance in a universe where non-magical people cannot see magic, and wizards live in enclaves to fend off maleficaria. The Scholomance Trilogy is an excellent example of dark fantasy books and the unlimited potential they bring. The story surpasses other fantasy books about magical schools, moving into a darker realm, and deconstructing presumptions with this subgenre that is not always particularly dark.

    The Scholomance Trilogy is notably different from Novik’s other works, such as Uprooted and Spinning Silver. However, this series, a departure from Novik’s fairy tale retellings, is a breath of fresh air that illustrates the exciting parts of dark academia, especially when mixed with fantasy. The Scholomance Trilogy stands out among magic school narratives because of its unique magic system combined with the grim aspects of the series.

    Source: TIME, BBC, The Independent, The Wall Street Journal

     

    5 Books You (Should Have) Read In High School That Are Worth Re-Reading As An Adult!

     

    Read

     

    1. Brave New WorldBy Aldous Huxley

    If you love Dystopian novels, this is the book for you, as it is definitely a blueprint for modern favorites like The Hunger Games and Divergent. The writing style definitely comes across as literary, which may be a positive or a negative depending on your tastes. The story is unique and still feels like a relevant critique of our society today.

     

    1. Of Mice and Menby John Steinbeck 

    This book is short and a very easy read, so it’s perfect if you don’t want to get into anything too long or complex while still reading a classic. It is so tragic throughout and ends with a shocking and sad twist. If you’ve never read this before and don’t know how it ends, you need to pick this book up right now, as reading it for the first time is truly a gut-wrenching experience! Even if you know what’s coming, the story is still both sad and sentimental, while also providing a tenderhearted take on the meaning of friendship.

     

    1. Lord of The Fliesby William Golding

    This novel is a fever dream – one that may have ruined you when you were in middle school. There is so much imagery and hidden meaning behind every description that it’s worth looking back on years later. If you love crazy and weird commentary on human nature, this is the novel for you. If anything, it will make you glad you’re not 13 anymore!

     

    1. Fahrenheit 451by Ray Bradbury

    If you’re an avid fan of reading, this one might especially hit home for you because, if you don’t know, or don’t remember, it’s all about a futuristic society where they burn every book. Because it is a little dense, it will definitely be easier to understand on the second read. Like Brave New World, this is also a great option for fans of dystopian worlds.

     

    Not Read

     

    1. The Outsidersby S.E. Hinton

    If you’re anything like me, this book made you cry when you first read it. Sometimes called “the original YA novel”, The Outsiders is both simple and beautiful, as well as extremely nostalgic for those who read it in middle school or high school. If you remember having a crush on the actors in the movie, or if you have an emotional reaction to the phrase “Stay gold, Ponyboy,” you need to re-read this book ASAP!

     

     

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    10 Modern Books Likely To Become Classics One Day

     

    • Modern classics are determined by quality, subject matter, and relevance, along with reader engagement and interest.
    • Modern literature uplifts voices overlooked by mainstream while exploring complex themes and compelling prose.
    • Novels from the 21st century may not yet be classics, but some, like “Between the World and Me,” could earn that status.

    It takes a lot for a contemporary book to be considered a modern classic, including the quality, subject matter, and relevancy of the text. These elements come together to create a novel that will join the ranks of the literary canon one day. One of the most exciting parts of modern literature is the elevation of voices previously overlooked by popular literature, leading to beautiful and compelling prose by people from all walks of life entering the mainstream. When considering what books will earn the title of classic, reader engagement, and interest must be taken into account alongside merit.

    As an entrance into the larger literary exploration of World War II, The Book Thief stands out as the perfect place to start.

    The Book Thief sees Liesel adapt to a new home with adoptive parents, help them conceal a Jewish man from the Nazis, and learn the power of the written word as she becomes literate and seeks to save books from being destroyed. The story is narrated by Death, but even in this supposed objectivity, Death cannot help but be moved to certain actions by the human spirit and the bravery of Liesel and her family. As an entrance into the larger literary exploration of World War II, The Book Thief stands out as the perfect place to start.

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    The Hunger Games (2008)

    Written by Suzanne Collins

    Katniss hides up a tree in The Huger Games© Provided by ScreenRant

    Expertly crafting not only an intricate but also a logical world with rules that make sense to the reader, The Hunger Games taught a generation of readers to expect more from the stories they engage with.

    While novels written for adults are more typically discussed as hallmarks of the literary canon, that doesn’t mean that young adult or even children’s books are any less important. What young audiences read as they come of age has a direct impact on their views and social and cultural development. The Hunger Games was written when YA dystopian narratives were extremely popular, but Suzanne Collins wrote a story unlike anything else available. At once accessible and brutally honest in the violence and cruelty of the story’s world, The Hunger Games doesn’t pull punches in expressing its lessons and themes.

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    Expertly crafting not only an intricate but also a logical world with rules that make sense to the reader, The Hunger Games taught a generation of readers to expect more from the stories they engage with. Every Hunger Games book has its pros and cons, but the first installment of the series is well-remembered as capturing the hearts and minds of everyone who reads it. Collins has released several prequels since the series’ popularity exploded thanks to the films. However, nothing will ever come close to the magic of The Hunger Games and Katniss’ first trip into the arena.

     

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    Between The World And Me (2015)

    Written by Ta-Nehisi Coates

    The cover of Between The World And Me© Provided by ScreenRant

    It can be difficult for memories, autobiography, and even autofiction to become a classic, as there’s an argument to be made for how universal and enduring personal stories can be. This is not an issue in Between the World and Me, which seamlessly connects the intimate experiences of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ life with the long and complex history of racial prejudice and injustice across the world. Coates is in conversation with his son throughout the work as he grapples with how to communicate the lessons and context that cannot be separated from how Black men and women are treated.

    Race as a concept and a political agenda are some of the biggest themes in Between the World and Me, and Coates’s writing and style have drawn comparisons to James Baldwin, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. If Between the World and Me is any indication, Coates will go down in history as a pivotal voice in the literary canon, and Between the World and Me will be taught and celebrated for years to come. As a stunning and vulnerable non-fiction, the book should be read by audiences both inside the U.S. and out.

    James (2024)

    Written by Percival Everett

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    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book that’s long been taught as one of the great works of American literature but has always been read with the caveat of racial prejudice of the time. Percival Everett’s James challenges the perspectives of the original book and Jim’s archetype. Jim, Huck’s travel companion who escapes enslavement, is not the man that Mark Twain wrote him to be. James is far more than a retelling of an American classic. It represents Jim as a vivid and fully formed character and expands upon his adventures with Huck with greater depth and complexity.

    The connection between Jim and Huck is painted with newfound nuance in James, as there isn’t a moment when Jim isn’t aware of his position as a Black man next to a young white boy. Even as they become close and Huck begins to see Jim as a man, there’s no question that Jim can bring his guard down. Language and the written word play an enormous role in James, and Everett plays with this to great effect through his writing. The novel is not only necessary and compelling but highlights Everett as a once-in-a-generation writer.

    All The Light We Cannot See (2014)

    Written by Anthony Doerr

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    There’s no shortage of amazing books about World War II from many perspectives, but All The Light We Cannot See looked at this well-known part of history in a new way. Doerr’s work is defined by his non-linear style of storytelling as well as his extremely lyrical prose that imbues light and beauty into the darkest moments of the narrative. As much as the novel is about the horrors of WWII on the millions it affected, it also highlights Doerr’s interest in technology and how communication has been altered so deeply due to technological innovation.

    Relying on intricate descriptions of the senses and how humans interact with their world, All The Light We Cannot See is an immersive experience.

    All The Light We Cannot See won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and has skyrocketed Doerr and his other works to fame and popularity. The recent miniseries based on the novel was a solid effort, but it failed to capture the nuance and emotional realism of the book. It stands out not only in terms of critical reception but also in far-reaching popularity with readers. Transcending genre, the book appeals to readers of all kinds. Relying on intricate descriptions of the senses and how humans interact with their world, All The Light We Cannot See is an immersive experience.

    My Brilliant Friend (2011)

    Written by Elena Ferrante

    The cover of My Brilliant Friend© Provided by ScreenRant

    My Brilliant Friend is the first in the Neopolitan Novels series by Elena Ferrante, which chronicles a stunning portrait of true friendship between women in Italy throughout the latter half of the 20th century. It’s told from the perspective of Elena, or Lenù, about growing up with her mercurial and beautiful friend Lila. Elena considers Lila to be the smartest and most advanced person she knows, but Lila is forced to quit school and work for her father until marriage. Conversely, Elena is allowed to get a formal education but always feels equally inferior and drawn to Lila.

    Much of My Brilliant Friend focuses on the limited opportunities afforded to the lower economic class in Italy, particularly for women. Ferrante frequently discusses what she refers to as the pleb, or plebian, class, which Elena comes to understand herself and the people of her community to be part of. Elena’s understanding of the world’s divisions and the invented separation between people shifts her relationship with Lila. Additionally, few books have so accurately captured the jealous, loving, and disappointing nature of a friendship between young women who mean more to each other than they can describe.

    The Road (2006)

    Written by Cormac McCarthy

    Viggo Mortensen as Man and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Boy in a scene from The Road.© Provided by ScreenRant

    Outside of the brutal world of man versus man that the characters inhabit, there is an accessible and affecting tale of the bond between a father and son and the lengths a parent will go to protect their child.

    The Road is one of the most instrumental works of post-apocalyptic fiction from the modern era, as it successfully capitalizes on the fears and hopes of a generation growing up facing an increasingly violent and environmentally volatile world. Cormac McCarthy is well-known for his biting works that tackle the legacy of American mythology with works like Blood Meridian and No Country For Old Men. The Road lent itself to a film adaptation because McCarthy paints a vividly visual portrait in his prose alongside characters that become more real to the reader than themselves by the end of the story.

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    McCarthy won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for The Road, and few other honors are so universally acknowledged as the highest recognition an author and novel can receive. Post-apocalyptic books like Fallout and other popular dystopian TV shows and movies have never been more popular, and the influence that prose like The Road has on these onscreen works is obvious. Outside of the brutal world of man versus man that the characters inhabit, there is an accessible and affecting tale of the bond between a father and son and the lengths a parent will go to protect their child.

    The Round House (2012)

    Written by Louise Erdrich

    The cover of The Round House© Provided by ScreenRant

    Pulitzer Prize winner Louise Erdrich has spent her career bringing to life her experience growing up as an Objibwe woman and discussing the far-reaching impact of the United States’ treatment of Indigenous communities. The Round House was Erdrich’s fourteenth novel, but her work never falters or flags, as there’s always a new story and brilliant characters to engage with. Erdrich is known for writing about subjects intersectionally, looking at feminism specifically through the lens of being an Ojibwe woman. This makes it interesting that the protagonist of The Round House is a young man named Joe.

    Joe’s mother is assaulted, and he takes it upon himself to investigate the perpetrator because he understands, even at a young age, that he cannot rely on the criminal justice system to work as it should for an Indigenous woman. The Round House is open about the disproportionate number of attacks upon Indigenous women and how the law consistently fails to help, as well as the cycles of masculinity that lead to male violence. Winning the 2012 National Book Award for Fiction, The Round House has not diminished in its relevance or urgency since its publication.

    Never Let Me Go (2005)

    Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Kathy, Ruth and Tommy in a diner in Never let me go© Provided by ScreenRant

    Also known for his 1989 novel, The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro penned his equally compelling, Never Let Me Go, in 2005. Adapted into a film starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Kiera Knightley in 2010, the story follows an alternate history where human cloning has become common practice, but these clones are raised to be living organ donors for other humans, with no rights of their own. It’s a tragic science fiction twist that adds an unending layer of melancholy to a narrative of human connection and struggle.

    When drawing comparisons between the clones and the oppressed lower social classes of the UK, the novel’s setting, the metaphor becomes obvious.

    The three main characters are confined by their circumstances, but it doesn’t stop them from experiencing the full scale of human emotion that every person goes through. Never Let Me Go engages with the question of what it means to be human. When drawing comparisons between the clones and the oppressed lower social classes of the UK, the novel’s setting, the metaphor becomes obvious. There’s no question that Never Let Me Go will end in tragedy, but that doesn’t make the beauty of the prose and the true love between the characters any less impactful.

    Classic novels stuck in development© Provided by ScreenRant

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    Girl, Woman, Other (2019)

    Written by Bernardine Evaristo

    The cover of Girl, Woman, Other© Provided by ScreenRant

    Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other may have won the 2019 Booker Prize, but this accolade only further cemented what readers of the novel already knew: it was a book that changed the lives of those who read it. Told from multiple interweaving perspectives across decades in the United Kingdom, the novel swiftly provides context and characterization for each new person and subject it introduces. This is a clear example of the skill of the prose, as the reader never gets lost or bogged down by the changing settings and characters.

    Everyone in the book feels like a separate and fully realized individual while being part of the larger whole. Girl, Woman, Other primarily grapples with and celebrates the joy and pain of being a Black woman, or non-man, in the modern era. While there are plenty of moments of struggle, the novel still lifts up its characters, providing an amazing representation of what human connection and strong relationships do for a person and a community. Regardless of the reader’s identity or where they live, there is something universal and poignant to be found in the novel’s pages.

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    Parade’s Handy Guide to Its “Best Books of All Time” Lists

    Here are the lists we’ve done so far!

    222 Best Books of All Time That Deserve a Spot on Your Bookshelf, With Picks from Bestselling Authors and Indie Booksellers

    George R.R. Martin and Anne Tyler are just two of the acclaimed authors who shared their personal picks with us.

    May 17, 2024

    Why 222 books? We think a list of The 100 Best Books sounds too definitive, too final. Hopefully, offering 222 titles feels like a treasure trove worth diving into and arguing over and enjoying. You’ll find all types of works of fiction—picture books and romances and fantasies and westerns and young adult novels and good ole fiction and mysteries and classics and recent works we believe will be classics in years to come. (Nonfiction will be its own list someday soon.) But they’re still just some of the best books of all time—if we made this list a thousand titles long, we’d still be missing so many.

    To help us narrow this down to the absolute best books, we reached out to thirty-three acclaimed and best-selling authors. Everyone from Anne Tyler to George R.R. Martin to Karin Slaughter took the time to share their passionate recommendations. Then we called some of our favorite bookstores and asked for their suggestions. So you’ll find personal picks on the list by dozens of writers and staff members from indie booksellers all over the country. We even scoured sites like Goodreads to see what you love the most. Our guiding principle was to include as many types of books as possible, because a great picture book is just as worthy as Proust. And both deserve to be on our list.

    We can name 100 great mysteries (in fact we have). We can name 100 great crime novels. (Yep, we’ve done that too.) So a list of the best books of all time from every genre is just a starting point. Tell us which ones you love. Tell us what’s missing. Tell us what shouldn’t be on here. And tell us what list you’d like to see next. (The 100 Best Sports Books? The 100 Best Memoirs/Biographies? The 100 Best Picture Books?) We’ll keep reading if you will.

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    222 Best Books of All Time

    The Remains of the Day

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    The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Writer Anne Tyler said yes when asked to contribute to Parade’s list of some of the best books of all time. Yes, with one condition: the only book she wanted to talk about was The Remains of the Day. It’s that sort of book. The story of an English butler so devoted to service he misses his chance at love, it was hailed as an instant classic on publication in 1989. Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel isn’t path-breaking or stylistically shocking; it’s just very, very good and everyone knew it, right away. Tyler, author most recently of French Braid, cherishes the remarkable scene at its climax. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the heart-stopping moment near the end,” says Tyler, “when the central character all at once understands that his entire life has been wrong.”

    Harold and the Purple Crayon (Purple Crayon Books)

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    Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

    You know how parents can spend a lot of money on a gift for kids, only to watch them play with the box it came in more than the toy itself? That embrace of imagination is at the heart of this picture book. Harold decides to go for a walk late at night. Armed with only a purple crayon, he embarks on all sorts of adventures before winding up right back where he started. Bookseller Nina Barrett of Bookends & Beginnings in Evanston, Illinois loves handselling this one. It’s a classic, Barrett says, “for showing how, with just a few simple lines, a small child can follow his imagination anywhere it leads, and create his own destiny”

    Related: We Have the 50 Best, Coziest Christmas Books of All Time To Help Celebrate Santa Claus Coming to Town

    Pride and Prejudice

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    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

    Jane Austen went from an anonymous author (because nice women didn’t write) to being labeled a purveyor of mere romance novels (which are women’s stuff and so don’t really matter) to grudgingly called “beloved” (one way of admitting how wildly popular she is, without actually respecting her) to a full recognition that Austen’s novels are insightful, rich and intellectually complex. And what the heck is wrong with being entertaining, anyway? It took too long for Austen to gain her due. Still, we’ve always had the novels, at least four of which are practically perfect. Tomorrow we’ll pick Sense and Sensibility or Persuasion as our favorite. But today we’re choosing Pride and Prejudice with the willful and smart Elizabeth Bennett, the infuriating Mr. Darcy, that cad George Wickam and so many other memorable characters. Marriage is serious business—indeed, the most serious act a woman of a certain class makes in life—and Austen is as keen an observer of manners and mores as one could hope for.

    The Lord Of The Rings: One Volume

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    The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

    A work of imagination so profound and unique, it stands alone…unless you count the modern fantasy genre that sprang up in its wake. Heck, even the idea of the trilogy that dominates sci-fi and fantasy is a cliche simply because this one, long novel was broken up into three parts by its publisher. Even the biggest names will take a moment to honor Tolkien. “It will surprise no one to learn that my favorite fantasy novel is The Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien,” says writer George R.R. Martin, author most recently ofFull House: Wild Cards 30, which he edited, and The Rise Of The Dragon, with Elio M. Garcia Jr. and Linda Antonsson. “Fantasy is the oldest branch of literature, with roots that go back as far as Gilgamesh and Homer, but Professor Tolkien redefined the genre, and every fantasist since has been writing in his shadow. He is as important to fantasy as Shakespeare is to the theatre… and like Shakespeare, his work will endure for centuries, being read, reread, and treasured.”

    Gilead (Oprah’s Book Club): A Novel

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    Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

    Marilynne Robinson wowed everyone in 1980 with her debut novel, Housekeeping, the story of an eccentric aunt who burdened (or freed?) her nieces with an unconventional approach to life. It became a marvelous film in 1987 starring Christine Lahti. Twenty-four years later, Robinson finally published her follow-up. Gilead was worth the wait. It’s a novel of faith and family, bringing to life John Ames, a minister dying of heart disease who wants to leave behind a document for the young son who will never really know him. Robinson tackles the Underground Railroad, John Brown, the unfair caricaturing of Calvinists as dour scolds and above all life in a small town for a man of faith. Ames wrestles with his conscience but Robinson never seems to struggle at all. Her novel is illuminated from within, like stained glass lit up by the sun.

    Arrow of God

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    Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe

    One work often becomes the gateway to an entire world of literature for outsiders. Latin America? Start with One Hundred Years Of Solitude. Spain? Don Quixote. Africa? For decades, African literature was represented by one book: Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Happily, countless novels have come in its wake, not least Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. And Adichie is here to champion not just the many authors who walked through the door Achebe opened, but his entire African Trilogy. It begins with Things Fall Apart, continues with No Longer At Ease and climaxes with Arrow of God, the story of a tragic clash between the chief priest of a small village and the Christian missionary John Goodcountry. “You know about the big historical events for which words like ‘colonization’ and ‘imperialism’ are used,” says Adichie, author most recently of Notes On Grief. “And then you read a novel like Arrow of God and you are struck by the beautiful, fragile, complicated humanity of the people whose lives were forever changed by history.”

    Lonesome Dove: A Novel

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    Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

    If you’re going to name one book the “Great American Novel,” surely it should be in that most American of genres, the Western. Mind you, even people who never fantasize about heading to Deadwood fall under the spell of Larry McMurtry’s epic oater. Just ask bookseller Deb Leonard. “The romantic notion of cowboys permeates American culture,” says Leonard of Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “Those stoic, laconic heroes risking life and limb to drive their cattle across deserts and raging rivers, battling blizzards, sandstorms, rattlesnakes, coyotes (pronounced ki-oats), and no-good rustlers loom large in our psyche. It is hard to believe those cattle-driving days lasted less than twenty years. This gorgeous novel chronicles one of those adventures: a couple of retired Texas Rangers on a drive from Mexico to Montana. Cattle-drives not your cup of tea? Then how about a soaring story full of vivid landscapes and absolutely unforgettable characters. It is a book that will make you laugh so hard that it hurts on one page, just to break your heart into pieces on the next. If you only read one Western in your life, make it this one.”

    The Haunting of Hill House (Penguin Classics)

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    The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

    Sometimes you just want the bejesus scared out of you and if that’s your wish, bookseller Lisa Morton recommends The Haunting Of Hill House. “Not only was this modern classic the first major novel to deal with a paranormal investigation, it also contains what may be the most disturbing opening in all of literature,” says Morton of The Iliad Bookshop in North Hollywood, California. “The entire paragraph is sublime, but the last five words—”whatever walked there, walked alone”—is the perfect evocative, chilling introduction to the story. Breathing walls, rattling door knobs, a damaged and fragile heroine…. Jackson may have produced equally fine novels (especially We Have Always Lived in the Castle) and one of literature’s great short stories (“The Lottery“), but she was never better or more frightening than here.”

    Maggie the Mechanic: The Love & Rockets Library – Locas Book 1

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    Heartbreak Soup (Love & Rockets)

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    Love and Rockets: Maggie the Mechanic and Love and Rockets: Heartbreak Soup by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez

    For 40(!) years, Los Bros Hernandez have produced “alternative” comics that helped revolutionize the industry. Along the way, they’ve created two sprawling worlds peopled with vivid characters, crazy storylines and the quotidian challenges of everyday life. Gilbert is best known for the Palomar stories, set in a mythical Latin American country suffused with magic realism (natch) and featuring Heraclio and Carmen, a happy couple at the heart of early storylines. Jaime is best known for the Locas stories set in LA and centered by oft-time lovers Maggie and Hopey. It’s the serialized novel to end all novels, it’s Dickensian, it’s Borgesian and certainly Trollope would be proud. Start with these two collections from the early 1980s. Binge-watching has nothing on the binge-reading you’ll soon be doing.

    Pachinko (National Book Award Finalist)

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    Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

    Lee’s book is so wonderfully complex it boggles the mind. Lee covers 80 years of history from 1910 to 1989. And if you think the usual immigrant experience is complicated, imagine you’re a Korean moving to Japan, only to discover with a shock that your people are despised there and forced to live in a ghetto-ized area. Then the Japanese invade and occupy Korea. Conflicted much? Lee captures the inner turmoil these events create in her characters, along with everything from kimchi to pachinko parlors. A rich, rich novel that we believe will be considered a classic years from now. So why wait? (The TV series is good too.)

    Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

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    Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

    Judy Blume changed everything for young adult fiction, though Blume would be the first to highlight those who paved the way for her. But if Blume were just an Important Figure, she wouldn’t be so beloved. Kids still read her fiction, still get caught up in the drama and still find themselves in it. First among equals in her admirable body of work? It has to be Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. A girl on the cusp of puberty is worried when all her friends get their period before her. Will it ever come? Buying bras, worrying about breast size, spreading rumors about girls who seem a little faster when it comes to boys? This might be an episode of HBO’s Euphoria, though with less drugs and no actual sex. Margaret spends the book exploring different faiths, but kids quickly learned they could always have faith in a book with Judy Blume’s name on it. A classic.

    Another Country

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    Another Country by James Baldwin

    One of our richest thinkers, James Baldwin shared the wealth with his autobiographical debut Go Tell It On The Mountain, the righteous essay collection The Fire Next Time, numerous short stories, his powerful work as a public intellectual and the groundbreaking Giovanni’s Room. Author Arundhati Roy is drawn, most of all, to his complex, troubling novel Another Country. It’s the story of jazz drummer Rufus Scott and his abusive relationship with Leona in 1950s Greenwich Village. “Rage. Poetry. Beauty,” says Roy, author most recently of Azadi. “A book in which writing meets music. In which literature shows the world its place in the universe—with precise coordinates.”

    My Brilliant Friend (HBO Tie-in Edition): Book 1: Childhood and Adolescence

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    My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

    An Italian novel about female friendship amidst the backdrop of domestic violence shouldn’t be the stuff of bestsellers. When My Brilliant Friend turns out to be the first of four novels that tell one long story, when the whole thing is handled by the boutique label Europa Editions (rather than a big house with tons of marketing muscle) and when the author refuses to do most press and remains anonymous? Well, you’d be lucky to reach cult status. Instead, Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels became an absolute sensation, even getting adapted into a fine HBO series. Why? How did it happen? Just read it. Sometimes, great writing is enough.

    The Stand (Movie Tie-in Edition)

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    The Stand by Stephen King

    As we said when choosing just one Stephen King novel for our list of the best thrillers of all time, pick one of his books and readers will invariably say, “But what about…?” We know, we know. We said it ourselves. What about The Dark Tower series? What about his marvelous collection of four novellas Different Seasons? What about Misery or Mr. Mercedes or 11/22/63 or It, for pete’s sake? What about It? Sure, but if we chose any of those books, we bet a lot more people would say loudly and clearly, what about The Stand? It’s the book that is the most Stephen King of Stephen King books. It’s big and sprawling and he’s come back to it and added in more because it needed more and we wanted more and it’s about a pandemic and god knows we can’t pretend that’s some fantastical conceit any more, can we? The Stand has it all. While the hardcore fans see his entire body of work centering on The Dark Tower, we say maybe, sure, you could be right. But start with The Stand.

    Americanah: A novel

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    Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

    It seems like Americanah is Adichie’s masterpiece, but that’s probably because we haven’t read her next novel yet. Her debut, Purple Hibiscus, was a revelation. Then came her second novel, Half Of A Yellow Sun (another peak!). In 2013 she delivered Americanah, a remarkable, decades-spanning story of a young woman in Nigeria who falls in love but chooses to flee a military dictatorship and come to America. She is changed and also changes the U.S. in her way, by blogging on race and identity. Like so many people forced by circumstance to uproot, our heroine returns home when she can. Are the changes she has undergone going to mark her forever as not-Nigerian, as an “Americanah?” Must she change again? Or must Nigeria? And who decides? Praised by Beyoncé, who even sampled a speech by Adichie in a song, but that’s just the most glamorous of many accolades Adichie has received. So far.

    The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

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    The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

    Don’t panic! The Douglas Adams radio play turned franchise is an eco-friendly renewable resource, spinning off plays, movies, TV shows, comic books, computer games and a “trilogy” of novels that total six in all. If you enjoy the madcap new movie Everything Everywhere All At Once, then you’re ready for The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, the first book in the series. It begins with Earth being demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, soon sees our hero tortured by aliens (they read him their poetry) and includes all sorts of nonsense mixed up with concepts from philosophy, science, religion et al in the silly/smart way perfected by Monty Python. Gloriously bonkers and sneakily serious—think Candide, but with more spaceships. Bonus points if you also listen to the marvelous Stephen Fry reading it for the audiobook version.

    Wuthering Heights (Penguin Classics)

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    Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

    Which Brontë sister is your favorite? This question can spark a knock-down drag out fight. Some of us, like perhaps Kate Bush, choose Emily Brontë and her only novel, the romantic classic Wuthering Heights. Others pick Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, preferring the brooding Mr. Rochester to the passionate Heathcliff or maybe the self-made Jane to the doomed Catherine. And someone, somewhere must be arguing for poor Anne and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as the best of the bunch, though they’re quite alone in that. We’ll take the wild abandon and disastrous mistakes of Wuthering Heights. Just consider this a placeholder for all the Brontës and what might have been if they hadn’t each died so very young.

    A Perfect Spy: A Novel

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    A Perfect Spy by John Le Carré

    We put Le Carré’s novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on our list of the best mysteries of all time because it’s riveting to watch George Smiley ferret out a mole in Britain’s MI5 by sitting and thinking. It’s a true mystery, even though Le Carré is usually classified differently. Then we put his novel A Perfect Spy on our list of the greatest thrillers ever written. Either one could be on this list of the best books of all time. We chose A Perfect Spy in part because we could just as easily file it under “memoir.” Le Carré drew deeply upon the relationship he had (or lacked) with his own father. Dad was a con man that hobnobbed with violent London gangsters the Kray brothers, made and lost fortunes and charmed everyone within a mile of his magnetism. Jeffery Deaver, author most recently of Hunting Time, concurs. “No one writes about espionage like this author,” says Deaver. “But I’ve picked it because it is also one of the most engrossing—and harrowing—portraits of a father-son relationship I’ve ever read. It’s not for the faint of heart, and that warning is not because of car chases and shootouts.”

    Madeline

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    Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

    Picture books are evocative for adults and few offer as Proustian a trigger as the opening lines of Madeline: “In an old house in Paris/that was covered in vines/lived twelve little girls/in two straight lines.” Picture books are powerful, especially when read again and again and again, as Kathy Doyle Thomas, of Half Price Books in Dallas, can attest. “My daughter loved the Madeline books and I loved my daughter sitting on my lap and us reading the books together,” says Thomas. “Madeline was smart, cute, French and adventurous, a fun role model for my daughter. I have two sons, so my daughter loved the idea of a little girl surrounded by other little girls instead of her BROTHERS!”

    Don Quixote (Penguin Classics)

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    Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

    One sign of a classic is the way it speaks in a fresh way to each new generation. Don Quixote’s tale of a woebegone knight errant and his blunt-spoken sidekick Sancho has been labeled comic, tragic, a defense of eternal values and a repudiation of the very idea of eternal values. Or it’s been seen as lacking only a song (and thus turned into the musical The Man Of La Mancha) or a little dance (and thus turned into a ballet by George Balanchine, among others). It certainly speaks to George Saunders, author most recently of A Swim In A Pond In the Rain. “What I love about Don Quixote is its energetic portraiture of someone who is, like all of us, sometimes very right and sometimes very wrong, but always sees himself as the former,” says Saunders. “The book is a vast canvas, gloriously full of ‘on the other hand’ thinking—no stolid, lazy truth is allowed to exist for long in its universe. So, to read it is to be reminded that our tendency to always know where we stand on things is a weakness—a very human weakness, the human weakness, really, part of what makes us both dangerous and dear.”

    The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition

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    The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, The Finca Vigia Edition by Ernest Hemingway

    Not every great writer is influential. Not every influential writer is great. Hemingway is both. And he should be read by everyone. “I’d somehow managed to avoid reading Hemingway until my early thirties, when I was first beginning to write,” says Julie Otsuka, author most recently of The Swimmers. “I’d always thought he was ‘not for me’—I’m not white, I’m not a man, I’ve never stalked a lion, I haven’t been to war. And yet, as soon as I began to read him, I could not stop. It was the cadence of his sentences that first drew me in, the clarity and beauty of his language. Also, the humor and quiet melancholy. And his ‘iceberg theory’—in many of his stories, the war is only hinted at, obliquely, through small details, but so much is left unsaid—was helpful to me when I was trying to figure out how to write my first novel, which also deals with the trauma of war.”

    Bridget Jones’s Diary 25th Anniversary edition

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    Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

    When Samuel Pepys began his diary in 1660, he recorded what time he woke up, what he ate for lunch, the actresses he dallied with, the horrors of the Plague and even his new watch. (Pepys was very fond of his new watch.) Everyone calls it a masterpiece. But when Bridget Jones keeps a diary and records her battles with weight, the plague of her singleness, the challenges at work, the irritating Mr. Darcy and never once mentions her watch, male critics dismiss it as “chick lit.” It’s too funny, too romantic, too entertaining to be “real” literature. Bollocks, we say. If a novel is meant to capture an era and bring to life a vivid character we know better than we know ourselves, then Helen Fielding’s novel ranks right up there.

    Dune (Movie Tie-In)

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    Dune by Frank Herbert

    Frank Herbert’s Dune has many facets: it’s science-fiction, it’s fantasy, it’s a commentary on religion, it’s a dissection of colonialism and it’s an early example of cli-fi (that is, climate fiction). But it takes romance legend Beverly Jenkins to center the passionate and strong woman whose decision puts the entire story into motion. “Dune is one of my all time faves,” says Jenkins, author most recently of To Catch A Raven. “As a classic space opera, it appeals to the fantasy/sci-fi lover that I am. Dune is also the ultimate romance and that appeals to me as well. Lady Jessica was told by her Order to birth a girl child, but her love for her Duke overrode that directive. She gave Leto a son instead. Without that love, there’d be no Paul. And without Paul, there’d be no Dune.”

    I Capture the Castle

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    I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

    This charming debut has beguiled everyone from Walt Disney to J.K. Rowling. Writer Armistead Maupin is no exception. “When I was a teenager in North Carolina, Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle taught me to love the very idea of England, a land where a deeply eccentric family could cheerfully endure poverty in a dilapidated castle while their father faces writer’s block in a nearby tower,” says Maupin, author most recently of Logical Family. “Smith’s novel was in the form of a teenage girl’s diary, and I’ve never forgotten how its first line lured me into the story. (‘I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.’) It makes sense that I would end up making a home in England and writing a novel about an eccentric American living in a crumbling Elizabethan manor house. It’s called Mona of the Manor and it will be published as soon as I climb down from my lockdown tower.”

    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Dover Thrift Editions: Crime/Mystery)

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    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    Sherlock Holmes is everything, everywhere, all at once, it seems, with an endless stream of movies, TV shows, mangas, spin-offs and even a new stage play in the works. (The same is true in the multiverse, we assume.) But it begins with the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. While Holmes first appeared in the novel A Study in Scarlet, most everyone agrees with bookseller Ed Justus that the stories are the heart of the matter. “In my opinion, the short stories are far better than the novels,” says Justus of Talk Story Bookstore in Hanapepe, Hawaii. “Any of the short stories of Sherlock Holmes by A.C. Doyle are truly amazing. Even though these stories were written a century ago, the prose and conversational style immediately draws in the reader, effortlessly accepting the characters as if they were completely real. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes? I couldn’t get enough of this one.”

    Wolf Hall (Wolf Hall Trilogy, 1)

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    Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

    History is written by the victors. That may explain why Thomas Cromwell has been seen as such a villain for the past 500 years, despite his key role in the English Reformation. After all, when you’re beheaded by the King, you can hardly take part in writing history. So it took Hilary Mantel’s trilogy about Cromwell to give his side of the story. She starts with Wolf Hall and continues with two further, only slightly less perfect books. We meet a man of modest origins who is always the smartest person in the room. Watching Cromwell move mountains so Henry VIII can defy a Pope and declare himself the Supreme Head Of The Church of England—all so he can get a divorce—is so thrilling you can barely breathe while reading it. It’s a pity Henry’s new wife Anne Boleyn wasn’t more grateful. One flaw of Cromwell’s? He knew he was always the smartest man in the room, but wasn’t always smart enough to keep everyone else from knowing it too.

    The Sandman Book One

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    The Sandman Book One by Neil Gaiman and Various Artists

    Ok, so you’re kind of intrigued by comic books. A lot of people take them seriously and you want to see what all the fuss is about. You can—and should—check out one of the great Batman or Superman storylines because maybe you’ve seen the movies and know what they’re all about. It will be familiar territory. Or you can dive into the deep end. You can sample the pure, unadulterated, uncut stuff. You can read The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and a host of world class illustrators. In 75 issues from 1989 to 1996, Gaiman and his collaborators spun out the story of Morpheus and a desire to right the wrongs he committed earlier in life. It’s a mind-spinning combination of horror and fantasy and the superhero genres, all girded by a mordant sense of humor. People who never read comic books read The Sandman, especially college students and especially female college students. For an industry yearning for respectability and new fans, it was a dream come true.

    The Goldfinch: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

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    The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

    Donna Tartt arrived with a thunderclap via the murder-on-campus success of The Secret History. But Chris Pavone, author most recently of Two Nights In Lisbon, speaks up for her Pulitzer Prize-winning The Goldfinch. The novel, triggered by a terrorist act and the almost accidental filching of a painting, “is a sprawling masterpiece of suspense that also happens to be a book about nearly everything: family and loss and grief and despair and growing up and art and betrayal and many types of love,” says Pavone. Since Tartt takes a good decade between releases, it’s lucky that, as Pavone says, the novel is “very long (at 784 pages) but for me, not nearly long enough. It’s a book I could read forever.”

    The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War (Civil War Trilogy)

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    The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

    Amidst the mountain of material about the Civil War, Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels is a peak. This Pulitzer Prize winner uses the Battle at Gettysburg to encompass the entire arc of the war. The Confederacy’s Robert E. Lee—accustomed to winning—goes head to head with the Union’s John Buford and makes fatal mistakes. Historians love the accuracy, as well as Shaara’s reappraisal of the Confederacy’s James Longstreet and more. Military buffs love how Pickett’s Charge and the battle on Little Round Top come alive. And readers simply become enthralled with its sweep and power. Heck, The Killer Angels even prodded Ken Burns into making his landmark documentary, The Civil War, and that’s about as impressive as it gets.

    The End of the Affair (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

    That most Catholic of writers, Graham Greene, captures guilt and sin and the flickering possibility of redemption like few others. Published in 1951, The End Of The Affair completes his Catholic quartet, which also includes Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory and The Heart of the Matter. Author Patti Callahan Henry calls it his masterpiece. “Always visiting his favorite themes—God, love and jealousy—Graham Greene was inspired to write this novel from his own affair with a woman named Catherine Walston,” says Callahan Henry, author most recently of Once Upon A Wardrobe. “There is nothing like it and it reads better every single time I pick it up (or listen to Colin Firth read it). It’s a love story, and yet it’s so much more.”

    The Buddha in the Attic (Pen/Faulkner Award – Fiction)

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    The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

    With just three novels, writer Julie Otsuka has memorialized the brutal mistreatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II with precision and passion. Writer Madeline Miller knows the challenges of bringing history to life and admires Otsuka all the more. “The Buddha in the Attic tells the stories of the ‘picture brides’—women who immigrated from Japan to America in the early 20th century in hopes of a better future,” says Miller, the author most recently of Circe. “The women speak in the first person plural, and part of the wonder of this book is its stunning choral voice—piercing, elegiac, beautiful, brutal, unflinching. The stories they tell of their lives are unforgettable and the novel is a literary and historical masterpiece. It is the book I read when I need to remember what fiction can do at its very best.”

    His Dark Materials 3-Book Paperback Boxed Set: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass

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    His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

    Beginning with The Golden Compass, author Philip Pullman retold and reimagined Milton’s Paradise Lost in a trilogy of almost shocking ambition. The pearl-clutchers who feared it might be sneaking in Ideas—and Dangerous Ideas at that—were right. Fellow writers immediately paid attention. “No books are more important to the history of modern fantasy after The Lord of the Rings than His Dark Materials,” says Terry Brooks, author most recently of Daughter Of Darkness. “Pullman’s trilogy transformed the genre. Here were books in which angels rebelled against a dysfunctional deity to see it cast out of Heaven. Here was a reimagined, compelling story of how a boy and a girl reformed a world in which magic was a transformative power and love provided a means for changing everything…This is high fantasy at its very best.”

    The Talented Mr. Ripley

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    The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

    Horrible people can become disturbingly sympathetic once you spend time with them, whether it’s Norman Bates in Psycho or Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter, the serial killer with good intentions (or at least bad victims). The brilliant Highsmith knew this well, and perhaps her greatest creation, Tom Ripley, toyed with our affections throughout five novels. “The Talented Mr. Ripley is certainly one of the best if not the best thrillers of all time,” says Karin Slaughter, author most recently of Girl, Forgotten. “Tom Ripley is not just a classic antihero, he is a precursor to so many flawed men we’re meant to root for—from Don Draper to Tony Soprano. Highsmith crafts him as a perpetual underdog, a striver that the reader finds more relatable than the monied snobs he so desperately wants to be a part of.” It’s a delicious irony at the heart of so many crime novels: you’re not supposed to root for the criminal or vicariously enjoy someone knocking off those people who really, really “deserve it.” And yet….

    The Good Lord Bird: A Novel

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    The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

    Many artists have tackled the bloody, righteous act of John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, an act meant to stir up a slave revolt in the South. It was the dress rehearsal for the Civil War, which began about a year and a half later, and usually inspires sober, serious works like Russell Banks’ Cloudsplitter or Stephen Vincent Benét’s epic poem John Brown’s Body. But James McBride is the only one to see the violent attack called a dress rehearsal, think “aha!” and launch into a no-holds barred comic retelling of the tragedy. He creates Henry Shackleford, an enslaved man caught up in John Brown’s crusade and is soon bumping into other historical figures like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Oh, and John Brown thinks Henry is a girl and puts him in a dress, which the young man wears for most of the book. We did say “comic!” Compared favorably to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—that other rollicking, hilarious, pointed takedown of slavery—McBride’s novel won the National Book Award and what is apparently another badge of importance in today’s world. Yes, it was turned into a TV miniseries (and a very good one) starring Ethan Hawke.

    The Awakening and Selected Stories (Penguin Classics)

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    The Awakening by Kate Chopin

    If revenge is a dish best served cold, author Kate Chopin should be well pleased. Her second and final novel was tut-tutted over by critics. Chopin dealt forthrightly with a woman’s sexual desires, intellectual needs, suicide, society’s constraints and the limited roles of wife and mother open to her gender. Toss in a caustic attitude towards religion and you had a book that was just as controversial as Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House and Gustave Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary. Even those forced to admit The Awakening was brilliantly written tended to hope—like fellow writer Willa Cather—that Chopin would use her talents for “a better cause.” Chopin died all but forgotten. But seventy years later, people finally awakened to her immense achievement—a novel deeply influential on other writers, the Southern literary tradition and a key work in feminism. Today it’s widely read, widely studied and widely enjoyed.

    The Collected Stories

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    The Collected Stories: William Trevor by William Trevor

    Short story writers are diamond cutters: meticulous and sharp, with only one chance to get it right. Few were as brilliant as the Irish writer William Trevor, whose work is invariably referred to as Chekhovian because what higher compliment can be paid to a short story writer? “My favorite book of all time is The Collected Stories by William Trevor,” says Elizabeth Strout, author most recently of Lucy By The Sea. “As a writer I found his influence huge ever since I first read his work years ago in The New Yorker. But he is not just a writer’s writer. He is so precise and so gentle and can flip over a sentence in a heartbeat. He writes about the lives of ordinary people, who are all—of course—extraordinary. One of my favorites is called ‘Mrs. Silly’ about a young boy sent to boarding school and his lovely mother who embarrasses herself on their visiting day. It’s a quiet, honest killer of a story.”

    The Bluest Eye (Vintage International)

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    The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

    Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison’s debut is one of the most banned books in America and also one of the best. Set in 1941, it tells the story of Pecola, a young African-American woman who is told so often she’s ugly that she finally begins to believe it. Child molestation and racism are just two of the omnipresent dangers the book details. For decades it has been a popular pick for college reading lists. That means bookseller Lynette Yates is far from alone in her experience with it. “The Bluest Eye is the first book I ever read by Toni Morrison,” says Yates of Half Price Books headquartered in Dallas. “And I was hooked. I could not put it down!” Morrison has other masterpieces like Beloved and Song Of Solomon but you might as well start at the beginning. Then, you’ll want to read them all.

    Doctor Zhivago (Vintage International)

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    Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

    The journey of Boris Pasternak’s masterwork—about a physician and poet during the two world wars—is as remarkable as the story itself. Impossible for it to be released in the Soviet Union, his novel was smuggled out, published in part by the C.I.A.(!), turned into a massively popular film and helped win its author the Nobel Prize, which Pasternak was then forced to turn down. But let’s not forget the novel itself. Writer Mark Helprin, himself a proponent of the “epic tradition” school of writing Doctor Zhivago epitomizes, loves it above all others. “Doctor Zhivago combines astoundingly beautiful writing with epic sweep, deep emotion, historically riveting action and impossible-to-ignore spirituality,” says Helprin, author most recently of Paris In The Present Tense. “And the courage to write in defiance of a crushing dictatorship illuminates every serious word and phrase. Unlike many books awarded the Nobel Prize, it fully deserved it, and will live on (even though it was made into a movie).”

    To Kill a Mockingbird

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    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    A beloved children’s book, if a book about an accusation of rape underlined by racism can be said to be for children. Whether you read it as a child, decided to become a lawyer because of Atticus Finch, saw the movie or the new Broadway play, or were assigned it at school, To Kill a Mockingbird is inescapable. Our favorite part of its mythic status was the fact that Lee avoided any press and said almost nothing about it—or anything else. That was as cool as the little girl Scout refusing to wear frilly pink dresses if she didn’t want to.

    The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

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    The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

    Ok, don’t rush him. Writer Junot Díaz takes his time, but patience pays off—both for him and us. Díaz exploded onto the scene in 1996 with the short story collection Drown, immediately establishing the Dominican-American author as a major talent. Over the next 26 years? One more short story collection (This Is How You Lose Her), one picture book (Islandborn) and one novel. The picture book is sweet, the two short story collections are both so strong we couldn’t choose between them and the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is just amazing. The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao celebrates a chubby kid growing up in New Jersey who suffers under a curse that dogs his family for generations. Oscar is obsessed with comic books and fantasy/sci-fi, so Díaz amusingly peppers his story with everything from references to J.R.R. Tolkien to footnotes and touches of magic realism. Oh and mongooses. (Mongeese?) Now, wouldn’t it be wondrous if Díaz finally delivered a full-on sci-fi/fantasy novel of his own?

    Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel

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    Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

    When Abraham Lincoln was President, his son Willie died. According to newspaper reports, on the day the child was laid to rest, Lincoln returned repeatedly to the crypt and cradled the body of Willie in his arms. George Saunders took that image and turned it into his first novel. After twenty years of increasing acclaim and success penning erudite, clever short stories, Saunders was daunted by the idea of a novel, not to mention a novel set in the past, not to mention a novel depicting one of the most famous people in history raw with emotion. Well, it worked—ghosts and all. Writer Michael Cunningham is just one of many to stand back in awe. “Quite possibly the most remarkable, original, beautiful book I’ve read yet, in the 21st century,” says Cunningham, author most recently of A Wild Swan and Other Tales. “If it doesn’t become a classic, my faith in the ongoing history of literature will suffer as a result.”

    And Then There Were None

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    And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie is the most popular mystery writer of all time. And this is her most popular novel. Indeed, by some accounts, it’s the best-selling mystery novel and one of the best selling books ever, with 100 million copies sold and counting. Happily, the ugly racial slur that besmirched both its title and a key clue for decades (up to 1986, in UK editions) has been thoroughly erased. Now, fans can enjoy the novel for what it is: a brilliantly constructed tale of suspense. The set-up is so ingenious that others (not to mention Christie herself) use it time and again in movies, plays and novels. A group of strangers is brought together in an isolated location (in this case an island) under false pretenses. They slowly realize this…and quickly realize the members of their party are being knocked off, one by one. Who among them is the killer? And what have they each done to deserve this fate? The mounting tension, the suspicion, the backstabbing—it’s all delicious fun and Christie delivers one of her neatest solutions to tie it up very nicely indeed.

    The Sellout: A Novel

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    The Sellout by Paul Beatty

    If you want to understand how timid, mean-spirited and ugly some stand-ups are today—both in what they make fun of and how—just read The Sellout. This is how it’s done. In his Booker and National Book Award-winning novel, Paul Beatty starts at outrageous, then builds up steam and really gets going. A black man looking to reinstate slavery in an abandoned town called Dickens on the outskirts of LA? The last surviving member of The Little Rascals, a fellow called Hominy Jenkins? A Supreme Court showdown lacerating the likes of Clarence Thomas with glee? It’s all here and Beatty is always punching up—never down. He pricks pomposity, makes serious points with jaw-dropping hilarity and swiftly outpaces Jonathan Swift with one of the best satires in generations.

    Birds of America: Stories (Vintage Contemporaries)

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    Birds of America by Lorrie Moore

    Lorrie Moore has written acclaimed novels, criticism, essays and a children’s book. But short stories are where Moore shines best, from her 1985 debut collection Self-Help to 2014’s Bark. Writer Sherman Alexie returns to one of her collections again and again. “Birds of America is hilarious and heart-wrenching in equal measure,” says Alexie, author most recently of the memoir You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me. “I’ve re-read this book at least twenty times and I think that’s always the best sign of greatness.”

    Madame Bovary: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

    Bored with life, infatuated with the idea of romance, always searching for the next thrill, Emma Bovary is a frustrating, fascinating, fully alive character in a novel so influential it’s hard to believe this was Flaubert’s debut. Emma flits from affair to affair, piling up bills and disappointments with abandon, never putting a foot right. Flaubert, however, never puts a foot wrong and Anthony Doerr can’t praise it enough. “Attacked upon its publication for being ‘obscene,’ Madame Bovary has remained relevant ever since,” says Doerr, author most recently of Cloud Cuckoo Land. “It’s a 160+ year-old novel that still feels contemporary in its techniques and its critiques of the patriarchy. Flaubert’s portrayal of Emma Bovary is simultaneously beautiful and brutal, and lives at the headwaters of realistic psychological fiction.”

    Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel

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    Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

    In an earlier era, it was Peyton Place that revealed the scandalous goings-on in suburbia. Stories like that were dismissed by some as little better than soap operas. Never mind that they dealt with the frustrations of women trapped in a certain role, the unspoken divide of class and so much more. It’s a domestic drama, mere women’s fiction and thus not important. We’ve learned better. Celeste Ng’s second novel is set in Shaker Heights, Ohio, the hometown of Ward Cleaver of Leave It To Beaver, which is to say the suburbs of our dreams. And yet, this seemingly quiet domestic drama soon explodes with an act of arson, secret abortions, transracial adoptions, surrogate mothers, sex, love, jealousy, heartbreak and, yes, little fires everywhere. It’s complex, cathartic and no wonder Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington produced and starred in a miniseries adaptation.

    The Princess Bride (text only) by W. Goldman

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    The Princess Bride by William Goldman

    William Goldman is the Oscar-winning screenwriter of movie classics like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All The President’s Men. He also wrote about two dozen books, including a nonfiction memoir about Hollywood that captures the entire industry in one sentence: “Nobody knows anything.” But nothing tops the pleasures of his fantasy novel The Princess Bride. It tells the story of Buttercup, a young woman who believes her true love died at the hands of the Dread Pirate Robert. She’s pressured to marry Prince Humperdinck, heir to the throne of Florin. Before the wedding takes place, Buttercup is kidnapped by a rather kindly trio of outlaws. Toss in a framing device that includes details from the author’s “real” life, silly footnotes and other nonsense about this book being an abridged version of an earlier book that really wasn’t as good as the author remembered and you’ve got a treat. Goldman’s novel was twice blessed. First, it was turned into an equally magical film in 1987 that beautifully captures the tone of the novel. Second, while Goldman was determined to write a sequel called Buttercup’s Baby, he never could recapture the magic and gave up. So readers will never be tempted to read a sequel that would inevitably fall short of the original. And there it sits: a perfect little gem, just waiting for you and your children to enjoy.

    Frankenstein: The 1818 Text (Penguin Classics)

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    Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

    It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature. But that never stopped humans before, did it? Written on a bet about who among friends could tell the best ghost story, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a landmark work of horror and caution. If all you know is the (brilliant) 1931 film version starring Boris Karloff as the Monster, then you’re in for a shock. The novel is far more expansive and the Creature (as Shelley calls him) is far more articulate, deadly, purposeful and plaintive. Some call it the greatest horror story ever written and others the prototype for science fiction. But one thing is clear: it’s not Victor Frankenstein who is the modern Prometheus, but Shelley herself. In other words, she won the bet.

    Ficciones

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    Labyrinths (New Directions Paperbook)

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    Ficciones/Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges

    Prepare to enter the labyrinth of Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. Or, if you prefer, prepare to dive into the fiction of Labyrinths. The Argentine writer burst into worldwide prominence in 1962 with the publication of two short story collections translating his work into English. One was Ficciones, or in English Fictions. The other was Labyrinths. Borges is a beguiling Prospero, wielding his magic to enchant anyone brave enough to explore a world of saintly librarians, imaginary lands and fanciful reviews of the second editions of books that never existed in the first place. For a writer who relished wordplay, plots that circled back upon themselves and concepts that anticipated the multiverse, it must please Borges no end that these two collections overlap, with numerous stories appearing in both. Which one should people read first? In what order? This unintentional creation of confusion and uncertainty for readers new to him? Perfect.

    The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, 1)

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    The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

    Here are the facts. N.K. Jemisin is the first African American writer to win the Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction or Fantasy novel. She’s the first writer ever to win the Hugo Award in three consecutive years. And she’s the first writer ever to win a Hugo Award for all three books in a trilogy. That should make you sit up. We could also mention her MacArthur genius grant, how fans believed in Jemisin enough to help crowd-fund her move to writing full-time way back when and much more. But those are just the facts. Read the Broken Earth trilogy of science fantasy that begins with The Fifth Season and you’ll be plunged into a vivid world devastated by a climate crisis every few centuries. You’ll discover a middle-aged woman necessarily hiding her extraordinary powers to influence the entire planet. You’ll fear for a small girl also blessed or cursed with those powers, a girl whose parents can’t bring themselves to kill her as society demands. And you’ll follow a young woman who discovers the truth about how their world is actually kept safe. It’s classic fantasy but also thoroughly modern. Jemisin blends the three storylines together with a flourish worthy of Proust, but that’s just one of its many pleasures. A landmark.

    Indigo

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    Indigo by Beverly Jenkins

    An early peak for romance legend Beverly Jenkins, Indigo features all her trademarks. The story is an unexpected one, focusing on a young woman named Hester Wyatt bravely risking her life in the Underground Railroad (in Michigan!). She finds herself drawn to an arrogant conductor named Galen Vachon, a man who is badly injured and needs hiding. Galen is handsome and wealthy; she doesn’t know the latter fact but can’t help noticing the former. She’s pretty and willful; he can’t help noticing both of these qualities. In other words, it’s a classic romance with all the pleasures that entails. But Jenkins weaves in history and background detail with ease, grounding the story in a real world that’s far more complicated and interesting than most genre books ever attempt. And that makes her stories all the more gripping. She’s successful in many genres, but historical romances are where Jenkins flourishes—from stories about high-class hotels for people of color to the challenges facing professional doctors long ago to the many black cowboys of the Old West. Her novels are told with verve and accuracy, complete with bibliographies at the end for those who want to explore the history further. Whoever imagined romance novels with a bibliography? Beverly Jenkins.

    Moby-Dick or, The Whale (Penguin Classics)

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    Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville

    Forget the whale, for a moment. Most people haven’t read Moby-Dick, so for them it’s about some crazy guy on a boat obsessed with tracking down a white whale that made a snack of his leg. And yeah, sure, that’s a big part of it. But Herman Melville’s novel is a wilder ride than this implies. It’s the 1851 equivalent of surfing the web, with Melville telling his story about Ishmael, the newest member of the whaling ship Pequod. He veers from a fascinating breakdown of ship life and its culturally diverse crew members to describe the migratory patterns of whales and then back to the ship and the surprisingly cozy sleeping arrangements for the men and off again for a useful guide on harvesting whale blubber to a fiery sermon of poetry and song and back to the story at hand and then onto some other tangent. It’s remarkable how often the novel isn’t recounting the obsessive quest of Captain Ahab, though that mad venture is always just below the surface. Melville’s novel is obsessive itself, seeming determined to tell you everything that crosses its mind. It’s as mad as Ahab and just as fearsome and magnetic and impossible to forget.

    Blonde: A Novel

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    Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates

    Norma Jean Baker’s greatest performance was as the movie star Marilyn Monroe. In her last interview, she spoke about current issues of the day and pleaded with the writer, “Please don’t make me a joke.” No luck; it was too late. Or at least it seemed too late. Now, writer Joyce Carol Oates treats Norma Jean with the seriousness she deserves. This meaty, compulsively readable and epic novel tracks her entire life, from a tumultuous childhood with a mentally disturbed mother to life in an orphanage, followed by brutal early days in Hollywood with sleazy studio execs and then the reward of suffocating fame. Monroe is naturally savvy if also innocent, desperate to learn more and be more, but also aware her sex appeal is the best way to get there. Oates captures her mercurial but insightful approach to acting, her determination to break with the studio system and tackle the roles she knows she can and her desire for someone—anyone—who might treat her with the kindness and respect she’s never known. You know how it ends and yet the journey is captivating, unexpected, funny, painful and as great as Monroe—or rather, Norma Jean—could dare imagine. Oates has written literally dozens and dozens of novels and short story collections. This is her masterpiece.

    The Underground Railroad: A Novel

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    The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

    All eyes have been on writer Colson Whitehead since his oddball debut The Intuitionist. He satirized the publicity machine that feted him (John Henry Days), explored genres like horror (Zone One) and the bildungsroman (Sag Harbor) and even nodded towards forebears like E.B. White with his nonfiction work The Colossus of New York. Then, like Muhammad Ali predicting a knock-out, in 2016 Whitehead gave his next novel the totemic, throw-down-the-gauntlet, this-is-the-one title The Underground Railroad. And yes, it was the brilliant, captivating, mind-bending masterpiece everyone expected of him. In this case, the Underground Railroad is literally an underground railroad and the characters who escape by riding it enter into post-Civil War worlds where racism remains ever-changing, ever-new and ever-present. It’s upsetting, unexpected, propulsive and the most entertaining Important Book you’ve read in ages. With two more acclaimed novels since (The Nickel Boys and Harlem Shuffle), Whitehead is clearly just getting started.

    The Song of Achilles: A Novel

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    The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

    Writer Madeline Miller spent a decade bringing the passionate romance at the heart of Homer’s Iliad to vivid life. The love between Achilles and Patroclus upends the entire Trojan War and it’s there for all to read in the epic poem dating from roughly 2700 years ago. And, still, it came as a shock to some in 2011 when Miller brought these two lovers so fully and beautifully to life in her debut novel. Miller did it again by turning an enchantress of The Odyssey from a minor villain to a complex, fascinating heroine in her 2018 book Circe. Surely Mary Renault and Robert Graves look on approvingly—two similar writers of historical fiction who captured the imagination of contemporary readers.

    The Last Good Kiss (C.W. Sughrue Book 1)

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    The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley

    James Crumley was a “writer’s writer,” which means his books never sold that much, but boy were they good. Heck, when the legendary author Ray Bradbury wrote three mystery novels, he named the detective “Crumley” in honor of the man! “[The Last Good Kiss] is the best private eye novel I’ve ever read,” says author Dennis Lehane, author most recently of Since We Fell. “Best first sentence, most satisfying ending, most beautifully written from beginning to end.” In the novel, investigator C.W. Sughrue is lured away from his job at a topless bar to find a wayward writer but ends up hunting down a woman missing for more than a decade. Crumley died in 2008, but not before enjoying a late-career appreciation from many quarters. “One of the great pleasures of my life,” says Lehane, “was getting to meet Crumley and tell him that his masterpiece forever changed my perception of what a crime novel could be.”

    The Joy Luck Club: A Novel

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    The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

    Oh, the joy of finally seeing yourself in an acclaimed, best-selling novel! In her debut, Amy Tan told of Chinese mothers and their Chinese-American daughters. Friends in San Francisco gather together each week to play mahjong, eat and talk, but mostly talk. They complain about their daughters while their daughters complain about the mothers. Stories are told, of the hardships the women faced when risking it all to move from China to America and of the very different lives their daughters are having thanks to that gamble and why can’t those daughters respect them and do as they’re told and not marry this boy or go to this school but marry that boy and study for that degree at the school chosen for them? Unless you’re a Chinese-American, it’s hard to appreciate the thrill, the deep satisfaction of seeing your stories embraced and celebrated. Like the best art, it’s universal for being so very specific. And oh, the joy of having something other than Charlie Chan and The Good Earth represent all of Chinese culture to America. Now, strands of that culture can be found in “everything, everywhere, all at once.” But The Joy Luck Club will always be a beloved and important breakthrough.

    Winesburg, Ohio (Dover Thrift Editions)

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    Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

    Whatever the truth, the romantic tale of how Sherwood Anderson became a writer is too good to pass up. He was a very successful businessman, overseeing a company selling paint, buying up smaller paint companies and expanding into other ventures. Anderson was 36 years old, married and had three children. But on November 28, 1912, he went to work and then rebelliously decided to chuck it all and devote himself full-time to writing. Anderson feigned mental illness of some sort so no one would get angry at him, walked out the door and never came back. Or, more likely, he had his second nervous breakdown (following an earlier one in 1907) and that left him unfit, unable or unwilling to work in paint any more. After two not so good novels, he hit paydirt with Winesburg, Ohio, a collection of short stories that combine to tell the life of one man and the frustrated, lonely dreams of everyone around him in a small town. It does in fiction what Edgar Lee Masters did in poetry with 1915’s Spoon River Anthology, another book that puts the lie to small-town life always being idyllic and sweet.

    The Blind Assassin: A Novel, Cover may vary

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    The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

    We might have made the obvious choice and picked Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, a depressingly timely novel that didn’t predict a thing, since every cruelty in its male-dominated dystopia had already been done to women. But for sheer bravado, her Booker Prize winner The Blind Assassin is hard to beat, offering the sweep of Canadian history in the 20th century. The narrator is an old woman looking back on her life, mostly to the 1930s and 1940s. It captures the pulpy feel of that era’s paperbacks without sacrificing complexity. And for an author who rejects the label of science-fiction writer, it offers a novel-within-a-novel that’s pure sci-fi and throws in enough betrayals and revelations to fuel a Buck Rogers serial. Very satisfying.

    Winter’s Tale

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    Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin

    By 1983, writer Mark Helprin had published two collections of short stories diamond-like in their clarity, not to mention a wonderfully sprawling debut novel (Refiner’s Fire) of the sort one expects from a writer who values tradition and the great novels of the 19th century. So no one was quite prepared for Winter’s Tale. Out of the blue, Helprin delivered a Dickensian fantasy celebrating the New York City of our dreams. It tells the story of Peter Lake, a burglar who lives in the ceiling of Grand Central Station (when not sneaking into the mansions of the wealthy to relieve them of their possessions). A white horse that swoops down from the stars, a beautiful young woman tragically dying of consumption, gangs of burglars, marshmen who live on the fringes of society, a raging fire, truth and joy and beauty and light and all of it wrapped up in language of boldness and verve. Magic? Just a touch. Magical? From start to finish.

    Winnie-the-Pooh (Puffin Modern Classics)

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    The House at Pooh Corner (Winnie-the-Pooh)

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    Winnie the Pooh/The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

    Yes, but have you read it as an adult? Have you read it lately? A.A. Milne captures children to perfection, the way they interrupt your storytelling, their pleasure at seeing themselves included in it and their desire to learn more without quite admitting they don’t understand everything just yet. Any adult who’s made up a story for a small child will purr with pleasure when reading the opening chapters of Winnie The Pooh. It has charm to spare, thanks to timeless tales about friends and pranks and accepting people for who they are, like the dour Eeyore or the over-excitable Tigger. Not accepting them despite their quirks, but because of them. And oh, The House At Pooh Corner. The sad encroachment of school and Growing Up and time away from play and the need to Learn Things. Long before the Toy Story trilogy tore your heart out, Milne did it here to perfection.

    Station Eleven

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    Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

    Like most overnight successes, Emily St. John Mandel put in years of hard work to make it happen, switching from a career in dance to full-time writing. Three hard-boiled noirs led to her fourth novel, the sort of breakthrough that booksellers like Emily Bruce at Half Price Books in Dallas love to champion. “Mandel tells the story of a young actress in King Lear witnessing the lead have a heart attack on stage the same night a devastating flu pandemic begins and ultimately ends life across the world as we know it,” says Bruce. “Flashing forward to the survivors twenty years later, the actress is in a traveling symphony and encounters a violent prophet. Although a book about a pandemic is certainly an unsettling topic these days, the story of survival is moving, powerful and well worth the read.

    David Copperfield (Penguin Classics)

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    David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

    Ok, maybe you were forced to read Dickens in school and it didn’t take. Heck, if school forced you to eat chocolate ice cream every day you’d probably get sick of that too and vow “never again.” But as someone once said about London, anyone who is tired of Dickens is tired of life. His novels were first serialized in magazines so the cliffhanger endings of each chapter make them as binge-worthy as any TV show streaming online. You could start with the nigh-on-perfect Great Expectations or the righteous Hard Times or the novella you already know called A Christmas Carol. We suggest David Copperfield, the story of a young man making his way in the world. It’s bursting with the eccentric, colorful, immediately recognizable characters Dickens is known for. It boasts a clutch of passionate social issues Dickens illuminates like the brutal school system, child labor, prostitution and more. And because it’s based in part on his own challenging childhood, David Copperfield is as close to a memoir and the author’s own beating heart as anything else he wrote.

    Another Brooklyn: A Novel

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    Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

    A genius (hey, the MacArthur people know what they’re talking about), writer Jacqueline Woodson is a talent whose work transcends labels like “young adult” or “kids” books. They’re for everyone. And you can start anywhere, from an exuberant picture book like The Year We Learned To Fly to young adult novels like Miracle’s Boys or her classic debut Last Summer With Maizon. You’ll find vivid characters, real life and the power of friendship. But you might as well start with her “adult” novel Another Brooklyn, a 2016 peak in which a woman coming to bury her father remembers the culture shock of moving from Tennessee to Brooklyn and adjusting to life in NYC. Woodson has been capturing young people and their fears and joys for more than 30 years. And she keeps getting better.

    Riders of the Purple Sage (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics)

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    Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

    The Western of Westerns, Riders Of The Purple Sage from 1912 is the model for every Western that followed. It’s the story of a willful young Mormon woman in Utah who resists becoming the third wife of an Elder and then befriends some Gentiles. Some consider it anti-Mormon. But if the villain is a Mormon, so is our heroine! And her objection to polygamy and approval of comity with other faiths is exactly where the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints is officially at today. So not only is this one of the great Westerns, it was arguably ahead of its time spiritually too.

    Their Eyes Were Watching God

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    Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    Writer Zora Neale Hurston is now rightly recognized for her pioneering scholarly work in documenting the folktales of African-Americans and the Caribbean peoples. She did serious ethnographic work, documented the life of one of the last people to have survived the Middle Passage and wrote about voodoo rituals in Haiti and Jamaica. All of this now receives a brighter spotlight, along with her plays, short stories, poetry and the like. We can thank writer Alice Walker, who renewed attention for Hurston and the masterpiece that is Their Eyes Were Watching God. If this novel was the only accomplishment of her life, she would still loom large. Just as in Jane Austen, the heroine of this story is abused for wanting a marriage based on love. Janie Crawford triumphs over her enslaved beginnings to become a woman of property who can choose the man she wants from many suitors. That doesn’t mean she’ll choose well, mind you. Published in 1937, its centerpiece is the devastating Okeechobee hurricane of 1928, an event that wipes the slate clean for Janie and lets her start her life over yet again. Gripping, moving and bold for this time—not to mention 1937—the only surprise is that it took 40 years for people to recognize how great this novel truly is.

    The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love: A Novel (FSG Classics)

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    The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos

    What might have been? That’s the bittersweet question at the heart of this elegiac novel that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1990. The dying musician Cesar Castillo sits alone in a hotel room, listening to old records by his band the Mambo Kings and thinking back on his life. Exiled from Cuba after Castro overthrew the U.S.-backed dictator Batista, Cesar and his brother move to New York City. Fittingly for musicians, their timing is perfect. A mambo craze sweeps the country and they enjoy a burst of fame after appearing on the sitcom I Love Lucy. Of course, the craze ends, the Mambo Kings fade from the scene and Cesar now remembers the many highs and lows of his life both personal and professional. What might have been? With the life-changing success of his second novel, Oscar Hijuelos assured he would never have to ask himself that question.

    Lud In The Mist

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    Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees

    All but forgotten, British writer Hope Mirrlees is enjoying a resurgence. Her 600-line work Paris: A Poem is now considered a modernist classic and a major influence on T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf, who originally published the piece with her husband. Mirrlees’s “friendship” with the famous classicist Jane Ellen Harrison is now seen in a new light. (Harrison was 37 years her senior but they lived together for 15 years until Harrison died. So perhaps “good pals” doesn’t quite cover it.) And her lone fantasy novel has passionate fans like writer Neil Gaiman. “My favourite book of all time is probably Lud-in-the-Mist,” says Gaiman, author most recently of Neil Gaiman’s Chivalry and Death: The Deluxe Edition. “It’s a story about a stolid land, and the fairy fruit that comes over the border, bringing dreams and poetry and madness; it’s a ghost story and a detective story and it’s also about existential angst and the pain of living in reality. I read it as a boy, and return to it every decade, finding new things in it—sometimes in the plot, sometimes in the way Mirrlees put words together.”

    Where I’m Calling From: Selected Stories

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    Where I’m Calling From: Selected Stories by Raymond Carver

    Raymond Carver was married twice and for a while considered himself a full-time drinker and merely a part-time writer. After being lauded as a major talent, he famously broke away from the influence of an editor that made his reputation and turned minimalism into the style du jour of the 1970s and 1980s. You can ignore the public profile, the stuff of magazine features and literary debates and just read his stories. You won’t find any major twists in the tales. No meta conceits to flatter your brain. No highbrow allusions. Just stories capturing life in such a straightforward manner that you catch your breath. “Cathedral.” “Boxes.” “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” And best of all, with this final collection done before Carver died of lung cancer, we get his own stamp of approval on 37 stories, some presented as they were first published (with his editor’s strong hand), some as Carver originally wrote them and some brand new. Brilliant.

    The Round House: A Novel

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    The Round House by Louise Erdrich

    Sarah Hollenbeck of the Women & Children First bookstore in Chicago says simply that The Round House is “a transformative and mesmerizing novel by national treasure Louise Erdrich.” Indeed. One of our best writers, Erdrich is also one of our best chroniclers of crime, violence, poverty and its impact on individuals and communities. An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Erdrich finds rich material amidst life on the reservation in North Dakota. Fiction, poetry, children’s books, nonfiction—the Pulitzer-Prize winner has done it all. But the Justice Trilogy is a keystone of her career, encompassing Plague of Doves, LaRose and smack dab in the middle is 2012’s The Round House. It shows a 13-year-old boy frustrated that the police aren’t looking more seriously into a horrific attack on his mother. Disastrously, the kid takes matters into his own hands, with the help of friends and a stolen rifle. Justice is far, far away but a riveting story and art is right at hand.

    Gone Girl

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    Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

    This massive blockbuster reverberates in the mind as a novel about a scheming spouse…or perhaps a novel about how the media loves a scheming spouse…or perhaps how we secretly love it when the media piles on a scheming spouse. Let’s face it, Gone Girl is a roller coaster as the happy marriage of Nick and Amy Dunne falls apart in the white-hot glare of a missing wife case. Infidelity! Betrayal! Hidden diaries! Faked diaries! Clues! False clues! You can’t trust anyone or anything in this masterful tale filled with unreliable narrators. Unreliable except for Flynn, that is, who knows exactly what she’s doing.

    Pale Fire

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    Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

    Vladimir Nabokov shocked the world with Lolita, while his work Speak, Memory is one of the great memoirs. But writer Scott Spencer isn’t mincing words about the book of Nabokov’s he admires the most. “You’re always on thin ice when you say a book is the greatest of all time—or even the greatest of the year in which it was first published,” says Spencer, author most recently of An Ocean Without A Shore. “But I feel terra firma beneath my feet when I say Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov is the most astonishing work of fiction I have ever read. After a harrumphing, hilarious foreword, the novel presents us with a 999-line poem written by a poet named John Shade. Shade’s next door neighbor is a colleague at the local college named Charles Kinbote, a madman who believes himself to be Charles the Great, the exiled king of Zembla. The rest of the novel is Kimbote’s commentary/explication of Shade’s poem, in which Kimbote’s personality and preoccupations all but devour the poem itself. It is a narrative strategy of mind-bending weirdness and complexity, and the grateful reader can’t help but wonder how anyone—even the supremely gifted Nabokov—could create something so intricate, so dazzling, yet so filled with humanity. Pale Fire is a gorgeous, radiant work of high spirits and deep sorrow, an other-worldly novel with no predecessors and no descendants.”

    A Visit from the Goon Squad

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    A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

    Chrissie Hynde called time “the avenger.” Bob Dylan said “time is a jet plane—it moves too fast.” Jennifer Egan simply calls time “the goon squad,” the thug that beats you up no matter how you try to avoid it. Time ravages all the characters in her not-quite short story collection but not-quite novel that won the Pulitzer Prize. Set in and around the business of rock ‘n’ roll, Egan’s work jumps around in time, turns one passage into a PowerPoint presentation and does pretty much everything you’d expect from a cool contemporary book. It’s also everything you’d expect from a classic penned one hundred years ago: beautifully written, filled with great characters and hard to shake. Time will be kind to it.

    Watership Down: A Novel

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    Watership Down by Richard Adams

    This novel is about rabbits and was inspired by stories that author Richard Adams told to his daughters on long road trips. So that explains why Watership Down is often slotted in the children’s section. But it might just as easily be put in the fantasy or fiction or nature or “books you didn’t think you’d care about but the second you start reading them you can’t stop” section. That’s a category, right? In this beguiling adventure, a group of rabbits listen to the prophet-like Fiver, who has a vision their warren is about to be destroyed. They break away from the only world they’ve ever known and head off into the unknown. The group struggles to overcome dangers like cars, dogs, snares, mutiny and much more, with only the vague idea of a destination — a  hilltop where they might live in peace. These aren’t rabbits with pocket watches and they don’t live in some fantasy world. This is our world and the rabbits behave very much like rabbits do. And yet, they’re us too. Gripping, frightening, inspiring.

    Related: Miranda Lambert Announces Her First Book—Here’s How to Preorder

    The Namesake: A Novel

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    The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

    Every well-written story is universal. And Jhumpa Lahiri’s first novel after her acclaimed short story collection Interpreter of Maladies is yet another example. A Bengali couple from Calcutta India moves to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their son born in America is named Gogol, after the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. It’s the familiar and fresh story of immigrants, of people making a new home and wondering how and if they should fit in, what to leave behind and what to cling to. What kind of a name is “Gogol,” wonders the son, who wants to legally change his name, rebelling against his parents by becoming so American they think they might be losing him. Nuanced and moving, Lahiri’s book shows that the immigrant story—that most American of stories—is always being told anew.

    The Brothers Karamazov (Bicentennial Edition): A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue

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    The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Everyone from Sigmund Freud to Albert Einstein loved this novel—the final and greatest achievement of one of Russia’s greatest writers. You’ve heard about The Grand Inquisitor, even if you’ve never read the poem in the novel where he first appears. And pretty much anyone who makes a list of this sort includes it. Indeed, author W. Somerset Maugham includes it in his admirably brief list of the ten greatest novels of all time. We can’t bring ourselves to be as succinct as he, but at least we’ve included seven of the books he admired best. Just as Dostoevsky wrestles with the idea of God and free will, you simply have to wrestle with Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Don’t worry; even if they best you, you’ll never forget the struggle to truly understand these Russian bears.

    Parable of the Sower (Parable, 1)

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    Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

    The body of work created by Octavia E. Butler is rich. But 1993’s Parable of the Sower looms larger and larger, if only because it grapples with the climate crisis, inequality, corporate greed and the eternal hope that life will be better somewhere else. Lauren Oya Olamina is an African American teenager living in the deteriorating society of 2024. She escapes the violent collapse of her preacher father’s isolated community and travels north for work. Hiding her gender, fearing rape, risking an interracial romance, Lauren creates a new religion she calls Earthseed, where humanity’s only chance to get it right is to start again on another planet. Like the best parables, Butler’s book is first and foremost a story you’ll remember. But it also has much to teach.

    Waiting (Vintage International)

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    Waiting by Jin Ha

    Just…wait. That’s all Dr. Lin Kong is asking his girlfriend, Nurse Manna Wu, to do. Wait. Lin wants to marry Manna but he’s already married to Shuyu, an old-fashioned village woman Lin never loved but dutifully wed. Now he needs to ask for a divorce. Every year he heads home to his village determined to do so…and every year he comes back to the city and asks Manna to wait just one more year. Jin Ha’s National Book Award-winning novel revealed life in Communist China in new detail for many readers, showing its constraints on personal freedom. More broadly, Waiting shows the divide between city and country, between tradition and modernism, between passion and responsibility, divides that are familiar the world over. Which explains its popularity the world over…except in China, where the book was denounced and has yet to be officially published.

    Play It As It Lays (FSG Classics)

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    Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion

    Joan Didion is rightly acclaimed for her nonfiction work laying bare the soul of America. She also won a legion of new fans with the memoir The Year Of Magical Thinking, the story of Didion’s life in the year after the death of her husband John Gregory Dunne. But boy did she know show biz. In her second novel, Didion presents one of its fringe players. Maria is in a psychiatric hospital in LA, thinking back on how she got there. Born in a small town, Maria dreams of being an actress, falls in with abusive men and only moves to Hollywood after she’s given acting up. That may be the sanest move of her life. Everything is a struggle for Maria, who fights to protect her ailing child, fights addiction, fights for a divorce and is now fighting to get better and get out of the hospital. Life soon imitated art: the novel came out to acclaim in 1970 and Didion along with her husband spent the next decade working in Hollywood, albeit with much more success than Maria.

    Anna Karenina

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    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

    If you’re not ambitious, start with Tolstoy’s devastating novella The Death Of Ivan Ilyich. If you’re overly ambitious, go for War And Peace, a novel as big and sprawling and all-encompassing as its title. But if you want to start at the top and prefer a little doomed romance with your Russian epics, try Anna Karenina. It features enough vivid characters and plotlines to power two soap operas. Like War and Peace, it’s not shy about boldly tackling everything from religion to Imperial Russia in all its glorious complications and so on. But it revolves around a juicy love affair between the married Anna and the cavalry officer Count Vronsky, who simply must be described as “dashing.” You’ll be caught up in a way you’re simply not by the equally marvelous but less focused musings of War And Peace. Just don’t read it on a station platform while waiting for a train.

    Dandelion Wine: A Novel (Grand Master Editions)

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    Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

    Ray Bradbury is famous for his dystopian novel about book-burning titled Fahrenheit 451. He’s acclaimed for his eerie tales of space colonization called The Martian Chronicles. But those who love him best gravitate to the nostalgic tales of childhood in Dandelion Wine. Tinged with magical realism, these evocations of small town life dipped in honey are irresistible because they capture a perfect past that never really existed…except for every boy and girl with a little imagination and a lot of heart. Bookseller Jim Reed of Jim Reed Books in Birmingham, Alabama, always has a few copies on hand to press on lucky browsers. “Christopher Isherwood and R.L. Stine and I, among others, believe this is the great American novel,” says Reed. “Dandelion Wine is a magical lightning bolt. When I first read this wonderful book in the 1950s, I was a teenager without compass, a quiet kid with no prospects. Dandelion Wine awakened me to the idea that I could be a dreamer, an actor, a writer…and that that was ok. Apparently I wasn’t the only kid on the planet who was amazed by life.”

    Three Novels of New York: The House of Mirth, The Custom of the Country, The Age of Innocence (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

    Edith Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. At the time, that wasn’t a big deal, as such—four of the first seven winners were women. Men slowly began to dominate the award, with women now making up only a third of all winners. Men also dominate in The Age Of Innocence. The protagonist Newland Archer is accustomed to getting whatever he wants: Newland is old money, upper class and proud of it. He should marry the innocent seeming May Welland but he’s drawn to the unsuitable yet more interesting Ellen Olenska. Newland pursues her, but his peers won’t have it and quietly disapprove. The bonds of society, the sharply defined lines between old money and new, between the “better” classes and the lower ones are all on display in Wharton’s dissection of a world she knew so well. Pregnancy as a plot twist and a weapon? You might say only a woman would have thought of that. But you’d be more correct to say only a great writer would have deployed it so well.

    Midnight’s Children

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    Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

    Salman Rushdie’s second novel is so influential in India that critics refer to the “post-Rushdie” era. Among countless accolades, it scored the highest honor in the Commonwealth: the Booker Prize. Then on the Booker’s 25th anniversary, it was named the best book to win the Booker. And on its 40th anniversary, Midnight’s Children did it again, being chosen as the Booker of Bookers. Rushdie’s third novel The Satanic Verses is the one that unfortunately made him a household name around the world, as well as a fugitive from a fatwa. But Midnight’s Children remains a landmark in world literature, as signal an event in its way as the independence of India from the U.K. and the wrenching partition of that country into India and Pakistan. The babies born between midnight and 1 a.m. on that fateful day have special powers. Our hero Saleem is born very close to midnight, so he proves very powerful indeed. Saleem’s story is very much the story of modern India in all its tragedy, missed opportunity and promise. Few novels are as ambitious and even fewer succeed so splendidly.

    Devil’s Cub

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    Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer

    J.R.R. Tolkien established the modern fantasy, a genre almost entirely indebted to him for its existence. Few can make a similar claim about pioneering a new category of fiction. But Georgette Heyer can. She wrote many thrillers, often one a year, and they deserve your attention. But she’s widely recognized as creating the modern historical romance and more specifically, the Regency romance. Jane Austen wrote Regency romances as a matter of course—for her, they were contemporary novels because that’s when she lived. One hundred years later, Heyer would bring a scholar’s passion for accuracy to the Regency romance. By the end of her life, Heyer owned a reference library exceeding 1000 titles about the era, along with any info she could find on the history of snuff boxes, the cost of candles in a particular year and so on. What’s truly exciting is that her novels like Devil’s Cub are so much fun. The characters are offbeat for the day (Marrying for love? What an idea!) and Heyer has a blast upending convention, even as she establishes that convention so well. Everyone in the romance field stands in her debt. Devil’s Cub is great but really you can’t go wrong with anything she wrote.

    Where the Wild Things Are

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    Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

    A picture book classic can’t just appeal to kids—it also must appeal to adults because they’re the ones who read it. Author Matthew Paul Turner estimates he’s read Where The Wild Things Are hundreds of times to his own children and to classrooms of kids. “To me, Sendak’s 1963 offering is a perfect children’s book because it’s one of the most delightful books to read aloud, offering moments to read quietly, in almost a hush, and also lines to read loudly with growls and snorts,” says Turner, author most recently of I Am God’s Dream with illustrator Estrella Bascuñan. “With every turn of the page, Sendak adds mystery and nuance to Max’s adventure using the fewest words possible. One minute we’re observing Max in his bedroom yelling ‘I’ll eat you up!’ at his mother and a few pages later, we’ve joined Max on an island of monsters, romping and stomping with the young hero. Wild Things is real and it’s fantasy, it’s childlike and yet it leaves space between the words to imagine a deeper and more profound story. Its illustrations are simple and timeless and have inspired the imaginations of generations of readers. I love that I was able to introduce my kids to a story that I loved deeply when I was their age.”

    Waiting to Exhale

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    Waiting To Exhale by Terry McMillan

    It’s hard to overstate the impact of Waiting To Exhale when it came out in 1992. It’s a thoroughly entertaining novel about female friendship, the pressures of career and how very disappointing men can sometimes (ok, often) be. Funny, sexy and smart, Terry McMillan’s book is a winner. While it has many precursors (many mothers, you might say), the success of it and her follow-up How Stella Got Her Groove Back proved a landmark. This was a book embraced by a wide audience. But it wasn’t written to reach a wide audience and didn’t worry about a wide (that is, white) audience. It was by and for people of color and especially black people and especially black women. So when it became a best-seller and reached both the women it celebrated and everyone else as well, the change was fundamental. One year later, the TV show Living Single debuted, so change was in the air, a change marked by so many movies and TV shows and books and music by the likes of Jill Scott. A change sparked by Waiting To Exhale.

    The Sound and the Fury: The Corrected Text

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    The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

    One of William Faulkner’s masterpieces, The Sound and the Fury, signified something, though critics were mostly dismissive when this story of a fading Southern family came out in 1929. Its stream of consciousness style, jumps in time and multiple narrators led off by the mentally challenged Benjy Compson was just too much for many. Respected critic Clifton Fadiman wasn’t alone when he recognized Faulkner’s artistry but for the life of him couldn’t understand why it was used to tell this confusing story. Within two years, the book would start to gain momentum commercially and in 20 years, Faulkner received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Today, so many books and tv shows and movies like Pulp Fiction have used similar time-jumping structures to tell a story that The Sound And The Fury feels almost familiar. It’s still bold and disorienting, but at least readers can rest assured they’ll figure out what the heck is going on and that it’s all worth the ride.

    A Tree Grows in Brooklyn [75th Anniversary Ed] (Perennial Classics)

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    A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

    This autobiographical novel about a young girl who loves reading and dreams of something…more speaks to immigrants and adolescents everywhere. Writers like Kristy Woodson Harvey hold it especially dear. “I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the first time in the fourth grade,” says Harvey, author most recently of The Wedding Veil, “and have read it almost every year since. Every time, every page, I find something new to love, some different piece of wisdom to grasp onto, something truer and more real about humanity than I did before. The brilliance of Betty Smith was her ability to transform the ordinary moments of our lives into something bright and shining, to find that morsel of goodness that connects us across circumstance and time. And, of course, ‘The world was hers for the reading,’ is a quote that still, all these years later, can’t help but make my book-loving heart race.”

    Donald Barthelme: Collected Stories (LOA #343) (Library of America, 343)

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    Donald Barthelme: Collected Stories by Donald Barthelme

    Donald Barthelme is America’s Beckett, which is to say America’s class clown or more exactly America’s court jester—the one who gets away with speaking the brutal truth because it’s cloaked in absurdist humor the unwary dismiss as surreal, fragmented nonsense. His short stories (and the infrequent novel) are invariably playful, hilarious and grim. In his work Barthelme drew inspiration from visual artists as much as he did fellow writers as diverse as Kafka and S.J. Perelman, always deferential if not reverential to Beckett. So, at times, his stories would be interrupted by a found piece of illustration from the 19th century, just to keep you on your toes. Monty Python probably paid attention. Collected Stories from the Library of America gathers together essentially every short story he ever published, which is appropriate since every short story of his is essential. To say he was held in high esteem by other writers is an understatement. “This book will take you from the early let’s say cubism to the later let’s say domesticity in the Barthelme progression,” says Padgett Powell, author most recently of Indigo. “A major book: what Hemingway was to the first, Barthelme was to the second half of 20th century American fiction.”

    Get Shorty: A Novel

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    Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard

    Toss a dart at the books of Elmore Leonard and you’ll hit a classic. Thunk and you’ve picked his wonderfully unconventional Western Valdez Is Coming. Or thunk the period gangster story The Hot Kid. Or thunk and you’ve landed on Get Shorty, in which Leonard combines hilarious dialogue and vivid characters with genuine danger to skewer Hollywood along with the usual loan sharks and criminal lowlifes. God knows why Leonard would bite the hand that feeds him—Hollywood made one terrific movie after another based on his novels and the 1995 film Get Shorty with John Travolta was no exception.

    The Bell Jar (Modern Classics)

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    The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

    For people living with depression, for certain women, for certain artists, few books matter as much as The Bell Jar. The poet Sylvia Plath shows her (autobiographical) character Esther Greenwood fighting depression with a humor and clarity that astonishes even today. We know so much more about bipolar disorder, depression and the like now. But Plath knew it instinctively in 1963 and she captured what it is to live with depression, rather than damning or praising this treatment or that clinic or yet another off-target diagnosis. What a person really wants first—really needs first—is to be believed and listened to and understood. When you’re trapped under a bell jar, it’s hard to be heard. Not for Plath, who’s still speaking out some 60 years later.

    Lake Wobegon Days

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    Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor

    “It’s been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my hometown out there on the edge of the prairie….” For decades, those words promised a return to an idyllic innocence that never really existed and a gentle teasing of human foibles that always will. The radio show A Prairie Home Companion was a marvelous combination of good music, bad jokes, community and a generosity of spirit. The highlight back in the day was the monologue with news from Lake Wobegon, delivered extemporaneously by host Garrison Keillor. He reshaped some of the best monologues into the collection Lake Wobegon Days and it catapulted him and the show into even greater worldwide fame. Yes, it won a Grammy as an audiobook and yes, some fans prefer to hear him, rather than read him. But Keillor is a careful writer and knows the difference between what works on the air and what works on the page. So don’t discount the craft put into this gem of gentle humor. If you can’t help hearing Keillor’s voice while reading it, well that’s okay too.

    The Nightingale: A Novel

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    The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

    Without warning, every once in a while, it seems like everyone you know—everyone—has read, is reading or is about to read the same book. In 2015, that book was The Nightingale, a World War II novel about two estranged sisters resisting the Nazi invasion of France. One secretly shelters Jews, including a neighbor’s child she hides in plain sight. The other sister joins the French Resistance and devises a plan to spirit away stranded Allied pilots to neutral territory. Like the most enduring thrillers, you’re sucked in not just by plot twists or the high drama of war but by the characters who become so real to you that their fate is akin to your own.

    The Good Soldier (Vintage Classics)

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    The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

    Ford Madox Ford’s novel came out in 1915. You have to remember that when reading this story of poisoned marriages, infidelity and madness. Its narrator is so slippery and its attitude so cynical that the effect is almost shocking. Two couples meet at a spa in Germany where a respective spouse can be treated for their ailing heart. One couple is British, with Captain Edward Ashburnham resting his heart after overuse: the man is chronically unfaithful to his wife Leonora. The other couple is American, with the wife Florence pretending to have a weak heart so she can keep her husband John from “bothering” her in bed while she maintains an affair on the side. This isn’t Noel Coward territory: suicide and mental breakdowns are on tap, not to mention intimations of abuse and even the possibility that we’re being sold a bill of goods by the narrator. Truly no one is good here except, of course, for Ford.

    Normal People: A Novel

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    Normal People by Sally Rooney

    She’s the voice of a generation! She’s Ireland’s most popular export since U2! Or we could calm down and say that, three novels in, Sally Rooney is the real deal. Normal People became a hugely popular miniseries and turned Paul Mescal into a star, so thank you for that, Sally. But what a novel! It’s so engaging you almost don’t realize how ambitious it proves, tackling class and gender with insight and complexity. Connell is the star of his high school, almost embarrassed to be dating the shy Marianne. But she blossoms at university while Connell struggles to adapt to a wider world where he’s not automatically B.M.O.C. She’s rich, he’s working class and they are both smart enough to realize this tangled, confusing, ever-shifting relationship (friendship? love?) has to mean something. Doesn’t it?

    Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)

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    Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

    Some novels reveal their pleasures immediately. Others need careful attention, re-reading and perhaps a little life under the reader’s belt before they can be fully appreciated. Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece is different. Its pleasures are immediate and abundantly clear—the fantastical tale is hilarious, satirical, intellectually playful, clearly has a lot on its mind and is above all fun. Even a child knows this. Yet the more you read it and the more you think about it and what it says and means, the curiouser and curiouser it becomes. Novelist Joyce Carol Oates, for one, often cites it as a profound influence. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is hilarious and satirical and all that, but far more than you realized. If it’s been a while since you went down the rabbit hole, all we can say is don’t hesitate to DRINK ME and EAT ME and indeed READ ME.

    Olive Kitteridge

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    Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

    In real life, we want nothing to do with ornery, cranky, difficult people. Who needs the bother? But in movies and TV shows and books we positively delight in them. It’s fun to spend time with the rude, downright obnoxious character who says what everyone is secretly thinking. Writer Elizabeth Strout hit pay dirt with the prickly personality of Olive Kitteridge. Embodied to perfection by Frances McDormand in an HBO miniseries, Olive observes everyone around her with a gimlet eye…and then tells them precisely what she sees. Her saving grace is that Olive is just as hard on herself. You finish the book and immediately start to miss her. Strout must have felt the same way—she wrote an equally acclaimed sequel called Olive, Again about a decade later.

    The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (with bonus content): A Novel

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    The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

    In the year 2000, author Michael Chabon discovered his superpower. Prior to that, he seemed a mild-mannered writer. Chabon’s acclaimed debut novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was seen as semi-autobiographical, like many first novels. He struggled with the follow-up and then dropped it completely to do that most writerly of things—write a novel about a writer trying to write a novel (a college professor, no less!). Wonder Boys was a huge success and spawned a good movie, but still. One worried. Then Chabon was bitten by a radioactive bug or discovered a hidden passage in his library or was told about his true origins on another planet or something! Because out of nowhere he delivered The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a fictionalized reimagining of two nice Jewish boys who create a superhero comic book, a la Superman. It’s a rich period story punctuated by vivid retellings of the comic book plot, World War II, a gay romance, assimilation and so on. Even more amazing, Chabon hasn’t looked back. Since this landmark, he’s written children’s books, a sci-fi mystery set in an alternate timeline, a novella capturing Sherlock Holmes in his old age, a serialized novel about swashbuckling Jews around the turn of the last millennium and even a comic book bringing to life the comic book hero of Kavalier & Clay! Genre is his superpower and Chabon won’t ever forget it.

    An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club): A Novel

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    An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

    Writer Tayari Jones lays claim to Atlanta as her literary stomping ground, thanks to a string of acclaimed novels and her role as editor of the mystery/thriller collection Atlanta Noir. Bookseller Sarah Hollenbeck touts An American Marriage, the story of a newly married couple whose lives are torn apart when the husband is wrongfully convicted and sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. “It’s an intimate look deep into the hearts of people who are victims of our current mass incarceration crisis but must somehow face the future,” says Hollenbeck of Women & Children First bookstore in Chicago. “A profound and stirring book!” She’s not alone in loving it. Oprah made it a pick for her book club, President Barack Obama touted the title and it won the prestigious Women’s Prize For Fiction.

    The Chosen

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    The Chosen by Chaim Potok

    A father expects his son to enter the family business, but the son has other plans. You’ve heard this one before. But when that tension between expectation and desire is set in the world of Jewish boys growing up in Brooklyn during World War II, it becomes fresh and surprising. Reuven and Danny are friends, even though Reuven is part of the more worldly Modern Orthodox community while Danny is the son of a rabbi leading an ultra-orthodox Hasidic yeshiva. They’re all-American boys who bond over baseball. And both want to defy their parents. Reuven yearns to be a rabbi, but his father expects the boy to pursue higher education. Danny’s father assumes the boy will become a rabbi, but Danny wants to study psychology. Who gets to choose the life you lead? Your father? Yourself? And if the Jews are the Chosen, how could the Holocaust ever take place? A novel that grapples with faith and family, The Chosen will remain a perennial favorite as long as kids and parents clash.

    A Song Of Ice And Fire 7 Books Set By George R. R. Martin

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    A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

    How can we celebrate a fantasy series that’s not even done yet? Easy. All fantasy writers stand on the shoulders of J.R.R. Tolkien, as Martin himself readily acknowledges. But few do it with such flair and passion as he. Martin’s novels are brutal, cynical, and thrilling in their scope. In them, the smallest and kindest among us don’t pop up to save the day. More likely, they’re trampled underfoot. Major characters who die won’t be brought back to life. They’re just dead. Betrayal and honor carry a heavy price and it’s not clear which is higher. Watching leaders battle for control of Westeros while ignoring a looming (ecological?) disaster isn’t “timely.” It’s timeless. Fighting for power while sidestepping the issues that really matter is par for the course with the ruling class. Someday we’ll be able to read A Song Of Ice and Fire from start to finish. Those frustrating gaps where characters aren’t heard from for a thousand pages won’t matter. The gaps between books being published won’t matter either. All that will matter is the song. So take your time, Mr. Martin.

    Related: Watch This, Read That: What to Read Based on the Fall TV Shows You Love

    Selected Stories of Alice Munro, 1968-1994 (Vintage International)

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    Selected Stories by Alice Munro

    This is the name of the greatest hits set from 1996, gathering the best stories from Alice Munro’s first eight volumes. It’s been published under various titles, but don’t worry. You can grab any collection, like Vintage Munro (which is a  redundant title) or My Best Stories. Or you can buy her first book of stories Dance Of The Happy Shades or her most recent Dear Life. Really, just look for the name Alice Munro and read it. She’s the first Canadian and only the thirteenth woman in history to win the Nobel Prize. You’ll soon understand why.

    Roots: The Saga of an American Family

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    Roots by Alex Haley

    If you or someone in your family has taken a swab test to trace your roots, you can thank writer Alex Haley. A passion for genealogy and a desire to see if the oral history he’d heard over the years was based on truth sent Haley on a quest. It took him all the way to Africa and what is now known as The Gambia. Then it led him to a typewriter, where Haley took the facts as he best knew them and crafted a novel. That book told the story of Kunta Kinte, a 17 year old man cruelly kidnapped from his home and sold into slavery…and then it told the story of the next seven generations of Kinte’s family, moving from tragedy to triumph. They started filming the miniseries even before the novel was published; both were massive, unprecedented successes. Genealogy and our understanding of American history have never been the same.

    Anne of Green Gables (Children’s Signature Classics)

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    Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

    A plucky young orphan girl with spunk? Check! Ornery old people who turn out to be endearing? Check! Some “disasters” and setbacks that loom large for our heroine but prove surmountable? Check! A boy who is infuriating but proves to be rather handsome and kind once you get to know him? Check! Yes, this 1908 classic was not the first of its kind (hello, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm) and certainly inspired countless successors. But the red-haired Anne with an “e” is special. It inspired five sequels of increasing depth and sophistication, though writer Margaret Atwood insists this first novel is the best. And who are we to argue with Margaret Atwood? By the end of the series, Anne looks on as her children sleep, while the shadows of World War I loom large. You realize how much Anne and her world mean to you…and start to read them all over again.

    Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth (Pantheon Graphic Library)

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    Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid On Earth by Chris Ware

    When people who don’t love comics single out a comic (or graphic novel or what-have-you) worth reading, they often light on something that is the least comic book-y thing they can find. Hence the universal—and yet deserved—praise for Chris Ware’s atypical, beautiful comic Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid On Earth. Outlets that rarely get comic books can “get” this mournful story of a middle-aged man who has a troubled relationship with his dad. The stories are quiet, piercing and broken up by flashbacks to Jimmy Corrigan’s grandfather as a boy, when he had a troubled relationship with his dad. First, you’ll be enraptured by the sheer pleasure of looking at this work of art. Then, you’ll sink into the story and its quiet moments and before you know it, you’re under his spell.

    Speedboat: With an introduction by Hilton Als (W&N Essentials)

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    Speedboat by Renata Adler

    Renata Adler became infamous for reviewing a collection of movie criticism by Pauline Kael. Both were writers at the New Yorker but that didn’t stop Adler from decimating her colleague Kael’s work, tearing it down line by line, piece by piece. In her autobiographical-ish debut novel Speedboat, Adler did much the same for modern life in the 1970s. Moments flit by, fragmented scene follows fragmented scene and yet somehow it all coheres into the story of a journalist making her way through the world of New York City and politics and parties. “Reading it is like being in a snowstorm,” said one rave review in The New Yorker (not written by Kael, needless to say). Everyone from Elizabeth Hardwick to David Foster Wallace has championed it and Speedboat went from an out-of-print cult favorite to a modern classic.

    The Grapes of Wrath: 75th Anniversary Edition

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    The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

    This is an angry book. It’s a nice, safe classic now, enshrined on lists like this, turned into a great movie starring Henry Fonda, a great stage play and even an opera. But when it came out, The Grapes Of Wrath was a thunderbolt. It was banned all over the place and burned…even by librarians! People argued about it. Debates were held on the radio. John Steinbeck was called a socialist, a communist and he would have been called worse but there was nothing worse to be called than a communist. Yet it sold and sold and sold. The debate hasn’t stopped. It was banned in Ireland in the 1950s. It was banned in Turkey in the 1970s. Today, people still raise objections to it being required reading in high schools or even optional reading or even just sitting on the shelf in libraries where some impressionable child might find it. The story of the Joad family, fleeing the ravages of the Dust Bowl and the Depression, desperate for jobs, hounded everywhere they go when all they want is a decent wage for a decent day’s work? That’s as timeless as it gets. Steinbeck might prefer a better future where the book was long forgotten or just a relic of ancient history. But he certainly wouldn’t be surprised that it’s still blazingly relevant. And he’d still be angry.

    Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

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    Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

    No matter how unique, how unexpected, how new a novel seems, even its author can readily name the many novels that inspired it, paving the way for their “unprecedented” and original work. Still, the debut novel of Susanna Clarke certainly felt wonderfully fresh and new. Clarke might have mentioned Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees as one of many predecessors in tone and style. But we simply weren’t expecting a pitch-perfect evocation of the 19th-century novel a la Dickens and Austen, a comedy of manners and high drama which combines an alternate history, the Napoleonic Wars, the re-emergence of magic and most deliciously of all the knives-out ferocity that is academia into one bewitching tale. No one is more territorial than a scholar defending their minor backwater of knowledge and Clarke punctures such pomposity with footnotes to her novel that are howlingly funny in their pedanticism. This might have turned into a cult classic, one especially treasured by tenured professors. Instead, it became a rip-roaring bestseller to the delight of all.

    A Death in the Family (Penguin Classics)

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    A Death in the Family by James Agee

    A brilliant film critic, James Agee also penned two classic screenplays: The African Queen (along with director John Huston and two others) and The Night Of The Hunter (with an uncredited Charles Laughton also playing a role). A good collaborator, Agee worked with photographer Walker Evans on Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, a ground-breaking combination of words and images documenting the lives of impoverished tenant farmers. But his posthumous novel A Death In The Family is the riveting, anguished pinnacle of Agee’s life. People can’t leave it alone. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize after an editor pulled it together from an unfinished manuscript. Others turned it into a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, a film, a TV movie and an opera. Then a scholar took issue with the editing and oversaw a new edition of the novel closer to the form it was in when Agee died. In every form, the story of a little boy in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1915—the year his father dies in a car accident—is piercing, heartwarming, nostalgic and so very moving.

    Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West

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    Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

    Cormac McCarthy wrote easier books. The Road is his most popular work—a dystopian novel where the brutal struggle to survive is given purpose by showing a father determined to protect his young son. All The Pretty Horses is more lyrical and open-hearted, with a doomed romance at its core. Then there’s Blood Meridian, the anti-Western, a novel few praised when it first came out in 1985. In it, a semi-lawless band of men is sent off to scalp any violent Indians that cross their path along the U.S.-Mexican border. Soon they’re attacking peaceful Indians, sleepy Mexican villages, the Mexican army and pretty much anyone else unlucky enough to come in range. The violence is unremitting and you’ll decide it puts the lie to the romantic Westerns of your youth or you’ll decide this is how it really was back then so deal with it or you’ll decide violence is just the way of humanity, as one of the novel’s epigraphs suggests. Hard to shake, and maybe you shouldn’t try.

    Tipping the Velvet: A Novel

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    Tipping The Velvet by Sarah Waters

    Don’t get the impression that Sarah Waters peaked with her marvelous debut Tipping The Velvet. You’ll find her crime novel Fingersmith on our list of the 110 Best Thriller, Crime, Suspense Novels Of All Time. But since she began with Tipping The Velvet, you should too. Waters was writing her PhD on historical fiction, figured she’d have a go at it herself and wrote this gripping novel. Forget everything you imagine you know about the Victorian era because it’s probably wrong. Here you’ll discover Nan, a young woman working in the unromantic business of oysters. Her world is upended by Kitty, a “masher,” a woman who dresses as a man onstage. Crime, betrayal, life on the stage, sex work of unimagined variety and more take place in the late 1800s against the backdrop of the suffragette movement, socialism and the constant fear of being arrested for whom they love. It’s a proper melodrama and in a novel this well-written and historically grounded, that’s a compliment.

    Howards End (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)

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    Howards End by E.M. Forster

    A Room With A View is Forster’s wittiest and most romantic novel. Maurice, and its doomed gay love, is his most personal. (It was only published after the author died in 1970.) A Passage To India, and its take on Empire, is his most popular. But Forster is at his most focused and refined with Howards End. He diagnoses the ills of English society while gently satirizing those who saw “the poor” as their own personal pet project. It’s all-encompassing, shrewd and generous of spirit, with the titular home proving both a symbol and a burden, until it’s finally placed into the right hands.

    Related: 75 Quotes About Writing To Inspire Your Creativity

    Underworld: A Novel

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    Underworld by Don DeLillo

    Like Babe Ruth pointing to where he’d hit a home run before a pitch is thrown, writer Don DeLillo’s career clearly pointed to this: a sprawling yet focused, all-encompassing masterpiece. And just like the Babe, he delivered. The 98-page opening section is devoted to The Shot Heard ‘Round The World, a home run by Bobby Thomson that won the New York Giants the pennant and sent them to the World Series. That ball is caught by a young black fan while J. Edgar Hoover watches from the stands, being informed during the game that the Soviets have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. It’s all there—America, the Cold War, race, class, sports, sexuality, politics, joy, despair—and it’s done so perfectly that this chunk of the book would later be titled Pafko At The Wall and sold separately as a novella. The rest of the novel charts the life of a man obsessed with finding out what happened to that home run ball and acquiring it for himself. Oh, and charting the 20th century as well. So far, it’s DeLillo’s best novel, but he still has innings left to play.

    The God of Small Things: A Novel

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    The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

    The cruelty of caste. The dismissal of women. The pain of heartbreak. Family. Religion. All play a role in the meticulous, absorbing debut novel by Arundhati Roy that took the literary world by storm 25 years ago. Set in Kerala, India, and beginning in the 1960s, Roy’s story centers on women betrayed by love, bolstered by love and bent on love. To this day, so-called “Love Laws,” in both the cultural and legal sense, limit who can love who and how much in India, with gender, caste and faith all obstacles to be surmounted. What’s love got to do with it? Everything—and Roy demonstrates why in a novel as formally complex as it is generous of spirit.

    Ubik

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    Ubik by Philip K. Dick

    Sci-fi author Philip K. Dick is compared to Franz Kafka and Thomas Pynchon as much as to other science fiction writers. But where to begin with his confounding body of work? The books that inspired the film Blade Runner or the TV series The Man in The High Castle? Well, a body of voters in France and the very American magazine Time both agree his masterpiece is, in fact, Ubik—a nightmare of the future where everything is monetized. Bookseller Lisa Morton agrees. “Ubik starts with a hero named Joe Chip who is unable to leave his automated apartment because he doesn’t have money to pay his door,” says Morton of Iliad Bookshop in North Hollywood, California. “From there, it takes off on a mind-bending story of time and evolution moving backwards, with all roads seeming to lead to death and dissolution. That mad genius Philip K. Dick was once shocked when told that French critics had chosen Ubik as one of the five best novels ever written. He thought surely the list must be the five best science fiction novels, but no—it was simply the five best novels in all of literature. After reading this funny, horrific, tragic and surprising book, you might agree with the French.”

    The Golden Notebook: A Novel (Perennial Classics)

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    The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

    Were you wowed by Cloud Atlas, the David Mitchell novel that toyed with structure so cleverly it turned his genre-hopping book into a literary Matryoshka, a Russian nesting doll? Did the way Ian McEwan ended Atonement—changing everything that came before—blow your mind? Well, open The Golden Notebook. Doris Lessing’s masterpiece is often hailed for its clever-clever narrative, which goes back and forth between the four notebooks that document the life of writer Anna Wulf. Others emphasize its importance as a feminist classic. Lessing herself put the focus on the titanic issues the novel engaged with, from Stalinism to colonialism to the sexual revolution and the women’s liberation movement. The fact that she dazzled while doing so, thought Lessing, was not the point. She’s right, but dazzle it does.

    A Brief History of Seven Killings: A Novel

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    A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

    Artist Bob Marley looms large over popular music and the history of Jamaica. His greatest hits set, Legend, is one of the best-selling albums of all time. His influence is incalculable. And writer Marlon James captures both Marley—referred to only as The Singer—and decades of Jamaican history in his third novel. It leaps from an attempted assassination of Marley in 1976 to the ravages of crack in the U.S. and back to Jamaica in the 1990s. James is so masterful as he captures a remarkable range of characters and time periods that he became the first Jamaican writer to win the prestigious Booker Prize for best novel. After capturing such a broad sweep of history, the only way for James to top himself was to create an entire world. He is doing just that with a fantasy trilogy based on African myths and history. It began with Black Leopard, Red Wolf, continued with the just-out Moon Witch, Spider King and will be complete with White Wing, Dark Star.

    Life After Life: A Novel

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    Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

    Oh for a chance to try again! Who hasn’t said, “If I knew then what I know now!” and meant it? It’s a tempting desire and that’s why movies like Groundhog Day are so powerful. Writer Kate Atkinson tackles this premise with relish in Life After Life. Our heroine Ursula (or should that be “heroines?”) is conceived…and then dies in the womb, strangled by an umbilical cord. Fade to black. She is conceived again, avoids the danger and is born…only to die another way. Fade to black! Again and again, Ursula is born and makes her way through life. She dies repeatedly during the Spanish Flu and tries again, dimly aware as her lives repeat that she’s done this before and learning just enough to improve her chances. Facing down a rapist, surviving the Blitz during World War II, choosing to fall in love and spending WWII in Berlin with her German husband, again and again Ursula lives out her lives with an ever-expanding sense of the possibilities we all have at our command. It’s playful, serious, mind-blowing and oh, for a chance to try again. At least, we can read it again.

    The Adventures of Captain Underpants: Color Edition

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    The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

    When a parent is desperate to see their kids embrace reading, any book they will actually read, indeed demand to read as soon as the latest one comes out, is immediately one of the greatest books of all time. And that’s why the silly, punny, juvenile humor of the Captain Underpants series is here. Two boys turn their school principal into a superhero? Professor Poopypants? Bionic Boogie Boy? Relax! As long as they’re giggling and reading, it’s good. Bookseller Kathy Doyle Thomas of Half Price Books (headquartered in Dallas, Texas), knows that well. “My dyslexic son was obsessed with Captain Underpants and his crazy adventures,” says Doyle Thomas. “He was not a strong reader, but could easily read and comprehend the books and relate to the character. Most importantly, he felt good about himself!”

    The Great Gatsby: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    If you want to become an indelible part of American culture, it’s always smart to write a short, easy-to-read novel that can be taught in high school English classes. For generations past, those novels included A Separate Peace by John Knowles, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. They’re part of a shared memory for older generations, the way the Harry Potter books and Star Wars films are for people today. Each followed a different path to success. A Separate Peace began as a short story appearing in Cosmopolitan and was a solid success when published as a novel. To Kill A Mockingbird proved a runaway bestseller and scored the Pulitzer Prize. The Great Gatsby languished with modest sales in 1925; Fitzgerald died fifteen years later believing it was a flop. But when World War II came along, G.I.s were given a paperback copy and its popularity soared. Today, few books embody and question the American Dream quite like this novel about Nick Carraway caught up in the frenzied world of new money living it up in Long Island. Not only do some lives have a second act, so do some books. Especially the great ones.

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Ravenclaw Edition; Black and Blue

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    Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

    Sure, it’s just a modern updating of Tom Brown’s School Days with a dollop of fantasy. But the magic isn’t just in the spells and potions. It’s found in J.K. Rowling’s remarkable gift for naming (Dumbledore, Hagrid, Ravenclaw), plotting and humor. From the butterbeer on tap to Harry the Boy Who Lived (but did so in a cramped space underneath the stairs of his mean aunt and uncle), the invention never flags. Rowling’s expansive vision grew and grew along with the books in this seven-volume series. An entire generation simply had to read them. People lined up at midnight all over the world when a new one came out. The movies and games and plays and merchandise still stand in their shadow. And it all began with this debut, which is nigh on perfect and magical in every way that matters.

    One Hundred Years of Solitude (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)

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    One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

    What do you do as a critic when a major writer like Gabriel García Márquez delivers a novel so brilliant it can’t be denied? Normally, you just shout about it from the rooftops. But when that novel combines the fantastical with the ordinary, when it draws upon the magical in a way that is uncomfortably akin to the despised genre of fantasy, you’re in trouble, since fantasy can’t be taken seriously by literary critics. The answer is simple. You cast a spell and instead of calling it “fantasy,” you call it “magical realism” and everyone is happy. The novel can be praised, a new fancy phrase has been invented (and will be applied to almost any writer from Latin America, whether it fits or not) and a sprawling, sexy, bewildering tale that spans generations and is set in part in a fictional town called Macondo and includes people tied to trees for years on end and more incest than you would expect becomes one of the most acclaimed and best-selling books of all time. And realistically, that’s pretty magical.

    White Teeth (Vintage International)

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    White Teeth by Zadie Smith

    It’s not fair, but we’re still happily waiting for writer Zadie Smith to fulfill the promise of her debut novel White Teeth. This sprawling story covers 25 years and the lives of everyone from a devout Jehovah’s Witness from Jamaica to a white Englishman dumped by his Italian wife to a Bengali Muslim from Bangladesh who is endlessly distracted from his faith by a fondness for beer, masturbation and his children’s music teacher. As Edward R. Murrow famously intoned during his war reporting: this…is London. Critics and readers agreed wholeheartedly as White Teeth won awards, hit the bestseller list and became a miniseries and a play. Smith hasn’t stopped: she overcame the sophomore slump with her excellent third novel On Beauty and continues steadily on with five novels in all, two short story collections, a play, teaching and the occasional foray into the role of public intellectual. That’s exactly how you fulfill the promise of a brilliant debut. You do the long, steady work of writing and publishing and then writing again. As Smith keeps this up, in another 30 years with another clutch of great books to her credit, we’ll gladly say her promise is fulfilled. Until then, we greedily demand more.

    Les Miserables (Signet Classics)

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    Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

    Some novels are so big, so important, so monumental, they can’t be ignored. Such is Les Misérables, just one of the great novels by Victor Hugo, an author so popular in France that when he died more than two million people—two million!—took part in the funeral procession. The story is familiar to you, the story of a man who stole a loaf of bread to feed a child and paid a terrible price. No, it’s not enough to see the musical or watch a film or TV adaptation. It’s time to read the book, all of it. When you’re done, you’ll want to make the world a better place.

    All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel

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    All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

    Sometimes you just want a good story. Oh yes, Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize winner is beautifully written and grapples with all sorts of themes—how could any book set in part during World War II that’s worth its salt fail to do so? But let the scholars parse its greatness. You’ll simply be caught up in the tale of Marie-Laure, a little blind girl who grows up in Paris and then flees the war to reside in Saint-Malo. Her father builds his daughter a model city of their new town so she can learn her way around. Then he disappears. Marie-Laure’s story is interwoven with the story of a little German boy named Werner who is handy with electronics. If you expect their paths to cross during the war, well, you won’t be disappointed. But first, you’ll learn about the cursed diamond known as the Sea Of Flames, an old man still haunted by World War I, a maid who takes part in the Resistance and so much more. A treat.

    A Wrinkle in Time: 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, 1)

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    A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

    What’s not to love? You’ve got a missing father and a trio of kids determined to find him, led by 13-year-old Meg Murry. You’ve got mysterious neighbors known as Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which. They task Meg, her super-smart little brother Charles and their friend Calvin to save her father…and the world! You’ve got the ability to travel through time and space, centaurs, strange new planets and creatures, new friends and dangerous enemies and a race against time as Earth is slowly engulfed by an evil known as The Black Thing. Kids and adults have loved this novel (and its sequels) ever since, celebrating a story where a girl is the hero of a sci-fi/fantasy and Love is more powerful than Hate.

    The Savage Detectives: A Novel

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    The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño

    If you’re Latin or simply read a lot of Latin American literature, you might roll your eyes at The Savage Detectives being on this list. There are other authors, other books from Latin America since Gabriel García Márquez, you would say. Yes, yes, but if the died-too-young Bolaño’s novel (or his equally acclaimed 2666) is always the book, the author people tout to show they’re aware of the vast body of fiction found in Latin America, well, that’s not so bad. The Savage Detectives is bohemian, rebellious and bold in structure. It covers decades of history and the romantic—if tiresome—travels of poets proudly dubbing themselves the Visceral Realists. Think On The Road, for starters. Plus, Bolaño name-checks so many other authors and works that any reader enamored of it will surely start tracking down some of those other books. Sure, many of them are imaginary, but it’s a start.

    Bastard Out of Carolina: A Novel

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    Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

    A novel can mean everything to a reader. But sometimes we forget that a novel can mean everything to its author as well. Writer Dorothy Allison put everything into her semi-autobiographical debut. It’s about a child repeatedly beaten and assaulted by a stepfather, while the mother tries and fails again and again to leave him behind. Allison poured in the details of her own childhood, the family she was estranged from for years, the poetry and short stories she was publishing, the sense of empowerment she felt from the feminist movement, her own awakening sexuality and more. The awards, the best-seller lists, the movie, the chance to keep writing and make a living as an author was all great, of course. But the mere fact of its existence, of being published in the first place and achieving what she set out to do, that surely meant everything to Allison. And readers responded.

    Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (Hornblower Saga (Paperback))

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    The Horatio Hornblower Series by C.S. Forester

    Everyone should read the Aubrey-Maturin nautical novels of Patrick O’Brian. But before you read them, you’re well advised to dive into the Horatio Hornblower books by C.S. Forester. O’Brian just assumes you know as much about the Napoleonic era and seafaring as he did. Forester takes the reader by the hand, letting them learn the difference between a mainsail and a halyard right alongside our hero. By the end, you’ll feel immersed in the era and ready to take command of your own ship. Bookseller Ed Justus of Talk Story Bookstore in Hanapepe, Hawaii, agrees. “Reading these as an adult, any of the Hornblower books are completely engaging,” says Justus. “Forester’s writing style flows seamlessly, making action and interpersonal character development equally as interesting. I could smell the salt air, feel the movement of the ship, and the adrenaline at the sight of an approaching vessel. Really timeless stuff burned into my memory.”

    Charming Billy: A Novel (Picador Modern Classics)

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    Charming Billy by Alice McDermott

    You’ll never catch Alice McDermott “writing.” Like her quiet, unassuming characters (people so “typical” that one extraordinary novel about an ordinary life is simply titled Someone), McDermott’s prose never calls attention to itself. Whether charting the course of young love (That Night); much of the 20th Century (The Ninth Hour); or simply the burial of a funny, loyal, complex and incurable drunk (Charming Billy); McDermott defty and invisibly brings to life a person, a community (Irish-American) and a world. She’s about due for another novel soon and we guarantee it will quietly, modestly capture your heart. Now that’s writing.

    All Creatures Great and Small

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    All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

    This really is a novel, though fans of the books (and the TV shows based upon them) do insist on assuming they’re memoirs. What higher compliment could you pay an author than to insist it’s all true? In fact, James Alfred Wight aka James Herriot did base his stories on real-life experiences as a vet in Yorkshire. And he really did have two memorable brothers for partners—one of them terribly eccentric and the other a charming ladies’ man. (You can guess which one enjoyed the books more.) But the town of Darrowby where the stories are set is made up. Many of the characters are made up. And perhaps only the animals and their ailments are based on fact. But the stories are so vivid and funny and charming that it’s better than true. Funnily enough, it took an American publisher to take the books seriously, which sold very modestly at first in the UK. The American repackaged them with grown-up art (not some silly cartoonish images that dogged the UK version), renamed them and turned the books into bestsellers. To date, they’ve sold at least 60 million copies worldwide, turned some young people into veterinarians and made many, many folk glad they’re never called out for a calving on a cold winter’s night.

    The Tale of Genji: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    The Tale Of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

    Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur is the definitive tale of Camelot and probably the first novel written in English. But 400 years earlier(!) in Japan, a lady-in-waiting at the court of the Emperor beat him to it with The Tale Of Genji. (Yes, an even earlier novel might be Kādambari which was published 400 years before that, but our Sanskrit is weak so we can’t speak to it.) Not to worry. Like Don Quixote (the first novel written in Spanish) and Le Morte d’Arthur, Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji isn’t just a historical curiosity or the answer to a trivia question. It’s an enthralling tale of the impossibly handsome Genji, the bastard son of the Emperor who is forever falling in and out of love when not dealing with court intrigue, domestic life and more affairs than any one man should have time for. Hey, if you’re driven to write the first novel, you must have a corker to tell and Murasaki sure did.

    The Code of the Woosters

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    The Code Of The Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

    The Brits have a gift for comic novels. Maybe primping and preening as it oversees an Empire On Which The Sun Never Set makes a nation ripe for mockery? Whatever the reason, the British love and appreciate humor, turning out witty authors by the lorry-load. For sheer silliness, none match P.G. Wodehouse. His tales of the unflappable valet Jeeves and the dim-witted but genial blueblood Wooster are especially silly. Give Wodehouse a stately home, an awkward engagement, a fulminating Lord or Earl or some such titled fool, interfering friends, a fancy dress party, incompetent or indifferent servants and by gosh he’s off to the races. (Probably Ascot.) The Code Of The Woosters is a prime example, with Wodehouse mocking British fascists and the local constabulary for good measure. Reading Wodehouse makes life worth living.

    The Children of Men

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    The Children Of Men by P.D. James

    Baroness P.D. James is rightly remembered for her marvelously intelligent and thoughtful mysteries starring Adam Dalgleish, a police commander and poet. Any fan of mysteries should dive in. But the fourteen books she wrote about him have a cumulative power. If you’re only ready to read one book by her, we recommend the atypical dystopian novel The Children Of Men from 1991. Set in the near future, it takes place after a mass infertility event and begins with a killer opening line stating that the last person ever born has just died in a pub brawl. Things get much more complicated. James grapples with existential questions about the meaning of life and how people might react when the future becomes meaningless. But she does it with a sci-fi thriller about conspiracies and lies and the need to make some sense of the struggle to survive, rather than just doing it. And when you don’t have the knee-jerk excuse of doing it for the kids, for the next generation, well what do you have?

    The Catcher in the Rye

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    The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

    The cool people claim to prefer J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories or Franny and Zooey, but they’re just being phonies. Salinger’s classic novel about a rebellious teenager may be the obvious choice, but it’s also the right choice. Just ask any kid who’s read it for the first time. “There have been a couple fiction books which made a strong impact on my life,” says bookseller Ed Justus of Talk Story Bookstore in Hanapepe, Hawaii. “As a teen, it was The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. The writing style told through the eyes of the main character broke through all the established ‘rules’ of traditional storytelling we had been taught in school. It caused me to realize just how flexible fiction and writing could be.”

    The Women of Brewster Place: A Novel in Seven Stories (Penguin Contemporary American Fiction Series)

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    The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor

    Has it been 40 years already? It seems like this marvelous book came out yesterday, with its stories that tell the lives of seven women dealing with the struggles and setbacks (and men) that dominate their existence in an inner city sanctuary known as Brewster Place. At the same time, it seems like this book has always been there, with its vivid characters popping in and out of each other’s lives, each one with a story to tell. It’s a modern Canterbury Tales, except no one is going anywhere—just staying in place is triumph enough.

    [We Others: New and Selected Stories] (By: Steven Millhauser) [published: September, 2012]

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    We Others: New & Selected Stories by Steven Millhauser

    It’s tempting to recommend Steven Millhauser’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Martin Dressler. That’s a marvelous skewering and celebration of the American Dream, told through the fantastical story of a turn of the century businessman who concocts department stores of such elaborate design they become wonderlands of impossible complexity, all described in riveting prose. Think Ray Bradbury crossed with Jorge Luis Borges. But his 2011 collection of new and selected stories is dazzling and perhaps easier for beginners than the rabbit hole that is Martin Dressler. Many of Millhauser’s stories slip into the fantastical, the way Little Nemo of comic strip fame tumbles out of bed into a bewildering dreamscape: you feel yourself slipping, almost imperceptibly, and then—boom!—you’re on the floor in a daze, waking up from a reverie that seemed so very, very real. In the stories of Millhauser, the mundane becomes magical and the magical becomes, not mundane, but possible, just possible, somewhere just around the corner perhaps or down the street, especially late at night if you go for a stroll and don’t quite pay attention to where you’re headed.

    Flight Behavior: A Novel

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    Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

    Writers are tackling the climate crisis in countless ways. Science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson dives into violent, earth-shaking possibilities with The Ministry For The Future. Richard Powers puts trees at the heart of The Overstory. Author Barbara Kingsolver focuses on a poor woman in Appalachia about to start an affair when she stumbles upon an amazing, upsetting discovery. Bookseller Sharon Anderson Wright of Half Price Books in Dallas, Texas, loves Flight Behavior. “It’s about the migration of a million monarch butterflies diverted from their flight path,” says Anderson Wright, “as well as deforestation, global climate change, and the rebirth of a woman trapped in an unsatisfying life. I found the story of how they are able to adapt and find new ways to survive fascinating.”

    A Boy’s Own Story: A Novel

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    A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White

    Many gay novels came before this one, like Gore Vidal’s The City and the Pillar and William Maxwell’s The Folded Leaf. Long before them, Homer’s The Iliad was about how unwise it is to taunt a warrior like Achilles by killing his very good “friend” Patroclus. Nonetheless, in 1982 it was still bold and a little shocking to deliver an autobiographical novel like A Boy’s Own Story. White manages to be both romantic and dispassionate in describing his thinly veiled coming of age and coming out. It forms the first part of a trilogy, though White continues to mine his life to this day in novels and memoirs. His biography of Jean Genet may be White’s masterpiece, but for influence and beauty, few can match this one.

    Mason & Dixon: A Novel

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    Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon

    If we were going to play it safe, we’d choose Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying Of Lot 49 or Gravity’s Rainbow to be on this list. They’re the twin pillars on which his reputation rests. We could get wacky and choose the crime novel Inherent Vice (indeed, we did choose it for our list of the Best Thrillers of All Time). But the historical novel Mason & Dixon has an unrestrained joy about it we can’t resist. It’s 1786 and the Rev. Wicks Cherrycoke is a shaky man of the cloth but an excellent storyteller. He keeps a clutch of little kids enthralled with nightly tales about the surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. If surveying doesn’t sound like the stuff of bedtime stories, be sure the Rev. will toss in fart jokes and unlikely escapades whenever attention flags. A yarn, and how Pynchon loves to unravel it.

    The Overstory: A Novel

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    The Overstory by Richard Powers

    When trees are a central character in a novel, either you’re in or you’re out. For many readers of this Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of eco-fiction, they are in. Powers is no stranger to unexpected topics. His novels tackle genetics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, astrobiology and avant-garde music, among other topics. But it’s awe for the majesty of nature and trees in particular that powers The Overstory. Nine characters each discover an appreciation for trees so profound they come together to protect forests, not as a natural resource but as a good worth saving. Trees tolerate us. Trees outlive us. And trees might well outlive humanity, if we’re not careful. Powers speaks for the trees and if writing a book means cutting some down to print it, well, that’s just one more problem to be solved while we still can.

    Related: For Your Fall TBR List, 30 New Books We’re Reading This Autumn Season

    The Left Hand of Darkness: 50th Anniversary Edition (Ace Science Fiction)

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    The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

    We’re still catching up with the vision of writer Ursula K. Le Guin. At least we can pat ourselves on the back in recent years for realizing how much catching up we had to do. By the time of her death in 2018, Le Guin had been showered with accolades and affection and enough reappraisals to last ten lifetimes. Her Earthsea fantasies center a person of color as their hero. Her Orsinia novels are historical fiction about an imaginary country, giving Guy Gavriel Kay, among others, an entire career. Poetry, essays and so much more challenge and provoke. And her key series of the Hainish—novels and stories set on the planet of Hain—do all that and more. Then there’s The Left Hand Of Darkness from 1969. It tackles gender, androgyny and other issues few were even considering at the time and does it in a novel so compelling it was an immediate sensation. Darkness is the most mind-expanding First Contact novel of them all, thanks to ambisexual aliens who raise their children communally and are simply “beyond” gender. To call it feminist science fiction would immediately limit its scope. But it was and is and will always be feminist, science fiction and immediate.

    My Name Is Red (Vintage International)

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    My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk

    Take Umberto Eco’s The Name Of The Rose and add a dash of Jorge Luis Borges. Tell about the murder of an artist living during the Ottoman Empire. Immediately upend expectations by having the author interrupt the proceedings and make clear these are all just characters in a story. Then make it gripping, playful, fascinating and fun and you’ll start to appreciate the triumph that is My Name Is Red. Orhan Pamuk is the first Turkish writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize and it’s easy to understand why. He’s not just brave in literary matters. The author faces down lawsuits and death threats for defending freedom of speech and condemning Turkey’s genocide of Armenians. In My Name Is Red, the artists are miniaturists, specialists in tiny, precise artworks. Not Pamuk—he works on a large canvas.

    Harriet the Spy

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    Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

    For such a beloved kids book, Harriet the Spy has a lot of sharp elbows. It tells the story of a very observant child who pays attention to everyone around her and writes down what she thinks about them in her notebook. Then she loses the notebook. Then her friends find the notebook, read it and get very, very annoyed. Our heroine falls into a depression and becomes isolated from all her pals just for yearning to be a writer! But the moral is not that Harriet was wrong to write such thoughts; it was wrong of everyone else to read them. Duh! If you read someone else’s diary, you’re bound to be hurt. Generations of mystery lovers, novelists and even real-life C.I.A. agents credit Harriet the Spy as their gateway drug.

    Fight Club: A Novel

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    Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

    You don’t talk about fight club, but you do talk about Fight Club. Like many great books, it’s open to multiple interpretations. Is this story about a lonely man who bonds with other men via a “fight club” and is ultimately driven to reject cookie-cutter consumerism? Is it making fun of toxic masculinity? Is the movie starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton faithful to the novel? Or was the infamous, re-edited version imposed on it in China actually, weirdly more faithful to the book? Do you have to read the comic book sequels to “get it?” Rarely has a man wrestling with his own demons been dealt with so literally. Hallucinatory, incendiary and you’ll probably lose sleep over it simply because you’ll want to finish Fight Club in one go. Just…accept the insomnia, alright?

    The Magic Mountain (Everyman’s Library)

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    The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

    War changes everything. Mann’s comic novel about people with tuberculosis seeking a cure at a spa in Davos, Switzerland was a work in progress when World War I butted in. Suddenly, Mann wasn’t in the mood to joke around, or at least not without purpose. He reimagined The Magic Mountain, kept writing and the book deepened and grew into a sly takedown of modern society, all of it shadowed by war. It’s daunting, hard to pin down, sad and funny, and if you’re not quite sure what to make of it, you can always follow Mann’s advice: read it twice. It’s so good, you won’t mind.

    The Color Purple: A Novel

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    The Color Purple by Alice Walker

    It’s been a novel and then a movie and then a stage musical and then a radio play and soon a movie musical. But really it’s just a series of letters to God. For a book filled with so much pain and violence, Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winner is universally beloved. Just ask bookseller Lynette Yates of Half Price Books in Dallas. “The Color Purple grabs you from the first page and takes you on a rollercoaster ride covering so many issues and evoking so many emotions,” says Yates. “A real page-turner!” We believe it’s the forgiveness the novel embraces and embodies despite the pain and violence that keeps it so popular.

    Infinite Jest

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    Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

    The greatest tennis novel of all time! OK, that’s a modest claim, though there are other notable novels that encompass the sport of tennis. (Try Trophy Son by Douglas Brunt or one of Agatha Christie’s personal favorites of her mysteries, Towards Zero.) Mind you, this 1000+ page behemoth is much more than a tennis novel. It’s hilariously post-modern (even its footnotes have footnotes), sprawling (obviously), sad, controversial, erudite, show-offy (which is another word for “erudite”) and a mountain worth climbing.

    The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: A Novel

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    The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

    Teachers change lives. How often have we heard stories about the right teacher at the right time having a profound impact on a student? The novel How Green Was My Valley. The movie Dead Poets Society. The play The Corn Is Green. Then there’s Muriel Spark’s masterpiece The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie. All the elements are in place: an inspiring teacher in 1930s Edinburgh, a group of girls singled out for promise and the reward of academic success. But what’s this? On the wall, the teacher puts up admiring images of the fascist Mussolini. And what’s that? Miss Brodie dallying with not one but two male teachers? And Miss Brodie manipulating one of the girls to perhaps dally herself with the more handsome but married of the two men? That’s a lesson in life Mr. Chips never considered. In devastating fashion, Sparks shows the danger of idolizing anyone and that the best thing a student should learn is to think for themself.

    Atonement: A Novel

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    Atonement by Ian McEwan

    Oh, fatal misunderstanding! How much art would go differently if only people would speak clearly or explain themselves or just not jump to conclusions? Wuthering Heights. Bridget Jones’s Diary. Romeo & Juliet. Misunderstanding the situation can be the death of love, literally. So it is in Atonement, where a young girl fatally misunderstands a scene she witnesses and feels compelled to make an awful accusation, ruining the lives of those around her. Can she make it up to them, even if only in her imagination? Ian McEwan’s novels are filled with such misunderstandings. But perhaps none is so dramatic as the one in Atonement. It powers this story through the start of World War II, Dunkirk and then a final bittersweet revelation that should feel a cheat, but somehow doesn’t. Sometimes a sad ending is the right ending, no matter how much we long for things to turn out better.

    Zorba the Greek

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    Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis

    Are you going to sit there with your dusty books and read about life? Or are you going to live your life? Eat, drink, dance, make love, live! That’s the philosophy of Zorba the Greek, the character who brushes aside those silly books to wake up a young intellectual who experiences the world only through the words of others. Not after Zorba is done with him! That’s the action in this exuberant 1946 novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, a huge bestseller made even more famous by the classic film version that gave star Anthony Quinn one of his best roles. It promises a zest for life. But, of course, you’re reading about this zest for life. You’re being inspired by a book that encourages a zest for life, which it insists can’t be found in books. Ironic? Hmm. Maybe reading books isn’t so bad after all.

    Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel

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    Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

    Writer Jesmyn Ward is the only woman to win the National Book Award twice. She’s also the only African American to win the National Book Award twice. Her novel Sing, Unburied, Sing has been compared to Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, Toni Morrison’s Beloved and George Saunders’ Lincoln In The Bardo. All three of those writers are on this list too, though Faulkner is here with The Sound and the Fury. Everyone from the New York Times to the BBC to former President Barack Obama named it one of the best books of the year. The all-things-bookish website Literary Hub named this 2011 novel one of the best books of the decade. And now it’s on our list of one of the best books of all time. It tells the story of a road trip. Thirteen-year-old Jojo struggles with the demands of being a young man while caring for his little sister Kayla, wary of his mother Leonie and uncertain of the father who’s just been released from prison. If that isn’t enough, he must also help the ghost of Richie, a 12-year-old boy who can’t quite accept the fact that he’s died. It’s tough and true and—as you might expect—the prose sings.

    True Grit: A Novel

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    True Grit by Charles Portis

    This stone-cold classic could stand in for all the great Westerns. They just aren’t usually narrated by a 14-year-old girl so distinctive in nature that you’ll never forget her. It’s so popular they made two films based on the novel, but neither can hold a candle to it. Writer Jasper Fforde insists it belongs on any list of great novels. “Mattie does not seek blood redress, she seeks justice—to see Chaney ‘hanged at Judge Parker’s convenience’ back home at Little Rock,” says Fforde, author most recently of The Constant Rabbit. “A revenge story, a manhunt, a thriller, a story of trust, love, bravery, duty and tenacity—True Grit has it all.”

    The World According to Garp: A Novel

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    The World According To Garp by John Irving

    We stand in awe of John Irving’s fourth novel and breakthrough, The World According To Garp. In 1978, it seemed willfully odd and “out there.” An NFL quarterback who has a sex change and now goes by Roberta? A woman who wants a child but not a husband? A son who struggles to write fiction…and then watches as his strong-willed mother simply sits down, writes an autobiography she calls A Sexual Suspect, and immediately becomes a world-famous feminist icon? Radicals who cut out their tongues to protest brutal male violence? What is this madness? Well, it’s beautiful and scary and strange and above all human, somehow. In 1982, it was turned into a wonderful, perfectly edited film that captured the idiosyncratic appeal of John Irving’s worldview and proved Robin Williams was more than a funny man. Irving soon proved he was more than an offbeat eccentric with The Cider House Rules and A Prayer For Owen Meany, but his career proper began right here.

    The Complete Stories (FSG Classics)

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    The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor

    It’s never too late. Flannery O’Connor’s second short story collection came out just five months after she died. And she won the National Book Award for The Complete Stories eight years later. As a devout Catholic, O’Connor surely would have appreciated this posthumous success: for her, death was only the beginning. Her father died of lupus when O’Connor was just 15 years old. The same illness would plague her for the last twelve years of her life. It was also the period when she wrote some of the most famous short stories of her day, stories that ensured her fame. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find.” “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” “You Can’t Be Any Poorer Than Dead.” Critics saw them as bleak, gothic and grotesque. O’Connor saw them as honest and true by tackling race, faith and the daily struggle to get by in a violent, unfair world. Write about what you know? That she did.

    Ministry for the Future

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    The Ministry For the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

    Writer Kim Stanley Robinson’s entire career led to his most recent, most remarkable novel. In book after book, Robinson tackles the challenge of the climate crisis and how humanity might survive it. The Three Californias trilogy shows its impact on that state. Red Mars kicks off the Mars trilogy, a look at the practical challenges of terraforming the Red Planet and how we are likely to bring our problems with us. The Science In The Capitol books show a ravaged D.C, New York 2140 a Venice-like Big Apple and on and on. Race may be the defining issue for America. But the climate crisis is the defining issue for the planet and Robinson tackles it admirably. With The Ministry For the Future, he swings for the fences. Robinson offers a near-future look at what is going to happen next and what might happen after that. It’s scary and shocking and so believable, it gets scarier still. But as bad as it gets, there’s hope. Oh it won’t be easy, Robinson says, but maybe just maybe we can get through this. He offers this ray of light in a novel so expansive and wide-ranging that only Moby-Dick comes to mind for sheer, all-encompassing vision. Maybe it’s a warning. Maybe it’s a how-to book. But it’s definitely great.

    To The Lighthouse

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    To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

    You can’t go wrong with Virginia Woolf, one of the giants of literature. We figure movie buffs already know about her novel Orlando: A Biography thanks to the brilliant film version starring Tilda Swinton. And this list includes Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, which was inspired by Mrs. Dalloway and should send readers scurrying to that masterpiece as well. So we’ll include To the Lighthouse. Woolf is a “modernist,” and her stream-of-consciousness style was strange and new to readers of the 1920s. But we’re used to it now, so the impressionistic chatter of Mrs. Dalloway and the gender fluidity of Orlando and the flitting from character to character in To the Lighthouse shouldn’t put you off. In this novel, the Ramsay family is vacationing on the Isle of Skye and plans to visit a lighthouse on a nearby island the next day. Or will they? Ten years later, they try and finally make that jaunt to the lighthouse actually happen. Amidst this simple action, the complex give and take of a married couple, the lines of tension in a family, the tangled friendships and neighbors that muddy it all up (not to mention life, war, the passage of time and so on) are captured in a rush of emotions and memories and brief moments. It’s all illuminated by Woolf the way—wait for it—the shining beam of a lighthouse pierces the fog and lights the way home. Someone in the novel insists women can’t be serious painters or writers. Woolf must have had a good laugh over that.

    The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel

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    The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

    A cat is missing. That’s the event kicking off writer Haruki Murakami’s mid-career masterpiece. When a writer dips into science fiction, crime novels and magical realism, not to mention nonfiction works about being a marathon runner and talking with survivors of a terrorist attack, you expect a missing cat to be just the beginning. And it is. The novel soon contains psychics, a missing wife, horror stories from World War II and much more. Murakami cranks up the story and then lets it fly, with reality always a teasingly subjective matter. His spin on 1984 titled IQ84 might be an easier way in for some. But whether you tackle his novels or short stories or nonfiction, this perennial favorite for the Nobel Prize will happily confound you.

    Related: ‘Sweet Magnolias’ Books in Order: How To Read The Whole Series That Inspired The Hit Netflix Show

    Bel Canto (Harper Perennial Deluxe Editions)

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    Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

    Singers discover new facets of their voice as they mature. Age or a new vocal coach or simply nerve open up all sorts of possibilities. Sopranos become mezzo-sopranos. Baritones evolve into tenors. The Bee Gees discover falsetto. You get the idea. Writers do the same thing. Author Ann Patchett pushed herself and found a new voice with her fourth novel Bel Canto. Inspired by a real-life terrorist act, she imagined the story of a Japanese business executive being wooed by a South American country. He’s the guest of honor at a party, an American opera singer is brought in for entertainment and it’s crashed by a terrorist group hoping to kidnap the head of the country. The result is a stand-off, with tense negotiations breaking up long dull periods of waiting, not to mention love. A translator falls for a terrorist. The businessman falls in love with the singer, though neither speaks the other’s language. And Patchett takes her writing to a whole new level of sophistication and control, winning critical acclaim and a wider audience than ever. Brava!

    The Hours: A Novel (Picador Modern Classics Book 1)

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    The Hours by Michael Cunningham

    Moby-Dick. Jane Eyre. Great Expectations. Everything ever by Shakespeare. The list of classic works of art that inspire other classic works of art is so long and respectful that no one should blink an eye when an author says they’re writing a prequel or sequel or spin-off to a masterpiece. And yet, it took a serious amount of chutzpah for writer Michael Cunningham to not only write a novel inspired by the classic Mrs. Dalloway, but to include Virginia Woolf herself as one of the main characters. His nerve paid off. The Hours depicts one day in the life of three women separated by decades: Woolf herself, working on Mrs. Dalloway in 1923 while fighting off the black dog of depression; Mrs. Brown, planning a birthday party for her World War II veteran husband in 1949; and Clarissa, the former lover of a male poet dying of AIDS who is throwing a party with her female partner in 1999 to celebrate him. Cunningham captures Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness style. He also brings to life three people of their time who deal with society’s oppressive attitudes towards their sexual orientation and status as women. And The Hours subtly makes one now commonplace but important point for women and LGBT people: it gets better.

    Tales of the City: A Novel

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    Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

    If he wasn’t so darn entertaining, maybe people would realize how radical writer Armistead Maupin has been. His valentine to San Francisco began as a serialized novel featured in the San Francisco Chronicle. Wide-eyed newcomer Mary Ann Singleton visits the city and realizes this is the place for her! She finds a room to rent at 28 Barbary Lane, she finds a friend in Michael aka “Mouse” and she gains an inspiring mentor in her landlady Anna Madrigal. From a story about a wide-eyed girl, Maupin’s addictive drama quickly took readers to every corner of the city. Even a hip liberal newspaper in San Francisco was wary of the bathhouses and bisexuals and so much more in the serial. But everyone wanted to know what happened next, so what could they do? Nine novels, radio plays, a musical and four groundbreaking miniseries followed. Like Dickens or Balzac or Trollope, Maupin captured an entire fleeting era just as it happened. Start here but be warned: you can’t read just one.

    Ragtime: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)

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    Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow

    E.L. Doctorow changed the historical novel once and for all. Others came before, they always do. But Doctorow’s rigorous research mixed a playful combination of historical figures and imaginary characters in a manner that brought the past to light and commented on it at the same time. It’s as neat a stunt as any Harry Houdini ever pulled off. In the panoramic Ragtime, Doctorow starts with the lives of a wealthy family that sells fireworks, crosses their path with the musician Coalhouse Walker and then weaves in pretty much everything going on during the early 1900s, from agitator Emma Goldman to Robert Peary’s polar expeditions to tycoon J. P. Morgan and a depressed Houdini, to name just a few. It’s dazzling, fresh, alive, funny, tragic and the movie and musical it inspired have their fans, but can’t outshine the original.

    Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant: A Novel

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    Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler

    Anne Tyler has written 24 novels and enough short stories to fill two collections. So it’s no surprise to find people arguing about which is her best. Tyler herself would say don’t read her first four novels, but that’s modesty for you. She could mention the National Book Award for The Accidental Tourist, turned into a delightful Oscar-winning film. Or the Pulitzer Prize won by Breathing Lessons, one of her most effervescent works. Or the Booker nomination for A Spool of Blue Thread. But diehards and Tyler point to Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant as the prototypical Tyler novel and a great place to start. It tells the story of three siblings, riven by the abandonment of their father yet entangled with old arguments, resentment, history and forgiveness, soon followed by new arguments. You know, siblings. Tyler said it comes closest to what she imagined at the start, which is to say it’s warm-hearted, clear-eyed, amusing and moving. Enjoy.

    Cloud Atlas

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    Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

    It’s just one of those books, a work so original and fresh that everyone instantly agrees, “Oh yes, that’s a good one.” Mitchell’s third novel is daringly constructed. It begins with the journal of a man on board a ship in the 1800s, written in the style of the era. Just as you become thoroughly involved in the story, it stops mid-action. The next section is an epistolary novel set in 1930s Belgium and written by a bisexual musician to his lover. The first story was so absorbing that you’re thoroughly annoyed Mitchell jumped to something new. What is going on here? But soon enough this new story becomes equally absorbing and just as you become enthralled by this tale and forget the first story even existed, it too stops. The novel jumps forward to the 1970s, with yet another new story written in the style of a mystery. Again and again it happens. Every time Mitchell drops a tale and begins something new, you’re annoyed; the story was so good, why on earth won’t he finish it? And then he wins you over again. Then at the halfway point, the final reveal takes place and you see the entire, brilliant structure of the novel and what Mitchell has been up to all this time. You understand how ambitious and clever it is and almost sigh with pleasure. Cloud Atlas is a tour de force. The film version, which you probably didn’t see, couldn’t ever hope to recreate the pleasure of reading this book.

    My Ántonia (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)

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    My Ántonia by Willa Cather

    Sometimes it seems like all the best stories about America are stories about travel. Immigrants reach America in Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn, Jack Kerouac goes On the Road, Huck Finn journeys down the Mississippi and Ántonia heads out West with her Bohemian family. Willa Cather made her name for good with this finale to the Prairie Trilogy. It celebrates regular, plain-speaking people like the orphaned boy Jim and his friend Ántonia, both struggling to survive at their new homes in Nebraska. F. Scott Fitzgerald lamented that his novel The Great Gatsby was a failure compared to hers, though eventually, they’d both do just fine in the eyes of critics and readers.

    The Kite Runner

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    The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

    Some novels strike a chord. How else to explain why a story about a boy in Afghanistan would take the world by storm in 2003? Khaled Hosseini’s novel charts the country’s tragic history from the fall of the monarchy to the Soviet invasion and the rise of the Taliban by focusing on fathers and sons. It’s since been adapted into a graphic novel, a movie and a Broadway play. None of them match the novel’s emotional impact, but when something is this popular, you can’t blame them for trying.

    The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party

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    The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves

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    The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol I and II by M.T. Anderson

    Some of the boldest, bravest works in recent decades are published for kids, perhaps to smuggle work into the culture without awakening the censors. Philip Pullman radically reimagines Paradise Lost with His Dark Materials. Charles M. Schulz showed little folks dealing with depression, unrequited love and the seeming futility of existence in the comic strip Peanuts. And in a young adult novel, M.T. Anderson reorients our understanding of the American Revolution, the central horror of slavery in U.S. history and how scientific studies are often influenced by the people funding them, all long before 1619. But The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing is also gripping and enthralling as we watch an enslaved boy raised by men of science who at first are determined to give him every advantage. They want to prove the African race is not inferior to Europeans, with Octavian as a test case. Later, as circumstances dictate, they’re determined to stack the deck against Octavian so somehow this bright young man fluent in several languages and an excellent violinist to boot will somehow leave white Europeans safe in the belief of their superiority. Toss in the curveball of the American Revolution and you have a work of historical fiction that stands alongside the best of them, just like Octavian Nothing.

    Angle of Repose

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    Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

    A historian and novelist, Wallace Stegner wrote a novel about a historian. That character writes a biography about his grandmother. To give it authenticity, Stegner drew heavily upon the letters of a real person, the notable writer Mary Hallock Foote. In a move that was controversial then and more so now, Stegner quotes extensively from the letters of Foote while only obliquely giving credit to her in his acknowledgments. And yet he wrote a novel where there never was a novel. Universally acclaimed and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize 50 years ago, Angle of Repose is a wonderfully layered combination of the brave journey of pioneers colored by the disappointments and regrets of the historian recounting them. Stegner, at least, surely had no regrets about his masterpiece.

    The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel (Harper Perennial Deluxe Editions)

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    The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

    You can feast on just the titles of novels by exiled Czech writer Milan Kundera. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. The Festival of Insignificance. Life Is Elsewhere. And of course, his most famous work, The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Playful, philosophical, political and personal, it shows Kundera at his most thoughtful and profound. The story of a womanizing surgeon is interrupted by sharp insights into life under a totalitarian regime. (In one passage, Kundera dissects a photograph of government officials watching a parade, detailing how those who fell out of favor had to be erased from the image, one by one.) Arguments about the nature of existence (Kundera is not a fan of Nietzsche) take place alongside the promise of the Prague Spring and its collapse with the invasion of Soviet troops and others in 1968. There is some lightness, too; a dog is a major character, for example. Kundera is an original.

    Cold Mountain: 20th Anniversary Edition

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    Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

    Homer’s The Odyssey looms so large it would be fair to say that almost everything that followed it has been influenced by the epic. Countless works of art are directly inspired by it, from James Joyce’s Ulysses to Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad and the comic film O Brother, Where Art Thou? starring George Clooney. Still, for debut novelist Charles Frazier to combine the story of his great-granduncle with the rough outline of The Odyssey and set it all during the Civil War was an act of bravery. Readers responded, for few modern novels have been this ambitious and yet taken so to heart by such a broad audience. Maybe it’s as simple as this: everyone can identify with the powerful desire to journey home.

    Endless Love: A Novel

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    Endless Love by Scott Spencer

    When young people fall in love, they feel like an explorer discovering a new continent. Surely no one else has ever felt like this before? Surely no love has ever been this all-consuming, this beautiful, this perfect? It happens again in Endless Love. Two young people—kids, really—fall in love and imagine Romeo and Juliet have nothing on them. What’s remarkable is that writer Scott Spencer convinces us that the love of Jade and David really is that earth-shattering. Everyone around them agrees. Their parents, their friends, literally everyone acknowledges the love those two feel really is as special as they imagine. Then Jade’s father banishes David from this earthly paradise, David hatches a cockamamie plan to win back the family’s trust, it goes horribly wrong and love becomes obsession. A huge bestseller, Endless Love has been adapted into not one but two epically bad films, movies so awful you fear they’ve kept people away from the novel ever since. Don’t make that mistake.

    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (SeaWolf Press Illustrated Classic): First Edition Cover

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    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

    Some books are so well-intentioned they forget to be good. Think Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It’s as important a novel as there ever was, but you wouldn’t want to read that potboiler today. Mark Twain’s masterpiece is another thing altogether. His classic “boy’s own” book The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer is a delight of youthful innocence. A rascalish character in that novel takes center stage in this one. Twain lost the “The” for some reason and called it Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn. But he gained immortality with a righteous condemnation of enslavement wrapped in a story so funny and gripping and raw that few can resist it. The central dilemma? Huck knows he will be literally damned to hell for helping the escaped black man Jim avoid being put back in chains. He does it anyway. And if Huck treats Jim a little poorly after that mighty choice, well, whoever expected an abandoned, beaten, dismissed kid to always behave sensibly? Huck is just a child and Twain never forgets that. It’s the adults he damns so well.

    A Fine Balance

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    A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

    One of the worst periods in Indian history inspired one of its best novels. In 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ignored the Constitution and essentially declared martial law, jailing opposition leaders and clamping down on the media. Her dictatorial reign lasted almost two years and featured all sorts of atrocities, like the forced sterilization of millions. It’s called The Emergency. Writer Rohinton Mistry tells the story of this period through the lives of four people: two tailors from a caste considered “untouchable,” a wealthy Parsi widow and a young man from the Kashmir Valley who resents being sent to college by his parents. Their paths cross and crisscross during this life-changing period, a time of upheaval akin to the Partition of India in 1947 or perhaps the American Civil War. All three of his novels are worth your time. Still, it’s been 20 years since he published Family Matters and we are politely impatient for a fourth.

    The Ice at the Bottom of the World: Stories

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    The Ice at the Bottom of the World by Mark Richard

    “Read the story collection The Ice at the Bottom of the World at your own risk,” says Chuck Palahniuk, author most recently of The Invention Of Sound. “Mark Richard’s short stories will leave you unhappy with almost all other fiction for the rest of your life. In stories like ‘Strays’ and ‘This is Us, Excellent,’ he gives us characters in miserable circumstances, but who refuse to suffer. Thus the reader is forced to shoulder the emotional and psychological burden. Richard’s incredible sentences will stick in your head, and his plots rise to such unlikely beauty that you’ll find tears running down your cheeks.”

    The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas

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    The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Machado de Assis

    In this biting, cynical novel, a man dies of pneumonia. Now dead, he’s free to say what he likes, so Brás Cubas dedicates his book to the worm that first feasted on his dead body and then tells his life story. He was a brat as a spoiled rich kid, loved often and poorly, made a mess of everything he did, wasted most of his family’s fortune, tried and failed at politics and finally dreamt up some quack medicine that could cure all diseases…but not, apparently, cure himself of pneumonia. A Brazilian classic, it’s been translated many times and is sometimes called Epitaph Of A Small Winner, which is about as much as Cubas can claim. It’s fragmented, entertaining, very modern and when you discover it was written in 1881 (not 2021 or even 1961), your astonishment and admiration is complete.

    Related: The 10 Best TV Crime Dramas That Were Adapted From Books

    Snow Crash: Deluxe Edition

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    Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

    What’s cyberpunk? Just picture the future as depicted in the film Blade Runner and you’re halfway there. When corporations or computers take over the world, you end up with something like the comic book Judge Dredd or William Gibson’s Neuromancer or even John M. Ford’s proto-cyberpunk novel Web Of Angels. Or you can read Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, a novel with his usual heady mix of technology, philosophy, religion, anarcho-capitalism, linguistics and other ideas we can barely follow. It’s all wrapped around our protagonist Hiro. You know he’s the protagonist because this pizza delivery dude’s full name is Hiro Protagonist. He joins up with Y.T. (a female skateboarder known as Yours Truly) and they’re soon caught up in one of those massive conspiracies involving technology, shadowy opponents and the fate of the (miserable) world. Snow Crash came out just thirty years ago and it’s amazing how quickly the world has caught up. Stephenson helped popularize ideas like an avatar and the Metaverse, which he definitely should have copyrighted. Bad science fiction tries to predict the future. Good science fiction like this holds up a mirror to the present and wonders where we’re headed. Take a look.

    A Thousand Acres: A Novel

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    A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

    Some people are crazy about Jane Smiley’s academic skewering in the novel Moo. We’re partial to her trilogy of books (Some Luck, Early Warning and Golden Age) that told the story of a family over one hundred years, with one year per chapter. They were bestsellers and nicely reviewed but deserve more hoopla. But everyone admires, loves and reads her retelling of King Lear. Sometimes the consensus is right; with Smiley, this is where to start. The novel A Thousand Acres is resolute, smart and devastating. When a father decides to split control of the family farm among his three daughters, the youngest objects. Just as in Lear, she’s frozen out of the kingdom, the two older daughters turn on their father and then secrets Shakespeare never imagined come to light. You reap what you sow.

    Invisible Man

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    Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

    Writer Ralph Ellison sped right past the “protest” novel or the “problem” novel. He ignored the conventions of social conscience or the “right” way to win over white readers and said, “Hey, what if I just write a modernist masterpiece?” That he did, in a novel about a young black man in flight from racism. “I am not complaining, nor am I protesting either,” begins Ellison who does just that but in a far more poetic, lasting and effective manner than any protest novel ever would. Ellison’s influences were broad, ranging from Kafka to Faulkner, T.S. Eliot to Dostoevsky, yet all of them were used in service to a voice enriched by oral traditions and a vivid, urban spirit. Other characters refused to see the narrator, but the book itself was simply too good to ignore. Invisible Man won the National Book Award in 1953, making Ellison the first person of color to do so. It would be 30 years before another person of color—Alice Walker, for The Color Purple in 1983—won it again.

    Empire Falls (Vintage Contemporaries)

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    Empire Falls by Richard Russo

    Empire Falls, Maine is a crumbling town on its last legs in Richard Russo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Miles Roby is a lot like the town. He’s running the Empire Grill and reduced to serving the new boyfriend of his ex-wife each and every day. His stoner brother is the short-order cook, his owner is the richest woman in town, his daughter in high school is a budding artist and they all know everything there is to know about each other. HBO made an excellent miniseries from this. While doing so, the production turned a pizza parlor in a small town in upstate New York into the greasy spoon Miles worked at. A few years later, the pizza parlor shut down because of course the real town was crumbling, just like Empire Falls. If that sort of irony causes a rueful laugh, Russo is the writer for you. He’s sharp, sympathetic and sadly amused by the pain of it all. You could start with The Risk Pool or Nobody’s Fool or you could just start right here.

    Edisto: A Novel

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    Edisto by Padgett Powell

    If you want to make a name for yourself among the literati, there are rules to follow. Start out strong with an acclaimed debut. Choose one style and stick to it—everyone will know what to expect from you and can easily skip a book or two of yours without feeling they’re missing something. (Did anyone worry if they missed a John Updike novel? They did not.) Oh and don’t be funny. No one will take you seriously if you’re funny. Well, Padgett Powell got the first part right. His debut novel Edisto is a coming-of-age tale about a 12-year-old boy named Simons Manigault and yes it’s devilishly funny. But it’s also masterful enough in style to have Saul Bellow praise Powell and Southern literary éminence grise Walker Percy declare the book better than The Catcher in the Rye. Then Powell went and blew it. He started writing short stories, each one more outrageous than the next. They were wild, wooly, unmannered. The pitch-perfect Edisto Revisited was so good it deserves comparisons to The Godfather Part II, another sequel that deepened your appreciation of the original. But it was too late. Before you knew it, Powell was performing high wire acts, like a novel composed entirely of a conversation between two men sitting on a porch chewing the fat, more vaudeville than High Art. Another one called The Interrogative Mood: A Novel? contained nothing but a series of questions. (Did he pull it off? Do you have to ask?) Is this the old-fashioned, dependable writer the gatekeepers signed up for almost forty years ago? No, it is not. Does he care? No, he does not. Read Edisto but be prepared to dive into the deep end once you become a fan.

    The Pillars of the Earth: A Novel (Kingsbridge Book 1)

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    The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

    Ken Follett broke onto the bestseller list with 1978’sEye of the Needle, a blockbuster so good we named it one of the best thrillers of all time. Six more thrillers followed, two of them nonfiction. Then Follett surprised everyone with the novel that will be his legacy: The Pillars of the Earth. It’s a historical novel about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Knightsbridge, England during the 12th century. The action takes place over 50 years and the house of worship is the culmination of generations of work. What could be less thrilling than the building of a church? Ask, rather, what could be more thrilling? Follett poured everything into this, spending years on research to get it right. His passion was infectious and his story so immersive readers got lost in it, finishing in a daze. The book has sold at least 26 million copies so far. Then Follett spent the next 30 years delivering three more books in the Knightsbridge series. Unlike some of the artisans in the novel, Follett has lived to see his masterwork be complete. Sure, the series has been turned into two different miniseries and even a video game. But it’s the first novel that remains the peak of his career, as impressive and awe-inspiring as the cathedral itself.

    Mrs Palfrey At The Claremont: A Virago Modern Classic (Virago Modern Classics Book 2)

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    Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor

    No, not that Elizabeth Taylor. This Elizabeth Taylor is an English novelist who wrote polite dissections of middle and upper-class Brits, works so discreet and effortless that for a long time no one but other writers realized what a genius she was. Taylor’s short stories were a mainstay of the New Yorker magazine for about 20 years and she wrote twelve novels in all. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont was the last published in her lifetime and that’s fitting since it deals with the end of life. Mrs. Palfrey is comfortable enough financially to move into the Claremont hotel alongside other aged residents. But she’s embarrassed her grandson never calls and frets over a marriage proposal and it’s all so amusingly depicted you almost don’t notice how sad and piercing Taylor can be. It’s the sort of book that is never in fashion but always read with pleasure.

    The Things They Carried

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    The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

    In twenty-one short stories, writer and Vietnam War veteran Tim O’Brien tells the story of soldiers fighting in that war and probably the stories of soldiers fighting in every war that’s ever been and all the ones to come. We want our war stories told by veterans because then those stories are real, authentic and to be trusted. Except O’Brien toys with that expectation. He dedicates this book to the men of the imaginary Alpha Company. He calls his main character O’Brien and that character tells his daughter that no, he never killed anyone in the war. Then he immediately tells us about the man he did kill, only to tell us in another story that this was complete fiction. O’Brien (or maybe “O’Brien”) says he made up that incident because he wanted to help us understand the truth of what the Vietnam War was like. Moving, funny and haunting, The Things They Carried is as real as it gets, made-up stories and all.

    Dracula: Deluxe Edition

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    Dracula by Bram Stoker

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a work of startling originality. In contrast, Bram Stoker’s Dracula takes bits and pieces from every vampire story that came before, along with folklore, myth and legend, and seasons it with fears about newly independent women, immigrants and disease. Then he cribs from the hugely popular author Wilkie Collins and especially the page-turner The Woman in White. Finally, Stoker tosses in his own personal peccadilloes—or at least, only as much of them as this acquaintance of Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde dared—to create a potent brew of erotic, Gothic horror. The result was a sensation, a vampire novel so bold and shocking and successful that it became the vampire novel and every vampire story that followed would steal from him. Like the vampire women feasting on poor Jonathan Harker, countless artists have fed on Dracula to inspire their own books, movies, plays, TV shows, games, comics, plays and more. Nothing, not even a stake through the heart, can erase this monster. Dracula survives and thrives in our imagination and probably always will.

    Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

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    The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

    Physically frail but morally strong, Carson McCullers empathized with outsiders and dreamers. Her writing was labeled Southern Gothic, because she was from the South and depicted outré characters such as mutes, closeted gay men and black people. A young white woman writing about black people! Her success was immediate, with the 1940 debut The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter seen as anti-Fascist, pro-democracy, exotic (how could there be so many mute people in one small town, wondered some?) and ultimately, just human and touching and true. If a mute man seems the safest person for a string of people to share their dreams and fears with, is that really so strange? McCullers enjoyed further success with The Member Of The Wedding and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. But McCullers remained a lonely hunter in her personal life, dying alone at age 50 after a lifetime of severe illness and unrequited love for the numerous women she pursued.

    True History of the Kelly Gang: A Novel (Vintage International)

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    True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey

    The Western may be the most American of genres. Yet long before it joined the United States, Hawaii boasted of cowboys with enough roping skills to put the Yankees to shame at their own rodeos. And Australia’s Outback would give the Badlands a run for its money in terms of punishing danger. Besides, surely every country can boast of criminals that capture the popular imagination? So here is Aussie Peter Carey with this vulgar, violent, rollicking Western about the outlaw Ned Kelly and his gang, as told to Kelly’s fictional daughter. You know you shouldn’t be loving Kelly’s outrageous justification for his actions, but a good story overwhelms moral qualms any day. And borders! Kelly’s dad was an Irishman transported to Van Diemen’s Land aka Tasmania; the author is Australian, where most of the novel takes place; and it won the prestigious UK prize the Booker. But did that stop its US publisher from calling this a “Great American Novel”? Nope. Besides, they’re right.

    The Death of Vivek Oji: A Novel

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    The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

    Why do we love these lists? Because we can spot books we love, point out books that should be on the list, yet aren’t, and be reminded of books we know we should read but haven’t. Yet. And—if we’re adventurous—we read these lists to discover books we haven’t even heard of but will soon become favorites. So here’s writer Chinelo Okparanta to champion a writer from Nigeria, the country where Okparanta was born. “Akwaeke Emezi is one of the most exciting voices of our time, even earning themself a cover feature in Time Magazine as one of the magazine’s 2021 Next Generation Leaders,” says Okparanta, author most recently of Harry Sylvester Bird. “The Death of Vivek Oji, set in an international community of families composed of foreign-born women married to Nigerian men, is the heart-wrenching story of Vivek, a gentle soul who, as his current stint at life would have it, has embarked on a tortured journey into a new self. It is about the family we are born into and [the] ones we choose for ourselves. The verdict on each family is not a tidy one, for the novel is also about the ways in which both kinds of families render earnest support, and how, despite their best intentions, they also disappoint. Vivek dies, but there is hope—a promise of a return after death. As an avid believer in reincarnation, I enjoyed the novel’s timeless contention that a body, though destined to die, will live again.”

    On the Road

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    On the Road by Jack Kerouac

    Is he a rebel dancing to his own beat or an unwitting toxic male fleeing from responsibility? Jack Kerouac may not have anticipated the many ways his characters would be seen over the years. But his classic novel of escape is rich enough to bear the re-examination. And no one can deny the rhythmic, tumbling, finger-snapping prose that hurtles the story along at breakneck speed. The legend of its birth is as totemic as the novel itself—in 1951, Kerouac pounded out the tale on one long roll of paper in a three-week fever dream of inspiration. Writers have been jealous and inspired by him ever since.

    The Old Forest and Other Stories

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    The Old Forest and Other Stories by Peter Taylor

    Peter Taylor is an old-fashioned Southern storyteller, unremarkable in every respect except for how truly good he is. He wrote three slim, marvelous novels, but it’s his short stories that astonish—they capture a world, a character, a moment with such care that every word matters and every insight hits with an intensity no novel could sustain. Late in life, Taylor had his moment. In 1985, The Old Forest and Other Stories received an unusual amount of attention for him, along with rave reviews. Chekhov was mentioned, and often. One year later, his novel A Summons to Memphis won the Pulitzer Prize. Now? Now he sits quietly in a corner, waiting to be rediscovered as surely he will. His heyday (if one can use such a vulgar term) was so long ago that none of Taylor’s work is even available as an e-book. He might be relieved to know it.

    Related: 20 Enlightening Spiritual Books for When You’re Searching for Hope and Strength

    The Rings of Saturn

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    The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald

    W.G. Sebald is unique. He is like no one else and no one is his heir because how could they be? His “novel,” The Rings of Saturn, is typical of him—it’s sort of fiction, sort of a travel book, sort of history and sort of a memoir and more, all jumbled up together. In it, the narrator (presumably Sebald) takes a walking tour in Suffolk, England. He tells you what he’s seeing and the people he meets, along with an inexhaustible stream of scientific knowledge, history, literary allusions and so on. You assume he’s (sort of) telling the truth and if you look it up you’ll discover various facts are absolutely or fairly or somewhat accurate or perhaps you can’t discover anything about a certain fact at all, though this doesn’t prove it’s not true, does it? Before you know it everything is true and fantastical and connected and it’s all so moving, so real, so unlike anything you’ve ever read before that you’ll finish it and wonder what the heck it was and how he did it. You’ll want to urge people to read The Rings of Saturn while praying no one asks you to describe it…and then you’ll eagerly track down something, anything else by Sebald.

    A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel

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    A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

    Who doesn’t want to live in a fancy hotel? From Eloise at the Plaza to Count Rostov at the Hotel Metropol, the idea of endless room service and a parade of interesting house guests you can easily ignore—if so inclined—seems like heaven. In the case of Count Rostov, the protagonist of A Gentleman in Moscow, it’s supposed to be more like hell, or purgatory at least. As a nobleman who returns to Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, Rostov is tried and sentenced to house arrest at the Hotel Metropol. Clearly, the last vestiges of the aristocracy hadn’t quite been swept away, though at least the Count is ordered to leave his lavish suite and take a servant’s quarters. Decades pass, all of it in charming detail and with an inventiveness that never flags. It’s no wonder Towles went from an acclaimed, best-selling debut novelist with Rules Of Civility to an absolute phenomenon thanks to this word-of-mouth sensation. It’s so entertaining, some might feel suspicious of its greatness. But we’re not. Just be prepared to fork out the bucks for a bottle of Châeauneuf-du-Pape. It’s impossible to read this without longing for a taste of that wine.

    The Far Pavilions

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    The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye

    Born and raised in India, then sent to boarding school in Great Britain, writer M.M. Kaye was destined to write a novel about the British Empire. First, she spent decades writing and/or illustrating children’s books and penning a series of thrillers and stand-alone novels—none of them creating much of a stir. They weren’t nearly as dramatic as Kaye’s real life. She fell in love during World War II with a British Indian Army officer who was married and four years younger than her. Kaye had one child and was pregnant with a second before they actually got married. It was the war, she shrugged. Then, Kaye’s literary agent, Paul Scott, urged her to write about India. (He himself shot to fame with the Raj Quartet novels.) Over the next twenty years, Kaye wrote three books of historical fiction. The first was gutted by bad editing, the second did better, and in 1978, Kaye published her doorstopper of a masterpiece: The Far Pavilions. It received major acclaim as a new spin on Rudyard Kipling’s Kim, enjoyed huge sales and became HBO’s first miniseries. Kaye lived another 26 years but, except for a trilogy of memoirs, she never wrote again.

    The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

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    The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

    This novel’s narrator starts talking and you just can’t stop listening. His story is the confession of a political prisoner in Vietnam and it’s a doozy. Our unnamed protagonist is filled with contradictions. He’s the mixed-race son of a Vietnamese mother and a French Catholic priest father. He’s a North Vietnamese double agent living in South Vietnam. He escapes to America and continues living a double life amidst the local Vietnamese community. Then, he’s an adviser on an American war film akin to Apocalypse Now. Finally, he returns to Vietnam to fight in a guerrilla campaign against the Communist government. He’s the ultimate sympathizer—seeing all sides at once and losing track of which side he’s on. Compared to everything and everyone from Ralph Ellison to Joseph Conrad to Philip Roth and Walt Whitman, Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is one of the most acclaimed debuts in ages. And its sequel, The Committed, continues the tale with similar success.

    Breakfast at Tiffany’s: A Short Novel and Three Stories (Modern Library)

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    Breakfast at Tiffany’s: A Short Novel and Three Stories by Truman Capote

    Truman Capote practically invented the true crime genre with his nonfiction book In Cold Blood. He also wrote remarkable magazine features, turned gossip into high art and even perfected the character of “Truman Capote” in interviews throughout his life. Yet Capote’s favorite creation was Holly Golightly, the American “geisha” at the heart of his novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She’s a free spirit who lives in New York City thanks to the generosity of older, wealthier men. Holly is not a prostitute but she does enjoy nice things, and how kind of men to give them to her. You can draw a straight line from Lorelei Lee of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to Sally Bowles of Goodbye To Berlin (and later Cabaret fame) to Miss Golightly. It’s substantially different from the film version starring Audrey Hepburn. (Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe.) But the spirit of the novel is onscreen. Here, the novella is paired with three marvelous short stories, including “House Of Flowers” (turned into a fine Broadway musical), “A Diamond Guitar” and “A Christmas Memory,” itself turned into movies, plays and more. Capote could be waspish, but here he’s on his best behavior.

    Ulysses (The Gabler Edition)

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    Ulysses by James Joyce

    The timid among us might name the short story collection Dubliners as the masterpiece of James Joyce. But cartoonist and graphic novelist Chris Ware will have none of it. He plunks for the daunting, challenging, modernist classic Ulysses. “Though apparently the Great American Novel still has yet to be published, the Great Irish Novel already was, exactly a century ago,” says Ware, author most recently of Monograph. “James Joyce’s inverted plot of the Odyssey—a husband exiling himself from his house to allow his wife her ongoing adulterous tryst—is mashed up into, amongst other things, the inside-out consciousnesses of his main characters, all of human history, and the ebb and flow of one day of life in 1904 Dublin, all written with an ever-recombined Erector set of dreamlike English that somehow, incredibly, implants sense-memories directly in the reader’s mind. And that final, 1922-outraging chapter, which so directly articulates female desire, remains Joyce’s private gift to one-half of humanity, a topic which until that point had rarely been treated as a topic worthy of consideration.”

    The Outsiders

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    The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

    Many great novels about young people came before. (Think The Catcher in the Rye or Anne of Green Gables or Little Women or Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, to name a few.) Judy Blume was just on the horizon, with her debut novel about to come out in 1969. But in 1967, The Outsiders was a young adult novel written by a young adult and for a young adult audience and it was so successful that it changed everything. Hinton was 15 years old when she started it, 16 when she really knuckled down and got serious about it and 18 when it came out. The novel depicts gang violence, underage drinking, smoking, absentee parents, and an awareness of class divides between the Greasers and the Socs (the Socials). People are still afraid of teens actually reading it, so The Outsiders remains one of the most challenged and banned books in the country. Hinton wrote other novels, but this debut manages to “stay gold” almost 60 years later. Kids hungry to see their lives in the stories they read still latch onto it. And writers hungry to capture authenticity still study it.

    Darkness at Noon (Vintage Classics)

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    Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

    Arthur Koestler’s nightmare of a novel was inspired by the 1938 purges in the Soviet Union. In it, a man is broken down after multiple interrogations and makes a false confession about betraying the state. You are trapped with this man, you understand everything he’s feeling, you accept his decision to end the torture by saying whatever they want him to say and you walk with him as he’s led away to his death, the other unseen inmates drumming on the walls of their cells in support, just as he did for others before him and they will do again when the next one falls. It’s a shivering, unshakeable work.

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

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    One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

    In the biker movie The Wild One, they ask Marlon Brando, “What are you rebelling against, Johnny?” He shoots back, “Whaddaya got?” Maybe rebellion is always in the air, but the counterculture movement sparked by the Beats and leading to the hippies of the 1970s found one of its key texts in Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s narrated by a half-Native American patient of a mental ward who lumps all oppression into what he calls The Combine. “Chief” Bromden details the battle for power between a not-so-crazy inmate named Randle McMurphy and the controlling Nurse Ratched. Kirk Douglas loved it so much that he bought the rights, turned it into a play and triumphed on Broadway. But he couldn’t get anyone to back a film version. It took his son Michael to make that dream happen, succeeding beyond anyone’s dreams with the Oscar-winning classic starring Jack Nicholson. Kesey went on to found the Merry Pranksters, inspire the Grateful Dead and write the novel Sometimes A Great Notion, his own favorite. But it’s the short, sharp shock of Kesey’s Cuckoo’s Nest that is still banned in some schools and still inspires people to fight back against the system, the Man, or as Bromden calls it, The Combine.

    So Long, See You Tomorrow

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    So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell

    William Maxwell was the fiction editor at The New Yorker for 40 years during its glory days of 1936 to 1975. That’s enough to make his name legendary among other writers. But he also wrote novels, short stories, letters and essays. In 1980, Maxwell published one final book, almost 20 years after his previous novel came out. That new work was, naturally, published first in The New Yorker in two parts. They weren’t being kind to a venerable figure. They were lucky to have it and the publication was a sensation. So Long, See You Tomorrow is one of those perfect books; it’s simple, direct and unforgettable. The story begins with a gunshot and features an old man like Maxwell, looking back with regret on a tragedy of violence that tore through the town of his childhood. That gunshot, that murder, also abruptly ends a friendship just when that person needed their friend the most. Maxwell lived another 20 years, but this was his last novel. He was a good enough editor to know it doesn’t get any better than this, so why try?

    The Greatest Short Stories of Anton Chekhov: A Collection Of Fifty Stories

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    The Greatest Short Stories of Anton Chekhov by Anton Chekhov

    We’re sure you’ve been paying attention. And so again and again, you’ve seen the highest praise we give a writer—especially a writer of short stories—is “Chekhovian.” Anton Chekhov is also one of the greatest dramatists of all time and for the same reason. No one captures real life quite like Chekhov. Grab any short story collection you can. Any translation: Constance Garnett, Peavear and Volokhonsky, Miles, Dunnigan, Popkin, you name it. Everyone takes a shot at translating Chekhov into English because Chekhov is the greatest. Find out why.

    American Pastoral: American Trilogy (1) (Vintage International)

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    American Pastoral by Philip Roth

    The perennial bridesmaid of the Nobel Prize, Philip Roth reportedly spent the days when the annual announcement approached nervously in touch with his publisher. Have they called yet? They never called but you can’t blame the award-loving Roth for expecting it. Few writers turned out acclaimed work for 50 years like Roth. Choosing just one is absurd. How about one per decade? Goodbye, Columbus (1950s). Portnoy’s Complaint (1960s). The Ghost Writer (1970s). The Counterlife (1980s). Sabbath’s Theater (1990s). The Plot Against America (2000s). And overall, American Pastoral because it’s a sprawling epic covering underground movements like the Weathermen to political corruption like Watergate. Yet it remains human-scaled and moving thanks to the travails of Seymour Levov, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jew who realizes you never really know anyone, even your closest friends and family. Looks can be deceiving, which he should have known all along.

    The Known World

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    The Known World by Edward P. Jones

    Some writers are shockingly prolific. Some take their time. Edward P. Jones takes his time. In his 72 years, Jones has published three books. Two are collections of short stories about African Americans working in Washington D.C. His only novel, so far, is The Known World, a work that makes the complicated horrors of slavery in the U.S. fresh again. How? By telling the story of both black and white people who enslaved others in antebellum Virginia. This historical fact—that some black people also owned other human beings prior to the Civil War—changes everything and nothing for readers ignorant of this truth. And it’s just a starting point for a rich narrative that contains stories within stories, along with the varied perspective of the owners and the owned, the rebellious and those who feel betrayed, women and men, poor whites and rich blacks and more. If Jones never publishes again, his name is assured. But we can hope.

    A Man Called Ove: A Novel

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    A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

    Who needs critics? Most of them will politely admit that Swedish author Fredrik Backman’s debut novel has a certain charm. And yes, they laughed quite a bit, it’s true. But charm and humor and gentle wisdom are not the stuff of great reviews. Those qualities will, however, strike a chord when readers discover a book and tell a friend “you have to read this” and press a copy into their hands. That’s how this little book about a cranky old man with a sad past became a runaway bestseller. It’s charming, you’ll laugh a lot and the gentle wisdom is well worth hearing again. You can read it now or you can read it after seeing the Tom Hanks film version coming out in December. But you will buy it, love it and then tell a friend they have to read it while pressing a copy into their hands.

    Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver

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    Devotions by Mary Oliver

    This list of the best works of fiction wasn’t meant to include poetry, but some people just can’t help themselves. Writer Garrison Keillor writes poetry, edits anthologies of poetry and celebrates poetry with a daily podcast and newsletter. In short, Keillor, author most recently of Boom Town, is crazy about poetry. And one American poet of recent years is so alive in the minds of poetry lovers that it’s hard to remember she died in 2019: Mary Oliver. Keillor immediately asked to celebrate Mary Oliver’s collection titled Devotions. Keillor calls Oliver “the poet of long walks who is cheered up by the natural world and puts it all in elegant verse that sticks with you—‘No matter who you are or how lonely, the world calls to you over and over, harsh and exciting, announcing your place in the family of things.’”

    The Thin Red Line: A Novel

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    The Thin Red Line by James Jones

    Everyone lauds From Here to Eternity, the blockbuster novel by war veteran James Jones that climaxes with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It’s a great book and became a great movie. But since Jones is best when dealing with war and The Thin Red Line is the novel that’s actually steeped in combat, we’ll choose this one. Plus, it became an even greater movie than From Here to Eternity when Terence Malick released his movie version of the novel in 1998. (An earlier version came out in 1964.) Fellow veterans frequently laud Jones for telling it like it is and that makes his novels all the more surprising to modern readers. Loneliness, fear and brutality are all on display, along with unexpected touches like same-sex dalliances among soldiers trapped in foxholes and fearing for their lives. You won’t find any drum-beating or patriotic flag-waving either. This isn’t a rousing, go-get-’em war story by any stretch, though it’s not damning either. It’s just…true.

    How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

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    How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

    An immigrant story? Sure, if your immigrant story involves being in a family of means in the Dominican Republic but then fleeing to the US after your dad joins a plot to overthrow that country’s dictatorship and finds out he’s a better doctor than a revolutionary. Julia Alvarez’s debut novel enjoyed instant acclaim and has remained both popular and critically celebrated ever since. It opens up the world of the DR that too few know anything about, as well as shows New York City in a fresh light, as only newcomers can.

    The Three Musketeers (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

    After dozens of adaptations turning The Three Musketeers into movies, TV shows, comic books, video games, stage plays, radio dramas and the like, you might be forgiven if you forgot it began as a novel by Dumas. But you won’t forgive yourself if you don’t take the time to read it (or read it again, if you were the sort of kid who saw a big thick book about swashbucklers in France and dove right in). Like Charles Dickens, Dumas weaves a lot of topical issues into his grand adventures. This one is about a young man named d’Artagnan, who heads to Paris with the dream of joining the dashing Musketeers of the Guard and succeeds beyond his wildest imaginings. Grand fun. And if you’re wondering, when it comes to movies, we recommend the 1973 version starring Michael York, and when it comes to translations, we recommend the 2006 version by Richard Pevear—maybe if we all ask nicely, he’ll translate the sequels, starting with Twenty Years After and ending with The Man in the Iron Mask.

    Last Days of Summer

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    Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger

    The epistolary novel—a story told entirely through letters or, nowadays, perhaps texts or email and the like—is a very particular treat. They range from the heart-warming innocence of 84, Charing Cross Road to the cruel darts of Les Liaison Dangereuses. Author Julia Quinn is a fan of the format in general and especially of Steve Kluger’s story about a Jewish kid in New York City in the 1930s. The boy badgers the third baseman for the New York Giants into becoming his pen pal. “I love epistolary novels, and Last Days of Summer is pure perfection” says Quinn, author most recently of Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron. “It is, at turns, side-splittingly funny and deeply sad, with characters who develop and grow with every letter, report card or Bar Mitzvah program.”

    Brooklyn

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    Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

    Irish writer Colm Tóibín has something for everyone. Travel books that dive into history and faith. Plays. Novels. Short stories. Essays. Journalism. Two hugely acclaimed and ambitious books bring to life two giants of literature: The Master illuminates Henry James and The Magician captures the complexity of Thomas Mann. Then there’s Brooklyn. His most popular work and the source for a lovely movie, Brooklyn tackles the Irish immigrant experience in prose so empathetic and fresh that you’d swear no one ever told the story before. Eilis Lacey can’t find work in 1950s Ireland, so she makes an impossible leap to New York City. A young and sensible woman, she then chances it all on a handsome Italian plumber because she loves him and he loves her. Tóibín lets us feel how risky and brave and scary that is and we love her—and him—for it.

    Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)

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    Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

    Any war novel worth its salt is an anti-war novel. How can you survive the hellish cruelty and uncertainty of war with dumb luck (the only thing that saves you, in the end) and not think, “Never again, no thank you!” That’s certainly true of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. The author served in World War II and survived (including the firebombing of Dresden) and it’s all poured into the story of Billy Pilgrim. Billy’s a soldier and prisoner of war who makes it home alive but finds himself slipping through time, because isn’t time unmoored when war tears a hole in your life? Then there are aliens, humans on exhibition, philosophical musings, comedy and tragedy and it’s all a glorious mess and can you believe they tried to make a movie out of it? Vonnegut’s body of work is rich and strange and singular.

    Middlemarch (Macmillan Collector’s Library)

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    Middlemarch by George Eliot

    We aren’t ranking the books on this list, but let us tell you a secret. If we did, Middlemarch would be at the top. Not because it is the greatest novel of all time. (No such thing exists.) But because it is inarguably one of the greatest novels of all time, for a thousand reasons. It’s the same reason Rolling Stone recently crowned Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On as the greatest album of all time and movie lists usually name Citizen Kane as the greatest film. Sure, your personal choice may be different, but you can’t say any of those choices are wrong. This masterpiece by George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans) is so solidly written, so engrossing, so heartbreaking and such an accomplishment it can’t be denied. It’s both a historical novel and a novel grappling with the issues of its day—like the role of women in a world where a genius like Evans had to choose a male pen name to avoid scandal and be taken seriously, for starters. Bookseller Nina Barrett of Bookends & Beginnings in Evanston, Illinois adds her approval, praising it “for the Godlike omniscience and the incredible wisdom about human love and frailty that she packs into every page.”

    Related: Let’s Get Reading! 20 New LGTBQ+ Books We’re Loving This Year

    The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

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    The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

    This semi-autobiographical novel shoulders many burdens. It’s “the” book that represents the Native American experience for many, even though it’s just about one kid on the Spokane Indian Reservation. So what about all the other tribes? And what about the girls? And what about kids who don’t live with a disability like Arnold Spirit Jr. or aren’t really smart or don’t choose to go to a practically all-white public school off the rez, like he does? And maybe don’t even like comics, while Arnold wants to be a cartoonist? Like all great books, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian becomes universal by being so specific about Arnold and his world of grinding poverty and friendship and family and moments of joy. Plus, it’s funny and moving and engagingly written. And who can’t identify with that?

    Bridgerton: The Duke and I (Bridgertons Book 1)

    The Duke and I: A Bridgerton Novel by Julia Quinn

    The Bridgerton series devotes one book to each of the eight children in a family. You know it from the Netflix series, unless you’re a huge fan of Regency romances and read this when it made a stir in 2000. In The Duke And I, the story revolves around Daphne and Simon. She’s a Bridgerton and far too sensible and smart to appeal to the men of her time who prefer their women more mysterious and less outspoken. She doesn’t care, not really. Simon hates his father and vows never to marry or have children. But society can be so tiresome when matrons are pushing their eligible daughters at you. So they make a pact and pretend to be in love to get everyone off their backs. And of course, sparks fly and they fall for each other, though not without complications and confusion and a promise things will go no further. And then they go further. Sometimes a great novel is just great fun.

    The Stranger

    In this 1942 novel, a French settler in Algiers kills an Arab man and is sentenced to death. That brief description raises a host of complicated issues even before the Nobel Prize-winning author Camus raises the story above the “colonial novel” to a profound grappling with the meaning of existence. Along with Camus’s The Plague, it’s a rite of passage for thinkers and writers, including Tim O’Brien. “I’ve read it at least a half dozen times, probably more, both in English and in French,” says O’Brien, author most recently of Dad’s Maybe Book. “And I’m always moved, in a guilty and mysterious way, by how unmoved the book’s protagonist is in the midst of typically shattering circumstances. (Yet, by and large, don’t we all “recover” and somehow move on from lost loves and dead mothers and our own misdeeds.) The Stranger is among the four or five novels that, as a young man, made me dream about writing one of my own.”

    High Fidelity

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    High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

    The flipside to Bridget Jones’s Diary, this laddish novel by Nick Hornby proves a tantalizing peek inside the mind of a middle-aged man-child. Rob is a 35-year-old record store owner obsessed with music but facing a mid-life crisis when his more successful lawyer girlfriend leaves him. Rob spends most of his days making up Desert Island Lists about music and pop culture. When he comes up with a Top 5 Break-ups list from his romantic travails, Rob rethinks his earlier relationships and talks to the women about where he went wrong. Rob learns to grow up without having to give up his passion for rock n roll, thank God. High Fidelity is so very, very specific to this particular man in England and that’s what makes it universal. Making a movie version and setting it in the U.S. was an absurd idea. Then it made perfect sense, but only in retrospect and only when overseen and starring John Cusack.

    Middlesex: A Novel (Oprah’s Book Club)

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    Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

    Write what you know? If everyone did that, we would never have novels like Middlesex. Jeffrey Eugenides read a memoir by an intersex person, but felt it stopped short of revealing the emotions and reality of this rare experience. What was it like to be one of the people who have less common sex characteristics and simply don’t fit onto a male/female binary? To make it real to himself, Eugenides drew upon specific details from his own life and that of his Greek-American family to tell a sprawling, multigenerational tale of incest, love, confusion, bankruptcy and the journey of Cal/Calliope. Cal transforms from a child raised as female to a teen diagnosed as intersex and pushed towards gender reassignment surgery to make them conform to male characteristics and finally to an adult who embraces their intersex identity. The Pulitzer Prize and Oprah’s endorsement turned this into a perennial bestseller.

    The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter)

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    The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

    Yes, of course, the movie. But the novel! It’s the second of four books centering on the magnetic, chilling serial killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The first, Red Dragon, became an exceptionally good film called Manhunter. This one became a movie for the ages, the first horror-tinged movie to win the Best Picture Oscar. But the writing! Everyone from children’s author Roald Dahl to meta-magician David Foster Wallace have praised it to high heaven. Just don’t expect to sleep until you finish it. And then don’t expect to sleep easily.

    Why Did I Ever: A Novel

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    Why Did I Ever? by Mary Robison

    Anyone who ran away from home to try and track down Jack Kerouac in Florida is a person worth knowing. Other writers, like Daniel Handler of Lemony Snicket fame, have known and appreciated Mary Robison’s work for years. The fractured, fraying story of a Hollywood script doctor whose life is not following a three-act story arc, Why Did I Ever? may be her masterpiece. “It’s a manic, comic novel told in 536 little sections, some scarcely longer than a few words, from the point of view of a woman who is similarly scattered, troubled and jokey,” says Handler, author most recently of Poison For Breakfast. “If you’ve ever heard the lyrics (as the heroine does) as ‘It’s a grand old flag, dunt dunt high-flying flag. Dunt dunt duh, dunt dunt duh, dunt dunt duhhh,’ this book is for you.”

    Disgrace: A Novel

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    Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

    What can you learn about post-apartheid South Africa from a novel about a disgraced college professor who loses his job over repeated inappropriate behavior and far worse when it comes to a student he pressures into having sex? Nothing and everything. The Nobel Prize-winning Coetzee takes a white man of some standing in South Africa who sees his place in the world slipping away, both personally and in the country at large. Coetzee really puts him through the wringer and then somehow allows you to feel for him and hope for him, just when all hope seems lost. It’s a work of empathy and grace set in a country that lacked those qualities for so many for so long. And bestowing it on a character who really doesn’t “deserve” it proves again how everyone deserves it, always.

    Treasure Island (Signet Classics)

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    Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

    “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!” Those words at the end of Treasure Island echo in the mind of anyone who reads it long after they’ve closed the book. Has anyone spoiled the fun of Robert Louis Stevenson’s gem by discerning some commentary on colonialism or revealed Long John Silver as an example of unfettered capitalism? Let’s hope not. Because no book is more fun than Treasure Island. Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is a bore. R.M. Ballantyne’s now thankfully forgotten The Coral Island is a scold. But 140 years on, Treasure Island is a tale to fire the imagination. Pirates! Mutiny! Treasure maps! Gold! A brave lad caught up in it all and he lives to tell the tale! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum, indeed.

    In Search of Lost Time: Proust 6-pack (Modern Library Classics)

    In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

    Of course you’re intimidated. It’s multiple volumes long and contains more than 4000 pages! And if you want to keep track of who is cheating on whom and who said what at which party, you really have to read it all at once. But the Harry Potter books run to seven volumes and so will George R.R. Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire. Not only are people not daunted by them, they’re angrily demanding Martin hop to it and write more. Here’s the thing—Proust’s masterwork is gossipy, scandalous, sexy, funny and deeply moving. If you’ve ever enjoyed the company of someone who tells stories about their friends (“Oh, and did you hear what happened to Y.K. last week at the cafe?”) you will enjoy Proust. Reach the end of the final volume and you’ll be rewarded with an emotion unlike anything else in literature. Yes, it’s Mount Everest: formidable, challenging and dangerous. And people line up to climb Everest every single day. You can do it.

    Goodnight Moon

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    Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown; Pictures by Clement Hurd

    Books don’t have to be read again and again to be loved. But it sure helps. Like a favorite poem or song, a classic picture book distills a story to the essential words, casting a spell through a precise combination of text and pictures. It lulls a child to sleep and enchants the person reading it. Your parents read it to you. You read it to your child. And your child will read it to their child—or maybe already is!—and down and down through the ages. And if that doesn’t move you, nothing will. So let Margaret Wise Brown have the last, quiet word: “Goodnight stars. Goodnight air. Goodnight noises everywhere.”

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    Feeling dystopian? Read these 10 books similar to ‘1984’ by George Orwell.

    Remember high school English class reading assignments? Sometimes those dense classics were even enough to make the booklovers in the classroom groan.

    But every now and then, an assigned reading would come along and truly stick with us. For many, “1984” by George Orwell is one of those books.

    ‘Station Eleven’ by Emily St. John Mandel

    This dystopian sci-fi novel is about a roaming troupe of actors traversing the Great Lakes region, performing Shakespeare and music for the scattered communities that remain 15 years after a pandemic decimated most of the world’s population. But the Traveling Symphony runs into trouble when they arrive at St. Deborah by the Water and encounter a dangerous and violent prophet who threatens their existence. “Station Eleven” parallels the “before” and “after” of a pandemic-ridden society, weaving threads of fate, hope and disaster amid the apocalypse.

    ‘The Memory Police’ by Yōko Ogawa

    This dystopian novel takes place on an island wrestling with the increasing disappearance of everyday objects and animals. Birds, hats, ribbons, roses and other items are going missing, and only some have the power to remember what’s been lost. The Memory Police, a draconian, fear-inspiring squad, ensure these items remain forever forgotten. This story follows a young novelist devising a plan to hide her editor from the clutches of the Memory Police.

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    Other people can be baffling. Even in our closest relationships, loved ones frequently behave in ways that can seem inexplicable. Why can’t your friend recognize her self-destructive foibles? Why do you find your co-worker so grating? Partners insist on misinterpreting each other; voters are convinced that their political opponents are irredeemably wrong—and in these disputes, the other side’s point of view feels not just incorrect but also completely alien. In short, why are other people like this?

    Middlemarch, by George Eliot

    Those craving an immersive exploration of the human psyche should look no further than this towering classic novel. Although most readers wouldn’t describe Eliot’s study of a provincial 19th-century English town as a work of psychology, it dissects the interlocking lives of the residents with an astute eye toward what drives them. The characters in its sprawling cast—among them the ardent, generous Dorothea Brooke and the ambitious doctor Tertius Lydgate—make ill-advised marriages, run up against obstacles to their ambitions, allow their reputations to be besmirched, and fall into debts that they struggle to repay. Much of the novel’s drama comes from the mutual incomprehension that arises between individuals (particularly married couples), and Eliot tracks with riveting detail the feelings and thoughts on both sides of a disagreement. Even the briefest flash of emotion on a face or the intonation of a phrase can set off a chain of misunderstandings, and the reader is privy to each character’s shortcomings as they form unrealistic expectations and read their own preoccupations into their interlocutors’ words. Total understanding of others is impossible, the novel suggests. And yet, thanks to Eliot’s keen sensitivity, reading Middlemarch might just enlarge your capacity to imagine other people’s state of mind.

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    Vintage

    Darkness Visible, by William Styron

    At 60, Styron was stricken with an episode of severe depression, one that incapacitated him and brought him to the brink of suicide. In this slim book, he attempts to put words to his experience of a disease that is “so mysteriously painful and elusive,” he writes, “as to verge close to being beyond description.” We gain an intimate sense of the illness from its beginnings, when Styron found that alcohol—a substance he had been “abusing for forty years”—suddenly triggered nausea and revulsion. His abstention kicked off a malaise that culminated in a determination to kill himself in his Connecticut farmhouse, ending only with his subsequent hospitalization and recovery. Sections about depression’s causes and treatment are woven in elegantly among meditations on suicide, an act that, Styron argues, should have “no more reproof attached than to the victims of terminal cancer.” The depths of depression are nearly incomprehensible to those who haven’t experienced it, yet Styron’s rich, precise language allows his readers to grasp his suffering—and gives us a glimpse into the workings of his particular mind.

    Little Brown Spark

    Connected, by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler

    To truly understand people, don’t focus on individuals or groups, the social scientists Christakis and Fowler write. What matter are the connections between people: the branching paths that extend from you and your family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors to, say, Kevin Bacon. The book sketches out the surprising ways that these social networks sway our behavior, moods, and health, and its conclusions can be mind-bending. If your best friend’s sister gains weight, for example, you’re more likely to gain weight too, they write. Who we know significantly affects whether we smoke, die by suicide, or vote, thanks to our human tendency to copy one another. Happiness and sadness also spread among groups, so that the mood of a person you don’t know can sway your own emotions—even though we often imagine that our internal states are under our personal control. “No man or woman is an island,” the authors write. Their book makes a convincing case that our tangled relationships determine nearly everything about how our life plays out—and reminds us that we can’t be meaningfully understood in isolation.

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    Graywolf

    Milkman, by Anna Burns

    Milkman takes place in what appears to be 1970s Northern Ireland during the Troubles—hijackings, car bombs, and “renouncers-of-the-state” form its tumultuous backdrop—and it paints a chillingly sharp portrait of a community consumed by paranoia and violence. When its unnamed narrator appears in public with a menacing figure known only as Milkman, rumors begin to spread that she’s his mistress. Never mind the fact that the attentions of Milkman, a high-ranking paramilitary member who seems to follow her everywhere and utters oblique threats, are entirely unwanted. Where she lives, the narrator tells us, “you created a political statement everywhere you went, and with everything you did, even if you didn’t want to.” To protect herself from the gossip and from Milkman himself, the narrator is forced to become a “carefully constructed nothingness.” She adopts a blank expression and confides in no one—an emotional state that mirrors the hollowed-out hopelessness and self-deception of her neighbors. Burns’s dense, discursive style captures the narrator’s psyche intimately: We feel with her as she wrestles with the fear, suspicion, and longing she hides from the world, and as she observes the corrosion of an entire city under duress.

    Anchor

    The Personality Brokers, by Merve Emre

    We often speak of “personality types” and take for granted that individuals’ inherent qualities can be categorized, predicted, and analyzed. In this intriguing book, Emre traces the development of this idea by recounting the history of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the world’s most popular personality test. Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers, a mother-daughter duo, spent much of the 20th century developing their system’s dichotomies: introversion and extroversion, feeling and thinking, intuition and sensing, judging and perceiving. Their story is a strange, sprawling narrative marked by religious fervor and a fixation on the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, and set against the historical rise of postwar white-collar work. Emre’s account is shot through with necessary skepticism—the Myers-Briggs system isn’t substantiated by scientific research, and its creators were “desperate amateurs” relying mostly on quixotic faith, she writes. At the same time, she articulates why the framework holds such enduring appeal: It provides its adherents with language to parse the murky world of their own and others’ personalities, and many use it to arrive at a self-knowledge that can be genuinely liberating. The quest to know ourselves, this book makes clear, is an ongoing one.

    [Read: I gave myself three months to change my personality]

    Penguin Books

    Reclaiming Conversation, by Sherry Turkle

    “Face-to-face conversation is the most human—and humanizing—thing we do,” the sociologist Turkle writes at the beginning of her incisive 2015 book. Our reliance on digital tools that replace such interactions erodes our ability to engage in deep, open-ended discussions, she argues. Reclaiming Conversation is full of dismaying examples of this diminishment, drawn from countless interviews with teenagers and young adults, teachers, corporate executives, and families. Parents can’t tear their eyes away from their phone at family dinners; students have trouble focusing and shy away from substantive dialogue in classrooms; professionals have meetings that barely function as meetings, because every participant is also checking their email. We’ve replaced talking with texting, emailing, and posting on social media, Turkle points out, in order to sidestep the boredom, embarrassment, and vulnerability that come with real conversation. And yet, those kinds of discomfort beget intimacy—the foundation of understanding other people, and thus of empathy. Turning to those around us, she concludes, is still the best way to comprehend one another. If you want to know why people behave the way they do, the shortest path to the answer is simply to ask them.

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    The Best American Poetry of the 21st Century (So Far)

    Poetry in the 21st century is both ubiquitous and oddly peripheral. Verses are displayed on subway walls, recited on momentous occasions, and served up in giant fonts on social media, but rarely do they merit a book review or a position on end-of-year reading lists. Yet the medium evolves even when it isn’t the center of attention, and over the past 25 years, its authors have pursued astonishing new forms and reinvented old ones. The Atlantic has prized and published poetry since its founding in 1857. And so, a quarter of the way into this new century of cataclysmic change, we thought it was an apt time to consider how poets fit into the broader conversation—to document an emerging canon of the most significant verse of the century so far.

    No list can be comprehensive or infallible, but we did not approach this one lightly. After considering various criteria, we landed on work that felt consequential. We were looking for poetry that had struck its readers, for whatever reasons, as unforgettable, enduring, and influential: maybe because it came as an unexpected gift from a friend or loved one, or in the form of a classroom discovery; maybe because it reframed the world in such a way that culture or society felt foundationally shaken. Maybe it was just because, to paraphrase Emily Dickinson, it takes the top of your head off.

    ↓ Jump to the list here

    To establish a consensus, we consulted with more than 450 people—poets and fiction writers, but also publishers, editors, and informed readers from a variety of fields—asking them to name 10 books apiece. Together, they cast nearly 1,000 votes and recommended more than 400 collections of verse. Finally, we limited the list to Americans: Asking 25 books to represent 25 years of artistic progress within the many traditions that feed into American poetry was difficult enough.

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    “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy

    “Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace

    “Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo

    “The Stand” by Stephen King

    “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand

    “A Suitable Boy” by Vikram Seth

    “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    “1Q84” by Haruki Murakami

    “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas

    “A Dance to the Music of Time” by Anthony Powell

    “The Recognitions” by William Gaddis

    “The Tale of Genji” by Murasaki Shikibu

    “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt

    “The Luminaries” by Eleanor Catton

    “2666” by Roberto Bolañ

     

     

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    The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

    Animal Farm by George Orwell

    Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

    Beloved by Toni Morrison

    American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

    The Iliad by Homer

    The Odyssey by Homer

    I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

    Persuasion by Jane Austen

    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

    ©(Image via T. Egerton/Whitehall) www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486284735/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442528574&sr=1-3&keywords=pride+and+prejudice

    Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

    Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

    The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

    The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

    The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

    Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

    Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

    Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

    The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    1984 by George Orwell

    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

    The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

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    Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

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    The Awakening by Kate Chopin

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    Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

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    In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

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    Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

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    Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

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    Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

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    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

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    Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

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    The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

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    The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

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    My Antonia by Willa Cather

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    The Color Purple by Alice Walker

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    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

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    The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

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    The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

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    The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

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    Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

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    A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

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    April

     

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    All 8 Thomas Pynchon Books, Ranked

    All 8 Thomas Pynchon Books, Ranked© Provided by Collider

    If you’re more of a movie person than a literature person, you might only be familiar with Thomas Pynchon thanks to Inherent Vice, which is, to date, the only novel of his that’s been adapted into either a movie or TV series. Pynchon’s one of those writers whose work proves hard to translate, as his style is chaotic, unique, and sometimes pretty much indecipherable. Inherent Vice, the 2014 film, was sometimes criticized for being too hard to follow, but it’s pretty much as comprehensible as Pynchon gets.

    Beyond the strangeness of his work, the other thing that stands out about Thomas Pynchon is how mysterious he is. There are only a few official photos of the man (despite him being on this planet for, as of 2024, 87 years), and just as few recordings of his voice (some of them found on The Simpsons, thanks to him having a couple of odd cameos on the show). The mystique of him as an author goes hand in hand with the bizarreness of his novels, with there being a total of eight published between 1963 and 2013. Some are long, some are punchy, some are funny, some are disturbing, and some are (somehow) all of the above. With some difficulty, they’re all ranked below, starting with his solitary misfire and ending with some of the most important literary works of the past 50 years.

    ‘Bleeding Edge’

    First published: September 17, 2013

    Many Thomas Pynchon novels take place at a certain point in America’s past, with Bleeding Edge – his most recent work – taking place the closest to the present day. It’s a difficult thing to adjust to, initially, hearing Pynchon reference figures and pop culture from the (admittedly very early) 21st century, with Bleeding Edge taking place in New York City during 2001. An event you’d expect to play a role in the narrative indeed does, but it’s not the real focus.

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    Instead, Bleeding Edge is kind of definable as a techno-thriller, with a narrative that’s influenced by the dot-com boom and its aftermath, with Maxine – a single mother and detective of sorts – getting caught up in a complex plot that involves fraud, corruption, conspiracies, and hacking. It’s a confusing and mind-bending odyssey like other Pynchon novels, but the confusion is less enjoyable here. Parts seem well-researched, but Pynchon tackling things inherent to the online world so head-on also has occasional “How do you do, fellow kids” energy. There is an initial thrill to seeing a Pynchon story take place post-2000, but it wears out its welcome long before the conclusion.

    ‘Vineland’

    First published January 1, 1990

    Bleeding Edge took place about a dozen years earlier than when it was published, but the gap between Vineland’s time period and year of publication was even closer. Vineland takes place in 1984, but much of it revolves around people who were young and living their best lives during the latter half of the 1960s. Things have dried up in numerous ways for the central characters here, and the novel is at its best when it follows their attempts at redemption and/or reconciliation.

    It’s hard to describe beyond that. People drift in and out of the narrative and there is a lack of focus… probably deliberate, to some extent, but it’s not wholly satisfying. Pynchon’s biggest novels are arguably more head-spinning than the likes of Bleeding Edge and Vineland, but the grandiosity of such works also serves to make them more admirable and impressive. Vineland is on the cusp of scratching the same itch as Pynchon’s better novels, but it’s just lacking a little something. It’s still more satisfying than Bleeding Edge, which might be the only bad Thomas Pynchon book, but he’s got half a dozen other novels that are better still.

    ‘The Crying of Lot 49’

    First published: April 27, 1966

    The Crying of Lot 49 is easily the most approachable novel written by Thomas Pynchon, and part of that comes about because it’s easily his shortest. It’s only about 150 pages long, with his second-shortest, Inherent Vice, being more than twice that long (depending on the edition, admittedly). It’s still mind-bending and perhaps meandering, but it can only spiral off in so many directions, owing to its length.

    The plot’s comparable to that of Bleeding Edge, with a female protagonist, Oedipa Maas, uncovering a conspiracy and subsequently getting lost, alongside the viewer. But her particular journey – which starts with her being made executor of an ex-lover’s estate – is more direct, funnier, and ultimately more thrilling. If anything, The Crying of Lot 49 might’ve benefited from being a little longer, because it does end somewhat abruptly. It’s probably the only Thomas Pynchon novel you could say that about, for better or worse.

    ‘V.’

    First published: March 18, 1963

    If you were to give someone a quick rundown of Thomas Pynchon’s biography, and then give them all his books to read without telling them which year each was published, it’s very unlikely that this hypothetical person (who, in this scenario, has a lot of time on their hands) would guess V. was the first one published of the lot. It’s hugely complex, sprawling, and thematically ambitious for a debut novel, and it’s remarkable that Pynchon was only 26 the year it was published.

    1. has a lot going on structurally, and is perhaps more interesting to analyze on that front than it is to enjoy narratively. Like some other Pynchon novels, it’s about an ultimately fruitless search for something, in this case being the – or a – titular “V.” You can come away understanding just a fraction of what’s happening and still find it rewarding in its own strange way, though. It’s also notable for potentially influencing partsof The Master, which starred Joaquin Phoenix and was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Speaking of Phoenix and Anderson…

    ‘Inherent Vice’

    First published: August 4, 2009

    As far as movies go, Inherent Vice is something of a challenging watch, but Inherent Vice, the novel, is a pretty easy read by Thomas Pynchon standards. Part of that comes from how funny it is on a pretty consistent basis, and because there’s a clear central character. Said character is a private detective named Doc Sportello, and he’s completely out of his depths – and usually under the influence of something – after he’s roped into a complex series of events by an ex-girlfriend.

    The confusion is kind of the point, and it’s often played for laughs in a way that’s a bit reminiscent of The Big Lebowski, for a cinematic comparison. As for the film version of Inherent Vice, it captures a similar vibe and chaotic energy to the source material, all the while not proving able to fully translate it to the screen; even at his most approachable, Pynchon’s still enigmatic. It hasn’t deterred Paul Thomas Anderson from potentially adapting another Pynchon novel, though, as his mysterious next film – still untitled, as of 2024 – might be an adaptation of Vineland.

    ‘Mason & Dixon’

    First published: April 30, 1997

    It might be a cop-out to say that the most epic three novels by Thomas Pynchon are his three best, but they are undeniably impressive and his most distinctive works. No one else can sustain such madness for such a long time, with his three longest (and, again, best) novels all spanning more than 750 pages each. Stylistically, Mason & Dixon is the boldest of the three, as it’s written in a way that mirrors literature from the time it was set… and it’s set the furthest back of any Pynchon novel, with most of the action taking place during the 1760s.

    Historical accuracy is not the name of the game here, but Mason & Dixon is also a story within a story, so the embellishment of certain events and people is more than justified. Even if it wasn’t, the breaks from reality are generally fun, and it’s more interesting than reading a dry biographical story about Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon as they establish the Mason–Dixon line. Highlights include one character being pursued by a mechanical duck, and a chapter where someone transforms into not a werewolf, but a were-beaver. You can’t make this stuff up, or maybe you can, if you’re Thomas Pynchon.

    ‘Against the Day’

    First published: November 21, 2006

    As Thomas Pynchon’s longest novel by far, it’s fitting that Against the Day also covers the longest amount of time narratively. It begins in 1893, with the Chicago World’s Fair, and moves along steadily until it concludes a little after the end of World War I. It also goes to the most different locations of any Pynchon novel, and might contain the largest number of characters, to the point where it’s not just impossible to single out a protagonist, but it’s even difficult to establish a “main cast,” so to speak.

    There are a handful of families important to the plot, and also a group known as The Chums of Chance, who fly around – and in and out of the main storyline – seemingly at random. The Chums of Chance also have a team dog they can all communicate with. Some parts of Against the Day are entirely silly, much of it’s incomprehensible, and parts are strikingly emotional. It will probably never get a movie adaptation. If you have the time to read something about 1100 pages long, or listen to an audiobook that’s 50+ hours in duration, it’s worth it. It’s frustrating, weird, and wonderful in all the best ways.

    ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’

    First published: March 14, 1973

    Though Gravity’s Rainbow is the most well-known – and probably the best – novel Pynchon ever wrote, it’s not an ideal starting point for newcomers to the author’s body of work. Again, the brevity of The Crying of Lot 49, plus its relative closeness to the start of his writing career, makes that a better starting point. Inherent Vice, maybe, too. Gravity’s Rainbow is one of his longest and is certainly his most bizarre and grotesque, with it being beautifully written and also obscene/disgusting all at once.

    It’s about World War II and its aftermath, largely focused on technology, atrocities, outlandish sexual escapades, and paranoia. Gravity’s Rainbow captures the madness of war better than most other works of fiction, meaning that all the shocking moments within do ultimately work in service of what the novel’s going for. It’s an exploration of so many different things all at once, with very little by way of a discernible plot, or even “plots.” that way for over 50 years, But the experience of reading it is unmatched and wholly unique. It’s been and such a statement will likely still be true in another 500.Note: I am a big Pynchon fan read all of these except Bleeding Edge My favorite is Inherit Vice

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    The 14 best fantasy book series of all time

    Let’s make one thing very clear. I’m going to list the 14 best fantasy series of all time. There are some operative words in this statement that it will be worth underlining before I dive in.

    Fantasy: I will be interpreting this genre as I see fit, but the key distinction here is that I’ve chosen to leave sci-fi for another piece. So all you Vorkosigan stans and Asimov junkies, I see you. Yours is coming soon.

    Series: This means that I will only focus on chronicles that span more than one volume. While there are some absolutely whip-smart, flooring fantasy standalone novels out there, I won’t be highlighting them here.

    Best: The word that’s always the bane of interrogating any kind of popular art form. There are so many ways to get at “best” that it has nearly lost its meaning. All I want it to mean in this context is that fans of fantasy will be entranced by the following entries. And though some have their blemishes, as we’ll get into, the following series have helped define fiction as we know it. Full stop.

    Organization

    I’ve chosen to break the following list of 14 fantasy series into two categories: unfinished and finished. The Song of Ice and Fire and Kingkiller Chronicle series are two of the most impactful reading experiences I’ve had in my entire life. And yet there’s no guarantee that they will ever be finished. So if you don’t want to start a series that doesn’t yet have an ending, you can skip to the “Finished” section of this article.

    Within each category, I’ve ranked the series based on my level of enjoyment with each one. However, I’ve chosen not to format them in the numbered, list-like style that would accompany a more formal ranking. That way, you can’t get mad at me when your favorite series ends up toward the bottom of the list.

    Still, to be on here at all means a series is nearly the stuff of legend, if not already so. They’re worthwhile reads, regardless of how you feel about their authors (cough, cough J.K. Rowling).

    I’ve gabbed enough. It’s about time I let these books do the talking. Without further ado, here are the 14 best fantasy book series of all time, starting with those series that are still UNFINISHED.

    A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin | Game of Thrones books | A Song of Ice and Fire | Image: George R.R. Martin — Not A Blog© Image: George R.R. Martin — Not A Blog

    A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

    A Song of Ice and Fire is an epic fantasy series set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, where noble families vie for power and control. It’s also the namesake of this very website. “Winter is Coming” is the mantra of House Stark, a dire warning of trouble to come.

    The story is told through the perspectives of multiple characters, many of them with vasly different perspectives on life, which lends the series a lot of depth. Through this lens, Martin explores themes of power, betrayal, honor, and the brutal realities of war.

    Meanwhile, his world-building is rich and complex, drawing heavily on real-world history, particularly that of medieval Europe. Known for its unpredictable and morally ambiguous characters, A Song of Ice and Fire has been acclaimed for its intricate plot, deep character development, and gritty realism.

    The series began with A Game of Thrones (1996). Martin has yet to complete the saga, with five of the planned seven books now published. Now you know what all the articles complaining about The Winds of Winter delays are about.

    The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1). | Image: DAW.© Image: DAW.

    The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

    The Kingkiller Chronicle is a high fantasy series that follows the life of Kvothe, a legendary figure who becomes the subject of a story he narrates over the course of the trilogy. The narrative is framed as a memoir recounting Kvothe’s rise from an orphaned child to a renowned musician, wizard, and adventurer. The series is known for its lyrical prose, deep character development, and exploration of the nature of storytelling itself.

    In the first book, The Name of the Wind (2007), Kvothe tells the story of his childhood in a traveling troupe, his time at the University where he learns magic, and the mysteries surrounding his family’s history with mythical beings called the Chandrian. The second book, The Wise Man’s Fear (2011), continues Kvothe’s journey as he faces trials both magical and personal, including his pursuit of knowledge, his complex relationships, and his struggle with his own identity.

    Kingkiller weaves together themes of love, loss, ambition, and the cost of fame. Rothfuss’s world-building is intricate, with a unique magic system and rich lore. The series’ third and final core book, The Doors of Stone, has yet to be published, and it’s been nearly 14 years since The Wise Man’s Fear hit store shelves, leaving fans to wonder if the series will ever be completed. That said, it’s far more likely to receive an ending than A Song of Ice and Fire, which has more than one book left to go.

    The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive #1). | Image: Tor Books.© Image: Tor Books.

    The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

    Though this series finds itself at the bottom of the “Unfinished” category, it’s up against some of the most meaningful fantasy fiction to have ever been written. Also, given author Brandon Sanderson’s reputation as a mind-bogglingly prolific author, Stormlight is the only series in this section that is nearly guaranteed to receive an ending from its original author, in spite of the fact that Sanderson intends for the series to be told in two sets of five books. Sanderson’s reliability – and, of course, his reputation as one of the greatest storytellers of all time – should earn him and Stormlight some points, especially if you’re an endings person.

    This is an epic high fantasy series set in the world of Roshar, a land plagued by destructive, magical storms and home to diverse cultures and mystical powers. The series is centered on multiple main characters, each of whom plays a crucial role in the unfolding events. The primary protagonists include Kaladin Stormblessed, a former slave turned soldier who struggles with depression and leadership; Shallan Davar, a noblewoman with a hidden past and the ability to create illusions through a magical power called “Lightweaving”; and Dalinar Kholin, a high-ranking military commander who begins experiencing strange visions that suggest he is destined to unite the fractured nations of Roshar. At the heart of the story is the ancient and powerful conflict between the Knights Radiant — an order of magic-wielding warriors — and the Voidbringers, mysterious entities bent on destruction. As characters uncover forgotten history and the true nature of their world, they must navigate political intrigue, ancient prophecies, and the looming threat of an apocalyptic war.

    The series’ first book, The Way of Kings (2010), introduces readers to the world and its characters. It’s where you should start if you’re looking for a way into Sanderson’s epic. For all the Mistborn stans out there concerned about Stormlight making this list over it, I have the following rationale: The unique magic system that Sanderson creates and brings to life in Stormlight is second to none. Stormlight’s character development is deeper. The characters feel more visceral. Stormlight’s mythology gives the series a deeper and more interconnected sense of purpose than Mistborn. If you still disagree, I celebrate you. Most all of Sanderson’s stuff is a treat.

    Now let’s move onto the great FINISHED fantasy book series!

    The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. | Image: William Morrow.© Image: William Morrow.

    The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

    The big kahuna. The fantasy series to rule all fantasy series (sorry George R.R.). The Lord of the Rings is the cornerstone of modern fantasy literature, set in the richly detailed world of Middle-earth. The epic trilogy follows the journey of Frodo Baggins, a humble hobbit who is entrusted with the task of destroying the One Ring, a powerful and malevolent artifact created by the Dark Lord Sauron to dominate all of Middle-earth.

    The story begins with The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), continues with The Two Towers (also 1954) and concludes with The Return of the King (1955), released back to back to back. If only some of the other fantasy titans working together could put out books with such regularly, although to be fair, Tolkien finished the whole thing before his publisher split it into three books for release.

    Tolkien weaves themes of friendship, bravery, sacrifice, and the corrupting influence of power throughout his narrative. The Lord of the Rings influences pretty much everything in the genre to this day. If you haven’t read the books, you’ve likely seen the films. There’s no need to say more.

    A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. | Image: Clarion Books.© Image: Clarion Books.

    Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin

    The Earthsea Cycle is a renowned series of fantasy novels set in the archipelago of Earthsea, a world where magic is a natural and central force. The series follows the life of Ged, a powerful wizard who initially appears in A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), the series’ first book. In subsequent novels — The Tombs of Atuan (1971), The Farthest Shore (1972), Tehanu (1990), and Tales from Earthsea (2001) — Le Guin explores themes of identity, mortality, and the complexities of good and evil while further expanding on the history, cultures, and magic of Earthsea.

    Throughout her career in sci-fi and fantasy, Le Guin became known for weaving themes of diversity and environmentalism into her writing. Those themes are on full display here. The Earthsea Cycle has become a seminal work in the fantasy genre, distinguished by its intellectual depth, lyrical prose, and profound moral insights. It’s also unusual among fantasy epics in that it doesn’t focus on war, which was intentional on Le Guin’s part.

    The Broken Earth trilogy deluxe edition by N.K. Jemisin. | Image courtesy of Orbit.© Image courtesy of Orbit.

    Broken Earth by N.K. Jemisin

    N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy is a groundbreaking series set in a world plagued by constant geological instability. It’s a future Earth where people known as “orogenes” have the ability to control seismic energy, but are feared and oppressed for their destructive powers.

    The trilogy begins with The Fifth Season (2015), where Jemisin weaves together multiple timelines. We follow Essun, a woman whose family is wiped out by a catastrophic event, as well as two young orogenes, Damaya and Syenite.

    Broken Earth is notable for its innovative narrative structure (including second-person narration) and exploration of themes such as trauma, power, survival, and social injustice. The trilogy challenges traditional notions of heroism, offering a lens through which readers can examine the consequences of systemic oppression, environmental degradation, and the cyclical nature of violence. It’s the best completed fantasy series the world has seen in recent years. Go read it right now if you haven’t. It’s the kind of story that will help you escape from the real world while teaching you invaluable things about it.

    People taking photos in front of the Tribute to Akira… | Fotoholica Press/GettyImages© Fotoholica Press/GettyImages

    Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama

    While some folks might be surprised to see Dragon Ball on a list of epic fantasy series, it belongs in this rarified air. In spite of the fact that its format and cultural heritage diverges from the rest of the titles on the list, it’s one of the most well-loved fantasy stories of all time. That can’t go unnoticed.

    Dragon Ball is a Japanese manga and anime series that follows the adventures of Son Goku, a powerful martial artist with a mysterious past, as he embarks on a quest to find the seven magical Dragon Balls, which can grant any wish when gathered together. The story all began with Dragon Ball (1984) and has captured countless hearts and minds since then, becoming one of the best-selling manga series of all time.

    In Dragon Ball Z (the second part of the series, starting in 1989), Goku’s battles intensify, as he defends Earth from alien invaders like the ruthless Frieza, fights intergalactic threats like the androids, and engages in fierce martial arts tournaments. The series at large is known for its distinctive art style, humor, and iconic action scenes.

    Dragon Ball remains one of the most successful and beloved franchises in the world to this day, continuing to inspire new generations of fans. Arika Toriyama was involved in its further development right up until his death in March of 2024.

    The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. | Image: Harper Voyager.© Image: Harper Voyager.

    The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

    The Poppy War is a grimdark military fantasy series set in a world inspired by 20th-century Chinese history, particularly the Second Sino-Japanese War and the opium trade. The story follows Rin, a poor, orphaned girl from the south of the fictional empire of Nikan, who dreams of escaping her abusive, impoverished life. The trilogy blends elements of dark fantasy, military strategy, and historical fiction.

    Kuang’s world-building is deeply influenced by Chinese culture and history, from the political intrigue to the social hierarchies and mythologies that shape her characters’ lives. Her writing is both brutal and poetic, tackling difficult issues such as the trauma of war, colonialism, and the consequences of seeking vengeance. If there’s one word I would use to describe The Poppy War series, it’s “unrelenting.” It’s the sort of book series you stay up thinking about long after you’ve closed the cover.

    The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time #1). | Image: Tor Books.© Image: Tor Books.

    The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

    Sanderson sickos rejoice! The Wheel of Time is an epic high fantasy series originally created by Robert Jordan and later completed by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan’s death in 2007. The series spans 14 books, starting with The Eye of the World (1990) and concluding with A Memory of Light (2013), and is set in a place where time is cyclical, the past, present, and future are intertwined, and the forces of Light and Shadow are in constant conflict.

    At the heart of the story is Rand al’Thor, a young man from the small village of Emond’s Field who is revealed to be the prophesied Dragon Reborn, the savior destined to battle the Dark One and prevent the world’s ultimate destruction…or maybe cause it. The Wheel of Time has everything you would expect from a classic fantasy series, but it is most well-known for its exceedingly vast scope. It’s had a profound impact on the fantasy genre, influencing many subsequent writers and inspiring a global fan base.

    Amazon is currently adapting The Wheel of Time as a TV series. The third season is due out in 2025.

    Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

    The Harry Potter series is a beloved seven-book saga that chronicles the life of Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers on his eleventh birthday that he is famous for surviving an attack by the dark Lord Voldemort when he was a baby. But you know all this already if you’re here. Hogwarts and all that jazz. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone kicked off the party in 1997, and you know how J.K. can be when she gets on a roll. By the time the book series concluded with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007, she’d ridden the series to record-breaking success.

    Harry Potter has become a central part of modern pop culture, inspiring readers of all ages. That said, the entire franchise is marred by Rowling’s staunch anti-trans stances that have fractured her fanbase. This is a particular shame because the escape offered by Harry Potter and his wonderful wizarding world has helped countless LGBTQ+ folks find joy and community in a real-life society full of hateful muggles.

    The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. | Image: HarperCollins Narnia.© Image: HarperCollins Narnia.

    The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

    Narnia will always be so gosh-darn Narnia, but that’s what people love about it, I suppose. It’s a classic series of seven fantasy novels that transport readers to the magical land of Narnia, a world populated by talking animals, mythical creatures, and ruled by the great lion Aslan. The series begins with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950), in which four British siblings — Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy — discover a wardrobe that leads to a land cursed by the White Witch, where it is always winter but never Christmas. Six other books follow, ending with 1956’s The Last Battle. C.S. Lewis also wrote a prequel book, The Magician’s Nephew, which came out in 1955.

    Each subsequent book can be read independently, but the series as a whole is united by its overarching narrative of redemption and the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Very original, I know.

    The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu. | Image: S&S/Saga Press.© Image: S&S/Saga Press.

    The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu

    The Dandelion Dynasty is an epic fantasy series that blends elements of Chinese history, political intrigue, and high fantasy. The series, beginning with The Grace of Kings (2015), takes place in the archipelago of Dara, a fictional empire inspired by ancient China. The story is set in a world where technology, magic, and war intersect. It follows the rise and fall of empires, focusing on the complex relationships between rulers, warriors, and the people they govern.

    The series is notable not only for its rich storytelling but also for Liu’s thoughtful examination of social and cultural dynamics, as well as his unique approach to fantasy. As a Chinese-American author, Liu draws upon his heritage to create a world that is both familiar and distinct from Western fantasy traditions, offering a fresh perspective on themes of power, identity, and revolution.

    The Gunslinger by Stephen King (The Dark Tower #1). | Image: Scribner.© Image: Scribner.

    The Dark Tower by Stephen King

    The Dark Tower is a genre-blending series that spans seven books, combining elements of fantasy, horror, westerns, science fiction, and psychological drama. Oh, and King does the Kingiest thing ever in this series by – for some reason – reintroducing characters from The Stand (1978) along an alternate timeline.

    At the heart of the story is Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger, a lone and determined hero on a quest to reach the enigmatic Dark Tower, a mystical structure that is said to hold the key to the fate of all worlds. The series opens with the aptly titled novel The Gunslinger (1982). The story goes on to weave through a complex multiverse, where different realities intersect and characters grapple with themes of destiny, free will, and the cyclical nature of time.

    If you like King or have ever wanted to understand what “liking King” means, try this. It’s about as weird and King-y as it gets.

    Riddle-Master by Patricia A. McKillip. | Image: Ace.© Image: Ace.

    Riddle-Master by Patricia A. McKillip

    The Riddle-Master trilogy is a high fantasy series that blends mystery, mythology, and lyrical prose. The trilogy consists of The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976), Heir of Sea and Fire (1977), and Harpist in the Wind (1979). The story is set in a world of ancient magic, riddles, and long-forgotten truths, where the characters are bound by destiny and the search for knowledge.

    The central protagonist is Morgon, the Prince of Hed, who is drawn into a quest that is as much about unraveling the mysteries of his own identity as it is about saving the world. The trilogy is often hailed as a classic of the genre, especially for its emphasis on language and the power of storytelling. McKillip’s ability to take her tone from dream-like one moment to completely earthy and grounded the next stands out even among the modern stories that have drawn inspiration from her original tale.

    Finale

    And there you have it. Fourteen of the most meaningful and thrilling series in literature. Sitting down with a cup of coffee and any of these titles will never fail to be one of life’s great pleasures. The words and worlds you find therein, in fact, might just stay with you, shining their light in all the darkest places, and showing you the way.

    To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.

    This article was originally published on winteriscoming.com as The 14 best fantasy book series of all time.

     

    13 Modern Classics in the Making: Recent Novels Destined for Timeless Status

    `Goals:  100 Books, 2,000 poems etc  total 3,000 to 4,000 books/poems/stories listed numerically and chronologically by month

    Read Classics finish reading books. You Must read series

    One Thriller Per Month

    One history/politics book per month

    Read A Lot More Poetry

    Read At Least One Book A Year in Spanish.

    Read At Least One Book A Year in Korean

     

    While in the States, get books from Little River Turnpike library and from the Medford library using the following criteria

     

    One classic book

    One poetry book

    One Sci-fi book

    One history/politics book

    One current event book

    One thriller

     

    Buy the 2024 best SciFi read in the fall

    Buy the 2024 Best Poetry read in the fall

     

    Re-do Mod Po following Mod Po plus poems

    Start a different poetry course on Coursea

    Start and complete All poetry poetry courses

     

    Alternate between reading Kindle classics, poetry and other books

    I will try to finish reading classic books.  I have a collection from Kindle of 50 books to read before you die, in three volumes – 15O books in total. See the list below.  I have read many of them already which I have noted by bolding.  As I read them, I will add them to the chronological listing below, and also have the Harvard classic.  I had a hard copy set, but donated it, I have to read it on Kindle.  I will also continue to read lots of poetry from the Mod Po class, will do the slo-mo courses then re-do it in September, focusing on reading the additional poems I did not last time in Mod Po Plus.

     

    I will alternate between reading Kindle and other books poetry and thrillers etc  while in US will read a lot of books from the library but still read things on my Kindle classic list goal is to finish the classic list by next year !

    Numerical Listing

     

    Note: after reading each book, write a review for Bach’s Reading List and for Goodreads copy to my blog entry and cc Suback, Medium, Wattpad, Fan Story, and Writing.com.

    Then save under Review when posting on the blog post, Zamzar audio clip into the blog piece, and do Spotify and Substack podcasts, later Threads and YouTube vblog starting in the fall

     

    Before reading ask Co-pilot the following questions

     

    Please provide a synopsis, list of characters, author bio, quotes,  and list of books by the author, plus literary reputation.   please do not format to make it easier to cut and paste

     

     

     

     

    The List

     

    Fiction

    1. Cather, Willa: My Ántonia From 50 Books Volume One
    2. Chopin, Kate: The Awakening From 50 Books Volume One
    3. Cummings, E. E.: The Enormous Room. From 50 Books Volume One
    4. Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie in progress From 50 Books Volume One
    5. Janet Evanovich Plum Lucky Camp H library In Progress
    6. Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, the Job – Camp H Library
    7. Sharon Bolton, the Pact, Canal street library TBC
    8. Lisa Gardner One Step Too Far Canal Street Library TBC
    9. Stephannie Merritt, the Storm TBC
    10. Bobby Palmer Isaac and the Egg in progress
    11. Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones TBC
    12. Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    13. Flaubert, Gustave: Sentimental Education TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    14. Ford, Ford Madox: The Good Soldier TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    15. Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    16. Gorky, Maxim: The Mother TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    17. Huxley, Aldous: Crome Yellow TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    18. James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady TBC From 50 Books Volume One
    19. JM Baarre Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    20. BM Bower – Cabin Fever TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    21. Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden TBC TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    22. – Hodgson Burnett A Little Princess TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    23. -Robert William Chambers The King in Yellow TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    24. Wilkie Collins The Woman in White TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    25. Richard Connell The Most Dangerous Game TBC TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    26. Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, 6th Edition. TBC TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    27. Margaret Deland The Iron Woman TBC TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    28. Andrew Lang The Arabian Nights TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    29. Michael Proust- Swann’s Way TBC  TBC From 50 Books Volume Two
    30. Emerson American Civilization (1862)

     

     

    Once I finish the above, I will finish the Harvard Classic list.

    Next Up  Bacon TBC

    Thomas Browne  TBC

     

    Poetry

    Poetry

    Bianca Boonstra

    1. Writer’s Cramp

    Anne Frank

    1. Anne Frank’s Tree
    2. Anne Frank’s Tree

    Entou

    1. Thunder and Lightning
    2. Almost Dead

    Lawrencealot

    1. Throw Away Jay’s Way

    Linda Varsell Smith

    1. Pathway

    Robert Brewer Writers Digest

    1. Robert Lee Brewer – Give Me a Reason Zejel
    2. An Old Hymn Still Singing Zejel

    Elegy

    1. David Romano’s “When Tomorrow Starts With Me”
    2. H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues”
    3. John Milton’s “Lycidas”
    4. Mary Oliver’s “In Blackwater Woods”
    5. Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong”
    6. Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain”

    Haiku

    1. Gypsy Blue Rose – Cows Wander at Night
    2. Zebras Zeal Gallop

    Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century Poetry

    1. Edward Lee Masters – The Hill
    2. Fiddler Jones
    3. Petite The Poet

    Edwin Arlington Robinson

    1. Edwin Arlington Robinson
    2. Miniver Cheevy
    3. Flood’s Party

    James Weldon Johnson

    1. James Weldon Johnson
    2. The Creation

    Paul Laurence Dunbar

    1. The Poet
    2. Life
    3. Life’s Tragedy

    Robert Frost – Mod Po Selection

    1. The Death of the Hired Man
    2. Mending Wall
    3. Birches
    4. Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening
    5. Tree in My Window
    6. Directive

    Amy Lowell

    1. Patterns

    Gertrude Stein – Mod Po Selections

    1. Susie Asado
    2. From Tender Buttons – A Box
    3. From Tender Buttons – A Plate

    Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson

    1. I Sit and Sew

    Carl Sandburg

    1. Grass
    2. Cahoots

    Wallace Stevens – Mod Po Selections

    1. Peter Quince at the Clavier
    2. Disillusionment of 10:00
    3. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
    4. The Emperor of Ice Cream
    5. A Mere Being

    Angelina Weld Grimke

    1. Angelina Weld Grimke
    2. Fragment

    William Carlos Williams – Mod Po Selections

    1. Tact
    2. Dance Ruse
    3. The Yachts
    4. From Apostle that Greeny Flower Book 1, Lines 1 to 92

    Sara Teasdale

    1. Moonlight
    2. There Will Come Soft Rains

    Ezra Pound

    1. The Jewel Stairs’ Grievance
    2. The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter
    3. In a Station of the Metro
    4. Hugh Selwyn Mauberley
    5. From Cantos: 56 Libretto – Yet Ere This Season Died A Cold

    Hilda Doolittle (H.D.) – Mod Po Selections

    1. Sea Rose
    2. Helen
    3. From The Walls Do Not Fall – An Incident Here and There
    4. From Hermeneutic Definition Red Rose and A Beggar – Why Did You Come?
    5. Take Me Anywhere
    6. Venus

    Robinson Jeffers

    1. Gala in April
    2. Shine, Perishing Republic
    3. Clouds at Evening
    4. Credo

    Marianne Moore

    1. Fish
    2. Poetry

    T.S. Eliot

    1. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
    2. The Wasteland

    Claude McKay

    1. If We Must Die
    2. The Harlem Dancer

    Archibald MacLeish

    1. Ars Poetica

    Edna St. Vincent Millay

    1. First Fig
    2. Recuerdo
    3. E. Cummings
    4. In Just-
    5. Buffalo Bill
    6. The Cambridge Ladies Who Lived in Furnished Souls
    7. Next to, Of Course, God, America
    8. Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond
    9. Rpophessagr

    Jean Toomer

    1. Reapers
    2. November Cotton Flower
    3. Portrait in Georgia

    Louise Bogan

    1. Medusa
    2. New Moon

    Melvin B. Tolson

    1. Dark Symphony
    2. From Harlem Gallery: Psi – Black Boys, Let Me Get Up From The White Man’s Table

    Hart Crane

    1. From The Bridge
    2. Poem: To Brooklyn Bridge
    3. From The Bridge – Section XI: Powhatan’s Daughter – The River

    Robert Francis

    1. Silent Poem

    Langston Hughes

    1. The Negro Speaks of Rivers
    2. I, Too, Sing America
    3. Dream Boogie
    4. Harlem

    Countee Cullen

    1. Incident
    2. To John Keats, Poet, At Spring Time
    3. Yet Do I Marvel
    4. From The Dark Tower

    Stanley Kunitz

    1. Father and Son
    2. The Portrait
    3. Touch Me
    4. H. Auden
    5. Musée des Beaux Arts
    6. Epitaph on a Tyrant

    Theodore Roethke

    1. My Papa’s Waltz
    2. The Waking
    3. In a Dark Time

    Charles Olson

    1. From The Maximus Poems: One – Maximus of Gloucester, To You
    2. The Distances

    Elizabeth Bishop

    1. The Fish
    2. Sestina
    3. First Death in Nova Scotia
    4. Visit to St. Elizabeths
    5. One Art

    Robert Hayden

    1. Middle Passage
    2. Those Winter Sundays
    3. Frederick Douglass

    Muriel Rukeyser

    1. Effort at Speech Between Two People
    2. Then I Saw What the Calling Was
    3. The Poem as Mask

    Delmore Schwartz

    1. The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me

    John Berryman

    1. From The Dream Songs
    2. Feeling Your Compact and Delicious Body
    3. Life, Friends, Is Boring. We Must Not Say So
    4. There Shut Down Once
    5. This World is Gradually Becoming a Place
    6. Henry’s Understanding

    Randall Jarrell

    1. 90 North
    2. The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
    3. The Woman at the Washington Zoo
    4. Next Day

    Weldon Kees

    1. To My Daughter

    Dudley Randall

    1. A Different Image

    William Stafford

    1. Traveling through the Dark
    2. At the Bomb Testing Site

    Ruth Stone

    1. Scars

    Margaret Walker

    1. For My People

    Gwendolyn Brooks – Mod Po Selection

    1. The Mother
    2. A Song in the Front Yard
    3. The Bean Eaters
    4. The Lovers of the Poor
    5. We Real Cool
    6. The Blackstone Rangers

    Robert Lowell

    1. To Speak of Woe That Is in Marriage
    2. Skunk Hour
    3. For the Union Dead

    Robert Duncan

    1. Often I Am Permitted to Return to a Meadow
    2. My Mother Would Be a Falconress

    Lawrence Ferlinghetti

    1. Populist Manifesto

    William Meredith

    1. Parents

    Howard Nemerov

    1. Because You Asked About the Line Between Prose and Poetry

    Hayden Carruth

    1. The Hyacinth Gardens in Brooklyn
    2. August 1945

    Richard Wilbur

    1. Love Calls Us to the Things of This World
    2. Cottage Street
    3. The Writer

    James Dickey

    1. The Sheep Child

    Allen Ginsberg

    1. Howl

    Richard Hugo

    1. Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg
    2. The Freaks at Spurgin Road Field
    3. The Poem Unwritten
    4. Cademon
    5. Swan in Falling Snow
    6. Who Is Simpson?
    7. American Poetry

    Carolyn Kizer

    1. A Muse of Water

    Kenneth Koch

    1. Fresh Air

    Maxine Kumin

    1. Morning Swim

    Gerald Stern

    1. Behaving Like a Jew
    2. The Dancing
    3. Another Insane Devotion
    4. R. Ammons
    5. The City Limits
    6. Corsons Inlet

    Robert Bly

    1. Snowfall in the Afternoon
    2. Driving into Town to Mail a Letter
    3. Walking from Sleep

    Robert Creeley

    1. The Flower
    2. I Know a Man
    3. The Language
    4. The Rain
    5. Bresson’s Movies

    John Merrill

    1. Victor Dog
    2. Steps

    Frank O’Hara – New York School

    1. Lana Turner Has Collapsed
    2. The Day Lady Died

    John Ashbery – New York School

    1. Some Trees
    2. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror
    3. What Is Poetry?

    Galway Kinnell

    1. The Bear
    2. After Making Love We Hear Footsteps
    3. Saint Francis and the Sow
    4. S. Merwin
    5. Air
    6. For the Anniversary of My Death
    7. Yesterday
    8. Chord

    James Wright

    1. A Blessing
    2. Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio
    3. Lying in a Hammock at

    Wes Merwin

    1. Air
    2. For the Anniversary of My Death

     

    1. Yesterday
    2. Chord
    3. A Blessing

     

    1. Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, OH
    2. Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, MN
    3. In Response to the Rumor That Otis Warehouse in Wheeling, WV Has Been Condemned
    4. My Son, My Executioner
    5. Digging
    6. Rowing

     

    1. Orion Planetarium
    2. A Valedictorian Forbidding Mourning
    3. From 21 Love Poems 13 The Rules of Break Like a Thermometer

     

    Gregory Corsa

     

    1. Gregory Corso
    2. Marriage

     

    Gary Snyder

     

    1. Gary Snyder
    2. Hay for the Horses
    3. Riprap
    4. Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout

    Derek Walcott

    1. A Far Cry from Africa
    2. Sea Grapes
    3. Find the Schooner Flight Part 11 After the Storm. There’s a Fresh Light That Follows
    4. The Light of the World
    5. From Omeros Book. 7. 44 I Sing of Quiet, Achilles, Afrolabe’s Son

    Miller Williams

    1. Let Me Tell You

    Etheridge Knight

    1. Idea of Ancestry

    Amira Baraka, Leroy Jones

    1. Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note
    2. Agony As Now
    3. SOS
    4. Black Art

    Ted Berrigan

    1. Wrong Rain
    2. A Final Sonnet

    Audre Lorde

    1. Power

    Sonia Sanchez

    1. Poetry at 30

    Mark Strand

    1. The Prediction
    2. The Night, The Porch

    Russell Edson

    1. A Stone Is Nobody’s

    Mary Oliver

    1. Singapore
    2. The Summer Day

    Charles Wright

    1. Reunion
    2. Dead Color
    3. California Dreaming

    Lucille Clifton

    1. Homage to My Hips
    2. At Least at Last We Killed the Roaches
    3. The Death of Fry, Alfred Clifton

    June Jordan

    1. Home About My Rights

    Frederick Seidel

    1. 1968
    2. K. Williams
    3. Find My Window
    4. Blades

    Tony Hoagland

    1. The Mechanic

    Michael S. Harper

    1. Dear John, Dear Coltrane
    2. Last Affair. Bessie’s Blues Song
    3. Grandfather
    4. Nightmare Begins Responsibility

    Charles Simic

    1. Stone
    2. Fork
    3. Classic Ballroom Dances

    Paula Gunn Allen

    1. Grandmother

    Frank Bidart

    1. Ellen West

    Carl Dennis

    1. Spring Letter
    2. Two or Three Wishes

    Stephen Dunn

    1. Allegory of the Cave
    2. Tucson

    Robert Pinsky

    1. History of My Heart
    2. The Questions
    3. Samurai Song

    James Welch

    1. Christmas Comes to Moccasin Flat

    Billy Collins

    1. Introduction to Poetry
    2. The Dead

    Toi Derricotte

    1. The Weakness

    Stephen Dobyns

    1. How to Like It?
    2. Lullaby

    Robert Hass

    1. Song
    2. That Photographer?
    3. Return of Robinson Jeffers

    Lyn Hejinian

    1. From My Life: Trim with Colored Ribbons
    2. H. Fairchild
    3. The Machinist Teaching His Daughter to Play the Piano

    Haki R. Madhubuti (Don L. Lee)

    1. But He Was Cool or Even Stopped for Green Lights
    2. Upon To Compliment Other Poems

    William Matthews

    1. In Memory of the Utah Stars
    2. The Accompanist

    Sharon Olds

    1. The Language of the Brag
    2. The Lifting

    Henry Taylor

    1. Barbed Wire

    Tess Gallagher

    1. Black, Silver
    2. Under Stars

    Michael Palmer

    1. I Do Not

    James Tate

    1. The Lost Pilot

    Norman Dubie

    1. Elizabeth’s War with the Christmas Bear
    2. The Funeral

    Carol Muske Dukes

    1. August, Los Angeles Lullaby

    Kay Ryan

    1. Turtle
    2. Bestiary

    Larry Levis

    1. Childhood Ideogram
    2. Winter Stars

    Adrian C. Louis

    1. Looking for Judas
    2. How Much Lux?
    3. The People of the Other Village

    Marilyn Nelson

    1. The Ballad of Aunt Geneva
    2. Star Fix

    Ai

    1. Cuba 1963
    2. The Kid
    3. Finished

    Yusef Komunyakaa

    1. Thanks
    2. To Do Street
    3. Facing It
    4. Nude Interrogation

    Nathaniel Mackey

    1. Song of the Andoumboulou

    Gregory Orr

    1. Gathering the Bones Together
    2. Two Lines from the Brother Grimm
    3. Origin of the Marble Forest

    Robert Hill Long

    1. Reaching Yellow River

    Albert Goldbarth

    1. Away

    Heather McHugh

    1. Language Lesson 1976
    2. What He Thought

    Leslie Marmon Silko

    1. In Cold Storm Light

    Olga Broumas

    1. Calypso

    Victor Hernández Cruz

    1. Latin & Soul

    Jane Miller

    1. Miami Heart

    David St. John

    1. Iris
    2. D. Wright
    3. Why Ralph Refuses to Dance
    4. Girlfriend Poem #3
    5. Crescent

    Carolyn Forché

    1. Taking Off My Clothes

    Jorie Graham

    1. San Sepolcro

    Marie Howe

    1. What the Living Do

    Joy Harjo

    1. She Had Some Horses
    2. My House Is the Red Earth

    Garrett Hongo

    1. The Legend

    Andrew Hudgins

    1. Begotten
    2. We Were Simply Talking

    Brigit Pegeen Kelly

    1. Imaging Their Own Hymns
    2. Song

    Paul Muldoon

    1. Meeting the British
    2. Errata
    3. The Throwback

    Judith Ortiz Cofer

    1. Quinceanera

    Rita Dove

    1. Parsley
    2. Daystar
    3. After Reading Mickey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed

    Alice Fulton

    1. Our Calling

    Barbara Hamby

    1. Thinking of Galileo
    2. Hatred

    Mark Jarman

    1. Unholy Sonnet

    Naomi Shihab Nye

    1. The Traveling Onion
    2. Arabic
    3. Wedding Cake

    Alberto Ríos

    1. Nani
    2. England Finally Like My Mother Always Said We Would

    Laurie Sheck

    1. Nocturne Blue Waves
    2. The Unfinished

    Gary Soto

    1. Field Poem
    2. Oranges
    3. Black Hair

    Susan Stewart

    1. Yellow Star and Ice
    2. The Forest

    Mark Doty

    1. Brilliance
    2. Esta Noche
    3. Bill’s Story

    Harryette Mullen

    1. Black Nikes

    Franz Wright

    1. Alcohol

    Lorna Dee Cervantes

    1. To My Brother
    2. Love of My Flesh, Living Death

    Sandra Cisneros

    1. My Wicked, Wicked Ways
    2. Little Clowns, My Heart

    Cornelius Eady

    1. Jack Johnson Does the Eagle Rock
    2. Crows in a Strong Wind
    3. I’m a Fool to Love You

    Louise Erdrich

    1. Indian Boarding School: The Runaways

    David Mason

    1. Spooning

    Marilyn Chin

    1. How I Got That Name
    2. Compose Near the Bay Bridge
    3. The Survivor

    Cathy Song

    1. The Youngest Daughter

    Annie Finch

    1. Another Reluctance
    2. Insert

    Li-Young Lee

    1. The Gift
    2. Eating Together

    Carl Phillips

    1. Our Lady
    2. As from a Quiver of Arrows

    Nick Flynn

    1. Bag of Mice
    2. Cartoon Physics

    Elizabeth Alexander

    1. The Venus Hottentot

    Reetika Vazirani

    1. From White Elephants
    2. A Million Balconies
    3. Train Windows

    Sherman Alexie

    1. What the Orphan Inherits
    2. The Powwow at the End of the World

    Natasha Trethewey

    1. Hot Combs
    2. Amateur Fighter
    3. Flounder
    4. E. Stallings
    5. The Tantrum

    Joana Klink

    1. Spare

    Brenda Shaughnessy

    1. Postfeminism
    2. Your One Good Dress

    Kevin Young

    1. Quivira City Limits
    2. Everywhere is Out of Town
    3. Whatever You Want

    Terrance Hayes

    1. At Pegasus
    2. Lady Sings the Blues

    Terrance Hayes

    1. At Pegasus
    2. Lady Sings the Blues

    Pablo Neruda

    1. Viente Poemas De Amor Poems of Love 1924
    2. Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening
    3. Cuerpo De Mujer (Body of a Woman)
    4. Ah Vastness of Pines
    5. Leaning Into the Afternoon
    6. Every Day You Play
    7. Thinking, Tingling Shadows
    8. Tonight I Write
    9. Pablo Neruda, “Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines”

    Gypsy Blue Rose

    1. Gypsy Blue Rose Light of the Bright Moon
    2. Gypsy Blue Rose Love Birds
    3. Gypsy Blue Rose I see you dance across life’s stage
    4. Gypsy Blue Rose Adrift Cherita

    Jejeu

    1. Gypsey Blue Rose Over Green Hills a limpid brook flows
    2. Pillow Woman
    3. Steady Breathing warms my Neck
    4. Brian Compton Might I Interject AHD

     

    Judi Van Godner

    Sioux

    1. Mask
    429.               Angel’s Dilemma

    430.               Where Frogs Are

    431.               Garland Seox

    Quin Jejeu Chinese Form

    432.               Ishikawa Jozan Mount Fuji

    433.               Cheng Hao Autumn Moon

    434.               Gyspy Rose BLue

    Waka

    Gyspy Rose blue Geologist

    435.

    Free Verse

    436.               Sierra Scribbler BLISS

    437.               Crookston 2 Daffodil

    438.               Noland Reflections

    Bragi

    439.               Judi Van Gorder Persimmon

    440.               Linda Versa Smith The snowplow heaves snow banks so high

    Lune

    441.               Robert Brewster  Trees Never Wander Lune

    Rondel

    442.               Lady And Louis Two Silver Rings Rondel

    443.               Mountainwriter49 Forever In My Heart Rondel

    Abhanga

    444.               Judi Can Gorder Incomplete Abhanga

    445.               Judi Can Gorder  Magic Moment abhanga

    446.               Rachael the Library is Wwhere Abhanga

    447.               Astrologically Speaking Aghanga

    448.               Tukaram, Words Are The Only Jewels I possess Ahanga

    Writing Com reviews

     

    449.               Dean Koontz Dragon Tears

    450.                Harlan Ellison“A Boy And His Dog.”

    451.               Fritz Leiber“Spacetime For Springers,”

    452.               Matt Griffin “Schrodinger’s Cat”

    453.                Larry Niven, Rescue Party,

    454.               Azimuth R. Daneel Olivaw

    455.               Roger Zelazny For A Breath I Tarry

    456.                Genesis

    457.                Goethe’s Faust

    458.               E. Housman A Shropshire Lad

    459.                     Keith Laumer“Combat Unit”

    460.                                                           Eregon Proofreading Hell

    461.                                                             Christine B Demonstration of Proof

    462.               Allen Charles A Love Beyond Pain

    463.               Professor Moriatty’s True Confession

    464.               Bobby Lou Steveson Vanwolf

    465.               Beholden Seven

    466.               WD Wilcox Valkyrie

    467.               Kare Enga Pasta Alfredo Please

    468.               Gervic A Hawk’s Gift

    469.               Sumojo Vexatious Valentine

    470.               Cubby on the Road Again, Clinging Hearts

    471.               Peris Throckmortorf Hearts and Darts

    472.               Fye a Simple Blue Note Book

    Manardina

    473.                                                            Lawrencealot – Do All Deceive (Form: Manardina)

    Free Verse

    474.               Kafka The Metamorpousis

    475.               John Gardner Grendel Old English Beowulf

    476.               John Gardner, The Art Of Fiction

    477.                Walt Whitman“Song of Myself.”

    478.                William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow”

    479.                William Carlos Williams’“This Is Just to Say”

    480.               Gwendoly Brooks’ “We Real Cool.”

    481.               TS Elliot the Waste Land

    482.               Sylvia Plath Daddy

    483.               Wallace Stevens Disissluionment of Ten O Clock

    484.               Allen Ginsberg America

    485.               David Ryan Do Not Resuscitate

    Etheree

    486.               Judi Van Gorder Etheree

    487.               Andrea Dietrich Your Wild Awakening

    488.               Andrea Dietrich Anonymous Solitude

    489.               Andrea Dietrich The Lair

    490.               Marie Summer Red Poppy

    491.               Marie Summer Blurred Vision (Double Reversed Etheree)

    492.               Marie Summer Ashen Despair (Double Reversed Etheree)

    Zen Haiku

    493.                ]

    494.               Gypsy Blue Rose at night zen haiku

    495.                Gypsy Blue Rose at the Bay zen Haiku

    Japanese Love Poems

     

    496.                Gypsy Blue Rose When I am Gone Japanese Love Poem

    knitelvers

    497.               Judi Van Gorder How Many Times  Knitelvers

    498.               Larencealot Riskless Investment (Knittelvers)

    499.               EE Cummings 24 Xaipe One Day a Nigger Caught in his Hand

    500.                EE Cummings 48 Xiaipe A kite is the Most Dangerous Machine

    TH Palmer

    501.               TH Palmer  Try Again

    Clerihew

    502.               E Clerihew Bentley Sir Humphrey Davy

    503.               Dan, I Am Taylor Swift

    504.               Alan Mc Alpine Douglas The Road Runner

    505.               James Dean Chase Diana Dalton

    506.               James Dean Chase Corporal Klinger

    507.               Judi Van Gorder  The King Of Pop

    508.               Judi Van Gorder Ms. Amber Heard

    509.               Frank Gibbard  Royal

    510.               Jay O Toole Clerihew Bob Denver

    511.                     James And Marie Summers Garfield The Cat

    512.                     Linda Varsell Smith Supreme Wordster

    513.                   Linda Varsell Smith Electrifying Inventor

     

    Tanka  

    514.                   Princess Nukada I wait for you

    515.                   Takuboku I Shut My Eyes

    516.                   Judi Van Gordner Chill of Soundless Night

    517.                   Dendrobia A cool wind blows in

    518.                   Can Sonmez Subtle hints of spring

    519.                   Cheri L. Ahner Peaceful solitude

    520.                   Ono no Komachi (825-900) Tanka –

    521.                   Ono No Komachi See how the blossoms

    522.                    Tada Chimako

    523.                A Spray of Water: Tanka

    524.                 June Jordan On Time Tanka

    525.                                                           Ono No Komachi The Ink Dark Moon Tanaka

    526.                                                           Mrs. KT Early Spring Rains Thrum

    Other famous poems

     

    527.                John Donne, “The Sun Rising”

    528.                 Emily Dickinson, “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain 

    529.                 Richard Brautigan Gee You’r So Beautiful That is starting to rain

    530.                 Chief Seattle Man Does not weave this web of life he is merely a strand of it What he does to the web, he does to himself

    531.                   Anita Shreve A house with any kind of age will have dozens of stories to tell. I suppose if a novelist could live long enough, one could base an entire oeuvre on the lives that weave in and out of an antique house.

    532.                   Anita Shreve A house with any kind of age will have dozens of stories to tell. I suppose if a novelist could live long enough, one could base an entire oeuvre on the lives that weave in and out of an antique house.

    533.                   Benjamin Franklin You may delay, but time will not

    534.                   Bill Keane Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present

    535.                   Geoffrey Chaucer Time and tide wait for no man.

    536.                   Horrace Mann Lost – yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever.

    537.                     Nora Robert’s Three Fates The past is but a thread in the tapestry of our future

    Mad Cow Pastoral Poem

     

    538.                     Lawrencealot (December 18, 2014) Waiting for Us

    539.                     John Keats’s Odes to a Nightingale

    540.                     Joyce Kilmer Trees

     

     

    541.               Anonymous They Learn What We Live

    542.                Edward Lear’s the Owl and the Pussy Cat

    TS Elliot

    543.               T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock  “

    Allen Ginsberg

     

    544.               Allen Ginsberg Howl

    Lune

    545.               Robert Brewster Trees Never Wander Kelly Lune

    546.               Robert Brewster  An Envelope Labeled Collum Lune

    Pantoum

     

    547.               John Ashberry Hotel Lautréamont

    548.               Natalie Diaz My Brother At 3 A.M

    549.               Denrobia Osprey

    550.               Natalie E Illum Curious George Can’t Swim: A Pantoum

    551.               Blass Falconer A Ride in the Rain

    552.               Judi Van Gorder the Wanderer’s Return

    553.               Judi Van Gorder Seamrog

    554.               Judi Van Gorder Hello Goodbye

    555.               Maria Hummel Station

    556.               Kiandra Jimenez Halcyon Kitchen

    557.               Donald Justice Pantoum of the Great Depression

    558.               Chip Liningston Punta Del Este Pantoum

    559.               Hailey Leithauser O, She Says

    560.               Randal Mann Politics

    561.               Randal Mann Pantoum

    562.               Sally Ann Roberts It All Started with a Packet of Seeds

    563.               Clinton Scollard In The Sultan’s Garden

    564.               David Scheider Pins and Needles

    565.               Evie Shockley Pantoum Landing, 1975

    566.               Linda Vsrsell Smith Our Changing Cosmic Fabric

    567.               Linda Varsell Smith Grandchildren are Rainbow-light

    568.                   Linda Varsell Smith an Eccentric Grandma

    569.                   Linda Varsell Smith Mole Hole Mode

    570.                   Linda Varsell Smith When Saturn Returned

    571.                   Linda Varsell Smith In Gardens of Earthly Delights

    572.                      Linda Varsell Smith Pantoum: Western version of a Malaysian

    573.                     E Stallings Another Lullaby For Insomniacs

    574.                     Marie Summers Celestial Dreams

    575.                     Marie Summers Seasonal Whispers

    576.                     Sasha Steensen Pantoum

    577.                   Chellie Wood Dance In The Rain

    578.                   Robert Lukeman Life – A Marriane Poem

    579.                   Gypsy Rose Blue Billowing Clouds Chain Haiku’

    580.                     Yamanoue no Okura When I eat Mellons Choka

    581.               anonymous They Learn What We Live

    Acrostic 

    582.               Gabriella 2 Masqueraders

    583.               .Dportwood Rejoice in Life

    584.                .Dportwood Boots and Spur

    Funny Poems

    585.               Anne Scott Missing

    586.               Shel Silverstein Messy Room

    587.               My One-Eyed Love” by Andrew Jefferson

    588.               Larry Huggins Doggy Heaven

    589.               Cynthia C. Naspinksi Our Imperfect Dog”

    590.                    Shelby Greer “The Life of a Cupcake”

    591.                    Joanna Fuchs Yes! No!”

    592.                    Cecilia L. Goodbody “Tinkle, Tinkle, Little Car”

    593.                   Robert Lewis Stevenson My Shadow”

    594.                   “I Atte a Chili Pepper” by Barbara Vance

    595.                   Snap, Crackle, Pop” by Catherine Pulsifer

    596.                    Ogden Nash “The People Upstairs”

    597.                   Spike Milligan “Granny”

    598.                    Julie Hebert ” Dessert Last”

    599.                     Richard Leavesley “Belly Button Magic”

    600.                   Anonymous  “Have You Ever Seen”

    601.                    Laura Elizabeth Richards “Ele telephony”

    602.                    Anonymous “Do You Carrot All For Me?”

    603.                     Darren Sardelli “My Doggy Ate My Essay”

    604.                   Jack Prelutsky “Be Glad Your Nose is On Your Face”

    605.                   Gelett Burgess “My Feet”

    606.                     Inna Renko “Home Alone”

    607.                     Nandita Shailesh Shanbhag Not Smart Enough For a Smart Phone”

     

    LImericks

    608.                   Edwar Lear Sit variorum megrim evacuation

    609.                    Unknown There was a young lady of Niger

    610.                   Judi Van Gorder The parrot was messy and loud.

    611.                   Judi Van Gorder An Irishman came to my city

    612.                   Judi Van Gorder In the flick of an eye she went down.

    613.                   Judi Van Gorder There once was a poet called Tinker

    614.                   Limericks I cannot compose,

    615.                    There was a young woman named Bright,

    616.                   There was an odd fellow named Gus,

    617.                   There once was a fly on the wall

    618.                   There once was a man from Tibet,

    619.                   There was a young woman named Bright,

    620.                   I need a front door for my hall,

    621.                   There once was a boy named Dan,

    622.                    A newspaperman named Fling,

    623.                    I know an old owl named Boo,

    624.                   I once fell in love with a blonde,

    625.                   I’d rather have Fingers than Toes,

    626.                   There was a Young Lady whose chin

    627.                   Hickory Dickory Dock,

    628.                   There was a faith healer of Deal

    629.                   My dog is really quite hip,

    630.                   A painter, who lived in Great Britain,

    631.                   There is a young schoolboy named Mason,

    632.                   There was a young schoolboy of Rye,

    633.                   An elderly man called Keith

    634.                   There was an old man of Peru,

    635.                   The Incredible Wizard of Oz,

    636.                    Once I visited France,

    637.                   It goes quickly, you know,

    638.                    Is it me or the nature of money,

    639.                   There once was a farmer from Leeds

    640.                   A fellow jumped off a high wall,

    641.                   A man and his lady-love, Min,

    642.                    There was a young lady of Cork,

    643.                    There once was a Martian called Zed

    644.                   There once was a girl named Sam

    645.                   Said the man with a wink of his eye

    646.                   A wonderful bird is the Pelican.

    647.                   There was once a great man in Japan

    648.                   There was a young man so benighted

    649.                   There was an old man from Sudan,

    650.                    A maiden at college, Miss Breeze,

    651.                    A canner, exceedingly canny,

    652.                    A mouse in her room woke Miss Dowd

    653.                    There was a young woman named Kite,

    654.                   A flea and a fly in a flue,

    655.                    A major, with wonderful force,

    656.                    A nifty young flapper named Jane

    657.                    “There’s a train at 4:04,” said Miss Jenny.

    658.                    A canny young fisher named Fisher

    659.                    Here’s to the chigger,

    660.                   A cheerful old bear at the Zoo

    661.                    The bottle of perfume that Willie sent

    662.                    I bought a new Hoover today,

    663.                    A crossword compiler named Moss

    664.                    I’m papering walls in the loo

    665.                    There once was an old man of Esser,

    666.                    To compose a sonata today,

    667.                    There was a young lady named Perkins,

    668.                    There was an old man of Nantucket

    669.                   There was a young lady of Kent,

    670.                   There was a young lady named Hannah

    671.                    There was a dear lady of Eden,

    672.                    A certain young fellow named Bee-Bee

    673.                    Remember when nearly sixteen

    674.                    There was an old person of Fratto

    675.                    There was a young man from Dealing

    676.                    As 007 walked by

    677.                   A tutor who tooted the flute

    678.                    No woodsman would cut a wood, would he

    679.                    There once was a man from the sticks

    680.                    A poet whose friends called him Steve

    681.                    If you catch a chinchilla in Chile

    682.                    There once was a man named Mauvette

    683.                   There once was a beautiful nurse

    684.                    There was a young girl from Flynn

    685.                There once was a man from Gorem

    686.                Dylan Thomas

    687.               The Hand that Signed the Paper

    688.

    689.                W. H. Auden

    690.

    691.               2

    866666

    692.               8Political Poetry

     

     

    Dylan Thomas, ‘The Hand That Signed the Paper’

    W. H. Auden, ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’

    Audre Lorde, ‘Power’

    Maxine Kumin, ‘Woodchucks’

    “Bloody Halos and Porcelain Chains”  from “The Lie Within The Line”   [18+] by Jeremy (704)
    “Hidden Bruises”   [E] by Sumojo (759)”Run From the Devil”   [18+] by Jayne (1,493)”Death’s Spell”   [E] by DMCarroll (66)”Light’s Labor Lost”   [E] by ChristineB (99)

    “Motherhood, Lost ”   [13+] by Robin:TheRhymeMaven (211)

     

    Monotetra

     

    Linda Newman Paper Dreams

    Michael Walker An Angel Spoke To Me Today

     

    Allan J Wight A Poet On The Launching Pad

    Robert Brewster No Chance

     

     

    Other

     

    Robert Lee Brewer “Waiting for April Showers,”

     

    Jan Turner Spring Eternal

    The Senses of Spring   Jan Turner

    SP Quill Magazine Spring 2006, Vol. #10

    Andrea Ditrich A Summer Alouette

    Judi Can Gorder Month of August

    Linda Varsell Smith Future Possibilities

    Linda Varsell Smith Fourth Dimensional Blueprint

     

    Lune

     

    Robert Brewster Trees Never Wander Kelly Lune

    Robert Brewster  An Envelope Labeled Collum Lune

    David Schneider Adrift WC Poets Place

     

    Herman Melville Art

     

    693.                   Occhtfochlach

    (author unknown) The Ochtfochlach
    Fochlach It (Ochtfochlach)
    © Lawrencealot – December 4, 2013
    Pen Allen of allpoetry Sixteen Thirty-four Door — Double Ochtfochlach

     

     

     

    Note due to copy and paste errors the formating and numbering is SNAFU screwed up beyond repair will try to repair it latter will start numbering from this section onward

     

    Political Poetry

     

    1.      Dylan Thomas, ‘The Hand That Signed the Paper 

    2.      W. H. Auden, ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’

    3.      Audre Lorde, ‘Power

    4.      Maxine Kumin, ‘Woodchucks’

    5.
    “Bloody Halos and Porcelain Chains”  from “The Lie Within The Line”   [18+] by Jeremy (704)6.
    “Hidden Bruises”   [E] by Sumojo (759)7.
    “Run From the Devil”   [18+] by Jayne (1,493)8.
    “Death’s Spell”   [E] by DMCarroll (66)

    9.
    “Light’s Labor Lost”   [E] by ChristineB (99)

    10.
    “Motherhood, Lost ”   [13+] by Robin:TheRhymeMaven (211)

    Monotetra

     

    11. Linda Newman Paper Dreams

    12. Michael Walker An Angel Spoke To Me Today

    13. Allan J Wight A Poet On The Launching Pad

    Aloulette

     

    14. Jan Turner Spring Eternal

    15. The Senses of Spring   Jan Turner

    16. SP Quill Magazine Spring 2006, Vol. #10

    17. Andrea Ditrich A Summer Alouette

    18. Judi Can Gorder Month of August

    19. Linda Varsell Smith Future Possibilities

    20. Linda Varsell Smith Fourth Dimensional Blueprint

     

     

    -Anne Sexton Love Song

    Robert Brewer

     

    Robert Brewer Miss Shadorma

    Robert Brewer Terminal Triolet

    Robert Brewser “Terminal Triolet,”

    Robert Brewer “Forget sleeping”

    Robert Brewer “Semantically Speaking,”

    Robert Brewer  Full Throated
    Robert Brewster No Chance

    Robert Lee Brewer “Waiting for April Showers,”

    Robert Brewer Give Me a Reason

    Bianca Boonstra Thunder and Lightening Entou

    Bianca Boonstra Almost Dead Entou

     

    Zejel Spanish Verse

     

     

    Linda Varsell Smith Pathway

     

    Judi Van Gardner

     

    An Old Hymn Still Singing  Zejel

     

     

    Lune

    1.      Robert Brewster Trees Never Wander Kelly Lune

    2.      Robert Brewster  An Envelope Labeled Collum Lune

     

     

     

    Jay’s Way

     

    Lawrencealot Throw-a-way (Form: Jay’s Way)

     

    Sonnet

     

    William Shakesphere Sonnet 18

     

     

    Bianca Boonstra Writer’s Com

     

    Binaca Boonstra Writer’s Cramp Anne Frank’s Tree

    Lawrencealot

     

    Throw a Way Jay’s Way

     

    Shakesphere

     

    William Shakesphere Sonnet 18

     

    Robert Brewer

     

    Robert Lee Brewer Exchanging Words

     

    PSH

     

    Sheilye Anne Debo Whispering Junkyard Mountain

     

    Quotes to Ponder

     

    If we go down the rabbit hole of our unconsciousness and try to unravel the knotty points of our life story we may encounter a bunch of hidden niceties or emotional stowaways. Forgotten details in the windmill of our mind may daintily reveal, where things might have gone wrong. (I wonder what went wrong.)~~Erik PevernagieI love the rabbit hole. I spend a lot of time looking at images, Google mapping, etc. I also love to read court transcripts, FBI files, stuff like that. You go through vast, boring stretches, but the voices are always so fascinating and slowly a story begins to emerge. It’s very much like playing detective.~~Zachary Lazar

    Cassandra always hid when she read, though she never quite knew why. It was as if she couldn’t shake the guilty suspicion that she was being lazy, that surrendering herself so completely to something so enjoyable must surely be wrong. But surrender she did. Let herself drop through the rabbit hole and into a tale of magic and mystery.~~Kate Morton

    Dr. Seuss provided “ingenious and uniquely witty solutions to the standing problem of the juvenile fantasy writer: how to find, not another Alice, but another rabbit hole.~~Clifton Fadiman

    Rabbit holes are my specialty. I live and breathe in them.~~Kara McDowell, One Way or Another

     

    Charles Baudelaire I must be dead.”

     

    Annymous Worms Crawl In

     

    Edgar Allen Poe Annabel Lee

     

    Kai Carlson Wei Nomad Palindrome

     

    Writer’s Digest

     

    Lee Ellis Big Old Clap Clap,

    Nicki Fitz-Gerald Long Walk Home,

    Darin Rogers Abstract with Twirling Sparklers,

    Martin Klein Unwavering,

    Yinka Shonibare Resolution Kid,

     

    Writng com

     

    Capuchine Safety Dance

    Solang Bring Be Careful Out There

    Solang Bring Bermudagrass

     

     

     Donald Justice“There is a gold light in certain old paintings,” 

     

    Shelly Kaye singular oddquains Fall

    Shelly Kaye singular oddquains Hope

    Shelly Kaye singular oddquains Cards

    Shelly Kaye Mirror OddquainMirror Oddquain Breeze

    Shelly Kaye  Butterfly  Oddquain
    Shelly Kaye Crown Oddquain

     

    Other

     

    Famous Prose Poetry Examples (I Told You I Wasn’t Making This Up!)
    There are plenty of prose poetry examples out there, but here’s a few to get you started:

    “Be Drunk” by Charles Baudelaire—The ultimate call to live passionately Read it here.

    “The Colonel” by Carolyn Forché—A searing piece of political witness that reads like a nightmare you can’t shake. Read it here (18+)

    “A Story About the Body” by Robert Hass—Rejection and desire with stark, unexpected imagery. Read it here.

    “The Prose Poem” by Campbell McGrath—A winding journey with perfectly poetic language (I admit the title is a little less than poetic). Read it here.

     

    The Ziggurat

    Judi Van Gorder Appetite A Ziggurat

    Jonathan Caswell Inspired

    Paul Szlose Anti-Abstraction

    Paul Szlose Depressive

    Paul Szlose Funereal

    Paul Szlose Recital

    Paul Szlose Thaumaturgy

     

    Robert Lee Brewer “Supernatural,”

    Wallace Stevens “Peter Quince at the Clavier.”

     

    Solang Bing  Writing com

     

    Rain and Drought”
    “Never Explained”
    “Not Funny”
    “Wins-Day!”
    “Over and Down”
    “Death Cafe ”
    “Serious, Lengthy, Russian”
    “TGIF”
    “The Big Game”

     

    Capuchine Swizzle Stick

    Elegy

     

    David Romano’s “When Tomorrow Starts With Me” 

    W. H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues,”
    John Milton’s “Lycidas”

    Mary Oliver’s “In Blackwater Woods”
    Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong”

    Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain” 

     

    Triquint

     

    Bianca Simple Chinquapin

     

    Fan Story Haiku

     

    Gypsy Blue Rose Cows Wander At Night

    Gypsy Blue Rose zebra’s zeal gallops

     

     

    Writer’s Digest

    Robert Lee Brewer “If I had Not,”

    Binaca Boonstra Writer’s Cramp Anne Frank’s Tree

    Lawrencealot

     

    Throw a Way Jay’s Way

     

    Shakesphere

     

    William Shakesphere Sonnet 18

     

    Robert Brewer

     

    Robert Lee Brewer Exchanging Words

     

    Fan Story Review

     

    Judi Van Gorder

     

    1. Morning Newscast
      Maskr

    Linda Varsell Smith

    Angel’s Dilemma

     

    JHE All Poetry

     

    Where Frogs Are

     

    Selma Martin

     

    Garland Seox

     

    Fan Story review

     

     

    Other

    Dean Koontz Dragon Tears

    Harlan Ellison“A Boy And His Dog.”

    Fritz Leiber“Spacetime For Springers,” 

    Matt Griffin “Schrodinger’s Cat” .
    Larry Niven, Rescue Party,”

    Azimoth R. Daneel Olivaw

    Roger Zelazny For A Breath I Tarry

    Genesis

    Goethe’s Faust 

    1. Housman A Shropshire Lad.
      Keith Laumer“Combat Unit”

    Kafka “The Metamorphosis”

    John Gardner’grendel I

    Old English Beowulf

    — John Gardner, The Art Of Fiction

     

     

     

    Fan Story Review

     

    Anonymous Wildfire Naani

    Anonymous – A Tick A Tock

    Anonymous – To Shelter Feathered Songs

    Anonymous Even the Odds contest Carl Sanberg

    Anonymous Nonesense

    Anonymous Female Strength in Nature

    Anonymous  Loon

    Anonymous – Owl on the Hunt

    Anonymous the Wild Side

    Patrick Bernady Her Rage

    Jamison Brown Before the Wind Calls

    lJbutterfly Prayer for Debbie Pick Marquette

    Debbie D’Arcy Anne Frank

    Debie D’arcy James Baldwin

    Debbie D’Arcy – Jimmy Carter

    Harry Craft I Was a Spy

    Harry Craft What Happened to the Word Groovy

    Harry Craft What Does Freedom Mean to You?

    Harry Craft – Peace

    John Crawford  Rudyard Kipling

    Donald Saacca Forever friends

    Donaldandvicki – Tender Trap

    Rick Gardner the Sun, the Desert, the One

    Douglas Goff – Perspective

    Dolly Poems Granite Island

    Elias Noor The Whispher of Time

    Finback Never

    Finback When Shadows Creep

    Gypsey Rose Blue Gardens of Delight

    Cecilia a Heikary Bobcat

    Cecila Heiskary – Brown Bear

    Cecilia A Hiskary Horses

    Ceclia A Heiskary The Magic

    Cecilia A Heiskary – Night Life

    Cecila Heiskary – Snow

    Christy 710 – Happy New Year from Aus

    Marylyn Hamilton Darkness Descends

    Marylyn Hamilton He Waits

    Marylyn Hamilton Winging It

    Tom Hormoz A Griever’s Prayer

    Tom Horonzy Rumpelstilskin Unleashed

    Kaput howling at Moon Haiku

    Mrs. Kt Silent Dancers

    KT Shades of Blue –

    Mrs KTEnding Pain’s Servitude

    5 fish JM Jenca

    Debbie Pick Marquette Believe in Miracles

    Debi Pick Marquette My Cornea Disease

    Debbie Pick Marquette – Keeping Gypsy in Prayers

    Debbie Pick Marquette – My Lifetime

    Debbie Pick Marquette Romance on the Beach

    Me and Erin G – Long Gone Away

    Lana Marie Hairy Nipple

    Paul McFarland January

    JUMBO 1 Shame

    Pam (respa) Black History Month

    Tea for Two Eclectic Wordsmiths

    Ean Black I Write

    Richard Frohm Dreams

    KiwiSteveh Sudden Tears

    Lana Marie The Dash Between

    Pamusart – The Kirby Part 1

    Pamusart – The Kirby Part 2

    Pamusart – The Kirby Part 3

    Pamusart – The Kirby Part 4

    Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 5

    Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 6

    Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 7

    Pamusart – The Kirby Case Part 8

    Pamusart Rembering the Past

    Pamusart Old Man at the River

    Pamusart The Great Apes

    Pamusart cooing doves

    Pamusart  Exploding Star

    Pamusart Purple Flowers Wake

    Pamusart the Search

    Pamusart On Finding Peace

    Pamusart Jean Marie Lane

    Pamusart the cavesweet

    Pamusart Independence

    Pamusart the Broken Man

    Lea Tonin – Famitree Flames

    Lea Tonin1 – Humiston

    Lea Toni1 – Mansion

    Lea Toni1 – The Meet

    Alexandra Trovato A Monster Schemes Under Your Bed

    Alexandra Trovato  A Timely Trump Limerick

    Willie P Smith – Sleigh Ride

    Willie P Smith – Walk with Me

    Teafor2 – Last Night of the Year

    Jessica Wheller – Waking Daisy

    Jessica Wheller – January Wind

    Nicki Nance Emotional Support

    Cecilia A Heiskary Daffodils

    Cecila A Heiskary Jaguaurs

    Cecila A Heiskary Insane

    Cecilia A Heiskary Insane

    Anonymous Ode to My Scrunchies

     

     

    Annoymous  Golden Years

     

    Annoymous  Golden Years

    Annoymous AI Future

    Annoymous Tiny Puppy

    D’Arcy Rest

    Cecilia Heikkary Daffodils

    Cecilia A Heiskary Jagaurs

    Cecilia A Heiskary Insane

    Gyspy Rose blue Geologist Waka

     

    Annoymous  Golden Years

    Annoymous AI Future

    Annoymous Tiny Puppy

    D’Arcy Rest

    Cecilia Heikkary Daffodils

    Cecilia A Heiskary Jagaurs

    Cecilia A Heiskary Insane

    Gyspy Rose blue Geologist Waka

    Rick Gardner Innocent of Guilty

    Harry Craft A Kangaroo from Baraboo

    Nancyjam Love in the winter

    Debbie Pick Marquette  Finding the Bright Side

    Debbie Pick Marquette March

    Pamusart The Sword

    Pamusart The Planet Earth

    Barry Penfold Slow Dance with You

    YM Roger Always For Now

    Arabellesom Mom Truest Love Ever Known

    Debbie D’Arcy  Lord Bryon

    Nicki B Robin Williams

    Harry Craft the Cell Phone

    Estory in this Autumn Time

    Mrs Anna Howard Difficult Decisions

    Debbie Pick Marquette Thelma and Louise

    Pamusart Your Golden Aura

    Rachell Allen Public Face/Private Face

    Anonymous Today

    Rachael Allen Exceptional Teacher

    Debbie D’Arcy Voldymyr Zelensky

    Kentucky Sweet Pea My Dogma

    Pamusart The Kidnapping

    Pamusart  the Kidnapping Chapter Two

    Pam Respa Rennoved Violinst

    Rachael Allen Proud to Be His Daugther

    Rick Gardner Wishes to Have

    Cecilia A Heiskary Sumatran Orangutan

    Cecilia A Heiskary Guiana Red-Face Monkey

    Dolly’s Poems the Witching Hour

    Kapot Swimming in Pain

    Debbie Pick Marquette Men are from Mars, Women from Venus

    Miss Merrie This Love

    Nancyjam the Meadow

    Gypsy Blue Rose Billowing Clouds

    Pamusart the Kidnapping Chapter 3

    Pamusart Colorful world

    Pamusart the World Around Lavenders

    Annoymous Maladorous

    Tea for Two It Was the Shoes

    Tea for Two Wordsmith with Big Faces

    Iraven Prayers for Eva

    Sally Law Blood Moon and Blood Rain

    Jaquelyn Poop Living the Dream, No Thank You

    Debi Pick Marquette My Bedroom Window

    Debi Pick Marquette Happy St Patrick’s Birthday

    Debi Pick Marquette My Bedroom Window

    Debi Pick Marquette Happy St Patrick’s Birthday

    Rven Prayers for Eva

    Jennifer Secret Rendezvous

    Sally Law’s Blood Moon and Blood Rain

    Jaquelyn Poop Living the Dream, No Thank You

    Sanku A New Day

    Aiona I Am Photine

    Annyomous Too Many Boyfriends For This Is Serious

    Annyomous Cary Hope

    Annyomous Cicada Watch

    Annyomous Ned the Postman

    Brad Bennett I Saw A Man Walking Crying

    Carasdreams Betrayal

    Cullen Bob I Just Want To Leave Things Be

    Chris Davies Irish

    Iza Dealeanu The Wandering Queen

    Dolly’s Poems Graveyard Shift

    Cecilia A Heiskary Fun Time

    Rick Gardner April Is Today And The Next Day

    Brenda Strauser Early Signs Of Spring

    Alexandra Trovato Real Love

     

    Fan Story Review

     

    Annoymous  Golden Years

    Annoymous AI Future

    Annoymous Tiny Puppy

    Annyomous A Tick a Tock

    Annyomous TO Shelter feathered Songs

    Debbie D’Arcy Jimmy Carter

    Harry Craft Peace

    KT Shades of Blue

    Cecilia A Heiskary Beat of My Drum

    Debbie Pick Marquette Instead of 2025 Resolutions

    Debbie Pick Marquette Patch and Ruby, Catching Things

    Lea Tonin1 Infanterei

    Lea Tonin1 Miristone

    Pam Respa Stylish Statues

    D’Arcy Rest

    Cecilia Heiskary Daffodils

    Cecilia A Heiskary Jaguars

    Cecilia A Heiskary Insane

    Gypsey Rose blue Geologist Waka

    Jamison Brown Before the Wind Calls

    J Butterfly Prayer for Debbie Pick Marquette

    Debbie D’Arcy Anne Frank

    Rick Gardner, the Sun, the Desert, the One

    Cecilia, a Heikary Bobcat

    JUMBO 1 Shame

    Debi Pick, Marquette, My Cornea Disease

    Pam (respa) Black History Month

    Nancyjam Love in the w

    Pamusart The Sword

    Barry Penfold Slow Dance with You

    Tea for Two Eclectic Wordsmiths

    Mark Bibbins “At the End of the Endless Decade,

    Annoymous dogsessive

    Crystie Cookie 999

    Trust Jessie James Doty

    Debbie Pick Marque

    Tim Margetts Four Paws, No Pause

    Bianca Boonstra 2002 Septet

    Anonymous Owl On the Hunt

    Christy 710 Happy New Years from Aus

    DonaldandVicki Tender Trap

    Douglas Goff Perspective

    Me and Erin G Long Gone Away

    Cecilia A Heiskary Night Life

    Lea Tonin1 Humiston

    Lea Toni1 Mansione

    Lea Toni1 The Meet

    Willie P Smith Sleight Ride

    Willie P Smith  Walk With Me

    Teafor2 Last Night of the Year

    Jessica Wheller Waking Daisy

    Binaca Boonstra Writer’s Cramp Anne Frank’s Tree
    Annyomous TO Shelter feathered Songs

    Debbie D’Arcy Jimmy Carter

    Cecila Heiskary Brown Bear

    Cecila Heiskary Snow

    Harry Craft Peace

    KT Shades of Blue

    Debbie Pick Marquette Keeping Gypsy in Prayers

    Debbie Pick Marquette My Lifetime

    Lea Tonin Famitree Flames

    Jessica Wheller Janaury Wind

    Anonymous They Learn What We Live

    Pamusart Rembering the Past

    Pamusart Old Man at the River

    Lana Marie Hairy Nipple

    Paul McFarland January

     

     

    End Poetry

     

    Begin Harvard Classics

    Harvard Classics

     

    The volumes are:

    Bolded read

     

     (1) Franklin, Woolman, Penn

     (2) Plato, Epictetus,

     Marcus, Aurelius Meditations

    (3) Bacon,

    Milton’s Prose,

    Thomas Browne

    (4) Complete Poems in English: Milton

    (5) Essays and English Traits: Emerson (

    6) Poems and Songs: Burns (7)

    Confessions of St. Augustine. Imitation of Christ

    (8) Nine Greek Dramas (9)

    Letters and Treatises of Cicero

    Pliny

    (10) Wealth of Nations: Adam Smith

    (11) Origin of Species: Darwin

    (12) Plutarch’s Lives (13)

     Aeneid Virgil (14)

    Don Quixote Part 1: Cervantes

    (15) Pilgrim’s Progress. Donne

    Herbert. Bunyan, Walton

    (16) The Thousand and One Night

    (17) Folk-Lore and Fable. Aesop, Grimm,

    Andersen

    Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales

    (18) Modern English Drama

    (19) Faust,

    Egmont Etc.

    Doctor Faustus,

    Goethe,

    Marlowe

    (20) The Divine Comedy: Dante

    (21) I Promessi

    Sposi,

    Manzoni

    (22) The Odyssey: Homer

    (23) Two Years Before Mast. Dana

    (24) On the Sublime French Revolution Etc. Burke

    (25) Autobiography Etc. Essays and Addresses: J.S. Mill,

    1. Carlyle

    (26) Continental Drama

    (27) English Essays: Sidney to Macaulay

    (28) Essays. English and American

    (29) Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin (

    30) Faraday,

    Helmholtz,

    Kelvin,

    Newcomb,

    Geikie

    (31) Autobiography: Benvenuto, Cellini

    (32) Literary and Philosophical Essays:

    Montaigne,

    Sainte Beuve,

    Renan,

    Lessing,

    Schiller,

    Kant,

    Mazzini

    (33) Voyages and Travels

    (34) Descartes,

    Voltaire,

    Rousseau,

    Hobbes

    (35) Chronicle and Romance:

    Froissart,

    Malory,

    Holinshed (36)

    Machiavelli, the Prince

    More,

    Luther

    (37) Locke,

    Berkeley,

    Hume

    (38) Harvey,

    Jenner,

    Lister,

    Pasteur

    (39) Famous Prefaces

    (40) English Poetry 1: Chaucer to Gray

    (41) English Poetry 2: Collins to Fitzgerald

    (42) English Poetry 3: Tennyson to Whitman

    (43) American Historical Documents

    Federalist Papers

    Constitution

    Bill of Rights

    Declaration of Indepedence

    (44) Sacred Writings 1

    (45) Sacred Writings 2

    The Bible

    The Quaran

    The Analect of Confucius

    Mencius

    Buddist Writing

    Bhaga Vita

    Lao Tzo The Tao

     

    (46) Elizabethan Drama 1

    (47) Elizabethan Drama 2

    (48) Thoughts and Minor Works: Pascal

    (49) Epic and Saga (

    50) Introduction, Readers Guide,

     

    50 Books to Read Before You Die

    Vol 1 starts with Volume One


    Alcott, Louisa May: Little Women
    Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice
    Austen, Jane: Emma
    Balzac, Honoré de: Father Goriot
    Barbusse, Henri: The Inferno
    Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
    Brontë, Charlotte: Jane Eyre
    Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights
    Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan of the Apes
    Butler, Samuel: The Way of All Flesh
    Carroll, Lewis: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia
    Cervantes, Miguel de: Don Quixote
    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening
    Cleland, John: Fanny Hill
    Collins, Wilkie: The Moonstone
    Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness
    Conrad, Joseph: Nostromo
    Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans
    Crane, Stephen: The Red Badge of Courage
    Cummings, E. E.: The Enormous Room
    Defoe, Daniel: Robinson Crusoe
    Defoe, Daniel: Moll Flanders
    Dickens, Charles: Bleak House
    Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: The Idiot
    Doyle, Arthur Conan: The Hound of the Baskervilles
    Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Count of Monte Cristo
    Eliot, George: Middlemarch
    Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones
    Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary
    Flaubert, Gustave: Sentimental Education
    Ford, Ford Madox: The Good Soldier
    Forster, E. M.: A Room With a View
    Forster, E. M.: Howard End
    Gaskell, Elizabeth: North and South
    Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls
    Gorky, Maxim: The Mother
    Haggard, H. Rider: King Solomon’s Mines
    Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D’Urbervilles
    Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The Scarlet Letter
    Homer: The Odyssey
    Hugo, Victor: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    Hugo, Victor: Les Misérables
    Huxley, Aldous: Crome Yellow
    James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady

     

    Volume 2


    – Little Women [Louisa May Alcott]
    – Sense and Sensibility [Jane Austen]
    – Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) [J.M. Barrie]
    – Cabin Fever [ B. M. Bower]
    – The Secret Garden [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – A Little Princess [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [Lewis Carroll]
    – The King in Yellow [Robert William Chambers]
    – The Man Who Knew Too Much [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Woman in White [Wilkie Collins]
    – The Most Dangerous Game [Richard Connell]
    – Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – On the Origin of Species, 6th Edition [Charles Darwin]
    – The Iron Woman [Margaret Deland]
    – David Copperfield [Charles Dickens]
    – Oliver Twist [Charles Dickens]
    – A Tale of Two Cities [Charles Dickens]
    – The Double [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – A Room with a View [E. M. Forster]
    – Dream Psychology [Sigmund Freud]
    – Tess of the d’Urbervilles [Thomas Hardy]
    – Siddhartha [Hermann Hesse]
    – Dubliners [James Joyce]
    – The Fall of the House of Usher [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Arabian Nights [Andrew Lang]
    – The Sea Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Call of Cthulhu [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – Anne of Green Gables [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – Beyond Good and Evil [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Murders in the Rue Morgue [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Black Cat [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Raven [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – Swann’s Way [Marcel Proust]
    – Romeo and Juliet [William Shakespeare]
    – Treasure Island [Robert Louis Stevenson]
    – The Elements of Style [William Strunk Jr.

     

    Vol 3  finished keeping for the historical record

     

    This book contains the following works arranged alphabetically by authors’ last names.

    Starting with volume 3 then will go back and do volumes one, two, and the Harvard classics. The goal is to finish all of these by the end of next year.  I almost finished Volume One.  Will do some of the WC reading books as well.

    – What’s Bred in the Bone [Grant Allen]
    – The Golden Ass [Lucius Apuleius]
    – Meditations [Marcus Aurelius]
    – Northanger Abbey [Jane Austen]
    – Lady Susan [Jane Austen]
    – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [Lyman Frank Baum]
    – The Art of Public Speaking [Dale Breckenridge Carnegie]
    – The Blazing World [Margaret Cavendish]
    – The Wisdom of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Heretics [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Donnington Affair [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Innocence of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [John Cleland]
    – The Moonstone [Wilkie Collins]
    – Lord Jim [Joseph Conrad]
    – The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – The Pickwick Papers [Charles Dickens]
    – A Christmas Carol [Charles Dickens]
    – Notes From The Underground [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Gambler par Fyodor [Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Lost World [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Hound of the Baskervilles [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Sign of the Four [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Man in the Iron Mask [Alexandre Dumas]
    – The Three Musketeers [Alexandre Dumas]
    – This Side of Paradise [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – Curious, If True: Strange Tales [Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell]
    – King Solomon’s Mines [Henry Rider Haggard]
    – The Hunchback of Notre Dame [Victor Hugo]
    – Kim [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Captain Courageous [Rudyard Kipling]
    – The Jungle Book [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Lady Chatterley’s Lover [David Herbert Lawrence]
    – The Son of the Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Einstein Theory of Relativity [Hendrik Antoon Lorentz]
    – The Dunwich Horror [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – At the Mountains of Madness [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – The Prince [Niccolò Machiavelli]
    – The Story Girl [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – The Antichrist [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Republic [Plato]
    – The Last Man [Mary Shelley]
    – Life On The Mississippi [Mark Twain]
    – The Kama Sutra [Vatsyayana]
    – In the Year 2889 [Jules Verne]
    – Around the World in Eighty Days [Jules Verne]
    – Four Just Men [Edgar Wallace]
    – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ [Lewis Wallace]
    – Jacob’s Room [Virginia Woolf]

     

    Sci-Fi short stories

     

    The Big Book of Science Fiction is a massive anthology of science fiction stories edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It covers the history and evolution of the genre from the early 20th century to the end of the millennium, featuring works from over 30 countries and many languages. The book contains 105 stories, ranging from classics by H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula K. Le Guin, to lesser-known gems by W.E.B. Du Bois, David R. Bunch, and Liu Cixin. The book also includes comments from the editors and the authors, offering insights into their creative process and vision. The book is divided into 11 sections, each with a thematic focus and chronological order.

    Here is the table of contents for the book1:

    Goal read one to five per week alternating with Kindle classics and reading poetry collections finish by end of the year

     

    Introduction: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

    The Lens of Time: Science Fiction as a Way of Seeing

    H.G. Wells: “The Star” (1897)

    Lu Xun: “The New Overworld” (1902)

    Sultana’s Dream: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1905)

    Albert Robida: “The Triumph of Mechanics” (1908)

    Miguel de Unamuno: “Mechanopolis” (1913)

    W.E.B. Du Bois: “The Comet” (1920)

    Claude Farrère: “The Fate of the Poseidonia” (1923)

    Edmond Hamilton: “The Star Stealers” (1929)

    David H. Keller: “The Lost Language” (1934)

    Stanislaw Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Jorge Luis Borges: “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” (1940)

    Cixin Liu: “The Poetry Cloud” (1997)

    Invasions

    Edgar Rice Burroughs: “A Princess of Mars” (1912) excerpt

    Leslie F. Stone: “The Conquest of Gola” (1931)

    Stanley G. Weinbaum: “A Martian Odyssey” (1934)

    John W. Campbell Jr.: “Who Goes There?” (1938)

    Ray Bradbury: “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” (1949)

    Katherine MacLean: “Pictures Don’t Lie” (1951)

    William Tenn: “The Liberation of Earth” (1953)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Voices of Time” (1960)

    Dino Buzzati: “Catastrophe” (1966)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side” (1972)

    Joanna Russ: “When It Changed” (1972)

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “The Spontaneous Reflex” (1973) excerpt

    Octavia Butler: “Bloodchild” (1984)

    James Patrick Kelly: “Think Like a Dinosaur” (1995)

    Monsters

    H.P. Lovecraft: “The Dunwich Horror” (1929)

    Ray Bradbury: “The Foghorn” (1951)

    Jerome Bixby: “It’s a Good Life” (1953)

    Julio Cortázar: “Axolotl” (1956)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Drowned Giant” (1964)

    R.A. Lafferty: “Nine Hundred Grandmothers” (1966)

    Terry Carr: “The Dance of the Changer and the Three” (1968)

    Harlan Ellison®: “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967)

    Lisa Tuttle & George R.R. Martin: “The Storms of Windhaven” (1975)

    John Varley: “Air Raid” (1977)

    William Gibson: “New Rose Hotel” (1984)

    Ted Chiang: “Story of Your Life” (1998)

    Experiments

    Alfred Jarry: “Elements of Pataphysics” (1911)

    Karel Čapek: “R.U.R.” (1920) excerpt

    Stanisław Lem: “How Erg the Self-Inducting Slew a Paleface” (1955)

    William S. Burroughs: “Excerpt from Naked Lunch” (1959)

    J.G. Ballard: “Chronopolis” (1960)

    Philip K. Dick: “Beyond Lies the Wub” (1952)

    Boris Vian: “Froth on the Daydream” (1947) excerpt

    Joanna Russ: “Useful Phrases for the Tourist” (1970)

    George Alec Effinger: “Two Sadnesses” (1973)

    John Sladek: “Solar Shoe Salesman” (1974)

    Dafydd ab Hugh: “The Coon Rolled Down and Ruptured His Larinks, A Squeezed Novel by Mr. Skunk” (1986)

    Generation Ships

    Don Wilcox: “The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years” (1940)

    Judith Merril: “Daughters of Earth” (1952)

    Brian W. Aldiss: “Non-Stop” (1958) excerpt

    Robert Silverberg: “Sundance” (1969)

    Pamela Zoline: “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967)

    Gene Wolfe: “A Cabin on the Coast” (1984)

    Bruce Sterling: “Swarm” (1982)

    Geoff Ryman: “The Unconquered Country” (1984)

    New Worlds

    Cordwainer Smith: “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” (1961)

    Samuel R. Delany: “Aye, and Gomorrah …” (1967)

    Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and Slower” (1971)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” (1976)

    Frederik Pohl: “The Gold at the Starbow’s End” (1972)

    Angélica Gorodischer: “Of Navigators and Traitors” (1973) excerpt

    John Crowley: “Snow” (1985)

    Iain M. Banks: “A Gift from the Culture” (1987)

    Greg Egan: “Learning to Be Me” (1990)

    Future War

    Jack London: “The Unparalleled Invasion” (1910)

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton: “The Coming Race” (1871) excerpt

    George Griffith: “The War of the Viruses” (1895)

    Philip Francis Nowlan: “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” (1928)

    E.E. “Doc” Smith: “The Skylark of Space” (1928) excerpt

    Olaf Stapledon: “Star Maker” (1937) excerpt

    Robert A. Heinlein: “Solution Unsatisfactory” (1941)

    C.M. Kornbluth: “Two Dooms” (1958)

    Joe Haldeman: “Hero” (1972)

    Harry Harrison: “The Streets of Ashkelon” (1962)

    David R. Bunch: “Moderan” (1967)

    Harlan Ellison®: “A Boy and His Dog” (1969)

    James S.A. Corey: “Rates of Change” (2011)

    Virtual Reality

    Stanisław Lem: “The Seventh Sally or How Trurl’s Own Perfection Led to No Good” (1965)

    Philip K. Dick: “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966)

    John Brunner: “The Vitanuls” (1967)

    Roger Zelazny: “For a Breath I Tarry” (1966)

    Robert Silverberg: “Passengers” (1968)

    Rudy Rucker: “Software” (1982) excerpt

    William Gibson: “Burning Chrome” (1982)

    Pat Cadigan: “Pretty Boy Crossover” (1986)

    Neal Stephenson: “Snow Crash” (1992) excerpt

    Humanity 2.0

    Olaf Stapledon: “Odd John” (1935) excerpt

    C.L. Moore: “No Woman Born” (1944)

    Cordwainer Smith: “Scanners Live in Vain” (1950)

    Algis Budrys: “Who?” (1955)

    James Blish: “Surface Tension” (1952)

    Gregory Benford: “Blood Music” (1983)

    Bruce Sterling: “Mozart in Mirrorshades” (1985)

    Vernor Vinge: “True Names” (1981)

    Ted Chiang: “Understand” (1991)

    Alien Minds

    Arthur C. Clarke: “The Sentinel” (1951)

    Isaac Asimov: “The Last Question” (1956)

    Clifford D. Simak: “Desertion” (1944)

    James H. Schmitz: “Grandpa” (1955)

    Frank Herbert: “Try to Remember!” (1961)

    Philip José Farmer: “Sail On! Sail On!” (1952)

    Stanisław Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “Roadside Picnic” (1972) excerpt

    Karen Joy Fowler & Pat Murphy: “Rachel in Love” (1987)

    Ian McDonald: “The Tear” (2008)

    After the End

    1. Walter M. Miller Jr.

    Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century Poetry

    BOLD read

    Edward Lee Masters.

    The Hil

    Fiddler. Jones,

    Petite the Poet

     

    Edwin Arlington Robinson

    Miniver Cheevy

    Mr. Flood’s Party.

     

    James Weldon Johnson

    The Creation

    Paul Laurence  Dunbar.

     

    The Poet

    Life

    Life’s Trajedy

     

    Robert Frost.

    The Death Of The Hired Man.

    Mending Wall.

    Birches

              Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening.

              Tree In My Window.

    Directive.

    Amy Lowell

    Patterns.

     

    Getrude Stein

    Susie Asado.

    From Tender Buttons A Box.

     From Tender Buttons, A Plate.

     

    Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson

    I sit and sew .

    Carl Sandburg.

    Grass.

    Cahoots.

     

    Wallace Stevens.

    Peter Quince at the Clavier.

    Disillusionment of 10:00.

    13 Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird.

              Emperor Of Ice Cream.

    A Mere  Being.

    Angelina Weld Grimke

    Fragment.

    William Carlos Williams.

    Tact.

    Dance Ruse

    The Yachts.

    From Apostlethat Greeny  Flower Book 1, Lines 1 To 92.

     

    Sarah Teasdale.

    Moonlight.

    There Will Come Soft Rains.

     

    Erza Pound

    The Jewel Stairs Grievance.

    The River Merchants Wife Letter.

    In A Station At The Metro.

    Hugh  Selwyn Mulberry.

    From Conto. 56 Libretto Yet Ere This Season Died A Cold

     

    Hilda Doolittle, HD.

    Sea Rose.

    The Helen.

    From The Walls Do Not Fall An Incident Here And There.

    From Hermeneutic Definition Red Rose And A Beggar. Why Did You Come?

    Take Me Anywhere.

    Venicc. Venus.

     

    Robinson, Jeffers.

    Gala in April.

    Shine, Perishing Republic.

    Cloudss at Evening.

    Credo

    Mararane Moore

    Fish.

    Poetry.

    Poetry.

     

    TS, Elliott.

    Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

    The Wasteland.

     

    Claude McKay.

    If We Must Die.

    Harlem Dancer.

     

    Archibald MacLeash,

    Arts Poetica

    Edna, Saint Vincent Millay.

    First Fig

    Recuerdo

    E E Cummings.

    In Just.

    Buffalo Bill

    The Cambridge Ladies Have Lived In Furnished Souls.

    Next To, Of Course, God, America.

    Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled Gladly Beyond.

    Rpophessagr

    Gene Toomor.

    Reapers.

    November Cotton Flowers.

    Portrait in Georgia.

    Louise Bogan

    Medusa.

    New moon.

    Melvin B Tolson

    Dark Symphony.

    From Harlem Gallery PSI Black Boys, Let Me Get Up From The White Man’s Table.

     

    Hart Crane

    From the Bridge

    Poem to Brooklyn Bridge

    From 11  Powhatan’s Daughter the River.

     

    Robert Francis.

    Silent Poem

    Langston Hughes

    Nego speaks of rivers.

    I, Too.

    Dreams Boogie.

    Harlem

    Countee Cullan

    Incident

    To John Keats Poet at Springtime

    Yes I Do Marvel

    From the Dark Tower

    Stanley Kutitz

    Father and Son

    The Protrait

    Touch Me

    WH Auden

    Mussee Des Beaux Arts

    Epitah on a Tryant

    Theordore Roethke

    My Papa’s Waltz

    The Waking

    In a Dark Time

     

    Charles Olson.

    From The Maximum Poems One Maximum Of Gloucester To You.

    The Distances.

    Elizabeth Bishop.

    The Fish

    Sestina

    First Death In Nova Scotia.

    Visit  To Saint Elizabeths.

    One Art.

    Robert Hayden.

    Morning Poem For The Queen Of Sunday.

    Those Winter Sundays.

    Frederick Douglass.

    Middle Passage.

    Muriel  Rukeyser?

    Effort At Speech Between Two People.         ‘

    Then I Saw What The Calling  Was.

    The Poem as Mask

    Delmore  Swartz.

    The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me.

    John Barryman.

    From Dream Songs.

    Feeling Your Compact And Delicious Body. ‘

    Life, Friends, Is Boring. We Must Not Say So.

    There Shut Down Once.  ‘

    This World Is Gradually Becoming A Place.

    Henry’sUnderstanding

     

    Randall, Jarell.

    90 North.

    The Death Of The Bell Turret Gunner.

    The Woman At The Washington Zoo.

    Next Day.

    Weldon Kees.

    To My Daughter?

     

    Dudley Randall

    A Different Image

    William Stafford.

    Traveling Through The Dark.

    At The Bomb Testing Site.

     

    Ruth Stone.

    Scars.

    Margaret Walker.

    For My People

    Gwendolyn Brooks.

    The Mother.

    A Song In The Front Yard.         ‘

    The Bean Eaters

    The Lovers Of The Poor.

    We  Real Cool.      ‘

    The Blackstone Rangers.

     

    Robert Lowell.

    To Speak Of Woe That Is In Marriage.

    Skunk Hour .

    For The Union Dead.

    Robert Duncan.

    Often I’m Permitted To Return To A Medow.

    My Mother Would Be A Falconress

    Lawrence Ferlinghetti

    Populist Manifesto.

    William Meredith.

    Parents. Howard Nemeroff.

    Because You Asked About The Line Between Prose And Poetry.

    Hayden Caruth.

    The  Hyacinth Gardens In Brooklyn.

    August 1945.

    Richard Wilber

    Love Calls Us to the Things of This World

    Cottage Street

    The Writer

    James Dickey

    The Sheep Child

    Alan Duncan.

    Love song I And Thou

    Anthony Act.

    More light, More light.

    Richard Hugo.

    The Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg.

    The Freaks at Spring General Rd. Field.

    Dennis Levertov.

    The Unwritten Poem

    Cademon.

    Swan in Falling snow.

    Who is Simpson?

    American Poetry.

    Carolyn Kaiser.

    A Muse of water.

    Kenneth Koch.

    Fresh air.

    Permanently.

    Maxine Coleman.

    Morning Swim.

    How Is It?

    Gerald Stern.

    Behaving Like A Jew.

    The Dancing.

    Another Insane Devotion.

    AR Ammons.

    The City Limits.

    Corson Inlet.

    Robert Blye.

    Snowfall In The Afternoon.

    Driving Into Town Late To Mail A Letter.

    Walking From Sleep.

    Robert Creeley.

    The Flower.

    I Know A Man.

    The Language.

    The Rain.

    Bresson’s Movies.

    James Merrill.

    Victor Dog.

    Frank O’Hara New York School.

    Steps.

    Poem Lana Turner Has Collapsed.

    The Day Lady Died.

    John Ashberry. New York School

    Some Trees.

    Self-Portrait In A Convex Mirror.

    What Is Poetry?

    Galway, Kennel.

    The Bear.`

    After Making Love, We Hear Footsteps.

    Saint Francis And The Soul.

    Ws Merwin.

    Air.

    For The Anniversary Of My Death.

    Yesterday.

    Chord .

    James Wright.

    A Blessing.

    Autumn  Begins In Martins Ferry, Oh.

    Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy’s Farm In Pine Island, Mn.

    In Response To The Rumor That Otis Warehouse In Wheeling, Wv Has Been Condemned.

    Donald Hall.

    My Son, My Executioner.

    Digging.

    Philip Levine.

    Animals Are Passing From Our Lives.

    They Feed They Lion.

    You Can Have It.

    The  Simple Truth.

     

    Anne Sexton.

    Her Kind

    Adoption.

    Waiting To Die.

    In Celebration Of My Uterus.

    Rowing

    Adrienne Rich.

    Orion

    Planetarium.

    A Valedictorian Forbidding Mourning.

    From 21 Love Poems 13 The Rules Of Break Like A Thermometer.

    Gregory Corso.

    Marriage

    Gary Snyder.

    Hay, For The Horses.

    Riprap.

    Mid August As Sourdough Mountain Lookout.

    Dereck  Walcott.

    A Far Cry From Africa.

    Sea Grapes.

    Find The Schooner Flight Part 11 After The Storm. There’s A Fresh Light That Follows.

    The Light Of The World.

    From Omeros Book. 7. 44 I Sing Of Quiet,Achiles, Afrolabe’s Son.

    Miller Williams.

    Let Me tell you.

    Etheridge Knight

    Idea Of Ancestry.

    Amira Baraka, Leroy Jones.

    Preface To A 20 Volume Suicide Note.

    Agony As Now.

    SOS.

    Black Art.

    Ted Berrigon .

    Wrong Rain.

    A Final Sonnet

    Andre Lorde.

    Power.

    Sonia Sanchez.

    Poetry at 30.

    Mark Strand.

    The Prediction.

    The Night, The Porch.

    Russell Edson.

    A Stone Is Nobody’s.

     

    Mary Oliver.

    Singapore.

    The Summer’s Day.

    Charles Wright.

    Reunion.

    Dead Color.

    California Dreaming.

    Lucile  Clifton.

    Homage To My Hips.

    At Least At Last We Killed The Roaches.

    The Death Of Fry, Alfred Clifton.

    To My Last.

    June, Jordan.

    Home About My Rights.

    Frederick Seidel.

    1968.

    CK Williams.

    Find My Window.

    Blades

    Tynan Wilkowski.’

    The Mechanic.

    Michael S Harper.

    Dear John. Dear Coltrane.

    Last Affair. Bessies Blues Song.

    Grandfather.

    Nightmare Begins Responsibility.

    Charles Simik .

    Stone.

    Fork.

    Classic Ballroom Dances.

    Paula Gunn Allen.

     

    Grandmother.

    Frank Bidart.

    Ellen West.

    Carl Dennis.

    Spring Letter.

    Two Or Three Wishes.

    Stephen Dunn.

    Allegory Of The Cave.

    Tucson.

    Robert Pensky.

    History Of My Heart.

    The Questions.

    Samurai Song.

    James Welch.

    Christmas Comes To Moccasin Flat.

    Billy Collins.

    Introduction To Poetry.

    The Dead.

    Toi Derricote .

    Allen Ginsberg.

    The Weakness.

    Stephen Dobyns.

    How To Like It?

    Lullaby.

    Robert Hass.

    Song.

    That Photographer?

    Return Of Robinson Jeffers.

    Lyn Hejinian

    From My Life trim With Colored Ribbons.

    BH  Fairchild.

    The Machinist Teaching His Daughter To Play The Piano.

    Haik R Madhubuti Don L Lee.

    But He Was Cool Or Even Stopped For Green Lights.

    Upon To Compliment Other Poems.

    William Matthews.

    In Memory Of The Utah Stars.

    The  Accompanist

    . Sharon Olds

    The Language Of The Brag.

    The Lifting.

    Henry Taylor.

    Barbed Wire.

    Tess Gallagher.

    Black, Silver.

    Under Stars.

    Michael Palmer.

    I Do Not.

    James Tate.

    The Lost  Pilot.

    Norman Dubie.

    Elizabeth War With The Christmas Bear.

    The Funeral.

    Carol Muske Dukes,.

    August, Los Angeles Lullaby.

    Kay Ryan.

    Turtle

    Bestiary

    Larry Levis.

    Childhood Ideogram

    Winter Stars

    Adrian C Lousis

    Looking For Judas

    How much lux?

    The People of the Other  Village.

    Marilyn Nelson.

    The Ballad of Aunt Geneva.

    Star Fix.

    Run Stilleman

    Albany

    AI

    Cuba 1963

    The Kid

    Finished

    Yusef Komunyakaa

    Thanks

    To Do Street

    Facing It

    Nude Interogation

    Nathaniel Mc Kay

    Song of the Aduumboulou

    Gregory Orr

    Gathering the Bones Together

    Two Lines From the Brother Grimm

    Origin of the Marble Forrest

    Robert Hill Whiteman

    Reaching Yellow River

    Albert Goldbarth

    Away

    Heather Mc Hugh

    Language Lesson 1976

    What He Thought

    Leslie Marmon Silko

    In  Cold Storm Light

    Olga Boumas

    Calypso

    Victor Hernadez Soul

    Latin and Soul

    Jane Miller

    Miami Heart

    David St. James

    Iris

    CD Wright

    Why Ralph Refuses to Dance

    Girl Friend Poe # 3

    Crescent

    Carolyn Forche

    Taking Off My Clothes

    Jorie Graham

    San Sepolcro

    Marie Howe

    What the Living Do

    Joy Harjo

    She Had Some Horses

    My House is Red Earth

    Garret Honjo

    The Legend

    Andrew  Hugins

    Beggoten

    We Were Simply Talking

    Brigit Peggen Kelly

    Imaging Their Own Hyms

    Song

    Paul Muldoon

    Meeting the British

    Errata

    The Throwback

    Judith Orez Coffer

    Quinceanera

    Rita Dove

    Parsley

    Day Star

    After Reading Mikey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed

    Alice Fulton

    Our Calling

    Barbara Hamby

    Thinking of Galileo

    Hatred

    Mark Jarman

    Unholy Sonnet

    Naomi Shihab Nye

    The Traveling Onion

    Arabic

    Wedding Cake

    Alberto Rios

    Nani

    England Finally like My Mother Always Said We Would

    Laurie Sheck

    Nocturne Blue Waves

    The Unfinished

    Gary Sotto

    Field Poem

    Oranges

    Black Hair

    Susan Stewart

    Yellow Star and Ice

    The Forrest

    Mark Dotty

    Brillance

    Esta Noche

    Bill’s Story

    Harryette Mullen

    Black Nikes

    Franz Wright

    Alcohol

    Lorna Dee Cervantes

    To My Brother

    Love of My Flesh, Living Death

    Sandra Cisneros.

    My Wicked, Wicked Ways.

    Little Clowns, My Heart.

    Cornelius, Eady.

    Jack Johnson Does The Eagle Rock.

    Crows In A Strong Wind.

    I’m A Fool To Love You.

     

    Louise Eldritch

    .         Indian Boarding School. The Runaways.

    David Mason.

    Spooning.

    Marilyn Chin.

    How I Got That Name?

    Compose Near The Bay Bridge

    The Survivor

    Cathy Song .

    The Youngest Daughter.

    Ann Finch.

    Another Reluctance.

    Insert

    Lee Young Lee.

    The Gift

    Eating Together.

    Carl Phillips

    Our Lady

    As From a Quiver of Arrows

    Nick Flynn

    Bag of Mice

    Cartoon Physics

    Elizabeth Alexander

    The Viena Hott not

    Reetika Vazirani

    From White Elephants

    A million Balconies

    Train Windows

    Sherman Alexie

    What the Orphan Inherits

    The Pow Wow at the End of the World

    Natasha Trethewey

    Hot Combs

    Amateur Fighter

    Flounder

    A E Stallings

    The Tantrum

    Joana Klink

    Spare

    Brenda Shaughnessy

    Post feminism

    Your One Good Dress

    Kevin Young

    Quivira City Limits

    Everywhere is Out of Town

    Whatever You Want

    Terrance Hayes

    At Pegasus

    Lady Sings the Blues

    Sci-Fi short stories

     

    The Big Book of Science Fiction is a massive anthology of science fiction stories edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It covers the history and evolution of the genre from the early 20th century to the end of the millennium, featuring works from over 30 countries and many languages. The book contains 105 stories, ranging from classics by H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula K. Le Guin, to lesser-known gems by W.E.B. Du Bois, David R. Bunch, and Liu Cixin. The book also includes comments from the editors and the authors, offering insights into their creative process and vision. The book is divided into 11 sections, each with a thematic focus and a chronological order.

    Here is the table of contents for the book1:

    Introduction: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

    The Lens of Time: Science Fiction as a Way of Seeing

    H.G. Wells: “The Star” (1897)

    Lu Xun: “The New Overworld” (1902)

    Sultana’s Dream: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1905)

    Albert Robida: “The Triumph of Mechanics” (1908)

    Miguel de Unamuno: “Mechanopolis” (1913)

    W.E.B. Du Bois: “The Comet” (1920)

    Claude Farrère: “The Fate of the Poseidonia” (1923)

    Edmond Hamilton: “The Star Stealers” (1929)

    David H. Keller: “The Lost Language” (1934)

    Stanislaw Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Jorge Luis Borges: “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” (1940)

    Cixin Liu: “The Poetry Cloud” (1997)

    Invasions

    Edgar Rice Burroughs: “A Princess of Mars” (1912) excerpt

    Leslie F. Stone: “The Conquest of Gola” (1931)

    Stanley G. Weinbaum: “A Martian Odyssey” (1934)

    John W. Campbell Jr.: “Who Goes There?” (1938)

    Ray Bradbury: “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” (1949)

    Katherine MacLean: “Pictures Don’t Lie” (1951)

    William Tenn: “The Liberation of Earth” (1953)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Voices of Time” (1960)

    Dino Buzzati: “Catastrophe” (1966)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side” (1972)

    Joanna Russ: “When It Changed” (1972)

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “The Spontaneous Reflex” (1973) excerpt

    Octavia Butler: “Bloodchild” (1984)

    James Patrick Kelly: “Think Like a Dinosaur” (1995)

    Monsters

    H.P. Lovecraft: “The Dunwich Horror” (1929)

    Ray Bradbury: “The Foghorn” (1951)

    Jerome Bixby: “It’s a Good Life” (1953)

    Julio Cortázar: “Axolotl” (1956)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Drowned Giant” (1964)

    R.A. Lafferty: “Nine Hundred Grandmothers” (1966)

    Terry Carr: “The Dance of the Changer and the Three” (1968)

    Harlan Ellison®: “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967)

    Lisa Tuttle & George R.R. Martin: “The Storms of Windhaven” (1975)

    John Varley: “Air Raid” (1977)

    William Gibson: “New Rose Hotel” (1984)

    Ted Chiang: “Story of Your Life” (1998)

    Experiments

    Alfred Jarry: “Elements of Pataphysics” (1911)

    Karel Čapek: “R.U.R.” (1920) excerpt

    Stanisław Lem: “How Erg the Self-Inducting Slew a Paleface” (1955)

    William S. Burroughs: “Excerpt from Naked Lunch” (1959)

    J.G. Ballard: “Chronopolis” (1960)

    Philip K. Dick: “Beyond Lies the Wub” (1952)

    Boris Vian: “Froth on the Daydream” (1947) excerpt

    Joanna Russ: “Useful Phrases for the Tourist” (1970)

    George Alec Effinger: “Two Sadnesses” (1973)

    John Sladek: “Solar Shoe Salesman” (1974)

    Dafydd ab Hugh: “The Coon Rolled Down and Ruptured His Larinks, A Squeezed Novel by Mr. Skunk” (1986)

    Generation Ships

    Don Wilcox: “The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years” (1940)

    Judith Merril: “Daughters of Earth” (1952)

    Brian W. Aldiss: “Non-Stop” (1958) excerpt

    Robert Silverberg: “Sundance” (1969)

    Pamela Zoline: “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967)

    Gene Wolfe: “A Cabin on the Coast” (1984)

    Bruce Sterling: “Swarm” (1982)

    Geoff Ryman: “The Unconquered Country” (1984)

    New Worlds

    Cordwainer Smith: “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” (1961)

    Samuel R. Delany: “Aye, and Gomorrah …” (1967)

    Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and Slower” (1971)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” (1976)

    Frederik Pohl: “The Gold at the Starbow’s End” (1972)

    Angélica Gorodischer: “Of Navigators and Traitors” (1973) excerpt

    John Crowley: “Snow” (1985)

    Iain M. Banks: “A Gift from the Culture” (1987)

    Greg Egan: “Learning to Be Me” (1990)

    Future War

    Jack London: “The Unparalleled Invasion” (1910)

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton: “The Coming Race” (1871) excerpt

    George Griffith: “The War of the Viruses” (1895)

    Philip Francis Nowlan: “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” (1928)

    E.E. “Doc” Smith: “The Skylark of Space” (1928) excerpt

    Olaf Stapledon: “Star Maker” (1937) excerpt

    Robert A. Heinlein: “Solution Unsatisfactory” (1941)

    C.M. Kornbluth: “Two Dooms” (1958)

    Joe Haldeman: “Hero” (1972)

    Harry Harrison: “The Streets of Ashkelon” (1962)

    David R. Bunch: “Moderan” (1967)

    Harlan Ellison®: “A Boy and His Dog” (1969)

    James S.A. Corey: “Rates of Change” (2011)

    Virtual Reality

    Stanisław Lem: “The Seventh Sally or How Trurl’s Own Perfection Led to No Good” (1965)

    Philip K. Dick: “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966)

    John Brunner: “The Vitanuls” (1967)

    Roger Zelazny: “For a Breath I Tarry” (1966)

    Robert Silverberg: “Passengers” (1968)

    Rudy Rucker: “Software” (1982) excerpt

    William Gibson: “Burning Chrome” (1982)

    Pat Cadigan: “Pretty Boy Crossover” (1986)

    Neal Stephenson: “Snow Crash” (1992) excerpt

    Humanity 2.0

    Olaf Stapledon: “Odd John” (1935) excerpt

    C.L. Moore: “No Woman Born” (1944)

    Cordwainer Smith: “Scanners Live in Vain” (1950)

    Algis Budrys: “Who?” (1955)

    James Blish: “Surface Tension” (1952)

    Gregory Benford: “Blood Music” (1983)

    Bruce Sterling: “Mozart in Mirrorshades” (1985)

    Vernor Vinge: “True Names” (1981)

    Ted Chiang: “Understand” (1991)

    Alien Minds

    Arthur C. Clarke: “The Sentinel” (1951)

    Isaac Asimov: “The Last Question” (1956)

    Clifford D. Simak: “Desertion” (1944)

    James H. Schmitz: “Grandpa” (1955)

    Frank Herbert: “Try to Remember!” (1961)

    Philip José Farmer: “Sail On! Sail On!” (1952)

    Stanisław Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “Roadside Picnic” (1972) excerpt

    Karen Joy Fowler & Pat Murphy: “Rachel in Love” (1987)

    Ian McDonald: “The Tear” (2008)

    After the End

    Walter M. Miller Jr.: “The Darfsteller” (1955) J.G. Ballard: “The Terminal Beach” (1964) John Wyndham: ”

     

    Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century Poetry

    BOLD read

    Edward Lee Masters.

    The Hil

    Fiddler. Jones,

    Petite the Poet

     

    Edwin Arlington Robinson

    Miniver Cheevy

    Mr. Flood’s Party.

     

    James Weldon Johnson

    The Creation

    Paul Laurence  Dunbar.

     

    The Poet

    Life

    Life’s Trajedy

     

    Robert Frost.

    The Death Of The Hired Man.

    Mending Wall.

    Birches

              Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening.

              Tree In My Window.

    Directive.

    Amy Lowell

    Patterns.

     

    Getrude Stein

    Susie Asado.

    From Tender Buttons A Box.

     From Tender Buttons, A Plate.

     

    Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson

    I sit and sew .

    Carl Sandburg.

    Grass.

    Cahoots.

     

    Wallace Stevens.

    Peter Quince at the Clavier.

    Disillusionment of 10:00.

    13 Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird.

              Emperor Of Ice Cream.

    A Mere  Being.

    Angelina Weld Grimke

    Fragment.

    William Carlos Williams.

    Tact.

    Dance Ruse

    The Yachts.

    From Apostlethat Greeny  Flower Book 1, Lines 1 To 92.

     

    Sarah Teasdale.

    Moonlight.

    There Will Come Soft Rains.

     

    Erza Pound

    The Jewel Stairs Grievance.

    The River Merchants Wife Letter.

    In A Station At The Metro.     

              Hugh  Selwyn Mulberry.

    From Conto. 56 Libretto Yet Ere This Season Died A Cold

     

    Hilda Doolittle, HD.

    Sea Rose.

    The Helen.

    From The Walls Do Not Fall An Incident Here And There.

    From Hermeneutic Definition Red Rose And A Beggar. Why Did You Come?

    Take Me Anywhere.

    Venicc. Venus.

     

    Robinson, Jeffers.

    Gala in April.

    Shine, Perishing Republic.

    Cloudss at Evening.

    Credo

    Mararane Moore

    Fish.

    Poetry.

     

    TS, Elliott.

    Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

              The Wasteland.

     

    Claude McKay.

    If We Must Die.

    Harlem Dancer.

     

    Archibald MacLeash,

    Arts Poetica

    Edna, Saint Vincent Millay.

    First Fig

    Recuerdo

    E E Cummings.

    In Just.

    Buffalo Bill

    The Cambridge Ladies Have Lived In Furnished Souls.

    Next To, Of Course, God, America.

    Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled Gladly Beyond.

    Rpophessagr

    Gene Toomor.

    Reapers.

    November Cotton Flowers.

    Portrait in Georgia.

    Louise Bogan

    Medusa.

    New moon.

    Melvin B Tolson

    Dark Symphony.

    From Harlem Gallery PSI Black Boys, Let Me Get Up From The White Man’s Table.

     

    Hart Crane

    From the Bridge

    Poem to Brooklyn Bridge

    From 11  Powhatan’s Daughter the River.

     

    Robert Francis.

    Silent Poem

    Langston Hughes

    Nego speaks of rivers.

    I, Too.

    Dreams Boogie.

    Harlem

    Countee Cullan

    Incident

    To John Keats Poet at Spring Time

    Yes I Do Marvel

    From the Dark Tower

    Stanley Kutitz

    Father and Son

    The Protrait

    Touch Me

    WH Auden

    Mussee Des Beaux Arts

    Epitah on a Tryant

    Theordore Roethke

    My Papa’s Waltz

    The Waking

    In a Dark Time

     

    Charles Olson.

    From The Maximum Poems One Maximum Of Gloucester To You.

    The Distances.

    Elizabeth Bishop.

    The Fish

    Sestina

    First Death In Nova Scotia.

    Visit  To Saint Elizabeths.

    One Art.

    Robert Hayden.

    Morning Poem For The Queen Of Sunday.

    Those Winter Sundays.

    Frederick Douglass.

    Middle Passage.

    Muriel  Rukeyser?

    Effort At Speech Between Two People.         ‘

    Then I Saw What The Calling  Was.

    The Poem as Mask

    Delmore  Swartz.

    The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me.

    John Barryman.

    From The Dream Songs.

    Feeling Your Compact And Delicious Body. ‘

    Life, Friends, Is Boring. We Must Not Say So.

    There Shut Down Once.  ‘

    This World Is Gradually Becoming A Place.

    Henry’sUnderstanding

     

    Randall, Jarell.

    90 North.

    The Death Of The Bell Turret Gunner.

    The Woman At The Washington Zoo.

    Next Day.

    Weldon Kees.

    To My Daughter?

     

    Dudley Randall

    A Different Image

    William Stafford.

    Traveling Through The Dark.

    At The Bomb Testing Site.

     

    Ruth Stone.

    Scars.

    Margaret Walker.

    For My People

    Gwendolyn Brooks.

    The Mother.

    A Song In The Front Yard.         ‘

    The Bean Eaters

    The Lovers Of The Poor.

              We  Real Cool.      ‘

    The Blackstone Rangers.

     

    Robert Lowell.

    To Speak Of Woe That Is In Marriage.

    Skunk Hour .

    For The Union Dead.

    Robert Duncan.

    Often I’m Permitted To Return To A Medow.

    My Mother Would Be A Falconress

    Lawrence Ferlinghetti

    Populist Manifesto.

    William Meredith.

    Parents. Howard Nemeroff.

    Because You Asked About The Line Between Prose And Poetry.

    Hayden Caruth.

    The  Hyacinth Gardens In Brooklyn.

    August 1945.

    Richard Wilber

    Love Calls Us to the Things of This World

    Cottage Street

    The Writer

    James Dickey

    The Sheep Child

    Alan Duncan.

    Love song I And Thou

    Anthony Act.

    More light, More light.

    Richard Hugo.

    The Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg.

    The Freaks at Spring General Rd. Field.

    Dennis Levertov.

    The Poem Unwritten

    Cademon.

    Swan in Falling snow.

    Who is Simpson?

    American Poetry.

    Carolyn Kaiser.

    A Muse of water.

    Kenneth Koch.

    Fresh air.

    Permanently.

    Maxine Coleman.

    Morning Swim.

    How It Is?

    Gerald Stern.

    Behaving Like A Jew.

    The Dancing.

    Another Insane Devotion.

    AR Ammons.

    The City Limits.

    Corson Inlet.

    Robert Blye.

    Snowfall In The Afternoon.

    Driving Into Town Late To Mail A Letter.

    Walking From Sleep.

    Robert Creeley.

    The Flower.

    I Know A Man.

    The Language.

    The Rain.

    Bresson’s Movies.

    James Merrill.

    Victor Dog.

    Frank O’Hara New York School.

    Steps.

    Poem Lana Turner Has Collapsed.

    The Day Lady Died.

    John Ashberry. New York School

    Some Trees.

    Self-Portrait In A Convex Mirror.

    What Is Poetry?

    Galway, Kennel.

    The Bear.`

    After Making Love, We Hear Footsteps.

    Saint Francis And The Soul.

    Ws Merwin.

    Air.

    For The Anniversary Of My Death.

    Yesterday.

    Chord .

    James Wright.

    A Blessing.

    Autumn  Begins In Martins Ferry, Oh.

    Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy’s Farm In Pine Island, Mn.

    In Response To The Rumor That Otis Warehouse In Wheeling, Wv Has Been Condemned.

    Donald Hall.

    My Son, My Executioner.

    Digging.

    Philip Levine.

    Animals Are Passing From Our Lives.

    They Feed They Lion.

    You Can Have It.

    The  Simple Truth.

     

    Anne Sexton.

    Her Kind

    Adoption.

    Waiting To Die.

    In Celebration Of My Uterus.

    Rowing

    Adrienne Rich.

    Orion

    Planetarium.

    A Valedictorian Forbidding Mourning.

    From 21 Love Poems 13 The Rules Of Break Like A Thermometer.

    Gregory Corso.

    Marriage

    Gary Snyder.

    Hay, For The Horses.

    Riprap.

    Mid August As Sourdough Mountain Lookout.

    Dereck  Walcott.

    A Far Cry From Africa.

    Sea Grapes.

    Find The Schooner Flight Part 11 After The Storm. There’s A Fresh Light That Follows.

    The Light Of The World.

    From Omeros Book. 7. 44 I Sing Of Quiet,Achiles, Afrolabe’s Son.

    Miller Williams.

    Let Me tell you.

    Etheridge Knight

    Idea Of Ancestry.

    Amira Baraka, Leroy Jones.

    Preface To A 20 Volume Suicide Note.

    Agony As Now.

    SOS.

    Black Art.

    Ted Berrigon .

    Wrong Rain.

    A Final Sonnet

    Andre Lorde.

    Power.

    Sonia Sanchez.

    Poetry at 30.

    Mark Strand.

    The Prediction.

    The Night, The Porch.

    Russell Edson.

    A Stone Is Nobody’s.

     

    Mary Oliver.

    Singapore.

    The Summer’s Day.

    Charles Wright.

    Reunion.

    Dead Color.

    California Dreaming.

    Lucile  Clifton.

    Homage To My Hips.

    At Least At Last We Killed The Roaches.

    The Death Of Fry, Alfred Clifton.

    To My Last.

    June, Jordan.

    Home About My Rights.

    Frederick Seidel.

    1968.

    CK Williams.

    Find My Window.

    Blades

    Tynan Wilkowski.’

    The Mechanic.

    Michael S Harper.

    Dear John. Dear Coltrane.

    Last Affair. Bessies Blues Song.

    Grandfather.

    Nightmare Begins Responsibility.

    Charles Simik .

    Stone.

    Fork.

    Classic Ballroom Dances.

    Paula Gunn Allen.

     

    Grandmother.

    Frank Bidart.

    Ellen West.

    Carl Dennis.

    Spring Letter.

    Two Or Three Wishes.

    Stephen Dunn.

    Allegory Of The Cave.

    Tucson.

    Robert Pensky.

    History Of My Heart.

    The Questions.

    Samurai Song.

    James Welch.

    Christmas Comes To Moccasin Flat.

    Billy Collins.

    Introduction To Poetry.

    The Dead.

    Toi Derricote .

    Allen Ginsberg.

    The Weakness.

    Stephen Dobyns.

    How To Like It?

    Lullaby.

    Robert Hass.

    Song.

    That Photographer?

    Return Of Robinson Jeffers.

    Lyn Hejinian

    From My Life trim With Colored Ribbons.

    BH  Fairchild.

    The Machinist Teaching His Daughter To Play The Piano.

    Haki  R Madhubuti Don L Lee.

    But He Was Cool Or Even Stopped For Green Lights.

    Upon To Compliment Other Poems.

    William Matthews.

    In Memory Of The Utah Stars.

    The  Accompanist

    . Sharon Olds

    The Language Of The Brag.

    The Lifting.

    Henry Taylor.

    Barbed Wire.

    Tess Gallagher.

    Black, Silver.

    Under Stars.

    Michael Palmer.

    I Do Not.

    James Tate.

    The Lost  Pilot.

    Norman Dubie.

    Elizabeth War With The Christmas Bear.

    The Funeral.

    Carol Muske Dukes,.

    August, Los Angeles Lullaby.

    Kay Ryan.

    Turtle

    Bestiary

    Larry Levis.

    Childhood Ideogram

    Winter Stars

    Adrian C Lousis

    Looking For Judas

    How much lux?

    The People of the Other  Village.

    Marilyn Nelson.

    The Ballad of Aunt Geneva.

    Star Fix.

    Run Stilleman

    Albany

    AI

    Cuba 1963

    The Kid

    Finished

    Yusef Komunyakaa

    Thanks

    To Do Street

    Facing It

    Nude Interogation

    Nathaniel Mc Kay

    Song of the Aduumboulou

    Gregory Orr

    Gathering the Bones Together

    Two Lines From the Brother Grimm

    Origin of the Marble Forrest

    Robert Hill Whiteman

    Reaching Yellow River

    Albert Goldbarth

    Away

    Heather Mc Hugh

    Language Lesson 1976

    What He Thought

    Leslie Marmon Silko

    In  Cold Storm Light

    Olga Boumas

    Calypso

    Victor Hernadez Soul

    Latin and Soul

    Jane Miller

    Miami Heart

    David St. James

    Iris

    CD Wright

    Why Ralph Refuses to Dance

    Girl Friend Poe # 3

    Crescent

    Carolyn Forche

    Taking Off My Clothes

    Jorie Graham

    San Sepolcro

    Marie Howe

    What the Living Do

    Joy Harjo

    She Had Some Horses

    My House is the Red Earth

    Garret Honjo

    The Legend

    Andrew  Hugins

    Beggoten

    We Were Simply Talking

    Brigit Peggen Kelly

    Imaging Their Own Hyms

    Song

    Paul Muldoon

    Meeting the British

    Errata

    The Throwback

    Judith Orez Coffer

    Quinceanera

    Rita Dove

    Parsely

    Day Star

    After Reading Mikey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed

    Alice Fulton

    Our Calling

    Brbar Hamby

    Thinking of Galieo

    Hatred

    Mark Jarman

    Unholly Sonnet

    Naomi Shibab Nye

    The Traveling Onion

    Arabic

    Wedding Cake

    Alberto Rios

    Nani

    Enland Finally like My Mother Always Said We Would

    Laurie Sheck

    Nocturne Blue Waves

    The Unfinished

    Gary Sotto

    Field Poem

    Oranges

    Black Hair

    Susan Stewart

    Yellow Star and Ice

    The Forrest

    Mark Dotty

    Brillance

    Esta Noche

    Bill’s Story

    Harryette Mullen

    Black Nikes

    Franz Wright

    Alcohol

    Lorna Dee Cervantes

    To My Brother

    Love of My Flesh, Living Death

    Sandra Cisneros.

    My Wicked, Wicked Ways.

    Little Clowns, My Heart.

    Cornelius, Eady.

    Jack Johnson Does The Eagle Rock.

    Crows In A Strong Wind.

    I’m A Fool To Love You.

     

    Louise Eldritch

    .         Indian Boarding School. The Runaways.

    David Mason.

    Spooning.

    Marilyn Chin.

    How I Got That Name?

    Compose Near The Bay Bridge

    The Survivor

    Cathysong .

    The Youngest Daughter.

    Ann Finch.

    Another Reluctance.

    Insert

    Lee Young Lee.

    The Gift

    Eating Together.

    Carl Philiphs

    Our Lady

    As From a Quiver of Arrows

    Nick Flynn

    Bag of Mice

    Cartoon Physics

    Elizabeth Alexander

    The Viena Hottenot

    Reetivka Vazisrani

    From White Elephants

    A million Balconies

    Train Windows

    Sherman Alexie

    What the Orphan Inherits

    The Pow Wow at the End of the World

    Natasha Trethevey

    Hot Combs

    Amateur Fighter

    Flounder

    A E Stallings

    The Tantrum

    Joana Klink

    Spare

    Brenda Shaughnessy

    Postfeminism

    Your One Good Dress

    Kevin Young

    Quivra City Limits

    Everywhere is Out of Town

    Whaatever You Want

    Terrance Hayes

    At Pegasus

              Lady Sings the Blues

     

    Monthly Themes enter one review per month

    January

    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia
    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening

     

     

    Read

    #1: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

    #2: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

    #4: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

    #5: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

    #6: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

    #7: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

    #8: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

    #9: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

    10: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    #11: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

    #12: The Stranger by Albert Camus

    #13: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

    #14: Animal Farm by George Orwell

    #15: Watership Down by Richard Adams

    #16: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

    #17: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

    #18: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

    #19: 1984 by George Orwell

    #20: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

    #24: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

    #26: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

     

    Not read

    #3: Night by Elie Wiesel

    #21: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

    #22: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

    #23: Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges#25: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

     

     

    16 Famous Books Everyone Pretends They’ve Read (But Haven’t)

     

    Read

     

    Moby-Dickby Herman Melville

     The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

    The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

    Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

    1984 by George Orwell

    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

    F Scott Fitsgerald the Great Gatsby

    F Scott Fitsgerald  This Side of Paradise

     

    Yet to Read

     

    The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

    A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

    F Scott Fitsgerald  Tender is the Night

    F Scott Fitsgerald  The Last Tycoon

     

    25 Classic Books You Have to Read in 2025

     

    Read

    Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

    The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

    1984 by George Orwell

    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

    Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

    The Awakening by Kate Chopin

    The Odyssey by Homer

    Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

    Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

    Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

    Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

    The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

    CS Lewis Prince Caspian

    CS Lewis the Voyage of the Dawn Begal

    CS Lewis the Horse and His Boy

    CS Lewis the the Magican’s Newphew

    CS Lewis the Silver Chair

    CS Lewis The Final Battle

    Willa Cather My Antonio

    Alice Walker The Color Purple

    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

    The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

     

     

    The classic books everyone should read at least once before they die

     

    Read

     

    #35. The Old Man and the Sea

    – Author: Ernest Hemingway

    1. The Canterbury Tales

    – Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

    #33. Othello

    – Author: William Shakespeare

    #32. Flowers for Algernon

    – Author: Daniel Keyes

    #30. A Tale of Two Cities

    – Author: Charles Dickens

    #30. A Tale of Two Cities

    – Author: Charles Dickens

    #31. Beowulf

    – Author: Unknown

    #29. Wuthering Heights

    – Author: Emily Brontë

    #28. The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0)

    – Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

    #27. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

    – Author: William Shakespeare

    #26. The Grapes of Wrath

    – Author: John Steinbeck

    #25. Great Expectations

    – Author: Charles Dickens

    #24. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text

    – Author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

    #23. Julius Caesar

    – Author: William Shakespeare

    #22. The Outsiders

    – Author: S.E. Hinton

    #21. Brave New World

    – Author: Aldous Huxley

    #19. The Crucible

    – Author: Arthur Miller

    #17. Jane Eyre

    – Author: Charlotte Brontë

    #16. Fahrenheit 451

    – Author: Ray Bradbury

    #15. Pride and Prejudice

    – Author: Jane Austen

    #14. The Odyssey

    – Author: Homer

    #12. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    – Author: Mark Twain

    #11. 1984

    – Author: George Orwell

    #10. The Scarlet Letter

    – Author: Nathaniel Hawthorn

    #9. Hamlet

    – Author: William Shakespeare

    #8. The Catcher in the Rye

    – Author: J.D. Salinger

     

    #7. Of Mice and Men

    – Author: John Steinbeck

     

    #6. Macbeth

    – Author: William Shakespeare

     

    #5. Animal Farm

    – Author: George Orwel

    #4. Lord of the Flies

    Author: William Golding

    #2. Romeo and Juliet

    – Author: William Shakespeare

    #1. To Kill a Mockingbird

    Author: Harper Lee

    100 thriller novels everyone should read at least once

    2024’s top 100 books: How many did you read? – jakecaller@gmail.com – Gmail

    The 100 books that defined the past 100 years

    1955: ‘Marjorie Morningstar’ by Herman Wouk©Goodreads

    “Marjorie Morningstar” is the love story of a young woman who accepts a job in New York, leaving her traditional Jewish family to become immersed in the theater world.

    The best new books to read in January 2025

    The 14 best classic novels under 200 pages

    42 Must-Read Short Stories on Science Fiction That Will Transform Your Reality

    15 Beautiful Literary Spots Across America for Every Reader

     

     

     

     

    100 of the Best Books of All Time

     

     

    Baby Boy Laughs When Mom Reads Storybook

    0

    3. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (1974)

    The imagination and artistry of Shel Silverstein are on full display in this classic collection of short stories and poems. Where the Sidewalk Ends is truly one of the best poetry books of all time because of its staying power for children and adults alike. Whimsical and masterful, the stories of this American poet, author, singer, and folk artist have something for everyone.

    4. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann (1966)

    Sex and drugs have a common allure, but they also have a common endgame: a downward spiral. In Valley of the Dolls, Jacqueline Susann offers in lurid detail the stories of three young women who want nothing more than to reach the pinnacle of life. But just as they see it in their grasp, they lose it all in a coil of sex, lust, romance, and abandonment. This page-turner is one of those classic beach reads you won’t be able to put down, and it paved the way for similar scintillating vacation books.

    5. The Shining by Stephen King (1977)

    The master of suspense must be included in any list of books you should read in a lifetime. That’s why you’ll find Stephen King’s The Shining here. Brought to life in cinematic perfection by Jack Nicholson, Jack Torrance is a middle-aged man looking for a fresh start. He thinks he’s found it when he lands a job as the off-season caretaker at an idyllic old hotel, the Overlook. But as snow piles higher outside, the secluded location begins to feel more confining and sinister, less freeing and more provoking. Horror fans, take note: This is one of the scariest and best Stephen King books of all time.

    6. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943) on my 50 Books to read List

    7. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954)

    70 The Handmaids Tale By Margaret Atwood Via Amazon© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    8. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)

    9. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1962)

    10. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

    11. All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (1974)

    12. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (1946)

    13. Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)

    14. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1965)

    15. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (2007)

    16. Dune by Frank Herbert (1965) plus rest of the series

    17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1861)

    20 Daring Greatly How The Courage To Be Vulnerable Transforms The Way We Live, Love, Parent, And Lead By Brené Brow© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    18. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown (2012)

    19. 1984 by George Orwell (1949)

    20. Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt (1996)

    21. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (1988)

    22. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

    23. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (2000)

    24. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997) plus rest of the Series

    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
    Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by J.K. Rowling

    25. Selected Stories, 1968–1994 by Alice Munro (1996)

    65 The Fault In Our Stars By John Green Via Amazon© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    26. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2012)

    27. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll (1865)

    28. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)

    29. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (1970)

    30. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (1967)

    31. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)

    32. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi (2000)

    35. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (2009)

    36. The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley by Malcolm X and Alex Haley (1965)

    37. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson (1971)

    38. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (1999)

    39. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)

    40. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)

    41. Love Medicine by Louise Eldrich (1984)

    42. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (2000)

    43. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)

    44. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)

    45. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)

    46. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis (2003)

    47. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (1915)

    48. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957)

    49. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (1937)

    50. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939)

    51. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth (1969)

    52. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)

    53. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (2005)

    54. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)

    55. The Age of Innocence by Edith Warton (1920)

    56. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (2000)

    57. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2005)

    58. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (1973)

    59. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (2007)

    60. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)

    61. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride (1995)

    62. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (1989)

    63. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (2001)

    64. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson (2003)

    65. The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)

    66. The Night Watchmen by Louise Erdrich (2020)

    67. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (1995)

    68. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

    69. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2010)

    70. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)

    71. The Liars’ Club: A Memoir by Mary Karr (1995)

    72. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (1953)

    73. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright (2006)

    74. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Olive Sacks (1985)

    75. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (2006)

    76. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro (1974)

    77. The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe (1979)

    78. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin (1953)

    84 The Road By Cormac Mccarthy Via Amazon© Provided by Reader’s Digest

    79. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006)

    80. The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)

    81. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (1926)

    82. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2015)

    83. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (1990)

    84. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (1994)

    85. The World According to Garp by John Irving (1978) plus rest of his works

    86. Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1603) plus rest of his plays

    87. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (2005)

     

    88. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958)

    89. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (2010)

    90. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)

    91. White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000)

    92. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

    93. Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001)

    94. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

    95. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950) plus rest of the series

    96. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013)97. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

    98. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)

    99. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003)

    100. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010)

     

    Shakespear  – plays and sonnets

    Additional books from the list 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (1318 books)

    The Call of the Wild
    Water for Elephants
    The Princess Bride
    The Kite Runner
    The Pillars of the Earth
    Illusions
    Watership Down
    Nice Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
    Where the Sidewalk Ends

    Tuesdays with Morrie
    Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
    Ender’s Game
    The Valley of Horses
    It
    The Chronicles of Narnia
    The Screwtape Letters
    Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
    The Clan of the Cave Bear
    American Gods
    The Stand

    – “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” – Jean-Dominique Bauby
    – “Hamlet” – William Shakespeare
    – “Goodnight Opus” – Berkeley Breathed
    –     “The Devil in the White City” – Erik Larson
    – “The Thief Lord” – Cornelia Funke
    – “Indigo” – Alice Hoffman
    – “Mythology” – Edith Hamilton
    – “The Outsiders” – S.E. Hinton

    The Metamorphosis and Other Stories, by Franz Kafka

     The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
    The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
    The Stranger, by Albert Camus
    Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie on 50 books list
    The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards
    The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde (if it’s a play, it’s probably not on the list, which is mostly novels)
    The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
    The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales, by Jacob Grimm
    East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
    The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry
    Dune, by Frank Herbert
    A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
    The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
    The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
    The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho (again)
    Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery on 50 book list
    And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
    The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan (the list is, I believe, strictly fiction)
    New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer
    Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
    Ringworld by Larry Niven
    Tales of Known Space: The Universe of Larry Niven by Larry Niven
    The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton by Larry Niven
    Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
    Doorways in the Sand by Robert Zelazny
    Creatures of Light and Darkness by Rober Zelazny
    Portrait of a Killer: Jack The Ripper – Case Cl… by Patricia Cornwell
    The Nine Billion Names of God: The Best Short S… by Arthur C. Clarke
    The Aleph and Other Stories by Jorge Luis Borges
    Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges
    Carried Away: A Selection of Stories by Alice Munro
    Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
    Ficciones is the piece that’s on the list, if you want to add it.
    Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
    The Immaculate Conception by Gaetan Soucy
    The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
    Double Helix by J. Watson
    The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant
    A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White H… by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
    Broken Government: How the Republi…by John W. Dean
    Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
    Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase… by James L. Swanson
    Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
    The Pianist: The Extraordinary True… by Wladyslaw Szpilman
    The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
    My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier
    Leviathan by Paul Auster
    D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri D’Aulaire

    Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton
    The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
    The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
    Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk
    The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman
    Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein
    The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe (Poe is on the list three times, but not for this one.)
    The Bible
    The Quoran

    Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
    Shogun, by James Clavell
    The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
    A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer
    The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova
    White Oleander, by Janet Fitch
    The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
    Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls
    Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller
    The Lottery and Other Stories, by Shirley Jackson
    Love Story, by Erich Segal
    Love You Forever, by Robert N. Munsch
    John Adams, by David McCullough
    Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt
    The Aeneid, by Virgil
    Leaves of     Grass, by Walt Whitman
    The World of Pooh, by A.A. Milne
    Katherine, by Anya Seton
    The Stand, by Stephen King (Mr. King is on, but only for The Shining.)
    Daughter of the Forrest, by Juliet Marillier
    World Without End, by Ken Follett
    The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins
    Freakonomics, by Stephen D. Levitt
    World War Z, by Max Brooks
    The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
    Roots, by Alex Haley
    House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III
    The Canterbury Tales, by Barbara Cohen
    The Eyre Affair, by Jasper FfordeThe Ruins, by Scott B. Smith
    The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
    Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
    Forrest Gump, by Winston Groom
    The Mammoth Hunters, by Jean Auel
    Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman
    100 Love Sonnets, by Pablo Neruda
    Watership Down, by Richard Adams
    Shadow Kiss, by Richelle Mead
    The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
    The Shack, by William Young
    The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon
    The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers
    Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
    A Wizard of Earthsea, by Urusula K. Le Guin
    The Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
    Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson
    The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx
    Le Morte d’Arthur, by Thomas Malory

    Fail Safe, by Eugene Burdick
    Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
    Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
    Graceling, by Kristin Cashore
    Enchanted April, by Elizabeth von Arnim
    The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein
    Ripley’s Game, by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley is on, but this one isn’t.)
    Watchers, by Dean Koontz
    Paradise Lost, by John Milton and other works by Milton
    The Twentieth Wife, by Indu Sundaresan
    Angels in America, by Tony Kushner
    The Giver, by Lois Lowry
    Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
    1776, by David McCullough
    The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu
    Zorba the Greek, by Nikos Kazantzakis
    The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov (Foundation is on, but the other two are not.)
    Into the Wild, by Erin Hunter
    The Republic, by Plato
    The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William L. Shirer
    If I Die in a Combat Zone, by Tim O’Brien (The Things They Carried is on; this isn’t.)
    Blood Promise, by Richelle Mead
    Final Exit, by Derek Humphry
    Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
    Eleven Minutes, by Paulo Coelho
    Guards! Guards!, by Terry Pratchett
    Frostbite, by Richelle Mead
    The Zahir, by Paulo Coelho
    The Man in the Iron Mask, by Alexandre Dumas (Monte Cristo, Reine Margot, and Three Musketeers are in; this isn’t.)
    Burned, by P.C. Cast
    Ender’s Shadow, by Orson Scott Card
    The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare (There is no Shakespeare on this list.)
    Vampire Academy, by Richelle Mead
    The Elephant Vanishes, by Haruki Murakami
    The Painted Veil, by Somerset Maugham
    The History of the Pelopponnesian War, by Thucydides
    Children of the Mind, by Orson Scott Card
    Le Grand Meaulnes, by Henri Alain-Fournier
    Amadeus, by Peter Shaffer
    Dark Rivers of the Heart, by Dean Koontz
    The Dancing Wu Li Masters, by Gary Zukav
    Starman Jones, by Robert Heinlein (Stranger in a Strange Land is on.)
    The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne
    The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan
    Maurice, by E.M. Forster
    The Tale of Gilgamesh, by Anonymous
    The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak
    A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah
    Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett
    Poison Study, by Maria V. Snyder
    When Nietzsche Wept, by Irvin D. Yalom
    Child of the Prophecy, by Juliet Marillier

    Marley & Me, by John Grogan
    The Color of Water, by James McBride
    On Death and Dying, by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
    The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffennegger
    The Onion Field, by Joseph Wambaugh
    Insomnia, by Stephen King
    Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
    The Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty
    Amazing Grace, by Kathleen Norris
    Battlefield Earth, by L. Ron Hubbard
    The Three Questions, by Jon J. Muth
    The Bonesetter’s Daughter, by Amy Tan
    The Demigod Files, by Rick Riordan
    The Study Series Bundle, by Maria V. Snyder
    The Tea Rose, by Jennifer Donnelly
    Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
    Free Speech for Me, by Nat Hentoff
    Moloka’i, by Alan Brennert
    From a Buick 8, by Stephen King
    The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom
    The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
    The Robe, by Lloyd C. Douglas
    Nobody’s Fool, by Richard Russo

    Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout
    The March, by E.L. Doctorow
    A Lesson Before Dying, by Earnest Gaines
    The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
    Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris
    The Histories, by Herodotus
    Rabbit at Rest, by John Updike (Oddly enough, the other three are on the list)
    Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain
    The Essential Rumi, by Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi
    Duma Key, by Stephen King
    The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski
    Ahab’s Wife, by Sena Jeter Naslund
    Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika, by Tony Kushner (plays aren’t generally on this list)
    American Nightmare, by Jerrold M. Packard
    The Complete Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
    The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara
    Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
    The Color of Magic, by Terry Pratchett
    Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, by Barbara Kingsolver
    Richard III, by William Shakespeare (Shakespeare is not on this list)
    The Plains of Passage, by Jean M. Auel
    QB VII, by Leon Uris
    The Shelters of Stone, by Jean M. Auel
    Rain of Gold, by Victor Villasenor
    Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke
    Neither Here Nor There, by Bill Bryson
    The Lightening Thief, by Rick Riordan
    Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
    The Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan
    The Titan’s Curse, by Rick Riordan
    The Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan
    The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks
    The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
    The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams
    Time Enough for Love, by Robert Heinlein
    Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
    The Mutiny on the Bounty Trilogy, by Charles Nordhoff
    The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman

    The Voyage of the Star Wolf
    and
    The War Against the Chtorr 1: A Matter For Men
    by David Gerrold

    The Holy Man
    by Susan Trott

    A Canticle for Leibowitz
    by Walter M. Miller Jr.

    Tiger Eyes
    by Judy Blume

    Song of the Sound
    by ADAM ARMSTRONG

    The Competitive Advantage of Nations
    by Michael E. Porter

    Atlantis Found
    by Clive Cussler

    Hellboy Volume 1: Seed of Destruction
    by Mike Mignola

    The Girlfriends’ Guide to Pregnancy: Second Edi…
    by Vicki Iovine

    NO: Why Kids–of All Ages–Need to Hear It and …
    by David Walsh

    The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of …
    by Robert A. Caro

    Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary C…
    by Jim Collins

    Reclaiming History: The Assassination of Presid…
    by Vincent Bugliosi

    Magic Study
    and
    Fire Study
    and
    Assassin Study
    and
    Storm Glass
    and
    Ice Study
    by Maria V. Snyder

    Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Id…
    by Gary Paulsen

    Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture
    by Douglas Coupland

    Angels In America
    by Joseph Kushner

    The Dictionary of Imaginary Places
    by Alberto Manguel

    A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry
    by Mark Hertsgaard

    List of Book Recommendations

     

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    The Shinning

    Skeleton Key

    The Running Man

    11/23/63

    It

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    Additional recommendations:

    “The Age of Reason” by Thomas Paine

     

    Leaves from the Diary of an Old Lawyer” by Joseph M. Field

    Description: A collection of essays and stories providing a critical look at various social issues, including slavery, legal corruption, and societal norms.

    Reason for Ban: Banned for its critical stance on slavery and its portrayal of the legal system’s corruption. Its progressive views and social critique were deemed too radical and threatening by conservative groups.

    “The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta” by John Rollin Ridge

    Description: Often considered the first novel by a Native American author, this book tells the semi-fictionalized story of Joaquín Murieta, a Mexican outlaw in California.

    Reason for Ban: Banned for its violent content and its sympathetic portrayal of a bandit who resisted oppression, which authorities feared might incite rebellion among marginalized communitie

    The Blithedale Romance” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    Description: A novel based on Hawthorne’s experiences at the utopian Brook Farm community, it critiques idealistic social experiments and explores themes of feminism and individualism.

    Reason for Ban: Banned for its criticism of transcendentalism and for challenging traditional gender roles, particularly through its portrayal of strong-willed female characters

    .“Wieland” by Charles Brockden Brown

    Description: A Gothic novel exploring themes of religious fanaticism, psychological horror, and supernatural elements, featuring a protagonist who is driven to murder by perceived divine commands.

    Reason for Ban: Considered dangerous for its portrayal of religious extremism and insanity, which some saw as an attack on religious authority and moral values.

    “Herland” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    Description: Though published later in 1915, early feminist works like Gilman’s were influenced by 19th-century thought. “Herland” is a utopian novel about an all-female society that thrives without men.

    Reason for Ban: Banned for its radical feminist themes and its challenge to traditional gender roles, particularly its depiction of a successful, self-sufficient society without male dominance.

    “Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter” by William Wells Brown

    Description: The first novel by an African American author, it tells the tragic story of Clotel, a mixed-race daughter of Thomas Jefferson, and exposes the horrors of slavery.

    Reason for Ban: Banned in slaveholding states for its abolitionist message and its direct implication of a U.S. president in the institution of slavery, which was seen as inflammatory.

    “The Woman in the Nineteenth Century” by Margaret Fuller

    Description: A foundational feminist text arguing for women’s intellectual and social equality, advocating for their right to education, employment, and political participation.

    Reason for Ban: Banned for its advocacy of women’s rights, which was considered radical and threatening to the patriarchal structure of 19th-century American society.

     

    20 Best science fiction novels for every sci-fi fan

    Read

     

    2) Dune by Frank Herbert

    Focusing on the planet Arrakis, where the spice is extracted, Frank Herbert’s captivating picture of a feudal distant future transformed by the mind-altering capabilities of a drug called spice is a classic that yet feels revolutionary today. The book was so successful that it was adapted into three films and resurrected on television. Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya were among the well-known actors who starred in the subsequent films.

     

    4) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

    Earth is almost uninhabitable due to the effects of pollution and war. The wealthy have departed the planet, leaving the less fortunate, like Rick Deckard, to fend for themselves. During a particularly difficult assignment, Rick, who earns his livelihood by destroying rogue androids, is forced to consider his work and perhaps his identity. Perhaps the most comprehensible of Dick’s many writings, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is an incredible book.

     

    9) The Big Book of Science Fiction, edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Ann Vandermeer

    Since it includes works by many of the top science fiction authors we are talking about on our list, this anthology deserves to be on our “Best Of” lists, even though they don’t often. Wells, Clarke, Butler, Vonnegut, Asimov, Liu, Doctorow, Le Guin, and the list goes on and on! An excellent beginning for readers of science fiction.

     

    1) The Blazing World and Other Writings by Margaret Cavendish

    The Blazing World, an early female utopian and proto-science fiction book, is about a lady from Earth who enters another planet through a portal in the North Pole and ascends to the position of empress of a fantasy society composed of half-human, half-animal creatures. Cavendish imagines submarines, boats with motors, and an endless cosmos in this 1666 work, which embodies the theoretical science of the Enlightenment.

     

    George Orwell 1984

     

    George Orwell Animal Farm

     

    Bradbery Farenhiet 451

     

    Huxley Brave New World

     

    To Read

     

     

    1) Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh

    Twenty separate people would have different opinions about C.J. Cherryh’s finest novel since her body of work is so vast. However, a Hugo Award and a Locus finalist make it difficult to refute. Thus, in our opinion, Downbelow Station is the best place to start. As humanity spreads out among the stars, Downbelow Station, set in Cherryh’s Alliance-Union Universe, is the tale of corporate space exploration gone wrong.

     

    3) Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany

    Bellona is no longer the same city; the majority of its residents have left, leaving only the destitute, deranged, and criminals. And a young man, the Kid, who was a poet. This complex and nuanced story navigates racial, gender, and sexual concerns in a near-future, devastated setting in a way that is impossible to overlook.

     

    5) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

    The author of Upgrade, Recursion, and the Wayward Pines trilogy presents a “mind-blowing” (Entertainment Weekly) speculative thriller about a regular man who awakens in a world that is oddly different from the one he believed he knew. The narrative of Dark Matter is about decisions, unexplored avenues, and the lengths we will go to in order to live the lives we envision.

     

     The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

    The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a stand-alone tale that reads less like a contemporary fantasy and more like a traditional gothic fiction. Set in nineteenth-century Mexico, this rich historical drama reworking of The Island of Doctor Moreau comes from the acclaimed author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Nigh

     

    8) The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

    Even though the majority of the Sadiri survivors are men, they still have to figure out how to keep their people going after their homeworld is destroyed. Under the direction of a lady from the planet’s Central Government, they set out to preserve their disappearing species by traveling around the colony world of Cygnus Beta, where they come across a diverse range of people and civilizations.

     

    10) Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor

    Nnedi Okorafor presented us with Binti, a young Himba girl who has the opportunity of a lifetime: to enroll in the esteemed Oomza University in her novella that won both Hugo and Nebula awards. Notwithstanding her family’s reservations, Binti is a strong contender to go on this intergalactic voyage because of her aptitude for astrolabes and her gift for mathematics. But everything changes when the Medusae, which resemble jellyfish, invade Binti’s spaceship, and she is the only one left alive. With only five days to get to her objective, Binti is now left to fight for herself aboard a ship full of the creatures who killed her crew

     

    2) A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller

    Nuclear war razed the Earth, plunging its survivors into a new dark age in which science is reviled and books are destroyed on sight. A small order of Catholic monks dedicated to a legendary miracle worker holds back the wave of ignorance as best that it can as barbarism swells at its gates. A Canticle for Leibowitz is a bittersweet tale that might make you worry about our future as a species.

     

    16) 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

    Tokyo is the setting, and the year is 1984. After heeding the mysterious advice of a cab driver, a young lady called Aomame starts to observe perplexing contradictions in her surroundings. In addition to being a dystopia to match George Orwell’s, 1Q84 is a love tale, mystery, fantasy, and self-discovery book.

     

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    Read

     

    Frankenstein by Mary Shelley©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Frankenstein-Mary-Shelley/dp/0486282112

    Published in full in 1818, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a literary classic. The gothic tale explores the dark and brooding aspects of humanity.

    The story’s two main characters—Victor Frankenstein and the creature he creates—interact in such a way that intrigues readers. It’s a story about tragedies and the implications of those tragedies.

     

    The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne©Provided by ALot.com

     

    1984 by George Orwell

    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Great-Gatsby-F-Scott-Fitzgerald/dp/0743273567

     

     

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

     

    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen©Provided by ALot.com

    Little Women by Louisa May Alcott©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Little-Women-Louisa-May-Alcott/dp/1503280292

    The Awakening by Kate Chopin

    The Odyssey by Homer©Provided by ALot.com

    Reading Homer’s The Odyssey is a challenging task, but a task that’s worthwhile. This is because it was written sometime in the 8th century BCE. The epic poem was found engraved into a clay slab and has since been translated into modern English.

    Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Wuthering-Heights-Wordsworth-Classics-Bronte/dp/1853260010

    Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Man-Ralph-Ellison/dp/0679732764

    Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte©Provided by ALot.com

    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-World-Aldous-Huxley/dp/0060850523

    Great Expectations by Charles Dickens©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Great-Expectations-Charles-Dickens/dp/1503275183

    The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis©Provided by ALot.com

    My Antonia by Willa Cather©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/My-Ántonia-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486282406

    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Anna-Karenina-Leo-Tolstoy/dp/0143035002

    The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Dorian-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486278077

    Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is an enduringly popular novel that is both Gothic and philosophical. Although it was Wilde’s first and only published work, it’s created quite the impression.

     

     

    To Read

     

    Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Dalloway-Virginia-Woolf/dp/0156628708

    It’s likely you’ve heard of Virginia Woolf. She’s an English writer and one of the most prominent female authors in literary history. Her novel Mrs. Dalloway is unique because it was one of the first stories written using stream of consciousness.

    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mockingbird-Harper-Lee/dp/0446310786

     

    The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Bell-Jar-Sylvia-Plath/dp/0061148512

    There’s something to be said about novels like The Bell Jar. Sylvia Plath’s female-driven narrative has lasting power. Many find this novel to be sad, but it’s so much more than that. It’s also incisive and witty.

    Esther Greenwood, the protagonist, suffers from severe depression. Her coming-of-age story is filled with expectations and preconceived notions of what should be and what shouldn’t be. It’s impossible not to relate to the unsureness that Esther feels.

    In Cold Blood by Truman Capote©Provided by ALot.com

    Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood is about the quadruple murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, and it is one of the best selling true-crime novels ever published.

    Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt©Provided by ALot.com

    Frank McCourt’s childhood memoir is filled with heartbreak, self-doubt, and hardship. As McCourt grows up, he is overlooked at school and church because he’s from a lower class family, despite the fact that he is a smart child and desperate to learn.

    The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Handmaids-Tale-Classic-Collection/dp/1480560103

    Although Margaret Atwood didn’t release her dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale until 1985, it’s a compelling classic. And it’s recently been adapted into a popular Hulu series.

    The Color Purple by Alice Walker©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Color-Purple-Alice-Walker/dp/0156028352

    In 1982, Alice Walker published a novel that went on to become a contemporary classic and a cultural phenomena. That novel is The Color Purple. It became the first work by an African American woman to win the Pulitzer and National Book awards.

    The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Menagerie-Tennessee-Williams/dp/0811214044

    The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Bluest-Eye-Vintage-International/dp/0307278441

    Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler©Provided by ALot.com

    A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce©(Image via Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/Portrait-Artist-Young-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486280500

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    10 Books to Read: The Best Reviews of January

     

    10 Fantasy Book Series That Are Considered Masterpieces

     

    Few fantasy book series are considered masterpieces; fantasy is a broad genre, spanning generations across various media formats. There are many subgenres within fantasy, such as urban fantasy, high fantasy, historical fantasy, and more. The sky is the limit within this genre, containing fantasy books where the protagonist is the villain, books that blend fantasy with other genres, or fantasy books about revenge. Of course, with such a vast genre, there are some negative aspects, including fantasy movies that have aged badly and fantasy TV shows that have wasted their potential.

    However, there are many amazing aspects to fantasy as well, including iconic book series that are true masterpieces. There are several reasons why certain fantasy book series are considered to be superior, including creative fantasy books that defy all the tropes, fantasy books that illustrate critical themes in groundbreaking ways, and fantasy books with villains just as compelling as the heroes. Regardless of the reason, there are at least 10 fantasy book series that are considered masterpieces in the genre; that revolutionized this genre in some form.

    The Chronicles Of Narnia By C.S. Lewis

    A Children’s Fantasy Series

    This image shows the cover of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the second chronological book in The Chronicles of Narnia.© Provided by ScreenRant

    The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis is a children’s fantasy series comprising seven installments. It revolves around human children discovering the magical world of Narnia, initially in Professor Digory Kirke’s wardrobe. As the series goes on, the narrative introduces new protagonists, including the Pevensies’ cousin, Eustace Scrubb, and his classmate, Jill Pole. Time passes differently in this magical world, so each Chronicles of Narnia book illustrates a different conflict within this realm.

    A composite image of Greta Gerwig in front of a white background with the Pevensie children from The Chronicles of Narnia pointing a sword at something offscreen© Provided by ScreenRant

    Related

    Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: Release Date, Cast, Story & Everything We Know

    Director Greta Gerwig has officially been tapped to helm a Chronicles of Narnia reboot, and here’s what we know about the upcoming film series.

    The Chronicles of Narnia is one of the most beloved children’s classic book series. Two of the books are on TIME‘s 100 Best Fantasy Books list, demonstrating the timelessness of this story. Furthermore, The Chronicles of Narnia has largely influenced other works of fiction, including His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, and The Magicians by Lev Grossman. The Chronicles of Narnia continues to stand against the test of time, utilizing children’s fantasy to convey religious themes.

    The Lord Of The Rings By J. R. R. Tolkien

    An Epic High Fantasy Adventure Trilogy

    The Fellowship of the Ring in The Lord of The Rings.© Provided by ScreenRant

    The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien revolutionized modern fantasy and is largely credited as the reason for the genre’s popularity. This epic high fantasy trilogy is set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, depicting the fight against the Dark Lord Sauron, who uses The Lord of the Rings‘ One Ring to rule over the realm. The trilogy follows several characters, including the Hobbits (Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin), the humans (Aragorn and Boromir), the elves (Legolas), the dwarves (Gimli), and Gandalf, the wizard.

    The Lord of the Rings is a staple in fantasy literature. It is one of the bestselling book series of all time, with over 150 million copies sold. Tolkien’s works have transformed into a franchise that includes several The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie adaptations, a critically acclaimed TV show, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, games based on the books, and theatrical productions. The Lord of the Rings is a masterpiece for many reasons, largely including the themes of love and friendship, oppression, and tyranny.

    The Time Quintet By Madeleine L’Engle

    A Young Adult Sci-Fi Fantasy Series

    A Wrinkle In Time By Madeleine L’Engle (Time Quintet Book 1)

    Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet is a book series that perfectly blends sci-fi and fantasy, revolving around Meg Murry, Charles Wallace Murry, and Calvin O’Keefe as they save their universe from various dark forces. L’Engle also wrote several spinoff books, including The Arm of the Starfish, Dragons in the Waters, and A House Like a Lotus. The Time Quintet’s first installment won the Newbery Medal, one of the highest and most prestigious achievements in children’s literature and a rare accomplishment for fantasy.

    Although Disney’s adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time was unsuccessful, it does not tarnish the Time Quintet’s status as a masterpiece fantasy book series. L’Engle explores various themes, such as friendship, good and evil, religion, and grief. A Wrinkle in Time was published in 1962, a time when fantasy began to grow, and young adult fantasy was largely unheard of. However, the Time Quintet defied the odds and remains a classic staple of young adult fantasy.

    The Earthsea Cycle By Ursula K. Le Guin

    A Young Adult High Fantasy Series

    Collage of Earthsea book covers© Provided by ScreenRant

    Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle is a young adult high fantasy book series comprising six installments and an anthology of short stories. The series is set in the fictional universe Earthsea, a large ocean containing several islands. This universe thrives on an intricate magic system that illustrates how the people of Earthsea largely depend on magic. The series has won several accolades, including a Newbery Honor, the National Book Award for Children’s Books, two Locus Awards, and the Nebula Award for Best Novel.

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    A Song of Ice and Fire By George R.R. Martin
    Book Publication Date Corresponding Game of Thrones Season
    A Game of Thrones August 6, 1996 Season 1
    A Clash of Kings November 16, 1998 Season 2
    A Storm of Swords August 8, 2000 Season 3, Season 4
    A Feast for Crows October 17, 2005 Season 5
    A Dance with Dragons July 12, 2011 Season 5
    The Winds of Winter TBC N/A (Seasons 6 & 7 original material)
    A Dream of Spring TBC ” “

    Although the series is notorious for its next installment being a fantasy book many have waited years for, it does not lessen its significant impact on the fantasy genre. Before A Song of Ice and Fire, very few fantasy book series featured strong female main characters. However, Martin’s novels revolutionized that aspect with the introduction of Daenerys Targaryen, one of the most popular fictional characters to date.

    Covers of George R.R. Martin’s Dreamsongs and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms© Provided by ScreenRant

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    The books also subvert the chosen one trope by making a female character (Daenerys) “the chosen one” (The Prince That Was Promised), also a rare occasion in fantasy before this series. The Prince That Was Promised exists in Game of Thrones, but the show does not particularly focus on the importance of this role or the prophecy the way the books do. Although the books do not officially confirm the identity of the Prince That Was Promised, several significant signs point to Daenerys holding this title.

    The Broken Earth By N. K. Jemisin

    A Sci-Fi Fantasy Trilogy

    The Fifth Season By N.K. Jemisin

    The Broken Earth by N. K. Jemisin is a sci-fi fantasy book series that focuses on one continent, the Stillness, that endures a cataclysmic climate change event that occurs every few hundred years. The first installment, The Fifth Season, follows this universe as it is about to enter a devastating Fifth Season event. The Broken Earth features a society that is constructed on the oppression of orogenes, people who can manipulate earth elements. This trilogy also explores critical themes such as oppression, climate change, motherhood, identity, and family.

    Jemisin is the first person to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel three years in a row and for all installments in a trilogy. The Broken Earth was also groundbreaking for the fantasy genre, illustrating how books can perfectly blend fantasy and sci-fi. This trilogy features some of the best world-building in fantasy books, detailing specific aspects that most stories do not consider. The Fifth Season was published in 2015, at a time when fantasy had already covered so much ground. Nevertheless, The Broken Earth reformed how multiple genres blend together.

    Six Of Crows By Leigh Bardugo

    A High Fantasy Young Adult Duology Part Of The Grishaverse

    Six of Crows Cover featuring a grey background, black wings, and the cover© Provided by ScreenRant

    The Six of Crows duology is not the first series within the Grishaverse, but it is the best one. This duology revolves around six vastly different characters who come together for an epic heist. Their commonality is their circumstances: Society works against all six protagonists in some way, so if they perished during the heist, no one would come looking for them. The Six of Crows duology is also one of Leigh Bardugo’s best books, illustrating her talent for complex characters, riveting dynamics, and critical themes.

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    Shadow and Bone

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    Release Date  April 23, 2021

    Finale Year  November 30, 2022

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    Six of Crows is also featured on TIME‘s 100 Best Fantasy Books list, illustrating its impact on the genre. The duology has received other accolades, including The Independent‘s 10 Best Fantasy Novels and The Wall Street Journal‘s Best Young Adult Books. Six of Crows will stand the test of time as one of the best young adult fantasy book series because of Bardugo’s stellar craft and the truly brilliant characters.

    The Poppy War By R.F. Kuang

    A High Fantasy Trilogy Based On The Second Sino-Japanese War & The Opium Wars

    The covers of The Poppy War trilogy© Provided by ScreenRant

    The Poppy War is a high fantasy trilogy by R. F. Kuang immersed in Chinese mythology and loosely based on historical events. The narrative follows Rin, a war orphan who moves to Sinegard to attend the most prestigious military academy in the Nikan Empire against all odds. However, dark forces unfold during Rin’s time in Sinegard, leading Rin to the third Poppy War in Nikan. The Poppy War is a groundbreaking fantasy series, exploring Chinese politics and the fraught, oppressive dynamics between the British Empire and China.

    The covers of The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty and The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang with a fiery red background

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    The Poppy War has numerous accolades, including nominations for the Nebula Awards and the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Each installment in this trilogy makes its mark on the fantasy genre and pushes the boundaries of fantasy with its unique world-building and intricate politics. The Dragon Republic ties the entire narrative together with parallels to Britain, China, Japan, and Taiwan. Finally, The Burning God features an epic conclusion that depicts an alternate reality involving the Chinese Communist Revolution failing, having both positive and negative results.

    The Scholomance Trilogy By Naomi Novik

    A Dark Academia Young Adult Fantasy Trilogy

    The Scholomance Trilogy By Naomi Novik

    The Scholomance Trilogy is a dark academia fantasy series by Naomi Novik, revolving around Galadriel Higgins at the Scholomance in a universe where non-magical people cannot see magic, and wizards live in enclaves to fend off maleficaria. The Scholomance Trilogy is an excellent example of dark fantasy books and the unlimited potential they bring. The story surpasses other fantasy books about magical schools, moving into a darker realm, and deconstructing presumptions with this subgenre that is not always particularly dark.

    The Scholomance Trilogy is notably different from Novik’s other works, such as Uprooted and Spinning Silver. However, this series, a departure from Novik’s fairy tale retellings, is a breath of fresh air that illustrates the exciting parts of dark academia, especially when mixed with fantasy. The Scholomance Trilogy stands out among magic school narratives because of its unique magic system combined with the grim aspects of the series.

    Source: TIME, BBC, The Independent, The Wall Street Journal

     

    5 Books You (Should Have) Read In High School That Are Worth Re-Reading As An Adult!

     

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    1. Brave New WorldBy Aldous Huxley

    If you love Dystopian novels, this is the book for you, as it is definitely a blueprint for modern favorites like The Hunger Games and Divergent. The writing style definitely comes across as literary, which may be a positive or a negative depending on your tastes. The story is unique and still feels like a relevant critique of our society today.

     

    1. Of Mice and Menby John Steinbeck 

    This book is short and a very easy read, so it’s perfect if you don’t want to get into anything too long or complex while still reading a classic. It is so tragic throughout and ends with a shocking and sad twist. If you’ve never read this before and don’t know how it ends, you need to pick this book up right now, as reading it for the first time is truly a gut-wrenching experience! Even if you know what’s coming, the story is still both sad and sentimental, while also providing a tenderhearted take on the meaning of friendship.

     

    1. Lord of The Fliesby William Golding

    This novel is a fever dream – one that may have ruined you when you were in middle school. There is so much imagery and hidden meaning behind every description that it’s worth looking back on years later. If you love crazy and weird commentary on human nature, this is the novel for you. If anything, it will make you glad you’re not 13 anymore!

     

    1. Fahrenheit 451by Ray Bradbury

    If you’re an avid fan of reading, this one might especially hit home for you because, if you don’t know, or don’t remember, it’s all about a futuristic society where they burn every book. Because it is a little dense, it will definitely be easier to understand on the second read. Like Brave New World, this is also a great option for fans of dystopian worlds.

     

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    1. The Outsidersby S.E. Hinton

    If you’re anything like me, this book made you cry when you first read it. Sometimes called “the original YA novel”, The Outsiders is both simple and beautiful, as well as extremely nostalgic for those who read it in middle school or high school. If you remember having a crush on the actors in the movie, or if you have an emotional reaction to the phrase “Stay gold, Ponyboy,” you need to re-read this book ASAP!

     

     

    30 Most Inspirational Books to Read in Your Search for More Meaning

     

    10 Modern Books Likely To Become Classics One Day

     

    • Modern classics are determined by quality, subject matter, and relevance, along with reader engagement and interest.
    • Modern literature uplifts voices overlooked by mainstream while exploring complex themes and compelling prose.
    • Novels from the 21st century may not yet be classics, but some, like “Between the World and Me,” could earn that status.

    It takes a lot for a contemporary book to be considered a modern classic, including the quality, subject matter, and relevancy of the text. These elements come together to create a novel that will join the ranks of the literary canon one day. One of the most exciting parts of modern literature is the elevation of voices previously overlooked by popular literature, leading to beautiful and compelling prose by people from all walks of life entering the mainstream. When considering what books will earn the title of classic, reader engagement, and interest must be taken into account alongside merit.

    As an entrance into the larger literary exploration of World War II, The Book Thief stands out as the perfect place to start.

    The Book Thief sees Liesel adapt to a new home with adoptive parents, help them conceal a Jewish man from the Nazis, and learn the power of the written word as she becomes literate and seeks to save books from being destroyed. The story is narrated by Death, but even in this supposed objectivity, Death cannot help but be moved to certain actions by the human spirit and the bravery of Liesel and her family. As an entrance into the larger literary exploration of World War II, The Book Thief stands out as the perfect place to start.

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    The Hunger Games (2008)

    Written by Suzanne Collins

    Katniss hides up a tree in The Huger Games© Provided by ScreenRant

    Expertly crafting not only an intricate but also a logical world with rules that make sense to the reader, The Hunger Games taught a generation of readers to expect more from the stories they engage with.

    While novels written for adults are more typically discussed as hallmarks of the literary canon, that doesn’t mean that young adult or even children’s books are any less important. What young audiences read as they come of age has a direct impact on their views and social and cultural development. The Hunger Games was written when YA dystopian narratives were extremely popular, but Suzanne Collins wrote a story unlike anything else available. At once accessible and brutally honest in the violence and cruelty of the story’s world, The Hunger Games doesn’t pull punches in expressing its lessons and themes.

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    Expertly crafting not only an intricate but also a logical world with rules that make sense to the reader, The Hunger Games taught a generation of readers to expect more from the stories they engage with. Every Hunger Games book has its pros and cons, but the first installment of the series is well-remembered as capturing the hearts and minds of everyone who reads it. Collins has released several prequels since the series’ popularity exploded thanks to the films. However, nothing will ever come close to the magic of The Hunger Games and Katniss’ first trip into the arena.

     

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    Between The World And Me (2015)

    Written by Ta-Nehisi Coates

    The cover of Between The World And Me© Provided by ScreenRant

    It can be difficult for memories, autobiography, and even autofiction to become a classic, as there’s an argument to be made for how universal and enduring personal stories can be. This is not an issue in Between the World and Me, which seamlessly connects the intimate experiences of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ life with the long and complex history of racial prejudice and injustice across the world. Coates is in conversation with his son throughout the work as he grapples with how to communicate the lessons and context that cannot be separated from how Black men and women are treated.

    Race as a concept and a political agenda are some of the biggest themes in Between the World and Me, and Coates’s writing and style have drawn comparisons to James Baldwin, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. If Between the World and Me is any indication, Coates will go down in history as a pivotal voice in the literary canon, and Between the World and Me will be taught and celebrated for years to come. As a stunning and vulnerable non-fiction, the book should be read by audiences both inside the U.S. and out.

    James (2024)

    Written by Percival Everett

    The cover of James© Provided by ScreenRant

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a book that’s long been taught as one of the great works of American literature but has always been read with the caveat of racial prejudice of the time. Percival Everett’s James challenges the perspectives of the original book and Jim’s archetype. Jim, Huck’s travel companion who escapes enslavement, is not the man that Mark Twain wrote him to be. James is far more than a retelling of an American classic. It represents Jim as a vivid and fully formed character and expands upon his adventures with Huck with greater depth and complexity.

    The connection between Jim and Huck is painted with newfound nuance in James, as there isn’t a moment when Jim isn’t aware of his position as a Black man next to a young white boy. Even as they become close and Huck begins to see Jim as a man, there’s no question that Jim can bring his guard down. Language and the written word play an enormous role in James, and Everett plays with this to great effect through his writing. The novel is not only necessary and compelling but highlights Everett as a once-in-a-generation writer.

    All The Light We Cannot See (2014)

    Written by Anthony Doerr

    Mark Ruffalo as Daniel LeBlanc in All the Light We Cannot See episode 4© Provided by ScreenRant

    There’s no shortage of amazing books about World War II from many perspectives, but All The Light We Cannot See looked at this well-known part of history in a new way. Doerr’s work is defined by his non-linear style of storytelling as well as his extremely lyrical prose that imbues light and beauty into the darkest moments of the narrative. As much as the novel is about the horrors of WWII on the millions it affected, it also highlights Doerr’s interest in technology and how communication has been altered so deeply due to technological innovation.

    Relying on intricate descriptions of the senses and how humans interact with their world, All The Light We Cannot See is an immersive experience.

    All The Light We Cannot See won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and has skyrocketed Doerr and his other works to fame and popularity. The recent miniseries based on the novel was a solid effort, but it failed to capture the nuance and emotional realism of the book. It stands out not only in terms of critical reception but also in far-reaching popularity with readers. Transcending genre, the book appeals to readers of all kinds. Relying on intricate descriptions of the senses and how humans interact with their world, All The Light We Cannot See is an immersive experience.

    My Brilliant Friend (2011)

    Written by Elena Ferrante

    The cover of My Brilliant Friend© Provided by ScreenRant

    My Brilliant Friend is the first in the Neopolitan Novels series by Elena Ferrante, which chronicles a stunning portrait of true friendship between women in Italy throughout the latter half of the 20th century. It’s told from the perspective of Elena, or Lenù, about growing up with her mercurial and beautiful friend Lila. Elena considers Lila to be the smartest and most advanced person she knows, but Lila is forced to quit school and work for her father until marriage. Conversely, Elena is allowed to get a formal education but always feels equally inferior and drawn to Lila.

    Much of My Brilliant Friend focuses on the limited opportunities afforded to the lower economic class in Italy, particularly for women. Ferrante frequently discusses what she refers to as the pleb, or plebian, class, which Elena comes to understand herself and the people of her community to be part of. Elena’s understanding of the world’s divisions and the invented separation between people shifts her relationship with Lila. Additionally, few books have so accurately captured the jealous, loving, and disappointing nature of a friendship between young women who mean more to each other than they can describe.

    The Road (2006)

    Written by Cormac McCarthy

    Viggo Mortensen as Man and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Boy in a scene from The Road.© Provided by ScreenRant

    Outside of the brutal world of man versus man that the characters inhabit, there is an accessible and affecting tale of the bond between a father and son and the lengths a parent will go to protect their child.

    The Road is one of the most instrumental works of post-apocalyptic fiction from the modern era, as it successfully capitalizes on the fears and hopes of a generation growing up facing an increasingly violent and environmentally volatile world. Cormac McCarthy is well-known for his biting works that tackle the legacy of American mythology with works like Blood Meridian and No Country For Old Men. The Road lent itself to a film adaptation because McCarthy paints a vividly visual portrait in his prose alongside characters that become more real to the reader than themselves by the end of the story.

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    McCarthy won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for The Road, and few other honors are so universally acknowledged as the highest recognition an author and novel can receive. Post-apocalyptic books like Fallout and other popular dystopian TV shows and movies have never been more popular, and the influence that prose like The Road has on these onscreen works is obvious. Outside of the brutal world of man versus man that the characters inhabit, there is an accessible and affecting tale of the bond between a father and son and the lengths a parent will go to protect their child.

    The Round House (2012)

    Written by Louise Erdrich

    The cover of The Round House© Provided by ScreenRant

    Pulitzer Prize winner Louise Erdrich has spent her career bringing to life her experience growing up as an Objibwe woman and discussing the far-reaching impact of the United States’ treatment of Indigenous communities. The Round House was Erdrich’s fourteenth novel, but her work never falters or flags, as there’s always a new story and brilliant characters to engage with. Erdrich is known for writing about subjects intersectionally, looking at feminism specifically through the lens of being an Ojibwe woman. This makes it interesting that the protagonist of The Round House is a young man named Joe.

    Joe’s mother is assaulted, and he takes it upon himself to investigate the perpetrator because he understands, even at a young age, that he cannot rely on the criminal justice system to work as it should for an Indigenous woman. The Round House is open about the disproportionate number of attacks upon Indigenous women and how the law consistently fails to help, as well as the cycles of masculinity that lead to male violence. Winning the 2012 National Book Award for Fiction, The Round House has not diminished in its relevance or urgency since its publication.

    Never Let Me Go (2005)

    Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

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    Also known for his 1989 novel, The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro penned his equally compelling, Never Let Me Go, in 2005. Adapted into a film starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Kiera Knightley in 2010, the story follows an alternate history where human cloning has become common practice, but these clones are raised to be living organ donors for other humans, with no rights of their own. It’s a tragic science fiction twist that adds an unending layer of melancholy to a narrative of human connection and struggle.

    When drawing comparisons between the clones and the oppressed lower social classes of the UK, the novel’s setting, the metaphor becomes obvious.

    The three main characters are confined by their circumstances, but it doesn’t stop them from experiencing the full scale of human emotion that every person goes through. Never Let Me Go engages with the question of what it means to be human. When drawing comparisons between the clones and the oppressed lower social classes of the UK, the novel’s setting, the metaphor becomes obvious. There’s no question that Never Let Me Go will end in tragedy, but that doesn’t make the beauty of the prose and the true love between the characters any less impactful.

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    Girl, Woman, Other (2019)

    Written by Bernardine Evaristo

    The cover of Girl, Woman, Other© Provided by ScreenRant

    Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other may have won the 2019 Booker Prize, but this accolade only further cemented what readers of the novel already knew: it was a book that changed the lives of those who read it. Told from multiple interweaving perspectives across decades in the United Kingdom, the novel swiftly provides context and characterization for each new person and subject it introduces. This is a clear example of the skill of the prose, as the reader never gets lost or bogged down by the changing settings and characters.

    Everyone in the book feels like a separate and fully realized individual while being part of the larger whole. Girl, Woman, Other primarily grapples with and celebrates the joy and pain of being a Black woman, or non-man, in the modern era. While there are plenty of moments of struggle, the novel still lifts up its characters, providing an amazing representation of what human connection and strong relationships do for a person and a community. Regardless of the reader’s identity or where they live, there is something universal and poignant to be found in the novel’s pages.

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    Parade’s Handy Guide to Its “Best Books of All Time” Lists

    Here are the lists we’ve done so far!

    222 Best Books of All Time That Deserve a Spot on Your Bookshelf, With Picks from Bestselling Authors and Indie Booksellers

    George R.R. Martin and Anne Tyler are just two of the acclaimed authors who shared their personal picks with us.

    May 17, 2024

    Why 222 books? We think a list of The 100 Best Books sounds too definitive, too final. Hopefully, offering 222 titles feels like a treasure trove worth diving into and arguing over and enjoying. You’ll find all types of works of fiction—picture books and romances and fantasies and westerns and young adult novels and good ole fiction and mysteries and classics and recent works we believe will be classics in years to come. (Nonfiction will be its own list someday soon.) But they’re still just some of the best books of all time—if we made this list a thousand titles long, we’d still be missing so many.

    To help us narrow this down to the absolute best books, we reached out to thirty-three acclaimed and best-selling authors. Everyone from Anne Tyler to George R.R. Martin to Karin Slaughter took the time to share their passionate recommendations. Then we called some of our favorite bookstores and asked for their suggestions. So you’ll find personal picks on the list by dozens of writers and staff members from indie booksellers all over the country. We even scoured sites like Goodreads to see what you love the most. Our guiding principle was to include as many types of books as possible, because a great picture book is just as worthy as Proust. And both deserve to be on our list.

    We can name 100 great mysteries (in fact we have). We can name 100 great crime novels. (Yep, we’ve done that too.) So a list of the best books of all time from every genre is just a starting point. Tell us which ones you love. Tell us what’s missing. Tell us what shouldn’t be on here. And tell us what list you’d like to see next. (The 100 Best Sports Books? The 100 Best Memoirs/Biographies? The 100 Best Picture Books?) We’ll keep reading if you will.

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    222 Best Books of All Time

    The Remains of the Day

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    The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Writer Anne Tyler said yes when asked to contribute to Parade’s list of some of the best books of all time. Yes, with one condition: the only book she wanted to talk about was The Remains of the Day. It’s that sort of book. The story of an English butler so devoted to service he misses his chance at love, it was hailed as an instant classic on publication in 1989. Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel isn’t path-breaking or stylistically shocking; it’s just very, very good and everyone knew it, right away. Tyler, author most recently of French Braid, cherishes the remarkable scene at its climax. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the heart-stopping moment near the end,” says Tyler, “when the central character all at once understands that his entire life has been wrong.”

    Harold and the Purple Crayon (Purple Crayon Books)

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    Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

    You know how parents can spend a lot of money on a gift for kids, only to watch them play with the box it came in more than the toy itself? That embrace of imagination is at the heart of this picture book. Harold decides to go for a walk late at night. Armed with only a purple crayon, he embarks on all sorts of adventures before winding up right back where he started. Bookseller Nina Barrett of Bookends & Beginnings in Evanston, Illinois loves handselling this one. It’s a classic, Barrett says, “for showing how, with just a few simple lines, a small child can follow his imagination anywhere it leads, and create his own destiny”

    Related: We Have the 50 Best, Coziest Christmas Books of All Time To Help Celebrate Santa Claus Coming to Town

    Pride and Prejudice

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    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

    Jane Austen went from an anonymous author (because nice women didn’t write) to being labeled a purveyor of mere romance novels (which are women’s stuff and so don’t really matter) to grudgingly called “beloved” (one way of admitting how wildly popular she is, without actually respecting her) to a full recognition that Austen’s novels are insightful, rich and intellectually complex. And what the heck is wrong with being entertaining, anyway? It took too long for Austen to gain her due. Still, we’ve always had the novels, at least four of which are practically perfect. Tomorrow we’ll pick Sense and Sensibility or Persuasion as our favorite. But today we’re choosing Pride and Prejudice with the willful and smart Elizabeth Bennett, the infuriating Mr. Darcy, that cad George Wickam and so many other memorable characters. Marriage is serious business—indeed, the most serious act a woman of a certain class makes in life—and Austen is as keen an observer of manners and mores as one could hope for.

    The Lord Of The Rings: One Volume

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    The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

    A work of imagination so profound and unique, it stands alone…unless you count the modern fantasy genre that sprang up in its wake. Heck, even the idea of the trilogy that dominates sci-fi and fantasy is a cliche simply because this one, long novel was broken up into three parts by its publisher. Even the biggest names will take a moment to honor Tolkien. “It will surprise no one to learn that my favorite fantasy novel is The Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien,” says writer George R.R. Martin, author most recently ofFull House: Wild Cards 30, which he edited, and The Rise Of The Dragon, with Elio M. Garcia Jr. and Linda Antonsson. “Fantasy is the oldest branch of literature, with roots that go back as far as Gilgamesh and Homer, but Professor Tolkien redefined the genre, and every fantasist since has been writing in his shadow. He is as important to fantasy as Shakespeare is to the theatre… and like Shakespeare, his work will endure for centuries, being read, reread, and treasured.”

    Gilead (Oprah’s Book Club): A Novel

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    Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

    Marilynne Robinson wowed everyone in 1980 with her debut novel, Housekeeping, the story of an eccentric aunt who burdened (or freed?) her nieces with an unconventional approach to life. It became a marvelous film in 1987 starring Christine Lahti. Twenty-four years later, Robinson finally published her follow-up. Gilead was worth the wait. It’s a novel of faith and family, bringing to life John Ames, a minister dying of heart disease who wants to leave behind a document for the young son who will never really know him. Robinson tackles the Underground Railroad, John Brown, the unfair caricaturing of Calvinists as dour scolds and above all life in a small town for a man of faith. Ames wrestles with his conscience but Robinson never seems to struggle at all. Her novel is illuminated from within, like stained glass lit up by the sun.

    Arrow of God

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    Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe

    One work often becomes the gateway to an entire world of literature for outsiders. Latin America? Start with One Hundred Years Of Solitude. Spain? Don Quixote. Africa? For decades, African literature was represented by one book: Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Happily, countless novels have come in its wake, not least Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. And Adichie is here to champion not just the many authors who walked through the door Achebe opened, but his entire African Trilogy. It begins with Things Fall Apart, continues with No Longer At Ease and climaxes with Arrow of God, the story of a tragic clash between the chief priest of a small village and the Christian missionary John Goodcountry. “You know about the big historical events for which words like ‘colonization’ and ‘imperialism’ are used,” says Adichie, author most recently of Notes On Grief. “And then you read a novel like Arrow of God and you are struck by the beautiful, fragile, complicated humanity of the people whose lives were forever changed by history.”

    Lonesome Dove: A Novel

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    Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

    If you’re going to name one book the “Great American Novel,” surely it should be in that most American of genres, the Western. Mind you, even people who never fantasize about heading to Deadwood fall under the spell of Larry McMurtry’s epic oater. Just ask bookseller Deb Leonard. “The romantic notion of cowboys permeates American culture,” says Leonard of Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “Those stoic, laconic heroes risking life and limb to drive their cattle across deserts and raging rivers, battling blizzards, sandstorms, rattlesnakes, coyotes (pronounced ki-oats), and no-good rustlers loom large in our psyche. It is hard to believe those cattle-driving days lasted less than twenty years. This gorgeous novel chronicles one of those adventures: a couple of retired Texas Rangers on a drive from Mexico to Montana. Cattle-drives not your cup of tea? Then how about a soaring story full of vivid landscapes and absolutely unforgettable characters. It is a book that will make you laugh so hard that it hurts on one page, just to break your heart into pieces on the next. If you only read one Western in your life, make it this one.”

    The Haunting of Hill House (Penguin Classics)

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    The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

    Sometimes you just want the bejesus scared out of you and if that’s your wish, bookseller Lisa Morton recommends The Haunting Of Hill House. “Not only was this modern classic the first major novel to deal with a paranormal investigation, it also contains what may be the most disturbing opening in all of literature,” says Morton of The Iliad Bookshop in North Hollywood, California. “The entire paragraph is sublime, but the last five words—”whatever walked there, walked alone”—is the perfect evocative, chilling introduction to the story. Breathing walls, rattling door knobs, a damaged and fragile heroine…. Jackson may have produced equally fine novels (especially We Have Always Lived in the Castle) and one of literature’s great short stories (“The Lottery“), but she was never better or more frightening than here.”

    Maggie the Mechanic: The Love & Rockets Library – Locas Book 1

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    Heartbreak Soup (Love & Rockets)

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    Love and Rockets: Maggie the Mechanic and Love and Rockets: Heartbreak Soup by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez

    For 40(!) years, Los Bros Hernandez have produced “alternative” comics that helped revolutionize the industry. Along the way, they’ve created two sprawling worlds peopled with vivid characters, crazy storylines and the quotidian challenges of everyday life. Gilbert is best known for the Palomar stories, set in a mythical Latin American country suffused with magic realism (natch) and featuring Heraclio and Carmen, a happy couple at the heart of early storylines. Jaime is best known for the Locas stories set in LA and centered by oft-time lovers Maggie and Hopey. It’s the serialized novel to end all novels, it’s Dickensian, it’s Borgesian and certainly Trollope would be proud. Start with these two collections from the early 1980s. Binge-watching has nothing on the binge-reading you’ll soon be doing.

    Pachinko (National Book Award Finalist)

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    Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

    Lee’s book is so wonderfully complex it boggles the mind. Lee covers 80 years of history from 1910 to 1989. And if you think the usual immigrant experience is complicated, imagine you’re a Korean moving to Japan, only to discover with a shock that your people are despised there and forced to live in a ghetto-ized area. Then the Japanese invade and occupy Korea. Conflicted much? Lee captures the inner turmoil these events create in her characters, along with everything from kimchi to pachinko parlors. A rich, rich novel that we believe will be considered a classic years from now. So why wait? (The TV series is good too.)

    Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

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    Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

    Judy Blume changed everything for young adult fiction, though Blume would be the first to highlight those who paved the way for her. But if Blume were just an Important Figure, she wouldn’t be so beloved. Kids still read her fiction, still get caught up in the drama and still find themselves in it. First among equals in her admirable body of work? It has to be Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. A girl on the cusp of puberty is worried when all her friends get their period before her. Will it ever come? Buying bras, worrying about breast size, spreading rumors about girls who seem a little faster when it comes to boys? This might be an episode of HBO’s Euphoria, though with less drugs and no actual sex. Margaret spends the book exploring different faiths, but kids quickly learned they could always have faith in a book with Judy Blume’s name on it. A classic.

    Another Country

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    Another Country by James Baldwin

    One of our richest thinkers, James Baldwin shared the wealth with his autobiographical debut Go Tell It On The Mountain, the righteous essay collection The Fire Next Time, numerous short stories, his powerful work as a public intellectual and the groundbreaking Giovanni’s Room. Author Arundhati Roy is drawn, most of all, to his complex, troubling novel Another Country. It’s the story of jazz drummer Rufus Scott and his abusive relationship with Leona in 1950s Greenwich Village. “Rage. Poetry. Beauty,” says Roy, author most recently of Azadi. “A book in which writing meets music. In which literature shows the world its place in the universe—with precise coordinates.”

    My Brilliant Friend (HBO Tie-in Edition): Book 1: Childhood and Adolescence

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    My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

    An Italian novel about female friendship amidst the backdrop of domestic violence shouldn’t be the stuff of bestsellers. When My Brilliant Friend turns out to be the first of four novels that tell one long story, when the whole thing is handled by the boutique label Europa Editions (rather than a big house with tons of marketing muscle) and when the author refuses to do most press and remains anonymous? Well, you’d be lucky to reach cult status. Instead, Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels became an absolute sensation, even getting adapted into a fine HBO series. Why? How did it happen? Just read it. Sometimes, great writing is enough.

    The Stand (Movie Tie-in Edition)

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    The Stand by Stephen King

    As we said when choosing just one Stephen King novel for our list of the best thrillers of all time, pick one of his books and readers will invariably say, “But what about…?” We know, we know. We said it ourselves. What about The Dark Tower series? What about his marvelous collection of four novellas Different Seasons? What about Misery or Mr. Mercedes or 11/22/63 or It, for pete’s sake? What about It? Sure, but if we chose any of those books, we bet a lot more people would say loudly and clearly, what about The Stand? It’s the book that is the most Stephen King of Stephen King books. It’s big and sprawling and he’s come back to it and added in more because it needed more and we wanted more and it’s about a pandemic and god knows we can’t pretend that’s some fantastical conceit any more, can we? The Stand has it all. While the hardcore fans see his entire body of work centering on The Dark Tower, we say maybe, sure, you could be right. But start with The Stand.

    Americanah: A novel

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    Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

    It seems like Americanah is Adichie’s masterpiece, but that’s probably because we haven’t read her next novel yet. Her debut, Purple Hibiscus, was a revelation. Then came her second novel, Half Of A Yellow Sun (another peak!). In 2013 she delivered Americanah, a remarkable, decades-spanning story of a young woman in Nigeria who falls in love but chooses to flee a military dictatorship and come to America. She is changed and also changes the U.S. in her way, by blogging on race and identity. Like so many people forced by circumstance to uproot, our heroine returns home when she can. Are the changes she has undergone going to mark her forever as not-Nigerian, as an “Americanah?” Must she change again? Or must Nigeria? And who decides? Praised by Beyoncé, who even sampled a speech by Adichie in a song, but that’s just the most glamorous of many accolades Adichie has received. So far.

    The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

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    The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

    Don’t panic! The Douglas Adams radio play turned franchise is an eco-friendly renewable resource, spinning off plays, movies, TV shows, comic books, computer games and a “trilogy” of novels that total six in all. If you enjoy the madcap new movie Everything Everywhere All At Once, then you’re ready for The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, the first book in the series. It begins with Earth being demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, soon sees our hero tortured by aliens (they read him their poetry) and includes all sorts of nonsense mixed up with concepts from philosophy, science, religion et al in the silly/smart way perfected by Monty Python. Gloriously bonkers and sneakily serious—think Candide, but with more spaceships. Bonus points if you also listen to the marvelous Stephen Fry reading it for the audiobook version.

    Wuthering Heights (Penguin Classics)

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    Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

    Which Brontë sister is your favorite? This question can spark a knock-down drag out fight. Some of us, like perhaps Kate Bush, choose Emily Brontë and her only novel, the romantic classic Wuthering Heights. Others pick Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, preferring the brooding Mr. Rochester to the passionate Heathcliff or maybe the self-made Jane to the doomed Catherine. And someone, somewhere must be arguing for poor Anne and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as the best of the bunch, though they’re quite alone in that. We’ll take the wild abandon and disastrous mistakes of Wuthering Heights. Just consider this a placeholder for all the Brontës and what might have been if they hadn’t each died so very young.

    A Perfect Spy: A Novel

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    A Perfect Spy by John Le Carré

    We put Le Carré’s novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on our list of the best mysteries of all time because it’s riveting to watch George Smiley ferret out a mole in Britain’s MI5 by sitting and thinking. It’s a true mystery, even though Le Carré is usually classified differently. Then we put his novel A Perfect Spy on our list of the greatest thrillers ever written. Either one could be on this list of the best books of all time. We chose A Perfect Spy in part because we could just as easily file it under “memoir.” Le Carré drew deeply upon the relationship he had (or lacked) with his own father. Dad was a con man that hobnobbed with violent London gangsters the Kray brothers, made and lost fortunes and charmed everyone within a mile of his magnetism. Jeffery Deaver, author most recently of Hunting Time, concurs. “No one writes about espionage like this author,” says Deaver. “But I’ve picked it because it is also one of the most engrossing—and harrowing—portraits of a father-son relationship I’ve ever read. It’s not for the faint of heart, and that warning is not because of car chases and shootouts.”

    Madeline

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    Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

    Picture books are evocative for adults and few offer as Proustian a trigger as the opening lines of Madeline: “In an old house in Paris/that was covered in vines/lived twelve little girls/in two straight lines.” Picture books are powerful, especially when read again and again and again, as Kathy Doyle Thomas, of Half Price Books in Dallas, can attest. “My daughter loved the Madeline books and I loved my daughter sitting on my lap and us reading the books together,” says Thomas. “Madeline was smart, cute, French and adventurous, a fun role model for my daughter. I have two sons, so my daughter loved the idea of a little girl surrounded by other little girls instead of her BROTHERS!”

    Don Quixote (Penguin Classics)

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    Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

    One sign of a classic is the way it speaks in a fresh way to each new generation. Don Quixote’s tale of a woebegone knight errant and his blunt-spoken sidekick Sancho has been labeled comic, tragic, a defense of eternal values and a repudiation of the very idea of eternal values. Or it’s been seen as lacking only a song (and thus turned into the musical The Man Of La Mancha) or a little dance (and thus turned into a ballet by George Balanchine, among others). It certainly speaks to George Saunders, author most recently of A Swim In A Pond In the Rain. “What I love about Don Quixote is its energetic portraiture of someone who is, like all of us, sometimes very right and sometimes very wrong, but always sees himself as the former,” says Saunders. “The book is a vast canvas, gloriously full of ‘on the other hand’ thinking—no stolid, lazy truth is allowed to exist for long in its universe. So, to read it is to be reminded that our tendency to always know where we stand on things is a weakness—a very human weakness, the human weakness, really, part of what makes us both dangerous and dear.”

    The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition

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    The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, The Finca Vigia Edition by Ernest Hemingway

    Not every great writer is influential. Not every influential writer is great. Hemingway is both. And he should be read by everyone. “I’d somehow managed to avoid reading Hemingway until my early thirties, when I was first beginning to write,” says Julie Otsuka, author most recently of The Swimmers. “I’d always thought he was ‘not for me’—I’m not white, I’m not a man, I’ve never stalked a lion, I haven’t been to war. And yet, as soon as I began to read him, I could not stop. It was the cadence of his sentences that first drew me in, the clarity and beauty of his language. Also, the humor and quiet melancholy. And his ‘iceberg theory’—in many of his stories, the war is only hinted at, obliquely, through small details, but so much is left unsaid—was helpful to me when I was trying to figure out how to write my first novel, which also deals with the trauma of war.”

    Bridget Jones’s Diary 25th Anniversary edition

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    Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

    When Samuel Pepys began his diary in 1660, he recorded what time he woke up, what he ate for lunch, the actresses he dallied with, the horrors of the Plague and even his new watch. (Pepys was very fond of his new watch.) Everyone calls it a masterpiece. But when Bridget Jones keeps a diary and records her battles with weight, the plague of her singleness, the challenges at work, the irritating Mr. Darcy and never once mentions her watch, male critics dismiss it as “chick lit.” It’s too funny, too romantic, too entertaining to be “real” literature. Bollocks, we say. If a novel is meant to capture an era and bring to life a vivid character we know better than we know ourselves, then Helen Fielding’s novel ranks right up there.

    Dune (Movie Tie-In)

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    Dune by Frank Herbert

    Frank Herbert’s Dune has many facets: it’s science-fiction, it’s fantasy, it’s a commentary on religion, it’s a dissection of colonialism and it’s an early example of cli-fi (that is, climate fiction). But it takes romance legend Beverly Jenkins to center the passionate and strong woman whose decision puts the entire story into motion. “Dune is one of my all time faves,” says Jenkins, author most recently of To Catch A Raven. “As a classic space opera, it appeals to the fantasy/sci-fi lover that I am. Dune is also the ultimate romance and that appeals to me as well. Lady Jessica was told by her Order to birth a girl child, but her love for her Duke overrode that directive. She gave Leto a son instead. Without that love, there’d be no Paul. And without Paul, there’d be no Dune.”

    I Capture the Castle

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    I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

    This charming debut has beguiled everyone from Walt Disney to J.K. Rowling. Writer Armistead Maupin is no exception. “When I was a teenager in North Carolina, Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle taught me to love the very idea of England, a land where a deeply eccentric family could cheerfully endure poverty in a dilapidated castle while their father faces writer’s block in a nearby tower,” says Maupin, author most recently of Logical Family. “Smith’s novel was in the form of a teenage girl’s diary, and I’ve never forgotten how its first line lured me into the story. (‘I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.’) It makes sense that I would end up making a home in England and writing a novel about an eccentric American living in a crumbling Elizabethan manor house. It’s called Mona of the Manor and it will be published as soon as I climb down from my lockdown tower.”

    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Dover Thrift Editions: Crime/Mystery)

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    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    Sherlock Holmes is everything, everywhere, all at once, it seems, with an endless stream of movies, TV shows, mangas, spin-offs and even a new stage play in the works. (The same is true in the multiverse, we assume.) But it begins with the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. While Holmes first appeared in the novel A Study in Scarlet, most everyone agrees with bookseller Ed Justus that the stories are the heart of the matter. “In my opinion, the short stories are far better than the novels,” says Justus of Talk Story Bookstore in Hanapepe, Hawaii. “Any of the short stories of Sherlock Holmes by A.C. Doyle are truly amazing. Even though these stories were written a century ago, the prose and conversational style immediately draws in the reader, effortlessly accepting the characters as if they were completely real. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes? I couldn’t get enough of this one.”

    Wolf Hall (Wolf Hall Trilogy, 1)

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    Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

    History is written by the victors. That may explain why Thomas Cromwell has been seen as such a villain for the past 500 years, despite his key role in the English Reformation. After all, when you’re beheaded by the King, you can hardly take part in writing history. So it took Hilary Mantel’s trilogy about Cromwell to give his side of the story. She starts with Wolf Hall and continues with two further, only slightly less perfect books. We meet a man of modest origins who is always the smartest person in the room. Watching Cromwell move mountains so Henry VIII can defy a Pope and declare himself the Supreme Head Of The Church of England—all so he can get a divorce—is so thrilling you can barely breathe while reading it. It’s a pity Henry’s new wife Anne Boleyn wasn’t more grateful. One flaw of Cromwell’s? He knew he was always the smartest man in the room, but wasn’t always smart enough to keep everyone else from knowing it too.

    The Sandman Book One

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    The Sandman Book One by Neil Gaiman and Various Artists

    Ok, so you’re kind of intrigued by comic books. A lot of people take them seriously and you want to see what all the fuss is about. You can—and should—check out one of the great Batman or Superman storylines because maybe you’ve seen the movies and know what they’re all about. It will be familiar territory. Or you can dive into the deep end. You can sample the pure, unadulterated, uncut stuff. You can read The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and a host of world class illustrators. In 75 issues from 1989 to 1996, Gaiman and his collaborators spun out the story of Morpheus and a desire to right the wrongs he committed earlier in life. It’s a mind-spinning combination of horror and fantasy and the superhero genres, all girded by a mordant sense of humor. People who never read comic books read The Sandman, especially college students and especially female college students. For an industry yearning for respectability and new fans, it was a dream come true.

    The Goldfinch: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

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    The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

    Donna Tartt arrived with a thunderclap via the murder-on-campus success of The Secret History. But Chris Pavone, author most recently of Two Nights In Lisbon, speaks up for her Pulitzer Prize-winning The Goldfinch. The novel, triggered by a terrorist act and the almost accidental filching of a painting, “is a sprawling masterpiece of suspense that also happens to be a book about nearly everything: family and loss and grief and despair and growing up and art and betrayal and many types of love,” says Pavone. Since Tartt takes a good decade between releases, it’s lucky that, as Pavone says, the novel is “very long (at 784 pages) but for me, not nearly long enough. It’s a book I could read forever.”

    The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War (Civil War Trilogy)

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    The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

    Amidst the mountain of material about the Civil War, Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels is a peak. This Pulitzer Prize winner uses the Battle at Gettysburg to encompass the entire arc of the war. The Confederacy’s Robert E. Lee—accustomed to winning—goes head to head with the Union’s John Buford and makes fatal mistakes. Historians love the accuracy, as well as Shaara’s reappraisal of the Confederacy’s James Longstreet and more. Military buffs love how Pickett’s Charge and the battle on Little Round Top come alive. And readers simply become enthralled with its sweep and power. Heck, The Killer Angels even prodded Ken Burns into making his landmark documentary, The Civil War, and that’s about as impressive as it gets.

    The End of the Affair (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

    That most Catholic of writers, Graham Greene, captures guilt and sin and the flickering possibility of redemption like few others. Published in 1951, The End Of The Affair completes his Catholic quartet, which also includes Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory and The Heart of the Matter. Author Patti Callahan Henry calls it his masterpiece. “Always visiting his favorite themes—God, love and jealousy—Graham Greene was inspired to write this novel from his own affair with a woman named Catherine Walston,” says Callahan Henry, author most recently of Once Upon A Wardrobe. “There is nothing like it and it reads better every single time I pick it up (or listen to Colin Firth read it). It’s a love story, and yet it’s so much more.”

    The Buddha in the Attic (Pen/Faulkner Award – Fiction)

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    The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

    With just three novels, writer Julie Otsuka has memorialized the brutal mistreatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II with precision and passion. Writer Madeline Miller knows the challenges of bringing history to life and admires Otsuka all the more. “The Buddha in the Attic tells the stories of the ‘picture brides’—women who immigrated from Japan to America in the early 20th century in hopes of a better future,” says Miller, the author most recently of Circe. “The women speak in the first person plural, and part of the wonder of this book is its stunning choral voice—piercing, elegiac, beautiful, brutal, unflinching. The stories they tell of their lives are unforgettable and the novel is a literary and historical masterpiece. It is the book I read when I need to remember what fiction can do at its very best.”

    His Dark Materials 3-Book Paperback Boxed Set: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass

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    His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

    Beginning with The Golden Compass, author Philip Pullman retold and reimagined Milton’s Paradise Lost in a trilogy of almost shocking ambition. The pearl-clutchers who feared it might be sneaking in Ideas—and Dangerous Ideas at that—were right. Fellow writers immediately paid attention. “No books are more important to the history of modern fantasy after The Lord of the Rings than His Dark Materials,” says Terry Brooks, author most recently of Daughter Of Darkness. “Pullman’s trilogy transformed the genre. Here were books in which angels rebelled against a dysfunctional deity to see it cast out of Heaven. Here was a reimagined, compelling story of how a boy and a girl reformed a world in which magic was a transformative power and love provided a means for changing everything…This is high fantasy at its very best.”

    The Talented Mr. Ripley

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    The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

    Horrible people can become disturbingly sympathetic once you spend time with them, whether it’s Norman Bates in Psycho or Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter, the serial killer with good intentions (or at least bad victims). The brilliant Highsmith knew this well, and perhaps her greatest creation, Tom Ripley, toyed with our affections throughout five novels. “The Talented Mr. Ripley is certainly one of the best if not the best thrillers of all time,” says Karin Slaughter, author most recently of Girl, Forgotten. “Tom Ripley is not just a classic antihero, he is a precursor to so many flawed men we’re meant to root for—from Don Draper to Tony Soprano. Highsmith crafts him as a perpetual underdog, a striver that the reader finds more relatable than the monied snobs he so desperately wants to be a part of.” It’s a delicious irony at the heart of so many crime novels: you’re not supposed to root for the criminal or vicariously enjoy someone knocking off those people who really, really “deserve it.” And yet….

    The Good Lord Bird: A Novel

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    The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

    Many artists have tackled the bloody, righteous act of John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, an act meant to stir up a slave revolt in the South. It was the dress rehearsal for the Civil War, which began about a year and a half later, and usually inspires sober, serious works like Russell Banks’ Cloudsplitter or Stephen Vincent Benét’s epic poem John Brown’s Body. But James McBride is the only one to see the violent attack called a dress rehearsal, think “aha!” and launch into a no-holds barred comic retelling of the tragedy. He creates Henry Shackleford, an enslaved man caught up in John Brown’s crusade and is soon bumping into other historical figures like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Oh, and John Brown thinks Henry is a girl and puts him in a dress, which the young man wears for most of the book. We did say “comic!” Compared favorably to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—that other rollicking, hilarious, pointed takedown of slavery—McBride’s novel won the National Book Award and what is apparently another badge of importance in today’s world. Yes, it was turned into a TV miniseries (and a very good one) starring Ethan Hawke.

    The Awakening and Selected Stories (Penguin Classics)

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    The Awakening by Kate Chopin

    If revenge is a dish best served cold, author Kate Chopin should be well pleased. Her second and final novel was tut-tutted over by critics. Chopin dealt forthrightly with a woman’s sexual desires, intellectual needs, suicide, society’s constraints and the limited roles of wife and mother open to her gender. Toss in a caustic attitude towards religion and you had a book that was just as controversial as Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House and Gustave Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary. Even those forced to admit The Awakening was brilliantly written tended to hope—like fellow writer Willa Cather—that Chopin would use her talents for “a better cause.” Chopin died all but forgotten. But seventy years later, people finally awakened to her immense achievement—a novel deeply influential on other writers, the Southern literary tradition and a key work in feminism. Today it’s widely read, widely studied and widely enjoyed.

    The Collected Stories

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    The Collected Stories: William Trevor by William Trevor

    Short story writers are diamond cutters: meticulous and sharp, with only one chance to get it right. Few were as brilliant as the Irish writer William Trevor, whose work is invariably referred to as Chekhovian because what higher compliment can be paid to a short story writer? “My favorite book of all time is The Collected Stories by William Trevor,” says Elizabeth Strout, author most recently of Lucy By The Sea. “As a writer I found his influence huge ever since I first read his work years ago in The New Yorker. But he is not just a writer’s writer. He is so precise and so gentle and can flip over a sentence in a heartbeat. He writes about the lives of ordinary people, who are all—of course—extraordinary. One of my favorites is called ‘Mrs. Silly’ about a young boy sent to boarding school and his lovely mother who embarrasses herself on their visiting day. It’s a quiet, honest killer of a story.”

    The Bluest Eye (Vintage International)

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    The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

    Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison’s debut is one of the most banned books in America and also one of the best. Set in 1941, it tells the story of Pecola, a young African-American woman who is told so often she’s ugly that she finally begins to believe it. Child molestation and racism are just two of the omnipresent dangers the book details. For decades it has been a popular pick for college reading lists. That means bookseller Lynette Yates is far from alone in her experience with it. “The Bluest Eye is the first book I ever read by Toni Morrison,” says Yates of Half Price Books headquartered in Dallas. “And I was hooked. I could not put it down!” Morrison has other masterpieces like Beloved and Song Of Solomon but you might as well start at the beginning. Then, you’ll want to read them all.

    Doctor Zhivago (Vintage International)

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    Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

    The journey of Boris Pasternak’s masterwork—about a physician and poet during the two world wars—is as remarkable as the story itself. Impossible for it to be released in the Soviet Union, his novel was smuggled out, published in part by the C.I.A.(!), turned into a massively popular film and helped win its author the Nobel Prize, which Pasternak was then forced to turn down. But let’s not forget the novel itself. Writer Mark Helprin, himself a proponent of the “epic tradition” school of writing Doctor Zhivago epitomizes, loves it above all others. “Doctor Zhivago combines astoundingly beautiful writing with epic sweep, deep emotion, historically riveting action and impossible-to-ignore spirituality,” says Helprin, author most recently of Paris In The Present Tense. “And the courage to write in defiance of a crushing dictatorship illuminates every serious word and phrase. Unlike many books awarded the Nobel Prize, it fully deserved it, and will live on (even though it was made into a movie).”

    To Kill a Mockingbird

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    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    A beloved children’s book, if a book about an accusation of rape underlined by racism can be said to be for children. Whether you read it as a child, decided to become a lawyer because of Atticus Finch, saw the movie or the new Broadway play, or were assigned it at school, To Kill a Mockingbird is inescapable. Our favorite part of its mythic status was the fact that Lee avoided any press and said almost nothing about it—or anything else. That was as cool as the little girl Scout refusing to wear frilly pink dresses if she didn’t want to.

    The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

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    The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

    Ok, don’t rush him. Writer Junot Díaz takes his time, but patience pays off—both for him and us. Díaz exploded onto the scene in 1996 with the short story collection Drown, immediately establishing the Dominican-American author as a major talent. Over the next 26 years? One more short story collection (This Is How You Lose Her), one picture book (Islandborn) and one novel. The picture book is sweet, the two short story collections are both so strong we couldn’t choose between them and the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is just amazing. The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao celebrates a chubby kid growing up in New Jersey who suffers under a curse that dogs his family for generations. Oscar is obsessed with comic books and fantasy/sci-fi, so Díaz amusingly peppers his story with everything from references to J.R.R. Tolkien to footnotes and touches of magic realism. Oh and mongooses. (Mongeese?) Now, wouldn’t it be wondrous if Díaz finally delivered a full-on sci-fi/fantasy novel of his own?

    Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel

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    Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

    When Abraham Lincoln was President, his son Willie died. According to newspaper reports, on the day the child was laid to rest, Lincoln returned repeatedly to the crypt and cradled the body of Willie in his arms. George Saunders took that image and turned it into his first novel. After twenty years of increasing acclaim and success penning erudite, clever short stories, Saunders was daunted by the idea of a novel, not to mention a novel set in the past, not to mention a novel depicting one of the most famous people in history raw with emotion. Well, it worked—ghosts and all. Writer Michael Cunningham is just one of many to stand back in awe. “Quite possibly the most remarkable, original, beautiful book I’ve read yet, in the 21st century,” says Cunningham, author most recently of A Wild Swan and Other Tales. “If it doesn’t become a classic, my faith in the ongoing history of literature will suffer as a result.”

    And Then There Were None

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    And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie is the most popular mystery writer of all time. And this is her most popular novel. Indeed, by some accounts, it’s the best-selling mystery novel and one of the best selling books ever, with 100 million copies sold and counting. Happily, the ugly racial slur that besmirched both its title and a key clue for decades (up to 1986, in UK editions) has been thoroughly erased. Now, fans can enjoy the novel for what it is: a brilliantly constructed tale of suspense. The set-up is so ingenious that others (not to mention Christie herself) use it time and again in movies, plays and novels. A group of strangers is brought together in an isolated location (in this case an island) under false pretenses. They slowly realize this…and quickly realize the members of their party are being knocked off, one by one. Who among them is the killer? And what have they each done to deserve this fate? The mounting tension, the suspicion, the backstabbing—it’s all delicious fun and Christie delivers one of her neatest solutions to tie it up very nicely indeed.

    The Sellout: A Novel

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    The Sellout by Paul Beatty

    If you want to understand how timid, mean-spirited and ugly some stand-ups are today—both in what they make fun of and how—just read The Sellout. This is how it’s done. In his Booker and National Book Award-winning novel, Paul Beatty starts at outrageous, then builds up steam and really gets going. A black man looking to reinstate slavery in an abandoned town called Dickens on the outskirts of LA? The last surviving member of The Little Rascals, a fellow called Hominy Jenkins? A Supreme Court showdown lacerating the likes of Clarence Thomas with glee? It’s all here and Beatty is always punching up—never down. He pricks pomposity, makes serious points with jaw-dropping hilarity and swiftly outpaces Jonathan Swift with one of the best satires in generations.

    Birds of America: Stories (Vintage Contemporaries)

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    Birds of America by Lorrie Moore

    Lorrie Moore has written acclaimed novels, criticism, essays and a children’s book. But short stories are where Moore shines best, from her 1985 debut collection Self-Help to 2014’s Bark. Writer Sherman Alexie returns to one of her collections again and again. “Birds of America is hilarious and heart-wrenching in equal measure,” says Alexie, author most recently of the memoir You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me. “I’ve re-read this book at least twenty times and I think that’s always the best sign of greatness.”

    Madame Bovary: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

    Bored with life, infatuated with the idea of romance, always searching for the next thrill, Emma Bovary is a frustrating, fascinating, fully alive character in a novel so influential it’s hard to believe this was Flaubert’s debut. Emma flits from affair to affair, piling up bills and disappointments with abandon, never putting a foot right. Flaubert, however, never puts a foot wrong and Anthony Doerr can’t praise it enough. “Attacked upon its publication for being ‘obscene,’ Madame Bovary has remained relevant ever since,” says Doerr, author most recently of Cloud Cuckoo Land. “It’s a 160+ year-old novel that still feels contemporary in its techniques and its critiques of the patriarchy. Flaubert’s portrayal of Emma Bovary is simultaneously beautiful and brutal, and lives at the headwaters of realistic psychological fiction.”

    Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel

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    Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

    In an earlier era, it was Peyton Place that revealed the scandalous goings-on in suburbia. Stories like that were dismissed by some as little better than soap operas. Never mind that they dealt with the frustrations of women trapped in a certain role, the unspoken divide of class and so much more. It’s a domestic drama, mere women’s fiction and thus not important. We’ve learned better. Celeste Ng’s second novel is set in Shaker Heights, Ohio, the hometown of Ward Cleaver of Leave It To Beaver, which is to say the suburbs of our dreams. And yet, this seemingly quiet domestic drama soon explodes with an act of arson, secret abortions, transracial adoptions, surrogate mothers, sex, love, jealousy, heartbreak and, yes, little fires everywhere. It’s complex, cathartic and no wonder Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington produced and starred in a miniseries adaptation.

    The Princess Bride (text only) by W. Goldman

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    The Princess Bride by William Goldman

    William Goldman is the Oscar-winning screenwriter of movie classics like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All The President’s Men. He also wrote about two dozen books, including a nonfiction memoir about Hollywood that captures the entire industry in one sentence: “Nobody knows anything.” But nothing tops the pleasures of his fantasy novel The Princess Bride. It tells the story of Buttercup, a young woman who believes her true love died at the hands of the Dread Pirate Robert. She’s pressured to marry Prince Humperdinck, heir to the throne of Florin. Before the wedding takes place, Buttercup is kidnapped by a rather kindly trio of outlaws. Toss in a framing device that includes details from the author’s “real” life, silly footnotes and other nonsense about this book being an abridged version of an earlier book that really wasn’t as good as the author remembered and you’ve got a treat. Goldman’s novel was twice blessed. First, it was turned into an equally magical film in 1987 that beautifully captures the tone of the novel. Second, while Goldman was determined to write a sequel called Buttercup’s Baby, he never could recapture the magic and gave up. So readers will never be tempted to read a sequel that would inevitably fall short of the original. And there it sits: a perfect little gem, just waiting for you and your children to enjoy.

    Frankenstein: The 1818 Text (Penguin Classics)

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    Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

    It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature. But that never stopped humans before, did it? Written on a bet about who among friends could tell the best ghost story, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a landmark work of horror and caution. If all you know is the (brilliant) 1931 film version starring Boris Karloff as the Monster, then you’re in for a shock. The novel is far more expansive and the Creature (as Shelley calls him) is far more articulate, deadly, purposeful and plaintive. Some call it the greatest horror story ever written and others the prototype for science fiction. But one thing is clear: it’s not Victor Frankenstein who is the modern Prometheus, but Shelley herself. In other words, she won the bet.

    Ficciones

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    Labyrinths (New Directions Paperbook)

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    Ficciones/Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges

    Prepare to enter the labyrinth of Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. Or, if you prefer, prepare to dive into the fiction of Labyrinths. The Argentine writer burst into worldwide prominence in 1962 with the publication of two short story collections translating his work into English. One was Ficciones, or in English Fictions. The other was Labyrinths. Borges is a beguiling Prospero, wielding his magic to enchant anyone brave enough to explore a world of saintly librarians, imaginary lands and fanciful reviews of the second editions of books that never existed in the first place. For a writer who relished wordplay, plots that circled back upon themselves and concepts that anticipated the multiverse, it must please Borges no end that these two collections overlap, with numerous stories appearing in both. Which one should people read first? In what order? This unintentional creation of confusion and uncertainty for readers new to him? Perfect.

    The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, 1)

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    The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

    Here are the facts. N.K. Jemisin is the first African American writer to win the Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction or Fantasy novel. She’s the first writer ever to win the Hugo Award in three consecutive years. And she’s the first writer ever to win a Hugo Award for all three books in a trilogy. That should make you sit up. We could also mention her MacArthur genius grant, how fans believed in Jemisin enough to help crowd-fund her move to writing full-time way back when and much more. But those are just the facts. Read the Broken Earth trilogy of science fantasy that begins with The Fifth Season and you’ll be plunged into a vivid world devastated by a climate crisis every few centuries. You’ll discover a middle-aged woman necessarily hiding her extraordinary powers to influence the entire planet. You’ll fear for a small girl also blessed or cursed with those powers, a girl whose parents can’t bring themselves to kill her as society demands. And you’ll follow a young woman who discovers the truth about how their world is actually kept safe. It’s classic fantasy but also thoroughly modern. Jemisin blends the three storylines together with a flourish worthy of Proust, but that’s just one of its many pleasures. A landmark.

    Indigo

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    Indigo by Beverly Jenkins

    An early peak for romance legend Beverly Jenkins, Indigo features all her trademarks. The story is an unexpected one, focusing on a young woman named Hester Wyatt bravely risking her life in the Underground Railroad (in Michigan!). She finds herself drawn to an arrogant conductor named Galen Vachon, a man who is badly injured and needs hiding. Galen is handsome and wealthy; she doesn’t know the latter fact but can’t help noticing the former. She’s pretty and willful; he can’t help noticing both of these qualities. In other words, it’s a classic romance with all the pleasures that entails. But Jenkins weaves in history and background detail with ease, grounding the story in a real world that’s far more complicated and interesting than most genre books ever attempt. And that makes her stories all the more gripping. She’s successful in many genres, but historical romances are where Jenkins flourishes—from stories about high-class hotels for people of color to the challenges facing professional doctors long ago to the many black cowboys of the Old West. Her novels are told with verve and accuracy, complete with bibliographies at the end for those who want to explore the history further. Whoever imagined romance novels with a bibliography? Beverly Jenkins.

    Moby-Dick or, The Whale (Penguin Classics)

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    Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville

    Forget the whale, for a moment. Most people haven’t read Moby-Dick, so for them it’s about some crazy guy on a boat obsessed with tracking down a white whale that made a snack of his leg. And yeah, sure, that’s a big part of it. But Herman Melville’s novel is a wilder ride than this implies. It’s the 1851 equivalent of surfing the web, with Melville telling his story about Ishmael, the newest member of the whaling ship Pequod. He veers from a fascinating breakdown of ship life and its culturally diverse crew members to describe the migratory patterns of whales and then back to the ship and the surprisingly cozy sleeping arrangements for the men and off again for a useful guide on harvesting whale blubber to a fiery sermon of poetry and song and back to the story at hand and then onto some other tangent. It’s remarkable how often the novel isn’t recounting the obsessive quest of Captain Ahab, though that mad venture is always just below the surface. Melville’s novel is obsessive itself, seeming determined to tell you everything that crosses its mind. It’s as mad as Ahab and just as fearsome and magnetic and impossible to forget.

    Blonde: A Novel

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    Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates

    Norma Jean Baker’s greatest performance was as the movie star Marilyn Monroe. In her last interview, she spoke about current issues of the day and pleaded with the writer, “Please don’t make me a joke.” No luck; it was too late. Or at least it seemed too late. Now, writer Joyce Carol Oates treats Norma Jean with the seriousness she deserves. This meaty, compulsively readable and epic novel tracks her entire life, from a tumultuous childhood with a mentally disturbed mother to life in an orphanage, followed by brutal early days in Hollywood with sleazy studio execs and then the reward of suffocating fame. Monroe is naturally savvy if also innocent, desperate to learn more and be more, but also aware her sex appeal is the best way to get there. Oates captures her mercurial but insightful approach to acting, her determination to break with the studio system and tackle the roles she knows she can and her desire for someone—anyone—who might treat her with the kindness and respect she’s never known. You know how it ends and yet the journey is captivating, unexpected, funny, painful and as great as Monroe—or rather, Norma Jean—could dare imagine. Oates has written literally dozens and dozens of novels and short story collections. This is her masterpiece.

    The Underground Railroad: A Novel

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    The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

    All eyes have been on writer Colson Whitehead since his oddball debut The Intuitionist. He satirized the publicity machine that feted him (John Henry Days), explored genres like horror (Zone One) and the bildungsroman (Sag Harbor) and even nodded towards forebears like E.B. White with his nonfiction work The Colossus of New York. Then, like Muhammad Ali predicting a knock-out, in 2016 Whitehead gave his next novel the totemic, throw-down-the-gauntlet, this-is-the-one title The Underground Railroad. And yes, it was the brilliant, captivating, mind-bending masterpiece everyone expected of him. In this case, the Underground Railroad is literally an underground railroad and the characters who escape by riding it enter into post-Civil War worlds where racism remains ever-changing, ever-new and ever-present. It’s upsetting, unexpected, propulsive and the most entertaining Important Book you’ve read in ages. With two more acclaimed novels since (The Nickel Boys and Harlem Shuffle), Whitehead is clearly just getting started.

    The Song of Achilles: A Novel

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    The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

    Writer Madeline Miller spent a decade bringing the passionate romance at the heart of Homer’s Iliad to vivid life. The love between Achilles and Patroclus upends the entire Trojan War and it’s there for all to read in the epic poem dating from roughly 2700 years ago. And, still, it came as a shock to some in 2011 when Miller brought these two lovers so fully and beautifully to life in her debut novel. Miller did it again by turning an enchantress of The Odyssey from a minor villain to a complex, fascinating heroine in her 2018 book Circe. Surely Mary Renault and Robert Graves look on approvingly—two similar writers of historical fiction who captured the imagination of contemporary readers.

    The Last Good Kiss (C.W. Sughrue Book 1)

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    The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley

    James Crumley was a “writer’s writer,” which means his books never sold that much, but boy were they good. Heck, when the legendary author Ray Bradbury wrote three mystery novels, he named the detective “Crumley” in honor of the man! “[The Last Good Kiss] is the best private eye novel I’ve ever read,” says author Dennis Lehane, author most recently of Since We Fell. “Best first sentence, most satisfying ending, most beautifully written from beginning to end.” In the novel, investigator C.W. Sughrue is lured away from his job at a topless bar to find a wayward writer but ends up hunting down a woman missing for more than a decade. Crumley died in 2008, but not before enjoying a late-career appreciation from many quarters. “One of the great pleasures of my life,” says Lehane, “was getting to meet Crumley and tell him that his masterpiece forever changed my perception of what a crime novel could be.”

    The Joy Luck Club: A Novel

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    The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

    Oh, the joy of finally seeing yourself in an acclaimed, best-selling novel! In her debut, Amy Tan told of Chinese mothers and their Chinese-American daughters. Friends in San Francisco gather together each week to play mahjong, eat and talk, but mostly talk. They complain about their daughters while their daughters complain about the mothers. Stories are told, of the hardships the women faced when risking it all to move from China to America and of the very different lives their daughters are having thanks to that gamble and why can’t those daughters respect them and do as they’re told and not marry this boy or go to this school but marry that boy and study for that degree at the school chosen for them? Unless you’re a Chinese-American, it’s hard to appreciate the thrill, the deep satisfaction of seeing your stories embraced and celebrated. Like the best art, it’s universal for being so very specific. And oh, the joy of having something other than Charlie Chan and The Good Earth represent all of Chinese culture to America. Now, strands of that culture can be found in “everything, everywhere, all at once.” But The Joy Luck Club will always be a beloved and important breakthrough.

    Winesburg, Ohio (Dover Thrift Editions)

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    Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

    Whatever the truth, the romantic tale of how Sherwood Anderson became a writer is too good to pass up. He was a very successful businessman, overseeing a company selling paint, buying up smaller paint companies and expanding into other ventures. Anderson was 36 years old, married and had three children. But on November 28, 1912, he went to work and then rebelliously decided to chuck it all and devote himself full-time to writing. Anderson feigned mental illness of some sort so no one would get angry at him, walked out the door and never came back. Or, more likely, he had his second nervous breakdown (following an earlier one in 1907) and that left him unfit, unable or unwilling to work in paint any more. After two not so good novels, he hit paydirt with Winesburg, Ohio, a collection of short stories that combine to tell the life of one man and the frustrated, lonely dreams of everyone around him in a small town. It does in fiction what Edgar Lee Masters did in poetry with 1915’s Spoon River Anthology, another book that puts the lie to small-town life always being idyllic and sweet.

    The Blind Assassin: A Novel, Cover may vary

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    The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

    We might have made the obvious choice and picked Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, a depressingly timely novel that didn’t predict a thing, since every cruelty in its male-dominated dystopia had already been done to women. But for sheer bravado, her Booker Prize winner The Blind Assassin is hard to beat, offering the sweep of Canadian history in the 20th century. The narrator is an old woman looking back on her life, mostly to the 1930s and 1940s. It captures the pulpy feel of that era’s paperbacks without sacrificing complexity. And for an author who rejects the label of science-fiction writer, it offers a novel-within-a-novel that’s pure sci-fi and throws in enough betrayals and revelations to fuel a Buck Rogers serial. Very satisfying.

    Winter’s Tale

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    Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin

    By 1983, writer Mark Helprin had published two collections of short stories diamond-like in their clarity, not to mention a wonderfully sprawling debut novel (Refiner’s Fire) of the sort one expects from a writer who values tradition and the great novels of the 19th century. So no one was quite prepared for Winter’s Tale. Out of the blue, Helprin delivered a Dickensian fantasy celebrating the New York City of our dreams. It tells the story of Peter Lake, a burglar who lives in the ceiling of Grand Central Station (when not sneaking into the mansions of the wealthy to relieve them of their possessions). A white horse that swoops down from the stars, a beautiful young woman tragically dying of consumption, gangs of burglars, marshmen who live on the fringes of society, a raging fire, truth and joy and beauty and light and all of it wrapped up in language of boldness and verve. Magic? Just a touch. Magical? From start to finish.

    Winnie-the-Pooh (Puffin Modern Classics)

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    The House at Pooh Corner (Winnie-the-Pooh)

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    Winnie the Pooh/The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

    Yes, but have you read it as an adult? Have you read it lately? A.A. Milne captures children to perfection, the way they interrupt your storytelling, their pleasure at seeing themselves included in it and their desire to learn more without quite admitting they don’t understand everything just yet. Any adult who’s made up a story for a small child will purr with pleasure when reading the opening chapters of Winnie The Pooh. It has charm to spare, thanks to timeless tales about friends and pranks and accepting people for who they are, like the dour Eeyore or the over-excitable Tigger. Not accepting them despite their quirks, but because of them. And oh, The House At Pooh Corner. The sad encroachment of school and Growing Up and time away from play and the need to Learn Things. Long before the Toy Story trilogy tore your heart out, Milne did it here to perfection.

    Station Eleven

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    Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

    Like most overnight successes, Emily St. John Mandel put in years of hard work to make it happen, switching from a career in dance to full-time writing. Three hard-boiled noirs led to her fourth novel, the sort of breakthrough that booksellers like Emily Bruce at Half Price Books in Dallas love to champion. “Mandel tells the story of a young actress in King Lear witnessing the lead have a heart attack on stage the same night a devastating flu pandemic begins and ultimately ends life across the world as we know it,” says Bruce. “Flashing forward to the survivors twenty years later, the actress is in a traveling symphony and encounters a violent prophet. Although a book about a pandemic is certainly an unsettling topic these days, the story of survival is moving, powerful and well worth the read.

    David Copperfield (Penguin Classics)

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    David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

    Ok, maybe you were forced to read Dickens in school and it didn’t take. Heck, if school forced you to eat chocolate ice cream every day you’d probably get sick of that too and vow “never again.” But as someone once said about London, anyone who is tired of Dickens is tired of life. His novels were first serialized in magazines so the cliffhanger endings of each chapter make them as binge-worthy as any TV show streaming online. You could start with the nigh-on-perfect Great Expectations or the righteous Hard Times or the novella you already know called A Christmas Carol. We suggest David Copperfield, the story of a young man making his way in the world. It’s bursting with the eccentric, colorful, immediately recognizable characters Dickens is known for. It boasts a clutch of passionate social issues Dickens illuminates like the brutal school system, child labor, prostitution and more. And because it’s based in part on his own challenging childhood, David Copperfield is as close to a memoir and the author’s own beating heart as anything else he wrote.

    Another Brooklyn: A Novel

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    Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

    A genius (hey, the MacArthur people know what they’re talking about), writer Jacqueline Woodson is a talent whose work transcends labels like “young adult” or “kids” books. They’re for everyone. And you can start anywhere, from an exuberant picture book like The Year We Learned To Fly to young adult novels like Miracle’s Boys or her classic debut Last Summer With Maizon. You’ll find vivid characters, real life and the power of friendship. But you might as well start with her “adult” novel Another Brooklyn, a 2016 peak in which a woman coming to bury her father remembers the culture shock of moving from Tennessee to Brooklyn and adjusting to life in NYC. Woodson has been capturing young people and their fears and joys for more than 30 years. And she keeps getting better.

    Riders of the Purple Sage (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics)

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    Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

    The Western of Westerns, Riders Of The Purple Sage from 1912 is the model for every Western that followed. It’s the story of a willful young Mormon woman in Utah who resists becoming the third wife of an Elder and then befriends some Gentiles. Some consider it anti-Mormon. But if the villain is a Mormon, so is our heroine! And her objection to polygamy and approval of comity with other faiths is exactly where the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints is officially at today. So not only is this one of the great Westerns, it was arguably ahead of its time spiritually too.

    Their Eyes Were Watching God

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    Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    Writer Zora Neale Hurston is now rightly recognized for her pioneering scholarly work in documenting the folktales of African-Americans and the Caribbean peoples. She did serious ethnographic work, documented the life of one of the last people to have survived the Middle Passage and wrote about voodoo rituals in Haiti and Jamaica. All of this now receives a brighter spotlight, along with her plays, short stories, poetry and the like. We can thank writer Alice Walker, who renewed attention for Hurston and the masterpiece that is Their Eyes Were Watching God. If this novel was the only accomplishment of her life, she would still loom large. Just as in Jane Austen, the heroine of this story is abused for wanting a marriage based on love. Janie Crawford triumphs over her enslaved beginnings to become a woman of property who can choose the man she wants from many suitors. That doesn’t mean she’ll choose well, mind you. Published in 1937, its centerpiece is the devastating Okeechobee hurricane of 1928, an event that wipes the slate clean for Janie and lets her start her life over yet again. Gripping, moving and bold for this time—not to mention 1937—the only surprise is that it took 40 years for people to recognize how great this novel truly is.

    The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love: A Novel (FSG Classics)

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    The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos

    What might have been? That’s the bittersweet question at the heart of this elegiac novel that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1990. The dying musician Cesar Castillo sits alone in a hotel room, listening to old records by his band the Mambo Kings and thinking back on his life. Exiled from Cuba after Castro overthrew the U.S.-backed dictator Batista, Cesar and his brother move to New York City. Fittingly for musicians, their timing is perfect. A mambo craze sweeps the country and they enjoy a burst of fame after appearing on the sitcom I Love Lucy. Of course, the craze ends, the Mambo Kings fade from the scene and Cesar now remembers the many highs and lows of his life both personal and professional. What might have been? With the life-changing success of his second novel, Oscar Hijuelos assured he would never have to ask himself that question.

    Lud In The Mist

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    Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees

    All but forgotten, British writer Hope Mirrlees is enjoying a resurgence. Her 600-line work Paris: A Poem is now considered a modernist classic and a major influence on T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf, who originally published the piece with her husband. Mirrlees’s “friendship” with the famous classicist Jane Ellen Harrison is now seen in a new light. (Harrison was 37 years her senior but they lived together for 15 years until Harrison died. So perhaps “good pals” doesn’t quite cover it.) And her lone fantasy novel has passionate fans like writer Neil Gaiman. “My favourite book of all time is probably Lud-in-the-Mist,” says Gaiman, author most recently of Neil Gaiman’s Chivalry and Death: The Deluxe Edition. “It’s a story about a stolid land, and the fairy fruit that comes over the border, bringing dreams and poetry and madness; it’s a ghost story and a detective story and it’s also about existential angst and the pain of living in reality. I read it as a boy, and return to it every decade, finding new things in it—sometimes in the plot, sometimes in the way Mirrlees put words together.”

    Where I’m Calling From: Selected Stories

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    Where I’m Calling From: Selected Stories by Raymond Carver

    Raymond Carver was married twice and for a while considered himself a full-time drinker and merely a part-time writer. After being lauded as a major talent, he famously broke away from the influence of an editor that made his reputation and turned minimalism into the style du jour of the 1970s and 1980s. You can ignore the public profile, the stuff of magazine features and literary debates and just read his stories. You won’t find any major twists in the tales. No meta conceits to flatter your brain. No highbrow allusions. Just stories capturing life in such a straightforward manner that you catch your breath. “Cathedral.” “Boxes.” “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” And best of all, with this final collection done before Carver died of lung cancer, we get his own stamp of approval on 37 stories, some presented as they were first published (with his editor’s strong hand), some as Carver originally wrote them and some brand new. Brilliant.

    The Round House: A Novel

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    The Round House by Louise Erdrich

    Sarah Hollenbeck of the Women & Children First bookstore in Chicago says simply that The Round House is “a transformative and mesmerizing novel by national treasure Louise Erdrich.” Indeed. One of our best writers, Erdrich is also one of our best chroniclers of crime, violence, poverty and its impact on individuals and communities. An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Erdrich finds rich material amidst life on the reservation in North Dakota. Fiction, poetry, children’s books, nonfiction—the Pulitzer-Prize winner has done it all. But the Justice Trilogy is a keystone of her career, encompassing Plague of Doves, LaRose and smack dab in the middle is 2012’s The Round House. It shows a 13-year-old boy frustrated that the police aren’t looking more seriously into a horrific attack on his mother. Disastrously, the kid takes matters into his own hands, with the help of friends and a stolen rifle. Justice is far, far away but a riveting story and art is right at hand.

    Gone Girl

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    Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

    This massive blockbuster reverberates in the mind as a novel about a scheming spouse…or perhaps a novel about how the media loves a scheming spouse…or perhaps how we secretly love it when the media piles on a scheming spouse. Let’s face it, Gone Girl is a roller coaster as the happy marriage of Nick and Amy Dunne falls apart in the white-hot glare of a missing wife case. Infidelity! Betrayal! Hidden diaries! Faked diaries! Clues! False clues! You can’t trust anyone or anything in this masterful tale filled with unreliable narrators. Unreliable except for Flynn, that is, who knows exactly what she’s doing.

    Pale Fire

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    Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

    Vladimir Nabokov shocked the world with Lolita, while his work Speak, Memory is one of the great memoirs. But writer Scott Spencer isn’t mincing words about the book of Nabokov’s he admires the most. “You’re always on thin ice when you say a book is the greatest of all time—or even the greatest of the year in which it was first published,” says Spencer, author most recently of An Ocean Without A Shore. “But I feel terra firma beneath my feet when I say Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov is the most astonishing work of fiction I have ever read. After a harrumphing, hilarious foreword, the novel presents us with a 999-line poem written by a poet named John Shade. Shade’s next door neighbor is a colleague at the local college named Charles Kinbote, a madman who believes himself to be Charles the Great, the exiled king of Zembla. The rest of the novel is Kimbote’s commentary/explication of Shade’s poem, in which Kimbote’s personality and preoccupations all but devour the poem itself. It is a narrative strategy of mind-bending weirdness and complexity, and the grateful reader can’t help but wonder how anyone—even the supremely gifted Nabokov—could create something so intricate, so dazzling, yet so filled with humanity. Pale Fire is a gorgeous, radiant work of high spirits and deep sorrow, an other-worldly novel with no predecessors and no descendants.”

    A Visit from the Goon Squad

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    A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

    Chrissie Hynde called time “the avenger.” Bob Dylan said “time is a jet plane—it moves too fast.” Jennifer Egan simply calls time “the goon squad,” the thug that beats you up no matter how you try to avoid it. Time ravages all the characters in her not-quite short story collection but not-quite novel that won the Pulitzer Prize. Set in and around the business of rock ‘n’ roll, Egan’s work jumps around in time, turns one passage into a PowerPoint presentation and does pretty much everything you’d expect from a cool contemporary book. It’s also everything you’d expect from a classic penned one hundred years ago: beautifully written, filled with great characters and hard to shake. Time will be kind to it.

    Watership Down: A Novel

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    Watership Down by Richard Adams

    This novel is about rabbits and was inspired by stories that author Richard Adams told to his daughters on long road trips. So that explains why Watership Down is often slotted in the children’s section. But it might just as easily be put in the fantasy or fiction or nature or “books you didn’t think you’d care about but the second you start reading them you can’t stop” section. That’s a category, right? In this beguiling adventure, a group of rabbits listen to the prophet-like Fiver, who has a vision their warren is about to be destroyed. They break away from the only world they’ve ever known and head off into the unknown. The group struggles to overcome dangers like cars, dogs, snares, mutiny and much more, with only the vague idea of a destination — a  hilltop where they might live in peace. These aren’t rabbits with pocket watches and they don’t live in some fantasy world. This is our world and the rabbits behave very much like rabbits do. And yet, they’re us too. Gripping, frightening, inspiring.

    Related: Miranda Lambert Announces Her First Book—Here’s How to Preorder

    The Namesake: A Novel

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    The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

    Every well-written story is universal. And Jhumpa Lahiri’s first novel after her acclaimed short story collection Interpreter of Maladies is yet another example. A Bengali couple from Calcutta India moves to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their son born in America is named Gogol, after the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. It’s the familiar and fresh story of immigrants, of people making a new home and wondering how and if they should fit in, what to leave behind and what to cling to. What kind of a name is “Gogol,” wonders the son, who wants to legally change his name, rebelling against his parents by becoming so American they think they might be losing him. Nuanced and moving, Lahiri’s book shows that the immigrant story—that most American of stories—is always being told anew.

    The Brothers Karamazov (Bicentennial Edition): A Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue

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    The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Everyone from Sigmund Freud to Albert Einstein loved this novel—the final and greatest achievement of one of Russia’s greatest writers. You’ve heard about The Grand Inquisitor, even if you’ve never read the poem in the novel where he first appears. And pretty much anyone who makes a list of this sort includes it. Indeed, author W. Somerset Maugham includes it in his admirably brief list of the ten greatest novels of all time. We can’t bring ourselves to be as succinct as he, but at least we’ve included seven of the books he admired best. Just as Dostoevsky wrestles with the idea of God and free will, you simply have to wrestle with Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Don’t worry; even if they best you, you’ll never forget the struggle to truly understand these Russian bears.

    Parable of the Sower (Parable, 1)

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    Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

    The body of work created by Octavia E. Butler is rich. But 1993’s Parable of the Sower looms larger and larger, if only because it grapples with the climate crisis, inequality, corporate greed and the eternal hope that life will be better somewhere else. Lauren Oya Olamina is an African American teenager living in the deteriorating society of 2024. She escapes the violent collapse of her preacher father’s isolated community and travels north for work. Hiding her gender, fearing rape, risking an interracial romance, Lauren creates a new religion she calls Earthseed, where humanity’s only chance to get it right is to start again on another planet. Like the best parables, Butler’s book is first and foremost a story you’ll remember. But it also has much to teach.

    Waiting (Vintage International)

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    Waiting by Jin Ha

    Just…wait. That’s all Dr. Lin Kong is asking his girlfriend, Nurse Manna Wu, to do. Wait. Lin wants to marry Manna but he’s already married to Shuyu, an old-fashioned village woman Lin never loved but dutifully wed. Now he needs to ask for a divorce. Every year he heads home to his village determined to do so…and every year he comes back to the city and asks Manna to wait just one more year. Jin Ha’s National Book Award-winning novel revealed life in Communist China in new detail for many readers, showing its constraints on personal freedom. More broadly, Waiting shows the divide between city and country, between tradition and modernism, between passion and responsibility, divides that are familiar the world over. Which explains its popularity the world over…except in China, where the book was denounced and has yet to be officially published.

    Play It As It Lays (FSG Classics)

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    Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion

    Joan Didion is rightly acclaimed for her nonfiction work laying bare the soul of America. She also won a legion of new fans with the memoir The Year Of Magical Thinking, the story of Didion’s life in the year after the death of her husband John Gregory Dunne. But boy did she know show biz. In her second novel, Didion presents one of its fringe players. Maria is in a psychiatric hospital in LA, thinking back on how she got there. Born in a small town, Maria dreams of being an actress, falls in with abusive men and only moves to Hollywood after she’s given acting up. That may be the sanest move of her life. Everything is a struggle for Maria, who fights to protect her ailing child, fights addiction, fights for a divorce and is now fighting to get better and get out of the hospital. Life soon imitated art: the novel came out to acclaim in 1970 and Didion along with her husband spent the next decade working in Hollywood, albeit with much more success than Maria.

    Anna Karenina

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    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

    If you’re not ambitious, start with Tolstoy’s devastating novella The Death Of Ivan Ilyich. If you’re overly ambitious, go for War And Peace, a novel as big and sprawling and all-encompassing as its title. But if you want to start at the top and prefer a little doomed romance with your Russian epics, try Anna Karenina. It features enough vivid characters and plotlines to power two soap operas. Like War and Peace, it’s not shy about boldly tackling everything from religion to Imperial Russia in all its glorious complications and so on. But it revolves around a juicy love affair between the married Anna and the cavalry officer Count Vronsky, who simply must be described as “dashing.” You’ll be caught up in a way you’re simply not by the equally marvelous but less focused musings of War And Peace. Just don’t read it on a station platform while waiting for a train.

    Dandelion Wine: A Novel (Grand Master Editions)

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    Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

    Ray Bradbury is famous for his dystopian novel about book-burning titled Fahrenheit 451. He’s acclaimed for his eerie tales of space colonization called The Martian Chronicles. But those who love him best gravitate to the nostalgic tales of childhood in Dandelion Wine. Tinged with magical realism, these evocations of small town life dipped in honey are irresistible because they capture a perfect past that never really existed…except for every boy and girl with a little imagination and a lot of heart. Bookseller Jim Reed of Jim Reed Books in Birmingham, Alabama, always has a few copies on hand to press on lucky browsers. “Christopher Isherwood and R.L. Stine and I, among others, believe this is the great American novel,” says Reed. “Dandelion Wine is a magical lightning bolt. When I first read this wonderful book in the 1950s, I was a teenager without compass, a quiet kid with no prospects. Dandelion Wine awakened me to the idea that I could be a dreamer, an actor, a writer…and that that was ok. Apparently I wasn’t the only kid on the planet who was amazed by life.”

    Three Novels of New York: The House of Mirth, The Custom of the Country, The Age of Innocence (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

    Edith Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. At the time, that wasn’t a big deal, as such—four of the first seven winners were women. Men slowly began to dominate the award, with women now making up only a third of all winners. Men also dominate in The Age Of Innocence. The protagonist Newland Archer is accustomed to getting whatever he wants: Newland is old money, upper class and proud of it. He should marry the innocent seeming May Welland but he’s drawn to the unsuitable yet more interesting Ellen Olenska. Newland pursues her, but his peers won’t have it and quietly disapprove. The bonds of society, the sharply defined lines between old money and new, between the “better” classes and the lower ones are all on display in Wharton’s dissection of a world she knew so well. Pregnancy as a plot twist and a weapon? You might say only a woman would have thought of that. But you’d be more correct to say only a great writer would have deployed it so well.

    Midnight’s Children

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    Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

    Salman Rushdie’s second novel is so influential in India that critics refer to the “post-Rushdie” era. Among countless accolades, it scored the highest honor in the Commonwealth: the Booker Prize. Then on the Booker’s 25th anniversary, it was named the best book to win the Booker. And on its 40th anniversary, Midnight’s Children did it again, being chosen as the Booker of Bookers. Rushdie’s third novel The Satanic Verses is the one that unfortunately made him a household name around the world, as well as a fugitive from a fatwa. But Midnight’s Children remains a landmark in world literature, as signal an event in its way as the independence of India from the U.K. and the wrenching partition of that country into India and Pakistan. The babies born between midnight and 1 a.m. on that fateful day have special powers. Our hero Saleem is born very close to midnight, so he proves very powerful indeed. Saleem’s story is very much the story of modern India in all its tragedy, missed opportunity and promise. Few novels are as ambitious and even fewer succeed so splendidly.

    Devil’s Cub

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    Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer

    J.R.R. Tolkien established the modern fantasy, a genre almost entirely indebted to him for its existence. Few can make a similar claim about pioneering a new category of fiction. But Georgette Heyer can. She wrote many thrillers, often one a year, and they deserve your attention. But she’s widely recognized as creating the modern historical romance and more specifically, the Regency romance. Jane Austen wrote Regency romances as a matter of course—for her, they were contemporary novels because that’s when she lived. One hundred years later, Heyer would bring a scholar’s passion for accuracy to the Regency romance. By the end of her life, Heyer owned a reference library exceeding 1000 titles about the era, along with any info she could find on the history of snuff boxes, the cost of candles in a particular year and so on. What’s truly exciting is that her novels like Devil’s Cub are so much fun. The characters are offbeat for the day (Marrying for love? What an idea!) and Heyer has a blast upending convention, even as she establishes that convention so well. Everyone in the romance field stands in her debt. Devil’s Cub is great but really you can’t go wrong with anything she wrote.

    Where the Wild Things Are

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    Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

    A picture book classic can’t just appeal to kids—it also must appeal to adults because they’re the ones who read it. Author Matthew Paul Turner estimates he’s read Where The Wild Things Are hundreds of times to his own children and to classrooms of kids. “To me, Sendak’s 1963 offering is a perfect children’s book because it’s one of the most delightful books to read aloud, offering moments to read quietly, in almost a hush, and also lines to read loudly with growls and snorts,” says Turner, author most recently of I Am God’s Dream with illustrator Estrella Bascuñan. “With every turn of the page, Sendak adds mystery and nuance to Max’s adventure using the fewest words possible. One minute we’re observing Max in his bedroom yelling ‘I’ll eat you up!’ at his mother and a few pages later, we’ve joined Max on an island of monsters, romping and stomping with the young hero. Wild Things is real and it’s fantasy, it’s childlike and yet it leaves space between the words to imagine a deeper and more profound story. Its illustrations are simple and timeless and have inspired the imaginations of generations of readers. I love that I was able to introduce my kids to a story that I loved deeply when I was their age.”

    Waiting to Exhale

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    Waiting To Exhale by Terry McMillan

    It’s hard to overstate the impact of Waiting To Exhale when it came out in 1992. It’s a thoroughly entertaining novel about female friendship, the pressures of career and how very disappointing men can sometimes (ok, often) be. Funny, sexy and smart, Terry McMillan’s book is a winner. While it has many precursors (many mothers, you might say), the success of it and her follow-up How Stella Got Her Groove Back proved a landmark. This was a book embraced by a wide audience. But it wasn’t written to reach a wide audience and didn’t worry about a wide (that is, white) audience. It was by and for people of color and especially black people and especially black women. So when it became a best-seller and reached both the women it celebrated and everyone else as well, the change was fundamental. One year later, the TV show Living Single debuted, so change was in the air, a change marked by so many movies and TV shows and books and music by the likes of Jill Scott. A change sparked by Waiting To Exhale.

    The Sound and the Fury: The Corrected Text

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    The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

    One of William Faulkner’s masterpieces, The Sound and the Fury, signified something, though critics were mostly dismissive when this story of a fading Southern family came out in 1929. Its stream of consciousness style, jumps in time and multiple narrators led off by the mentally challenged Benjy Compson was just too much for many. Respected critic Clifton Fadiman wasn’t alone when he recognized Faulkner’s artistry but for the life of him couldn’t understand why it was used to tell this confusing story. Within two years, the book would start to gain momentum commercially and in 20 years, Faulkner received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Today, so many books and tv shows and movies like Pulp Fiction have used similar time-jumping structures to tell a story that The Sound And The Fury feels almost familiar. It’s still bold and disorienting, but at least readers can rest assured they’ll figure out what the heck is going on and that it’s all worth the ride.

    A Tree Grows in Brooklyn [75th Anniversary Ed] (Perennial Classics)

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    A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

    This autobiographical novel about a young girl who loves reading and dreams of something…more speaks to immigrants and adolescents everywhere. Writers like Kristy Woodson Harvey hold it especially dear. “I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the first time in the fourth grade,” says Harvey, author most recently of The Wedding Veil, “and have read it almost every year since. Every time, every page, I find something new to love, some different piece of wisdom to grasp onto, something truer and more real about humanity than I did before. The brilliance of Betty Smith was her ability to transform the ordinary moments of our lives into something bright and shining, to find that morsel of goodness that connects us across circumstance and time. And, of course, ‘The world was hers for the reading,’ is a quote that still, all these years later, can’t help but make my book-loving heart race.”

    Donald Barthelme: Collected Stories (LOA #343) (Library of America, 343)

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    Donald Barthelme: Collected Stories by Donald Barthelme

    Donald Barthelme is America’s Beckett, which is to say America’s class clown or more exactly America’s court jester—the one who gets away with speaking the brutal truth because it’s cloaked in absurdist humor the unwary dismiss as surreal, fragmented nonsense. His short stories (and the infrequent novel) are invariably playful, hilarious and grim. In his work Barthelme drew inspiration from visual artists as much as he did fellow writers as diverse as Kafka and S.J. Perelman, always deferential if not reverential to Beckett. So, at times, his stories would be interrupted by a found piece of illustration from the 19th century, just to keep you on your toes. Monty Python probably paid attention. Collected Stories from the Library of America gathers together essentially every short story he ever published, which is appropriate since every short story of his is essential. To say he was held in high esteem by other writers is an understatement. “This book will take you from the early let’s say cubism to the later let’s say domesticity in the Barthelme progression,” says Padgett Powell, author most recently of Indigo. “A major book: what Hemingway was to the first, Barthelme was to the second half of 20th century American fiction.”

    Get Shorty: A Novel

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    Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard

    Toss a dart at the books of Elmore Leonard and you’ll hit a classic. Thunk and you’ve picked his wonderfully unconventional Western Valdez Is Coming. Or thunk the period gangster story The Hot Kid. Or thunk and you’ve landed on Get Shorty, in which Leonard combines hilarious dialogue and vivid characters with genuine danger to skewer Hollywood along with the usual loan sharks and criminal lowlifes. God knows why Leonard would bite the hand that feeds him—Hollywood made one terrific movie after another based on his novels and the 1995 film Get Shorty with John Travolta was no exception.

    The Bell Jar (Modern Classics)

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    The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

    For people living with depression, for certain women, for certain artists, few books matter as much as The Bell Jar. The poet Sylvia Plath shows her (autobiographical) character Esther Greenwood fighting depression with a humor and clarity that astonishes even today. We know so much more about bipolar disorder, depression and the like now. But Plath knew it instinctively in 1963 and she captured what it is to live with depression, rather than damning or praising this treatment or that clinic or yet another off-target diagnosis. What a person really wants first—really needs first—is to be believed and listened to and understood. When you’re trapped under a bell jar, it’s hard to be heard. Not for Plath, who’s still speaking out some 60 years later.

    Lake Wobegon Days

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    Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor

    “It’s been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my hometown out there on the edge of the prairie….” For decades, those words promised a return to an idyllic innocence that never really existed and a gentle teasing of human foibles that always will. The radio show A Prairie Home Companion was a marvelous combination of good music, bad jokes, community and a generosity of spirit. The highlight back in the day was the monologue with news from Lake Wobegon, delivered extemporaneously by host Garrison Keillor. He reshaped some of the best monologues into the collection Lake Wobegon Days and it catapulted him and the show into even greater worldwide fame. Yes, it won a Grammy as an audiobook and yes, some fans prefer to hear him, rather than read him. But Keillor is a careful writer and knows the difference between what works on the air and what works on the page. So don’t discount the craft put into this gem of gentle humor. If you can’t help hearing Keillor’s voice while reading it, well that’s okay too.

    The Nightingale: A Novel

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    The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

    Without warning, every once in a while, it seems like everyone you know—everyone—has read, is reading or is about to read the same book. In 2015, that book was The Nightingale, a World War II novel about two estranged sisters resisting the Nazi invasion of France. One secretly shelters Jews, including a neighbor’s child she hides in plain sight. The other sister joins the French Resistance and devises a plan to spirit away stranded Allied pilots to neutral territory. Like the most enduring thrillers, you’re sucked in not just by plot twists or the high drama of war but by the characters who become so real to you that their fate is akin to your own.

    The Good Soldier (Vintage Classics)

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    The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

    Ford Madox Ford’s novel came out in 1915. You have to remember that when reading this story of poisoned marriages, infidelity and madness. Its narrator is so slippery and its attitude so cynical that the effect is almost shocking. Two couples meet at a spa in Germany where a respective spouse can be treated for their ailing heart. One couple is British, with Captain Edward Ashburnham resting his heart after overuse: the man is chronically unfaithful to his wife Leonora. The other couple is American, with the wife Florence pretending to have a weak heart so she can keep her husband John from “bothering” her in bed while she maintains an affair on the side. This isn’t Noel Coward territory: suicide and mental breakdowns are on tap, not to mention intimations of abuse and even the possibility that we’re being sold a bill of goods by the narrator. Truly no one is good here except, of course, for Ford.

    Normal People: A Novel

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    Normal People by Sally Rooney

    She’s the voice of a generation! She’s Ireland’s most popular export since U2! Or we could calm down and say that, three novels in, Sally Rooney is the real deal. Normal People became a hugely popular miniseries and turned Paul Mescal into a star, so thank you for that, Sally. But what a novel! It’s so engaging you almost don’t realize how ambitious it proves, tackling class and gender with insight and complexity. Connell is the star of his high school, almost embarrassed to be dating the shy Marianne. But she blossoms at university while Connell struggles to adapt to a wider world where he’s not automatically B.M.O.C. She’s rich, he’s working class and they are both smart enough to realize this tangled, confusing, ever-shifting relationship (friendship? love?) has to mean something. Doesn’t it?

    Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)

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    Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

    Some novels reveal their pleasures immediately. Others need careful attention, re-reading and perhaps a little life under the reader’s belt before they can be fully appreciated. Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece is different. Its pleasures are immediate and abundantly clear—the fantastical tale is hilarious, satirical, intellectually playful, clearly has a lot on its mind and is above all fun. Even a child knows this. Yet the more you read it and the more you think about it and what it says and means, the curiouser and curiouser it becomes. Novelist Joyce Carol Oates, for one, often cites it as a profound influence. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is hilarious and satirical and all that, but far more than you realized. If it’s been a while since you went down the rabbit hole, all we can say is don’t hesitate to DRINK ME and EAT ME and indeed READ ME.

    Olive Kitteridge

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    Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

    In real life, we want nothing to do with ornery, cranky, difficult people. Who needs the bother? But in movies and TV shows and books we positively delight in them. It’s fun to spend time with the rude, downright obnoxious character who says what everyone is secretly thinking. Writer Elizabeth Strout hit pay dirt with the prickly personality of Olive Kitteridge. Embodied to perfection by Frances McDormand in an HBO miniseries, Olive observes everyone around her with a gimlet eye…and then tells them precisely what she sees. Her saving grace is that Olive is just as hard on herself. You finish the book and immediately start to miss her. Strout must have felt the same way—she wrote an equally acclaimed sequel called Olive, Again about a decade later.

    The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (with bonus content): A Novel

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    The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

    In the year 2000, author Michael Chabon discovered his superpower. Prior to that, he seemed a mild-mannered writer. Chabon’s acclaimed debut novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was seen as semi-autobiographical, like many first novels. He struggled with the follow-up and then dropped it completely to do that most writerly of things—write a novel about a writer trying to write a novel (a college professor, no less!). Wonder Boys was a huge success and spawned a good movie, but still. One worried. Then Chabon was bitten by a radioactive bug or discovered a hidden passage in his library or was told about his true origins on another planet or something! Because out of nowhere he delivered The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a fictionalized reimagining of two nice Jewish boys who create a superhero comic book, a la Superman. It’s a rich period story punctuated by vivid retellings of the comic book plot, World War II, a gay romance, assimilation and so on. Even more amazing, Chabon hasn’t looked back. Since this landmark, he’s written children’s books, a sci-fi mystery set in an alternate timeline, a novella capturing Sherlock Holmes in his old age, a serialized novel about swashbuckling Jews around the turn of the last millennium and even a comic book bringing to life the comic book hero of Kavalier & Clay! Genre is his superpower and Chabon won’t ever forget it.

    An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club): A Novel

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    An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

    Writer Tayari Jones lays claim to Atlanta as her literary stomping ground, thanks to a string of acclaimed novels and her role as editor of the mystery/thriller collection Atlanta Noir. Bookseller Sarah Hollenbeck touts An American Marriage, the story of a newly married couple whose lives are torn apart when the husband is wrongfully convicted and sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. “It’s an intimate look deep into the hearts of people who are victims of our current mass incarceration crisis but must somehow face the future,” says Hollenbeck of Women & Children First bookstore in Chicago. “A profound and stirring book!” She’s not alone in loving it. Oprah made it a pick for her book club, President Barack Obama touted the title and it won the prestigious Women’s Prize For Fiction.

    The Chosen

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    The Chosen by Chaim Potok

    A father expects his son to enter the family business, but the son has other plans. You’ve heard this one before. But when that tension between expectation and desire is set in the world of Jewish boys growing up in Brooklyn during World War II, it becomes fresh and surprising. Reuven and Danny are friends, even though Reuven is part of the more worldly Modern Orthodox community while Danny is the son of a rabbi leading an ultra-orthodox Hasidic yeshiva. They’re all-American boys who bond over baseball. And both want to defy their parents. Reuven yearns to be a rabbi, but his father expects the boy to pursue higher education. Danny’s father assumes the boy will become a rabbi, but Danny wants to study psychology. Who gets to choose the life you lead? Your father? Yourself? And if the Jews are the Chosen, how could the Holocaust ever take place? A novel that grapples with faith and family, The Chosen will remain a perennial favorite as long as kids and parents clash.

    A Song Of Ice And Fire 7 Books Set By George R. R. Martin

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    A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

    How can we celebrate a fantasy series that’s not even done yet? Easy. All fantasy writers stand on the shoulders of J.R.R. Tolkien, as Martin himself readily acknowledges. But few do it with such flair and passion as he. Martin’s novels are brutal, cynical, and thrilling in their scope. In them, the smallest and kindest among us don’t pop up to save the day. More likely, they’re trampled underfoot. Major characters who die won’t be brought back to life. They’re just dead. Betrayal and honor carry a heavy price and it’s not clear which is higher. Watching leaders battle for control of Westeros while ignoring a looming (ecological?) disaster isn’t “timely.” It’s timeless. Fighting for power while sidestepping the issues that really matter is par for the course with the ruling class. Someday we’ll be able to read A Song Of Ice and Fire from start to finish. Those frustrating gaps where characters aren’t heard from for a thousand pages won’t matter. The gaps between books being published won’t matter either. All that will matter is the song. So take your time, Mr. Martin.

    Related: Watch This, Read That: What to Read Based on the Fall TV Shows You Love

    Selected Stories of Alice Munro, 1968-1994 (Vintage International)

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    Selected Stories by Alice Munro

    This is the name of the greatest hits set from 1996, gathering the best stories from Alice Munro’s first eight volumes. It’s been published under various titles, but don’t worry. You can grab any collection, like Vintage Munro (which is a  redundant title) or My Best Stories. Or you can buy her first book of stories Dance Of The Happy Shades or her most recent Dear Life. Really, just look for the name Alice Munro and read it. She’s the first Canadian and only the thirteenth woman in history to win the Nobel Prize. You’ll soon understand why.

    Roots: The Saga of an American Family

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    Roots by Alex Haley

    If you or someone in your family has taken a swab test to trace your roots, you can thank writer Alex Haley. A passion for genealogy and a desire to see if the oral history he’d heard over the years was based on truth sent Haley on a quest. It took him all the way to Africa and what is now known as The Gambia. Then it led him to a typewriter, where Haley took the facts as he best knew them and crafted a novel. That book told the story of Kunta Kinte, a 17 year old man cruelly kidnapped from his home and sold into slavery…and then it told the story of the next seven generations of Kinte’s family, moving from tragedy to triumph. They started filming the miniseries even before the novel was published; both were massive, unprecedented successes. Genealogy and our understanding of American history have never been the same.

    Anne of Green Gables (Children’s Signature Classics)

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    Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

    A plucky young orphan girl with spunk? Check! Ornery old people who turn out to be endearing? Check! Some “disasters” and setbacks that loom large for our heroine but prove surmountable? Check! A boy who is infuriating but proves to be rather handsome and kind once you get to know him? Check! Yes, this 1908 classic was not the first of its kind (hello, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm) and certainly inspired countless successors. But the red-haired Anne with an “e” is special. It inspired five sequels of increasing depth and sophistication, though writer Margaret Atwood insists this first novel is the best. And who are we to argue with Margaret Atwood? By the end of the series, Anne looks on as her children sleep, while the shadows of World War I loom large. You realize how much Anne and her world mean to you…and start to read them all over again.

    Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth (Pantheon Graphic Library)

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    Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid On Earth by Chris Ware

    When people who don’t love comics single out a comic (or graphic novel or what-have-you) worth reading, they often light on something that is the least comic book-y thing they can find. Hence the universal—and yet deserved—praise for Chris Ware’s atypical, beautiful comic Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid On Earth. Outlets that rarely get comic books can “get” this mournful story of a middle-aged man who has a troubled relationship with his dad. The stories are quiet, piercing and broken up by flashbacks to Jimmy Corrigan’s grandfather as a boy, when he had a troubled relationship with his dad. First, you’ll be enraptured by the sheer pleasure of looking at this work of art. Then, you’ll sink into the story and its quiet moments and before you know it, you’re under his spell.

    Speedboat: With an introduction by Hilton Als (W&N Essentials)

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    Speedboat by Renata Adler

    Renata Adler became infamous for reviewing a collection of movie criticism by Pauline Kael. Both were writers at the New Yorker but that didn’t stop Adler from decimating her colleague Kael’s work, tearing it down line by line, piece by piece. In her autobiographical-ish debut novel Speedboat, Adler did much the same for modern life in the 1970s. Moments flit by, fragmented scene follows fragmented scene and yet somehow it all coheres into the story of a journalist making her way through the world of New York City and politics and parties. “Reading it is like being in a snowstorm,” said one rave review in The New Yorker (not written by Kael, needless to say). Everyone from Elizabeth Hardwick to David Foster Wallace has championed it and Speedboat went from an out-of-print cult favorite to a modern classic.

    The Grapes of Wrath: 75th Anniversary Edition

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    The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

    This is an angry book. It’s a nice, safe classic now, enshrined on lists like this, turned into a great movie starring Henry Fonda, a great stage play and even an opera. But when it came out, The Grapes Of Wrath was a thunderbolt. It was banned all over the place and burned…even by librarians! People argued about it. Debates were held on the radio. John Steinbeck was called a socialist, a communist and he would have been called worse but there was nothing worse to be called than a communist. Yet it sold and sold and sold. The debate hasn’t stopped. It was banned in Ireland in the 1950s. It was banned in Turkey in the 1970s. Today, people still raise objections to it being required reading in high schools or even optional reading or even just sitting on the shelf in libraries where some impressionable child might find it. The story of the Joad family, fleeing the ravages of the Dust Bowl and the Depression, desperate for jobs, hounded everywhere they go when all they want is a decent wage for a decent day’s work? That’s as timeless as it gets. Steinbeck might prefer a better future where the book was long forgotten or just a relic of ancient history. But he certainly wouldn’t be surprised that it’s still blazingly relevant. And he’d still be angry.

    Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

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    Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

    No matter how unique, how unexpected, how new a novel seems, even its author can readily name the many novels that inspired it, paving the way for their “unprecedented” and original work. Still, the debut novel of Susanna Clarke certainly felt wonderfully fresh and new. Clarke might have mentioned Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees as one of many predecessors in tone and style. But we simply weren’t expecting a pitch-perfect evocation of the 19th-century novel a la Dickens and Austen, a comedy of manners and high drama which combines an alternate history, the Napoleonic Wars, the re-emergence of magic and most deliciously of all the knives-out ferocity that is academia into one bewitching tale. No one is more territorial than a scholar defending their minor backwater of knowledge and Clarke punctures such pomposity with footnotes to her novel that are howlingly funny in their pedanticism. This might have turned into a cult classic, one especially treasured by tenured professors. Instead, it became a rip-roaring bestseller to the delight of all.

    A Death in the Family (Penguin Classics)

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    A Death in the Family by James Agee

    A brilliant film critic, James Agee also penned two classic screenplays: The African Queen (along with director John Huston and two others) and The Night Of The Hunter (with an uncredited Charles Laughton also playing a role). A good collaborator, Agee worked with photographer Walker Evans on Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, a ground-breaking combination of words and images documenting the lives of impoverished tenant farmers. But his posthumous novel A Death In The Family is the riveting, anguished pinnacle of Agee’s life. People can’t leave it alone. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize after an editor pulled it together from an unfinished manuscript. Others turned it into a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, a film, a TV movie and an opera. Then a scholar took issue with the editing and oversaw a new edition of the novel closer to the form it was in when Agee died. In every form, the story of a little boy in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1915—the year his father dies in a car accident—is piercing, heartwarming, nostalgic and so very moving.

    Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West

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    Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

    Cormac McCarthy wrote easier books. The Road is his most popular work—a dystopian novel where the brutal struggle to survive is given purpose by showing a father determined to protect his young son. All The Pretty Horses is more lyrical and open-hearted, with a doomed romance at its core. Then there’s Blood Meridian, the anti-Western, a novel few praised when it first came out in 1985. In it, a semi-lawless band of men is sent off to scalp any violent Indians that cross their path along the U.S.-Mexican border. Soon they’re attacking peaceful Indians, sleepy Mexican villages, the Mexican army and pretty much anyone else unlucky enough to come in range. The violence is unremitting and you’ll decide it puts the lie to the romantic Westerns of your youth or you’ll decide this is how it really was back then so deal with it or you’ll decide violence is just the way of humanity, as one of the novel’s epigraphs suggests. Hard to shake, and maybe you shouldn’t try.

    Tipping the Velvet: A Novel

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    Tipping The Velvet by Sarah Waters

    Don’t get the impression that Sarah Waters peaked with her marvelous debut Tipping The Velvet. You’ll find her crime novel Fingersmith on our list of the 110 Best Thriller, Crime, Suspense Novels Of All Time. But since she began with Tipping The Velvet, you should too. Waters was writing her PhD on historical fiction, figured she’d have a go at it herself and wrote this gripping novel. Forget everything you imagine you know about the Victorian era because it’s probably wrong. Here you’ll discover Nan, a young woman working in the unromantic business of oysters. Her world is upended by Kitty, a “masher,” a woman who dresses as a man onstage. Crime, betrayal, life on the stage, sex work of unimagined variety and more take place in the late 1800s against the backdrop of the suffragette movement, socialism and the constant fear of being arrested for whom they love. It’s a proper melodrama and in a novel this well-written and historically grounded, that’s a compliment.

    Howards End (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)

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    Howards End by E.M. Forster

    A Room With A View is Forster’s wittiest and most romantic novel. Maurice, and its doomed gay love, is his most personal. (It was only published after the author died in 1970.) A Passage To India, and its take on Empire, is his most popular. But Forster is at his most focused and refined with Howards End. He diagnoses the ills of English society while gently satirizing those who saw “the poor” as their own personal pet project. It’s all-encompassing, shrewd and generous of spirit, with the titular home proving both a symbol and a burden, until it’s finally placed into the right hands.

    Related: 75 Quotes About Writing To Inspire Your Creativity

    Underworld: A Novel

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    Underworld by Don DeLillo

    Like Babe Ruth pointing to where he’d hit a home run before a pitch is thrown, writer Don DeLillo’s career clearly pointed to this: a sprawling yet focused, all-encompassing masterpiece. And just like the Babe, he delivered. The 98-page opening section is devoted to The Shot Heard ‘Round The World, a home run by Bobby Thomson that won the New York Giants the pennant and sent them to the World Series. That ball is caught by a young black fan while J. Edgar Hoover watches from the stands, being informed during the game that the Soviets have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. It’s all there—America, the Cold War, race, class, sports, sexuality, politics, joy, despair—and it’s done so perfectly that this chunk of the book would later be titled Pafko At The Wall and sold separately as a novella. The rest of the novel charts the life of a man obsessed with finding out what happened to that home run ball and acquiring it for himself. Oh, and charting the 20th century as well. So far, it’s DeLillo’s best novel, but he still has innings left to play.

    The God of Small Things: A Novel

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    The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

    The cruelty of caste. The dismissal of women. The pain of heartbreak. Family. Religion. All play a role in the meticulous, absorbing debut novel by Arundhati Roy that took the literary world by storm 25 years ago. Set in Kerala, India, and beginning in the 1960s, Roy’s story centers on women betrayed by love, bolstered by love and bent on love. To this day, so-called “Love Laws,” in both the cultural and legal sense, limit who can love who and how much in India, with gender, caste and faith all obstacles to be surmounted. What’s love got to do with it? Everything—and Roy demonstrates why in a novel as formally complex as it is generous of spirit.

    Ubik

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    Ubik by Philip K. Dick

    Sci-fi author Philip K. Dick is compared to Franz Kafka and Thomas Pynchon as much as to other science fiction writers. But where to begin with his confounding body of work? The books that inspired the film Blade Runner or the TV series The Man in The High Castle? Well, a body of voters in France and the very American magazine Time both agree his masterpiece is, in fact, Ubik—a nightmare of the future where everything is monetized. Bookseller Lisa Morton agrees. “Ubik starts with a hero named Joe Chip who is unable to leave his automated apartment because he doesn’t have money to pay his door,” says Morton of Iliad Bookshop in North Hollywood, California. “From there, it takes off on a mind-bending story of time and evolution moving backwards, with all roads seeming to lead to death and dissolution. That mad genius Philip K. Dick was once shocked when told that French critics had chosen Ubik as one of the five best novels ever written. He thought surely the list must be the five best science fiction novels, but no—it was simply the five best novels in all of literature. After reading this funny, horrific, tragic and surprising book, you might agree with the French.”

    The Golden Notebook: A Novel (Perennial Classics)

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    The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

    Were you wowed by Cloud Atlas, the David Mitchell novel that toyed with structure so cleverly it turned his genre-hopping book into a literary Matryoshka, a Russian nesting doll? Did the way Ian McEwan ended Atonement—changing everything that came before—blow your mind? Well, open The Golden Notebook. Doris Lessing’s masterpiece is often hailed for its clever-clever narrative, which goes back and forth between the four notebooks that document the life of writer Anna Wulf. Others emphasize its importance as a feminist classic. Lessing herself put the focus on the titanic issues the novel engaged with, from Stalinism to colonialism to the sexual revolution and the women’s liberation movement. The fact that she dazzled while doing so, thought Lessing, was not the point. She’s right, but dazzle it does.

    A Brief History of Seven Killings: A Novel

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    A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

    Artist Bob Marley looms large over popular music and the history of Jamaica. His greatest hits set, Legend, is one of the best-selling albums of all time. His influence is incalculable. And writer Marlon James captures both Marley—referred to only as The Singer—and decades of Jamaican history in his third novel. It leaps from an attempted assassination of Marley in 1976 to the ravages of crack in the U.S. and back to Jamaica in the 1990s. James is so masterful as he captures a remarkable range of characters and time periods that he became the first Jamaican writer to win the prestigious Booker Prize for best novel. After capturing such a broad sweep of history, the only way for James to top himself was to create an entire world. He is doing just that with a fantasy trilogy based on African myths and history. It began with Black Leopard, Red Wolf, continued with the just-out Moon Witch, Spider King and will be complete with White Wing, Dark Star.

    Life After Life: A Novel

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    Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

    Oh for a chance to try again! Who hasn’t said, “If I knew then what I know now!” and meant it? It’s a tempting desire and that’s why movies like Groundhog Day are so powerful. Writer Kate Atkinson tackles this premise with relish in Life After Life. Our heroine Ursula (or should that be “heroines?”) is conceived…and then dies in the womb, strangled by an umbilical cord. Fade to black. She is conceived again, avoids the danger and is born…only to die another way. Fade to black! Again and again, Ursula is born and makes her way through life. She dies repeatedly during the Spanish Flu and tries again, dimly aware as her lives repeat that she’s done this before and learning just enough to improve her chances. Facing down a rapist, surviving the Blitz during World War II, choosing to fall in love and spending WWII in Berlin with her German husband, again and again Ursula lives out her lives with an ever-expanding sense of the possibilities we all have at our command. It’s playful, serious, mind-blowing and oh, for a chance to try again. At least, we can read it again.

    The Adventures of Captain Underpants: Color Edition

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    The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

    When a parent is desperate to see their kids embrace reading, any book they will actually read, indeed demand to read as soon as the latest one comes out, is immediately one of the greatest books of all time. And that’s why the silly, punny, juvenile humor of the Captain Underpants series is here. Two boys turn their school principal into a superhero? Professor Poopypants? Bionic Boogie Boy? Relax! As long as they’re giggling and reading, it’s good. Bookseller Kathy Doyle Thomas of Half Price Books (headquartered in Dallas, Texas), knows that well. “My dyslexic son was obsessed with Captain Underpants and his crazy adventures,” says Doyle Thomas. “He was not a strong reader, but could easily read and comprehend the books and relate to the character. Most importantly, he felt good about himself!”

    The Great Gatsby: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    If you want to become an indelible part of American culture, it’s always smart to write a short, easy-to-read novel that can be taught in high school English classes. For generations past, those novels included A Separate Peace by John Knowles, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. They’re part of a shared memory for older generations, the way the Harry Potter books and Star Wars films are for people today. Each followed a different path to success. A Separate Peace began as a short story appearing in Cosmopolitan and was a solid success when published as a novel. To Kill A Mockingbird proved a runaway bestseller and scored the Pulitzer Prize. The Great Gatsby languished with modest sales in 1925; Fitzgerald died fifteen years later believing it was a flop. But when World War II came along, G.I.s were given a paperback copy and its popularity soared. Today, few books embody and question the American Dream quite like this novel about Nick Carraway caught up in the frenzied world of new money living it up in Long Island. Not only do some lives have a second act, so do some books. Especially the great ones.

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Ravenclaw Edition; Black and Blue

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    Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

    Sure, it’s just a modern updating of Tom Brown’s School Days with a dollop of fantasy. But the magic isn’t just in the spells and potions. It’s found in J.K. Rowling’s remarkable gift for naming (Dumbledore, Hagrid, Ravenclaw), plotting and humor. From the butterbeer on tap to Harry the Boy Who Lived (but did so in a cramped space underneath the stairs of his mean aunt and uncle), the invention never flags. Rowling’s expansive vision grew and grew along with the books in this seven-volume series. An entire generation simply had to read them. People lined up at midnight all over the world when a new one came out. The movies and games and plays and merchandise still stand in their shadow. And it all began with this debut, which is nigh on perfect and magical in every way that matters.

    One Hundred Years of Solitude (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)

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    One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

    What do you do as a critic when a major writer like Gabriel García Márquez delivers a novel so brilliant it can’t be denied? Normally, you just shout about it from the rooftops. But when that novel combines the fantastical with the ordinary, when it draws upon the magical in a way that is uncomfortably akin to the despised genre of fantasy, you’re in trouble, since fantasy can’t be taken seriously by literary critics. The answer is simple. You cast a spell and instead of calling it “fantasy,” you call it “magical realism” and everyone is happy. The novel can be praised, a new fancy phrase has been invented (and will be applied to almost any writer from Latin America, whether it fits or not) and a sprawling, sexy, bewildering tale that spans generations and is set in part in a fictional town called Macondo and includes people tied to trees for years on end and more incest than you would expect becomes one of the most acclaimed and best-selling books of all time. And realistically, that’s pretty magical.

    White Teeth (Vintage International)

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    White Teeth by Zadie Smith

    It’s not fair, but we’re still happily waiting for writer Zadie Smith to fulfill the promise of her debut novel White Teeth. This sprawling story covers 25 years and the lives of everyone from a devout Jehovah’s Witness from Jamaica to a white Englishman dumped by his Italian wife to a Bengali Muslim from Bangladesh who is endlessly distracted from his faith by a fondness for beer, masturbation and his children’s music teacher. As Edward R. Murrow famously intoned during his war reporting: this…is London. Critics and readers agreed wholeheartedly as White Teeth won awards, hit the bestseller list and became a miniseries and a play. Smith hasn’t stopped: she overcame the sophomore slump with her excellent third novel On Beauty and continues steadily on with five novels in all, two short story collections, a play, teaching and the occasional foray into the role of public intellectual. That’s exactly how you fulfill the promise of a brilliant debut. You do the long, steady work of writing and publishing and then writing again. As Smith keeps this up, in another 30 years with another clutch of great books to her credit, we’ll gladly say her promise is fulfilled. Until then, we greedily demand more.

    Les Miserables (Signet Classics)

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    Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

    Some novels are so big, so important, so monumental, they can’t be ignored. Such is Les Misérables, just one of the great novels by Victor Hugo, an author so popular in France that when he died more than two million people—two million!—took part in the funeral procession. The story is familiar to you, the story of a man who stole a loaf of bread to feed a child and paid a terrible price. No, it’s not enough to see the musical or watch a film or TV adaptation. It’s time to read the book, all of it. When you’re done, you’ll want to make the world a better place.

    All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel

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    All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

    Sometimes you just want a good story. Oh yes, Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize winner is beautifully written and grapples with all sorts of themes—how could any book set in part during World War II that’s worth its salt fail to do so? But let the scholars parse its greatness. You’ll simply be caught up in the tale of Marie-Laure, a little blind girl who grows up in Paris and then flees the war to reside in Saint-Malo. Her father builds his daughter a model city of their new town so she can learn her way around. Then he disappears. Marie-Laure’s story is interwoven with the story of a little German boy named Werner who is handy with electronics. If you expect their paths to cross during the war, well, you won’t be disappointed. But first, you’ll learn about the cursed diamond known as the Sea Of Flames, an old man still haunted by World War I, a maid who takes part in the Resistance and so much more. A treat.

    A Wrinkle in Time: 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, 1)

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    A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

    What’s not to love? You’ve got a missing father and a trio of kids determined to find him, led by 13-year-old Meg Murry. You’ve got mysterious neighbors known as Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which. They task Meg, her super-smart little brother Charles and their friend Calvin to save her father…and the world! You’ve got the ability to travel through time and space, centaurs, strange new planets and creatures, new friends and dangerous enemies and a race against time as Earth is slowly engulfed by an evil known as The Black Thing. Kids and adults have loved this novel (and its sequels) ever since, celebrating a story where a girl is the hero of a sci-fi/fantasy and Love is more powerful than Hate.

    The Savage Detectives: A Novel

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    The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño

    If you’re Latin or simply read a lot of Latin American literature, you might roll your eyes at The Savage Detectives being on this list. There are other authors, other books from Latin America since Gabriel García Márquez, you would say. Yes, yes, but if the died-too-young Bolaño’s novel (or his equally acclaimed 2666) is always the book, the author people tout to show they’re aware of the vast body of fiction found in Latin America, well, that’s not so bad. The Savage Detectives is bohemian, rebellious and bold in structure. It covers decades of history and the romantic—if tiresome—travels of poets proudly dubbing themselves the Visceral Realists. Think On The Road, for starters. Plus, Bolaño name-checks so many other authors and works that any reader enamored of it will surely start tracking down some of those other books. Sure, many of them are imaginary, but it’s a start.

    Bastard Out of Carolina: A Novel

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    Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

    A novel can mean everything to a reader. But sometimes we forget that a novel can mean everything to its author as well. Writer Dorothy Allison put everything into her semi-autobiographical debut. It’s about a child repeatedly beaten and assaulted by a stepfather, while the mother tries and fails again and again to leave him behind. Allison poured in the details of her own childhood, the family she was estranged from for years, the poetry and short stories she was publishing, the sense of empowerment she felt from the feminist movement, her own awakening sexuality and more. The awards, the best-seller lists, the movie, the chance to keep writing and make a living as an author was all great, of course. But the mere fact of its existence, of being published in the first place and achieving what she set out to do, that surely meant everything to Allison. And readers responded.

    Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (Hornblower Saga (Paperback))

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    The Horatio Hornblower Series by C.S. Forester

    Everyone should read the Aubrey-Maturin nautical novels of Patrick O’Brian. But before you read them, you’re well advised to dive into the Horatio Hornblower books by C.S. Forester. O’Brian just assumes you know as much about the Napoleonic era and seafaring as he did. Forester takes the reader by the hand, letting them learn the difference between a mainsail and a halyard right alongside our hero. By the end, you’ll feel immersed in the era and ready to take command of your own ship. Bookseller Ed Justus of Talk Story Bookstore in Hanapepe, Hawaii, agrees. “Reading these as an adult, any of the Hornblower books are completely engaging,” says Justus. “Forester’s writing style flows seamlessly, making action and interpersonal character development equally as interesting. I could smell the salt air, feel the movement of the ship, and the adrenaline at the sight of an approaching vessel. Really timeless stuff burned into my memory.”

    Charming Billy: A Novel (Picador Modern Classics)

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    Charming Billy by Alice McDermott

    You’ll never catch Alice McDermott “writing.” Like her quiet, unassuming characters (people so “typical” that one extraordinary novel about an ordinary life is simply titled Someone), McDermott’s prose never calls attention to itself. Whether charting the course of young love (That Night); much of the 20th Century (The Ninth Hour); or simply the burial of a funny, loyal, complex and incurable drunk (Charming Billy); McDermott defty and invisibly brings to life a person, a community (Irish-American) and a world. She’s about due for another novel soon and we guarantee it will quietly, modestly capture your heart. Now that’s writing.

    All Creatures Great and Small

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    All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

    This really is a novel, though fans of the books (and the TV shows based upon them) do insist on assuming they’re memoirs. What higher compliment could you pay an author than to insist it’s all true? In fact, James Alfred Wight aka James Herriot did base his stories on real-life experiences as a vet in Yorkshire. And he really did have two memorable brothers for partners—one of them terribly eccentric and the other a charming ladies’ man. (You can guess which one enjoyed the books more.) But the town of Darrowby where the stories are set is made up. Many of the characters are made up. And perhaps only the animals and their ailments are based on fact. But the stories are so vivid and funny and charming that it’s better than true. Funnily enough, it took an American publisher to take the books seriously, which sold very modestly at first in the UK. The American repackaged them with grown-up art (not some silly cartoonish images that dogged the UK version), renamed them and turned the books into bestsellers. To date, they’ve sold at least 60 million copies worldwide, turned some young people into veterinarians and made many, many folk glad they’re never called out for a calving on a cold winter’s night.

    The Tale of Genji: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    The Tale Of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

    Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur is the definitive tale of Camelot and probably the first novel written in English. But 400 years earlier(!) in Japan, a lady-in-waiting at the court of the Emperor beat him to it with The Tale Of Genji. (Yes, an even earlier novel might be Kādambari which was published 400 years before that, but our Sanskrit is weak so we can’t speak to it.) Not to worry. Like Don Quixote (the first novel written in Spanish) and Le Morte d’Arthur, Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji isn’t just a historical curiosity or the answer to a trivia question. It’s an enthralling tale of the impossibly handsome Genji, the bastard son of the Emperor who is forever falling in and out of love when not dealing with court intrigue, domestic life and more affairs than any one man should have time for. Hey, if you’re driven to write the first novel, you must have a corker to tell and Murasaki sure did.

    The Code of the Woosters

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    The Code Of The Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

    The Brits have a gift for comic novels. Maybe primping and preening as it oversees an Empire On Which The Sun Never Set makes a nation ripe for mockery? Whatever the reason, the British love and appreciate humor, turning out witty authors by the lorry-load. For sheer silliness, none match P.G. Wodehouse. His tales of the unflappable valet Jeeves and the dim-witted but genial blueblood Wooster are especially silly. Give Wodehouse a stately home, an awkward engagement, a fulminating Lord or Earl or some such titled fool, interfering friends, a fancy dress party, incompetent or indifferent servants and by gosh he’s off to the races. (Probably Ascot.) The Code Of The Woosters is a prime example, with Wodehouse mocking British fascists and the local constabulary for good measure. Reading Wodehouse makes life worth living.

    The Children of Men

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    The Children Of Men by P.D. James

    Baroness P.D. James is rightly remembered for her marvelously intelligent and thoughtful mysteries starring Adam Dalgleish, a police commander and poet. Any fan of mysteries should dive in. But the fourteen books she wrote about him have a cumulative power. If you’re only ready to read one book by her, we recommend the atypical dystopian novel The Children Of Men from 1991. Set in the near future, it takes place after a mass infertility event and begins with a killer opening line stating that the last person ever born has just died in a pub brawl. Things get much more complicated. James grapples with existential questions about the meaning of life and how people might react when the future becomes meaningless. But she does it with a sci-fi thriller about conspiracies and lies and the need to make some sense of the struggle to survive, rather than just doing it. And when you don’t have the knee-jerk excuse of doing it for the kids, for the next generation, well what do you have?

    The Catcher in the Rye

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    The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

    The cool people claim to prefer J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories or Franny and Zooey, but they’re just being phonies. Salinger’s classic novel about a rebellious teenager may be the obvious choice, but it’s also the right choice. Just ask any kid who’s read it for the first time. “There have been a couple fiction books which made a strong impact on my life,” says bookseller Ed Justus of Talk Story Bookstore in Hanapepe, Hawaii. “As a teen, it was The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. The writing style told through the eyes of the main character broke through all the established ‘rules’ of traditional storytelling we had been taught in school. It caused me to realize just how flexible fiction and writing could be.”

    The Women of Brewster Place: A Novel in Seven Stories (Penguin Contemporary American Fiction Series)

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    The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor

    Has it been 40 years already? It seems like this marvelous book came out yesterday, with its stories that tell the lives of seven women dealing with the struggles and setbacks (and men) that dominate their existence in an inner city sanctuary known as Brewster Place. At the same time, it seems like this book has always been there, with its vivid characters popping in and out of each other’s lives, each one with a story to tell. It’s a modern Canterbury Tales, except no one is going anywhere—just staying in place is triumph enough.

    [We Others: New and Selected Stories] (By: Steven Millhauser) [published: September, 2012]

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    We Others: New & Selected Stories by Steven Millhauser

    It’s tempting to recommend Steven Millhauser’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Martin Dressler. That’s a marvelous skewering and celebration of the American Dream, told through the fantastical story of a turn of the century businessman who concocts department stores of such elaborate design they become wonderlands of impossible complexity, all described in riveting prose. Think Ray Bradbury crossed with Jorge Luis Borges. But his 2011 collection of new and selected stories is dazzling and perhaps easier for beginners than the rabbit hole that is Martin Dressler. Many of Millhauser’s stories slip into the fantastical, the way Little Nemo of comic strip fame tumbles out of bed into a bewildering dreamscape: you feel yourself slipping, almost imperceptibly, and then—boom!—you’re on the floor in a daze, waking up from a reverie that seemed so very, very real. In the stories of Millhauser, the mundane becomes magical and the magical becomes, not mundane, but possible, just possible, somewhere just around the corner perhaps or down the street, especially late at night if you go for a stroll and don’t quite pay attention to where you’re headed.

    Flight Behavior: A Novel

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    Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

    Writers are tackling the climate crisis in countless ways. Science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson dives into violent, earth-shaking possibilities with The Ministry For The Future. Richard Powers puts trees at the heart of The Overstory. Author Barbara Kingsolver focuses on a poor woman in Appalachia about to start an affair when she stumbles upon an amazing, upsetting discovery. Bookseller Sharon Anderson Wright of Half Price Books in Dallas, Texas, loves Flight Behavior. “It’s about the migration of a million monarch butterflies diverted from their flight path,” says Anderson Wright, “as well as deforestation, global climate change, and the rebirth of a woman trapped in an unsatisfying life. I found the story of how they are able to adapt and find new ways to survive fascinating.”

    A Boy’s Own Story: A Novel

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    A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White

    Many gay novels came before this one, like Gore Vidal’s The City and the Pillar and William Maxwell’s The Folded Leaf. Long before them, Homer’s The Iliad was about how unwise it is to taunt a warrior like Achilles by killing his very good “friend” Patroclus. Nonetheless, in 1982 it was still bold and a little shocking to deliver an autobiographical novel like A Boy’s Own Story. White manages to be both romantic and dispassionate in describing his thinly veiled coming of age and coming out. It forms the first part of a trilogy, though White continues to mine his life to this day in novels and memoirs. His biography of Jean Genet may be White’s masterpiece, but for influence and beauty, few can match this one.

    Mason & Dixon: A Novel

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    Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon

    If we were going to play it safe, we’d choose Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying Of Lot 49 or Gravity’s Rainbow to be on this list. They’re the twin pillars on which his reputation rests. We could get wacky and choose the crime novel Inherent Vice (indeed, we did choose it for our list of the Best Thrillers of All Time). But the historical novel Mason & Dixon has an unrestrained joy about it we can’t resist. It’s 1786 and the Rev. Wicks Cherrycoke is a shaky man of the cloth but an excellent storyteller. He keeps a clutch of little kids enthralled with nightly tales about the surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. If surveying doesn’t sound like the stuff of bedtime stories, be sure the Rev. will toss in fart jokes and unlikely escapades whenever attention flags. A yarn, and how Pynchon loves to unravel it.

    The Overstory: A Novel

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    The Overstory by Richard Powers

    When trees are a central character in a novel, either you’re in or you’re out. For many readers of this Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of eco-fiction, they are in. Powers is no stranger to unexpected topics. His novels tackle genetics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, astrobiology and avant-garde music, among other topics. But it’s awe for the majesty of nature and trees in particular that powers The Overstory. Nine characters each discover an appreciation for trees so profound they come together to protect forests, not as a natural resource but as a good worth saving. Trees tolerate us. Trees outlive us. And trees might well outlive humanity, if we’re not careful. Powers speaks for the trees and if writing a book means cutting some down to print it, well, that’s just one more problem to be solved while we still can.

    Related: For Your Fall TBR List, 30 New Books We’re Reading This Autumn Season

    The Left Hand of Darkness: 50th Anniversary Edition (Ace Science Fiction)

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    The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

    We’re still catching up with the vision of writer Ursula K. Le Guin. At least we can pat ourselves on the back in recent years for realizing how much catching up we had to do. By the time of her death in 2018, Le Guin had been showered with accolades and affection and enough reappraisals to last ten lifetimes. Her Earthsea fantasies center a person of color as their hero. Her Orsinia novels are historical fiction about an imaginary country, giving Guy Gavriel Kay, among others, an entire career. Poetry, essays and so much more challenge and provoke. And her key series of the Hainish—novels and stories set on the planet of Hain—do all that and more. Then there’s The Left Hand Of Darkness from 1969. It tackles gender, androgyny and other issues few were even considering at the time and does it in a novel so compelling it was an immediate sensation. Darkness is the most mind-expanding First Contact novel of them all, thanks to ambisexual aliens who raise their children communally and are simply “beyond” gender. To call it feminist science fiction would immediately limit its scope. But it was and is and will always be feminist, science fiction and immediate.

    My Name Is Red (Vintage International)

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    My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk

    Take Umberto Eco’s The Name Of The Rose and add a dash of Jorge Luis Borges. Tell about the murder of an artist living during the Ottoman Empire. Immediately upend expectations by having the author interrupt the proceedings and make clear these are all just characters in a story. Then make it gripping, playful, fascinating and fun and you’ll start to appreciate the triumph that is My Name Is Red. Orhan Pamuk is the first Turkish writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize and it’s easy to understand why. He’s not just brave in literary matters. The author faces down lawsuits and death threats for defending freedom of speech and condemning Turkey’s genocide of Armenians. In My Name Is Red, the artists are miniaturists, specialists in tiny, precise artworks. Not Pamuk—he works on a large canvas.

    Harriet the Spy

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    Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

    For such a beloved kids book, Harriet the Spy has a lot of sharp elbows. It tells the story of a very observant child who pays attention to everyone around her and writes down what she thinks about them in her notebook. Then she loses the notebook. Then her friends find the notebook, read it and get very, very annoyed. Our heroine falls into a depression and becomes isolated from all her pals just for yearning to be a writer! But the moral is not that Harriet was wrong to write such thoughts; it was wrong of everyone else to read them. Duh! If you read someone else’s diary, you’re bound to be hurt. Generations of mystery lovers, novelists and even real-life C.I.A. agents credit Harriet the Spy as their gateway drug.

    Fight Club: A Novel

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    Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

    You don’t talk about fight club, but you do talk about Fight Club. Like many great books, it’s open to multiple interpretations. Is this story about a lonely man who bonds with other men via a “fight club” and is ultimately driven to reject cookie-cutter consumerism? Is it making fun of toxic masculinity? Is the movie starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton faithful to the novel? Or was the infamous, re-edited version imposed on it in China actually, weirdly more faithful to the book? Do you have to read the comic book sequels to “get it?” Rarely has a man wrestling with his own demons been dealt with so literally. Hallucinatory, incendiary and you’ll probably lose sleep over it simply because you’ll want to finish Fight Club in one go. Just…accept the insomnia, alright?

    The Magic Mountain (Everyman’s Library)

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    The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

    War changes everything. Mann’s comic novel about people with tuberculosis seeking a cure at a spa in Davos, Switzerland was a work in progress when World War I butted in. Suddenly, Mann wasn’t in the mood to joke around, or at least not without purpose. He reimagined The Magic Mountain, kept writing and the book deepened and grew into a sly takedown of modern society, all of it shadowed by war. It’s daunting, hard to pin down, sad and funny, and if you’re not quite sure what to make of it, you can always follow Mann’s advice: read it twice. It’s so good, you won’t mind.

    The Color Purple: A Novel

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    The Color Purple by Alice Walker

    It’s been a novel and then a movie and then a stage musical and then a radio play and soon a movie musical. But really it’s just a series of letters to God. For a book filled with so much pain and violence, Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winner is universally beloved. Just ask bookseller Lynette Yates of Half Price Books in Dallas. “The Color Purple grabs you from the first page and takes you on a rollercoaster ride covering so many issues and evoking so many emotions,” says Yates. “A real page-turner!” We believe it’s the forgiveness the novel embraces and embodies despite the pain and violence that keeps it so popular.

    Infinite Jest

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    Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

    The greatest tennis novel of all time! OK, that’s a modest claim, though there are other notable novels that encompass the sport of tennis. (Try Trophy Son by Douglas Brunt or one of Agatha Christie’s personal favorites of her mysteries, Towards Zero.) Mind you, this 1000+ page behemoth is much more than a tennis novel. It’s hilariously post-modern (even its footnotes have footnotes), sprawling (obviously), sad, controversial, erudite, show-offy (which is another word for “erudite”) and a mountain worth climbing.

    The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: A Novel

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    The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

    Teachers change lives. How often have we heard stories about the right teacher at the right time having a profound impact on a student? The novel How Green Was My Valley. The movie Dead Poets Society. The play The Corn Is Green. Then there’s Muriel Spark’s masterpiece The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie. All the elements are in place: an inspiring teacher in 1930s Edinburgh, a group of girls singled out for promise and the reward of academic success. But what’s this? On the wall, the teacher puts up admiring images of the fascist Mussolini. And what’s that? Miss Brodie dallying with not one but two male teachers? And Miss Brodie manipulating one of the girls to perhaps dally herself with the more handsome but married of the two men? That’s a lesson in life Mr. Chips never considered. In devastating fashion, Sparks shows the danger of idolizing anyone and that the best thing a student should learn is to think for themself.

    Atonement: A Novel

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    Atonement by Ian McEwan

    Oh, fatal misunderstanding! How much art would go differently if only people would speak clearly or explain themselves or just not jump to conclusions? Wuthering Heights. Bridget Jones’s Diary. Romeo & Juliet. Misunderstanding the situation can be the death of love, literally. So it is in Atonement, where a young girl fatally misunderstands a scene she witnesses and feels compelled to make an awful accusation, ruining the lives of those around her. Can she make it up to them, even if only in her imagination? Ian McEwan’s novels are filled with such misunderstandings. But perhaps none is so dramatic as the one in Atonement. It powers this story through the start of World War II, Dunkirk and then a final bittersweet revelation that should feel a cheat, but somehow doesn’t. Sometimes a sad ending is the right ending, no matter how much we long for things to turn out better.

    Zorba the Greek

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    Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis

    Are you going to sit there with your dusty books and read about life? Or are you going to live your life? Eat, drink, dance, make love, live! That’s the philosophy of Zorba the Greek, the character who brushes aside those silly books to wake up a young intellectual who experiences the world only through the words of others. Not after Zorba is done with him! That’s the action in this exuberant 1946 novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, a huge bestseller made even more famous by the classic film version that gave star Anthony Quinn one of his best roles. It promises a zest for life. But, of course, you’re reading about this zest for life. You’re being inspired by a book that encourages a zest for life, which it insists can’t be found in books. Ironic? Hmm. Maybe reading books isn’t so bad after all.

    Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel

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    Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

    Writer Jesmyn Ward is the only woman to win the National Book Award twice. She’s also the only African American to win the National Book Award twice. Her novel Sing, Unburied, Sing has been compared to Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, Toni Morrison’s Beloved and George Saunders’ Lincoln In The Bardo. All three of those writers are on this list too, though Faulkner is here with The Sound and the Fury. Everyone from the New York Times to the BBC to former President Barack Obama named it one of the best books of the year. The all-things-bookish website Literary Hub named this 2011 novel one of the best books of the decade. And now it’s on our list of one of the best books of all time. It tells the story of a road trip. Thirteen-year-old Jojo struggles with the demands of being a young man while caring for his little sister Kayla, wary of his mother Leonie and uncertain of the father who’s just been released from prison. If that isn’t enough, he must also help the ghost of Richie, a 12-year-old boy who can’t quite accept the fact that he’s died. It’s tough and true and—as you might expect—the prose sings.

    True Grit: A Novel

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    True Grit by Charles Portis

    This stone-cold classic could stand in for all the great Westerns. They just aren’t usually narrated by a 14-year-old girl so distinctive in nature that you’ll never forget her. It’s so popular they made two films based on the novel, but neither can hold a candle to it. Writer Jasper Fforde insists it belongs on any list of great novels. “Mattie does not seek blood redress, she seeks justice—to see Chaney ‘hanged at Judge Parker’s convenience’ back home at Little Rock,” says Fforde, author most recently of The Constant Rabbit. “A revenge story, a manhunt, a thriller, a story of trust, love, bravery, duty and tenacity—True Grit has it all.”

    The World According to Garp: A Novel

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    The World According To Garp by John Irving

    We stand in awe of John Irving’s fourth novel and breakthrough, The World According To Garp. In 1978, it seemed willfully odd and “out there.” An NFL quarterback who has a sex change and now goes by Roberta? A woman who wants a child but not a husband? A son who struggles to write fiction…and then watches as his strong-willed mother simply sits down, writes an autobiography she calls A Sexual Suspect, and immediately becomes a world-famous feminist icon? Radicals who cut out their tongues to protest brutal male violence? What is this madness? Well, it’s beautiful and scary and strange and above all human, somehow. In 1982, it was turned into a wonderful, perfectly edited film that captured the idiosyncratic appeal of John Irving’s worldview and proved Robin Williams was more than a funny man. Irving soon proved he was more than an offbeat eccentric with The Cider House Rules and A Prayer For Owen Meany, but his career proper began right here.

    The Complete Stories (FSG Classics)

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    The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor

    It’s never too late. Flannery O’Connor’s second short story collection came out just five months after she died. And she won the National Book Award for The Complete Stories eight years later. As a devout Catholic, O’Connor surely would have appreciated this posthumous success: for her, death was only the beginning. Her father died of lupus when O’Connor was just 15 years old. The same illness would plague her for the last twelve years of her life. It was also the period when she wrote some of the most famous short stories of her day, stories that ensured her fame. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find.” “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” “You Can’t Be Any Poorer Than Dead.” Critics saw them as bleak, gothic and grotesque. O’Connor saw them as honest and true by tackling race, faith and the daily struggle to get by in a violent, unfair world. Write about what you know? That she did.

    Ministry for the Future

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    The Ministry For the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

    Writer Kim Stanley Robinson’s entire career led to his most recent, most remarkable novel. In book after book, Robinson tackles the challenge of the climate crisis and how humanity might survive it. The Three Californias trilogy shows its impact on that state. Red Mars kicks off the Mars trilogy, a look at the practical challenges of terraforming the Red Planet and how we are likely to bring our problems with us. The Science In The Capitol books show a ravaged D.C, New York 2140 a Venice-like Big Apple and on and on. Race may be the defining issue for America. But the climate crisis is the defining issue for the planet and Robinson tackles it admirably. With The Ministry For the Future, he swings for the fences. Robinson offers a near-future look at what is going to happen next and what might happen after that. It’s scary and shocking and so believable, it gets scarier still. But as bad as it gets, there’s hope. Oh it won’t be easy, Robinson says, but maybe just maybe we can get through this. He offers this ray of light in a novel so expansive and wide-ranging that only Moby-Dick comes to mind for sheer, all-encompassing vision. Maybe it’s a warning. Maybe it’s a how-to book. But it’s definitely great.

    To The Lighthouse

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    To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

    You can’t go wrong with Virginia Woolf, one of the giants of literature. We figure movie buffs already know about her novel Orlando: A Biography thanks to the brilliant film version starring Tilda Swinton. And this list includes Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, which was inspired by Mrs. Dalloway and should send readers scurrying to that masterpiece as well. So we’ll include To the Lighthouse. Woolf is a “modernist,” and her stream-of-consciousness style was strange and new to readers of the 1920s. But we’re used to it now, so the impressionistic chatter of Mrs. Dalloway and the gender fluidity of Orlando and the flitting from character to character in To the Lighthouse shouldn’t put you off. In this novel, the Ramsay family is vacationing on the Isle of Skye and plans to visit a lighthouse on a nearby island the next day. Or will they? Ten years later, they try and finally make that jaunt to the lighthouse actually happen. Amidst this simple action, the complex give and take of a married couple, the lines of tension in a family, the tangled friendships and neighbors that muddy it all up (not to mention life, war, the passage of time and so on) are captured in a rush of emotions and memories and brief moments. It’s all illuminated by Woolf the way—wait for it—the shining beam of a lighthouse pierces the fog and lights the way home. Someone in the novel insists women can’t be serious painters or writers. Woolf must have had a good laugh over that.

    The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel

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    The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

    A cat is missing. That’s the event kicking off writer Haruki Murakami’s mid-career masterpiece. When a writer dips into science fiction, crime novels and magical realism, not to mention nonfiction works about being a marathon runner and talking with survivors of a terrorist attack, you expect a missing cat to be just the beginning. And it is. The novel soon contains psychics, a missing wife, horror stories from World War II and much more. Murakami cranks up the story and then lets it fly, with reality always a teasingly subjective matter. His spin on 1984 titled IQ84 might be an easier way in for some. But whether you tackle his novels or short stories or nonfiction, this perennial favorite for the Nobel Prize will happily confound you.

    Related: ‘Sweet Magnolias’ Books in Order: How To Read The Whole Series That Inspired The Hit Netflix Show

    Bel Canto (Harper Perennial Deluxe Editions)

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    Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

    Singers discover new facets of their voice as they mature. Age or a new vocal coach or simply nerve open up all sorts of possibilities. Sopranos become mezzo-sopranos. Baritones evolve into tenors. The Bee Gees discover falsetto. You get the idea. Writers do the same thing. Author Ann Patchett pushed herself and found a new voice with her fourth novel Bel Canto. Inspired by a real-life terrorist act, she imagined the story of a Japanese business executive being wooed by a South American country. He’s the guest of honor at a party, an American opera singer is brought in for entertainment and it’s crashed by a terrorist group hoping to kidnap the head of the country. The result is a stand-off, with tense negotiations breaking up long dull periods of waiting, not to mention love. A translator falls for a terrorist. The businessman falls in love with the singer, though neither speaks the other’s language. And Patchett takes her writing to a whole new level of sophistication and control, winning critical acclaim and a wider audience than ever. Brava!

    The Hours: A Novel (Picador Modern Classics Book 1)

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    The Hours by Michael Cunningham

    Moby-Dick. Jane Eyre. Great Expectations. Everything ever by Shakespeare. The list of classic works of art that inspire other classic works of art is so long and respectful that no one should blink an eye when an author says they’re writing a prequel or sequel or spin-off to a masterpiece. And yet, it took a serious amount of chutzpah for writer Michael Cunningham to not only write a novel inspired by the classic Mrs. Dalloway, but to include Virginia Woolf herself as one of the main characters. His nerve paid off. The Hours depicts one day in the life of three women separated by decades: Woolf herself, working on Mrs. Dalloway in 1923 while fighting off the black dog of depression; Mrs. Brown, planning a birthday party for her World War II veteran husband in 1949; and Clarissa, the former lover of a male poet dying of AIDS who is throwing a party with her female partner in 1999 to celebrate him. Cunningham captures Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness style. He also brings to life three people of their time who deal with society’s oppressive attitudes towards their sexual orientation and status as women. And The Hours subtly makes one now commonplace but important point for women and LGBT people: it gets better.

    Tales of the City: A Novel

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    Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

    If he wasn’t so darn entertaining, maybe people would realize how radical writer Armistead Maupin has been. His valentine to San Francisco began as a serialized novel featured in the San Francisco Chronicle. Wide-eyed newcomer Mary Ann Singleton visits the city and realizes this is the place for her! She finds a room to rent at 28 Barbary Lane, she finds a friend in Michael aka “Mouse” and she gains an inspiring mentor in her landlady Anna Madrigal. From a story about a wide-eyed girl, Maupin’s addictive drama quickly took readers to every corner of the city. Even a hip liberal newspaper in San Francisco was wary of the bathhouses and bisexuals and so much more in the serial. But everyone wanted to know what happened next, so what could they do? Nine novels, radio plays, a musical and four groundbreaking miniseries followed. Like Dickens or Balzac or Trollope, Maupin captured an entire fleeting era just as it happened. Start here but be warned: you can’t read just one.

    Ragtime: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)

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    Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow

    E.L. Doctorow changed the historical novel once and for all. Others came before, they always do. But Doctorow’s rigorous research mixed a playful combination of historical figures and imaginary characters in a manner that brought the past to light and commented on it at the same time. It’s as neat a stunt as any Harry Houdini ever pulled off. In the panoramic Ragtime, Doctorow starts with the lives of a wealthy family that sells fireworks, crosses their path with the musician Coalhouse Walker and then weaves in pretty much everything going on during the early 1900s, from agitator Emma Goldman to Robert Peary’s polar expeditions to tycoon J. P. Morgan and a depressed Houdini, to name just a few. It’s dazzling, fresh, alive, funny, tragic and the movie and musical it inspired have their fans, but can’t outshine the original.

    Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant: A Novel

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    Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler

    Anne Tyler has written 24 novels and enough short stories to fill two collections. So it’s no surprise to find people arguing about which is her best. Tyler herself would say don’t read her first four novels, but that’s modesty for you. She could mention the National Book Award for The Accidental Tourist, turned into a delightful Oscar-winning film. Or the Pulitzer Prize won by Breathing Lessons, one of her most effervescent works. Or the Booker nomination for A Spool of Blue Thread. But diehards and Tyler point to Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant as the prototypical Tyler novel and a great place to start. It tells the story of three siblings, riven by the abandonment of their father yet entangled with old arguments, resentment, history and forgiveness, soon followed by new arguments. You know, siblings. Tyler said it comes closest to what she imagined at the start, which is to say it’s warm-hearted, clear-eyed, amusing and moving. Enjoy.

    Cloud Atlas

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    Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

    It’s just one of those books, a work so original and fresh that everyone instantly agrees, “Oh yes, that’s a good one.” Mitchell’s third novel is daringly constructed. It begins with the journal of a man on board a ship in the 1800s, written in the style of the era. Just as you become thoroughly involved in the story, it stops mid-action. The next section is an epistolary novel set in 1930s Belgium and written by a bisexual musician to his lover. The first story was so absorbing that you’re thoroughly annoyed Mitchell jumped to something new. What is going on here? But soon enough this new story becomes equally absorbing and just as you become enthralled by this tale and forget the first story even existed, it too stops. The novel jumps forward to the 1970s, with yet another new story written in the style of a mystery. Again and again it happens. Every time Mitchell drops a tale and begins something new, you’re annoyed; the story was so good, why on earth won’t he finish it? And then he wins you over again. Then at the halfway point, the final reveal takes place and you see the entire, brilliant structure of the novel and what Mitchell has been up to all this time. You understand how ambitious and clever it is and almost sigh with pleasure. Cloud Atlas is a tour de force. The film version, which you probably didn’t see, couldn’t ever hope to recreate the pleasure of reading this book.

    My Ántonia (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)

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    My Ántonia by Willa Cather

    Sometimes it seems like all the best stories about America are stories about travel. Immigrants reach America in Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn, Jack Kerouac goes On the Road, Huck Finn journeys down the Mississippi and Ántonia heads out West with her Bohemian family. Willa Cather made her name for good with this finale to the Prairie Trilogy. It celebrates regular, plain-speaking people like the orphaned boy Jim and his friend Ántonia, both struggling to survive at their new homes in Nebraska. F. Scott Fitzgerald lamented that his novel The Great Gatsby was a failure compared to hers, though eventually, they’d both do just fine in the eyes of critics and readers.

    The Kite Runner

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    The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

    Some novels strike a chord. How else to explain why a story about a boy in Afghanistan would take the world by storm in 2003? Khaled Hosseini’s novel charts the country’s tragic history from the fall of the monarchy to the Soviet invasion and the rise of the Taliban by focusing on fathers and sons. It’s since been adapted into a graphic novel, a movie and a Broadway play. None of them match the novel’s emotional impact, but when something is this popular, you can’t blame them for trying.

    The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party

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    The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves

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    The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol I and II by M.T. Anderson

    Some of the boldest, bravest works in recent decades are published for kids, perhaps to smuggle work into the culture without awakening the censors. Philip Pullman radically reimagines Paradise Lost with His Dark Materials. Charles M. Schulz showed little folks dealing with depression, unrequited love and the seeming futility of existence in the comic strip Peanuts. And in a young adult novel, M.T. Anderson reorients our understanding of the American Revolution, the central horror of slavery in U.S. history and how scientific studies are often influenced by the people funding them, all long before 1619. But The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing is also gripping and enthralling as we watch an enslaved boy raised by men of science who at first are determined to give him every advantage. They want to prove the African race is not inferior to Europeans, with Octavian as a test case. Later, as circumstances dictate, they’re determined to stack the deck against Octavian so somehow this bright young man fluent in several languages and an excellent violinist to boot will somehow leave white Europeans safe in the belief of their superiority. Toss in the curveball of the American Revolution and you have a work of historical fiction that stands alongside the best of them, just like Octavian Nothing.

    Angle of Repose

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    Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

    A historian and novelist, Wallace Stegner wrote a novel about a historian. That character writes a biography about his grandmother. To give it authenticity, Stegner drew heavily upon the letters of a real person, the notable writer Mary Hallock Foote. In a move that was controversial then and more so now, Stegner quotes extensively from the letters of Foote while only obliquely giving credit to her in his acknowledgments. And yet he wrote a novel where there never was a novel. Universally acclaimed and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize 50 years ago, Angle of Repose is a wonderfully layered combination of the brave journey of pioneers colored by the disappointments and regrets of the historian recounting them. Stegner, at least, surely had no regrets about his masterpiece.

    The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel (Harper Perennial Deluxe Editions)

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    The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

    You can feast on just the titles of novels by exiled Czech writer Milan Kundera. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. The Festival of Insignificance. Life Is Elsewhere. And of course, his most famous work, The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Playful, philosophical, political and personal, it shows Kundera at his most thoughtful and profound. The story of a womanizing surgeon is interrupted by sharp insights into life under a totalitarian regime. (In one passage, Kundera dissects a photograph of government officials watching a parade, detailing how those who fell out of favor had to be erased from the image, one by one.) Arguments about the nature of existence (Kundera is not a fan of Nietzsche) take place alongside the promise of the Prague Spring and its collapse with the invasion of Soviet troops and others in 1968. There is some lightness, too; a dog is a major character, for example. Kundera is an original.

    Cold Mountain: 20th Anniversary Edition

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    Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

    Homer’s The Odyssey looms so large it would be fair to say that almost everything that followed it has been influenced by the epic. Countless works of art are directly inspired by it, from James Joyce’s Ulysses to Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad and the comic film O Brother, Where Art Thou? starring George Clooney. Still, for debut novelist Charles Frazier to combine the story of his great-granduncle with the rough outline of The Odyssey and set it all during the Civil War was an act of bravery. Readers responded, for few modern novels have been this ambitious and yet taken so to heart by such a broad audience. Maybe it’s as simple as this: everyone can identify with the powerful desire to journey home.

    Endless Love: A Novel

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    Endless Love by Scott Spencer

    When young people fall in love, they feel like an explorer discovering a new continent. Surely no one else has ever felt like this before? Surely no love has ever been this all-consuming, this beautiful, this perfect? It happens again in Endless Love. Two young people—kids, really—fall in love and imagine Romeo and Juliet have nothing on them. What’s remarkable is that writer Scott Spencer convinces us that the love of Jade and David really is that earth-shattering. Everyone around them agrees. Their parents, their friends, literally everyone acknowledges the love those two feel really is as special as they imagine. Then Jade’s father banishes David from this earthly paradise, David hatches a cockamamie plan to win back the family’s trust, it goes horribly wrong and love becomes obsession. A huge bestseller, Endless Love has been adapted into not one but two epically bad films, movies so awful you fear they’ve kept people away from the novel ever since. Don’t make that mistake.

    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (SeaWolf Press Illustrated Classic): First Edition Cover

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    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

    Some books are so well-intentioned they forget to be good. Think Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It’s as important a novel as there ever was, but you wouldn’t want to read that potboiler today. Mark Twain’s masterpiece is another thing altogether. His classic “boy’s own” book The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer is a delight of youthful innocence. A rascalish character in that novel takes center stage in this one. Twain lost the “The” for some reason and called it Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn. But he gained immortality with a righteous condemnation of enslavement wrapped in a story so funny and gripping and raw that few can resist it. The central dilemma? Huck knows he will be literally damned to hell for helping the escaped black man Jim avoid being put back in chains. He does it anyway. And if Huck treats Jim a little poorly after that mighty choice, well, whoever expected an abandoned, beaten, dismissed kid to always behave sensibly? Huck is just a child and Twain never forgets that. It’s the adults he damns so well.

    A Fine Balance

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    A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

    One of the worst periods in Indian history inspired one of its best novels. In 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ignored the Constitution and essentially declared martial law, jailing opposition leaders and clamping down on the media. Her dictatorial reign lasted almost two years and featured all sorts of atrocities, like the forced sterilization of millions. It’s called The Emergency. Writer Rohinton Mistry tells the story of this period through the lives of four people: two tailors from a caste considered “untouchable,” a wealthy Parsi widow and a young man from the Kashmir Valley who resents being sent to college by his parents. Their paths cross and crisscross during this life-changing period, a time of upheaval akin to the Partition of India in 1947 or perhaps the American Civil War. All three of his novels are worth your time. Still, it’s been 20 years since he published Family Matters and we are politely impatient for a fourth.

    The Ice at the Bottom of the World: Stories

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    The Ice at the Bottom of the World by Mark Richard

    “Read the story collection The Ice at the Bottom of the World at your own risk,” says Chuck Palahniuk, author most recently of The Invention Of Sound. “Mark Richard’s short stories will leave you unhappy with almost all other fiction for the rest of your life. In stories like ‘Strays’ and ‘This is Us, Excellent,’ he gives us characters in miserable circumstances, but who refuse to suffer. Thus the reader is forced to shoulder the emotional and psychological burden. Richard’s incredible sentences will stick in your head, and his plots rise to such unlikely beauty that you’ll find tears running down your cheeks.”

    The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas

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    The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Machado de Assis

    In this biting, cynical novel, a man dies of pneumonia. Now dead, he’s free to say what he likes, so Brás Cubas dedicates his book to the worm that first feasted on his dead body and then tells his life story. He was a brat as a spoiled rich kid, loved often and poorly, made a mess of everything he did, wasted most of his family’s fortune, tried and failed at politics and finally dreamt up some quack medicine that could cure all diseases…but not, apparently, cure himself of pneumonia. A Brazilian classic, it’s been translated many times and is sometimes called Epitaph Of A Small Winner, which is about as much as Cubas can claim. It’s fragmented, entertaining, very modern and when you discover it was written in 1881 (not 2021 or even 1961), your astonishment and admiration is complete.

    Related: The 10 Best TV Crime Dramas That Were Adapted From Books

    Snow Crash: Deluxe Edition

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    Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

    What’s cyberpunk? Just picture the future as depicted in the film Blade Runner and you’re halfway there. When corporations or computers take over the world, you end up with something like the comic book Judge Dredd or William Gibson’s Neuromancer or even John M. Ford’s proto-cyberpunk novel Web Of Angels. Or you can read Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, a novel with his usual heady mix of technology, philosophy, religion, anarcho-capitalism, linguistics and other ideas we can barely follow. It’s all wrapped around our protagonist Hiro. You know he’s the protagonist because this pizza delivery dude’s full name is Hiro Protagonist. He joins up with Y.T. (a female skateboarder known as Yours Truly) and they’re soon caught up in one of those massive conspiracies involving technology, shadowy opponents and the fate of the (miserable) world. Snow Crash came out just thirty years ago and it’s amazing how quickly the world has caught up. Stephenson helped popularize ideas like an avatar and the Metaverse, which he definitely should have copyrighted. Bad science fiction tries to predict the future. Good science fiction like this holds up a mirror to the present and wonders where we’re headed. Take a look.

    A Thousand Acres: A Novel

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    A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

    Some people are crazy about Jane Smiley’s academic skewering in the novel Moo. We’re partial to her trilogy of books (Some Luck, Early Warning and Golden Age) that told the story of a family over one hundred years, with one year per chapter. They were bestsellers and nicely reviewed but deserve more hoopla. But everyone admires, loves and reads her retelling of King Lear. Sometimes the consensus is right; with Smiley, this is where to start. The novel A Thousand Acres is resolute, smart and devastating. When a father decides to split control of the family farm among his three daughters, the youngest objects. Just as in Lear, she’s frozen out of the kingdom, the two older daughters turn on their father and then secrets Shakespeare never imagined come to light. You reap what you sow.

    Invisible Man

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    Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

    Writer Ralph Ellison sped right past the “protest” novel or the “problem” novel. He ignored the conventions of social conscience or the “right” way to win over white readers and said, “Hey, what if I just write a modernist masterpiece?” That he did, in a novel about a young black man in flight from racism. “I am not complaining, nor am I protesting either,” begins Ellison who does just that but in a far more poetic, lasting and effective manner than any protest novel ever would. Ellison’s influences were broad, ranging from Kafka to Faulkner, T.S. Eliot to Dostoevsky, yet all of them were used in service to a voice enriched by oral traditions and a vivid, urban spirit. Other characters refused to see the narrator, but the book itself was simply too good to ignore. Invisible Man won the National Book Award in 1953, making Ellison the first person of color to do so. It would be 30 years before another person of color—Alice Walker, for The Color Purple in 1983—won it again.

    Empire Falls (Vintage Contemporaries)

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    Empire Falls by Richard Russo

    Empire Falls, Maine is a crumbling town on its last legs in Richard Russo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Miles Roby is a lot like the town. He’s running the Empire Grill and reduced to serving the new boyfriend of his ex-wife each and every day. His stoner brother is the short-order cook, his owner is the richest woman in town, his daughter in high school is a budding artist and they all know everything there is to know about each other. HBO made an excellent miniseries from this. While doing so, the production turned a pizza parlor in a small town in upstate New York into the greasy spoon Miles worked at. A few years later, the pizza parlor shut down because of course the real town was crumbling, just like Empire Falls. If that sort of irony causes a rueful laugh, Russo is the writer for you. He’s sharp, sympathetic and sadly amused by the pain of it all. You could start with The Risk Pool or Nobody’s Fool or you could just start right here.

    Edisto: A Novel

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    Edisto by Padgett Powell

    If you want to make a name for yourself among the literati, there are rules to follow. Start out strong with an acclaimed debut. Choose one style and stick to it—everyone will know what to expect from you and can easily skip a book or two of yours without feeling they’re missing something. (Did anyone worry if they missed a John Updike novel? They did not.) Oh and don’t be funny. No one will take you seriously if you’re funny. Well, Padgett Powell got the first part right. His debut novel Edisto is a coming-of-age tale about a 12-year-old boy named Simons Manigault and yes it’s devilishly funny. But it’s also masterful enough in style to have Saul Bellow praise Powell and Southern literary éminence grise Walker Percy declare the book better than The Catcher in the Rye. Then Powell went and blew it. He started writing short stories, each one more outrageous than the next. They were wild, wooly, unmannered. The pitch-perfect Edisto Revisited was so good it deserves comparisons to The Godfather Part II, another sequel that deepened your appreciation of the original. But it was too late. Before you knew it, Powell was performing high wire acts, like a novel composed entirely of a conversation between two men sitting on a porch chewing the fat, more vaudeville than High Art. Another one called The Interrogative Mood: A Novel? contained nothing but a series of questions. (Did he pull it off? Do you have to ask?) Is this the old-fashioned, dependable writer the gatekeepers signed up for almost forty years ago? No, it is not. Does he care? No, he does not. Read Edisto but be prepared to dive into the deep end once you become a fan.

    The Pillars of the Earth: A Novel (Kingsbridge Book 1)

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    The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

    Ken Follett broke onto the bestseller list with 1978’sEye of the Needle, a blockbuster so good we named it one of the best thrillers of all time. Six more thrillers followed, two of them nonfiction. Then Follett surprised everyone with the novel that will be his legacy: The Pillars of the Earth. It’s a historical novel about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Knightsbridge, England during the 12th century. The action takes place over 50 years and the house of worship is the culmination of generations of work. What could be less thrilling than the building of a church? Ask, rather, what could be more thrilling? Follett poured everything into this, spending years on research to get it right. His passion was infectious and his story so immersive readers got lost in it, finishing in a daze. The book has sold at least 26 million copies so far. Then Follett spent the next 30 years delivering three more books in the Knightsbridge series. Unlike some of the artisans in the novel, Follett has lived to see his masterwork be complete. Sure, the series has been turned into two different miniseries and even a video game. But it’s the first novel that remains the peak of his career, as impressive and awe-inspiring as the cathedral itself.

    Mrs Palfrey At The Claremont: A Virago Modern Classic (Virago Modern Classics Book 2)

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    Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor

    No, not that Elizabeth Taylor. This Elizabeth Taylor is an English novelist who wrote polite dissections of middle and upper-class Brits, works so discreet and effortless that for a long time no one but other writers realized what a genius she was. Taylor’s short stories were a mainstay of the New Yorker magazine for about 20 years and she wrote twelve novels in all. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont was the last published in her lifetime and that’s fitting since it deals with the end of life. Mrs. Palfrey is comfortable enough financially to move into the Claremont hotel alongside other aged residents. But she’s embarrassed her grandson never calls and frets over a marriage proposal and it’s all so amusingly depicted you almost don’t notice how sad and piercing Taylor can be. It’s the sort of book that is never in fashion but always read with pleasure.

    The Things They Carried

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    The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

    In twenty-one short stories, writer and Vietnam War veteran Tim O’Brien tells the story of soldiers fighting in that war and probably the stories of soldiers fighting in every war that’s ever been and all the ones to come. We want our war stories told by veterans because then those stories are real, authentic and to be trusted. Except O’Brien toys with that expectation. He dedicates this book to the men of the imaginary Alpha Company. He calls his main character O’Brien and that character tells his daughter that no, he never killed anyone in the war. Then he immediately tells us about the man he did kill, only to tell us in another story that this was complete fiction. O’Brien (or maybe “O’Brien”) says he made up that incident because he wanted to help us understand the truth of what the Vietnam War was like. Moving, funny and haunting, The Things They Carried is as real as it gets, made-up stories and all.

    Dracula: Deluxe Edition

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    Dracula by Bram Stoker

    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a work of startling originality. In contrast, Bram Stoker’s Dracula takes bits and pieces from every vampire story that came before, along with folklore, myth and legend, and seasons it with fears about newly independent women, immigrants and disease. Then he cribs from the hugely popular author Wilkie Collins and especially the page-turner The Woman in White. Finally, Stoker tosses in his own personal peccadilloes—or at least, only as much of them as this acquaintance of Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde dared—to create a potent brew of erotic, Gothic horror. The result was a sensation, a vampire novel so bold and shocking and successful that it became the vampire novel and every vampire story that followed would steal from him. Like the vampire women feasting on poor Jonathan Harker, countless artists have fed on Dracula to inspire their own books, movies, plays, TV shows, games, comics, plays and more. Nothing, not even a stake through the heart, can erase this monster. Dracula survives and thrives in our imagination and probably always will.

    Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

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    The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

    Physically frail but morally strong, Carson McCullers empathized with outsiders and dreamers. Her writing was labeled Southern Gothic, because she was from the South and depicted outré characters such as mutes, closeted gay men and black people. A young white woman writing about black people! Her success was immediate, with the 1940 debut The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter seen as anti-Fascist, pro-democracy, exotic (how could there be so many mute people in one small town, wondered some?) and ultimately, just human and touching and true. If a mute man seems the safest person for a string of people to share their dreams and fears with, is that really so strange? McCullers enjoyed further success with The Member Of The Wedding and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. But McCullers remained a lonely hunter in her personal life, dying alone at age 50 after a lifetime of severe illness and unrequited love for the numerous women she pursued.

    True History of the Kelly Gang: A Novel (Vintage International)

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    True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey

    The Western may be the most American of genres. Yet long before it joined the United States, Hawaii boasted of cowboys with enough roping skills to put the Yankees to shame at their own rodeos. And Australia’s Outback would give the Badlands a run for its money in terms of punishing danger. Besides, surely every country can boast of criminals that capture the popular imagination? So here is Aussie Peter Carey with this vulgar, violent, rollicking Western about the outlaw Ned Kelly and his gang, as told to Kelly’s fictional daughter. You know you shouldn’t be loving Kelly’s outrageous justification for his actions, but a good story overwhelms moral qualms any day. And borders! Kelly’s dad was an Irishman transported to Van Diemen’s Land aka Tasmania; the author is Australian, where most of the novel takes place; and it won the prestigious UK prize the Booker. But did that stop its US publisher from calling this a “Great American Novel”? Nope. Besides, they’re right.

    The Death of Vivek Oji: A Novel

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    The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

    Why do we love these lists? Because we can spot books we love, point out books that should be on the list, yet aren’t, and be reminded of books we know we should read but haven’t. Yet. And—if we’re adventurous—we read these lists to discover books we haven’t even heard of but will soon become favorites. So here’s writer Chinelo Okparanta to champion a writer from Nigeria, the country where Okparanta was born. “Akwaeke Emezi is one of the most exciting voices of our time, even earning themself a cover feature in Time Magazine as one of the magazine’s 2021 Next Generation Leaders,” says Okparanta, author most recently of Harry Sylvester Bird. “The Death of Vivek Oji, set in an international community of families composed of foreign-born women married to Nigerian men, is the heart-wrenching story of Vivek, a gentle soul who, as his current stint at life would have it, has embarked on a tortured journey into a new self. It is about the family we are born into and [the] ones we choose for ourselves. The verdict on each family is not a tidy one, for the novel is also about the ways in which both kinds of families render earnest support, and how, despite their best intentions, they also disappoint. Vivek dies, but there is hope—a promise of a return after death. As an avid believer in reincarnation, I enjoyed the novel’s timeless contention that a body, though destined to die, will live again.”

    On the Road

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    On the Road by Jack Kerouac

    Is he a rebel dancing to his own beat or an unwitting toxic male fleeing from responsibility? Jack Kerouac may not have anticipated the many ways his characters would be seen over the years. But his classic novel of escape is rich enough to bear the re-examination. And no one can deny the rhythmic, tumbling, finger-snapping prose that hurtles the story along at breakneck speed. The legend of its birth is as totemic as the novel itself—in 1951, Kerouac pounded out the tale on one long roll of paper in a three-week fever dream of inspiration. Writers have been jealous and inspired by him ever since.

    The Old Forest and Other Stories

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    The Old Forest and Other Stories by Peter Taylor

    Peter Taylor is an old-fashioned Southern storyteller, unremarkable in every respect except for how truly good he is. He wrote three slim, marvelous novels, but it’s his short stories that astonish—they capture a world, a character, a moment with such care that every word matters and every insight hits with an intensity no novel could sustain. Late in life, Taylor had his moment. In 1985, The Old Forest and Other Stories received an unusual amount of attention for him, along with rave reviews. Chekhov was mentioned, and often. One year later, his novel A Summons to Memphis won the Pulitzer Prize. Now? Now he sits quietly in a corner, waiting to be rediscovered as surely he will. His heyday (if one can use such a vulgar term) was so long ago that none of Taylor’s work is even available as an e-book. He might be relieved to know it.

    Related: 20 Enlightening Spiritual Books for When You’re Searching for Hope and Strength

    The Rings of Saturn

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    The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald

    W.G. Sebald is unique. He is like no one else and no one is his heir because how could they be? His “novel,” The Rings of Saturn, is typical of him—it’s sort of fiction, sort of a travel book, sort of history and sort of a memoir and more, all jumbled up together. In it, the narrator (presumably Sebald) takes a walking tour in Suffolk, England. He tells you what he’s seeing and the people he meets, along with an inexhaustible stream of scientific knowledge, history, literary allusions and so on. You assume he’s (sort of) telling the truth and if you look it up you’ll discover various facts are absolutely or fairly or somewhat accurate or perhaps you can’t discover anything about a certain fact at all, though this doesn’t prove it’s not true, does it? Before you know it everything is true and fantastical and connected and it’s all so moving, so real, so unlike anything you’ve ever read before that you’ll finish it and wonder what the heck it was and how he did it. You’ll want to urge people to read The Rings of Saturn while praying no one asks you to describe it…and then you’ll eagerly track down something, anything else by Sebald.

    A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel

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    A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

    Who doesn’t want to live in a fancy hotel? From Eloise at the Plaza to Count Rostov at the Hotel Metropol, the idea of endless room service and a parade of interesting house guests you can easily ignore—if so inclined—seems like heaven. In the case of Count Rostov, the protagonist of A Gentleman in Moscow, it’s supposed to be more like hell, or purgatory at least. As a nobleman who returns to Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, Rostov is tried and sentenced to house arrest at the Hotel Metropol. Clearly, the last vestiges of the aristocracy hadn’t quite been swept away, though at least the Count is ordered to leave his lavish suite and take a servant’s quarters. Decades pass, all of it in charming detail and with an inventiveness that never flags. It’s no wonder Towles went from an acclaimed, best-selling debut novelist with Rules Of Civility to an absolute phenomenon thanks to this word-of-mouth sensation. It’s so entertaining, some might feel suspicious of its greatness. But we’re not. Just be prepared to fork out the bucks for a bottle of Châeauneuf-du-Pape. It’s impossible to read this without longing for a taste of that wine.

    The Far Pavilions

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    The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye

    Born and raised in India, then sent to boarding school in Great Britain, writer M.M. Kaye was destined to write a novel about the British Empire. First, she spent decades writing and/or illustrating children’s books and penning a series of thrillers and stand-alone novels—none of them creating much of a stir. They weren’t nearly as dramatic as Kaye’s real life. She fell in love during World War II with a British Indian Army officer who was married and four years younger than her. Kaye had one child and was pregnant with a second before they actually got married. It was the war, she shrugged. Then, Kaye’s literary agent, Paul Scott, urged her to write about India. (He himself shot to fame with the Raj Quartet novels.) Over the next twenty years, Kaye wrote three books of historical fiction. The first was gutted by bad editing, the second did better, and in 1978, Kaye published her doorstopper of a masterpiece: The Far Pavilions. It received major acclaim as a new spin on Rudyard Kipling’s Kim, enjoyed huge sales and became HBO’s first miniseries. Kaye lived another 26 years but, except for a trilogy of memoirs, she never wrote again.

    The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

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    The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

    This novel’s narrator starts talking and you just can’t stop listening. His story is the confession of a political prisoner in Vietnam and it’s a doozy. Our unnamed protagonist is filled with contradictions. He’s the mixed-race son of a Vietnamese mother and a French Catholic priest father. He’s a North Vietnamese double agent living in South Vietnam. He escapes to America and continues living a double life amidst the local Vietnamese community. Then, he’s an adviser on an American war film akin to Apocalypse Now. Finally, he returns to Vietnam to fight in a guerrilla campaign against the Communist government. He’s the ultimate sympathizer—seeing all sides at once and losing track of which side he’s on. Compared to everything and everyone from Ralph Ellison to Joseph Conrad to Philip Roth and Walt Whitman, Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is one of the most acclaimed debuts in ages. And its sequel, The Committed, continues the tale with similar success.

    Breakfast at Tiffany’s: A Short Novel and Three Stories (Modern Library)

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    Breakfast at Tiffany’s: A Short Novel and Three Stories by Truman Capote

    Truman Capote practically invented the true crime genre with his nonfiction book In Cold Blood. He also wrote remarkable magazine features, turned gossip into high art and even perfected the character of “Truman Capote” in interviews throughout his life. Yet Capote’s favorite creation was Holly Golightly, the American “geisha” at the heart of his novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She’s a free spirit who lives in New York City thanks to the generosity of older, wealthier men. Holly is not a prostitute but she does enjoy nice things, and how kind of men to give them to her. You can draw a straight line from Lorelei Lee of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to Sally Bowles of Goodbye To Berlin (and later Cabaret fame) to Miss Golightly. It’s substantially different from the film version starring Audrey Hepburn. (Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe.) But the spirit of the novel is onscreen. Here, the novella is paired with three marvelous short stories, including “House Of Flowers” (turned into a fine Broadway musical), “A Diamond Guitar” and “A Christmas Memory,” itself turned into movies, plays and more. Capote could be waspish, but here he’s on his best behavior.

    Ulysses (The Gabler Edition)

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    Ulysses by James Joyce

    The timid among us might name the short story collection Dubliners as the masterpiece of James Joyce. But cartoonist and graphic novelist Chris Ware will have none of it. He plunks for the daunting, challenging, modernist classic Ulysses. “Though apparently the Great American Novel still has yet to be published, the Great Irish Novel already was, exactly a century ago,” says Ware, author most recently of Monograph. “James Joyce’s inverted plot of the Odyssey—a husband exiling himself from his house to allow his wife her ongoing adulterous tryst—is mashed up into, amongst other things, the inside-out consciousnesses of his main characters, all of human history, and the ebb and flow of one day of life in 1904 Dublin, all written with an ever-recombined Erector set of dreamlike English that somehow, incredibly, implants sense-memories directly in the reader’s mind. And that final, 1922-outraging chapter, which so directly articulates female desire, remains Joyce’s private gift to one-half of humanity, a topic which until that point had rarely been treated as a topic worthy of consideration.”

    The Outsiders

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    The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

    Many great novels about young people came before. (Think The Catcher in the Rye or Anne of Green Gables or Little Women or Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, to name a few.) Judy Blume was just on the horizon, with her debut novel about to come out in 1969. But in 1967, The Outsiders was a young adult novel written by a young adult and for a young adult audience and it was so successful that it changed everything. Hinton was 15 years old when she started it, 16 when she really knuckled down and got serious about it and 18 when it came out. The novel depicts gang violence, underage drinking, smoking, absentee parents, and an awareness of class divides between the Greasers and the Socs (the Socials). People are still afraid of teens actually reading it, so The Outsiders remains one of the most challenged and banned books in the country. Hinton wrote other novels, but this debut manages to “stay gold” almost 60 years later. Kids hungry to see their lives in the stories they read still latch onto it. And writers hungry to capture authenticity still study it.

    Darkness at Noon (Vintage Classics)

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    Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

    Arthur Koestler’s nightmare of a novel was inspired by the 1938 purges in the Soviet Union. In it, a man is broken down after multiple interrogations and makes a false confession about betraying the state. You are trapped with this man, you understand everything he’s feeling, you accept his decision to end the torture by saying whatever they want him to say and you walk with him as he’s led away to his death, the other unseen inmates drumming on the walls of their cells in support, just as he did for others before him and they will do again when the next one falls. It’s a shivering, unshakeable work.

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

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    One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

    In the biker movie The Wild One, they ask Marlon Brando, “What are you rebelling against, Johnny?” He shoots back, “Whaddaya got?” Maybe rebellion is always in the air, but the counterculture movement sparked by the Beats and leading to the hippies of the 1970s found one of its key texts in Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s narrated by a half-Native American patient of a mental ward who lumps all oppression into what he calls The Combine. “Chief” Bromden details the battle for power between a not-so-crazy inmate named Randle McMurphy and the controlling Nurse Ratched. Kirk Douglas loved it so much that he bought the rights, turned it into a play and triumphed on Broadway. But he couldn’t get anyone to back a film version. It took his son Michael to make that dream happen, succeeding beyond anyone’s dreams with the Oscar-winning classic starring Jack Nicholson. Kesey went on to found the Merry Pranksters, inspire the Grateful Dead and write the novel Sometimes A Great Notion, his own favorite. But it’s the short, sharp shock of Kesey’s Cuckoo’s Nest that is still banned in some schools and still inspires people to fight back against the system, the Man, or as Bromden calls it, The Combine.

    So Long, See You Tomorrow

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    So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell

    William Maxwell was the fiction editor at The New Yorker for 40 years during its glory days of 1936 to 1975. That’s enough to make his name legendary among other writers. But he also wrote novels, short stories, letters and essays. In 1980, Maxwell published one final book, almost 20 years after his previous novel came out. That new work was, naturally, published first in The New Yorker in two parts. They weren’t being kind to a venerable figure. They were lucky to have it and the publication was a sensation. So Long, See You Tomorrow is one of those perfect books; it’s simple, direct and unforgettable. The story begins with a gunshot and features an old man like Maxwell, looking back with regret on a tragedy of violence that tore through the town of his childhood. That gunshot, that murder, also abruptly ends a friendship just when that person needed their friend the most. Maxwell lived another 20 years, but this was his last novel. He was a good enough editor to know it doesn’t get any better than this, so why try?

    The Greatest Short Stories of Anton Chekhov: A Collection Of Fifty Stories

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    The Greatest Short Stories of Anton Chekhov by Anton Chekhov

    We’re sure you’ve been paying attention. And so again and again, you’ve seen the highest praise we give a writer—especially a writer of short stories—is “Chekhovian.” Anton Chekhov is also one of the greatest dramatists of all time and for the same reason. No one captures real life quite like Chekhov. Grab any short story collection you can. Any translation: Constance Garnett, Peavear and Volokhonsky, Miles, Dunnigan, Popkin, you name it. Everyone takes a shot at translating Chekhov into English because Chekhov is the greatest. Find out why.

    American Pastoral: American Trilogy (1) (Vintage International)

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    American Pastoral by Philip Roth

    The perennial bridesmaid of the Nobel Prize, Philip Roth reportedly spent the days when the annual announcement approached nervously in touch with his publisher. Have they called yet? They never called but you can’t blame the award-loving Roth for expecting it. Few writers turned out acclaimed work for 50 years like Roth. Choosing just one is absurd. How about one per decade? Goodbye, Columbus (1950s). Portnoy’s Complaint (1960s). The Ghost Writer (1970s). The Counterlife (1980s). Sabbath’s Theater (1990s). The Plot Against America (2000s). And overall, American Pastoral because it’s a sprawling epic covering underground movements like the Weathermen to political corruption like Watergate. Yet it remains human-scaled and moving thanks to the travails of Seymour Levov, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jew who realizes you never really know anyone, even your closest friends and family. Looks can be deceiving, which he should have known all along.

    The Known World

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    The Known World by Edward P. Jones

    Some writers are shockingly prolific. Some take their time. Edward P. Jones takes his time. In his 72 years, Jones has published three books. Two are collections of short stories about African Americans working in Washington D.C. His only novel, so far, is The Known World, a work that makes the complicated horrors of slavery in the U.S. fresh again. How? By telling the story of both black and white people who enslaved others in antebellum Virginia. This historical fact—that some black people also owned other human beings prior to the Civil War—changes everything and nothing for readers ignorant of this truth. And it’s just a starting point for a rich narrative that contains stories within stories, along with the varied perspective of the owners and the owned, the rebellious and those who feel betrayed, women and men, poor whites and rich blacks and more. If Jones never publishes again, his name is assured. But we can hope.

    A Man Called Ove: A Novel

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    A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

    Who needs critics? Most of them will politely admit that Swedish author Fredrik Backman’s debut novel has a certain charm. And yes, they laughed quite a bit, it’s true. But charm and humor and gentle wisdom are not the stuff of great reviews. Those qualities will, however, strike a chord when readers discover a book and tell a friend “you have to read this” and press a copy into their hands. That’s how this little book about a cranky old man with a sad past became a runaway bestseller. It’s charming, you’ll laugh a lot and the gentle wisdom is well worth hearing again. You can read it now or you can read it after seeing the Tom Hanks film version coming out in December. But you will buy it, love it and then tell a friend they have to read it while pressing a copy into their hands.

    Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver

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    Devotions by Mary Oliver

    This list of the best works of fiction wasn’t meant to include poetry, but some people just can’t help themselves. Writer Garrison Keillor writes poetry, edits anthologies of poetry and celebrates poetry with a daily podcast and newsletter. In short, Keillor, author most recently of Boom Town, is crazy about poetry. And one American poet of recent years is so alive in the minds of poetry lovers that it’s hard to remember she died in 2019: Mary Oliver. Keillor immediately asked to celebrate Mary Oliver’s collection titled Devotions. Keillor calls Oliver “the poet of long walks who is cheered up by the natural world and puts it all in elegant verse that sticks with you—‘No matter who you are or how lonely, the world calls to you over and over, harsh and exciting, announcing your place in the family of things.’”

    The Thin Red Line: A Novel

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    The Thin Red Line by James Jones

    Everyone lauds From Here to Eternity, the blockbuster novel by war veteran James Jones that climaxes with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It’s a great book and became a great movie. But since Jones is best when dealing with war and The Thin Red Line is the novel that’s actually steeped in combat, we’ll choose this one. Plus, it became an even greater movie than From Here to Eternity when Terence Malick released his movie version of the novel in 1998. (An earlier version came out in 1964.) Fellow veterans frequently laud Jones for telling it like it is and that makes his novels all the more surprising to modern readers. Loneliness, fear and brutality are all on display, along with unexpected touches like same-sex dalliances among soldiers trapped in foxholes and fearing for their lives. You won’t find any drum-beating or patriotic flag-waving either. This isn’t a rousing, go-get-’em war story by any stretch, though it’s not damning either. It’s just…true.

    How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

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    How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

    An immigrant story? Sure, if your immigrant story involves being in a family of means in the Dominican Republic but then fleeing to the US after your dad joins a plot to overthrow that country’s dictatorship and finds out he’s a better doctor than a revolutionary. Julia Alvarez’s debut novel enjoyed instant acclaim and has remained both popular and critically celebrated ever since. It opens up the world of the DR that too few know anything about, as well as shows New York City in a fresh light, as only newcomers can.

    The Three Musketeers (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

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    The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

    After dozens of adaptations turning The Three Musketeers into movies, TV shows, comic books, video games, stage plays, radio dramas and the like, you might be forgiven if you forgot it began as a novel by Dumas. But you won’t forgive yourself if you don’t take the time to read it (or read it again, if you were the sort of kid who saw a big thick book about swashbucklers in France and dove right in). Like Charles Dickens, Dumas weaves a lot of topical issues into his grand adventures. This one is about a young man named d’Artagnan, who heads to Paris with the dream of joining the dashing Musketeers of the Guard and succeeds beyond his wildest imaginings. Grand fun. And if you’re wondering, when it comes to movies, we recommend the 1973 version starring Michael York, and when it comes to translations, we recommend the 2006 version by Richard Pevear—maybe if we all ask nicely, he’ll translate the sequels, starting with Twenty Years After and ending with The Man in the Iron Mask.

    Last Days of Summer

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    Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger

    The epistolary novel—a story told entirely through letters or, nowadays, perhaps texts or email and the like—is a very particular treat. They range from the heart-warming innocence of 84, Charing Cross Road to the cruel darts of Les Liaison Dangereuses. Author Julia Quinn is a fan of the format in general and especially of Steve Kluger’s story about a Jewish kid in New York City in the 1930s. The boy badgers the third baseman for the New York Giants into becoming his pen pal. “I love epistolary novels, and Last Days of Summer is pure perfection” says Quinn, author most recently of Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron. “It is, at turns, side-splittingly funny and deeply sad, with characters who develop and grow with every letter, report card or Bar Mitzvah program.”

    Brooklyn

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    Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

    Irish writer Colm Tóibín has something for everyone. Travel books that dive into history and faith. Plays. Novels. Short stories. Essays. Journalism. Two hugely acclaimed and ambitious books bring to life two giants of literature: The Master illuminates Henry James and The Magician captures the complexity of Thomas Mann. Then there’s Brooklyn. His most popular work and the source for a lovely movie, Brooklyn tackles the Irish immigrant experience in prose so empathetic and fresh that you’d swear no one ever told the story before. Eilis Lacey can’t find work in 1950s Ireland, so she makes an impossible leap to New York City. A young and sensible woman, she then chances it all on a handsome Italian plumber because she loves him and he loves her. Tóibín lets us feel how risky and brave and scary that is and we love her—and him—for it.

    Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)

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    Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

    Any war novel worth its salt is an anti-war novel. How can you survive the hellish cruelty and uncertainty of war with dumb luck (the only thing that saves you, in the end) and not think, “Never again, no thank you!” That’s certainly true of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. The author served in World War II and survived (including the firebombing of Dresden) and it’s all poured into the story of Billy Pilgrim. Billy’s a soldier and prisoner of war who makes it home alive but finds himself slipping through time, because isn’t time unmoored when war tears a hole in your life? Then there are aliens, humans on exhibition, philosophical musings, comedy and tragedy and it’s all a glorious mess and can you believe they tried to make a movie out of it? Vonnegut’s body of work is rich and strange and singular.

    Middlemarch (Macmillan Collector’s Library)

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    Middlemarch by George Eliot

    We aren’t ranking the books on this list, but let us tell you a secret. If we did, Middlemarch would be at the top. Not because it is the greatest novel of all time. (No such thing exists.) But because it is inarguably one of the greatest novels of all time, for a thousand reasons. It’s the same reason Rolling Stone recently crowned Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On as the greatest album of all time and movie lists usually name Citizen Kane as the greatest film. Sure, your personal choice may be different, but you can’t say any of those choices are wrong. This masterpiece by George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans) is so solidly written, so engrossing, so heartbreaking and such an accomplishment it can’t be denied. It’s both a historical novel and a novel grappling with the issues of its day—like the role of women in a world where a genius like Evans had to choose a male pen name to avoid scandal and be taken seriously, for starters. Bookseller Nina Barrett of Bookends & Beginnings in Evanston, Illinois adds her approval, praising it “for the Godlike omniscience and the incredible wisdom about human love and frailty that she packs into every page.”

    Related: Let’s Get Reading! 20 New LGTBQ+ Books We’re Loving This Year

    The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

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    The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

    This semi-autobiographical novel shoulders many burdens. It’s “the” book that represents the Native American experience for many, even though it’s just about one kid on the Spokane Indian Reservation. So what about all the other tribes? And what about the girls? And what about kids who don’t live with a disability like Arnold Spirit Jr. or aren’t really smart or don’t choose to go to a practically all-white public school off the rez, like he does? And maybe don’t even like comics, while Arnold wants to be a cartoonist? Like all great books, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian becomes universal by being so specific about Arnold and his world of grinding poverty and friendship and family and moments of joy. Plus, it’s funny and moving and engagingly written. And who can’t identify with that?

    Bridgerton: The Duke and I (Bridgertons Book 1)

    The Duke and I: A Bridgerton Novel by Julia Quinn

    The Bridgerton series devotes one book to each of the eight children in a family. You know it from the Netflix series, unless you’re a huge fan of Regency romances and read this when it made a stir in 2000. In The Duke And I, the story revolves around Daphne and Simon. She’s a Bridgerton and far too sensible and smart to appeal to the men of her time who prefer their women more mysterious and less outspoken. She doesn’t care, not really. Simon hates his father and vows never to marry or have children. But society can be so tiresome when matrons are pushing their eligible daughters at you. So they make a pact and pretend to be in love to get everyone off their backs. And of course, sparks fly and they fall for each other, though not without complications and confusion and a promise things will go no further. And then they go further. Sometimes a great novel is just great fun.

    The Stranger

    In this 1942 novel, a French settler in Algiers kills an Arab man and is sentenced to death. That brief description raises a host of complicated issues even before the Nobel Prize-winning author Camus raises the story above the “colonial novel” to a profound grappling with the meaning of existence. Along with Camus’s The Plague, it’s a rite of passage for thinkers and writers, including Tim O’Brien. “I’ve read it at least a half dozen times, probably more, both in English and in French,” says O’Brien, author most recently of Dad’s Maybe Book. “And I’m always moved, in a guilty and mysterious way, by how unmoved the book’s protagonist is in the midst of typically shattering circumstances. (Yet, by and large, don’t we all “recover” and somehow move on from lost loves and dead mothers and our own misdeeds.) The Stranger is among the four or five novels that, as a young man, made me dream about writing one of my own.”

    High Fidelity

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    High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

    The flipside to Bridget Jones’s Diary, this laddish novel by Nick Hornby proves a tantalizing peek inside the mind of a middle-aged man-child. Rob is a 35-year-old record store owner obsessed with music but facing a mid-life crisis when his more successful lawyer girlfriend leaves him. Rob spends most of his days making up Desert Island Lists about music and pop culture. When he comes up with a Top 5 Break-ups list from his romantic travails, Rob rethinks his earlier relationships and talks to the women about where he went wrong. Rob learns to grow up without having to give up his passion for rock n roll, thank God. High Fidelity is so very, very specific to this particular man in England and that’s what makes it universal. Making a movie version and setting it in the U.S. was an absurd idea. Then it made perfect sense, but only in retrospect and only when overseen and starring John Cusack.

    Middlesex: A Novel (Oprah’s Book Club)

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    Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

    Write what you know? If everyone did that, we would never have novels like Middlesex. Jeffrey Eugenides read a memoir by an intersex person, but felt it stopped short of revealing the emotions and reality of this rare experience. What was it like to be one of the people who have less common sex characteristics and simply don’t fit onto a male/female binary? To make it real to himself, Eugenides drew upon specific details from his own life and that of his Greek-American family to tell a sprawling, multigenerational tale of incest, love, confusion, bankruptcy and the journey of Cal/Calliope. Cal transforms from a child raised as female to a teen diagnosed as intersex and pushed towards gender reassignment surgery to make them conform to male characteristics and finally to an adult who embraces their intersex identity. The Pulitzer Prize and Oprah’s endorsement turned this into a perennial bestseller.

    The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter)

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    The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

    Yes, of course, the movie. But the novel! It’s the second of four books centering on the magnetic, chilling serial killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The first, Red Dragon, became an exceptionally good film called Manhunter. This one became a movie for the ages, the first horror-tinged movie to win the Best Picture Oscar. But the writing! Everyone from children’s author Roald Dahl to meta-magician David Foster Wallace have praised it to high heaven. Just don’t expect to sleep until you finish it. And then don’t expect to sleep easily.

    Why Did I Ever: A Novel

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    Why Did I Ever? by Mary Robison

    Anyone who ran away from home to try and track down Jack Kerouac in Florida is a person worth knowing. Other writers, like Daniel Handler of Lemony Snicket fame, have known and appreciated Mary Robison’s work for years. The fractured, fraying story of a Hollywood script doctor whose life is not following a three-act story arc, Why Did I Ever? may be her masterpiece. “It’s a manic, comic novel told in 536 little sections, some scarcely longer than a few words, from the point of view of a woman who is similarly scattered, troubled and jokey,” says Handler, author most recently of Poison For Breakfast. “If you’ve ever heard the lyrics (as the heroine does) as ‘It’s a grand old flag, dunt dunt high-flying flag. Dunt dunt duh, dunt dunt duh, dunt dunt duhhh,’ this book is for you.”

    Disgrace: A Novel

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    Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

    What can you learn about post-apartheid South Africa from a novel about a disgraced college professor who loses his job over repeated inappropriate behavior and far worse when it comes to a student he pressures into having sex? Nothing and everything. The Nobel Prize-winning Coetzee takes a white man of some standing in South Africa who sees his place in the world slipping away, both personally and in the country at large. Coetzee really puts him through the wringer and then somehow allows you to feel for him and hope for him, just when all hope seems lost. It’s a work of empathy and grace set in a country that lacked those qualities for so many for so long. And bestowing it on a character who really doesn’t “deserve” it proves again how everyone deserves it, always.

    Treasure Island (Signet Classics)

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    Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

    “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!” Those words at the end of Treasure Island echo in the mind of anyone who reads it long after they’ve closed the book. Has anyone spoiled the fun of Robert Louis Stevenson’s gem by discerning some commentary on colonialism or revealed Long John Silver as an example of unfettered capitalism? Let’s hope not. Because no book is more fun than Treasure Island. Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is a bore. R.M. Ballantyne’s now thankfully forgotten The Coral Island is a scold. But 140 years on, Treasure Island is a tale to fire the imagination. Pirates! Mutiny! Treasure maps! Gold! A brave lad caught up in it all and he lives to tell the tale! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum, indeed.

    In Search of Lost Time: Proust 6-pack (Modern Library Classics)

    In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

    Of course you’re intimidated. It’s multiple volumes long and contains more than 4000 pages! And if you want to keep track of who is cheating on whom and who said what at which party, you really have to read it all at once. But the Harry Potter books run to seven volumes and so will George R.R. Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire. Not only are people not daunted by them, they’re angrily demanding Martin hop to it and write more. Here’s the thing—Proust’s masterwork is gossipy, scandalous, sexy, funny and deeply moving. If you’ve ever enjoyed the company of someone who tells stories about their friends (“Oh, and did you hear what happened to Y.K. last week at the cafe?”) you will enjoy Proust. Reach the end of the final volume and you’ll be rewarded with an emotion unlike anything else in literature. Yes, it’s Mount Everest: formidable, challenging and dangerous. And people line up to climb Everest every single day. You can do it.

    Goodnight Moon

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    Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown; Pictures by Clement Hurd

    Books don’t have to be read again and again to be loved. But it sure helps. Like a favorite poem or song, a classic picture book distills a story to the essential words, casting a spell through a precise combination of text and pictures. It lulls a child to sleep and enchants the person reading it. Your parents read it to you. You read it to your child. And your child will read it to their child—or maybe already is!—and down and down through the ages. And if that doesn’t move you, nothing will. So let Margaret Wise Brown have the last, quiet word: “Goodnight stars. Goodnight air. Goodnight noises everywhere.”

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    Remember high school English class reading assignments? Sometimes those dense classics were even enough to make the booklovers in the classroom groan.

    But every now and then, an assigned reading would come along and truly stick with us. For many, “1984” by George Orwell is one of those books.

    ‘Station Eleven’ by Emily St. John Mandel

    This dystopian sci-fi novel is about a roaming troupe of actors traversing the Great Lakes region, performing Shakespeare and music for the scattered communities that remain 15 years after a pandemic decimated most of the world’s population. But the Traveling Symphony runs into trouble when they arrive at St. Deborah by the Water and encounter a dangerous and violent prophet who threatens their existence. “Station Eleven” parallels the “before” and “after” of a pandemic-ridden society, weaving threads of fate, hope and disaster amid the apocalypse.

    ‘The Memory Police’ by Yōko Ogawa

    This dystopian novel takes place on an island wrestling with the increasing disappearance of everyday objects and animals. Birds, hats, ribbons, roses and other items are going missing, and only some have the power to remember what’s been lost. The Memory Police, a draconian, fear-inspiring squad, ensure these items remain forever forgotten. This story follows a young novelist devising a plan to hide her editor from the clutches of the Memory Police.

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    Other people can be baffling. Even in our closest relationships, loved ones frequently behave in ways that can seem inexplicable. Why can’t your friend recognize her self-destructive foibles? Why do you find your co-worker so grating? Partners insist on misinterpreting each other; voters are convinced that their political opponents are irredeemably wrong—and in these disputes, the other side’s point of view feels not just incorrect but also completely alien. In short, why are other people like this?

    Middlemarch, by George Eliot

    Those craving an immersive exploration of the human psyche should look no further than this towering classic novel. Although most readers wouldn’t describe Eliot’s study of a provincial 19th-century English town as a work of psychology, it dissects the interlocking lives of the residents with an astute eye toward what drives them. The characters in its sprawling cast—among them the ardent, generous Dorothea Brooke and the ambitious doctor Tertius Lydgate—make ill-advised marriages, run up against obstacles to their ambitions, allow their reputations to be besmirched, and fall into debts that they struggle to repay. Much of the novel’s drama comes from the mutual incomprehension that arises between individuals (particularly married couples), and Eliot tracks with riveting detail the feelings and thoughts on both sides of a disagreement. Even the briefest flash of emotion on a face or the intonation of a phrase can set off a chain of misunderstandings, and the reader is privy to each character’s shortcomings as they form unrealistic expectations and read their own preoccupations into their interlocutors’ words. Total understanding of others is impossible, the novel suggests. And yet, thanks to Eliot’s keen sensitivity, reading Middlemarch might just enlarge your capacity to imagine other people’s state of mind.

    [Read: Why it’s nice to know you]

    Vintage

    Darkness Visible, by William Styron

    At 60, Styron was stricken with an episode of severe depression, one that incapacitated him and brought him to the brink of suicide. In this slim book, he attempts to put words to his experience of a disease that is “so mysteriously painful and elusive,” he writes, “as to verge close to being beyond description.” We gain an intimate sense of the illness from its beginnings, when Styron found that alcohol—a substance he had been “abusing for forty years”—suddenly triggered nausea and revulsion. His abstention kicked off a malaise that culminated in a determination to kill himself in his Connecticut farmhouse, ending only with his subsequent hospitalization and recovery. Sections about depression’s causes and treatment are woven in elegantly among meditations on suicide, an act that, Styron argues, should have “no more reproof attached than to the victims of terminal cancer.” The depths of depression are nearly incomprehensible to those who haven’t experienced it, yet Styron’s rich, precise language allows his readers to grasp his suffering—and gives us a glimpse into the workings of his particular mind.

    Little Brown Spark

    Connected, by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler

    To truly understand people, don’t focus on individuals or groups, the social scientists Christakis and Fowler write. What matter are the connections between people: the branching paths that extend from you and your family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors to, say, Kevin Bacon. The book sketches out the surprising ways that these social networks sway our behavior, moods, and health, and its conclusions can be mind-bending. If your best friend’s sister gains weight, for example, you’re more likely to gain weight too, they write. Who we know significantly affects whether we smoke, die by suicide, or vote, thanks to our human tendency to copy one another. Happiness and sadness also spread among groups, so that the mood of a person you don’t know can sway your own emotions—even though we often imagine that our internal states are under our personal control. “No man or woman is an island,” the authors write. Their book makes a convincing case that our tangled relationships determine nearly everything about how our life plays out—and reminds us that we can’t be meaningfully understood in isolation.

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    Graywolf

    Milkman, by Anna Burns

    Milkman takes place in what appears to be 1970s Northern Ireland during the Troubles—hijackings, car bombs, and “renouncers-of-the-state” form its tumultuous backdrop—and it paints a chillingly sharp portrait of a community consumed by paranoia and violence. When its unnamed narrator appears in public with a menacing figure known only as Milkman, rumors begin to spread that she’s his mistress. Never mind the fact that the attentions of Milkman, a high-ranking paramilitary member who seems to follow her everywhere and utters oblique threats, are entirely unwanted. Where she lives, the narrator tells us, “you created a political statement everywhere you went, and with everything you did, even if you didn’t want to.” To protect herself from the gossip and from Milkman himself, the narrator is forced to become a “carefully constructed nothingness.” She adopts a blank expression and confides in no one—an emotional state that mirrors the hollowed-out hopelessness and self-deception of her neighbors. Burns’s dense, discursive style captures the narrator’s psyche intimately: We feel with her as she wrestles with the fear, suspicion, and longing she hides from the world, and as she observes the corrosion of an entire city under duress.

    Anchor

    The Personality Brokers, by Merve Emre

    We often speak of “personality types” and take for granted that individuals’ inherent qualities can be categorized, predicted, and analyzed. In this intriguing book, Emre traces the development of this idea by recounting the history of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the world’s most popular personality test. Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers, a mother-daughter duo, spent much of the 20th century developing their system’s dichotomies: introversion and extroversion, feeling and thinking, intuition and sensing, judging and perceiving. Their story is a strange, sprawling narrative marked by religious fervor and a fixation on the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, and set against the historical rise of postwar white-collar work. Emre’s account is shot through with necessary skepticism—the Myers-Briggs system isn’t substantiated by scientific research, and its creators were “desperate amateurs” relying mostly on quixotic faith, she writes. At the same time, she articulates why the framework holds such enduring appeal: It provides its adherents with language to parse the murky world of their own and others’ personalities, and many use it to arrive at a self-knowledge that can be genuinely liberating. The quest to know ourselves, this book makes clear, is an ongoing one.

    [Read: I gave myself three months to change my personality]

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    Reclaiming Conversation, by Sherry Turkle

    “Face-to-face conversation is the most human—and humanizing—thing we do,” the sociologist Turkle writes at the beginning of her incisive 2015 book. Our reliance on digital tools that replace such interactions erodes our ability to engage in deep, open-ended discussions, she argues. Reclaiming Conversation is full of dismaying examples of this diminishment, drawn from countless interviews with teenagers and young adults, teachers, corporate executives, and families. Parents can’t tear their eyes away from their phone at family dinners; students have trouble focusing and shy away from substantive dialogue in classrooms; professionals have meetings that barely function as meetings, because every participant is also checking their email. We’ve replaced talking with texting, emailing, and posting on social media, Turkle points out, in order to sidestep the boredom, embarrassment, and vulnerability that come with real conversation. And yet, those kinds of discomfort beget intimacy—the foundation of understanding other people, and thus of empathy. Turning to those around us, she concludes, is still the best way to comprehend one another. If you want to know why people behave the way they do, the shortest path to the answer is simply to ask them.

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    The Best American Poetry of the 21st Century (So Far)

    Poetry in the 21st century is both ubiquitous and oddly peripheral. Verses are displayed on subway walls, recited on momentous occasions, and served up in giant fonts on social media, but rarely do they merit a book review or a position on end-of-year reading lists. Yet the medium evolves even when it isn’t the center of attention, and over the past 25 years, its authors have pursued astonishing new forms and reinvented old ones. The Atlantic has prized and published poetry since its founding in 1857. And so, a quarter of the way into this new century of cataclysmic change, we thought it was an apt time to consider how poets fit into the broader conversation—to document an emerging canon of the most significant verse of the century so far.

    No list can be comprehensive or infallible, but we did not approach this one lightly. After considering various criteria, we landed on work that felt consequential. We were looking for poetry that had struck its readers, for whatever reasons, as unforgettable, enduring, and influential: maybe because it came as an unexpected gift from a friend or loved one, or in the form of a classroom discovery; maybe because it reframed the world in such a way that culture or society felt foundationally shaken. Maybe it was just because, to paraphrase Emily Dickinson, it takes the top of your head off.

    ↓ Jump to the list here

    To establish a consensus, we consulted with more than 450 people—poets and fiction writers, but also publishers, editors, and informed readers from a variety of fields—asking them to name 10 books apiece. Together, they cast nearly 1,000 votes and recommended more than 400 collections of verse. Finally, we limited the list to Americans: Asking 25 books to represent 25 years of artistic progress within the many traditions that feed into American poetry was difficult enough.

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    “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy

    “Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace

    “Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo

    “The Stand” by Stephen King

    “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand

    “A Suitable Boy” by Vikram Seth

    “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    “1Q84” by Haruki Murakami

    “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas

    “A Dance to the Music of Time” by Anthony Powell

    “The Recognitions” by William Gaddis

    “The Tale of Genji” by Murasaki Shikibu

    “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt

    “The Luminaries” by Eleanor Catton

    “2666” by Roberto Bolañ

     

     

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    The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

    Animal Farm by George Orwell

    Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

    Beloved by Toni Morrison

    American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

    The Iliad by Homer

    The Odyssey by Homer

    I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

    Persuasion by Jane Austen

    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

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    Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

    Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

    The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

    The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

    The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

    Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

    Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

    Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

    The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    1984 by George Orwell

    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

    The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

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    Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

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    The Awakening by Kate Chopin

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    Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

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    In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

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    Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

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    Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

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    Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

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    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

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    Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

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    The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

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    The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

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    My Antonia by Willa Cather

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    The Color Purple by Alice Walker

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    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

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    The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

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    The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

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    The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

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    Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

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    A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

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    April

     

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    All 8 Thomas Pynchon Books, Ranked

    All 8 Thomas Pynchon Books, Ranked© Provided by Collider

    If you’re more of a movie person than a literature person, you might only be familiar with Thomas Pynchon thanks to Inherent Vice, which is, to date, the only novel of his that’s been adapted into either a movie or TV series. Pynchon’s one of those writers whose work proves hard to translate, as his style is chaotic, unique, and sometimes pretty much indecipherable. Inherent Vice, the 2014 film, was sometimes criticized for being too hard to follow, but it’s pretty much as comprehensible as Pynchon gets.

    Beyond the strangeness of his work, the other thing that stands out about Thomas Pynchon is how mysterious he is. There are only a few official photos of the man (despite him being on this planet for, as of 2024, 87 years), and just as few recordings of his voice (some of them found on The Simpsons, thanks to him having a couple of odd cameos on the show). The mystique of him as an author goes hand in hand with the bizarreness of his novels, with there being a total of eight published between 1963 and 2013. Some are long, some are punchy, some are funny, some are disturbing, and some are (somehow) all of the above. With some difficulty, they’re all ranked below, starting with his solitary misfire and ending with some of the most important literary works of the past 50 years.

    ‘Bleeding Edge’

    First published: September 17, 2013

    Many Thomas Pynchon novels take place at a certain point in America’s past, with Bleeding Edge – his most recent work – taking place the closest to the present day. It’s a difficult thing to adjust to, initially, hearing Pynchon reference figures and pop culture from the (admittedly very early) 21st century, with Bleeding Edge taking place in New York City during 2001. An event you’d expect to play a role in the narrative indeed does, but it’s not the real focus.

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    Instead, Bleeding Edge is kind of definable as a techno-thriller, with a narrative that’s influenced by the dot-com boom and its aftermath, with Maxine – a single mother and detective of sorts – getting caught up in a complex plot that involves fraud, corruption, conspiracies, and hacking. It’s a confusing and mind-bending odyssey like other Pynchon novels, but the confusion is less enjoyable here. Parts seem well-researched, but Pynchon tackling things inherent to the online world so head-on also has occasional “How do you do, fellow kids” energy. There is an initial thrill to seeing a Pynchon story take place post-2000, but it wears out its welcome long before the conclusion.

    ‘Vineland’

    First published January 1, 1990

    Bleeding Edge took place about a dozen years earlier than when it was published, but the gap between Vineland’s time period and year of publication was even closer. Vineland takes place in 1984, but much of it revolves around people who were young and living their best lives during the latter half of the 1960s. Things have dried up in numerous ways for the central characters here, and the novel is at its best when it follows their attempts at redemption and/or reconciliation.

    It’s hard to describe beyond that. People drift in and out of the narrative and there is a lack of focus… probably deliberate, to some extent, but it’s not wholly satisfying. Pynchon’s biggest novels are arguably more head-spinning than the likes of Bleeding Edge and Vineland, but the grandiosity of such works also serves to make them more admirable and impressive. Vineland is on the cusp of scratching the same itch as Pynchon’s better novels, but it’s just lacking a little something. It’s still more satisfying than Bleeding Edge, which might be the only bad Thomas Pynchon book, but he’s got half a dozen other novels that are better still.

    ‘The Crying of Lot 49’

    First published: April 27, 1966

    The Crying of Lot 49 is easily the most approachable novel written by Thomas Pynchon, and part of that comes about because it’s easily his shortest. It’s only about 150 pages long, with his second-shortest, Inherent Vice, being more than twice that long (depending on the edition, admittedly). It’s still mind-bending and perhaps meandering, but it can only spiral off in so many directions, owing to its length.

    The plot’s comparable to that of Bleeding Edge, with a female protagonist, Oedipa Maas, uncovering a conspiracy and subsequently getting lost, alongside the viewer. But her particular journey – which starts with her being made executor of an ex-lover’s estate – is more direct, funnier, and ultimately more thrilling. If anything, The Crying of Lot 49 might’ve benefited from being a little longer, because it does end somewhat abruptly. It’s probably the only Thomas Pynchon novel you could say that about, for better or worse.

    ‘V.’

    First published: March 18, 1963

    If you were to give someone a quick rundown of Thomas Pynchon’s biography, and then give them all his books to read without telling them which year each was published, it’s very unlikely that this hypothetical person (who, in this scenario, has a lot of time on their hands) would guess V. was the first one published of the lot. It’s hugely complex, sprawling, and thematically ambitious for a debut novel, and it’s remarkable that Pynchon was only 26 the year it was published.

    1. has a lot going on structurally, and is perhaps more interesting to analyze on that front than it is to enjoy narratively. Like some other Pynchon novels, it’s about an ultimately fruitless search for something, in this case being the – or a – titular “V.” You can come away understanding just a fraction of what’s happening and still find it rewarding in its own strange way, though. It’s also notable for potentially influencing partsof The Master, which starred Joaquin Phoenix and was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Speaking of Phoenix and Anderson…

    ‘Inherent Vice’

    First published: August 4, 2009

    As far as movies go, Inherent Vice is something of a challenging watch, but Inherent Vice, the novel, is a pretty easy read by Thomas Pynchon standards. Part of that comes from how funny it is on a pretty consistent basis, and because there’s a clear central character. Said character is a private detective named Doc Sportello, and he’s completely out of his depths – and usually under the influence of something – after he’s roped into a complex series of events by an ex-girlfriend.

    The confusion is kind of the point, and it’s often played for laughs in a way that’s a bit reminiscent of The Big Lebowski, for a cinematic comparison. As for the film version of Inherent Vice, it captures a similar vibe and chaotic energy to the source material, all the while not proving able to fully translate it to the screen; even at his most approachable, Pynchon’s still enigmatic. It hasn’t deterred Paul Thomas Anderson from potentially adapting another Pynchon novel, though, as his mysterious next film – still untitled, as of 2024 – might be an adaptation of Vineland.

    ‘Mason & Dixon’

    First published: April 30, 1997

    It might be a cop-out to say that the most epic three novels by Thomas Pynchon are his three best, but they are undeniably impressive and his most distinctive works. No one else can sustain such madness for such a long time, with his three longest (and, again, best) novels all spanning more than 750 pages each. Stylistically, Mason & Dixon is the boldest of the three, as it’s written in a way that mirrors literature from the time it was set… and it’s set the furthest back of any Pynchon novel, with most of the action taking place during the 1760s.

    Historical accuracy is not the name of the game here, but Mason & Dixon is also a story within a story, so the embellishment of certain events and people is more than justified. Even if it wasn’t, the breaks from reality are generally fun, and it’s more interesting than reading a dry biographical story about Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon as they establish the Mason–Dixon line. Highlights include one character being pursued by a mechanical duck, and a chapter where someone transforms into not a werewolf, but a were-beaver. You can’t make this stuff up, or maybe you can, if you’re Thomas Pynchon.

    ‘Against the Day’

    First published: November 21, 2006

    As Thomas Pynchon’s longest novel by far, it’s fitting that Against the Day also covers the longest amount of time narratively. It begins in 1893, with the Chicago World’s Fair, and moves along steadily until it concludes a little after the end of World War I. It also goes to the most different locations of any Pynchon novel, and might contain the largest number of characters, to the point where it’s not just impossible to single out a protagonist, but it’s even difficult to establish a “main cast,” so to speak.

    There are a handful of families important to the plot, and also a group known as The Chums of Chance, who fly around – and in and out of the main storyline – seemingly at random. The Chums of Chance also have a team dog they can all communicate with. Some parts of Against the Day are entirely silly, much of it’s incomprehensible, and parts are strikingly emotional. It will probably never get a movie adaptation. If you have the time to read something about 1100 pages long, or listen to an audiobook that’s 50+ hours in duration, it’s worth it. It’s frustrating, weird, and wonderful in all the best ways.

    ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’

    First published: March 14, 1973

    Though Gravity’s Rainbow is the most well-known – and probably the best – novel Pynchon ever wrote, it’s not an ideal starting point for newcomers to the author’s body of work. Again, the brevity of The Crying of Lot 49, plus its relative closeness to the start of his writing career, makes that a better starting point. Inherent Vice, maybe, too. Gravity’s Rainbow is one of his longest and is certainly his most bizarre and grotesque, with it being beautifully written and also obscene/disgusting all at once.

    It’s about World War II and its aftermath, largely focused on technology, atrocities, outlandish sexual escapades, and paranoia. Gravity’s Rainbow captures the madness of war better than most other works of fiction, meaning that all the shocking moments within do ultimately work in service of what the novel’s going for. It’s an exploration of so many different things all at once, with very little by way of a discernible plot, or even “plots.” that way for over 50 years, But the experience of reading it is unmatched and wholly unique. It’s been and such a statement will likely still be true in another 500.Note: I am a big Pynchon fan read all of these except Bleeding Edge My favorite is Inherit Vice

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    The 14 best fantasy book series of all time

    Let’s make one thing very clear. I’m going to list the 14 best fantasy series of all time. There are some operative words in this statement that it will be worth underlining before I dive in.

    Fantasy: I will be interpreting this genre as I see fit, but the key distinction here is that I’ve chosen to leave sci-fi for another piece. So all you Vorkosigan stans and Asimov junkies, I see you. Yours is coming soon.

    Series: This means that I will only focus on chronicles that span more than one volume. While there are some absolutely whip-smart, flooring fantasy standalone novels out there, I won’t be highlighting them here.

    Best: The word that’s always the bane of interrogating any kind of popular art form. There are so many ways to get at “best” that it has nearly lost its meaning. All I want it to mean in this context is that fans of fantasy will be entranced by the following entries. And though some have their blemishes, as we’ll get into, the following series have helped define fiction as we know it. Full stop.

    Organization

    I’ve chosen to break the following list of 14 fantasy series into two categories: unfinished and finished. The Song of Ice and Fire and Kingkiller Chronicle series are two of the most impactful reading experiences I’ve had in my entire life. And yet there’s no guarantee that they will ever be finished. So if you don’t want to start a series that doesn’t yet have an ending, you can skip to the “Finished” section of this article.

    Within each category, I’ve ranked the series based on my level of enjoyment with each one. However, I’ve chosen not to format them in the numbered, list-like style that would accompany a more formal ranking. That way, you can’t get mad at me when your favorite series ends up toward the bottom of the list.

    Still, to be on here at all means a series is nearly the stuff of legend, if not already so. They’re worthwhile reads, regardless of how you feel about their authors (cough, cough J.K. Rowling).

    I’ve gabbed enough. It’s about time I let these books do the talking. Without further ado, here are the 14 best fantasy book series of all time, starting with those series that are still UNFINISHED.

    A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin | Game of Thrones books | A Song of Ice and Fire | Image: George R.R. Martin — Not A Blog© Image: George R.R. Martin — Not A Blog

    A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

    A Song of Ice and Fire is an epic fantasy series set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, where noble families vie for power and control. It’s also the namesake of this very website. “Winter is Coming” is the mantra of House Stark, a dire warning of trouble to come.

    The story is told through the perspectives of multiple characters, many of them with vasly different perspectives on life, which lends the series a lot of depth. Through this lens, Martin explores themes of power, betrayal, honor, and the brutal realities of war.

    Meanwhile, his world-building is rich and complex, drawing heavily on real-world history, particularly that of medieval Europe. Known for its unpredictable and morally ambiguous characters, A Song of Ice and Fire has been acclaimed for its intricate plot, deep character development, and gritty realism.

    The series began with A Game of Thrones (1996). Martin has yet to complete the saga, with five of the planned seven books now published. Now you know what all the articles complaining about The Winds of Winter delays are about.

    The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1). | Image: DAW.© Image: DAW.

    The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

    The Kingkiller Chronicle is a high fantasy series that follows the life of Kvothe, a legendary figure who becomes the subject of a story he narrates over the course of the trilogy. The narrative is framed as a memoir recounting Kvothe’s rise from an orphaned child to a renowned musician, wizard, and adventurer. The series is known for its lyrical prose, deep character development, and exploration of the nature of storytelling itself.

    In the first book, The Name of the Wind (2007), Kvothe tells the story of his childhood in a traveling troupe, his time at the University where he learns magic, and the mysteries surrounding his family’s history with mythical beings called the Chandrian. The second book, The Wise Man’s Fear (2011), continues Kvothe’s journey as he faces trials both magical and personal, including his pursuit of knowledge, his complex relationships, and his struggle with his own identity.

    Kingkiller weaves together themes of love, loss, ambition, and the cost of fame. Rothfuss’s world-building is intricate, with a unique magic system and rich lore. The series’ third and final core book, The Doors of Stone, has yet to be published, and it’s been nearly 14 years since The Wise Man’s Fear hit store shelves, leaving fans to wonder if the series will ever be completed. That said, it’s far more likely to receive an ending than A Song of Ice and Fire, which has more than one book left to go.

    The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive #1). | Image: Tor Books.© Image: Tor Books.

    The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

    Though this series finds itself at the bottom of the “Unfinished” category, it’s up against some of the most meaningful fantasy fiction to have ever been written. Also, given author Brandon Sanderson’s reputation as a mind-bogglingly prolific author, Stormlight is the only series in this section that is nearly guaranteed to receive an ending from its original author, in spite of the fact that Sanderson intends for the series to be told in two sets of five books. Sanderson’s reliability – and, of course, his reputation as one of the greatest storytellers of all time – should earn him and Stormlight some points, especially if you’re an endings person.

    This is an epic high fantasy series set in the world of Roshar, a land plagued by destructive, magical storms and home to diverse cultures and mystical powers. The series is centered on multiple main characters, each of whom plays a crucial role in the unfolding events. The primary protagonists include Kaladin Stormblessed, a former slave turned soldier who struggles with depression and leadership; Shallan Davar, a noblewoman with a hidden past and the ability to create illusions through a magical power called “Lightweaving”; and Dalinar Kholin, a high-ranking military commander who begins experiencing strange visions that suggest he is destined to unite the fractured nations of Roshar. At the heart of the story is the ancient and powerful conflict between the Knights Radiant — an order of magic-wielding warriors — and the Voidbringers, mysterious entities bent on destruction. As characters uncover forgotten history and the true nature of their world, they must navigate political intrigue, ancient prophecies, and the looming threat of an apocalyptic war.

    The series’ first book, The Way of Kings (2010), introduces readers to the world and its characters. It’s where you should start if you’re looking for a way into Sanderson’s epic. For all the Mistborn stans out there concerned about Stormlight making this list over it, I have the following rationale: The unique magic system that Sanderson creates and brings to life in Stormlight is second to none. Stormlight’s character development is deeper. The characters feel more visceral. Stormlight’s mythology gives the series a deeper and more interconnected sense of purpose than Mistborn. If you still disagree, I celebrate you. Most all of Sanderson’s stuff is a treat.

    Now let’s move onto the great FINISHED fantasy book series!

    The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. | Image: William Morrow.© Image: William Morrow.

    The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

    The big kahuna. The fantasy series to rule all fantasy series (sorry George R.R.). The Lord of the Rings is the cornerstone of modern fantasy literature, set in the richly detailed world of Middle-earth. The epic trilogy follows the journey of Frodo Baggins, a humble hobbit who is entrusted with the task of destroying the One Ring, a powerful and malevolent artifact created by the Dark Lord Sauron to dominate all of Middle-earth.

    The story begins with The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), continues with The Two Towers (also 1954) and concludes with The Return of the King (1955), released back to back to back. If only some of the other fantasy titans working together could put out books with such regularly, although to be fair, Tolkien finished the whole thing before his publisher split it into three books for release.

    Tolkien weaves themes of friendship, bravery, sacrifice, and the corrupting influence of power throughout his narrative. The Lord of the Rings influences pretty much everything in the genre to this day. If you haven’t read the books, you’ve likely seen the films. There’s no need to say more.

    A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. | Image: Clarion Books.© Image: Clarion Books.

    Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin

    The Earthsea Cycle is a renowned series of fantasy novels set in the archipelago of Earthsea, a world where magic is a natural and central force. The series follows the life of Ged, a powerful wizard who initially appears in A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), the series’ first book. In subsequent novels — The Tombs of Atuan (1971), The Farthest Shore (1972), Tehanu (1990), and Tales from Earthsea (2001) — Le Guin explores themes of identity, mortality, and the complexities of good and evil while further expanding on the history, cultures, and magic of Earthsea.

    Throughout her career in sci-fi and fantasy, Le Guin became known for weaving themes of diversity and environmentalism into her writing. Those themes are on full display here. The Earthsea Cycle has become a seminal work in the fantasy genre, distinguished by its intellectual depth, lyrical prose, and profound moral insights. It’s also unusual among fantasy epics in that it doesn’t focus on war, which was intentional on Le Guin’s part.

    The Broken Earth trilogy deluxe edition by N.K. Jemisin. | Image courtesy of Orbit.© Image courtesy of Orbit.

    Broken Earth by N.K. Jemisin

    N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy is a groundbreaking series set in a world plagued by constant geological instability. It’s a future Earth where people known as “orogenes” have the ability to control seismic energy, but are feared and oppressed for their destructive powers.

    The trilogy begins with The Fifth Season (2015), where Jemisin weaves together multiple timelines. We follow Essun, a woman whose family is wiped out by a catastrophic event, as well as two young orogenes, Damaya and Syenite.

    Broken Earth is notable for its innovative narrative structure (including second-person narration) and exploration of themes such as trauma, power, survival, and social injustice. The trilogy challenges traditional notions of heroism, offering a lens through which readers can examine the consequences of systemic oppression, environmental degradation, and the cyclical nature of violence. It’s the best completed fantasy series the world has seen in recent years. Go read it right now if you haven’t. It’s the kind of story that will help you escape from the real world while teaching you invaluable things about it.

    People taking photos in front of the Tribute to Akira… | Fotoholica Press/GettyImages© Fotoholica Press/GettyImages

    Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama

    While some folks might be surprised to see Dragon Ball on a list of epic fantasy series, it belongs in this rarified air. In spite of the fact that its format and cultural heritage diverges from the rest of the titles on the list, it’s one of the most well-loved fantasy stories of all time. That can’t go unnoticed.

    Dragon Ball is a Japanese manga and anime series that follows the adventures of Son Goku, a powerful martial artist with a mysterious past, as he embarks on a quest to find the seven magical Dragon Balls, which can grant any wish when gathered together. The story all began with Dragon Ball (1984) and has captured countless hearts and minds since then, becoming one of the best-selling manga series of all time.

    In Dragon Ball Z (the second part of the series, starting in 1989), Goku’s battles intensify, as he defends Earth from alien invaders like the ruthless Frieza, fights intergalactic threats like the androids, and engages in fierce martial arts tournaments. The series at large is known for its distinctive art style, humor, and iconic action scenes.

    Dragon Ball remains one of the most successful and beloved franchises in the world to this day, continuing to inspire new generations of fans. Arika Toriyama was involved in its further development right up until his death in March of 2024.

    The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. | Image: Harper Voyager.© Image: Harper Voyager.

    The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

    The Poppy War is a grimdark military fantasy series set in a world inspired by 20th-century Chinese history, particularly the Second Sino-Japanese War and the opium trade. The story follows Rin, a poor, orphaned girl from the south of the fictional empire of Nikan, who dreams of escaping her abusive, impoverished life. The trilogy blends elements of dark fantasy, military strategy, and historical fiction.

    Kuang’s world-building is deeply influenced by Chinese culture and history, from the political intrigue to the social hierarchies and mythologies that shape her characters’ lives. Her writing is both brutal and poetic, tackling difficult issues such as the trauma of war, colonialism, and the consequences of seeking vengeance. If there’s one word I would use to describe The Poppy War series, it’s “unrelenting.” It’s the sort of book series you stay up thinking about long after you’ve closed the cover.

    The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time #1). | Image: Tor Books.© Image: Tor Books.

    The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

    Sanderson sickos rejoice! The Wheel of Time is an epic high fantasy series originally created by Robert Jordan and later completed by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan’s death in 2007. The series spans 14 books, starting with The Eye of the World (1990) and concluding with A Memory of Light (2013), and is set in a place where time is cyclical, the past, present, and future are intertwined, and the forces of Light and Shadow are in constant conflict.

    At the heart of the story is Rand al’Thor, a young man from the small village of Emond’s Field who is revealed to be the prophesied Dragon Reborn, the savior destined to battle the Dark One and prevent the world’s ultimate destruction…or maybe cause it. The Wheel of Time has everything you would expect from a classic fantasy series, but it is most well-known for its exceedingly vast scope. It’s had a profound impact on the fantasy genre, influencing many subsequent writers and inspiring a global fan base.

    Amazon is currently adapting The Wheel of Time as a TV series. The third season is due out in 2025.

    Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

    The Harry Potter series is a beloved seven-book saga that chronicles the life of Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers on his eleventh birthday that he is famous for surviving an attack by the dark Lord Voldemort when he was a baby. But you know all this already if you’re here. Hogwarts and all that jazz. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone kicked off the party in 1997, and you know how J.K. can be when she gets on a roll. By the time the book series concluded with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007, she’d ridden the series to record-breaking success.

    Harry Potter has become a central part of modern pop culture, inspiring readers of all ages. That said, the entire franchise is marred by Rowling’s staunch anti-trans stances that have fractured her fanbase. This is a particular shame because the escape offered by Harry Potter and his wonderful wizarding world has helped countless LGBTQ+ folks find joy and community in a real-life society full of hateful muggles.

    The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. | Image: HarperCollins Narnia.© Image: HarperCollins Narnia.

    The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

    Narnia will always be so gosh-darn Narnia, but that’s what people love about it, I suppose. It’s a classic series of seven fantasy novels that transport readers to the magical land of Narnia, a world populated by talking animals, mythical creatures, and ruled by the great lion Aslan. The series begins with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950), in which four British siblings — Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy — discover a wardrobe that leads to a land cursed by the White Witch, where it is always winter but never Christmas. Six other books follow, ending with 1956’s The Last Battle. C.S. Lewis also wrote a prequel book, The Magician’s Nephew, which came out in 1955.

    Each subsequent book can be read independently, but the series as a whole is united by its overarching narrative of redemption and the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Very original, I know.

    The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu. | Image: S&S/Saga Press.© Image: S&S/Saga Press.

    The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu

    The Dandelion Dynasty is an epic fantasy series that blends elements of Chinese history, political intrigue, and high fantasy. The series, beginning with The Grace of Kings (2015), takes place in the archipelago of Dara, a fictional empire inspired by ancient China. The story is set in a world where technology, magic, and war intersect. It follows the rise and fall of empires, focusing on the complex relationships between rulers, warriors, and the people they govern.

    The series is notable not only for its rich storytelling but also for Liu’s thoughtful examination of social and cultural dynamics, as well as his unique approach to fantasy. As a Chinese-American author, Liu draws upon his heritage to create a world that is both familiar and distinct from Western fantasy traditions, offering a fresh perspective on themes of power, identity, and revolution.

    The Gunslinger by Stephen King (The Dark Tower #1). | Image: Scribner.© Image: Scribner.

    The Dark Tower by Stephen King

    The Dark Tower is a genre-blending series that spans seven books, combining elements of fantasy, horror, westerns, science fiction, and psychological drama. Oh, and King does the Kingiest thing ever in this series by – for some reason – reintroducing characters from The Stand (1978) along an alternate timeline.

    At the heart of the story is Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger, a lone and determined hero on a quest to reach the enigmatic Dark Tower, a mystical structure that is said to hold the key to the fate of all worlds. The series opens with the aptly titled novel The Gunslinger (1982). The story goes on to weave through a complex multiverse, where different realities intersect and characters grapple with themes of destiny, free will, and the cyclical nature of time.

    If you like King or have ever wanted to understand what “liking King” means, try this. It’s about as weird and King-y as it gets.

    Riddle-Master by Patricia A. McKillip. | Image: Ace.© Image: Ace.

    Riddle-Master by Patricia A. McKillip

    The Riddle-Master trilogy is a high fantasy series that blends mystery, mythology, and lyrical prose. The trilogy consists of The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976), Heir of Sea and Fire (1977), and Harpist in the Wind (1979). The story is set in a world of ancient magic, riddles, and long-forgotten truths, where the characters are bound by destiny and the search for knowledge.

    The central protagonist is Morgon, the Prince of Hed, who is drawn into a quest that is as much about unraveling the mysteries of his own identity as it is about saving the world. The trilogy is often hailed as a classic of the genre, especially for its emphasis on language and the power of storytelling. McKillip’s ability to take her tone from dream-like one moment to completely earthy and grounded the next stands out even among the modern stories that have drawn inspiration from her original tale.

    Finale

    And there you have it. Fourteen of the most meaningful and thrilling series in literature. Sitting down with a cup of coffee and any of these titles will never fail to be one of life’s great pleasures. The words and worlds you find therein, in fact, might just stay with you, shining their light in all the darkest places, and showing you the way.

    To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.

    This article was originally published on winteriscoming.com as The 14 best fantasy book series of all time.

     

    13 Modern Classics in the Making: Recent Novels Destined for Timeless Status

    12 of the Most Beautiful Sentences in English Literature

    15 Hidden Gems in Classic Literature You Probably Haven’t Read Yet

     

    of the Most Beautiful Sentences in English Literature

    15 Hidden Gems in Classic Literature You Probably Haven’t Read Yet

     

  • More Movie Madness

    More Movie Madness

    More Movie Madness

    Movie Watching Goals 2025

     

    This is my movie madness   list for 2025 and contains a lists of everything I have seen and lots of us lists of recommended movies.  I have seen many of them but not all.

    i plan on updating this every month or so I get daily updates.

     

    Enjoy

     

    Oscars 2025: Predicting The Nominees & Winners Of All 23 Categories

    Movies 2025 Including Oscar Reflections

    osmos Movies TV Programs 2024 Lis

    tMaster Movies Seen 1970- 2024

    movies master list

    Movies Seen 2021

    movies seen 2020

    movies seen 2019

    Movies Watched During 2018

    movies list

    2024 K Drama Updates

    Master Movies Seen 1970- 2024

    250+ Movies/TV Series/Plays/Big News coverage, YouTube documentaries, etc. by the end of the year.

    At least one Korean movie per week

    At least one Spanish movie every so often

    One Bollywood or another foreign language movie every so often

    A mixture of thrillers, K Drama, comedies, rom-com, etc.

    Make a list of Oscar movies and watch several

    Resume going to the theater

    Two to three live theater performances

    List major news coverage and events

    List YouTube documentaries

    List Great Courses – do one course per month on average

    When traveling to the US, watch ten movies each trip, including one Bollywood, one Spanish, three to four blockbusters, one classic, one comedy

    News

     

     

     

     

    1. 1 NYE coverage
    2. 2 Coverage of Yoon arrest drama
    3. Coverage of Johnson’s election for Speaker
    4. 4 Coverage of NYE terror bombings
    5. 5 Coverage of Trump’s inauguration
    6. Coverage of Korean Air Crash
    7. Coverage of Trump’s first 100 days
    8. CNN/BBC news forecasts for the year
    9. NN coverage of Trump’s Indictment
    10. CNN coverage of Carter Funeral
    11. CNN coverage of President Trump’s first 100 days
    12. CNN coverage of LA fires
    13. President Biden’s Farewell Adress
    14. Senate confirmation hearings
    15. CNN coverage of Trump’s inaugural address
    16. News coverage of President Yoon’s trial
    17. Continuing coverage of Korean Impeachment trials
    18. Coverage on the DOGE commission and government cutbacks
    19. Jimmy Kimble
    20. Stephen Colbert
    21. The Daily Show
    22. Rachael Maddow Show coverage of ongoing protests
    23. The Last Word Show coverage of ongoing protests
    24. The Break Show coverage of ongoing protests
    25. The Inside show coverage of on-going protests
    26. Politics Nation coverage of ongoing protests
    27. CNN and MSNBC coverage of Signal Gate
    28. Democracy Now on Elon Musk’s Apartheid Roots
    29. Coverage of Yoon’s removal from office
    30. Coverage of Trump’s Liberation Day
    31. TV Coverage of Korean Election
    32. Continued coverage of US trade war and possible recession

     

    Great Courses -Other online courses

     

    1. Great Courses and other online courses
    2. Great Course French Revolution
    3. French Revolution se
    4. Mod Pod Mod Pod plus September – November

     

    God Pod

     

    1. GOD Pod Yes, You Are In Hell
    2. God pod “Elon Musk Is A Nazi Nepo Baby” – by Jesus Christ and God
    3. God Pod ‘ Eggs and up 37 percent and it is only day two of Trump 2.0
    4. GOD Podcast Pete H Must Resign

     

     

    1. Y Files/Other You Tube Documentaries
    2. Y Files Martian Mysteries
    3. Why Files on the End-of-the-World
    4. You Tube video magnetic pole shifting
    5. You Tube video magnetic pole shifting
    6. You Tube video – ancient map of America found
    7. How to survive an Alien Invasion
    8. What if Octopuses are aliens

     

    City Nerd documentaries

     

    1. City Nerd
    2. You Tube city Nerd on Houston
    3. You Tube City Nerd on high-speed trains coming to America?

     

    Sports

     

    1. Superbowl
    2. World Series

     

    January

     

    1. Marry You? K Rom-com
    2. Arthdal Chronicles (K pre-historical fantasy drama) Season One
    3. Arthdal Chronicles (K pre-historical fantasy drama) Season Two See review
    4. Check in Hangyang (K rom com)
    5. Farscape selected episodes seen half earlier on Amazon – hard to navigate the episode list though watching on Kanopy to finish episodes not seen
    6. Father Brown – will watch more episodes 122 total – too many to watch see review
    7. Allenoid Part One K Sci-Fi Drama
    8. Allenoid Part Two K Sci-Fi Drama
    9. Dog Days K Drama
    10. Back in Action CIA thriller
    11. I Feel Pretty US comedy
    12. Missing Harbin Corbin mini-series
    13. Run On

     

    February

     

    1. February
    2. Triangle of Sadness German Satire
    3. Oscars
    4. Hitman K Drama
    5. God Pod ‘ Eggs and up 37 percent and it is only day two of Trump 2.0’
    6. Amazon Bullseye K comedy drama
    7. Scam K Drama
    8. Simple History Secret History of North Korea
    9. Kill Room crime satire – did not finish
    10. Doubt K Drama Series
    11. The Boys K Drama /
    12. When the Phone Rang
    13. Bogota Lost City K Drama
    14. Silent Project K Drama
    15. Fiery Priest K drama seriesLa dolce villa romcom set in Italy B+
    16. Apple Cider Vinegar – a true story about Belle Gibson case that rocked the international wellness movement in 2017 based on a true story in Australia
    17. Dr Yohan K Medical Drama
    18. Policeman’s Lineage K police drama
    19. Trunk K drama did not finish
    20. Love in the Big City featuring a woman and her gay best friend K drama – the decent movie actually

     

    March

     

    1. Highway Men – about the taking down of Bonnie and Clyde based on the true story.
    2. Maestro
    3. Farscape Season 1, 2 and 3
    4. State of the Union
    5. Great Course History of the Roman Empire
    6. Electric State
    7. Alien Rising
    8. The last airbender
    9. Assimilation
    10. Shirley Temple Returns to Oz
    11. MY Octous Teacher
    12. Madness thriller series

     

     

    April

     

    1. Farside Saeason two 2
    2. Farside Season 3
    3. Farside Season 4
    4. When Life Gives You Tangerines (Korean Title: 폭싹 속았수다

    Romanized: Pokssak Sokatsuda K Drama series

    1. Karma: 악연
    2. You Tube Where to Find Wolves in the US
    3. You Tube What exinct animals may still be around?
    4. Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning 2023 Sequel note seen yet

    107.            NASA Spots Strange Object Circling the Sun

    1. UFO Report Polish TV series
    2. Black Mirror New Seasons Uncommon People Episode
    3. Black Mirror New Seasons Hotel Reverie

     

    May

     

    1. VIP K Drama

     

    One art show

    One concert

    One movie

     

    ON plane – write on line journal on phone

    Pick four to six movies

    Two Oscar picks

     

    ‘The Brutalist’

    Conclave

    Dune: Part 2

    One more thriller

    One more comedy

    One Spanish or Bollywood

     

    June

    One movie in theather

    One or two Wolf trap

    One or two movies in theather

    One life theather event

    One other concert

    Two or three trips to Smithsonian including African American and American Indian museum if they remain open while we are there

    Trip to Philadeplia NYC Boston?

    July

    Two movies in theather

    Two OSF

    On Oregon Cabaret

    One Criteron broadway

    Two concert at Britt Festival

    One to two movies on the plane

    Buy day pass

     

    August

     

    Trip to Bay area

     

    Asian Art Museum

    Berkeley art Musuem

    De Young Musuem

    Oakland musuem

    SF Moma

     

    September

     

    ON plane – write on line journal on phone

    Pick four to six movies

    Two Oscar picks

    ‘The Brutalist’

    Conclave

    Dune: Part 2

    One more thriller

    One more comedy

    One Spanish or Bollywood

     

    October

    November

    One to two movies on the plane

    Buy day pass

     

    December

    Oscar List

    Oscar nominations 2025: The full list of movies, actors and directors

    Find all the nominations below:

    Best Picture

    Bolded watched

    Anora

    The Brutalist

    A Complete Unknown

    Conclave

    Dune: Part 2

    Emilia Pérez

    I’m Still Here

    Nickel Boys

    The Substance

    Wicked

     

    ‘The Brutalist’

    Best Director

    Sean Baker – Anora

    Brady Corbet – The Brutalist

    James Mangold – A Complete Unknown

    Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez

    Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

    Best Actress in a Leading Role

    Cynthia Erivo – Wicked

    Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez

    Mikey Madison – Anora

    Demi Moore – The Substance

    Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here

    Best Actor in a Leading Role

    Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

    Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown

    Colman Domingo – Sing Sing

    Ralph Fiennes – Conclave

    Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice

    Best Actress in a Supporting Role

    Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown

    Ariana Grande – Wicked

    Felicity Jones – The Brutalist

    Isabella Rossellini – Conclave

    Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez

    Best Actor in a Supporting Role

    Yura Borisov – Anora

    Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

    Edward Norton – A Complete Uknown

    Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

    Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice

    Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

    Anora

    The Brutalist

    A Real Pain

    September 5

    The Substance

    Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

    A Complete Unknown

    Conclave

    Emilia Pérez

    Nickel Boys

    Sing Sing

    Best International Feature Film

    I’m Still Here

    The Girl with the Needle

    Emilia Pérez

    The Seed of the Sacred Fig

    Flow

    Best Animated Feature Film

    Flow

    Inside Out 2

    Memoir of a Snail

    Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

    The Wild Robot

    Best Documentary Feature

    Black Box Diaries

    No Other Land

    Porcelain War

    Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat

    Sugarcane

    Best Film Editing

    Anora

    The Brutalist

    Conclave

    Emilia Pérez

    Wicked

    Best Cinematography

    The Brutalist

    Dune: Part 2

    Emilia Pérez

    Maria

    Nosferatu

    ’Nosferatu’ received three Oscar nominations in the technical categories (© 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

     

    Best Music (Original Score)

    The Brutalist

    Conclave

    Emilia Pérez

    Wicked

    The Wild Robot

    Best Music (Original Song)

    “El Mal” – Emilia Pérez

    “The Journey” – The Six Triple Eight

    “Like a Bird” – Sing Sing

    “Mi Camino” – Emilia Pérez

    “Never Too Late” – Elton John: Never Too Late

    Best Sound

    A Complete Unknown

    Dune: Part 2

    Emilia Pérez

    Wicked

    The Wild Robot

    Best Visual Effects

    Alien: Romulus

    Better Man

    Dune: Part 2

    Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

    Wicked

    Best Production Design

    The Brutalist

    Conclave

    Dune: Part 2

    Nosferatu

    Wicked

    ‘Conclave’ has received eight Oscar nominations (Philippe Antonello/Focus Features)

    Best Costume Design

    A Complete Unknown

    Conclave

    Gladiator II

    Nosferatu

    Wicked

    Best Makeup and Hairstyling

    A Different Man

    Emilia Pérez

    Nosferatu

    The Substance

    Wicked

    Best Animated Short Film

    Beautiful Men

    In the Shadow of the Cypress

    Magic Candies

    Wander to Wonder

    Yuck!

    Best Live Action Short Film

    A Lien

    Anuja

    I’m Not a Robot

    The Last Ranger

    The Man Who Would Not Remain Silent

    Documentary Short Film

    Death by Numbers

    I Am Ready, Warden

    Incident

    Instruments of a Beating Heart

    The Only Girl in the Orchestra

     

     

    The Oscars at Our House 2025

    Has Hollywood lost its way?

    Roy Dufrain Jr
     
    		 

    Note:  Roy is my college housemate.  He has been writing an annual list of his Oscar recommendations for over 20 years. I respect his writing and his recommendations.  This is the third year I have reposted it.

    You can find his work on substack.

    the 2024 Oscars According to Roy Dufrain

    More Roy Dufrain Writing

    Roy Dufrain Updates

    guest post by Roy Dufraine

    Once again, Mrs D and I have endeavored to see as many Best Picture nominees as possible, given availability and other constraints. We’ve been doing this now for over 20 years. When we started there were still only five nominees. Since 2009, it’s been ten, and this year we saw eight, and I’ll say again, the Academy never should’ve increased the limit. Not just because it’s hard for fans to see them all, but because some of these movies are simply not worthy of the honor. Especially this year!

    Still, it’s Oscar time and it’s a tradition here! Pick your favorites, put on your tuxedoes and sparkly gowns (or in our case, your comfiest PJs), kick back with some soda and butter-soaked popcorn, wow or hiss the latest red carpet fashions, jeer or cheer the awkward, fawning interviews, predict the winners, pat yourself on the back when you’re right and blame woke Hollywood when you’re wrong!

    Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s what I thought…

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    Anora – A tale of stupid people doing terrible things stupidly. A whole lot of yelling and screwing failed to make this movie interesting. The nearly feral, selfish youth, the servile, bickering and bumbling Armenians, the contemptible ultra-rich Russians, the ‘dancer’ who accepts payment for sex but insists she’s not a hooker. The constant f-bombs. It all seemed over the top—grasping for gritty realism but approaching absurdity. So what.

    The Brutalist – A worthy subject, an intriguing and complicated lead character masterfully brought to life by a supremely talented star, an epic arc of struggle and redemption, a span of decades and locations wonderfully rendered visually and in historical references. And yet, I fell asleep. Had to finish the movie the next day. It’s brutally long and slow. Three and a half hours! Couldn’t trim even a half hour out of that? Come on.

    A Complete Unknown – Mrs D and I agreed this was easily and by far the best picture of the nominees we saw. I’m not sure it will stand the test of time as a ‘great’ movie, but it was full of great acting. Timothée Chalamet should win best actor for his amazing and mesmerizing recreation of Dylan’s musical performance and presence. Co-stars Monica Barbaro and Edward Norton should win their categories for the same reasons. The evocation of the time period through set design and other techniques was immersive and entertaining. Of the best-pic noms we’ve seen, this is the only one I’m sure I will watch again.

    Conclave – I really liked this movie at first. It seemed like a taut, understated political intrigue, with a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a hidden world—the election of a new pope. But I felt let down by the wild twist at the end. Not being a fan of the Catholic Church, I kind of enjoyed the irony of it, but I found the details strained credibility as presented. By chance I had just read an article about the many possible combinations of chromosomes that occur naturally in humans. So I didn’t doubt that, but it seemed so unlikely the person in question would have ever risen to a high position in the Catholic Church, or that any real circumstance could have resulted in the ending of this film. I just didn’t buy it.

    Dune Part Two – I read the book so many years ago that I remembered nothing of it. We saw Part One last year and were a bit lost throughout. So, we watched a couple YouTube summary videos, but then we still watched Part One before pushing play on Part Two. We both thought the investment of time paid off. It helped us sink into the films, with their long list of characters and multiple story threads. I’d rank this as the second best of the nominees. Stunning visuals and the kind of classic, epic storytelling that reminds me of Tolkien or Star Wars.

    Emilia Pérez – Lots of negative talk about the star of this one—whatever. I’d like to see it, but I don’t have Netflix right now and my wallet is already suffering from subscription fatigue.

    I’m Still Here – The trailer for this one looks really interesting, but the film has not been released for streaming as of this date.

    Nickel Boys – I’m not sure if the sheer volume of artsy techniques and effects (or affects?) were always in service of the storytelling in this film. It felt overwrought. All the weird shot angles, the square formatting, the ringing headache soundtrack, the time jumping and the gimmicky point of view thing, especially those back of head shots—I found it interesting but distracting, and wondered if anyone in Hollywood can just tell a story anymore.

    The Substance – I’m honestly not sure if it’s a comedy gone wrong or a drama gone wrong, but boy did it suck! If it had a point it was made in the first ten minutes and then beat to death for two more hours, and in the most gruesome fashion imaginable. Jesus, how is this nominated for anything?! How did it even get made?! It’s a perfect example of why many people say Hollywood has lost the ability to make great movies.

    Wicked – Loved the book! Never saw the play. The movie did not capture the wonder and delight I remember feeling at the ingenuity and thoughtfulness of the book. The set design and effects were impressive, the vocal talent at times astounding. But I couldn’t help feeling like I was watching a bad episode of Glee with all the cliché mean girl vs. Cinderella stuff. Also, a musical ought to leave you humming or singing a chorus or two on your way out the door. Think: If I Were a Rich Man, Papa Can You Hear Me, I Feel Pretty, Don’t Rain on My Parade, on and on. Wicked is more like sung dialogue but not one catchy, hummable tune. Meh.

    Honorable Shoutout

    A Real Pain – Should have been nominated. Thoughtful and thought provoking, just funny enough to lighten the weight of the relationships on view, among the characters themselves but also between the characters and the history they are interfacing with. And extremely well played by both Jesse Eisenberg and Macaulay Culkin, making these characters feel real and their oddball behavior believable.

    Something to Think About

    After the news of the great Gene Hackman’s death, Roy Sr, Mrs D and I all watched Unforgiven the other night, and enjoyed it immensely even though we’ve all seen it more than twice. Everything a Best Picture winner ought to be and then some. Not one of the 2024 movies even comes close.

    ROY DUFRAIN JR is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

     

     

    2024

     

     

    The List

     

    Numerical List

     

    1.    Confession  K Drama A-

    2.    Love In The Villa A

    3.    Love At First Sight A

    4.    Collectors K Drama B

    5.    The Spy Gone North B K Drama

    6.    Goodbye Mr. Black K Drama Did Not Finish

    7.    My Demon Love K Drama  Did Not Finish

    8.    My Annoying Brother K Drama B

    9.    Me And Me K Drama B

    10. Bodies British Sci-Fi B

    11. October Faction Vampire series

    12. Katyal Sci-Fi series

    13. Glass Onion Knives Out B

    14. Obliteration  US Series C Did Not Finish

    15. Squid Game Season International Did Not Finish

    16. Squid Game Season Two Korean Series Finished

    17. Fair Play   B-1 Is A Bit Too Violent And Dark

    18. In The Cold Netflix Series B

    19. Leave The World Behind Lots Of Stars But A Meh

    20. Gyesang Creature K Drama Part One

    21. Gyesang Creature K Drama Part Two B

    22. Manifest Season Four -Finished Series

    23. Stray UK Drama B

    24. Wednesday B

    25. Pretty Woman Classic Richard Gere/Julia Roberts A

    26. Somebody K Drama B

    27. Superbowl

    28. The Devil Plan Was Too Complicated To Follow K Drama

    29. Night Agent  A

    30. VIP K Drama B

    31. Destined With You K Drama

    32. My Annoying Brother K Drama  B

    33. Spy Gone North Did Not Finish K Drama

    34. Catering Christmas Gala B

    35. Watcher B

    36. Millionaire First Love K Drama A

    37. Lift Heist Movie American Meh

    38. Hyenna K Legal Drama A

    39. Badlands Hunters  K Drama  Post-Apocalypse Drama A

    40. Captivating The King K Historical Drama A

    41. Doctor Slump K Drama  B

    42. The Trip Norwegian Dark Drama B

    43. Taken K Drama Movie B

    44. The Swindler K Drama Movie A

    45. Everything Happens Everywhere At Once Hoopla A  Best Picture 2023

    46. A Transformers  Compang TV B

    47. Golden Holliday K Movie Compang TV B

    48. Peacekeeper  B

    49. Knock On The Cabin  B

    50. Oppenheimer – Documentary – Not The Movie

    51. Don’t Buy The Seller K Drama  B

    52. Tourist Love Affair Cute But Predictable Filmed In Vietnam B

    53. The Dude In Me K Drama Is Cute  A

    54. Black Phone B

    55. Rebel Moon US Film Part One

    56. Rebel Moon US Film Part Two

    57. Silent Sea K Sci-Fi Series

    58. The Order  US Werewolf/Vampire Occult Thriller Series

    59. Warrior Nuns

    60. Single In Seoul K Movie B

    61. Secret Obsession American Movie B

    62. Age Of Adeline A

    63. In From The Cold C

    64. Trip B

    65. Try To Kill Me I Dare You Polish Movie B

    66. Lee Kiwon K Movie About NK Refugees In Belgium

    67. Chronicle Sci-Fi Meh  C

    68. Young Police K Drama B

    69. Sweat And Sour K Drama B

    70. Happiness For Beginners US Drama B

    71. Catering Christmas US Drama B

    72. The Gentlemen British TV Crime Series

    73. Killer Paradox K Crime Drama

    74. Queen Of Tears K Rom-Com Tbc

    75. Keeping Up With The Jones American Spy Comedy B

    76. Little Woman    British Is Based On The Classic Novel I Just Finished Reading

    77. Damsel  American

    78. Secret Obsession US Film

    79. In The Shadow Of The Moon

    80. Tourist Guide To Love B+

    81. Art Of Love – Did Not Finish

    82. Three-Body Problem A Chinese Sci-Fi

    83. Paradise K Drama

    84. Awake US

    85. You Netflix Series B

    86. Night Teeth US

    87. Physical Season One K Reality TV Show

    88. Physical Second Season K Reality TV Show

    89. Parasite The Grey Korean Version Of Body Snatchers

    90. The Signal German Sci-Fi B

    91. Dark German Sci-Fi A

    92. Chicken Nugget Silly K Drama Did Not Finish

    93. Oppenheimer A Oscar Winner 2024

    94. Lady Chatterley’s Lover TBC

    95. Ripley  A

    96. Last Days Of Earth K SF Drama – Did Not Finish

    97. No Hard Feelings US Romcom B

    98. Brazen B

    99. Brigands K Drama  C Did Not Finish

    100.               Lost Phone K Crime Thriller Repeated B

    101.               Downsizing B+

    102.               The Day I Died Undisclosed Case K Drama  B

    103.               Unfrosted K Drama Bit Disappointing

    104.               Frankly Speaking K Drama  B

    105.               A Werewolf Boy K Drama Remake Of A French Movie  B

    106.               A Typical Family K Drama About A Scheming Family  B

    107.               Tidal Wave – Did Not Finish

    108.               12 12 – Day B D Drama About Chun Dohan’s Rise To Power – Which I Lived Through In 1979.

    109.               Mother Of The Bride B

    110.               Bring Me Home K Drama About Child Abuse B

    111.               Tutor K Drama B

    112.               Big Fat Greek Wedding Part 1 Seen Years Ago

    113.               Big Fat Greek Wedding Part  Part 2 Seen Years Ago

    114.               Big Fat Greek Wedding, Part 3

    115.               In The Depth Of The Ocean  US Drama

    116.               Mr. Zoo K Drama  B

    117.               88 Minutes US Drama

    118.               Artificial City B

    119.               Keys To The Heart K Drama A

    120.               Hit And Run Squad K Drama

    121.               Love Struck In The City K Drama Did Not Finish

    122.               Don’t Steel The Foggy Mountain Treasure B-1

    123.               Sweet And Sour K Drama  B

    124.               Hustle US Drama

    125.               Daily Dose Of Sunshine K Drama Series

     

    On Plane To US

     

    126.               Aquarman And The Lost Kingdom

    127.               King Kong V Godzilla

    128.               The Killing Of Flower Moon

    129.               Barbie

     

     

    Oregon

     

    130.               Atlas

     

    131.               Atypical Family Swedish Drama

    132.               War Of The Worlds Extinction Fubar

    133.               Adams Family Re-Run On Pluto TV

    134.               Beverley Hillbillies Re-Run On Pluto TV

    135.               Military Prosecutor Doberman K Drama Featuring A Really Bad Ass Female Lead

    136.               Fall Out Amazon

    137.               Andromeda Free TV

    138.               Hierarchy  K Drama  Rich Teenagers Plotting

    139.               Hit Man

    140.               Flower Of Evil K Drama

    141.               Reflection Of You K Drama

    142.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode) Real Life

    143.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode) Autofa

    144.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode) This Is Human

    145.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode)

    146.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Crazy Diamond

    147.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams  The Hood Maker

    148.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams  Father Thing

    149.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams The Impossible Planet

    150.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams The Commuter

    151.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Kills All Others

    152.               Miss Night And Day K Drama Comedy

    153.               Republican Convention

    154.               Biden-Trump Debate

    155.               Far Scape  US Sci-Fi Classic Amazon

    156.                Universe Spider Woman Drama B

    157.               Love Next Door K Drama

    158.               Romance In The House  K Drama

    159.               DNC

    160.               Union  American Spy Movie – Not Bad

    161.               All Good Things Based On True Crime Stories Not Bad

    162.               Frogs K Murder Mystery Series

    163.               Dune Earlier Version

    164.               Coming Blackout Right-Wing Paranoia Docudrama Commercial Youtube

    165.               The Deliverance – Too Scary

    166.               Discovery Of Witches

    167.               Wolverine And Dead Pool Medford Cinemax

    168.               Jane Eyre OSF

    169.               The Silurian Hypothesis Youtube Documentary

    170.               Harris Trump Debate

    171.               Perfect Couple US Murder Mystery Series

    172.               Green Tea Extra YouTube Documentary

    173.               Why Is Marijuana Illegal YouTube Documentary

    174.               Discovery Of Witches Vampire Witches US Series

    175.               Spaccell British Black Sci-Fi Series

    176.               25 23 K Drama Did Not Finish

    177.               Influencer Challenge K Reality TV

    178.               Culinary Class War K Reality TV

    179.               Spencer Confidential US Crime Comedy

    180.               The Signal K Crime Series

    181.               What Are Some Surprises Being Found On Jupiter YouTube Short

    182.               Bad Boys Ride For Life Or Die

    183.               Kamala Harris On Steven Colbert

    184.               Tim Walz On Steven Colbert

    185.               Tim Walz On Jimmy Kimble

    186.               Virtuous Business K Drama

    187.               Outer Banks Season 3

    188.               Backstreet Rookie  K Drama Series

    189.               Run-On  K Drama Series

    190.               Letter From God God Pod -We Want The Black President

    191.               Where NASA Believes Extraterrestrial Life Is Found In The Outer Solar System

    192.               Family Pack YouTube Movie

    193.               The Host YouTube Movie

    194.               War Of The World BBC Series New To Me

    195.               Don’t Move

    196.               World Series 2024

    197.               Beverly Hills Cops Alert

    198.               Logan Lucky

    199.               Look Both Ways

    200.               Tarot

    201.               Spaccell Uk Sci-Fi Series

    202.               The Whirlwind K Drama

    203.               Killing Eve

    204.               Spenser

    205.               365 Days

    206.               Time Cut  Sci-fi

    207.               The Gray Man James Bond Wanna Be Movie

    208.               The Influencers K Reality

    209.               Pixels

    210.               Election Coverage

    211.               Ten Trendy US Cities -Citynerd Youtube

    212.               Find Me Falling US Romcom Set In Cyprus

    213.               The Frog  K Drama

    214.               Vagabond K Drama

    215.               The Little Things

    216.               American Assasin

    217.               Frankly Speaking K Drama

    218.               Letter From God What Happened?

    219.               Mechanic

    220.               Misfits

    221.               Wicked In Medford Theater

    222.               Why Files Adam And Eve Story Youtube Documentary

    223.               Just Go For It Did Not Finish

    224.               Mr. Plankton K Drama

    225.               Dangerous Lies Did Not Finish

    226.               Wild Wild West  Documentary About The Ranesh Case

    227.               White Sky Forgettable Zombie Movie  Tubi

    228.               Last Seen Alive Thriller  2024 Thriller

    229.               Predestination Time Travel Thriller

    230.               Arkansas Noir Thriller

    231.               Top Ten Countries Americans Are Not Welcomed

    232.                Great Courses History Of Roman Empire – Goal One Course Per Month

    233.               A Simple Favor Is A Good Thriller

    234.               When The Phone Rings K Drama

    235.               Your Lucky Day Is An Intense Crime Drama

    236.               Father Figures Good Comedy

    237.               Afraid Chilling Movie About The Future Of AI

     

    Father Brown – see separate listing for synopsis and my commentary

     

    238.               Father Brown BBC Series The Hammer Of God

    239.                Father Brown BBC Series  The Ghost In The Machine

    240.               Father Brown BBC Series   The Madness Of All

    241.               Father Brown The Pride Of The Pryde

    242.               Father Brown The Shadow Of The Scaffold

     

    On Plane

    243.                   Blink Twice B

    244.                   Dune B

    245.                   Ghostbusters B

    246.                   Beetlejuice B

    247.                   Fly Me To Moon B

    248.                   The Strangers C

     

    Back In Korea

     

    249.               Run On K Drama Series

    250.               Captivating King K Drama Series

    251.               Chief Of Staff K Drama Series

    252.               The Visitor Hoopla

    253.               What If Return Of The Ice Age You Tube Short Documentary

    254.               Tenet SCIFi Netflix B

    255.               Fall Guy Netflix B

    256.               Trunk K Drama  Series

    257.               Reptile US Crime Drama

    258.               Beef Asian Immigrants In LA

    259.               Silente Sea K Sci-Fi Series

    260.               The Last Lovecraft Relic Of Cthulu Hoopla

    261.               The History Of The Roman Empire Great Course Course

    262.               Carry On US Movie

    263.               It’s What Inside Did Not Finish

    264.               Bringing Back Extinct Animals Short YouTube Documentary

    265.               Slyth Thai Sci-Fi Did Not Finish It  – I Understood Some Of The Dialogue But Not Much C

    266.               Count Down To Jerusalem Movie  C

    267.               Pilot K Comedy  B Movie

    268.               Check-In Hanyang K Drama

    269.               The Hunt Did Not Finish US Drama

    270.               Trouble Swedish Drama  C

    271.               Robert Reich’s Ten Economic Myths Debunked

    272.               Squid Game 2  B

    273.               Squid Game International Game  C

    274.               NYE coverage

    275.               Yoon Impeachment news coverage

    276.               NYE terror attack coverage

    277.               CNN Best and Worst of the Year

    278.               BBC end of the Year Coverage

     

     

     

     

     

    Oscar Winners

     

    Bold –  Seen

     

    Last Year Everything All At Once

     

     

    BEST PICTURE

    American Fiction
    Anatomy Of A Fall
    Barbie
    The Holdovers
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Maestro
    Oppenheimer
    Past Lives
    Poor Things
    The Zone Of Interest

    BEST DIRECTOR

    Jonathan Glazer, The Zone Of Interest
    Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
    Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
    Martin Scorsese, Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Justine Triet, Anatomy Of A Fall

    BEST ACTRESS

    Annette Bening, Nyad
    Lily Gladstone, Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Sandra Hüller, Anatomy Of A Fall
    Carey Mulligan, Maestro
    Emma Stone, Poor Things

    BEST ACTOR

    Bradley Cooper, Maestro
    Colman Domingo, Rustin
    Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
    Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
    Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

     

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

     

    Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
    Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
    America Ferrera, Barbie
    Jodie Foster, Nyad
    Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

    Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
    Robert De Niro, Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
    Ryan Gosling, Barbie
    Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

    BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

    Justine Triet And Arthur Harari, Anatomy Of A Fall
    David Hemingson, The Holdovers
    Bradley Cooper And Josh Singer, Maestro
    Samy Burch, May December
    Celine Song, Past Lives

    BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

    Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
    Greta Gerwig And Noah Baumbach, Barbie
    Tony McNamara, Poor Things
    Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
    Jonathan Glazer, The Zone Of Interest

    BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

    Io Capitano, Italy
    Perfect Days, Japan
    Society Of The Snow, Spain  On Netflix See
    The Teacher’s Lounge, Germany
    The Zone Of Interest, United Kingdom

    BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

    The Boy And The Heron
    Elemental
    Nimona
    Robot Dreams
    Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

    BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

    Bobi Wine: The People’s President
    The Eternal Memory
    Four Daughters
    To Kill A Tiger
    20 Days In Mariupol

    BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

    El Conde
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Maestro
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST EDITING

    Anatomy Of A Fall
    The Holdovers
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST COSTUME DESIGN

    Barbie
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Napoleon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

    Golda
    Maestro
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things
    Society Of The Snow

    BEST SOUND

    The Creator
    Maestro
    Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
    Oppenheimer
    The Zone Of Interest

    BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

    The Creator
    Godzilla Minus One
    Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
    Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
    Napoleon

    BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

    Barbie
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Napoleon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST ORIGINAL SONG

    “What Was I Made For?”, Billie Eilish And Finneas, Barbie
    “I’m Just Ken,” Mark Ronson And Andrew Wyatt, Barbie
    “The Fire Inside,” Diane Warren, Flamin’ Hot
    “It Never Went Away,” Jon Batiste, American Symphony
    “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People),” Osage Tribal Singers, Killers Of The Flower Moon

    BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

    American Fiction
    Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

    The After
    Invincible
    Knight Of Fortune
    Red, White, And Blue
    The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar

    BEST ANIMATED SHORT

    Letter To A Pig
    Ninety-Five Senses
    Our Uniform
    Pachyderm
    War Is Over! Inspired By The Music Of John & Yoko

    BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

    The ABCs Of Book Banning
    The Barber Of Little Rock
    Island In Between
    The Last Repair Shop
    Nai Nai & Wai Po

     

    More Roy Dufrain Writing

    Roy Dufrain Updates

    guest post by Roy Dufraine

    The 2024 Oscars According to Roy Dufrain

    THE OSCARS AT OUR HOUSE.

    For more than twenty years now, Mrs D and I have made it an annual quest to see all of the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars telecast. This year we saw 9.5 of the 10 movies nominated.

     

    It started in 2000, when there were only five nominees (instead of up to 10 like now) and we usually had to see them in a theater, because they weren’t available to rent on VHS yet. (Yes, I said VHS).

    And we’ve done it every year since, except for 2019 which was interrupted by Mrs D’s infamous extended hospital stay. We have even ventured to other cities to see movies that weren’t playing at the one theater in our little town. I remember seeing Chocolat in Ukiah and more recently The Revenant in Rohnert Park. But now we can usually stream everything, and this year the whole project ran us around a hundred bucks in streaming rentals and purchases on top of our existing subscriptions to Amazon, etc.

     

    Several years ago I started writing about our tradition on Facebook. Now the writeup itself has become part of the deal. As I’ve said before, I’m no film student, nor expert critic. Just a regular dude who loves movies.

    Snap reviews and top picks below.

     

    American Fiction –

     

    Bold, wryly funny, contrarian, with the ring of truth. Brilliantly calls out the publishing industry, where retread tropes seem to trump story, art and insight, particularly when it comes to depictions of Black characters and writers. And I feel like there’s an even larger truth here about the way culture is degraded in general through over-commercialization.

     

    Anatomy of a Fall –

     

    A French film that moves carefully, piece by piece, and manages to be slow and taut at the same time. I found the characters to be inscrutable. I feel like I need to watch again just to see if maybe this time I would fully understand these people. It left me with a suspicion that perhaps all the story’s secrets have still not been revealed, that the resolution we see on the screen is still not the truth of these characters. And, in this case, that ambiguity is a good thing.

     

    Barbie —

     

    Cleverly funny in spots, but also unsubtly preachy in spots, an issue I’ve had with director Greta Gerwig before. But Margot Robbie was perfect and the movie is visually stunning in all its pinkish glory and devoted detail. Still, I think this movie appears in the Best Picture category more on the strength of its perceived politics than its success as an artistic endeavor.

     

    The Holdovers —

     

    A darkly funny, entertaining, and deeply reflective odd couple sort of story that’s enjoyable to watch. Maybe a little out of its league in the Best Picture category, but elevated to a higher status by Paul Giamatti’s performance, which is irresistibly engaging as always. Well worth a second watch.

    Killers of the Flower Moon — Having read the book, I felt the impact of the true part of this story was diminished by the fictionalized part of the movie. Reading the book I was deeply struck by the callous indifference shown toward the humanity of the Osage Indians. It resonated like an echo of Shindler’s List, underlining the incredible and frightening capacity of humans to rationalize literally any behavior in their fear or greed. But the movie revolves around Ernest Burkhardt (Leonardo DiCaprio) and depicts a somewhat tried and true arc of romantic tragedy, a weak-minded man caught up in the schemes of others, pulled along by greed and the need for approval, until he is in the process of killing the only real love he’s ever known. As is often the case, the truth was more complex. And more disturbing.

     

    Maestro –

     

    I usually make a conscious effort to limit my preconceptions of these movies. I don’t read reviews or watch trailers. But it’s hard to avoid a relentless ad campaign like the one mounted for Maestro. I’d seen the rousing TV spots touting the performances and the early awards. But I found the movie depressing, its characterization of Bernstein disappointing and unlikeable. But yes, Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan

    were both outstanding.

     

    Comment:  on my list to watch as I am a big Bernstein fan – one of the best classical composers of the 20th century in my opinion.

     

    Oppenheimer –

     

    Not what I would call a pleasant watch, at times slow and ponderous, even confusing with some of the time jumps. But the acting was so engrossing, immersive, mesmerizing even. Cillian Murphy in the title role was riveting. Robert Downey Jr simply disappeared into the role of Lewis Strauss. Emily Blunt was also captivating as Kitty Oppenheimer. The effects director Christopher Nolan used to heighten the sense of Oppenheimer’s interiority were brilliant and effective.

     

    For example when Oppenheimer steps on a charred corpse that only exists in his tortured, guilty mind. But the lasting impact of this film is the way it echoes in the mind afterward—how sad and terrible and absurd it is that we reckless humans have attained the power to destroy the world. It will probably win Best Picture. And it probably should.

     

    Comment: Also on my must see list

     

    Past Lives –

     

    Eventually, someone had to do a movie like this — an old romance is rekindled through the internet and complications ensue. In this particular case the past romance is an adolescent crush, cut short by one family’s immigration, and later complicated not just by the years, but also by geographic and cultural distance. This one stayed with me, kept me thinking for days afterward about its larger implications regarding fate, destiny, acceptance, grief and closure. Well worth more than one watch.

     

    Poor Things –

     

    Half of this movie was twice as much as I needed. We actually turned it off, extremely rare for us during Oscar season. What we saw played like a terrible excuse for some creepy, gratuitous soft porn. All the weirdness of the sets, costumes, cinematography and makeup felt like a desperate attempt at artistic status. If someone out there actually saw some redeeming value in this thing, feel free to explain in the comments section what I am missing.

     

    The Zone of Interest –

     

    This one’s all in German, with subtitles. But the dialog is sparse and the film’s biggest strength is in the fascinating dichotomy presented in its basic premise. It gives us a window into the surprisingly mundane personal lives of a “normal” family literally in the shadow of Auschwitz during the Holocaust. The sense of cognitive dissonance is alarming.

     

    Honorable Mention

     

    – I don’t usually do this, but I wanted to mention one film that was not even nominated for Best Picture but, in my opinion, should have been. Nyad has wonderful, engaging performances by Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, and it’s a suspenseful, satisfying, story of friendship, determination, human spirit, and triumph over the longest odds.

     

    Finally, here are my choices for the top awards.

     

    Don’t worry, the Academy almost always disagrees.

     

    Actor in a Leading Role: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer Winner

    Actor in a Supporting Role: Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer Winner

    Actress in a Leading Role: Annette Bening, Nyad

    Actress in a Supporting Role: Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer

    Best Picture: Oppenheimer Winner

    Soon it’s time to pop the popcorn, get cozy on the couch, badmouth the fashion and root for your favorites.

    Happy Oscars folks.

     

    here’s the winners

    The 96th Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 10, 2024, celebrated outstanding movies released in 2023. Here are some of the notable winners:

    1. Best Picture: “Oppenheimer”
    2. Best Actor: Cillian Murphy for his role in “Oppenheimer”
    3. Best Actress: Emma Stone for her performance in “Poor Things”
    4. Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. in “Oppenheimer”
    5. Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph from “The Holdovers”
    6. Best Director: Christopher Nolan for “Oppenheimer”
    7. Best Adapted Screenplay: “American Fiction”
    8. Best Original Screenplay: “Anatomy of a Fall”
    9. Best Animated Feature: “The Boy and the Heron”
    10. Best Documentary Feature: “20 Days in Mariupol”
    11. Best International Feature Film: “The Zone of Interest”
    12. Best Cinematography: “Oppenheimer”
    13. Best Costume Design: “Poor Things”
    14. Best Film Editing: “Oppenheimer”
    15. Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “Poor Things”
    16. Best Original Score: “Oppenheimer”
    17. Best Original Song: “Barbie”
    18. Best Production Design: “Poor Things”
    19. Best Sound: “The Zone of Interest”
    20. Best Visual Effects: “Godzilla Minus One”
    21. Best Documentary (Short Subject): “The Last Repair Shop”
    22. Best Animated Short Film: “War Is Over!”
    23. Best Live Action Short Film: “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” 12

     

    2023

     

    The List

     

    Numerical List

     

    279.               Confession  K Drama A-

    280.               Love In The Villa A

    281.               Love At First Sight A

    282.               Collectors K Drama B

    283.               The Spy Gone North B K Drama

    284.               Goodbye Mr. Black K Drama Did Not Finish

    285.               My Demon Love K Drama  Did Not Finish

    286.               My Annoying Brother K Drama B

    287.               Me And Me K Drama B

    288.               Bodies British Sci-Fi B

    289.               October Faction Vampire series

    290.               Katyal Sci-Fi series

    291.               Glass Onion Knives Out B

    292.               Obliteration  US Series C Did Not Finish

    293.               Squid Game Season International Did Not Finish

    294.               Squid Game Season Two Korean Series Finished

    295.               Fair Play   B-1 Is A Bit Too Violent And Dark

    296.               In The Cold Netflix Series B

    297.               Leave The World Behind Lots Of Stars But A Meh

    298.               Gyesang Creature K Drama Part One

    299.               Gyesang Creature K Drama Part Two B

    300.               Manifest Season Four -Finished Series

    301.               Stray UK Drama B

    302.               Wednesday B

    303.               Pretty Woman Classic Richard Gere/Julia Roberts A

    304.               Somebody K Drama B

    305.               Superbowl

    306.               The Devil Plan Was Too Complicated To Follow K Drama

    307.               Night Agent  A

    308.               VIP K Drama B

    309.               Destined With You K Drama

    310.               My Annoying Brother K Drama  B

    311.               Spy Gone North Did Not Finish K Drama

    312.               Catering Christmas Gala B

    313.               Watcher B

    314.               Millionaire First Love K Drama A

    315.               Lift Heist Movie American Meh

    316.               Hyenna K Legal Drama A

    317.               Badlands Hunters  K Drama  Post-Apocalypse Drama A

    318.               Captivating The King K Historical Drama A

    319.               Doctor Slump K Drama  B

    320.               The Trip Norwegian Dark Drama B

    321.               Taken K Drama Movie B

    322.               The Swindler K Drama Movie A

    323.               Everything Happens Everywhere At Once Hoopla A  Best Picture 2023

    324.               A Transformers  Compang TV B

    325.               Golden Holliday K Movie Compang TV B

    326.               Peacekeeper  B

    327.               Knock On The Cabin  B

    328.               Oppenheimer – Documentary – Not The Movie

    329.               Don’t Buy The Seller K Drama  B

    330.               Tourist Love Affair Cute But Predictable Filmed In Vietnam B

    331.               The Dude In Me K Drama Is Cute  A

    332.               Black Phone B

    333.               Rebel Moon US Film Part One

    334.               Rebel Moon US Film Part Two

    335.               Silent Sea K Sci-Fi Series

    336.               The Order  US Werewolf/Vampire Occult Thriller Series

    337.               Warrior Nuns

    338.               Single In Seoul K Movie B

    339.               Secret Obsession American Movie B

    340.               Age Of Adeline A

    341.               In From The Cold C

    342.               Trip B

    343.               Try To Kill Me I Dare You Polish Movie B

    344.               Lee Kiwon K Movie About NK Refugees In Belgium

    345.               Chronicle Sci-Fi Meh  C

    346.               Young Police K Drama B

    347.               Sweat And Sour K Drama B

    348.               Happiness For Beginners US Drama B

    349.               Catering Christmas US Drama B

    350.               The Gentlemen British TV Crime Series

    351.               Killer Paradox K Crime Drama

    352.               Queen Of Tears K Rom-Com Tbc

    353.               Keeping Up With The Jones American Spy Comedy B

    354.               Little Woman    British Is Based On The Classic Novel I Just Finished Reading

    355.               Damsel  American

    356.               Secret Obsession US Film

    357.               In The Shadow Of The Moon

    358.               Tourist Guide To Love B+

    359.               Art Of Love – Did Not Finish

    360.               Three-Body Problem A Chinese Sci-Fi

    361.               Paradise K Drama

    362.               Awake US

    363.               You Netflix Series B

    364.               Night Teeth US

    365.               Physical Season One K Reality TV Show

    366.               Physical Second Season K Reality TV Show

    367.               Parasite The Grey Korean Version Of Body Snatchers

    368.               The Signal German Sci-Fi B

    369.               Dark German Sci-Fi A

    370.               Chicken Nugget Silly K Drama Did Not Finish

    371.               Oppenheimer A Oscar Winner 2024

    372.               Lady Chatterley’s Lover TBC

    373.               Ripley  A

    374.               Last Days Of Earth K SF Drama – Did Not Finish

    375.               No Hard Feelings US Romcom B

    376.               Brazen B

    377.               Brigands K Drama  C Did Not Finish

    378.               Lost Phone K Crime Thriller Repeated B

    379.               Downsizing B+

    380.               The Day I Died Undisclosed Case K Drama  B

    381.               Unfrosted K Drama Bit Disappointing

    382.               Frankly Speaking K Drama  B

    383.               A Werewolf Boy K Drama Remake Of A French Movie  B

    384.               A Typical Family K Drama About A Scheming Family  B

    385.               Tidal Wave – Did Not Finish

    386.               12 12 – Day B D Drama About Chun Dohan’s Rise To Power – Which I Lived Through In 1979.

    387.               Mother Of The Bride B

    388.               Bring Me Home K Drama About Child Abuse B

    389.               Tutor K Drama B

    390.               Big Fat Greek Wedding Part 1 Seen Years Ago

    391.               Big Fat Greek Wedding Part  Part 2 Seen Years Ago

    392.               Big Fat Greek Wedding, Part 3

    393.               In The Depth Of The Ocean  US Drama

    394.               Mr. Zoo K Drama  B

    395.               88 Minutes US Drama

    396.               Artificial City B

    397.               Keys To The Heart K Drama A

    398.               Hit And Run Squad K Drama

    399.               Love Struck In The City K Drama Did Not Finish

    400.               Don’t Steel The Foggy Mountain Treasure B-1

    401.               Sweet And Sour K Drama  B

    402.               Hustle US Drama

    403.               Daily Dose Of Sunshine K Drama Series

     

    On Plane To US

     

    404.               Aquarman And The Lost Kingdom

    405.               King Kong V Godzilla

    406.               The Killing Of Flower Moon

    407.               Barbie

     

     

    Oregon

     

    408.               Atlas

     

    409.               Atypical Family Swedish Drama

    410.               War Of The Worlds Extinction Fubar

    411.               Adams Family Re-Run On Pluto TV

    412.               Beverley Hillbillies Re-Run On Pluto TV

    413.               Military Prosecutor Doberman K Drama Featuring A Really Bad Ass Female Lead

    414.               Fall Out Amazon

    415.               Andromeda Free TV

    416.               Hierarchy  K Drama  Rich Teenagers Plotting

    417.               Hit Man

    418.               Flower Of Evil K Drama

    419.               Reflection Of You K Drama

    420.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode) Real Life

    421.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode) Autofa

    422.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode) This Is Human

    423.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode)

    424.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Crazy Diamond

    425.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams  The Hood Maker

    426.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams  Father Thing

    427.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams The Impossible Planet

    428.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams The Commuter

    429.               Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Kills All Others

    430.               Miss Night And Day K Drama Comedy

    431.               Republican Convention

    432.               Biden-Trump Debate

    433.               Far Scape  US Sci-Fi Classic Amazon

    434.                Universe Spider Woman Drama B

    435.               Love Next Door K Drama

    436.               Romance In The House  K Drama

    437.               DNC

    438.               Union  American Spy Movie – Not Bad

    439.               All Good Things Based On True Crime Stories Not Bad

    440.               Frogs K Murder Mystery Series

    441.               Dune Earlier Version

    442.               Coming Blackout Right-Wing Paranoia Docudrama Commercial Youtube

    443.               The Deliverance – Too Scary

    444.               Discovery Of Witches

    445.               Wolverine And Dead Pool Medford Cinemax

    446.               Jane Eyre OSF

    447.               The Silurian Hypothesis Youtube Documentary

    448.               Harris Trump Debate

    449.               Perfect Couple US Murder Mystery Series

    450.               Green Tea Extra YouTube Documentary

    451.               Why Is Marijuana Illegal YouTube Documentary

    452.               Discovery Of Witches Vampire Witches US Series

    453.               Spaccell British Black Sci-Fi Series

    454.               25 23 K Drama Did Not Finish

    455.               Influencer Challenge K Reality TV

    456.               Culinary Class War K Reality TV

    457.               Spencer Confidential US Crime Comedy

    458.               The Signal K Crime Series

    459.               What Are Some Surprises Being Found On Jupiter YouTube Short

    460.               Bad Boys Ride For Life Or Die

    461.               Kamala Harris On Steven Colbert

    462.               Tim Walz On Steven Colbert

    463.               Tim Walz On Jimmy Kimble

    464.               Virtuous Business K Drama

    465.               Outer Banks Season 3

    466.               Backstreet Rookie  K Drama Series

    467.               Run-On  K Drama Series

    468.               Letter From God God Pod -We Want The Black President

    469.               Where NASA Believes Extraterrestrial Life Is Found In The Outer Solar System

    470.               Family Pack YouTube Movie

    471.               The Host YouTube Movie

    472.               War Of The World BBC Series New To Me

    473.               Don’t Move

    474.               World Series 2024

    475.               Beverly Hills Cops Alert

    476.               Logan Lucky

    477.               Look Both Ways

    478.               Tarot

    479.               Spaccell Uk Sci-Fi Series

    480.               The Whirlwind K Drama

    481.               Killing Eve

    482.               Spenser

    483.               365 Days

    484.               Time Cut  Sci-fi

    485.               The Gray Man James Bond Wanna Be Movie

    486.               The Influencers K Reality

    487.               Pixels

    488.               Election Coverage

    489.               Ten Trendy US Cities -Citynerd Youtube

    490.               Find Me Falling US Romcom Set In Cyprus

    491.               The Frog  K Drama

    492.               Vagabond K Drama

    493.               The Little Things

    494.               American Assasin

    495.               Frankly Speaking K Drama

    496.               Letter From God What Happened?

    497.               Mechanic

    498.               Misfits

    499.               Wicked In Medford Theater

    500.               Why Files Adam And Eve Story Youtube Documentary

    501.               Just Go For It Did Not Finish

    502.               Mr. Plankton K Drama

    503.               Dangerous Lies Did Not Finish

    504.               Wild Wild West  Documentary About The Ranesh Case

    505.               White Sky Forgettable Zombie Movie  Tubi

    506.               Last Seen Alive Thriller  2024 Thriller

    507.               Predestination Time Travel Thriller

    508.               Arkansas Noir Thriller

    509.               Top Ten Countries Americans Are Not Welcomed

    510.                Great Courses History Of Roman Empire – Goal One Course Per Month

    511.               A Simple Favor Is A Good Thriller

    512.               When The Phone Rings K Drama

    513.               Your Lucky Day Is An Intense Crime Drama

    514.               Father Figures Good Comedy

    515.               Afraid Chilling Movie About The Future Of AI

     

    Father Brown – see separate listing for synopsis and my commentary

     

    516.               Father Brown BBC Series The Hammer Of God

    517.                Father Brown BBC Series  The Ghost In The Machine

    518.               Father Brown BBC Series   The Madness Of All

    519.               Father Brown The Pride Of The Pryde

    520.               Father Brown The Shadow Of The Scaffold

     

    On Plane

    521.                   Blink Twice B

    522.                   Dune B

    523.                   Ghostbusters B

    524.                   Beetlejuice B

    525.                   Fly Me To Moon B

    526.                   The Strangers C

     

    Back In Korea

     

    527.               Run On K Drama Series

    528.               Captivating King K Drama Series

    529.               Chief Of Staff K Drama Series

    530.

    531.

    532.

    533.

    534.

    535.

    536.

    537.

    538.

    539.

    540.               The Visitor Hoopla

    541.               What If Return Of The Ice Age You Tube Short Documentary

    542.               Tenet SCIFi Netflix B

    543.               Fall Guy Netflix B

    544.               Trunk K Drama  Series

    545.               Reptile US Crime Drama

    546.               Beef Asian Immigrants In LA

    547.               Silente Sea K Sci-Fi Series

    548.               The Last Lovecraft Relic Of Cthulu Hoopla

    549.               The History Of The Roman Empire Great Course Course

    550.               Carry On US Movie

    551.               It’s What Inside Did Not Finish

    552.               Bringing Back Extinct Animals Short YouTube Documentary

    553.               Slyth Thai Sci-Fi Did Not Finish It  – I Understood Some Of The Dialogue But Not Much C

    554.               Count Down To Jerusalem Movie  C

    555.               Pilot K Comedy  B Movie

    556.               Check-In Hanyang K Drama

    557.               The Hunt Did Not Finish US Drama

    558.               Trouble Swedish Drama  C

    559.               Robert Reich’s Ten Economic Myths Debunked

    560.               Squid Game 2  B

    561.               Squid Game International Game  C

    562.               NYE coverage

    563.               Yoon Impeachment news coverage

    564.               NYE terror attack coverage

    565.               CNN Best and Worst of the Year

    566.               BBC end of the Year Coverage

     

     

     

    Oscar Winners

     

    Bold –  Seen

     

    Last Year Everything All At Once

     

     

    BEST PICTURE

    American Fiction
    Anatomy Of A Fall
    Barbie
    The Holdovers
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Maestro
    Oppenheimer
    Past Lives
    Poor Things
    The Zone Of Interest

    BEST DIRECTOR

    Jonathan Glazer, The Zone Of Interest
    Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
    Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
    Martin Scorsese, Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Justine Triet, Anatomy Of A Fall

    BEST ACTRESS

    Annette Bening, Nyad
    Lily Gladstone, Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Sandra Hüller, Anatomy Of A Fall
    Carey Mulligan, Maestro
    Emma Stone, Poor Things

    BEST ACTOR

    Bradley Cooper, Maestro
    Colman Domingo, Rustin
    Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
    Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
    Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

     

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

     

    Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
    Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
    America Ferrera, Barbie
    Jodie Foster, Nyad
    Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

    Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
    Robert De Niro, Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
    Ryan Gosling, Barbie
    Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

    BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

    Justine Triet And Arthur Harari, Anatomy Of A Fall
    David Hemingson, The Holdovers
    Bradley Cooper And Josh Singer, Maestro
    Samy Burch, May December
    Celine Song, Past Lives

    BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

    Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
    Greta Gerwig And Noah Baumbach, Barbie
    Tony McNamara, Poor Things
    Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
    Jonathan Glazer, The Zone Of Interest

    BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

    Io Capitano, Italy
    Perfect Days, Japan
    Society Of The Snow, Spain  On Netflix See
    The Teacher’s Lounge, Germany
    The Zone Of Interest, United Kingdom

    BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

    The Boy And The Heron
    Elemental
    Nimona
    Robot Dreams
    Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

    BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

    Bobi Wine: The People’s President
    The Eternal Memory
    Four Daughters
    To Kill A Tiger
    20 Days In Mariupol

    BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

    El Conde
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Maestro
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST EDITING

    Anatomy Of A Fall
    The Holdovers
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST COSTUME DESIGN

    Barbie
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Napoleon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

    Golda
    Maestro
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things
    Society Of The Snow

    BEST SOUND

    The Creator
    Maestro
    Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
    Oppenheimer
    The Zone Of Interest

    BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

    The Creator
    Godzilla Minus One
    Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
    Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
    Napoleon

    BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

    Barbie
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Napoleon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST ORIGINAL SONG

    “What Was I Made For?”, Billie Eilish And Finneas, Barbie
    “I’m Just Ken,” Mark Ronson And Andrew Wyatt, Barbie
    “The Fire Inside,” Diane Warren, Flamin’ Hot
    “It Never Went Away,” Jon Batiste, American Symphony
    “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People),” Osage Tribal Singers, Killers Of The Flower Moon

    BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

    American Fiction
    Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

    The After
    Invincible
    Knight Of Fortune
    Red, White, And Blue
    The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar

    BEST ANIMATED SHORT

    Letter To A Pig
    Ninety-Five Senses
    Our Uniform
    Pachyderm
    War Is Over! Inspired By The Music Of John & Yoko

    BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

    The ABCs Of Book Banning
    The Barber Of Little Rock
    Island In Between
    The Last Repair Shop
    Nai Nai & Wai Po

     

    Here are 10 Must-Watch Netflix Movies That Came Out In 2024

     

    The Top 10 Best Films Of 2024

    25 Teen Movie Classics That Are Even More Fun with Each Rewatch

     

     

     

     2022

     

     

    January

    Emily In Paris Netflix B

    Super Eight Stephen Spielberg B

    Black Money K Drama B

    Extreme Job  K Drama B

    Freaks Netflix C

    Dune World (Not The Dune) C

    Assimilation – Invasion Of Body Snatchers Remake Hoopla C

    Power Play (Hoopla) C

    Constantine Netflix  C

    Ozark Season 4 B

    Cowboy Bebop SF Netflix K Star But Not K Drama  A

    Freaks

     

    February

     

    We Are All Going To Die K Zombie Drama A

    Babysitter Killer Queen C

    Haebing 2017 The Thaw K Drama  B

    Area 51 Hoopla  C

    Nine Teeth Vampire Movie  C

    Chosen  B Netflix Danish SF

    Dark  B  Netflix German SF

    The Power Of The Dog C Oscar Nominee

     

    See Review

     

    Bright  With Will Smith B SF

    Kin B Netflix

     

     

    March

     

    88 Minutes B

    Shadow And Bone  B+

    Locke And Key Season 2 B

    The Adam Project B

    Dark Crab – Sweedish Movie B

    Once Upon A Time In Hollywood B

    Alice In Borderland

    Warrior Nun

    Tulip Fever

    Army Of The Dead B

    Army Of Thieves   C

    Glitch Australian Series

     

     

     

     

    April

     

    Dark German SF  B

    Our Blues  K Drama A

    Juvenile Justice K Drama B

    Knight Day C

    Rebecca  B

    Phantom Thread C

    Behind Her Eyes B

    Jumangi B

    The Dark Tower B

    I Frankenstein B

    Tau B

    Silent Sea  K Drama B

    Night Flyer B

    El Camino Sequel To Breaking Bad B

    Rainy Day In New York -Woody Allen B

    My Liberation Notes

    Our Blues

    My Love From The Stars

    Move To Heaven

    Honest Candidate

    May

     

    ARC B

    LA LA Land B Meh

    Ozark Season 4 B

    Yaksha K Movie  B

    Blue  Bayou  Korean American Movie B

    Let Me Go Western Is Set In Montana Kevin Costner B

    Uncanny Counter K Drama  B

    Cyber Hell B

    Intruder K Drama B

    Stranger Things Season Four B

    Welcome To Wedding Hell K Drama B

    The Hitman’s Body Gaurd’s Wife Part One C

    Oceans Eight B

    Interceptor A-

    Better Call Saul Season 5

    Better Call Saul Season 6

    Spiderhead C

    The Wrath Of Man C Did Not Finish C

    The Man From Toronto C

    Time Machine 2022 Re-Make B

     

     

     

    July

     

    Heist Korean Version B

    RRR Bollywood Netflix Original A

    Will You Be There?  K Drama C Did Not Finish

    Extraordinary Attorney Yoo  A-1

    Minmiding Café C Did Not Finish

    American Made  B +

    Tarzan B-

    Remarriage And Desire K Drama B Another Drama About Rich People Behaving Badly.

    The King Of Stonks Austrian Satire B Worth Finishing

     

    Unfamiliar Family K Drama  A

     

    August 1, 2022

     

    My Liberation Notes  K Drama  A

    Carter  K Drama Movie C

    Designated Survivor K Drama A

    Locke And Key Season Three  B

    Model Family K Drama  B

    Now You See Me

    The Body Guard’s Wife

    Red Notice

    How It Ends

     

    September

     

    Better Call Saul Season Six  B

    Manifest Netflix Special  B

    Good Guys C

    Blood Red Sky D

    Little Woman K Drama B

    Chief Of Staff K Drama B

    Narco Saints K Drama B

     

     

    October

     

    Interception

    Extraction

    Focus

    Project Power

    Love And Monsters

    Executive Decisions

    Gray-Man

    Adam Project

    Re-Start

    Jumangi

    Fifth Wave

    Justice League

    On Your Wedding Day

    6 Underground

    Stranger 1

    Stranger 2

    Reflection Of You

    Made For Each Other

    Honest Candidate

    Man From Toronto

    The Protégé

    Signal K Drama

    What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?  K Drama

     

    November

    Manifest Four Seasons B+ Like Dark

    End-Of-The Road  B

    When The Camellia Blooms B

    Love Struck In The City B

    Glitch Korean Sci-Fi  B

    Zone 414 Did Not Finish C

    Office Invasion  – South African SF Satire  C

    Kate Did Not Finish Too Violently Like In Kill Bill  D

    Midnight Sky  SF C  Too Meandering  C

    1899 Did Not Finish Too Meandering B

    See You Yesterday Spike Lee SF B

    Someone B+  Some Strong Sexual Scenes –

     

    December

     

    Tidelands

    Jurassic World Domination

    Wednesday -Adams Family

    Your Psychological Thriller Series

    Pentagast Mike Meyers  b

    Dark Island German Film B

    Welcome to Murderville  B

    Imperfects B

    Trolly K Drama

    The lies within k drama

     

     

    Other

     

    Sports

     

    Winter Olympics

    Superbowl

    World Cup finals

     

     

     

    2021

     

     

     

    January

     

    1.    Bloodshot

    2.    Ozark

    3.    Bloodlines

    4.    Discovery

    5.    Humans Are Useless Hoopla

    6.    Wu Assassins

    7.    6 Underground

    8.    Warrior Nuns

    9.    Alice In Borderland

    10. I Am Not Okay With This

    11. Constantine

    12. The Beach

    13. Holliday

    14. Rebecca

    15. About Time

    16. Spy Games

    17. We Could Be Heroes

    18. Vastness Of The Night Amazon

     

    February

    19.   Hanna

    20. The Expanse

    21. Sneaky Pete -Amazon

    22. How It Ends

    23. The I Land

    24. Wonder Woman

    25. Get Out

    26. Space Sweepers K SF Drama

    27. I Care A Lot  2020 TV

    28. Messiah

     

    March

     

    29. Itaewon Class K Drama

    30. Sense 8

    31. Salvation

    32. The Order

    33. Lock N Key

    34. Ballad Of Buster Scruggs

    35. Titans

    April

     

    36. O/A

    37. Abyss

    38. Outer Banks

    39. White Lines

    40. Umbrella Acadamy

    41. The Last Man Standing K Drama

     

     

    May

     

    42. Suicide Squad

    43. The Honest Candidate K Drama

    44. Behind Her Eyes

    45. Sisyphus K Drama

    46. Venzano K Drama

    47. Strangers K Drama  Season One

    48. Strangers K Drama   Season Two

    49. Strangers K Drama   Season Three

    50. The Woman In The Mirror

    51. Gemini Man

    52. Legends

    53. Bridgeton Netflix Top-Ranked Series

     

    June

     

    54. Wanted With Angelina Jolie 2005?

    55. War Dogs

    56. The Holliday

    57. The Woman In The Mirror

    58. How It Ends

    59. Love And Monsters

    60. Knives Out

     

    July

     

    61. Old Guard

    62. Love, Death, And Robots

    63. Borek Movie

    64. Sweet Tooth

    65. Mine K Drama

    66. Glitch

    67. Parasite  K Drama

     

    August

    68.  Sin City

    69. The Talented Mr. Ripply

    70. The Negotiator K Movie

    71. No Exit K Movie

    72. Crash Landing On You K Drama

     

    September

     

    73. Jackel 1997 US Movie

    74. Night In Paradise K Movie

    75. DP   K Drama

    76. Con  K Drama Movie

    October

    77. When The Camelia Blooms K Drama

    78. Squid Games K Drama Number 1 On Netflix

    79. The Devil’s Advocate

    80. Move To Heaven K Drama

    81. The Money Heist Spanish Series

    On Plane

    82. Minuri

    83. Cool Hand Luke

    84. Citizen Kane

    85. Jungle Cruise

    86. Free Guy

    87. Black Widow

    88. King Kong V Godzilla

    89. Crazy Rich Asians

     

    Return To Korea

    90. Bliss Amazon

    91. Tomorrow’s Wars Amazon

    92. Reflections On You (K Drama, Netflix)

    93. Red Notice (Netflix)

    94. Hell Bound K Drama

    95. Crisis In Six Scenes Amazon

    96. The Wheel Of Time Amazon Season One

    97.  Another Life Season Three

    98.  Lost In Space Season Three

    99. Hostage K Drama Movie

    100.       Army Of Thieves

    101.      Army Of Death

    102.      The Big Splash

    103.      The Dark Tower

    104.      Balgasal K SF

    105.      The Wanted

    106.       Mogadishu K Drama

    107.       Don’t Look Up Netflix Special

    108.       Focus

    109.      Lucy

    110.      Jupiter Ascending

    111.      Space Between Us

    112.      ARQ

    113.      Rainy Day In NYC Woody Allen Film

    114.      In Time

    115.      Silent Sea

    116.       San Andreas

    117.      Don’t Look Up

    118.      Mad For Each Other

     

    Movie Watched 2020

     

     

    List

    1.    Better Call Saul Finished Series 2022

    2.    Nigh Flyer

    3.    The Rim Of The World

    4.    Joker

    5.    Venom

    6.    Lost In Space

    7.    Jurassic World

    8.    100

    9.    Birdbox

    10. I Am Number Four (Film)

    11. Umbrella Acadamy

    12. Locke And Key

    13. Sense 8

    14. Away

    15. Titan

    16. The Mist

    17. The Order

    18. October Faction

    19.  The Man In The High Castle

    20. The Expanse

    21. Legends Of Tomorrow

    22. The Messiah

    23.  The OA

    24. Lucy

    25. Timeless

    26. Travelers

    27. Alice Through The Looking Glass

    28. Annihilation

    29. The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe

    30. Prince Caspian

    31. The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

    32. How It Ends

    33. Itaewon Class

    34. Zoo

    35. Extinction

    36. 6 Underground

    37. Ballade Of Buster Scruggs

    38. How It Ends

    39. Tau

    40.  Series Of Unfortunate Events

    41. The Darkest Dawn

    42. The IO

    43. Ozark

    44. Avengers Day Of Ultron

    45. Prometheus

    46. Another Life

    47. Land Of The Lost

    48.  Mr. Kim’s Convenience Store

    49. The Cloverfield Paradox

    50. The A-Team

    51. Pirates Of The Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales

    52.  Salvation

    53. Iron Man 2

    54. Total Recall

    55.  The Machine (Hoopla)

    56.  Absolutely Anything (Hoopla)

    57. The Adventurer Curse Of The Midas Touch (Hoopla)

    58. The Endless (Hoopla)

    59. Color Out Of Time (Hoopla)

    60. The Librarian Curse Of The Judas Chalice (Hoopla)

    61. The Librarian King Soloman’s Mine (Hoopla)

    62. The Librarian Quest For The Spear (Hoopla)

    63.  Dinosaur Island (Hoopla)

    64. Land That Time Forgot (Hoopla)

    65. Dark Prophecy (Hoopla)

    66. The Villainess (Hoopla)

    67. Bad Boys For Life

    68. Outer Banks

    69. Suicide Squad

    70.  Abyss

    71. Series Of Unfortunate Events

    72.   Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children

    73.  Superman Vrs Batman Star Of Justice

    74. Last Man Standing K Political Drama

    75. Honest Candidate K Drama

    76. Irishman

    77. Project Power

    78. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

    79. Kim Ji Young K Drama

    80. The Sting

    81. Focus

    82.  Fantasy Island

    83.  Warrior Nun –Did Not Finish

    84.  Good Omens  Amazon

    85. Sneaky Pete Amazon

    86. Blood Shot Netflix

    87.  Jupiter Ascendant Netflix

    88. White Lines

    89. Bloodlines

    90. Wu Assasins

    91. Inside Bill’s Brain

    92. War Dogs

    93. Alice In The Borderlands

    94. The I- Land

    95.  Black Mirror

    96. The Last Three Days

    97.

     

     

    2019

     

    List

     

    Partial List  Saw At Least 90 Total

     

    1.    A Series Of Unfortunate Events (Netflix)

    2.    Aquaman  (Theater) B

    3.     49 Days Korean Movie B

    4.    Doomsday Device  YS B

    5.    Winter Kills YS C -Disappointing Despite Great Cast

    6.     Heist 2001 Version YS  B

    7.     Curse Of The Golden Flower YS

    8.    HG Wells Men In The Moon YS A-1

    9.    The Rift YS

    10. Narnia Voyage Of The Dawn Treader YS B

    11. Operation Chromite YS  B

    12. The Assassin YS C Did Not Finish

    13. Justice League B

    14. The Ghost And The Darkness  B

    15. The A-Team B

    16. Jack Reacher, Never Go Back B

    17. Night Flyer Series B

    18. Cold Pursuit

    19. Chunhyang (2000 Film) YS

    20.  The Assassin 2015 Korean Movie

    21. Eraser (Film)

    22. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011 Film)

    23.  Operation Chromite (Film)

    24. The Rite (2011 Film) YS

    25. The First Men In The Moon YS

    26.                        Curse Of The Golden Flower YS

    27. Alien Code YS

    28. Point B YS

    29. Shada (Doctor Who) YS

    30. Glass (2019 Film)

    31. Memories Of The Alhambra K Drama

    32. The Man In The High Castle 4 Seasons Amazon

    33. The Expanse Four Seasons Amazon

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2018

     

     

     

    List

     

    The partial List Saw About 85 Movies

     

     

    1.    Once Upon A Time ABC Mini-Series  A

    2.    Taken Earth C

    3.    Alice Through The Looking Glass B

    4.    The Vault  C Too Scary A Movie

    5.    GORA Turkish SF Comedy C

    6.    Pirates Of The Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales  B

    7.    Cowboys Vs Dinosaurs B

    8.    Enterprise Complete Season

    9.    Frequency Series

    10. Coverdale Paradox

    11. Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets (On a Plane)

    12. Kong Island Of Skulls (On Plane)

    13. Geostorm (On Plane)

    14. Lost And Found YS

    15. Berlin Syndrome YS

    16. Burn Country YS

    17. Beatriz At Dinner YS

    18. Breaking The Bank YS

    19. The Expanse  Netflix Original

    20. Discovery  Netflix

    21. Drone Wars  YS

    22. Prometheus Trap YS

    23. Blackway YS

    24. The Mermaid YS

    25. The Great Wall YS

     

    2017

     

     

     

    1.    Leap Year  TV  B

    2.    Congressman  YS  B

    3.    Crimson Force  YS  B

     

    4.    Three Classic SF Japanese Movies From The ’50s

     

    5.    The H Man  YS  B

    6.    Battle In Outer Space YS  B

    7.    Mothra  YS  B

     

    8.    11 22 63  IS  A

    9.    Blunt Talk  YS  B Did Not Finish

    10. Alien Arsenal  YS  B

     

    11. Seven Westerns

     

    12. A Night In Old Mexico  B

    13. Ambush At Dark Canyon   B

    14. Fighting With Anger  B

    15. Baytown Outlaws B

    16. Hick C-1

    17. Heathens And Thieves  A-

     

     

    18. Implanted  B-

    19. When The Sky Falls  C-

    20. Wild Bill Hickok Swift Justice  B

    21. Traded  B

    22. Dirk Gently Holistic Detective Agency -Mini-Series  A

    23. Mystery Science Theater  Cave Dwellers C

    24. Meet The Guilby B

    25. The President A

    26. Stand Up Guy  B

    27. Snow Piercer B Korean Producer   B

    28. Painkillers  C

    29. Dirty Lies

    30. Quarantine LA  C

    31. Breaking The Bank  B

     

    32. On The Plane

    33. Dr. Strange  B

    34. Jack Reacher Never Go Back  B

    35. Keeping Up With The Jones  B

    36. Hell Or High Water B

    37. The Accountant B

     

    Oregon

     

    38. The Ghost In The Shell  Ashland Theater

    39. The Circle  Theater Medford

    40. George Feydeua A Flea In Her Ear –  ASH Drama

     

    41. The Black Hole  MPL

    42. Final Days Of Planet Earth MPL

    43. The Last Sentinel MPL

    44. Supernova MPL B

    45. East Of Eden MPL A

    46. Cat On A Hot Tin Roof MPL  A

    47. A Street Car Named Desire MPL A

    48. Rebel Without A Cause MPL  A

    49. Enterprise First Year MPL   B

    50. How To Mary A Millionaire MPL

    51. How To Be A Latin Lover  Theater  A

    52. Wonder Women    Theater A-

    53. The Three Musketeers  MPL C

    54. Time Changer MPL  D

    55. Star Trek Enterprise Season Two B

    56. Solaris  B-

    57. The Sea Of Trees  A-

    58. Quantum Leap Season One A-1

    59. Star Gate Atlantis Rising  B-

    60. Total Recall B

    61. Tammy   B-

    62. A Tale Of Two Cities BBC B

    63. Vanishing Point A-

    64. Spider-Man Homecoming  In Theater B

    65. War Of Planet Of The Apes  In Theater B+

    66. Rogue One   Netflix  B

    67. The Dark Tower Theater B

    68. Eye Of The Needle  MPL A

    69. Congo MPL B

    70. Exile Mplb

    71. Allegiant  MPL B

    72. The Man  MPL B

    73. Virus MPL B

    74. Frankenstein MPL A

    75. Treasure Island MPL B

    76. Jericho TV Series B

    77. Man In The High Castle  TV Series A

    78. One Under The Sun  Amazon B

    79. Independent’s Day  Amazon –One Of The Worst Movie Ever Made F

    80. The Last Lovecraft – Relic Of Cthulu C

    81. Mysterious Island  B

    82. Zoo Series On Netflix Seasons One To Three

    83. Stranger Things Season Two B+  Season One Was Better

    84. Suburbicon   Theater  B-1

    85. Thor Ragnarok Theater B

    86. Monsters Netflix  C

    87. Travelers Netflix  B

    88. Julius Caesar OSF  B

    89. Hannah And The Dreaded Gazebo OSF B

    90.  Blade Runner 2049 B

    91. Once Upon A Time ABC Series B

    92. The Night Of The Hunter  MPL  A

    93. The Maltese Falcon  MPL A  A

    94. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel  MPL  B+

    95. Mission Impossible Rogue Nation  MPL B

    96. Beasts Of The Southern Wilds  MPL

    97. Satan Met A Lady   MPL B

    98. The Villainous Korean Movie 2017 Hoopla

    99. Guardians Of The Galaxy Part Two

    100.               Star Wars The Last Jedi

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    2016

     

    Complete list of movies in 2016 my list is Missing

    Bolded I saw

     

     

     

    2016 Movies – List of Movies Released in 2016

     

    https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a47757/best-movies-to-watch-2016/

     

    https://www.movieinsider.com/movies/2016

     

    Nice guys

    Arrival

    Hell or High Water

    Dead Pool

    Revenant in theater

    The fifth wave on the plane

    Synchroneity

    London Has Fallen  on plane

    Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on plane

    Ten Cloverfield Lane

     

    Julius Caeser OSF

    A Wrinkle in Time OSF

     

     

     

    2015

     

    The List

     

    Movies/TV Series   Netflix Unless Otherwise Mentioned

     

    1.    All About The Benjamin’s TNT B

    2.    Rush Hour Three  TNT  B

    3.    The Interview  Google On-Line C

    4.    Paradise 2013  C

    5.    The Signal 2014 B

    6.    Duplicity Julia Roberts Clive Owens B

    7.    Are You Here B

    8.     Maleficent   B

    9.    Guardians Of The Galaxy  B

    10. Begin Again 2014 B

    11.  The Giver 2014 A

    12. Sea Biscuit A

    13. November Man B

    14.  A Most Wanted Man C

    15. Labor Day B

    16.  Life Of Crime B

    17. Kundo Korean Movie B

    18.  And So It Goes 2014 Michael Douglas, Diane Keaton B

    19. Marley And Me  B

    20. Jobs B

    21.  The Family C

    22.  Stuck In Love B

    23.  Mud B

    24.  X Men Days Of Future Past C

    25.  The Identical B

    26. Jurassic City C

    27.  Railway Man B

    28. Peabody And Sherman B

    29.  Lunch Box Bollywood Movie 2013 B

    30. Y Tu Su Mama, También Award Winning Mexican Movie 2014 B

    31.  Australia B

    32.  Mrs. Henderson Presents B

    33.  John Wick  B

    34. Silver Lining Playback  A

    35.  The Good Night  B

    36. View From The Top B

    37.  Contagion C

    38.  Pineapple Express C

    39.  Country Strong B

    40.  The Hobbit –Battle Of The Five Armies B

    41.  Dinosaur Experiment C

    42.  Broke Back Mountain  Library  A

    43.  An Affair To Remember  Library  A

    44.  Two Days In Paris Library  A

    45.  Ride With The Devil Library  A

    46.  Carmen Opera Library  A

    47. Catch 22 Library B

    48. Game Of Thrones Season One  Library B

    49. Game Of Thrones Season Two Library  B

    50. Barefoot In The Park Library  A

    51. No Reservations Library C

    52.  Fast And Furious Library C

    53. Charlie’s Angels 2000 Library B

    54. Charlie’s Angels 2003 Version  Saw Earlier Noted Here B

    55.  Endless Love B

    56. Hot Pursuit On Plane C

    57.  Day Of Adeline On Plane  A

    58.  Avengers Day Of Ultron On Plane C

    59.  Tomorrowland  On Plane B

    60.  Far From The Madding Crowd On Plane A

    61.  Aloha On Plane

    62.  Mad Max Fury Road On a Plane

    63.  San Andreas On Plane

    64. Classified File Korean Movie On Plane

    65.  Casanova  From Library

    66.  Company You Keep From Library

    67. Contraband From Library

    68.  Bleak House Mini-Series  From Library

    69. La Boehme Opera From Library

    70. Eat Drink Man Women From Library

    71. Runner, Runner From Library

    72. Sense And Sensibility From Library

    73.  American Snipper HBO

    74.  Wild HBO

    75.  Maze Runner HBO

    76.  Dumb And Dummer To  HBO

    77.  Havoc HBO

    78.  5 Flights Up  HBO

    79.  Kill The Messenger  HBO

    80.  My Blueberry Nights  Library

    81.  Last Chance, Harvey, Library

    82.  Serial Mom HBO

    83.  The Producers 2005 Version

    84.   Broken Flowers  Hood

    85.   Rumor Has It that HBO

    86.   Run All Night HBO

    87.   Fistful Of Dollars HBO

    88.   A Few More Dollars  HBO

    89.   The Good, The Bad, And Ugly HBO

    90.   Fifty Shades Of Grey  HBO

    91.   Hang Em High HBO

    92.   The Drop  HBO

    93.   The Leisure Class HBO

    94.   The Kingsmen Secret Service HBO

    95.   Birdman HBO

    96.   The Wiz NBC Special

    97.  Spectre At Kingstown

    98. Magnolia HBO

    99.  The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion  HBO

    100.                The Rock HBO

    101.                Child Hood’s End Syfy Channel Special

    102.               Insurgent HBO

     

     

     

     

    2014

     

    Movies/TV Series

     

     

    1.      Jack Reacher 2012 Net Flix

    2.      Thieves (Korean Movie Next Flix)

    3.      Side Effects – Next Flix

    4.     The Informant – Next Flix

    5.      The Assassination Of Jessie James By The Coward Robert Ford 2008 Next Flic

    6.       Olympus Has Fallen 2013 Next Flix

    7.       Coriolanus 2011 Next Flix

    8.       300  Net Flix

    9.      Appolo 18  Net Flic

    10.    Shape Of Things To Come On Plane

    11.    Battle Star Galactica Razor On Plane

    12.   The Master On Plane

    13.   Ides Of March On Plane

    14.   Oblivion  Net Flix

    15.   Midnight In Paris Woody Allen  Saw Earlier On Plane  Net Flic

    16.   Non-Stop In Regal  –  A Bit Disappointing

    17.  Then She Found Me Directed By Helen Hunt 2007 Net Flic

    18.  Zelig 1996 Woody Allen Nex Fix

    19.  Husband And Wives = Woody Allen Movie Netflix

    20.   The Confederate States Of America 2004 Mockumentary

    21.  Out Of Sight George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez Based On Elmore Leonard Novel – Bit Disappointing  On Plane

    22. Hobbit Desolation Of Smug  On Plane

    23.  Ender’s Game On Plane  On Plane

    24. The Internship  On Plane

    25. Closed Circuit  On Plane

    26. Secret Life Of Walter Mitty  Download

    27. RoboCop  Download

    28. The A-Team On Plane

    29.  The Europa Report On Plane

    30.   Blue Jasmine On Plane

    31.   World’s End On Plane

    32.    The Hangover On Plane

    33.    Edge Of Tomorrow  In Movie Theather

    34.    True Crime 1998 Clint Eastwood  (TV)

    35.     Bullet To The Head  (TV)

    36.     Get The Gringo (TV)

    37.     Pacific Rim (TV)

    38.  Starsky And Hutch (TV)

    39.  Space Jam (TV)

    40. World War Z Nextflex

    41.  Wolf Of Wall Street Nextflex

    42.  Gravity Nextflex

    43.  12 Years A Slave Nextflex

    44.   Fracture Nextflex

    45.   Good Night And Good Luck Nextflex

    46.  The Perfect Storm Nextflex

    47.   The Book Thief Nextflex

    48.   Best Offer Nextflex

    49.   Muncih 2005 Spellberg Nextflex

    50.  A Winter’s Tale  Nextflex

    51.  Trascendence Nextflex

    52.  The Other Women Nextflex

    53.  Layer Cake Nextflex

    54.  Heat  Robert Dinoro, Al Pacino Nextflex

    55.  Last Vegas Dinoro Freeman Kline Pacino Nextflex

    56.  The Grand Budapest Hotel Netflix

    57.  Best Laid Plans 1999 Version  Nextflex

    58.  Firewall Nextflex

    59.  Saving Mr. Banks  Nextflex

    60. A Wrinkle In Time Nextflex

    61.  Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close – Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock About 9-11 And One Family’s Reaction Nextflex

    62.  Mandella’s Long Walk To Freedom Nextflex

    63.  Enough Said Nextflex

    64. All You Need Is Love Nextflex

    65.  Divergent Nextflex

    66. Noah Nextflex

    67.  You will Meet A Tall Dark Handsome Stranger – Woody Allen Movie 2010 Nextflex

    68. X Men Wolverine Origins Nextflex

    69.  Captain America Winter Soldier  Nextflex

    70.  X Men 2 United  Nextflex

    71.  Sex Tape In Hotel

    72.  Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes  On Plane

    73.  Godzilla 2014 Version On Plane

    74.   Don Juan  Netflix

    75.  Frozen Nextflex

    76.  Gone  Girl 2014 In Regal Springfield

    77.  Better Living Through Chemistry 2013 Movie Netflix

    78.  Elysium 2013 Nextflix

    79.  A Million Ways To Die In The West  Nextflex

    80.  Interstellar 2014 In Regal Springfield

    81.  Burning Palms – Worst Movie Of The Year For Me

    82.  Million Dollar Arm

    83.  Lost In America 1985 Recommended By Matt Jacobson

    84. Manhattan Murder Mystery 1995 Woody Allen

    85. State Of Play  Next Flic

    86. Babel  Next Flic

    87.  Peter Pan Live  NBC

    88.  Snowpiercer Korean Directed Film

    89.  Jack Ryan, Shadow Recruit

    90. Superbad

    91. It’s A Wonderful Life

    92. This Means War

    93.  Memories Of Murder Korean Film

    94.  The Good, The Bad, And The Weird Korean Film

    95.  Bad Santa

    96.  Typhoon Korean Movie 2005

    97.  In The Cut 2003 Australian Movie Set In NYC

     

    TV Series And Movies

     

    1.      Breaking Bad Television Binge Watching All Episodes

    2.      House Of Cards

    3.     Tin Man

    4.     Falling Skies

     

     

    2013

     

    The List

     

    1.    Crazy, Stupid Love, Netflix January 1, 2013

    2.    The  Descendents  Netflix January 4, 2013

    3.    The Hobbit (In Theater)  January 5, 2013

    4.     The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel  Netflix

    5.    Abritrage Richard Gere

    6.    Get Him To The Greek  TV

    7.     Snatch  Netflix

    8.    The One  Netflix

    9.     One For The Money (Netflix)

    10.  Star Trek The Undiscovered Country TV

    11.  The Help Netflix

    12.  Hope Spring Netflix

    13. Paul Netflix

    14.  Stolen Netflix – Did Not Finish Nominate For Worst Film Of The Year

    15.  The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe ABC  Family

    16. Journey To The Center Of The Earth 2011 ABC  Family

    17.  Mission Impossible 1V Ghost Protocol

    18.  Here Comes Mr. Jordan 1941 TCM

    19.  A Star Is Born 1945 TCM

    20.  Mission Impossible 111

    21. Decisions

    22.  Life Of Pi Next Flic

    23. In Land Of Blood And Honey Next Flic

    24. Lockout Next Flic

    25. 21 Jump Street Next Flic

    26.  Sherlock Holmes’s Games Of Shadows  Plane

    27. Wrath Of The Titans  Plane

    28. Horrible Bosses  Plane

    29.  Safe House Plane

    30. Hunter  Plane

    31.  Take This Waltz  Next Flix

    32.  Marley TV

    33.  Coriolanus (Theather RHS)

    34. Wallenstein (Theather RHS)

    35.  Great Gatsby (Regal Kingstown)

    36.  Groom Lake (Hulu)

    37.  Motorcycle Diaries 2004  Next Flic

    38.  Looper Next Flic

    39.  Superman Man Of Steel In Regal Theather

    40. Bourne Legacy (Netflix)

    41.  Earthlings 2012 Hulu

    42.  Gangster Squad  (Nextflix)

    43.  Red (Part)

    44.  Zookeeper (Part)

    45.  Witches Of Oz (Netflix)

    46.  Interstate 60  Hulu

    47. White House Down In Theather

    48.  Sex And Lucia Next Flic

    49.  Ted Next Flic

    50. Star Ship Troopers – Invasion Next Flic

    51.  Ana Karina 2012  Net Flix – Production Did Not Work For Me – Too Cute And Avant Garde – Like Watching A Film Of A Play Adaption.  Did Not Work As A Play Or As A Movie – A Big Disappointment

    52.  Time Bandits 1981 Hulu

    53.  RIPD  In Theather

    54.  Atonement (Netflix)

    55.  Tristone And Isolde (2006) Netflix

    56.  Dune 1984 Nextflex

    57.  Meet The Millers Theather

    58.   Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World  Next Flic

    59.  Iron Man 3  On Plane

    60.  Trance  On Plane

    61. Prisoners  In Theather

    62.  The Butler  In Theather

    63.  Outsourced  Netflix

    64.   Cloud Atlas Netflix

    65.   Flight 2012 Next Flic

    66.   The Campaign 2012 Next Flic

    67.   Asian Invasion (Porn Movie For Strip Poker Game)

    68.  Details  Nextflix

    69.  The Blind Side  Netflix

    70.  Pirates Of The Caribbean On Stranger Tides Netflix

    71.  Robin Hood 2010  Netflix

    72.  The Counselor 2013 In Theather

    73.  The Host  Netflix

    74.  After The Sunset 2008 Netflix

    75.  Grown Ups TNT On Cruise

    76.  The Proposal TNT On Cruise

    77.  Red 2 TNT On Cruise

    78.  Maiden Heist Next Flix

    79.  Despicable Me – Disney Channel

    80.  Hunger Games Catching Fire In Theather

    81.  The Place Beyond The Pines Next Flic

    82.  Watch Man 2009  Next Flix

    83.  Snow White And The Huntsman Nextflix

    84.   Parker Netflix Streaming

    85.   American Hustle

    86.    A Christmas Story

    87.    Ice Quake 2013 Syfy

    88.    On The Road

     

    2012

     

    The List

     

    1.    Dragnet  (Next Flex)  Jan 1

    2.    Bird On A Wire (Next Flex) Jan1

    3.    Laura Croft Tomb Raider (Hollywood Chanel)

    4.    Kuffs  MGM Chanel

    5.    Journey To The Lost World  MGM Chanel

    6.    Yellow Handkerchief Netflix

    7.    Shanghai Knights Hollywood Chanel

    8.    MMB 2 Hollywood Chanel

    9.    What Women Want Mel Gibson, Helen Hunt 2000 Hollywood Chanel

    10.  The Door In The Floor Jeff Bridges, Kim Bassinger, Mimi Rogers 2000 Next Flix Check References To Book

    11.  America’s Sweethearts 2001 Julia Roberts, Kusshak, Catherine Zetta Jones Nextflix

    12.   Marathon Man

    13.  Catwoman

    14.   The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes 2011  On Plane

    15.   Cowboys And Aliens 2010  On Plane

    16.   The Island 2005  On Plane

    17.   The Day The Earth Stood Still 1951 On Plane

    18.   Hot Tube Time Machine  Net Flix

    19.  The Big Lebrowski  Net Flix

    20.   Leopolis   Seoul Netflix

    21.   King Of The Lost World

    22.   Money Ball (Training Day)

    23.   Serenity Next Flex 2005

    24.  Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part One (On Plane)

    25.   Dirty Rotten Scoundrels  On The Plane

    26.   Bender’s Big Score  (Netflix)

    27.   Serenity (Nextflix)

    28.   The Punisher (TV)

    29.  Love’s Kitchen (Netflix)

    30.  Transformers 11 2009  – Disappointing But Will Watch Transformers 111 To Finish The Series Off.

    31.  The Double 2011 Richard Gere

    32. Contagion   Did Not Finish Warsaw

    33. Sherlock Holmes 2  Did Not Finish Warsaw

    34. Win Win  Warsaw Good Fli

    35.  The Invasion 2005 Innovative Shooting Technique

    36.  Tower Heist Nex

    37.  The Tree Of Life Nex  – Disappointing

    38.  The Hangover Part Two NEX

    39.   Girl With Dragon Tattoo (2011 Version)

    40.   The King’s Speech  NEX

    41.   Midnight In Paris Woody Allen Movie 2011

    42.   John Carter Hotel Room

    43.     This Means War  On Plane

    44.   J Egard With Leonardo Di Caprio Directed By Clift Eastwood – Big Disappointment.  Just Too Long, Too Much Talking. From NEX

    45.  Dr Strangelove From Mik B

    46.  The Armour Of God 1987 Jackie Chan, Lola Forner Spanish Actress Hulu

    47.  The Sands Of Oblivion 2007  Hulu

    48. The Monitors (Next Flex)

    49.  MIB3 On Plane

    50.  Prometheus – Last Half Worth Seeing Again On Plane

    51. Battleship On Plane

    52.  Players Bollywood Remake Of The Italian Job –Worth Seeing

    53.  Cross Worlds  Next Flex

    54.  Phil The Alien  Next Flex

    55.  Invasion Of The Pod People   Hulu

    56.    Alien Armageddon  Hulu

    57.    Red State  Netflix

    58.  God Bless America Netflix

    59.  The Man Who Fell To Earth  Netflix

    60.  Very Bad Things  Next Flix

    61.  Ready Or Not – Hulu

    62.  The Last Lovecraft: Relic Of Cthulu 2009 Netflix

    63.  Amazing Spiderman 2012 Plane

    64.  To Rome With Love 2010 Plane Woody Allen

    65.  Dawalt’s Guard (First Arabic Movie) Plane

    66.  Search For Justice 2012 Nicolas Cage  Plane

    67.  Mirror Mirror With Julia Roberts – On Plane In February

    68.  The Gauntlet With Clint Eastwood 1977

    69.   The Hunger Games blockbuster

    70.  The Debt

    71.  The Maltese Falcon  TCM

    72.   My Week With Marilynn  Block Buster

    73.   Bernie  Blockbuster

    74.     Savages  Blockbuster

    75.  Wanderlust Blockbuster

    76.   Skyfall  Theather

    77.   Office Space

    78.   Dumb And Dumber   TV

    79.   Accepted  TV

    80.   The Iron Lady Blockbuster

    81.    The Watch  Blockbuster

    82.    Larry Crowne  Blockbuster

    83.    Hot Rock 1972 Robert Redford  HDNET

    84.   Killing Them Softly (Movie Theather)

     

    2011

     

    1.  How Do You Know 2010

    2.  Nothing But The Truth 2008 Saw Earlier Not Bad 1-15

    3.  Salt 2010 With Angelina Jolie

    4. The Other Side Of The Bed Spanish 2002

    5. A Perfect Getaway 2009

    6. Fool’s Gold

    7. Invictus 2009 Morgan Freeman, Matt Damian

    8.  Like Water For Chocolate

    9.  The Flower Of My Secret La Flora De Mi Secreto Spanish Movie 1995

    10. 88 Minutes 2007 Al Pacino

    11. Mr. Deeds 2002

    12.  The King And I Korean Series

    13.  Sex And The City 11

    14,  Hell Boy Part 11

    15.  Love Happens

    16. Drive Angry 2011 Nicolas Cage  Add To Worst Movie List

    17  Girl With The Dragon Tatoo 2009

    18.  The Spanish Prisoner 1997  David Mamet Director Steve Martin

    19.  Illegally Yours 1988 Robert Lowe

    20.  Machette 2010  Half Spanish Dialogue Robert Dinero, Jessica Alba

    21.  The Prince Of Persia 2010

    22   No False Move 1992 Bill Ray Thorton

    23 Life In North Korea Documentary From National Geographic

    24. Green Zone

    25. Morning Glory

    26 Killers

    27.  Eat Pray Love

    28   The Town

    29.  Kate And Leopold

    29.   The Legend Of Bagger Vance

    30   Emma

    31  Les Miserables 1998 Version

    32  Unstoppable 2010

    34. Due Date 2010

     

    2010

     

     

    1.    Fragments 2009

    2.    Where The Day Takes You 1992

    3.    The Illusionist 2003

    4.    PS, I Love You 2007

    5.    The Burning Plain 2008

    6.    The Other Man 2008

    7.     Mama Mia 2008

    8.    Dim Sum Funeral 2008

    9.    Inglorious Bastards 2009

    10.  Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? 2003 Second Time Around

    11.  Time Traveler’s Wife 2009

    12.  Amelia 2009

    13.  Lies And Illusions 2009  Add To Worst List

    14.  Serious Moonlight 2009

    15.  “The Chaser” Korean Film

    16.  Precious 2009  Academy Award For Best Actress

    17.  Every Body’s Alright

    18.  Space Balls

    19. Three Stooges Selected Episodes

    20.  Ghosts Of Girl Friends Past 2009 Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner

    21.  Up In The Air 2009 George Clooney

    22. The Men Who Stare At Goats 2009 George Clooney

    23. Have You Heard About The Morgans? Hugh Grant, Sara Jessica Parker 2009

    24.  Sherlock Holmes 2009  Robert Downey, Jude Law, And Rachael Mc Donald

    25   “Crazy Heart” 2010  Best Picture Award 2010 Jeff Bridges, Robert Duval, Maggie Gyenehall

    26   “Five Minutes Of Heaven” Liam Nelson 2010.

    27   Avatar 2009 Best Picture

    28  Romeo Must Die Jet Li 2000

    29  Flawless 2008 Demi Moore Michael Kane

    30  Extraordinary Measures 2010 Harrison Ford

    31   Alice In Wonderland 2010

    32   The Road 2009

    33  It’s Complicated

    34  Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

    35  The Invention Of Lying

    36  Edge Of Darkness

    37  The Spy Next Door

    38   Young Victorian

    39  Old Dogs (On Plane)

    40  Leap Year  (On Plane)

    41  Couples Retreat (Travis) 2009

    42  Knight And Day 2010 (Medford)

    43  Inception 2010 (Medford)

    44   The Sorcerer’s Apprentice 2010 (Medford)

    45  Clash Of The Titans (On Plane) 2010

    46  Remember Me (On Plane) -2010

    47  Bounty Hunter (On Plane -2010

    48  Date Night (On Plane ) 2010

    49   2 Fast 2 Furious 2003 Eva Mendes Stars (Saw On TV)

    50   Water           World – Keven Kostner Saw

    51   Legends Of The Fall

    52   Iron Man 2 (On Plane)

    53   How To Tame Your Dragon (On Plane)

    54   The Informant (HBO Home)

    55   Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey (Parts)

    56  Batteries Not Included 1987 Second Time Around  (HBO)

    57  Family Man (HBO)

    58   Wall Street

    59   Helen  – Short List For Worst Movie I Saw – Just Did Not Work For Me.

    60  The Warlords

    61   A Plague Of Zombies

    62   Robin Hood

    63  The Unthinkable

    64  The Book Of Eli

    65  The Count Of Monte Cristo

    66   The Messenger (Angela Saw)

    67   Red (In The Theather)

    68  The Count Of Mont Cristo Angela Saw I Saw Parts

    69  3:10 To Yuma (Saw A Few Years Ago, Saw Again)

    70   Law Abiding Citizen 2009

    71   Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring Korean Film 2005

    72   Aliens In The Addict 2009 TV

    73   Loch Ness 1996 Ted Dancer HBO

    74  Fair Game 2010 In Theater

    75   The Pianists 2002 Angela Saw, I Saw A Few Years Ago

    76   The Simpsons Movie First Half was Seen Earlier

    77   Star Wars 6 First Half Hour

    78  Wizard Of OZ Half

    79  The King And I Korean History Drama

    80   The Darjeeling Limited 2007 Owen Wilson Wes Anderson Directed

    81   The Piano  1995   Angela Saw, I Heard Parts Of It

    82   Gia 1994  Very Sexual And Lots Of Lesbian Scenes Which Turned Me On.

    83   Oregon (SFY)

    84   Leiberstruam 1999 Kim Novack, Bill Pullman  HBO

    85  The Jones 2009 Demi Moore, David Duchovny Amber Heard, And Ben Hollingsworth Directed By Derrick Borte – Disappointed, Did Not Work For Me

    86  The Hours 2002 Nicole Kidman, Julain Moore, And Meryle Shreep Re Life Of Virginia Woolf And Her Impact On The Life Of Two Women

    87  Bobby 2006 Helen Hunt, Demi Moore, Anthony Hopkins, Sharon Stone, William Macy, Martin Sheet, Linsday Lohan, And Cristian Slater  Written Nd Directed By Emilio Estevez

    88   True Grit 2010 – Overly Hyped In My Opinion

    89   Vivdirana Spanish Film 1961 Classic

    90   Volver  2005 Spanish Film

    91   How Much Do You Love Me 2005 French

    92.  Ninja Assassins 2009  Staring Rain  On TV

    93  Horsefeathers  Marx Brothers On TV

     

     

    2009

     

    1.    Underwear” Starting Val Kilmer, Graham Greene,

    2.    Constant Gardener With Rachael Weiz –

    3.    Rumor Has It – Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner

    4.    Queen

    5.    Hancock With Will Smith

    6.    Dave – With Eddie Murphy – SF Comedy

    7.    Joe Kid – With Clint Eastwood – Saw Opening

    8.    Iron Man – Not Bad.  Another Marvel Movie.

    9.    Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind”

    10. Gone, Baby, Gone”

    11. Fracture

    12. Burn After Reading”

    13. 21 Grams”

    14. The Changing With Angelia Jolie, Directed By Clint

    15. Kiss The Dust”

    16. How To Lose Friends And Alienate People

    17. Electric Mist With Tomy Lee Jones

    18. Good German

    19. Siberian Express

    20. Body Of Lies

    21. Slum Dog Millionaire

    22. Lucky Slevin

    23. Australia

    24. What Just Happened

    25. City Of Ember

    26. Proof Of Life

    27. Bottle Shock

    28. Runaway Jury

    29. Master Spy

    30. Marie Antoinette

    31. Interstate

    32. He’s Just Not That Into You

    33. Madagascar 11

    34. Collateral With Jamie Fox And Tom Cruise

    35. My Super Ex Girl Friend

    36. State Of Play – In Medford Movie Theather

    37. Bolt-On The Plane

    38. Yes Man, In a Hotel Room In DC

    39. Avengers

    40. Spy Games

    41. All The Way

    42. The Day The Earth Stood Still

    43. Seven Pounds

    44. Nothing But The Truth

    45. The Reader – Oscar Winner For Best Actress 2008 Kate Winslet

    46. Crossing Over

    47. Kill Shot With Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane

    48. Vanished With Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock

    49. Valkyrie

    50. Star Trek – Prequel Movie (From Street Vendor)

    51. 52  The Clearing With Robert Redford – 2004

    52. Curious Case Of Benjamin Button  With Brad Pitt Best Actor Award 2009

    53. Knowing With Nicolas Cage 2009

    54. The Code

    55. Counterfeit

    56. Alexander 2004 Oliver Stone Producer

    57. Out For Justice  1991

    58. Echelon Conspiracy 2009

    59. The Good Thief 2001 With Nick Nolte

    60. Meteor = NBC Mini-Series

    61. Wild Hogs 2007 Tim Allen, Travolta, Macy, Lawrence

    62. 28 Days Later

    63. Wild Things 2

    64. Mystic River Directed By Clint Eastwood, Starring Sean Pean

    65. Criminal 2004

    66. Essential Lover

    67. Two Lovers

    68. Angels And Demons 2008 Started by Tom Hanks, Directed By Ron Howard

    69. The Informers

    70.  Duplicity

    71.   Surveillance Produced By Jennifer Lynch Starting Pullman And Ormand

    72.  Trust The Man 2008

    73.  The Mutant Chronicles 2008

    74.  Heaven  1995?

    75.  Wolverine With Hugh Jackman 2009

    76.  Dark Streets With Bijou Philips

    77.  Doubt With Meryle Strep 2008

    78. Coco Chanel Shirley Mc Cline  2008

    79.  Ramen Girl

    80.  The Yatzuka (1974 W George Mitchum)

    81.  The Fountain  2006 W Rachel Weiss (Hot)

    82.  Easy Virtue  2009 (On Plane)

    83.  Act Of Imagination – Eddie Murphy And Serena Williams’s Daughter

    84.  I Hate Valentine’s Day  2009  (On Plane)

    85.  The Proposal 2009 With Sandra Bullock

    86.  Into The Storm (Bio Of Winston Churchill (On Plane)

    87. MILF Hunters 5 Porno Movie Seen In Hotel

    88. Mr. Brooks

    89.  Taken

    90. The Big Bounce

    91. The Heartbreak Kid (Second Time Around)

    92.  Taking Of Pelham 123 2009 With John Travolta, Denzel Washington

    93.  Cherrie 2008 With Michelle Pfiefer

    94.  Accidental Husband 2008 With Uma Thuber

    95.  Management With Jennifer Aniston, Steve Chain, And Woody Harrelson, 2008

    96.  My Life In Ruins, 2008 With Nia Valdolos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding And Richard Dreyfus)

    97. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 2005

    98. Spanglish 2005 With Adam Sandler

    99.  A Married Life 2008

    100.            Open Road 2009

    101.           Vanity Fair 2004  Recee Weatherspoon As Bucky Sharp

    102.           Beyond Borders 2008 Anglie Jolie, And Clive Owen

    103.           I’ll Sleep When I Am Dead 2003with Clive Owen

    104.           The King Of California 2007 With Michael Douglas

    105.           Target 1985 With Gene Hackman And Matt Dillion

    106.           The Life Of David Gale With Kevin Spacy, And Kate Winslet

    107.           Bruno

    108.           Lucky You With Drew Barrymore

    109.           The Last Word

    110.           2012 With John Cusack

    111.           Bad Lieutenant With Nicolas Cage

    112.           The Tournament 2009 Kelly Hu

    113.           Public Enemies 2009 Johny Deep

    114.           Julia And Julia 2009 Meryle Sherpa

    115.            Cold Mountain 2003 Jude Law, Nicole Kidman

    116.           Out Of Time 2003 Denzel Washington, Eva Mendez (Hot)

    117.            Night At The Museum 11 Battle For Smithsonian

    118.           Sleuth 2009 Version

    119.           Land Of The Lost 2009

    120.           The Brother’s Bloom 2008

    121.           Letter From Iwa Jima 2007 Clint Eastwood Directed

    122.           White Chicks

    123.           Star Treck Generations

    124.           Jackie Collins’s Hollywood Wife 2003

    125.           Charlie Wilson’s War  -2008 Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts

    126.           The Whole Nine Yards 2000 Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peete (Hot)

    127.           The Illusionist


     

     

    2009

     

    1.    Underwear” Starting Val Kilmer, Graham Greene,

    2.    Constant Gardener With Rachael Weiz –

    3.    Rumor Has It – Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner

    4.    Queen

    5.    Hancock With Will Smith

    6.    Dave – With Eddie Murphy – SF Comedy

    7.    Joe Kid – With Clint Eastwood – Saw Opening

    8.    Iron Man – Not Bad.  Another Marvel Movie.

    9.    Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind”

    10. Gone, Baby, Gone”

    11. Fracture

    12. Burn After Reading”

    13. 21 Grams”

    14. The Changing With Angelia Jolie, Directed By Clint

    15. Kiss The Dust”

    16. How To Lose Friends And Alienate People

    17. Electric Mist With Tommy Lee Jones

    18. Good German

    19. Siberian Express

    20. Body Of Lies

    21. Slum Dog Millionaire

    22. Lucky Slevin

    23. Australia

    24. What Just Happened

    25. City Of Ember

    26. Proof Of Life

    27. Bottle Shock

    28. Runaway Jury

    29. Master Spy

    30. Marie Antoinette

    31. Interstate

    32. He’s Just Not That Into You

    33. Madagascar 11

    34. Collateral With Jamie Fox And Tom Cruise

    35. My Super Ex Girl Friend

    36. State Of Play – In Medford Movie Theather

    37. Bolt-On The Plane

    38. Yes Man, In a Hotel Room In DC

    39. Avengers

    40. Spy Games

    41. All The Way

    42. The Day The Earth Stood Still

    43. Seven Pounds

    44. Nothing But The Truth

    45. The Reader – Oscar Winner For Best Actress 2008 Kate Winslet

    46. Crossing Over

    47. Kill Shot With Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane

    48. Vanished With Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock

    49. Valkyrie

    50. Star Trek – Prequel Movie (From Street Vendor)

    51. 52  The Clearing With Robert Redford – 2004

    52. Curious Case Of Benjamin Button  With Brad Pitt Best Actor Award 2009

    53. Knowing With Nicolas Cage 2009

    54. The Code

    55. Counterfeit

    56. Alexander 2004 Oliver Stone Producer

    57. Out For Justice  1991

    58. Echelon Conspiracy 2009

    59. The Good Thief 2001 With Nick Nolte

    60. Meteor = NBC Mini-Series

    61. Wild Hogs 2007 Tim Allen, Travolta, Macy, Lawrence

    62. 28 Days Later

    63. Wild Things 2

    64. Mystic River Directed By Clint Eastwood, Starring Sean Pean

    65. Criminal 2004

    66. Essential Lover

    67. Two Lovers

    68. Angels And Demons 2008 Started by Tom Hanks, Directed By Ron Howard

    69. The Informers

    70.  Duplicity

    71.   Surveillance Produced By Jennifer Lynch Starting Pullman And Ormand

    72.  Trust The Man 2008

    73.  The Mutant Chronicles 2008

    74.  Heaven  1995?

    75.  Wolverine With Hugh Jackman 2009

    76.  Dark Streets With Bijou Philips

    77.  Doubt With Meryle Strep 2008

    78. Coco Chanel Shirley Mc Cline  2008

    79.  Ramen Girl

    80.  The Yatzuka (1974 W George Mitchum)

    81.  The Fountain  2006 W Rachel Weiss (Hot)

    82.  Easy Virtue  2009 (On Plane)

    83.  Act Of Imagination – Eddie Murphy And Serena Williams’s Daughter

    84.  I Hate Valentine’s Day  2009  (On Plane)

    85.  The Proposal 2009 With Sandra Bullock

    86.  Into The Storm (Bio Of Winston Churchill (On Plane)

    87. MILF Hunters 5 Porno Movie Seen In Hotel

    88. Mr. Brooks

    89.  Taken

    90. The Big Bounce

    91. The Heartbreak Kid (Second Time Around)

    92.  Taking Of Pelham 123 2009 With John Travolta, Denzel Washington

    93.  Cherrie 2008 With Michelle Pfiefer

    94.  Accidental Husband 2008 With Uma Thuber

    95.  Management With Jennifer Aniston, Steve Chain, And Woody Harrelson, 2008

    96.  My Life In Ruins, 2008 With Nia Valdolos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding And Richard Dreyfus)

    97. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 2005

    98. Spanglish 2005 With Adam Sandler

    99.  A Married Life 2008

    100.            Open Road 2009

    101.           Vanity Fair 2004  Recee Weatherspoon As Bucky Sharp

    102.           Beyond Borders 2008 Anglie Jolie, And Clive Owen

    103.           I’ll Sleep When I Am Dead 2003with Clive Owen

    104.           The King Of California 2007 With Michael Douglas

    105.           Target 1985 With Gene Hackman And Matt Dillion

    106.           The Life Of David Gale With Kevin Spacy, And Kate Winslet

    107.           Bruno

    108.           Lucky You With Drew Barrymore

    109.           The Last Word

    110.           2012 With John Cusack

    111.           Bad Lieutenant With Nicolas Cage

    112.           The Tournament 2009 Kelly Hu

    113.           Public Enemies 2009 Johny Deep

    114.           Julia And Julia 2009 Meryle Sherpa

    115.            Cold Mountain 2003 Jude Law, Nicole Kidman

    116.           Out Of Time 2003 Denzel Washington, Eva Mendez (Hot)

    117.            Night At The Museum 11 Battle For Smithsonian

    118.           Sleuth 2009 Version

    119.           Land Of The Lost 2009

    120.           The Brother’s Bloom 2008

    121.           Letter From Iwa Jima 2007 Clint Eastwood Directed

    122.           White Chicks

    123.           Star Treck Generations

    124.           Jackie Collins’s Hollywood Wife 2003

    125.           Charlie Wilson’s War  -2008 Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts

    126.           The Whole Nine Yards 2000 Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peete (Hot)

    127.           The Illusionist

    2008

     

    1.    After The Sunset With Pierce Bronson, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, Don Cheadle

    2.    American Gangster With Denzel Washington And Russell Crowe

    3.    Out Of Reach With Steven Seagal

    4.    Amos And Andy With Nicolas Cage And Samuel Jackson

    5.    The Merchant Of Venice With AL Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins

    6.    Harrison’s Flowers With Adrian Macdowell, Elias Koteas, Brendan Gleeson, Adrian Brody, And David Stratham

     

    7.    Cruise December 15 -21

     

    8.    Sylvia –  Movie About The Poet Sylvia Plath And Ted Hughes

    9.    What Happened In Vegas – With Cameron Diaz

    10. Rendition With Meryle Strep – About The Issue Of Renditions, Well Done

    11. Adaptation  – Nicolas Cage Re Life Of Two Twin Brothers Screen Writers And The Process Of Writing A Screen Play

    12. Bangkok Dangerous Nicolas Cage

    13. Elizabeth

    14. The Weather Man Nicolas Cage

    15. Get Smart

     

    16. Possession  NF

    17. Next With Nicolas Cage NF

    18. Knocked Up  NF

    19. Untouchables AMC

    20. Fargo  AMC

    21. Mummy Returns

     

    2007 To 2010 Barbados

     

    Saw A Lot Of Movies On Video And Netflix Via Mail

     

    From 2003 To 2007  DC Saw An Average of 100 Per Year

     

    2000 To 2003  Saw An Average Of 100 Per Year Mostly Videos But Did See In Movie Theaters Twice A Month And Saw Several Bollywood Movies

     

     

    2000   Saw The Three Stooges Marathon To Start The Year

     

    1996 -1997  Saw Less Than 50 Due To Being In Hospital Half The Year

     

     

    The 90s  Saw About 100 Per Year Blockbuster Was Popular

     

    1994  during six months of Thai training saw four movies per week

     

    1991 during training saw four movies per week

     

    The ’80s Saw A Lot Via Video About 100 Per Year

     

    The ’70s Saw On TV And In Movie Theaters

     

    Watched a lot of Creature Features movies on TV in the early ’70s every Friday night they had a double feature.    Went on average once a week to the movies with friends, mostly Robert Sicular from 1970 to 1974.

     

    My favorite animation series included American Dad, Dilbert,  Family Guy, Futurama, Bullwinkle, and Looney Tunes.

     

    Favorite TV series over the years include Arrested Development,  Batman, Superman,  Everyone Loves Raymond, Two and a Half Men, Married with Children, Malcolm in the Middle, Dallas, Falcon Crest, and as a child, Beverly Hillbies, Dobbie Gils, Gilligan’s Island, Green Acres, Outer limits, Twilight zone, and X Files.

     

    Saw all Planet of the Apes movies and all James Bond movies

     

     

     

     

     
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    the 2024 Oscars According to Roy Dufrain

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    THE OSCARS AT OUR HOUSE.

    For more than twenty years now, Mrs D and I have made it an annual quest to see all of the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars telecast. This year we saw 9.5 of the 10 movies nominated.
    It started in 2000, when there were only five nominees (instead of up to 10 like now) and we usually had to see them in a theater, because they weren’t available to rent on VHS yet. (Yes, I said VHS).
    And we’ve done it every year since, except for 2019 which was interrupted by Mrs D’s infamous extended hospital stay. We have even ventured to other cities to see movies that weren’t playing at the one theater in our little town. I remember seeing Chocolat in Ukiah and more recently The Revenant in Rohnert Park. But now we can usually stream everything, and this year the whole project ran us around a hundred bucks in streaming rentals and purchases on top of our existing subscriptions to Amazon, etc.
    Several years ago I started writing about our tradition on Facebook. Now the writeup itself has become part of the deal. As I’ve said before, I’m no film student, nor expert critic. Just a regular dude who loves movies.
    Snap reviews and top picks below.

    American Fiction –

    Bold, wryly funny, contrarian, with the ring of truth. Brilliantly calls out the publishing industry, where retread tropes seem to trump story, art and insight, particularly when it comes to depictions of Black characters and writers. And I feel like there’s an even larger truth here about the way culture is degraded in general through over-commercialization.

    Anatomy of a Fall –

    A French film that moves carefully, piece by piece, and manages to be slow and taut at the same time. I found the characters to be inscrutable. I feel like I need to watch again just to see if maybe this time I would fully understand these people. It left me with a suspicion that perhaps all the story’s secrets have still not been revealed, that the resolution we see on the screen is still not the truth of these characters. And, in this case, that ambiguity is a good thing.

    Barbie —

    Cleverly funny in spots, but also unsubtly preachy in spots, an issue I’ve had with director Greta Gerwig before. But Margot Robbie was perfect and the movie is visually stunning in all its pinkish glory and devoted detail. Still, I think this movie appears in the Best Picture category more on the strength of its perceived politics than its success as an artistic endeavor.

    The Holdovers —

    A darkly funny, entertaining, and deeply reflective odd couple sort of story that’s enjoyable to watch. Maybe a little out of its league in the Best Picture category, but elevated to a higher status by Paul Giamatti’s performance, which is irresistibly engaging as always. Well worth a second watch.
    Killers of the Flower Moon — Having read the book, I felt the impact of the true part of this story was diminished by the fictionalized part of the movie. Reading the book I was deeply struck by the callous indifference shown toward the humanity of the Osage Indians. It resonated like an echo of Shindler’s List, underlining the incredible and frightening capacity of humans to rationalize literally any behavior in their fear or greed. But the movie revolves around Ernest Burkhardt (Leonardo DiCaprio) and depicts a somewhat tried and true arc of romantic tragedy, a weak-minded man caught up in the schemes of others, pulled along by greed and the need for approval, until he is in the process of killing the only real love he’s ever known. As is often the case, the truth was more complex. And more disturbing.

    Maestro –

    I usually make a conscious effort to limit my preconceptions of these movies. I don’t read reviews or watch trailers. But it’s hard to avoid a relentless ad campaign like the one mounted for Maestro. I’d seen the rousing TV spots touting the performances and the early awards. But I found the movie depressing, its characterization of Bernstein disappointing and unlikeable. But yes, Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan
    were both outstanding.
    Comment:  on my list to watch as I am a big Bernstein fan – one of the best classical composers of the 20th century in my opinion.

    Oppenheimer –

    Not what I would call a pleasant watch, at times slow and ponderous, even confusing with some of the time jumps. But the acting was so engrossing, immersive, mesmerizing even. Cillian Murphy in the title role was riveting. Robert Downey Jr simply disappeared into the role of Lewis Strauss. Emily Blunt was also captivating as Kitty Oppenheimer. The effects director Christopher Nolan used to heighten the sense of Oppenheimer’s interiority were brilliant and effective.
    For example when Oppenheimer steps on a charred corpse that only exists in his tortured, guilty mind. But the lasting impact of this film is the way it echoes in the mind afterward—how sad and terrible and absurd it is that we reckless humans have attained the power to destroy the world. It will probably win Best Picture. And it probably should.
    Comment: Also on my must see list

    Past Lives –

    Eventually, someone had to do a movie like this — an old romance is rekindled through the internet and complications ensue. In this particular case the past romance is an adolescent crush, cut short by one family’s immigration, and later complicated not just by the years, but also by geographic and cultural distance. This one stayed with me, kept me thinking for days afterward about its larger implications regarding fate, destiny, acceptance, grief and closure. Well worth more than one watch.

    Poor Things –

    Half of this movie was twice as much as I needed. We actually turned it off, extremely rare for us during Oscar season. What we saw played like a terrible excuse for some creepy, gratuitous soft porn. All the weirdness of the sets, costumes, cinematography and makeup felt like a desperate attempt at artistic status. If someone out there actually saw some redeeming value in this thing, feel free to explain in the comments section what I am missing.

    The Zone of Interest –

    This one’s all in German, with subtitles. But the dialog is sparse and the film’s biggest strength is in the fascinating dichotomy presented in its basic premise. It gives us a window into the surprisingly mundane personal lives of a “normal” family literally in the shadow of Auschwitz during the Holocaust. The sense of cognitive dissonance is alarming.

    Honorable Mention

    – I don’t usually do this, but I wanted to mention one film that was not even nominated for Best Picture but, in my opinion, should have been. Nyad has wonderful, engaging performances by Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, and it’s a suspenseful, satisfying, story of friendship, determination, human spirit, and triumph over the longest odds.

    Finally, here are my choices for the top awards.

    Don’t worry, the Academy almost always disagrees.
    Actor in a Leading Role: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer Winner
    Actor in a Supporting Role: Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer Winner
    Actress in a Leading Role: Annette Bening, Nyad
    Actress in a Supporting Role: Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
    Best Picture: Oppenheimer Winner 
    Soon it’s time to pop the popcorn, get cozy on the couch, badmouth the fashion and root for your favorites.
    Happy Oscars folks.

    here’s the winners 

    The 96th Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 10, 2024, celebrated outstanding movies released in 2023. Here are some of the notable winners:

    1. Best Picture: “Oppenheimer”
    2. Best Actor: Cillian Murphy for his role in “Oppenheimer”
    3. Best Actress: Emma Stone for her performance in “Poor Things”
    4. Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. in “Oppenheimer”
    5. Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph from “The Holdovers”
    6. Best Director: Christopher Nolan for “Oppenheimer”
    7. Best Adapted Screenplay: “American Fiction”
    8. Best Original Screenplay: “Anatomy of a Fall”
    9. Best Animated Feature: “The Boy and the Heron”
    10. Best Documentary Feature: “20 Days in Mariupol”
    11. Best International Feature Film: “The Zone of Interest”
    12. Best Cinematography: “Oppenheimer”
    13. Best Costume Design: “Poor Things”
    14. Best Film Editing: “Oppenheimer”
    15. Best Makeup and Hairstyling: “Poor Things”
    16. Best Original Score: “Oppenheimer”
    17. Best Original Song: “Barbie”
    18. Best Production Design: “Poor Things”
    19. Best Sound: “The Zone of Interest”
    20. Best Visual Effects: “Godzilla Minus One”
    21. Best Documentary (Short Subject): “The Last Repair Shop”
    22. Best Animated Short Film: “War Is Over!”
    23. Best Live Action Short Film: “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” 12

     

     

    All reactions:

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    Bold Seen it

     

    1. Logan (2017)
    2. High Life (2019)

    97  Village of the Damned (1960

    1. Westworld (1973)
    2. Évolution (2015)
    3. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982

    95 Mad Max Thunderdome

    1. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

    94  Clockwork Orange (1971)

    1. WarGames (1983)
    2. Sleeper (1973)
    3. 2046 (2005) Hong Kong Film
    4. Spontaneous (2020)
    5. I’m Your Man (2021) Sci-Fi Rom-com

    88 Ex Machina (2015)

    1. The War of the Worlds (1953) and re-makes
    2. Avengers: Endgame (2019)and the rest of the franchise
    3. Godzilla (2004) and the rest of the franchise Japanese
    4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and the rest of the franchise

    #79. Planet of the Apes (1968)

    1. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) whole franchise 9 movies

     

    1. Iron Man (2008) and sequels
    2. Jodorowsky’s Dune (2014)
    3. Annihilation (2018)
    4. The Fly (1986)
    5. Time Bandits (1981) Cult classic comedy by Month Python crew
    6. Under the Skin (2014)
    7. Minority Report (2002)
    8. The Endless (2018)
    9. The Survivalist (2017)
    10. Ad Astra (2019)
    11. The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)
    12. Melancholia (2011)
    13. The Martian (2015)
    14. Labyrinth of Cinema (2021) Japanese
    15. Paprika (2007) Hong Kong
    16. District 9 (2009) re-make coming soon

    62 The World’s End (2013) part of Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy.

    1. Battle Royale (2012) Japanese
    2. Upstream Color (2013)
    3. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and original in 1959
    4. The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
    5. Arrival (2016)
    6. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) remake
    7. Bacurau (2020)
    8. Isle of Dogs (2018)
    9. Marjorie Prime (2017)
    10. A Quiet Place (2018) part one
    11. A Quiet Place (2018) part two
    12. Star Trek (2009) whole franchise 6 movies
    13. The Lobster (201
    14. Face/Off (1997)
    15. Repo Man (1984) re-make of mid 70’s cult classic94.
    16. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) whole franchise 7 movies

    #32. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

    1. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
    2. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
    3. Superman (1978)
    4. Superman II (1981) whole franchise 4 movies

    45   Superman 1 whole franchise 4 movies

    45 Superman 111  whole franchise 4 movies

    1. Spider-Man 2 (2004) whole franchise 4 movies
    2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
    3. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
    4. Soul (2020)
    5. Avatar (2009) and remake 2024
    6. Snowpiercer (2014) and K Drama series by Parasite Director K Sci-fi
    7. The Terminator (1984) and whole franchise’s five movies
    8. The Vast of Night (2020)
    9. Looper (2012)

    In My Room (2019)

    1. Aliens (1986)
    2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
    3. Blade Runner (1982) and 2014 remake
    4. Children of Men (2006)
    5. Brazil (1985)
    6. Holy Motors (2012
    7. The Iron Giant (1999)
    8. The Host (2007) K Sci-Fi by Parasite director

    #26. Atlantis (2021)

    1. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1985) Anime
    2. Divine Love (2020) Brazilian
    3. Back to the Future (1985) 1, 2 and 3 in the Franchise
    4. The Invisible Man (1933)
    5. Black Panther (2018)
    6. Donnie Darko (2004)
    7. Alien (1979)
    8. Hard to Be a God (2015)
    9. King Kong (1933) and remakes
    10. 13. It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
    11. Solaris (1972) Russian
    12. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
    13. Her (2013)
    14. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
    15. Frankenstein (1931) and remakes
    16. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
    17. Werckmeister Harmonies (20015.
    18. Threads (1984)

    5  Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)and remakes

    1. WALL-E (2008)
    2. Gravity (2013)
    3. Metropolis (1927)

     

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    23 Legendary Westerns That Shaped the History of Cinema

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    Bolded I have seen

     

    Notting Hill (1999)

    Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

    When Harry Met Sally (1989)

    Say Anything (1989)

    About a Boy (2002)

    A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

    The Naked Gun (1988)

    Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

    Clueless (1995)

    Grease (1978)

    There’s Something About Mary (1998

    The Holiday (2006)

    City Lights (1931)

    It Happened One Night (1934)

    Jules and Jim (1962)

    Roman Holiday (1953)

    Bringing Up Baby (1938)

    Jerry Maguire (1996)

    The Wedding Singer (1998)

    The Big Sick (2017)

    The Big Sick (2017)

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

    Love at First Sight 2024

    Enchanted (2007)

    Amelie (2001)©The Criterion Collection

    Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)©

    The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)

    Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

    Punch Drunk Love (2002)

    Manhattan (1979)

    Some Like it Hot (1959)©United Artists

    Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

    Wall-E (2008)

    Ponyo (2008)

    Amarcord (1973)

    You’ve Got Mail (1998)

    Harold and Maude (1971)

    Annie Hall (1977)

    Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

    The Notebook (2004)

    The Fall Guy (2024)

    Love Story (1970)

    The Parent Trap (1998)

    Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1988)

    Rushmore (1988)

    Dirty Dancing (1987)

    Step Brothers (2008)

    Sense and Sensibility (1995)

    Before Sunrise (1995)

    After Sunrise sequel

    Titanic (1997)

    The Princess Bride (1987)

    How many of the greatest comedy movies of all time have you seen?

    7 top new movies to stream this week on Netflix, Prime Video, Max and more (March 18-24)

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    3-19

     

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    20 Best Classic Romance Movies of Hollywood’s Golden Age

     

    ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ (1946)

    ‘His Girl Friday’ (1940)

    ‘Leave Her to Heaven’ (1945)

    ‘An Affair to Remember’ (1957)

    ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ (1961)

    ‘Out of the Past’ (1947)

    ‘Double Indemnity’ (1944)

    ‘City Lights’ (1931)

    ‘Brief Encounter’ (1945)

    ‘The Apartment’ (1960)

    ‘Bringing Up Baby’ (1938)

    ‘Sabrina’ (1954)

    ‘Notorious’ (1946)

    ‘Gone with the Wind’ (1939)

    ‘The Philadelphia Story’ (1940)

    ‘Roman Holiday’ (1953)

    ‘To Have and Have Not’ (1944)

    ‘It Happened One Night’ (1934)

    ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952)

    ‘Casablanca’ (1942)

     

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    #100. ‘The Wicker Man’ (1973)

    #99. ‘The Insider’ (1999)

    #98. ‘Traffic’ (2000

    #97. ‘The Secret in Their Eyes’ (2009

    #96. ‘Baby Driver’ (2017)

    #95. ‘Get Out’ (2017)

    #94. ‘Reservoir Dogs’ (1992

    #93. ‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995)

    #92. ‘Inception’ (2010)

    #91. ‘The Fool’ (2014)

    #90. ‘Foreign Correspondent’ (1940)

    #89. ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ (1950)

    #88. ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976)

    #87. ‘Memories of Murder’ (2003) K Drama

    #86. ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ (2018)

    #85. ‘Mystic River’ (2003)

    #84. ‘Children of Men’

    #83. ‘Argo’ (2012)

    #82. ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 2’ (2004)

    #81. ‘The Fallen Idol’ (1948)

    #80. ‘Odd Man Out’ (1947)

    #79. ‘Scarface’ (1932) and remake

    #78. ‘Deep Red’ (1975)

    #77. ‘Dirty Harry’ (1971) and sequels

    #76. ‘Goldfinger’ (1964) and entire Bond Franchise

    #75. ‘Hell or High Water’ (2016)

    #74. ‘Amores perros’ (2000

    #73. ‘Halloween’ (1978) and sequels

    #72. ‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001)

    Twin Peaks

    #71. ‘Memento’ (2000)

    #70. ‘The Passenger’ (1975)

    #69. ‘Out of the Past’ (1947)

    #68. ‘Burning’ (2018) K Drama List

    #67. ‘The Big Sleep’ (1946)

    #66. ‘The Conversation’ (1974)

    #65. ‘The Handmaiden’ (2016) K Drama List

    #64. ‘Uncut Gems’ (2019)

    #63. ‘The Fugitive’ (1993)

    #62. ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ (2007)

     

    #61. ‘Blade Runner’ (1982) and remakes

    #60. ‘Frenzy’ (1972)

    #59. ‘After Hours’ (1985)

    #58. ‘United 93’ (2006)

    #57 ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ (1975)

    #56. ‘Fargo’ (1996)

    #55. ‘Repulsion’ (1965)

    #54. ‘Don’t Look Now’ (1973)

    #53. ‘The Wages of Fear’ (1953)

    #52. ‘Persona’ (1966)

    #51. ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968) and sequels classic zombie films

    #50. ‘Strangers on a Train’ (1951)

    #49. ‘Rebecca’ (1940) and remake

    #48. ‘Room’ (2015

    #47. ‘Z’ (1969)

    #46. ‘To Have and Have Not’ (1944)

    #45. ‘Mean Streets’ (1973)

    #44. ‘The Great Escape’ (1963

    #42. ‘Aliens’ (1986)

    #41. ‘Donnie Darko’ (2001)

    #40. ‘The 39 Steps’ (1935)

     

    #39. ‘Frankenstein’ (1931) and remakes

    #38. ‘High Noon’ (1952)

    #37. ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ (2012)

    #36. ‘Le Cercle Rouge’ (1970)

     

    #35. ‘The Hurt Locker’ (2008)

    #34. ‘The Departed’ (2006)

    #33. ‘The Killing’ (1956)

    #32. ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ (2012)

    #31. ‘The French Connection’ (1971)

     

    #30. ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015)

    #29. ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

    #28. ‘It’s Such a Beautiful Day’ (2012)

    #27. ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ (1943)

    #26. ‘Shoplifters’ (2018)

    #25. ‘On the Waterfront’ (1954)

    #24. ‘L.A. Confidential’ (1997)

    #23. ‘Dunkirk’ (2017)

    #22. ‘Elevator to the Gallows’ (1958)

     

    #21. ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ (1962) and remake original is better

    #20. ‘The Lives of Others’ (2006)

    #19. ‘Gravity’ (2013)

    #18. ‘High and Low’ (1963 Japanese

     

    #17. ‘Chinatown’ (1974)

    #16. ‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007)

    #15. ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008) and rest of Batman franchise

    #14. ‘Yojimbo’ (1961) Japanese Gangster Film

    #13. ‘The Lady Vanishes’ (1938)

    #12. ‘Battleship Potemkin’ (1925) Russian Silent Age classic

    #11. ‘Rififi’ (1955)

    #10. ‘Double Indemnity’ (1944)

    #9. ‘The Third Man’ (1949)

    Maltese Falcon

    #8. ‘The Night of the Hunter’ (1955)

    #7. ‘Notorious’ (1946

    #6. ‘Touch of Evil’ (1958)

    #5. ‘North by Northwest’ (1959)

    #4. ‘Parasite’ (2019) K Drama Best Picture Oscar Winner

    #3. ‘Psycho’ (1960) and remake

    #2. ‘Vertigo’ (1958)

    #1. ‘Rear Window’ (1954)

     

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    ‘The Descent’ (2005)

    ‘Halloween’ (1978)

    ‘Pulse’ (2001)

    Alien’ (1979)

    ‘Insidious’ (2010)

    ‘The Thing’ (1982)

    ‘Jaws’ (1975)

    ‘Poltergeist’ (1982)

    ‘The Conjuring’ (2013)

    ‘Sinister’ (2012)

     

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    10’Berberian Sound Studio’ (2012)

    9’Under the Skin’ (2013)

    8’Antichrist’ (2009)

    7’Titane’ (2021)

    6’Saint Maud’ (2019)

    5’Mad God’ (2021)

    3’Beau Is Afraid’ (2023)

    2’Jacob’s Ladder’ (1990)

    1’Possession’ (1981)

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    10 Most Powerful Movies of All Time, Ranked

     

    ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998)

    ‘All That Jazz’ (1979)

    ‘Do the Right Thing’ (1989)

    ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (1975)

    ‘Scenes from a Marriage’ (1974)

    ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)

    ‘Ikiru’ (1952)

    ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994)

    ’12 Angry Men’ (1957)

     

    10 Well-Written Horror Movies That Should Be Shown In Film Writing Classes

     

    The Changeling (1980)

    Let The Right One In (2008)

    The Wailing (2016) K Horror

    Misery (1990)

    The Witch (2016)

    Get Out (2017)

    Scream (1996)

    Hereditary (2018)

    Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

    The Thing (1982)

    63 Movies Guaranteed to Make You Cry Every Time

     

    10 Most Intense Movies of All Time, Ranked

     

    ‘Boiling Point’ (2021)

    ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998)

    ‘Come and See’ (1985)

    ‘Gravity’ (2013)

    ‘Angst’ (1983)

    ‘Inglourious Basterds’ (2009)

    ‘The Wages of Fear’ (1953)

    ‘Whiplash’ (2014)

    ‘Uncut Gems’ (2019)

     

     

    10 Best Obscure Horror Movies From the 2010s

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    Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and others in the franchise

    Directed by George P. CosmatosKill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Part Two?

    Directed by Quentin Tarantin

    John Wick (2014)  and sequels?Directed by Chad Stahelski

    Heat (1995)Directed by Michael Mann

    Aliens (1986) and rest of franchise Directed by James Cameron

    The Matrix (1999) and rest of franchise Directed by the WachowskisRaiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) and rest of franchise Directed by Steven Spielberg

    Speed (1994) Directed by Jan de Bont

    Die Hard (1988) and rest of Franchise Directed by John McTiernan

    Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and rest of franchise Directed by James Cameron

     

    Saw all of them

     

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    10 Most Unpredictable Thriller Movies, Ranked

     

    10 Most Unpredictable Thriller Movies, Ranked

     

    ‘Gone Girl’ (2014) Directed by David Fincher

    ‘Predestination’ (2014) Directed by Peter and Michael Spierig

    ‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995) Directed by Bryan Singer

    ‘Memento’ (2000) Directed by Christopher Nolan

    ‘Oldboy’ (2003) K Drama appears on many thriller lists must watch it soon

    Se7en’ (1995) Directed by David Fincher

    ‘Shutter Island’ (2010) Directed by Martin Scorsese

    Parasite’ (2019) Directed by Bong Joon Ho K Drama that appears on lots of lists

    ‘American Psycho’ (2000) Directed by Mary Harron

    ‘Psycho’ (1960) and remake /Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

     

    I saw most of these

     

    18 Thriller Movies With Perfect Endings

     

     

    Se7en

    Blue Velvet’ (1986) Directed by David Lynch

    Civil War’ (2024) Directed by Alex Garland

    North by Northwest’ (1959) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

    ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991) Directed by Jonathan Demme

    ‘The Night of the Hunter’ (1955) Directed by Charles Laughton

    Vertigo’ (1958) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

    ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976) Directed by Martin Scorsese

    Blow Out’ (1981) Directed by Brian De Palma

    Heat’ (1995) Directed by Michael Mann

    The Usual Suspects’ (1995) Directed by Bryan Singer

    ‘Oldboy’ (2003) Directed by Park Chan-wook K Drama  appears on many lists

    ‘Brick’ (2005) Directed by Rian Johnson’Sicario’ (2015)Directed by Denis Villeneuve

    ‘You Were Never Really Here’ (2018) Directed by Lynne Ramsay’

    Uncut Gems’ (2019) Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie

     

    I saw about half

     

     

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    .

    Memento (2000) Directed by Christopher Nolan

    Oldboy (2003) Directed by Park Chan-wook  K Drama

    Blow Out (1981)

    Jaws (1975) Directed by Steven Spielberg

    Blue Velvet (1986) Directed by David Lynch

    Parasite (2019) Directed by Bong Joon-ho K Drama

    Taxi Driver (1976) Directed by Martin Scorsese

    The French Connection (1971) Directed by William Friedkin

    Se7en (1995)Directed by David Finche

    Rear Window (1954) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

     

    Interesting two K dramas but only one Hitchchock film on this list?

    10 Horror Movies That Rely More On Great Visuals Than Scares

     

    10 Horror Movies That Rely More On Great Visuals Than Scares

    Let the Right One In (2008) Directed by Tomas Alfredson

    Cat People (1942) Directed by Jacques Tourneur

    The Neon Demon (2016) Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

    The Shining (1980) Directed by Stanley Kubrick

    The Others (2001) Directed by Alejandro Amenábar

    House of Usher (1960)Directed by Roger Corman

    X (2022) Directed by Ti West

    Suspiria (2018) Directed by Luca GuadagninoNosferatu the Vampyre (1979) Directed by Werner Herzog

    .Midsommar (2019) Directed by Ari Aster

     

    Note:  I only saw two of these movies

     

     

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    The #1 new TV show of each year since 1950, based on data

     

    My birth year TV Series

     

    1955: Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962)©Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions

    – IMDb rating: 8.5
    – IMDb user votes: 14,171
    – Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, Harry Tyler, John Williams, Patricia Hitchcock

    Alfred Hitchcock is widely considered one of the greatest directors of all time—so it’s little wonder that the series was immensely popular. Each week, the episodes—some of which Hitchcock directed himself—told a different story, from dramas to thrillers to mysteries. It starred famous actors from both the big and small screen, including Robert Redford, Jessica Tandy, and Bette Davis.

     

    My wife’s Birth year TV series ( would like to see what it would be in Korea)

     

    1959: The Twilight Zone (1959–1964)©CBS Television Network

    – IMDb rating: 9
    – IMDb user votes: 67,242
    – Stars: Rod Serling, Robert McCord, Jay Overholts, Vaughn Taylor

    The memorable and somewhat chilling voice of Rod Serling was always the introduction to these unusual and often frightening sci-fi tales, which took regular people on extraordinary journeys. While the series itself only ran from 1959 to 1964, it spawned a franchise of movies as well as two revivals: one in the 1980s and a new one, hosted by Jordan Peele, that aired on CBS All Access.

     

    My high school graduation year

     

    1974: Nova (1974–present)©WGBH

    – IMDb rating: 8.7
    – IMDb user votes: 2,194
    – Stars: Jay O. Sanders, Craig Sechler, Lance Lewman, Will Lyman

    First airing in 1974, the long-running PBS documentary series focuses on science, nature, and history. The award-winning show has covered topics such as volcanic eruptions, global warming, the Great Pyramids, space exploration, and evolution.

     

    My college graduation year

     

    1979: SportsCenter (1979–present)©ESPN

    – IMDb rating: 8.2
    – IMDb user votes: 2,191
    – Stars: Neil Everett, Jalen Rose, Jenn Brown, Antonietta Collins

    Premiering on ESPN in 1979, “SportsCenter” quickly became one of the most-watched sports series on television. The show features highlights from various sporting events, as well as commentary, interviews, and game previews.

    My Marriage year TV series

     

    1982: Police Squad! (1982)©Paramount Television

    – IMDb rating: 8.4
    – IMDb user votes: 15,148
    – Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Alan North, Rex Hamilton, Ed Williams

    The comedic genius of Leslie Nielsen shines in this short-lived but hilarious spoof on police shows. The series played off of serious police dramas, poking fun via slapstick, gags, and silly commentary. While the show made it through only six episodes before being canceled, it did go on to become the premise of “The Naked Gun” film franchise in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

     

    My graduate school TV series

     

    1988: Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988–1999)©Best Brains

    – IMDb rating: 8.5
    – IMDb user votes: 22,577
    – Stars: Joel Hodgson, Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy

    In what could easily be considered one of the most unusual show premises of all time, an innocent janitor is taken hostage by two crazed scientists and forced to watch sci-fi movies. The janitor builds himself some robot companions to keep him company, and the group interjects their own funny commentary and opinions into the movies they watch. The show originally was on from 1988 to 1996, and creator Joel Hodgson ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to renew the series at Netflix in 2017.

    The Year I Joined the FS

     

    1991: The Adventures of Tintin (1991–1992)©Ellipse Animation

    – IMDb rating: 8.3
    – IMDb user votes: 16,227
    – Stars: Colin O’Meara, Thierry Wermuth, Christian Pellissier, Henri Labussière

    Based on a series of books by Belgian cartoonist Georges Prosper Remi, “The Adventures of Tintin” ran for three seasons on HBO. Telling the story of a young reporter and his best friend and furry sidekick, Snowy, the animated series takes the two on heroic exploits and adventures. The books were not as popular in the U.S. as they were in Europe, but the television show was nominated for several awards. It inspired a 3D computer-animated movie of the same name in 2011.

    My Year in the Hospital TV Show

     

    1996: Dragon Ball Z (1996–2003)©Toei Animation

    – IMDb rating: 8.7
    – IMDb user votes: 64,241
    – Stars: Doc Harris, Christopher Sabat, Scott McNeil, Sean Schemmel

    Getting its start as a popular Japanese anime series, “Dragon Ball Z” premiered in the U.S. in 1996, and continued on Cartoon Network from 1998 to 2003. With some help from his friends, young hero Goku fights to defend the earth from a variety of creatures and villains. In addition to the animated series, the “Dragon Ball” franchise included movies, video games, and two sequel television shows.

     

    My Retirement year TV show

     

    2016: Stranger Things (2016–present)©Netflix

    – IMDb rating: 8.8
    – IMDb user votes: 743,325
    – Stars: Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Winona Ryder, David Harbour

    Another successful Netflix original, “Stranger Things” is the creation of the Duffer Brothers, who also wrote the Warner Bros. horror film “Hidden.” Part sci-fi, part horror, the story starts with the disappearance of a young boy and the eerie events that follow. Premiering in 2016, the series will wrap up its run in 2025.

    10 Essential Spy Comedies, Ranked

     

    10 Essential Spy Comedies, Ranked

    .

    ‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’ (1997) and sequels Directed by Jay Roach

    “The Informant!’ (2009) Directed by Steven Soderbergh

    “The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe’ (1972) Directed by Yves Robert

    “Spy’ (2015) Directed by Paul Feig

    “Red’ (2010) Directed by Robert Schwentke

    ‘Confessions of a Dangerous Mind’ (2002) Directed by George Clooney

    ‘Charade’ (1963) Directed by Stanley Donen

    ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ (2015) Directed by Guy Ritchie

    ”

    Burn After Reading’ (2008)Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen’Kingsman:

    The Secret Service’ (2014) Directed by Matthew Vaughn

     

    I saw most of these

     

     

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    1. The Godfather
    2. Citizen Kane
    3. Schindler’s List
    4. Pulp Fiction
    5. The Shawshank Redemption
    6. Star Wars
    7. Gone with the Wind
    8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
    9. The Dark Knight
    10. Casablanca

     

    Good choices I have seen this all.

     

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    Everything Everywhere All At Once’ (2022) Directed by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

    ‘Dune: Part One’ (2021) Directed by Denis Villeneuve

    ‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001) Directed by David Lynch

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ (2022) Directed by James Cameron

    ‘The Fountain’ (2006) Directed by Darren Aronofsky

    ‘Children of Men’ (2006) Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

    ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019) Directed by Anthony & Joe Russo

    ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003) Directed by Peter Jackson

    ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ (2004) Directed by Michel Gondry

    ‘The Prestige’ (2006) Directed by Christopher Nolan

    Inception Directed by Chrisopher Noland

    Tenet, Directed by Chrisopher Noland

     

    Send most of these

     

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    Medium

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    Nocebo (2022) Directed by Lorcan FinneganI Spit On Your Grave (1978) Directed by Meir Zarchi

    Mandy (2018) Directed by Panos Cosmatos

    Ready Or Not (2019) Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

    The Last House On The Left (1972) Directed by Wes Craven

    Revenge (2017) Directed by Coralie Fargeat

    La Llorona (2019) Directed by Jayro Bustamante

    Let The Right One In (2008) Directed by Tomas Alfredson

    Carrie (1976) Directed by Brian De Palma

    I Saw The Devil (2010) Directed by Kim Jee-woon K Drama

     

    I have not seen any of these.

     

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    The TV show that’s won the most Emmys in TV history—plus, see the rest of the top 25

     

    The 100 international movies everyone should watch at least once in their life

     

    Japanese:

    #1. Seven Samurai (1954) 七人の侍 (Shichinin no Samurai)

    #2. Spirited Away (2001) 千と千尋の神隠し (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi

    ) #3. Tokyo Story (1953) 東京物語 (Tōkyō Monogatari)

    #9. Rashomon (1950) 羅生門 (Rashōmon)

    #13. Sansho the Bailiff (1954) 山椒大夫 (Sanshō Dayū)

    #14. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) 火垂るの墓 (Hotaru no Haka)

    #15. Ran (1985) 乱 (Ran)

    #29. Yojimbo (1961) 用心棒 (Yōjinbō) #30.

    Ikiru (1952) 生きる (Ikiru)

    #33. Late Spring (1949) 晩春 (Banshun)

    #34. Early Summer (1951) 麦秋 (Bakushū)

    #37. High and Low (1963) 天国と地獄 (Tengoku to Jigoku)

    #48. Red Beard (1965) 赤ひげ (Akahige

    ) #49. Samurai Rebellion (1967) 上意討ち 拝領妻始末 (Jōiuchi: Hairyō Tsuma Shimatsu) #52. Shoplifters (2018) 万引き家族 (Manbiki Kazoku)

    #55. Harakiri (1962) 切腹 (Seppuku)

    #59. An Autumn Afternoon (1962) 秋刀魚の味 (Sanma no Aji) #62. The Hidden Fortress (1958) 隠し砦の三悪人 (Kakushi Toride no San Akunin)

    #64. I Was Born, But… (1932) 大人の見る絵本 生れてはみたけれど (Otona no Miru Ehon Umarete wa Mita Keredo)

    #68. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) かぐや姫の物語 (Kaguya-hime no Monogatari)

    #81. Nobody Knows (2004) 誰も知らない (Dare mo Shiranai) #82. Still Walking (2008) 歩いても 歩いても (Aruitemo Aruitemo)

    #83. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) となりのトトロ (Tonari no Totoro) #88. Drive My Car (2021) ドライブ・マイ・カー (Doraibu Mai Kā)

    #95. After Life (1998) ワンダフルライフ (Wandafuru Raifu) #98. Maborosi (1995) 幻の光 (Maboroshi no Hikari)

     

    French:

     

     

    #12. Army of Shadows (1969) L’Armée des Ombres

    #17. Children of Paradise (1945) Les Enfants du Paradi

    s #20. The Rules of the Game (1939) La Règle du Jeu

    #23. Playtime (1967) Playtime

    #28. Au hasard Balthazar (1966) Au Hasard Balthazar

    #35. Pépé le Moko (1937) Pépé le Moko

    #38. Jules and Jim (1962) Jules et Jim

    #43. The Artist (2011) L’Artiste

    #51. Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974) Céline et Julie vont en bateau

    #57. Beauty and the Beast (1946) La Belle et la Bête

    #69. Band of Outsiders (1964) Bande à part

    #71. L’Argent (1983) L’Argent

    #72. The Wild Child (1970) L’Enfant Sauvage

    #77. The Triplets of Belleville (2003) Les Triplettes de Belleville

    #84. Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013) La Vie d’Adèle

    #89. The Class (2008) Entre les Murs #93.

    Petite Maman (2021) Petite Maman

    #97. A Summer’s Tale (1996) Conte d’été

     

     

    Certainly! Here’s the rest of the list broken down by nationality with just the English titles while keeping the original numbering and bolding intact:

    French: #12. Army of Shadows (1969)

    #17. Children of Paradise (1945)

    #20. The Rules of the Game (1939)

    #23. Playtime (1967)

    #28. Au hasard Balthazar (1966)

    #35. Pépé le Moko (1937)

    #38. Jules and Jim (1962)

    #43. The Artist (2011)

    #51. Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)

    #57. Beauty and the Beast (1946)

    #69. Band of Outsiders (1964)

    #71. L’Argent (1983)

    #72. The Wild Child (1970)

    #77. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

    #84. Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)

    #89. The Class (2008)

    #93. Petite Maman (2021)

    #97. A Summer’s Tale (1996)

    #24. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) French

     

    Italian: #16. The Conformist (1970)

     

    #21. The Battle of Algiers (1966)

    #31. La Dolce Vita (1960)

    #39. Umberto D. (1952)

    #40. The Best of Youth (2003)

    #45. 8½ (1963)

    #50. Journey to Italy (1954)

    #70. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

     

    German: #5. Metropolis (1927)

     

    #43. The Lives of Others (2006)

    #60. Das Boot (1981)

    #92. The Blue Angel (1930)

     

     

    Swedish: #7. Fanny and Alexander (1982)

    #65. The Seventh Seal (1957)

    #66. Wild Strawberries (1957)

    #85. Persona (1966)

     

    Hong Kong: #74. In the Mood for Love (2000)

    #90. Days of Being Wild (1990)

     

    Mexican:

     

    #8. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

     

     

    Russian: #26. Battleship Potemkin (1925)

    #46. Solaris (1972)

    #78. Leviathan (2015)

     

    Other Nationalities:

     

    #36. Amour (2012) Austrian/French/German

     

    #42. A Brighter Summer Day (1991) Taiwanese

     

    #63. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) Belgium

     

    #75. A Prophet (2009) French/Italian

     

    #25. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) Romanian

     

    #41. Close-Up (1990) Iranian

    #18. A Separation (2011) Iranian

     

    #54. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) India

     

    4 Parasite South Korean

     

     

     

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    ‘Office Space’ (1999)

    Directed by Mike Judge

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    Expanded from Judge’s earlier animated shorts titled Milton, and inspired by the director’s own work in an office, the movie stars Ron Livingston as Peter, a programmer at a software company who feels aimless and unfulfilled. That all changes when he goes to a hypnotherapist who unintentionally leaves Peter in a perpetual state of relaxation. He stops caring about work and does what he wants, which ironically only leads him to a promotion. Office Space is pointedly funny in its critiques and is filled with memorably quotable characters, played to perfection by its cast, including Gary Cole as the mundanely villainous boss Lumbergh, and Stephen Root as the timid, red stapler-loving Milton.

    ‘Galaxy Quest’ (1999)

    Directed by Dean Parisot

    Essential 90s sci-fi movie Galaxy Quest was inspired by the dedicated fandom of Star Trek, and tapped into the culture of conventions, online discourse and IP reboots years before those were part of the normal ecosystem of Hollywood and were still considered niche. Dean Parisot’s wickedly funny and wonderfully entertaining film is a perfectly cast adventure that is both retro and prescient at the same time.

    Fincher’s film is filled with radical disdain for the prevailing popular culture of the time, but it also shows an alternative that is not a healthy substitute. Controversial upon its release and continually misinterpreted by film bros, Fight Club may be a product of its time but seems only more relevant in an era of rising incel subculture. The film is remembered for its trio of performances by Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter, as well as for Fincher’s strong visuals and the mid-film twist that turns the story on its head. It’s a must-watch movie that should inspire plenty of debate.

    ‘The Iron Giant’ (1999)

    Directed by Brad Bird

    Beautifully animated and heartwarming, Brad Bird’s animated adaptation of The Iron Giant brought the filmmaker boldly into the world of feature films. Despite being overlooked at the box office (a common theme among the films of 1999), The Iron Giant has only gained more appreciation as time has gone on, and has been rediscovered, as Bird became a household name thanks to animated hits like Ratatouille and The Incredibles.

    Set in an idealized small town in the 1950s, young latchkey child Hogarth Hughes discovers the titular character having crash-landed near his home. The arrival of the massive alien robot inspires both Hogarth to come out of his shell as well as a suspicious government agent to investigate. With it’s mix of 2D and 3D animation, and terrific voice cast, The Iron Giant is as charming as animated films get.

    ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ (1999)

    Directed by Stanley Kubrick

    The final film from master filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut is an erotic thriller that was unjustly dismissed by audiences, as evidenced by its terrible Cinemascore grade, and some critics reacted coldly to it as well, comparing it unfavorably to Kubrick’s other masterworks. Time has shown that it’s another complex mystery from one of cinema’s most uncompromising auteurs.

    Shot over a period of fifteen months on meticulously crafted sound stages in England (despite being set in New York City), the film follows the nightmarish journey of a doctor, played by Tom Cruise, who spirals into an exploration of eroticism after discovering his wife has harbored fantasies of being unfaithful. It’s an eerie examination of sexuality that like all of Kubrick’s work has a lot to digest and interpret through its layered visuals.

    ‘The Sixth Sense’ (1999)

    Directed by M. Night Shymalan

    Coming at the end of a decade that had plenty of definitive horror movies but that is also often viewed as being slimmer in its selection, M. Night Shymalan’s The Sixth Sensewas a splash of cold water to the faces of audiences who felt burnt out on the glut of the slick but vapid slashers that came in the wake of the success of Scream.

    Bruce Willis stars as a child psychologist who takes on a new patient, Haley Joel Osment in an Oscar-nominated role, who has the unique problem of being able to talk to the dead. The Sixth Sense is a beautifully crafted horror film that relies on atmosphere and the well-honed performances of its cast to provide the scares. The script slowly unfurls it’s mysteries and Shymalan’s shocking twist ending actually feels integral to the plot, unlike those in his later films that feel unnecessary or like a crutch for lazy writing.

    ‘The Matrix’ (1999)

    Directed by The Wachowskis

    Coming off their debut film, the erotic thriller film Bound, the Wachowski’s pushed the queer content into subtext but kept the neo-noir vibes for the cyberpunk action masterpiece The Matrix. The movie became an instant influence on the action and sci-fi genres, with its innovative bullet-time effects quickly infiltrating dozens of other action movies and becoming satirized in comedies.

    Keanu Reeves plays Neo, a hacker who discovers that the world he inhabits is all a simulation, and that the real world is an apocalyptic wasteland where the remains of humanity fight against their oppressive machine overlords. The plot pulls from dozens of different sources, including anime and the works of writer William Gibson, and synthesizes it all into a slick, action-packed package that makes some of the entry-level philosophy course dialogue easy to digest. Essential and influential, The Matrix is much more than its imitators or empty sequels, and was one of the most significant films released in 1999.

    ‘Magnolia’ (1999)

    Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

    Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling character drama Magnoliawas his divisive follow-up to the acclaimed Boogie Nights. It follows one of the best movie casts of the 90s, as they search for connection and feeling in a world ruled by cruel fate. Anderson conducts his cast like an orchestra, each singular story fitting into the larger symphony of chaos that culminates in a biblical climax.

    The cast is absolutely without fault, but special notice was given to Tom Cruise at the time for his performance as Frank Mackey, a misogynistic motivational speaker who uses his profession to cover up his own insecurities and past. It’s a role that weaponizes Cruise’s natural charisma for a toxic but vulnerable character. If Cruise hadn’t subsequently been swallowed whole by Scientology, it’s quite possible the intervening years between his amazing work in 1999 and his later full dedication to the Mission: Impossiblefranchise could’ve been filled with some very daring and interesting performances.

    ‘Being John Malkovich’ (1999)

    Directed by Spike Jonze

    From his influential music videos and short films, to his four feature-length classics, Spike Jonze has been one of the most unique directorial talents to grace the silver over the last few decades. He announced his entry into the mainstream with the fiercely original Being John Malkovich. Working off Charlie Kaufman’s surreal screenplay, Jonze crafted a dark comedy that has few true parallels.

    John Cusack plays a puppeteer who gets a job on the seventh and a half floor of an office building where he discovers a doorway that leads into the mind of actor John Malkovich. From there the film goes into even more unexpected directions as more and more people enter Malkovich’s mind, until the actor himself is made aware of the portal’s existence. The cast is terrific, with Cameron Diaz and Catherine Keener in pivotal supporting roles, and Malkovich himself playing off his idiosyncratic reputation. In a year that was filled with sterling original films, Being John Malkovich is the most singular.

    ‘All About My Mother’ (1999)

    Directed by Pedro Almodóvar

    Pedro Almodóvar is a filmmaker who has consistently put out great work for over four decades that has certainly garnered awards attention and critical acclaim but remains frustratingly overlooked by American audiences. The Spanish filmmaker is known for his melodramas with bold visual styles that frequently feature LGBTQ+ and feminist themes, both of which are on full display in the film frequently cited as his best, All About My Mother.

    After the death of her teenage son Esteban, Manuela (Cecilia Roth) travels to Barcelona to reconnect with the teen’s other parent, the transgender Lola (Toni Cantó). In Barcelona, she makes other connections, including Rosa (Penélope Cruz) a nun who is HIV positive and pregnant. It’s Almodóvar’s love letter to women, all women, and he tells his story with compassion and sincerity, all the while calling to mind the classic Hollywood melodramas of filmmakers like Douglas Sirkwith his intense visual palette. All About My Mother is a film the likes of which is hardly seen in Hollywood, and should be watched for its empathetic storytelling of women whose lives are often reduced or overlooked in mainstream cinema.

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    • Some sci-fi classics like Star Wars and Jurassic Park are always worth rewatching. Mad Max: Fury Road is a thrilling endless car chase.
    • Everything Everywhere All at Once mixes kung fu with a heartwarming family story for an entertaining sci-fi flick.
    • Galaxy Quest hilariously parodies Star Trek while paying homage to the beloved franchise that inspired it.

    A lot of the lofty sci-fi movie classics aren’t very rewatchable, but some of the genre’s greatest entries – like Star Wars, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park – hold up to countless repeat viewings. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a breathtaking piece of cinema pondering the biggest questions about humanity’s existence, and Blade Runner is a powerful futuristic noir about what constitutes a person. But they both move at such a slow pace, and deal with such heavy philosophical subject matter, that no one is champing at the bit to rewatch them on movie night.

    With the first sequel, Aliens, James Cameron went the other way and delivered one of the most explosive, action-packed movies ever made. The first half of Aliens gets Ellen Ripley down to the surface of a xenomorph-infested human colony with a band of space marines. The second half is an all-out action extravaganza pitting the marines against dozens of bloodthirsty aliens.

    Everything Everywhere All At Once

    Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Wang in a kung-fu stance in Everything Everywhere All at Once© Provided by ScreenRant

    The kind of movies that usually sweep the Academy Awards are slow, quiet, somber, and not particularly interested in being entertaining. But Everything Everywhere All at Once – which won seven Oscars, including Best Picture – is anything but. It is a touching, character-focused drama about a mother struggling to connect with her disillusioned daughter, but that beautiful mother-daughter story is wrapped up in an action-packed interdimensional epic in which the entire multiverse is at stake.

    Joaquin Phoenix Is a Gun-Defending Sheriff of a Murderous Town in ‘Eddington’ Trailer

    Story by Althea Legaspi

    ensions are high between officials and townspeople in Eddington, New Mexico on June 2, 2020 in the teaser trailer for the black comedy western, Eddington. The Ari Aster-written and directed film, which will make its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival next month, arrives in theaters on July 18.

    In the teaser clip, a person scrolls through their social media feed on a cell phone as a series of talking heads give snippets of their viewpoints, which appear to be focused on the pandemic and conspiracy theories. In Eddington, the weather is sweltering – in the upper 90s and into the 100s – per the person’s cell phone, as a voice discusses a lab in Wuhan, China. “If you value your life, you should think twice because the people in Eddington like guns, Sheriff Joe Cross (Phoenix) warns in one clip.

    After Cross issues his alert, a video clip of his wife appears on the cell screen. “And I am speaking now to deny my husband’s announcement yesterday,” says Louise Cross (Emma Stone). “Which was false.”

    Sherriff Cross’ adversary Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) also shows up on the screen with a video of his own. “I’m ready to continue leading our town, and fighting the pandemic and the racial and economic … ” he says before he’s cut off by the next clip, where Cross appears in a CNN post. “‘Law and Order Sheriff Assaults Protester in Town Rocked by Murders” reads the chyron over its video featuring a screaming Cross and protesting townspeople in masks as they face off.

    The film also stars Luke Grimes, Austin Butler, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, Clifton Collins Jr., William Belleau, Cameron Mann, Matt Gomez Hidaka, and Amélie Hoeferle.

     

     

    Mad Max: Fury Road

    Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky stands in front of his car in the opening of Mad Max: Fury Road.© Provided by ScreenRant

    George Miller had already made three rollicking, action-packed Mad Max movies before he returned to the wasteland and blew the original trilogy out of the water with Mad Max: Fury Road. Fury Road has a mercifully simplistic plot: badass Furiosa liberates the wives of post-apocalyptic tyrant Immortan Joe and goes on the lam with Joe’s forces hot on their tail. Max, now played by Tom Hardy, gets unwittingly swept along for the ride.

    Aliens

    Carrie Hen’s Newt stands with Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley in Aliens© Provided by ScreenRant

    Ridley Scott’s original Alien movie is both one of the greatest science fiction movies and one of the greatest horror movies ever made, but it’s a slow burn. Scott takes his time to introduce the crew of the Nostromo and the threat of the xenomorph before the chestburster kicks off the haunted-house-in-space action. This makes for a powerful cinematic experience on the first viewing, but it also means that it takes a while to get going on a rewatch.

    Everything Everywhere All at Once is an appropriate title for a movie that manages to be a fast-paced action movie, a visually stunning sci-fi movie, a zany slapstick comedy, and a sobering family drama all rolled into one. The Wang family’s story would be just as moving without all the hybrid-genre mayhem. But all the parallel universes and martial arts choreography make it an endlessly rewatchable movie.

    Galaxy Quest

    The cast of Galaxy Quest on an alien planet© Provided by ScreenRant

    Galaxy Quest is such a spot-on parody of the Star Trek franchise that it’s often ranked as a better Star Trek movie than most of the official Star Trek movies. It has an ingeniously meta premise: the washed-up cast of an old sci-fi show is recruited for a real-life intergalactic battle by real-life aliens who mistook episodes of their series for historical records. Director Dean Parisot gets every possible laugh out of that brilliant premise.

    With the satire of Galaxy Quest, Parisot managed to have the best of both worlds. He ruthlessly spoofs Star Trek and its fans, but it’s ultimately an affectionate love letter to Gene Roddenberry’s legacy and the power of the fandom he inspired. Like all the best comedies, Galaxy Quest is so funny and so quotable and so hilariously acted that it’s infinitely rewatchable.

    Predator

    Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch in Predator aiming a machine gun while standing in front of jungle foliage© Provided by ScreenRant

    Predator has absolutely no reason to be as great as it is. The story grew out of a Hollywood inside joke that Rocky Balboa would run out of opponents on Earth and have to fight an alien. Its entire premise revolves around oiled-up, muscle-bound men going into the jungle and firing machine guns at an invisible alien. At the very best, Predator should be an affable B-movie. But somehow, John McTiernan turned it into a bona fide masterpiece.

    By pitting Arnold Schwarzenegger against a deadly alien creature, McTiernan told the ultimate man-conquers-beast story. Predator deals with themes of masculinity, militarism, and just how outmatched humanity might be when alien life finally arrives. But it’s also a big, loud, bombastic ‘80s action movie with a burst of gunfire or a giant explosion every couple of minutes.

    WALL-E

    WALL-E looking up at the stars© Provided by ScreenRant

    Much like Stanley Kubrick, when Pixar takes a stab at a genre, they end up making one of the all-time greats. The Incredibles is one of the best superhero movies, Up is one of the best adventure movies, and WALL-E is one of the best science fiction movies. With its dazzling futuristic imagery, deeply cinematic visual storytelling, and the heartwarming romance between WALL-E and fellow robot-with-a-heart-of-gold EVE, WALL-E holds up to endless rewatches.

    The only thing that makes WALL-E wobble slightly on a rewatch is that its depiction of an uninhabitable, trash-filled Earth gets more and more depressingly accurate with every viewing. WALL-E was way ahead of its time in criticizing humanity’s callous treatment of the environment. Fortunately, the love story is beautiful enough to distract from the mirror being held up to climate change.

    The Matrix

    Carrie Anne Moss as Trinity and Keanu Reeves as Neo looking at each other in The Matrix© Provided by ScreenRant

    The Wachowskis made audiences across the world question their reality with their sci-fi action masterpiece The Matrix. The movie suggests that reality is just a computer program being run by the robotic overlords using human beings as batteries. There’s a lot of exposition to get out of the way in the first act of The Matrix – who Morpheus is, how the Matrix works, what the machines are doing in the real world, etc. – but once it gets all that stuff out of the way, it’s a non-stop thrill-ride.

    The Matrix is full of beautifully directed action sequences like the lobby shootout, the helicopter crash, and the final foot chase. The story in between the action scenes is masterfully crafted, too. From his humble beginnings as Thomas Anderson to his triumphant climactic transformation into “The One,” Neo’s journey lands on every viewing.

    Star Wars

    Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, and Harrison Ford as Han Solo in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.© Provided by ScreenRant

    George Lucas changed the face of the film industry forever with his game-changing space opera Star Wars. Ever since Star Wars had audiences lining up around the block to watch it a 10th time, Hollywood studios have been acquiring nerdy I.P. and following Joseph Campbell’s “hero’s journey” religiously in an attempt to replicate that success. Lucas transported audiences to a galaxy far, far away and pulled off the cinematic magic trick of pure escapism.

    Although it was burdened with introducing its audience to a whole new fictional universe, Star Wars moves at an agreeably zippy pace. It opens with a massive space battle and remains that exciting for the rest of its runtime. From the Millennium Falcon shootout to the explosion of the Death Star, Star Wars is full of set-pieces that never get old.

    Jurassic Park

    A T. Rex bursting through the gates and onto the road in Jurassic Park© Provided by ScreenRant

    Steven Spielberg combined the monster-movie thrills of Jaws with the thought-provoking sci-fi themes of Close Encounters for his big-screen adaptation of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park deals with the same complex themes as Frankenstein – the hubris of man, the dangers of playing God, the uncontrollability of nature – but with a theme park full of live dinosaurs. Spielberg and his team used groundbreaking visual effects to bring dinosaurs back to life.

    Jurassic Park is full of great action sequences with razor-sharp tension and timeless effects. From the T. rex’s escape to the raptors’ attack in the kitchen, Jurassic Park is jam-packed with set-pieces that never fail to thrill the audience, no matter how many times they’ve seen the movie. Even the exposition in Jurassic Park is rewatchable, thanks to a little animated character named Mr. DNA.

    Back To The Future

    Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Emmett© Provided by ScreenRant

    Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s Back to the Future script should be studied in every screenwriting class, because it’s airtight. Not only does it tell an engaging story about a time-traveling teenager trying to get his parents together to ensure his own existence; it’s a masterclass in the plant-and-payoff technique. Every single scene progresses the plot; every single line in the first act sets something up that comes back later.

    The pacing doesn’t dip for a second, all the gags in Zemeckis and Gale’s script get a laugh every time, and the catharsis of Marty McFly finally getting back to 1985 after all the hurdles he’s had to overcome always lands. Plus, Michael J. Fox’s endearing on-screen chemistry with Christopher Lloyd as Marty and Doc Brown is endlessly watchable. Back to the Future is basically a perfect movie.

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    Best sci-fi comedies of all time

     

    Evolution

    Out of this world laughs and galactic giggles ahead in this list of the best sci-fi comedies of all time.

    One of the most mesmerizing things about the science fiction genre is the sheer scope of ideas that can be dreamt up, and this aspect lends itself perfectly to comedy; with something so out-of-this-world, there’s a real opportunity to make people laugh. There are crazy and bewildering plots spanning generations, from the twisted future of Idiocracy to the bulging-brained alien invasion of Mars Attacks! To put it simply, there’s a lot of fun to be had in crafting the strangely surreal, the complete unknown, and even just simply turning fear into nervous laughter.

    By sifting through the sci-fi comedy offerings on the best streaming services, we’ve whittled our list down to the 10 best sci-fi comedies of all time. Comedic timing, acting prowess, and excellent scripts all play a huge part in the reason these movies are as funny as they are – even if you don’t expect them to be. So, pick your next watch across Paramount Plus, Disney, Netflix, and Amazon Prime from the list below and prepare to be suitably amused.

    10. Evolution

    ((Image credit: Columbia Pictures))

    • Release date: June 8, 2001
    • Cast: David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones
    • Director: Ivan Reitman
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 44% critics, 48% audience

    It felt like that in the early 00s any video I borrowed from Blockbusters advertised this sci-fi comedy. When I realized it was from the director of Ghostbusters (also on our list), I had to rent it and I’m glad I did. In Evolution, a meteor hits Earth and with it an organism that evolves so rapidly no one has any real clue on how to stop it. The team for the job? A trainee firefighter, a government scientist, and two college professors made up of sci-fi icon David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones, and Seann William Scott.

    While the government tries to block the team out, the alien ecosystem begins to thrive on Earth and that’s when the real trouble starts. Even with Earth’s impending doom, there’s still plenty of time for comedy. It’s not groundbreaking sci-fi, but it’ll certainly bring laughs to your night-in.

    9. Mars Attacks!

    ((Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures))

    • Release date: December 13, 1996
    • Cast: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan
    • Director: Tim Burton
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 55% critics, 53% audience

    Much like Tim Burton’s haunting characters from his usual gothic horrors, like Beetlejuice and The Corpse Bride, you’ll never forget the Martians of his sci-fi dark comedy, Mars Attacks! It’s a wonderful spoof of the cheesy alien invasion movies of the ’50s, full of surreal humor and black comedy.

    Burton’s foray into science fiction depicts an alien arrival on Earth that starts out peacefully, but quickly transcends into absolute chaos – making it both a little bit scary and a whole lot of funny. Particularly the government’s blundering attempts to deal with these new visitors.

    Mars Attacks! has a rather impressive cast behind it, with Jack Nicholson as the President, Glenn Close, Jack Black, Danny DeVito, Pierce Brosnan, Annette Bening, Sarah Jessica Parker, and so many more stellar actors. While it didn’t quite impress with its box office debut, it’s certainly made up for it in cult status.

    8. Spaceballs

    • Release date: June 24, 1987
    • Cast: Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, and more
    • Director: Mel Brooks
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 52% critics, 83% audience

    Mel Brooks is one hell of a filmmaker and the master of spoofs. When it comes to comedy, his unique style traverses genres from the Western of Blazing Saddles to the adventures of Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Spaceballs, his move into science fiction, had the same cult impact.

    Brooks’ Spaceballs is primarily a Star Wars parody with Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his alien sidekick, Barf (John Candy), rescuing Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) from the Spaceballs – all while evading capture from the dastardly Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis).

    It sounds absolutely bonkers and that’s because it is. It is jam-packed with quirky jokes, gags, wisecracks, and slapstick comedy – while some might not be to your taste, others will have you in stitches. Plus, Spaceballs utilizes the humor of breaking the fourth wall, which sets it apart from the rest of the genre ten-fold. While the movie came out in 1987, according to Variety, there may be a Spaceballs 2 is in the works with Mel Brooks producing almost 30 years later.

    7. Galaxy Quest

    credit: DreamWorks Pictures))

    • Release date: December 25, 1999
    • Cast: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman
    • Director: Dean Parisot
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 90% critics, 79% audience

    Back in the 90s, Galaxy Quest was first perceived as a silly comedy movie that affectionately parodied the likes of Star Trek and other galactic spaceship crews. However, it has since proved itself to be far smarter than that and has been acknowledged as such.

    The movie sees a new spaceship crew assembled, but this time they’re actors from the TV show Galaxy Quest that get thrown into a real-life space adventure. During a fan convention, Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), lead actor of the show, is approached by a group of aliens called Thermians that want his help.

    Unfortunately, the aliens believe that the TV show is actually real life. So, when they recruit Jason and his crew for help, no-one’s quite sure what they’re getting themselves into. It’s a parody, yes, but it’s also a homage to all the amazing sci-fi shows and movies that are still thriving today. It’s satire at its finest and it does so whilst lovingly dressed up in sci-fi and comedy.

    6. Men in Black and sequels

    ((Image credit: Columbia Pictures))

    • Release date: July 2, 1997
    • Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Fiorentino
    • Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 91% critics, 80% audience

    With four films now in the Men in Black franchise, the first will always be the best of the best of the best, sir! There’s a lot of great things to say about Men in Black, but the greatest gift from this movie is the comedy pairing of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as Agent J and Agent K, respectively. They make this look good.

    Jay and Kay are agents of a secret government organization tasked with protecting Earth and keeping an eye on all its alien residents. While Kay is a respected long-serving member, Jay is a headstrong rookie with a lot of sass – but they balance each other out with Kay sharing wisdom and Jay showing him how to have a good time.

    The scope of extra-terrestrials is also fantastic. We won’t say too much about them here, as discovering them all is part of this movie’s charm. While some can be rather adorable, others can be unnervingly terrifying, but have no fear as Will Smith will always lighten the mood.

    5. Idiocracy

    ((Image credit: Twentieth Century Fox))

    • Release date: September 1, 2006
    • Cast: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews, and more
    • Director: Mike Judge
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 71% critics, 61% audience

    Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson) is a remarkably average human. Yet, he is the one chosen to be put into hibernation and brought back to life in the future. Sort of like Fry in Futurama (one of the best sci-fi TV shows of all time), but on purpose. However, when Joe ‘arrives’ in the future, he’s somehow the smartest person alive.

    Now, imagine a world where the average intelligence has depleted exponentially, because that’s the world Joe now lives in, and there’s a whole lot of weird things going on. In Idiocracy, you can pause on pretty much any scene in this movie and think to yourself, what on Earth is going on? And because of this, it’s a really great comedy about how strange the world and life could really be.

    Only one of these I have not seen yet

     

    Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure/Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey -sequel

     

    (Image credit: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG))

    • Release date: February 17, 1989
    • Cast: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin, and more
    • Director: Stephen Herek
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 83% critics, 75% audience

    If you’ve ever once looked into sci-fi comedy, you’ll no doubt have come across Bill and Ted. Or, if you’re just into movies in any shape or form, you’ll have heard of this iconic duo made up of traditionally more straight-faced Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. Their friendship hangs in the balance as a failing history grade could see the pair torn apart. But, there’s one way to save it and that’s by travelling back in time to learn about history in the most excellent of ways.

    Carrying out research for their school report, they travel by a phone booth time machine that takes them back to historical moments, meeting several history VIPs along the way. Obviously, turning up in a phone booth causes its own hilarity, but the goofy pairing with an incredibly quotable script make this a fun and lighthearted movie for all to enjoy.

    3. Repo Man

     

    ((Image credit: Edge City Productions))

    • Release date: March 2, 1984
    • Cast: Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton, and more
    • Director: Alex Cox
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 98% critics, 78% audience

    To get out of trouble, punky Otto (Emilio Estevez) is recruited by a car repo agency that tasks him with hunting down a Chevrolet Malibu for an eye-watering $20,000 bounty. High reward means high risk though and inside the trunk of this runaway Chevy is something out-of-this-world. Hunting down this car is no simple task and whatever extraterrestrial entity is hiding in the trunk makes sure of that.

    It seems some of the best sci-fi comedies are just bonkers and Repo Man is certainly one of those titles. You can’t quite believe what you’re watching and with the threat of an alien invasion at stake, its peculiar plot will amuse and pull you in. It’s a cult classic because it doesn’t really fit into any of the usual movie ticking boxes, yet still highly entertaining.

    One of my all time favorites! Emilo Estevez’s first movie

    2. Back to the Future and sequels

     

    ((Image credit: Universal Pictures))

    • Release date: July 3, 1985
    • Cast: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
    • Director: Robert Zemeckis
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 93% critics, 95% audience

    Back to the Future is one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, and it’s also one of the funniest. Bringing together young Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) with eccentric scientist Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), the pair embark on a time-travelling adventure that seamlessly integrates the sci-fi genre with comedy.

    Marty is accidentally sent 30 years back in time in a souped-up DeLorean. His presence in the past ends up risking his entire existence as he splits up his future parents and must fix the mistake. And, amid all this, Marty and Doc Brown must protect each other from their past and future fates.

    It’s witty and wild, parodying sci-fi and futuristic concepts – some of which have actually become a reality since then, such as video calls and wearable tech like smart glasses (the fashion… not so much).

    1. Ghostbusters and Two sequels

     

    ((Image credit: Columbia Pictures))

    • Release date: June 8, 1984
    • Cast: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis
    • Director: Ivan Reitman
    • Rotten Tomatoes score: 95% critics, 88% audience

    If you’re after the best sci-fi comedy, who you gonna call?

    Simply one of the most iconic sci-fi comedies of all time, Ghostbusters paved the way for so many titles on our list that it’d be hard not to give it top spot. I mean, it quite literally spawned Evolution from director Ivan Reitman.

    Kicked out of university jobs, three parapsychologists choose instead to set up their own unique ghost removal service in New York. Ghostbusters, assemble! The fantastic cast and witty script makes this movie an absolute joy to watch.

    It’s a wonderful blend of supernatural, sci-fi, comedy, horror, and action that has spawned a whole iconic franchise: we’re talking more movies, comics, video games, TV shows, etc. While some of the movies that followed are funny in their own right, you just can’t beat the original.

     

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    10 Best Horror Movie Performances of All Time, Ranked

     

    10 Best Horror Movie Performances of All Time, Ranked

     

    An iconic horror film requires many key elements, ranging from a strong atmosphere to terrifying scares, but few features are as crucial as great acting. Whether portraying a vulnerable victim, a resilient hero or a menacing villain, actors must devote themselves wholeheartedly to horror performances due to the intensity and wide range of emotions required by the genre. In fact, largely as the result of excellent acting, many horror characters – such as Jack Torrance or Norman Bates – have established themselves as some of the most enduring popular characters in film history.

    With such a rich canon of performances to choose from, selecting the 10 greatest is a daunting feat. Considering the iconic legacies of the characters, their vital roles within their films, and the technical feats accomplished by the actors, these are our picks for the 10 best performances in horror films.

    Linda Blair in ‘The Exorcist’ (1973)

    Directed by William Friedkin

    The Exorcist is a 1973 supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and adapted by William Peter Blatty from his own 1971 novel. The film centers on the demonic possession of a young girl, Regan (Linda Blair), as she is transformed into a chaotic, profane and violent monster by the demon inside of her. In order to attempt to save her soul, Catholic priests Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) and Father Karras (Jason Miller) perform an exorcism once it is clear that no other option will work.

    Related video: 10 Best Horror Movies You’ve Never Heard Of (CBR)

     

    Despite being only 12 years old at the time of filming, Linda Blair gives a powerhouse performance as Regan, completely embodying both her innocent initial personality and the vulgar demon that possesses her. Aided by the vocal work of Mercedes McCambridge, Linda Blair tackles physically and emotionally demanding scenes that would have been challenging for actors decades her senior, consistently holding her own against her far more experienced castmates. The Exorcist is widely considered one of the scariest films of all time, and Linda Blair’s performance is one of the greatest reasons why.

    The Exorcist

    Release Date  December 26, 1973

    Director  William Friedkin

    Cast  Lee J. Cobb, Max Von Sydow, Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn

    Rating  R

    Runtime  122 minutes

    Main Genre   Horror

    Genres  Supernatural, Horror

    Writers  William Peter Blatty

    Production Company  Hoya Productions

    Rent on Amazon

    Kathy Bates in ‘Misery’ (1990)

    Directed by Rob Reiner

    Based on Stephen King‘s 1987 novel, Misery is a 1990 psychological horror-thriller directed by Rob Reiner. The film follows a popular fiction writer, Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who suffers a life-threatening car crash and is found by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a dedicated fan. As a nurse by profession, Annie helps Paul with his injuries but is horrified to discover that he has killed off her favorite character and decides to imprison him in her house until he has written a novel resurrecting the character.

    Kathy Bates’ performance received widespread acclaim and earned her a Best Actress Academy Award, in the only Oscar win ever received for a Stephen King adaptation. Bringing to life the villainous Annie Wilkes, Bates’ performance is highly erratic, swinging wildly from appearing to be simply a lonely and quirky woman to behaving in a violent and aggressive manner towards her captive. Portraying one of King’s greatest literary characters, Kathy Bates deserves all the attention she received for her performance in Misery.

    Misery

    Release Date  November 30, 1990

    Director  Rob Reiner

    Cast  Richard Farnsworth, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall, Frances Sternhagen, James Caan

    Rating  R

    Runtime  107 minutes

    Main Genre  Horror

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Horror

    Writers  William Goldman, Stephen King

    Budget  $20 million

    Studio(s)  Columbia Pictures

    Distributor(s)  Columbia Pictures

    Rent on Amazon

    Tony Todd in ‘Candyman’ (1992)

    Directed by Bernard Rose

    Candyman is a 1992 supernatural horror film written and directed by Bernard Rose and based on a short story by prolific novelist Clive Barker. The film explores the concept of urban legends by following a grad student, Helen (Virginia Madsen), who begins investigating the story of a vengeful spirit known as the Candyman (Tony Todd). After being summoned by Helen, Candyman begins to take the lives of innocent residents of a low-income neighborhood that he terrorizes.

    Candyman is unique for a supernatural slasher due to its methodical pace, mature storytelling and the subversively sympathetic nature of its antagonist. Tony Todd brings an incredible gravitas to the role, with his velvet-smooth voice and calm physicality bringing a hypnotic quality to the character, and his dedication to the film being perfectly showcased by his willingness to work with hundreds of live bees during production. Frightening and strangely alluring, the late, great Tony Todd’s performance as the titular Candyman is nothing less than career-defining.

    Candyman

    Release Date  October 16, 1992

    Director  Bernard Rose

    Cast  Marianna Elliott, DeJuan Guy, Kasi Lemmons, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd, Vanessa Williams, Virginia Madsen, Ted Raimi

    Rating  R

    Runtime  100 Minutes

    Main Genre  Horror

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Horror

    Writers  Bernard Rose

    Character(s)  Billy, Candyman, Clara, Jake, Bernadette Walsh, Anne-Marie McCoy, Trevor Lyle, Helen Lyle

    Rent on Apple TV

    Boris Karloff in ‘Frankenstein’ (1931)

    Directed by James Whale

    Based on Mary Shelley‘s 1818 classic horror novel, Frankenstein is a 1931 sci-fi horror film directed by James Whale. The film centers on the creation of a monster (Boris Karloff) constructed from stolen body-parts, who is reanimated by a scientist (Colin Clive) who seeks to play God. Mistreated by those around him, the monster escapes from captivity and finds himself the target of furious and violent townspeople.

    Enhanced with one of horror cinema’s most iconic examples of costuming and special effects makeup, Boris Karloff’s performance as Frankenstein’s Monster is a landmark achievement of the early horror genre. Karloff portrays the monster with a pitch-perfect balance of childlike innocence and threatening physicality, with his clumsy movements making his inhumanity incredibly believable. Rightfully still celebrated almost a century later, Boris Karloff’s performance in Frankenstein is perfect.

    Frankenstein

    Release Date  November 21, 1931

    Director  James Whale

    Cast  Lionel Belmore, Frederick Kerr, John Boles, Mae Clarke, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Colin Clive, Boris Karloff

    Rating  Passed

    Runtime  70 Minutes

    Main Genre  Sci-Fi

    Genres  Sci-Fi, Drama, Horror

    Writers  Francis Edward Faragoh, Peggy Webling, Garrett Fort, Richard Schayer, John L. Balderston, Mary Shelley

    Rent on Apple TV

    Jack Nicholson in ‘The Shining’ (1980)

    Directed by Stanley Kubrick

    Based on Stephen King‘s 1977 novel, The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. The film centers on Jack (Jack Nicholson), a writer with a history of alcoholism and a troubled relationship with his family, who takes a caretaking job at the remote Overlook Hotel during the winter. Upon arrival, however, Jack’s wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and their young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) realize that the hotel may be haunted, as they are plagued by unexplained events and Jack’s behavior becomes increasingly concerning.

    From his earliest scenes in the film, Jack Nicholson makes it clear through his performance that something is deeply wrong with Jack under the surface of his identity as an ambitious family man, seeming as if he may snap at any moment. Nicholson’s dynamic with Shelley Duvall is highly compelling, with her pure terror being contrasted excellently with his mania and aggression, making audiences truly come to fear his character at the film’s harrowing climax. Tragic, scary and at times darkly comedic, Jack Nicholson’s performance in The Shining is a masterclass in portraying a disturbed individual.

    The Shining

    Release Date  May 23, 1980

    Director  Stanley Kubrick

    Cast  Philip Stone, Barry Nelson, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd, Shelley Duvall, Jack Nicholson

    Rating  R

    Runtime  146 minutes

    Main Genre   Horror

    Genres  Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Psychological

    Writers  Diane Johnson, Stanley Kubrick, Stephen King

    Studio  Warner Bros.

    Tagline  All work and no play make Jack a dull boy…

    Rent on Apple TV

    Jodie Foster in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

    Directed by Jonathan Demme

    The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 psychological horror film directed by Jonathan Demme and based on Thomas Harris‘ 1988 novel. The film centers on young FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as she is assigned a key role in the investigation of serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In order to track the killer down, Clarice develops a rapport with Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), an incarcerated cannibal and murderer who is also a highly intelligent psychiatrist.

    Winning an Oscar for Best Actress, Jodie Foster’s portrayal of Clarice received immediate acclaim due to her embodiment of Clarice’s likability, intelligence and emotional complexity. The film’s most compelling element is the dynamic between Clarice and Hannibal, with the two consistently attempting to get the upper hand in their interactions and thed chemistry between Foster and Hopkins makes their scenes electrifying. Clarice is one of horror cinema’s most iconic protagonists and one of the best characters in the Hannibal Lecter cinematic universe, with Jodie Foster’s performance greatly enhancing the role.

    The Silence of the Lambs

    Release Date  February 14, 1991

    Director  Jonathan Demme

    Cast  Diane Baker, Kasi Lemmons, Scott Glenn, Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Ted Levine, Jodie Foster

    Rating  R

    Runtime  118 Minutes

    Main Genre  Thriller

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Crime

    Writers  Ted Tally, Thomas Harris

    Character(s)  Ardelia Mapp, Senator Ruth Martin, Catherine Martin, Dr. Frederick Chilton, Jame Gumb, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Sterling, Jack Crawford

    Mia Farrow in ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968)

    Directed by Roman Polanski

    Rosemary’s Baby is a 1968 supernatural body horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski and based on the 1967 novel by Ira Levin. The film centers on a young married woman, Rosemary (Mia Farrow), whose relationships with everyone around her are thrown into question when she begins suffering a seemingly demonic pregnancy after being assaulted. Becoming increasingly ill and losing a shocking amount of weight, Rosemary begins to suspect that her neighbors are participants in an occult conspiracy surrounding her pregnancy.

    Considered a masterpiece of subtle body horror, the film displays Rosemary undergoing a shocking physical transformation from a healthy young woman to someone frail, gaunt and highly physically vulnerable. Mia Farrow’s performance perfectly conveys the way that Rosemary’s bodily autonomy is being stripped from her, portraying the character as good-hearted and pure but also increasingly physically unwell and dangerously naive. One of the most acclaimed performances in genre history, Mia Farrow’s performance as the titular Rosemary is authentic, frightening and enduringly impressive.

    Rosemary’s Baby

    Release Date  June 12, 1968

    Director  Roman Polanski

    Cast  Ralph Bellamy, Sidney Blackmer, John Cassavetes, Maurice Evans, Ruth Gordon, Mia Farrow

    Rating  R

    Runtime  137 minutes

    Main Genre  Drama

    Genres  Supernatural, Horror, Psychological

    Writers  Ira Levin, Roman Polanski

    Tagline  Pray for Rosemary’s Baby

    Production Company  William Castle Productions

    Rent on Amazon

    10 Best Horror Movie Performances of All Time, Ranked

    An iconic horror film requires many key elements, ranging from a strong atmosphere to terrifying scares, but few features are as crucial as great acting. Whether portraying a vulnerable victim, a resilient hero or a menacing villain, actors must devote themselves wholeheartedly to horror performances due to the intensity and wide range of emotions required by the genre. In fact, largely as the result of excellent acting, many horror characters – such as Jack Torrance or Norman Bates – have established themselves as some of the most enduring popular characters in film history.

    With such a rich canon of performances to choose from, selecting the 10 greatest is a daunting feat. Considering the iconic legacies of the characters, their vital roles within their films, and the technical feats accomplished by the actors, these are our picks for the 10 best performances in horror films.

    Linda Blair in ‘The Exorcist’ (1973)

    Directed by William Friedkin

    The Exorcist is a 1973 supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and adapted by William Peter Blatty from his own 1971 novel. The film centers on the demonic possession of a young girl, Regan (Linda Blair), as she is transformed into a chaotic, profane and violent monster by the demon inside of her. In order to attempt to save her soul, Catholic priests Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) and Father Karras (Jason Miller) perform an exorcism once it is clear that no other option will work.

    Related video: 10 Best Horror Movies You’ve Never Heard Of (CBR)

    Play Video

    CBR

    10 Best Horror Movies You’ve Never Heard Of

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    View on Watch

    Despite being only 12 years old at the time of filming, Linda Blair gives a powerhouse performance as Regan, completely embodying both her innocent initial personality and the vulgar demon that possesses her. Aided by the vocal work of Mercedes McCambridge, Linda Blair tackles physically and emotionally demanding scenes that would have been challenging for actors decades her senior, consistently holding her own against her far more experienced castmates. The Exorcist is widely considered one of the scariest films of all time, and Linda Blair’s performance is one of the greatest reasons why.

    The Exorcist

    Release Date  December 26, 1973

    Director  William Friedkin

    Cast  Lee J. Cobb, Max Von Sydow, Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn

    Rating  R

    Runtime  122 minutes

    Main Genre   Horror

    Genres  Supernatural, Horror

    Writers  William Peter Blatty

    Production Company  Hoya Productions

    Rent on Amazon

    Kathy Bates in ‘Misery’ (1990)

    Directed by Rob Reiner

    Based on Stephen King‘s 1987 novel, Misery is a 1990 psychological horror-thriller directed by Rob Reiner. The film follows a popular fiction writer, Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who suffers a life-threatening car crash and is found by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a dedicated fan. As a nurse by profession, Annie helps Paul with his injuries but is horrified to discover that he has killed off her favorite character and decides to imprison him in her house until he has written a novel resurrecting the character.

    Kathy Bates’ performance received widespread acclaim and earned her a Best Actress Academy Award, in the only Oscar win ever received for a Stephen King adaptation. Bringing to life the villainous Annie Wilkes, Bates’ performance is highly erratic, swinging wildly from appearing to be simply a lonely and quirky woman to behaving in a violent and aggressive manner towards her captive. Portraying one of King’s greatest literary characters, Kathy Bates deserves all the attention she received for her performance in Misery.

    Misery

    Release Date  November 30, 1990

    Director  Rob Reiner

    Cast  Richard Farnsworth, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall, Frances Sternhagen, James Caan

    Rating  R

    Runtime  107 minutes

    Main Genre  Horror

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Horror

    Writers  William Goldman, Stephen King

    Budget  $20 million

    Studio(s)  Columbia Pictures

    Distributor(s)  Columbia Pictures

    Rent on Amazon

    Tony Todd in ‘Candyman’ (1992)

    Directed by Bernard Rose

    Candyman is a 1992 supernatural horror film written and directed by Bernard Rose and based on a short story by prolific novelist Clive Barker. The film explores the concept of urban legends by following a grad student, Helen (Virginia Madsen), who begins investigating the story of a vengeful spirit known as the Candyman (Tony Todd). After being summoned by Helen, Candyman begins to take the lives of innocent residents of a low-income neighborhood that he terrorizes.

    Candyman is unique for a supernatural slasher due to its methodical pace, mature storytelling and the subversively sympathetic nature of its antagonist. Tony Todd brings an incredible gravitas to the role, with his velvet-smooth voice and calm physicality bringing a hypnotic quality to the character, and his dedication to the film being perfectly showcased by his willingness to work with hundreds of live bees during production. Frightening and strangely alluring, the late, great Tony Todd’s performance as the titular Candyman is nothing less than career-defining.

    Candyman

    Release Date  October 16, 1992

    Director  Bernard Rose

    Cast  Marianna Elliott, DeJuan Guy, Kasi Lemmons, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd, Vanessa Williams, Virginia Madsen, Ted Raimi

    Rating  R

    Runtime  100 Minutes

    Main Genre  Horror

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Horror

    Writers  Bernard Rose

    Character(s)  Billy, Candyman, Clara, Jake, Bernadette Walsh, Anne-Marie McCoy, Trevor Lyle, Helen Lyle

    Rent on Apple TV

    Boris Karloff in ‘Frankenstein’ (1931)

    Directed by James Whale

    Based on Mary Shelley‘s 1818 classic horror novel, Frankenstein is a 1931 sci-fi horror film directed by James Whale. The film centers on the creation of a monster (Boris Karloff) constructed from stolen body-parts, who is reanimated by a scientist (Colin Clive) who seeks to play God. Mistreated by those around him, the monster escapes from captivity and finds himself the target of furious and violent townspeople.

    Enhanced with one of horror cinema’s most iconic examples of costuming and special effects makeup, Boris Karloff’s performance as Frankenstein’s Monster is a landmark achievement of the early horror genre. Karloff portrays the monster with a pitch-perfect balance of childlike innocence and threatening physicality, with his clumsy movements making his inhumanity incredibly believable. Rightfully still celebrated almost a century later, Boris Karloff’s performance in Frankenstein is perfect.

    Frankenstein

    Release Date  November 21, 1931

    Director  James Whale

    Cast  Lionel Belmore, Frederick Kerr, John Boles, Mae Clarke, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Colin Clive, Boris Karloff

    Rating  Passed

    Runtime  70 Minutes

    Main Genre  Sci-Fi

    Genres  Sci-Fi, Drama, Horror

    Writers  Francis Edward Faragoh, Peggy Webling, Garrett Fort, Richard Schayer, John L. Balderston, Mary Shelley

    Rent on Apple TV

    Jack Nicholson in ‘The Shining’ (1980)

    Directed by Stanley Kubrick

    Based on Stephen King‘s 1977 novel, The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. The film centers on Jack (Jack Nicholson), a writer with a history of alcoholism and a troubled relationship with his family, who takes a caretaking job at the remote Overlook Hotel during the winter. Upon arrival, however, Jack’s wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and their young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) realize that the hotel may be haunted, as they are plagued by unexplained events and Jack’s behavior becomes increasingly concerning.

    From his earliest scenes in the film, Jack Nicholson makes it clear through his performance that something is deeply wrong with Jack under the surface of his identity as an ambitious family man, seeming as if he may snap at any moment. Nicholson’s dynamic with Shelley Duvall is highly compelling, with her pure terror being contrasted excellently with his mania and aggression, making audiences truly come to fear his character at the film’s harrowing climax. Tragic, scary and at times darkly comedic, Jack Nicholson’s performance in The Shining is a masterclass in portraying a disturbed individual.

    The Shining

    Release Date  May 23, 1980

    Director  Stanley Kubrick

    Cast  Philip Stone, Barry Nelson, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd, Shelley Duvall, Jack Nicholson

    Rating  R

    Runtime  146 minutes

    Main Genre   Horror

    Genres  Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Psychological

    Writers  Diane Johnson, Stanley Kubrick, Stephen King

    Studio  Warner Bros.

    Tagline  All work and no play make Jack a dull boy…

    Rent on Apple TV

    Jodie Foster in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

    Directed by Jonathan Demme

    The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 psychological horror film directed by Jonathan Demme and based on Thomas Harris‘ 1988 novel. The film centers on young FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as she is assigned a key role in the investigation of serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). In order to track the killer down, Clarice develops a rapport with Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), an incarcerated cannibal and murderer who is also a highly intelligent psychiatrist.

    Winning an Oscar for Best Actress, Jodie Foster’s portrayal of Clarice received immediate acclaim due to her embodiment of Clarice’s likability, intelligence and emotional complexity. The film’s most compelling element is the dynamic between Clarice and Hannibal, with the two consistently attempting to get the upper hand in their interactions and thed chemistry between Foster and Hopkins makes their scenes electrifying. Clarice is one of horror cinema’s most iconic protagonists and one of the best characters in the Hannibal Lecter cinematic universe, with Jodie Foster’s performance greatly enhancing the role.

    The Silence of the Lambs

    Release Date  February 14, 1991

    Director  Jonathan Demme

    Cast  Diane Baker, Kasi Lemmons, Scott Glenn, Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Ted Levine, Jodie Foster

    Rating  R

    Runtime  118 Minutes

    Main Genre  Thriller

    Genres  Drama, Thriller, Crime

    Writers  Ted Tally, Thomas Harris

    Character(s)  Ardelia Mapp, Senator Ruth Martin, Catherine Martin, Dr. Frederick Chilton, Jame Gumb, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Sterling, Jack Crawford

    Mia Farrow in ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968)

    Directed by Roman Polanski

    Rosemary’s Baby is a 1968 supernatural body horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski and based on the 1967 novel by Ira Levin. The film centers on a young married woman, Rosemary (Mia Farrow), whose relationships with everyone around her are thrown into question when she begins suffering a seemingly demonic pregnancy after being assaulted. Becoming increasingly ill and losing a shocking amount of weight, Rosemary begins to suspect that her neighbors are participants in an occult conspiracy surrounding her pregnancy.

    Considered a masterpiece of subtle body horror, the film displays Rosemary undergoing a shocking physical transformation from a healthy young woman to someone frail, gaunt and highly physically vulnerable. Mia Farrow’s performance perfectly conveys the way that Rosemary’s bodily autonomy is being stripped from her, portraying the character as good-hearted and pure but also increasingly physically unwell and dangerously naive. One of the most acclaimed performances in genre history, Mia Farrow’s performance as the titular Rosemary is authentic, frightening and enduringly impressive.

    Rosemary’s Baby

    Release Date  June 12, 1968

    Director  Roman Polanski

    Cast  Ralph Bellamy, Sidney Blackmer, John Cassavetes, Maurice Evans, Ruth Gordon, Mia Farrow

    Rating  R

    Runtime  137 minutes

    Main Genre  Drama

    Genres  Supernatural, Horror, Psychological

    Writers  Ira Levin, Roman Polanski

    Tagline  Pray for Rosemary’s Baby

    Production Company  William Castle Productions

    Rent on Amazon

    Kōji Yakusho in ‘Cure’ (1997)

    Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

    Cure is a 1997 Japanese supernatural psychological horror film written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The film centers on a mysterious string of murders with seemingly no connection except from a link to Mamiya (Masato Hagiwara), an amnesiac hypnotist. The lead detective on the case, Kenichi Takabe (Kōji Yakusho), finds himself being increasingly drawn into Mamiya’s web due to the stresses and traumas of his own personal life, placing the lives of those around him in harm’s way.

    Kōji Yakusho and director Kiyoshi Kurosawa have collaborated on numerous film projects, but Cure has proven to be their most renowned due to its terrifying atmosphere and compelling premise. Yakusho shines in the lead role, portraying a delicately balanced mix of professionalism and dangerously obsessive tendencies to the character that establishes Takabe as a fascinating and potentially unreliable protagonist. Delivering scenes of devastating emotional trauma, chilling horror and dedicated detective work, Kōji Yakusho’s performance in Cure is horror perfection.

    Cure

    Release Date  December 27, 1997

    Director  Kiyoshi Kurosawa

    Cast  Ren Ôsugi, Misayo Haruki, Anna Nakagawa, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Yoriko Dôguchi, Masato Hagiwara, Denden, Kôji Yakusho

    Rating  Not Rated

    Runtime  111 Minutes

    Main Genre  Horror

    Genres  Mystery, Crime, Horror

    Writers  Kiyoshi Kurosawa

    Rent on Amazon

    Toni Collette in ‘Hereditary’ (2018)

    Directed by Ari Aster

    Hereditary is a 2018 supernatural horror film written and directed by Ari Aster in his feature film debut. The film centers on a family in the midst of severe grief, initially grieving the death of their maternal grandmother, before being struck by additional tragedy and afflicted by evil supernatural forces. Annie (Toni Collette), the mother of the family, is an artist with a traumatic past who tries her best to support her children Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro) but is pushed to a breaking point due to the horrific circumstances.

    Notoriously one of the bleakest horror films ever made, Hereditary is beloved by critics and audience members due to its strong scares and its raw and powerful representations of generational trauma and mental illness. Receiving particular attention, Toni Collette’s performance as Annie is unflinchingly intense, perfectly embodying her character’s complexity and fragile mental state in the wake of her grief. In one unforgettable scene, Collette expels some of the most haunting and tortured screams in cinematic history, and her performance is consistently remarkable throughout.

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    10 Best Non-American Zombie Movies Of All Time

    Of all the different niches of horror movies, the zombie flick is one of the most enduring, with each generation of filmmakers bringing their unique perspective to the narrative. In recent years, we’ve seen exciting changes within the zombie genre, as many of the tropes and rules of these stories established by classics like Night of the Living Dead have been subverted and altered to suit the contemporary era. While there are many great zombie movies produced by Hollywood, there are legions of innovative titles that have come from countries besides the U.S.

    Plenty of unconventional zombie movies break away from the genre, and these great international projects showcase that writers and directors everywhere are interested in seeing how far they can push the concept of the zombie. From bloody, gory films that make you want to turn away from the screen to satirical narratives that play with your expectations, these movies have it all. Lately, many of the best zombie films have been grappling with zombies as a metaphor for worldwide disease and catastrophe, often being combined with the post-apocalyptic genre.

    Cargo (2017)

    Directed by Ben Howling & Yolanda Ramke

    Martin Freeman’s underrated realistic zombie movieCargo has long been overlooked within the genre. However, watching the Australian film today demonstrates why it’s such an emotionally gripping horror movie. Zombism is referred to as a virus within the world of Cargo, but the effects of infection work the same way, and it’s clear that anyone who gets bitten isn’t long for this world. The ticking clock of Andy’s (Freeman) infection is the background of Cargoas he attempts to get his infant daughter to safety.

    Incorporating many of the best elements of the post-apocalyptic genre, Cargo also grapples with the legacy of Australia’s treatment of Indigenous Australians. Andy encounters the young girl Thoomi (Simone Landers), who helps Andy find a safe place for his daughter to be raised after he’s gone. Freeman is doubtlessly at his best in Cargo, and the complex project is a tender portrait of love and sacrifice against insurmountable odds. The setting of rural Australia also provides a unique atmosphere, as so many zombie films focus on urban environments.

    Dead Snow (2009)

    Directed by Tommy Wirkola

    Oftentimes, in zombie movies, when a person is infected, it’s a tragic loss, and the characters’ connections make the outbreak even more terrifying. This isn’t the case in Dead Snow, a Norwegian film that doesn’t just have zombies; it has Nazi zombies. If the undead weren’t horrifying and evil enough, Dead Snow adds these extra elements. This ensures that the audience is appropriately prepared to cheer when the zombies are blown up and scream when they’re getting closer.

    In many ways, Dead Snow unfolds in the classic manner of most horror narratives, beginning with a group of students traveling to a remote cabin in the Norwegian woods. One by one, Dead Snow sees the characters encounter the zombies and go to extreme lengths to escape them or fall victim to them. It’s clear from the first moments of Dead Snow that the filmmakers were having a lot of fun with the genre and wanted to play up the grotesque and campy parts of zombie films that make the genre so memorable.

    #Alive (2020)

    Directed by Il Cho

    Infusing technology and social media into contemporary movies can be difficult, as innovation is moving so fast that these elements can become dated at the drop of a hat. However, #Alive does a great job of being relevant and timeless at the same time, as it follows the protagonist, Joon-woo, who struggles to find other survivors while facing zombies and other humans alike. Social media plays a role in #Alive, but it doesn’t overshadow the action and character development.

    Yoo Ah-in anchors the film as Oh Joon-woo, the video game streamer who attempts to survive the zombie apocalypse while being locked inside his apartment.

    Yoo Ah-in anchors the film as Oh Joon-woo, the video game streamer who attempts to survive the zombie apocalypse while being locked inside his apartment. Park Shin-hye plays Kim Yoo-bin, one of Joon-woo’s neighbors. She and Joon-woo eventually connect and work together to make it out alive. Their relationship provides enough bright spots and breaks in the tension of #Alive that you can stomach the more grotesque moments of the South Korean film.

    One Cut Of The Dead (2017)

    Directed by Shinichirou Ueda

    In conversation with not only the zombie genre but filmmaking itself, One Cut of the Dead pokes fun at the lengths directors and artists will go for fame and success. The meta-project soon becomes a film within a film, showcasing the events of a fictional zombie movie, then the background of the film getting made, and the actual production of the project. Despite its microscopic budget, made for around $27,000, One Cut of the Dead catapulted to fame, earning millions of dollars and making an international splash (via The Hollywood Reporter).

    When watching One Cut of the Dead today, it’s easy to see how and why the movie became such a phenomenon. Perhaps the most innovative movie of 2017, One Cut of the Dead, is hilarious and self-aware without being too tongue-in-cheek or alienating. Made with unknown actors and playing with form and niche material that most mainstream projects would shy away from, One Cut of the Dead is a fantastic movie that should be remembered among the best of the genre.

    The Night Eats The World (2018)

    Directed by Dominique Rocher

    Set in Paris, The Night Eats the World isn’t full of loud, slow-moving zombies that are easy to outrun and a little less formidable than other movie monsters. Instead, the film includes fast, deadly, and virtually silent beasts that Sam (Anders Danielsen Lie) struggles to see coming, even from the apartment he’s hiding in. As the pain of isolation and survival sets in, it gets harder and harder for Sam to stay sane and fight off the zombies.

    As much a test of endurance for the audience as it is for Sam, The Night Eats the World is a grueling addition to the zombie genre that doesn’t rely on gore to make an impact.

    The Night Eats the World is a reminder of how difficult, or nearly impossible it is, for people to survive alone and that survival alone isn’t all there is. As much a test of endurance for the audience as it is for Sam, The Night Eats the World is a grueling addition to the zombie genre that doesn’t rely on gore to make an impact. Another recent French zombie film, the MadS movie, brought something unique to the genre, showcasing how France is pushing the zombie story forward.

    [REC] (2007)

    Directed by Paco Plaza & Jaume Balagueró

    One of the best found footage horror movies,[REC] is the first in several sequels, but the iconic original film is still the best. [REC] is a Spanish movie that follows Ángela (Manuela Velasco), a reporter who gets trapped inside an apartment building with the building’s residents as they slowly become infected. Throughout the night, Ángela’s camera operator, Pablo (Pablo Rosso), captures the increasingly gory and disturbing events as Ángela attempts to escape and uncover what’s happening to them.

    [REC] makes good use of the found footage genre, incorporating fun jump scares, Easter eggs, and an ominous ending to keep you hooked until the film’s final moments. Though it isn’t flashy or over-the-top, [REC] proves that a project doesn’t need a large budget or mountains of gore to make an impression. In fact, one of [REC]‘s strengths is the fact that it leaves so much up to the viewer’s imagination.

    28 Days Later (2002)

    Directed by Danny Boyle

    As time has passed, 28 Days Later has only become more iconic within the zombie genre. Boasting a star-studded cast that includes Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Brendan Gleeson,28 Days Later helped to revolutionize the zombie genre and increase contemporary interest in these stories. Today, many new zombie movies have their monsters fast-moving and extraordinarily powerful, but 28 Days Later was one of the first projects that stepped away from the slow zombie trope.

    It’s hard to say where the modern zombie movie would be without 28 Days Later, as it introduced so many important story choices and stylistic elements that have impacted horror as a whole, not just zombie films.

    The long-awaited sequel 28 Years Later is coming soon, and though the next installment of the franchise has a lot of pressure riding on it, there’s reason to be hopeful. It’s hard to say where the modern zombie movie would be without 28 Days Later, as it introduced so many important story choices and stylistic elements that have impacted horror as a whole, not just zombie films. Fortunately, we don’t have to imagine, as revisiting 28 Days Later only reaffirms its potency.

    Versus (2000)

    Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura

    This Japanese zombie movie is as dedicated to bringing its grotesque zombies to life as it incorporates well-choreographed action sequences. Versus uses elements of the martial arts and samurai genres to uplift the central narrative, leaning into the idea that zombies are part of intricate myths and folklore rather than a lab-created accident. Set in a forest of resurrection, an escaped prisoner and a young girl fight their way out while being pursued by dangerous men.

    However, in the forest, these men won’t die and just keep chasing them. Tak Sakaguchi plays the central prisoner, with Chieko Misaka co-starring as the girl, and the pair of them make compelling action heroes. As Versus progresses, more mystical elements and historical connections are revealed, making the story more intricate and exciting with every passing moment. Versus expertly blends genres, showcasing that the zombie movie is capable of being so much more than people realize.

    Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

    Directed by Edgar Wright

    Simon Pegg and Nick Frost quickly became one of the most iconic horror duos in recent memory thanks to their hilarious and bloody work in Shaun of the Dead. While there are plenty of horror-comedy movies out there that reimagine the genre, Shaun of the Dead immediately sets itself apart because of the unique style of filmmaking. Directed by Edgar Wright, a creative known for his distinctive editing and fast-paced comedy, Shaun of the Dead juxtaposes the urgency of Wright’s direction with the zombies’ glacial pace.

    Though Shaun of the Dead was made on a small budget, it went on to receive universal acclaim and box office success.

    The Night of the Living Dead movies are iconic pieces of film history, so it’s unsurprising that Shaun of the Dead lovingly pokes fun at the tropes these projects created. It can be difficult to balance the violence and inherent tragedy of the zombie genre with lighthearted humor, but Shaun of the Dead easily achieves this. Though Shaun of the Dead was made on a small budget, it went on to receive universal acclaim and box office success.

    Train To Busan (2016)

    Directed by Yeon Sang-ho

    Yeon Sang-ho’s most iconic movie, Train to Busan, is one of the most famous contemporary zombie films, regardless of country. Action-packed and brimming with blood, gore, and surprising emotional poignancy, Train to Busan might bring a tear to your eye before the story’s over, as its central character develops as a father and a person in the wake of the shocking outbreak. Gong Yoo brings this character, Seok-woo, to life with the gravitas of an action hero, balanced with sensitivity.

    Train to Busan exemplifies what we love about modern horror, as it’s in conversation with the best of the genre but is also unafraid to carve its own path. Additionally, Train to Busan is as much about class and impending natural disasters as it is a delivery system for the zombie gore we know and love. While Train to Busan doesn’t reinvent the zombie movie, it does pave the way for the next era of great brain-eating filmmaking and encourages it to include some smart commentary.

     

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    https://theworldaccordingtocosmos.com/?author=1

    Review of EE Cummings the Enormous Room

     

    Review of EE Cummings the Enormous Room

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3mo

     

    E E CUmmings
    EE Cummings

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    classics

    I recently read EE Cummings’s anti-war novel the “Enormous Room” as part of my reading the classics efforts.  EE Cummings is best known for his wonderful and quirky poems but he wrote many other works during his prolific literary career in the the early to mid-20th century.

    This book was written based on his experience as a prisoner in a French prison during World War 1.  He had gone to France to serve as an ambulance driver and got into trouble with the French authorities because of anti-war comments made by his fellow American friend.  He served three months in a detention camp filled with mostly foreigners who had been accused of espionage, hampering the war effort, or associating with people so accused.  He was never formally charged and after three months was released.

    Co-Piot provided some more background information:

    “E.E. Cummings’ The Enormous Room is indeed rooted in his real-life experiences during World War I. Here’s what I found:

    Cummings’ Role in the War and Imprisonment: During World War I, Cummings volunteered as an ambulance driver for the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps in France. However, his service was cut short when he and his friend William Slater Brown were arrested by French authorities. They  were suspected of espionage due to Brown’s anti-war sentiments expressed in letters. Cummings, who stood by his friend, was detained at the La Ferté-Macé internment camp for over three months.  This harrowing experience became the foundation for The Enormous Room, where he vividly recounts his
    time in captivity and critiques bureaucracy and Authoritarianism”

    I found his critique of authoritarianism,  bureaucracy,  the French prison system, and anti-war sentiments to be still quite relevant over one hundred years later. His novel is filled with details about the many different prisoners from all over the world he met and became friends with during his stay in the French detention center.  The novel also filled my literary references as EE Cummings studied classics at Harvard before volunteering to go to France to help in the war effort as an ambulance driver.  He quotes Dante’s Divine Comedy, and Bunyan’s The Pilgrims Progress throughout the novel, particularly calling some of his fellow prisoners “delectable mountains” referencing their defiance of the petty and absurd rules of the prison.

    In reading the classics, one thing that can be offputting to modern English readers is the liberal use of untranslated foreign language phrases. The Enormous Room is set in a French prison in World War 1. The writer uses a lot of untranslated French phrases throughout. Most modern literature provides English translations in parentheses of foreign phrases.  Older literature usually does not not put translations of foreign text assuming perhaps that their readers would understand the foreign phrases or skip over them.

    Fortunately we now have Kindle and Kindle does offer translations on the fly which is a very useful feature as well as dictionary definitions.

    Of course, the other problem that I have addressed elsewhere is the causal racism, sexism etc in much older literature which can be off-putting to modern readers.  The solution is to simply note it, and read on taking into account the novel or story was written in the context of its time when racism and sexism were just not concerns for most writers or readers.

    In this novel, he befriends three African prisoners and discusses how one of the prisoners had been imprisoned due to the racist attitude of the police against Africans residing in France.

    The prison had a women’s section and a male section, and fraternization was prohibited but still occurred.  Many of the women prisoners had been imprisoned for suspected prostitution and carried out that trade in prison.  Several of the male prisoners had been imprisoned for being pimps, and some for smuggling and other crimes.

    The conditions in the prison were quite stark and brutal. All the prisoners slept in one large “enormous room” that contained around 100 prisoners at a time.  they were allowed out once a day to go for a walk in the yard and were assigned chores His duty was as a water carrier taking water from a communal well and taking it to the kitchen where they prepared soup for the prisoners. Prisoners were fed twice a day soup and bread for the most part, and horrid coffee in the morning.   He did get one cup of real coffee per day from the cook grateful for his assistance in hauling water and helping in the Kitchen from time to time.  Prisoners were able to afford wine cigarettes and chocolate from the Canteen.

    Most prisoners lost a lot of weight, and many became sick from scurvy and STDs picked up from visiting the women prisoners or contracted before their arrival.  A few had TB and other serious illnesses.  The doctor was a bit of a quack and did not have adequate supplies.

    Most prisoners stayed for three to four months before the Commission in charge decided to either send them to a real prison after a trial or release them.  EE Cummins was released and with the help of the US Embassy, allowed to leave France without any charges ever being filed against him.

    Quotes from The Enormous Room

    > “To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”

    “I imagine that yes is the only living thing.”

    > “Humanity I love you because when you’re hard up you pawn your intelligence
    to buy a drink.”

    E.E. Cummings: A Brief Biography

    Full Name: Edward Estlin Cummings

    Born: October 14, 1894, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Died: September 3, 1962, in North Conway, New Hampshire, USA

    Education: Cummings graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in  Classics in 1915 and an M.A. in 1916.

    Career Highlights:

    Early Life:

    Cummings was born into a well-educated, upper-class family in Cambridge, Massachusetts1. His father was a professor at Harvard University and later became a minister

    World War I:

    During the war, Cummings served as an ambulance driver in France. He was briefly imprisoned in a French detention camp, an experience that inspired his novel “The Enormous Room.”

    Literary Career:

    Cummings published his first collection of poetry, “Tulips and
    Chimneys”, in 1923. He is known for his unconventional use of punctuation,
    syntax, and capitalization, which became hallmarks of his poetic style

    Notable Works: Cummings wrote approximately 2,900 poems, several novels, and plays. Some of his most famous works include Tulips and Chimneys, The
    Enormous Room, EIMI, and the play HIM1.

    Here are some of E.E. Cummings’ notable works:

    Poetry Collections:

    Tulips and Chimneys (1923)
    ViVa (1931)
    No Thanks (1935)
    1 x 1 (1944)
    XAIPE: Seventy-One Poems (1950)
    95 Poems (1958)

    Novels:

    The Enormous Room (1922)
    EIMI (1933)

    Plays:

    Him (1927)
    Santa Claus: A Morality (1946)

    For more information see the following:

    1. E. Cummings – Wikipedia

    ‘A TWILIGHT SMELLING OF VERGIL’: E. E. CUMMINGS, CLASSICS, AND THE GREAT WAR on JSTOR

    1. E. Cummings: Biography, Most Famous Poems & Facts

    Delectable Mountains | The Pilgrim’s Progress Wiki | Fandom

    E E CUmmings

    March 12, 2025, 6:55 am 0 boosts 0 favorites

  • Movies 2025 Including Oscar Reflections

    Movies 2025 Including Oscar Reflections

    Movies 2025 Including Oscar Reflections

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3m9

    Cosmos Movies TV Programs 2024 Lis

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    Movies Seen 2021

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    Movies Watched During 2018

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    2024 K Drama Updates

    250+ Movies/TV Series/Plays/Big News coverage, YouTube documentaries, etc. by the end of the year.

    At least one Korean movie per week

    At least one Spanish movie every so often

    One Bollywood or another foreign language movie every so often

    A mixture of thrillers, K Drama, comedies, rom-com, etc.

    Make a list of Oscar movies and watch several

    Resume going to the theater

    Two to three live theater performances

    List major news coverage and events

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    List Great Courses – do one course per month on average

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    Numerical List

    January

    1. NYE coverage
    2. Coverage of Yoon arrest drama
    3. Coverage of Johnson’s election for Speaker
    4. Coverage of NYE terror bombings
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    6. Coverage of Korean Air Crash
    7. Coverage of Trump’s first 100 days
    8. CNN/BBC news forecasts for the year
    9. CNN coverage of Trump’s Indictment
    10. CNN coverage of Carter Funeral
    11. CNN coverage of President Trump’s first 100 days
    12. CNN coverage of LA fires
    13. President Biden’s Farewell Adress
    14. Senate confirmation hearings
    15. CNN coverage of Trump’s inaugural address
    16. Marry You? K Rom-com
    17. Arthdal Chronicles (K pre-historical fantasy drama) Season One
    18. Arthdal Chronicles (K pre-historical fantasy drama) Season Two See review
    19. Check in Hangyang (K rom com)
    20. Farscape selected episodes seen half earlier on Amazon – hard to navigate the episode list though watching on Kanopy to finish episodes not seen
    21. Father Brown – will watch more episodes 122 total – too many to watch see review
    22. Allenoid Part One K Sci-Fi Drama
    23. Allenoid Part Two K Sci-Fi Drama
    24. Dog Days K Drama
    25. Back in Action CIA thriller
    26. I Feel Pretty US comedy
    27. Missing Harbin Corbin mini-series
    28. Run On

    February

    1. Triangle of Sadness German Satire
    2. Oscars
    3. Hitman K Drama
    4. God Pod ‘ Eggs and up 37 percent and it is only day two of Trump 2.0’
    5. Amazon Bullseye K comedy drama
    6. Scam K Drama
    7. Simple History Secret History of North Korea
    8. Kill Room crime satire – did not finish
    9. Doubt K Drama Series
    10. Superbowl
    11. God Pod Yes, You Are In Hell
    12. The Boys K Drama /
    13. When the Phone Rang
    14. Bogota Lost City K Drama
    15. Silent Project K Drama
    16. News coverage of President Yoon’s trial
    17. You Tube video magnetic pole shifting
    18. You Tube city Nerd on Houston
    19. You Tube City Nerd on high-speed trains coming to America?
    20.  Fiery Priest K drama series
    21. God pod “Elon Musk Is A Nazi Nepo Baby” – by Jesus Christ and God
    22. You Tube video – ancient map of America found
    23. Coverage on the DOGE commission and government cutbacks
    24. La dolce villa romcom set in Italy B+
    25. Apple Cider Vinegar – a true story about Belle Gibson case that rocked the international wellness movement in 2017 based on a true story in Australia
    26. Dr Yohan K Medical Drama
    27. Policeman’s Lineage K police drama
    28. Trunk K drama did not finish
    29. Love in the Big City featuring a woman and her gay best friend K drama – the decent movie actually

    March

    1. Highway Men – about the taking down of Bonnie and Clyde based on the true story.
    2. Maestro
    3. Farscape Season 1, 2 and 3
    4. State of the Union
    5. Continuing coverage of Korean Impeachment trials
    6. Why Files on the End-of-the-World
    7. Great Course History of the Roman Empire

    Oscar List

    Oscar nominations 2025: The full list of movies, actors and directors

    Find all the nominations below:

    Best Picture

    Bolded watched

    Anora

    The Brutalist

    A Complete Unknown

    Conclave

    Dune: Part 2

    Emilia Pérez

    I’m Still Here

    Nickel Boys

    The Substance

    Wicked

     

    ‘The Brutalist’

    Best Director

    Sean Baker – Anora

    Brady Corbet – The Brutalist

    James Mangold – A Complete Unknown

    Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez

    Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

    Best Actress in a Leading Role

    Cynthia Erivo – Wicked

    Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez

    Mikey Madison – Anora

    Demi Moore – The Substance

    Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here

    Best Actor in a Leading Role

    Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

    Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown

    Colman Domingo – Sing Sing

    Ralph Fiennes – Conclave

    Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice

    Best Actress in a Supporting Role

    Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown

    Ariana Grande – Wicked

    Felicity Jones – The Brutalist

    Isabella Rossellini – Conclave

    Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez

    Best Actor in a Supporting Role

    Yura Borisov – Anora

    Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

    Edward Norton – A Complete Uknown

    Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

    Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice

    Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

    Anora

    The Brutalist

    A Real Pain

    September 5

    The Substance

    Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

    A Complete Unknown

    Conclave

    Emilia Pérez

    Nickel Boys

    Sing Sing

    Best International Feature Film

    I’m Still Here

    The Girl with the Needle

    Emilia Pérez

    The Seed of the Sacred Fig

    Flow

    Best Animated Feature Film

    Flow

    Inside Out 2

    Memoir of a Snail

    Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

    The Wild Robot

    Best Documentary Feature

    Black Box Diaries

    No Other Land

    Porcelain War

    Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat

    Sugarcane

    Best Film Editing

    Anora

    The Brutalist

    Conclave

    Emilia Pérez

    Wicked

    Best Cinematography

    The Brutalist

    Dune: Part 2

    Emilia Pérez

    Maria

    Nosferatu

    ’Nosferatu’ received three Oscar nominations in the technical categories (© 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

     

    Best Music (Original Score)

    The Brutalist

    Conclave

    Emilia Pérez

    Wicked

    The Wild Robot

    Best Music (Original Song)

    “El Mal” – Emilia Pérez

    “The Journey” – The Six Triple Eight

    “Like a Bird” – Sing Sing

    “Mi Camino” – Emilia Pérez

    “Never Too Late” – Elton John: Never Too Late

    Best Sound

    A Complete Unknown

    Dune: Part 2

    Emilia Pérez

    Wicked

    The Wild Robot

    Best Visual Effects

    Alien: Romulus

    Better Man

    Dune: Part 2

    Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

    Wicked

    Best Production Design

    The Brutalist

    Conclave

    Dune: Part 2

    Nosferatu

    Wicked

    ‘Conclave’ has received eight Oscar nominations (Philippe Antonello/Focus Features)

    Best Costume Design

    A Complete Unknown

    Conclave

    Gladiator II

    Nosferatu

    Wicked

    Best Makeup and Hairstyling

    A Different Man

    Emilia Pérez

    Nosferatu

    The Substance

    Wicked

    Best Animated Short Film

    Beautiful Men

    In the Shadow of the Cypress

    Magic Candies

    Wander to Wonder

    Yuck!

    Best Live Action Short Film

    A Lien

    Anuja

    I’m Not a Robot

    The Last Ranger

    The Man Who Would Not Remain Silent

    Documentary Short Film

    Death by Numbers

    I Am Ready, Warden

    Incident

    Instruments of a Beating Heart

    The Only Girl in the Orchestra

     

    The Oscars at Our House 2025

    Has Hollywood lost its way?

    Roy Dufrain Jr

    Note:  Roy is my college housemate.  He has been writing an annual list of his Oscar recommendations for over 20 years. I respect his writing and his recommendations.  This is the third year I have reposted it.

    You can find his work on substack.

    the 2024 Oscars According to Roy Dufrain

    More Roy Dufrain Writing

    Roy Dufrain Updates

    guest post by Roy Dufraine

    Once again, Mrs D and I have endeavored to see as many Best Picture nominees as possible, given availability and other constraints. We’ve been doing this now for over 20 years. When we started there were still only five nominees. Since 2009, it’s been ten, and this year we saw eight, and I’ll say again, the Academy never should’ve increased the limit. Not just because it’s hard for fans to see them all, but because some of these movies are simply not worthy of the honor. Especially this year!

    Still, it’s Oscar time and it’s a tradition here! Pick your favorites, put on your tuxedoes and sparkly gowns (or in our case, your comfiest PJs), kick back with some soda and butter-soaked popcorn, wow or hiss the latest red carpet fashions, jeer or cheer the awkward, fawning interviews, predict the winners, pat yourself on the back when you’re right and blame woke Hollywood when you’re wrong!

    Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s what I thought…

    ROY DUFRAIN JR is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

    Upgrade to paid

    Anora – A tale of stupid people doing terrible things stupidly. A whole lot of yelling and screwing failed to make this movie interesting. The nearly feral, selfish youth, the servile, bickering and bumbling Armenians, the contemptible ultra-rich Russians, the ‘dancer’ who accepts payment for sex but insists she’s not a hooker. The constant f-bombs. It all seemed over the top—grasping for gritty realism but approaching absurdity. So what.

    The Brutalist – A worthy subject, an intriguing and complicated lead character masterfully brought to life by a supremely talented star, an epic arc of struggle and redemption, a span of decades and locations wonderfully rendered visually and in historical references. And yet, I fell asleep. Had to finish the movie the next day. It’s brutally long and slow. Three and a half hours! Couldn’t trim even a half hour out of that? Come on.

    A Complete Unknown – Mrs D and I agreed this was easily and by far the best picture of the nominees we saw. I’m not sure it will stand the test of time as a ‘great’ movie, but it was full of great acting. Timothée Chalamet should win best actor for his amazing and mesmerizing recreation of Dylan’s musical performance and presence. Co-stars Monica Barbaro and Edward Norton should win their categories for the same reasons. The evocation of the time period through set design and other techniques was immersive and entertaining. Of the best-pic noms we’ve seen, this is the only one I’m sure I will watch again.

    Conclave – I really liked this movie at first. It seemed like a taut, understated political intrigue, with a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a hidden world—the election of a new pope. But I felt let down by the wild twist at the end. Not being a fan of the Catholic Church, I kind of enjoyed the irony of it, but I found the details strained credibility as presented. By chance I had just read an article about the many possible combinations of chromosomes that occur naturally in humans. So I didn’t doubt that, but it seemed so unlikely the person in question would have ever risen to a high position in the Catholic Church, or that any real circumstance could have resulted in the ending of this film. I just didn’t buy it.

    Dune Part Two – I read the book so many years ago that I remembered nothing of it. We saw Part One last year and were a bit lost throughout. So, we watched a couple YouTube summary videos, but then we still watched Part One before pushing play on Part Two. We both thought the investment of time paid off. It helped us sink into the films, with their long list of characters and multiple story threads. I’d rank this as the second best of the nominees. Stunning visuals and the kind of classic, epic storytelling that reminds me of Tolkien or Star Wars.

    Emilia Pérez – Lots of negative talk about the star of this one—whatever. I’d like to see it, but I don’t have Netflix right now and my wallet is already suffering from subscription fatigue.

    I’m Still Here – The trailer for this one looks really interesting, but the film has not been released for streaming as of this date.

    Nickel Boys – I’m not sure if the sheer volume of artsy techniques and effects (or affects?) were always in service of the storytelling in this film. It felt overwrought. All the weird shot angles, the square formatting, the ringing headache soundtrack, the time jumping and the gimmicky point of view thing, especially those back of head shots—I found it interesting but distracting, and wondered if anyone in Hollywood can just tell a story anymore.

    The Substance – I’m honestly not sure if it’s a comedy gone wrong or a drama gone wrong, but boy did it suck! If it had a point it was made in the first ten minutes and then beat to death for two more hours, and in the most gruesome fashion imaginable. Jesus, how is this nominated for anything?! How did it even get made?! It’s a perfect example of why many people say Hollywood has lost the ability to make great movies.

    Wicked – Loved the book! Never saw the play. The movie did not capture the wonder and delight I remember feeling at the ingenuity and thoughtfulness of the book. The set design and effects were impressive, the vocal talent at times astounding. But I couldn’t help feeling like I was watching a bad episode of Glee with all the cliché mean girl vs. Cinderella stuff. Also, a musical ought to leave you humming or singing a chorus or two on your way out the door. Think: If I Were a Rich Man, Papa Can You Hear Me, I Feel Pretty, Don’t Rain on My Parade, on and on. Wicked is more like sung dialogue but not one catchy, hummable tune. Meh.

    Honorable Shoutout

    A Real Pain – Should have been nominated. Thoughtful and thought provoking, just funny enough to lighten the weight of the relationships on view, among the characters themselves but also between the characters and the history they are interfacing with. And extremely well played by both Jesse Eisenberg and Macaulay Culkin, making these characters feel real and their oddball behavior believable.

    Something to Think About

    After the news of the great Gene Hackman’s death, Roy Sr, Mrs D and I all watched Unforgiven the other night, and enjoyed it immensely even though we’ve all seen it more than twice. Everything a Best Picture winner ought to be and then some. Not one of the 2024 movies even comes close.

    ROY DUFRAIN JR is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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  • 2025 K Drama Updates

    2025 K Drama Updates

    2025 K Drama Updates

    Over the last few years, I finally became a k drama fan. Part of the reason is that my Korean is now good enough to follow the dialogue although I still need subtitles.

    Here are some of my favorite K dramas- I provide a synopsis and my comment on each.

    In general, K dramas come in two forms – movies and series. The series are reminiscent of Mexican telenovelas – usually 16 episodes, occasionally 20, and occasionally fewer. A few have two seasons. Most run for about a month. Almost all are available now on Netflix and Hulu with English subtitles. A few were quite controversial.

    K Dramas are particularly good in the rom-com genre as they have perfected the slow-burn romance story, and the hate turns to the love story.  They also do crime thrillers well and Sci-FI.

    Parasite of course won the 2020 Oscar. And Minuri won best-supporting actress 2023.

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3lm

    This is a complete list of my K Drama recommendations.

    2024 K Drama Updates

    More K Drama Updates

    Cosmos K Drama List

    Our Blues K Drama Review

    Cosmos’s Favorite K Drama

    Cosmos’s Fav k Drama

    My favorite K dramas, and recommended K Dramas so far include:

    Bold – I have seen

    *my favorites

    Bold – I have seen

    *my favorites

     K-Dramas (Series)

    2025 K Drama Updates

    Over the last few years, I finally became a k drama fan. Part of the reason is that my Korean is now good enough to follow the dialogue although I still need subtitles mostly.

    Here are some of my favorite K dramas- I provide a synopsis and my comment on each.

    In general, K dramas come in two forms – movies and series. The series are reminiscent of Mexican telenovelas – usually 16 episodes, occasionally 20, and occasionally fewer. A few have two seasons. Most run for about a month. Almost all are available now on Netflix and Hulu with English subtitles. A few were quite controversial.

    K Dramas are particularly good in the rom-com genre as they have perfected the slow-burn romance story, and the hate turns to the love story.  They also do crime thrillers well and Sci-FI.

    Parasite of course won the 2020 Oscar. And Minuri won best-supporting actress 2023.

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3lm

     

    2024 K Drama Updates

    More K Drama Updates

    Cosmos K Drama List

    Our Blues K Drama Review

    Cosmos’s Favorite K Drama

    Cosmos’s Fav k Drama

    My favorite K dramas, and recommended K Dramas so far include:

    Bold – I have seen

    *my favorites

    2024 K Drama Updates

    Over the last few years, I finally became a k drama fan. Part of the reason is that my Korean is now good enough to follow the dialogue although I still need subtitles mostly.

    Here are some of my favorite K dramas- I provide a synopsis and my comment on each.

    In general K dramas come in two forms – movies and series. The series are reminiscent of Mexican telenovelas – usually 16 episodes, occasionally 20, and occasionally fewer. A few have two seasons. Most run for about a month. Almost all are available now on Netflix and Hulu with English subtitles. A few were quite controversial.

    K Dramas are particularly good in the rom-com genre as they have perfected the slow-burn romance story, and the hate turns to the love story.  They also do crime thrillers well and Sci-FI.

    Parasite of course won the 2020 Oscar. And Minuri won best-supporting actress 2023.

    This is a consolidated list of my favorite K dramas, and recommended K Dramas:

    Bold – I have seen

    *my favorites

     K-Dramas (Series)

    • (2019): VIP (브이아이피)  Revenge drama 
      • Karma (2025): 악연 (Akyeon), which translates to “Ill-Fated Relationship”. revenge drama -similar to Glory
      • The World of the Married 부부의 세계  Bubuui Segye)
      • The Empire (디 엠파이어, Di Empaieo)
      • The Interest of Love (사랑의 이해, Sarangui Ihae)
      • Big Mouth (빅마우스, Bikmauseu)
      • Mouse (마우스, Mau-seu)
      • Revenant (악귀, Akgui) Horror
      • When Life Gives You Tangerines 폭싹 속았수다
      • Twinkling Watermelon (반짝이는 워터멜론, Banjjagineun Woteomellon)Move to Heaven (무브 투 헤븐, Mubeu Tu He-beun)
      • Weak Hero Class 1 (약한영웅 Class 1, Yakhan Yeongung Class 1)
      • Hospital Playlist (슬기로운 의사생활, Seulgiroun Uisasaenghwal)
      • Flower of Evil (악의 꽃, Akui Kkot)
      • Moving (무빙, Mubing) Reply 1988 (응답하라 1988, Eungdaphara 1988)

    49 Days (49일)

    Broadcast: March 16, 2011 – May 19, 20113.

    *Alchemy Of Souls: Korean: 환혼 (Hwanhon) epic fantasy

    #Alive Korean: #살아있다 (#Saraitda) horror

    ***12.12: The Day Korean: 12.12: 더 데이 (12.12: Deo Dei) political about the rise of Chun DoHwan which happened during my Peace Corps days

    20th Century Girl Korean: 20세기 소녀 (20 Segi Sonyeo)

    Again My Life Korean: 어게인 마이 라이프 (Eogein Mai Laipeu) rom-com

      All of Us Are Dead (지금 우리 학교는) Zombie movie

    A Tale Of Two Sisters Korean: 장화, 홍련 (Janghwa, Hongryeon) horror

    **A Typical Family Korean: 평범한 가족 (Pyeongbeomhan Gajok) about a dysfunctional  family who has hidden superpowers

    All The Love You Wish For Korean: 모든 사랑을 원해 (Modeun Sarangeul Wonhae) rom-com

    ***Arkndal Chronicles Korean: 아스달 연대기 (Aseudal Yeondaegi) Fantasy Korean Game of Thrones

      Awaken (낮과 밤)

      Autumn In My Heart (가을동화) rom-com

    *Badlands Hunters Korean: 황야의 사냥꾼 (Hwangyaui Sanyangkkun) post-apocalyptic Korea

      Bad and Crazy (배드 앤 크레이지)

    Broadcast Dates: December 17, 2021 – January 28, 2022.

      Faith (신의)

    Broadcast Dates: August 13, 2012 – October 30, 2012

    Because This Is My First Life Korean: 이번 생은 처음이라 (Ibeon Saengeun Cheoeumira)

    *Beef:  Beef (Same Title) revenge drama set in LA

    Beyond Evil Korean: 괴물 (Goemul)

    Boys Over Flowers (꽃보다 남자, Kkotboda Namja) Rom-com

    Black Knight Korean: 택배기사 (Taekbaegisa)

    Business Proposal Korean: 사내 맞선 (Sanae Matseon)

    Bulgasal: Immortal Souls  불가살 (Bulgasal) Horror set in Koryo period

    Cash Hero Korean: 캐쉬 히어로 (Kaeswi Hieoro) Korean super-heroes

    ***Castaway Diva rom-com about a woman who lived on a deserted island for ten years and when she was rescued became a diva at age 30 rom-com  무인도의 디바 (Muin-Do-Ui Diva)

      Crazy Love (크레이지 러브)

    Broadcast Dates: March 7, 2022 – April 26, 2022.

    ***Check-In Hanyang Korean: 체크인 한양 (Chekeuin Hanyang) political intrigue rom-com set in the mid-Joeson period based loosely on a true story

    **Chief Of Staff Korean: 보좌관 (Bojagwan)

    Coffee Prince Korean: 커피프린스 1호점 (Keopipeurinseu 1 Hojom)

    *Comedy Royal Korean: 로얄로더 (Loyal Lodeo) comedy competition

    Colony Likely related to Yeon Sang-ho’s upcoming project

    **Crash Course In Romance Korean: 일타 스캔들 (Ilta Seukaendeul) about a famous teacher finding love

    ***Crash Landing On You Korean: 사랑의 불시착 (Sarangui Bulsichak) about a love affair between a North Korean officer and a South Korean heiress who crash lands in N Korea after a para-gliding accident near the border

    Crazy Love Korean: 크레이지 러브 (Keureiji Reobeu)

    *Culinary Class War food competition like Iron Chef Korean: 요리 클래스 전쟁 (Yori Keullaseu Jeonjaeng)

    Dali And The Cocky Prince  Korean: 달리와 감자탕 (Dalliwa Gamjatang) rom-com

    Descendants Of The Sun Korean: 태양의 후예 (Taeyangui Huye) rom-com

      **Designated Survivor: 60 Days  60일, 지정생존자 (60il, Jijeongsaengjonja) political drama

    Destined With You  이 연애는 불가항력 (I Yeonaeneun Bulgahangryeok) rom-com

    *Doctor Cha Korean: 닥터 차정숙 (Dakteo Cha Jeongsuk) hospital drama about a middle age woman who returns to finish her residency ten years later rom-com featuring a real jerk of a husband  leading to a divorce of course

    Doctor John   의사요한 (Uisayohan) hospital rom-com a bit disappointing acting was so-so

    Doctor Prisoner   닥터 프리즈너 (Dakteo Peurijeuneo)

    ***Doctor Romantic  낭만닥터 김사부 (Nangman Dakteo Kim Sabu) one of the better hospital rom-coms, and dramas featuring a doctor who has to decide why he is a doctor in the first place overcoming his desires to become a famous doctor, deals with ethical dilemmas in the medical field

    **Doctor Slump  닥터 슬럼프 (Dakteo Seulleompeu) rom-com about a doctor who suffers a mental breakdown and struggles to return, also a slow burn hate turning to love drama

    *Don’t Buy The Seller  drama about the perils of online commerce and a serial killer/rapist  타겟 (Taget)

    *D.P. (Deserter Pursuit) Korean: 디피 (Dipi) based on true stories

    *Eve Korean: 이브 (Ibeu) interesting tango plot

    Extracurricular Korean: 인간수업 (Ingansueop) high school crime drama

    Fated To Love You 운명처럼 널 사랑해 (Unmyeongcheoreom Neol Saranghae) rom-com

    Fight For My Way Korean: 쌈, 마이웨이 (Ssam, Maiwei) rom-com

    ***Fiery Priest Korean: 열혈사제 (Yeolhyeolsaje) a former spy turned  priest investigates corrupt local political leaders over the murder of his fellow priest

    Full House Korean: 풀하우스 (Pulhauseu)

    Glitch Korean: 글리치 (Geullichi) Korean Sci-fi drama

      Go Back Couple (고백부부) rom-com

    Gunche, 군체) upcoming zombie movie from the director of Train to Busan, train to Seoul and Peninsula –  the classic modern  K zombie movies

    *Good Bye Mr. Black: 굿바이 미스터 블랙 (Gutbai Miseuteo Beullaek) political drama set in Thailand and Korea

    Good and the Bastard  Dongae the good or the bastard  Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard  좋거나 나쁜 동재 (Jotgeona Nappeun Dongjae)123 sequel to the Stranger

    Graceful Family Korean: 우아한 가 (Ua Han Ga)

    Gu Family Book Korean: 구가의 서 (Guga-Ui Seo)

    Gyesang Creature (Part 1)  계상 크리처 (파트 1) (Gyesang Keulicheo (Pateu )

    Gyesang Creature (Part 2)  계상 크리처 (파트 2) (Gyesang Keulicheo (Pateu ))

    Korean monster movie and political drama set in the late colonial period, featuring a bad-assed Korean female lead actress.

    Happiness (해피니스) rom-com

    Healer  힐러 (Hilleo)

      Her Private Life (그녀의 사생활) – A talented curator leads a double life as an idol fan and falls for her new boss.  rom-com.

      Hotel del Luna (호텔 델루나) para-normal

    Hellbound  part-one 지옥 (Jiok) horror movie

    Hellbound part- two  지옥 (Jiok) skipped

    Hierarchy  하이러키 (Hairuki) Korean High school rich kids behaving badly

    Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha 갯마을 차차차 (Gaetmaeul Chachacha) rom-com on my list to see

    Hospital Playlist 슬기로운 의사생활 (Seulgiroun Uisasaenghwal) hospital drama rom-com on my list to see

    Hi Bye, Mama! (하이바이, 마마!)

    Broadcast: February 22, 2020 – April 19, 20204.

    *Hyenna  하이에나 (Haiena) legal thriller

    *Holy Betrayal: 나는 신이다: 신이 배신한 사람들 (Naneun Sinida: Sini

      I Am Not a Robot (로봇이 아니야) – A man who is allergic to humans falls in love with a woman pretending to be a robot. SciiFi rom-com

      It’s Okay, That’s Love (괜찮아, 사랑이야) rom-com

    ***Itaewon Class Korean: 이태원 클라쓰 (Itaewon Keullasseu) revenge rom-com set in Itaewon Koren’s infamous foreign ghetto, features a trans character and a half Korean character

    I’m Sorry, I Love You (미안하다 사랑한다)

    Broadcast: November 8, 2004 – December 28, 20042.

    Jewel in the Palace 대장금 (Dae Jang-geum)789

      Joseon Attorney: A Morality (조선변호사)

    *Juvenile Justice  소년 심판 (Sonyeon Simpan)  High School Juvenile delinquents – a big problem in Korea

      Kill Me, Heal Me (킬미, 힐미) rom-com

    King The Land Korean: 킹더랜드 (Kingdeoraendeu) palace intrigue

    Knockoff  짝퉁 (Jjaktung)

    Killer Paradox:  살인자ㅇ난감 (Salinja-O-Nangam) villante justice

    King Maker: 킹메이커 (Kingmeikeo political drama

    Last Man Standing  최후의 생존자 (Choehuui Saengjonja) the assassination of Park Chun Hee – which took place just after my arrival in Korea

    *Lies Within 모두의 거짓말 (Moduui Geojitmal) political drama

    Live Up To Your Name 명불허전 (Myeongbulheojeon) rom-com about a 18th century doctor who finds himself in modern Seoul

    Love To Hate You  연애대전 (Yeon-Aedaejeon) rom-com

    Mad About You Korean: 미쳐서 너 (Micheoseo Neo) rom-com

    Mask Girl  마스크걸 (Maseukeugeol) coming of age drama

    *Me-Me- 미미 (Mimi)

    *Military Prosecutor Doberman Korean: 군검사 도베르만 (Gungeomsa Dobeulman) political intrigue, rom-com and revenge

    Miss And Mrs. Cops: 걸캅스 (Geolkapseu) crime comedy

    ***Mine 마인 (Main) rom-com, revenge, rich people behaving badly features a lesbian lead actress

    Money Flower Korean: 돈꽃 (Donkkot) drama

     Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area is 종이의 집: 공동경제구역.  Based on Spanish hit series  

    Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo 달의 연인 – 보보경심 려 (Dal-Ui Yeonin – Bobogyeongsim Ryeo) rom-com

    Mouse 마우스 March 3, 2021

    *Move To Heaven  무브 투 헤븐 (Mubeu Tu Heben) drama

    Moving  무빙 (Mubing)

    *Mr. Kim’s Convenience  미스터 김의 편의점 (Miseuteo Kimui Pyeonuijeom) takes place in Toronto

    *Mr. Plankton  미스터 플랑크톤 (Miseuteo Peullangkeuton) main actor learns he has less than 3 months to live

    Mr. Queen  철인왕후 (Cheorinwanghu)

    ***Mr. Sunshine  미스터 션샤인 (Miseuteo Syeonsyain) historical drama set in the late Joeson period featuring a bad-ass Korean lead actress

    Misaeng: Incomplete Life (미생) rom-com

      Mother (마더) rom-com

      One Spring Night (봄밤) rom-com

      Pinocchio (피노키오) – A romance between a reporter who can’t lie and her colleague rom-com.

    *The Honest Candidate 정직한 후보 (Jeongjikhaneun Hubo) comedy about a woman politician who suddenly can’t lie

    *Franky Speaking: 비밀은 없어 (Bimileun Eopseo) about a news caster who can not lie

    ***·  My Love From The Star (별에서 온 그대, Byeoreseo On Geudae) rom-com with an alien

     Stranger비밀의 숲 (Bimil-eui Sup  (Season 1, 2, 3): political police drama  

    Secret Forest (Season 1, 2, 3)  비밀의 숲 (Bimileui Sup) (Season 1, 2, 3)

     Time to Hunt   사냥의 시간 (Sanyang-ui Sigan)

    True Beauty  여신강림 (Yeosin-gangnim)

    When The Camellia Blooms:  동백꽃 필 무렵 (Dongbaekkot Pil Muryeop)  rom-com 

      When Life Gives You Tangerines (폭싹 속았수다) – March 7, 20258

    The Wanted: 원티드 (Wontideu) crime drama

    Tiger In Winter: 호랑이보다 무서운 겨울 손님 (Horangiboda Museoun Gyeoul Sonnim)drama

    My Unfamiliar Family: (아는 건 별로 없지만) 가족입니다 ((Aneun Geon Byeollo Eopjiman) Gajokimnida dysfunctional  family

    **Reflections On You: 너를 닮은 사람 (Neoreul Dalmeun Saram) rom-com

    **Shin Divorce Attorney: 신성한, 이혼 (Shinseonghan, Ihon) rom-com, legal drama

    The Eternal Monarch: 더 킹: 영원의 군주 (Deo King: Yeongwonui Gunju) alternative history in which the Joeson dynasty survived, sci-fi parallel universes  rom-com  Switch:

    Switch 스위치 – 세상을 바꿔라 (Seuwichi – Sesangeul Bakkwora) similar to Me-Me a man wakes up in a different life – and has a do-over

    *Song Of The Bandits: 도적: 칼의 소리 (Dojeok: Karui Sori) period drama set in late 19th century Korea during the donghak peasant rebellion

    *Ray Of Sunshine: 정신병동에도 아침이 와요 (Jeongsinbyeongdongedo Achimi Wayo) about a medical doctor suffering from mental illness

    My Demon: Korean: 마이 데몬 (Mai Demon)

    My Dearest Nemesis  그놈은 흑염룡 (Geunomeun Heukyeomryong)101112

    The Worst Of Evil: 최악의 악 (Choeagui Ak) drama

    The Frog: 가면의 여자 (Gamyeonui Yeoja) drama

    Villain:  빌런 (Billeon) drama

    The Believer: Korean: 독전 (Dokjeon) drama

    The Bequeathed:  선산 (Seonsan) drama

    Mask Girl:  마스크걸 (Maseukeugeol) drama

    *Mission Cross  크로스 (Keuroseu) crime

    Private Lives:  사생활 (Sasaenghwal) drama

    Prison Playbook  슬기로운 감빵생활 (Seulgiroun Gamppangsaenghwal)

    See You In My 19th Life:  이번 생도 잘 부탁해 (Ibeon Saengdo Jal Butakhae) rom-com

      Stairway to Heaven (천국의 계단) rom-com

      Snowdrop (설강화)

      The Moon Embracing the Sun (해를 품은 달) rom-com

      Under the Queen’s Umbrella (슈룹) rom-com historical epic

      Search: WWW (검색어를 입력하세요 WWW) rom-com

      While You Were Sleeping (당신이 잠든 사이에) – A fantasy romance about a woman who can see the future through her dreams and a prosecutor who tries to prevent disasters. Rom-copm

      W (더블유) rom-com

    Broadcast Dates: December 18, 2021 – January 30, 2022.

      Mad Dog (매드 독)

      My Country: The New Age (나의 나라)

      Record of Youth (청춘기록)

      Revelations (계시록)—Adaptation by Yeon Sang-ho

      Save Me (구해줘)

      Tempted (위대한 유혹자)

    The Light in Your Eyes 눈이 부시게 February 11, 2019

      The Sixth Finger (사바하)

    he Swoon  더 스운 (Deo Seun)

    Sound of Magic  안나라수마나라 (Annarasumanara)192021

    *Trolley: Korean: 트롤리 (Teurolli) drama

    Trunk  트렁크 (Teureongkeu) Drama

    Unstoppable:  성난황소 (Seongnanhwangso) crime drama

    Unblock Cyber Crime: Korean: 스마트폰을 떨어뜨렸을 뿐인데 (Seumateuponeul Tteoreotteuryeosseul Ppundinde) crime drama

    Winter Sonata (겨울연가)

    Broadcast: January 14, 2002 – March 19, 20021.   One Of The First Global K Drama Hits

    K-Movies:

    After My Death  죄 많은 소녀 (Joe Maneun Sonyeo)

    Along With The Gods: 신과함께 (Singwa Hamkke) Drama

    Confidential Assignment  공조 (Gongjo) politicial Thriller

    Confidential  International 공조2: 인터내셔날  crime Gongjo 2: Inteonaesyeonal

    Decision to Leave   헤어질 결심 (Heeojil Gyeolsim) Thrillere

    Forgotten  기억의 밤 (Gieokui Bam)

    Hostage   인질 (Injil

    Ordinary People: 보통사람 (Botsaram) drama

    On The Line:  보이스 (Boiseu) Thriller

    The Negotiator:  협상 (Hyeopsang) Thiller set in Thailand and Korea

    Night In Paradise:  낙원의 밤 (Naguonui Bam) Crime thriller

    The Swindlers 꾼 (Kkun)

    Weight Ton:  극한직업 (Geukanjigeop) Thriller

    The Bros:  부라더 (Beuradeo) comedy

    Veteran: 베테랑 (Beterang) drama

    Parallel Life Korean: 평행 이론 (Pyeonghaeng Ireon) Sci Fi

    Project Silence 프로젝트 사일런스 (Peurojekteu Sailleonseu) political horror movie

    The Spy Gone North 공작 (Gongjak)  political thriller 

    Somebody:Korean: 썸바디 (Sseombadi) crime

    The Devil’s Plan:   데블스 플랜  (Debeulseu Peullaen) reality TV too complicated to follow

    VIP:  브이아이피 (Beuiaipi)

    Young Police:  청년경찰 (Cheongnyeon Gyeongchal)  crime drama

    The Worst Of Evil : 최악의 악 (Choeagui Ak)

     The Dude In Me:  내안의 그놈 (Naeane Geunom) comedy

    Sandglass (모래시계) rom-com

    Single In Seoul:  싱글 인 서울 (Singgeul In Seoul) rom com

    My Place  나의집 (Naui Jip) rom com

    Space Sweepers  승리호 (Seungniho)  Sci-Fi

    Weight Ton:  극한직업 (Geukanjigeop) Thriller

    The Bros:  부라더 (Beuradeo) comedy

    The Good, the Bad, the Weird:  좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 (Joeun nom, nappeun nom, isanghan nom) Korean version of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly set in Manchuria during the colonial era

    The Big Swindle 범죄의 재구성 April 15, 2004

    Additional Dramas coming this year

      Can This Love Be Translated? (이 사랑 통역 되나요?) – Q4 202526

      Defendant (피고인) – A gripping story about a man falsely accused of murder, who must escape prison and clear his name.

      Kick Kick Kick Kick (킥킥킥킥) – February 5, 20252

      Genie, Make A Wish (다 이루어질지니) – Q4 202523

      Mercy For None (광장) – Q2 202514

    Miss Ma Goddess of Revenger “미스 마: 복수의 여신” (Miseu Ma: Boksuui Yeoshin), which translates to “Miss Ma: Goddess of Revenge”  based on Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple character set in a small Korean town

    Newtopia (뉴토피아) – February 7, 20255

      Squid Game Season 3 (오징어 게임 시즌 3) – June 27, 202517

      The Village: Achiara’s Secret (마을 – 아치아라의 비밀) – A small town filled with secrets and mysteries, with a female lead trying to uncover the truth.

      Weak Hero Class Season 2 (약한영웅 Class 2) – Q2 202511

      Trigger (트리거) – Q3 202520

      Queen of Mystery (추리의 여왕) – A smart female lead teams up with another character to solve crimes and uncover secrets.

     

    Recommended from various lists

    10 Most Romantic K-Dramas With a Happy Ending, Ranked

    The 12 Best Korean Movies On Netflix

    10 Essential K-Dramas That Defined the 2000s, Ranked

    15 Best Feel-Good K-Dramas, Ranked

    Top 20 Greatest Korean Drama Couples | Watch

    15 Best K-Dramas Like The Glory

    The 12 Best Korean Movies On Netflix

    10 Essential K-Dramas That Defined the 2000s, Ranked

    15 Best Feel-Good K-Dramas, Ranked

    Top 20 Greatest Korean Drama Couples | Watch

    15 Best K-Dramas Like The Glory

    10 Best K-Comedy Shows Perfect From Start to Finish

    10 Actors and Actresses Whose K-Dramas Never Miss, Ranked

    10 Best Coming-Of-Age K-Dramas

    Lee Min-ho’s 10 Best K-Dramas, Ranked

    These 10 K-Dramas Are So Perfect, Everyone Should Watch Them

    The 15 Best K-Dramas Of All Time, Ranked

    The 18 Best K-Dramas of All Time, Ranked

    10 K-Dramas That Are Perfect From Start to Finish
    The 18 Best K-Dramas of All Time, Ranked

    5 Korean Movies on Netflix That Are Perfect for Your Ramyeon Night | Watch

    Best Romance K-Dramas

    The 8 Best South Korean Zombie Thrillers

    If You’re Just Getting Into K-Dramas, This TV Show With 100% On RT Is The Absolute Best Place To Start

    Korean Rom-Com ‘My Dearest Nemesis’ Named Leading Korean Drama On Three Asian Content Streamers

    Top 20 Best Korean Shows to Binge on Netflix | Watch

    The 10 Most Anticipated K-Dramas Premiering In 2025

    Parasite Star’s New 2025 K-Drama Leaps Onto Netflix’s Global Chart

    The K-Drama Based On One Of Agatha Christie’s Most Beloved Novels

    10 Must-Watch Korean Dramas That Will Captivate Your Heart

    , Robert Pattison sci-fi ‘Mickey 17’ opens in first place, but profitability is a long way off

    5 Best K-Dramas For First-Time Viewers

    I Wish I Could Forget These K-Dramas, So I Could Watch Them Over For The First Time

    The 10 Saddest K-Dramas Ever

    Substack

    Substack

    substack2

    Medium

    Medium

    medium 2

    WattPad

    Wattpad

    WattPAD 2

  • Review of the Awakening

    Review of the Awakening

    Review of the Awakening

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3jf

    The Awakening Poetic Summary

    The awakening

    A proto feminist novel

    By Kate Chopin.

     

    Shocked the world

    Back at the turn

    Of the 20th century.

     

    With its depiction

    Of a young woman

    Awakening to desire

    Awakening to eroticism.

     

    Throwing off conventional

    Morality and all that entails.

     

    In a futile search

    For self-fulfillment

    That she could achieve.

     

    And in the end

    She takes her life

    Unfulfilled desires

    Awakening her fears

    in the end.

    My commentary

    • Kate Chopin’s novel, the Awakening is a proto-feminist novel written by Kate Chopin set in Grand Isle Louisiana and New Orleans in the late 1880’s.

    It tells the story of Edna Pontellier who is married with two children to a Creole businessman although she had grown up in a protestant family and faced social pressure against the marriage from her family who did not want her to marry a French-speaking Catholic.

    She is a sensitive, unhappy soul seeking self-fulfillment and not finding it within the convention of marriage and motherhood. She has an affair with Robert, a young man she meets on vacation. The affair awakens erotic desires in her that ultimately can not be reconciled with the ideal of being a married woman with children in an upper class family at the turn of the 20th century.

    The novel ends with her drowning herself.

    A powerful novel about a woman trying to free herself from the shackles of conventional morality. The novel was widely condemned at the time for its anti-family and anti-Christian themes. But it has remained an influential early feminist icon of a novel.

    Note: when reading the classics written prior to the middle part of the 20th century, one is struck by the casual colonialism, racism, sexism and other isms that can be jarring to modern readers such as frequent use of ethnic slurs like the N word.  The key to enjoying the classics is to ignore all of that and read the novel as it was written in the context of the time it was written, avoiding the sins of what Bill Maher and others call “presentism” or the tendency of reading classic literature from earlier times in the context of contemporary moral values.  In this novel, blacks appear as servants only without a name often described as “a quadroon  or as a black, and not otherwise part of the story.”

    Other than that, not too much racism or sexism involved.

    • Qoutes

    • “The voice of the sea speaks to the soul.”
    • “The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude.”
    • “but whatever came, she had resolved never again to belong to another than herself.”
    • “I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself.”
    • “The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude.”
    • “I love the sea in the morning. I can watch the white sails of a boat with a
    • long, lingering look.”

    • Co-pilot provides more background

    Synopsis

     

    “The Awakening” is set in the late 19th century and follows Edna Pontellier, a young woman vacationing with her husband, Léonce, and their children at a resort on Grand Isle1. Edna begins to question her life and societal roles after forming a close bond with Robert Lebrun and Mademoiselle Reisz. She embarks on a journey of self-discovery, exploring her desires and independence, which leads to conflicts with her family and

    society.

    Literary Reputation

     

    Initially, “The Awakening” was met with harsh criticism for its themes of female sexuality and independence. It was considered controversial and even “poisonous” by some critics3. However, it has since been recognized as a feminist classic and a significant work in American literature3. The novel’s exploration of female autonomy and its lyrical, impressionistic style have earned it a lasting place in literary history.

    Author Bio

    Kate chopin 4

    Kate Chopin (born Katherine O’Flaherty, February 8, 1850 – August 22, 1904) was an American author known for her short stories and novels set in Louisiana5. She was a forerunner of feminist literature, and her works often focused on the lives of sensitive, intelligent women.

    Author’s Works

    The Awakening
    The Awakening

    Chopin’s most notable works include “Bayou Folk” (1894), “A Night in Acadie” (1897), and her two novels, “At Fault” (1890) and “The Awakening” (1899).

    Novels:

    The Awakening 3
    The Awakening 3

    “At Fault” (1890)

    “The Awakening” (1899)

    Short Story Collections:

    “Bayou Folk” (1894)

    “A Night in Acadie” (1897)

    Notable Short Stories:

    “Désirée’s Baby” (1893)

    “The Story of an Hour” (1894)

    “The Storm” (1898)

    Adaptations

    “The Awakening” was adapted into a film titled “Grand Isle” in 1991, directed by Mary Lambert and starring Kelly McGill as Edna.

    For more info see the following

    www.sparknotes.com

    www.literaryladiesguide.com

    www.cambridge.org

    www.katechopin.org

    Reading the Classics  Project

    Note: I read this book as part of my retirement project of reading the classics, starting with the following collections.  I bolded the ones I have completed.

     Reading the Classics Updated
    Reading the Classics Updated Lists

    Reading the Classics

    Rewiew of WIla Cather’s “My Antonio”

    Books Read 2024

    Harvard Classics

    Bolded read

     

     (1) Franklin, Woolman, Penn

     (2) Plato, Epictetus,

     Marcus, Aurelius Meditations

    (3) Bacon,

    Milton’s Prose,

    Thomas Browne

    (4) Complete Poems in English: Milton

    (5) Essays and English Traits: Emerson (

    6) Poems and Songs: Burns (7)

    Confessions of St. Augustine. Imitation of Christ

    (8) Nine Greek Dramas (9)

    Letters and Treatises of Cicero

    Pliny

    (10) Wealth of Nations: Adam Smith

    (11) Origin of Species: Darwin

    (12) Plutarch’s Lives (13)

     Aeneid Virgil (14)

    Don Quixote Part 1: Cervantes

    (15) Pilgrim’s Progress. Donne

    Herbert. Bunyan, Walton

    (16) The Thousand and One Night

    (17) Folk-Lore and Fable. Aesop, Grimm,

    Andersen

    Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales

    (18) Modern English Drama

    (19) Faust,

    Egmont Etc.

    Doctor Faustus,

    Goethe,

    Marlowe

    (20) The Divine Comedy: Dante

    (21) I Promessi

    Sposi,

    Manzoni

    (22) The Odyssey: Homer

    (23) Two Years Before Mast. Dana

    (24) On the Sublime French Revolution Etc. Burke

    (25) Autobiography Etc. Essays and Addresses: J.S. Mill,

    1. Carlyle

    (26) Continental Drama

    (27) English Essays: Sidney to Macaulay

    (28) Essays. English and American

    (29) Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin (

    30) Faraday,

    Helmholtz,

    Kelvin,

    Newcomb,

    Geikie

    (31) Autobiography: Benvenuto, Cellini

    (32) Literary and Philosophical Essays:

    Montaigne,

    Sainte Beuve,

    Renan,

    Lessing,

    Schiller,

    Kant,

    Mazzini

    (33) Voyages and Travels

    (34) Descartes,

    Voltaire,

    Rousseau,

    Hobbes

    (35) Chronicle and Romance:

    Froissart,

    Malory,

    Holinshed (36)

    Machiavelli, the Prince

    More,

    Luther

    (37) Locke,

    Berkeley,

    Hume

    (38) Harvey,

    Jenner,

    Lister,

    Pasteur

    (39) Famous Prefaces

    (40) English Poetry 1: Chaucer to Gray

    (41) English Poetry 2: Collins to Fitzgerald

    (42) English Poetry 3: Tennyson to Whitman

    (43) American Historical Documents

    Federalist Papers

    Constitution

    Bill of Rights

    Declaration of Indepedence

    (44) Sacred Writings 1

    (45) Sacred Writings 2

    The Bible

    The Quaran

    The Analect of Confucius

    Mencius

    Buddist Writing

    Bhaga Vita

    Lao Tzo The Tao

     

    (46) Elizabethan Drama 1

    (47) Elizabethan Drama 2

    (48) Thoughts and Minor Works: Pascal

    (49) Epic and Saga (

     

    50 Books to Read Before You Die

    Vol 1 starts with Volume One

    Alcott, Louisa May: Little Women
    Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice
    Austen, Jane: Emma
    Balzac, Honoré de: Father Goriot
    Barbusse, Henri: The Inferno
    Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
    Brontë, Charlotte: Jane Eyre
    Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights
    Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan of the Apes
    Butler, Samuel: The Way of All Flesh
    Carroll, Lewis: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia
    Cervantes, Miguel de: Don Quixote
    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening
    Cleland, John: Fanny Hill
    Collins, Wilkie: The Moonstone
    Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness
    Conrad, Joseph: Nostromo
    Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans
    Crane, Stephen: The Red Badge of Courage
    Cummings, E. E.: The Enormous Room
    Defoe, Daniel: Robinson Crusoe
    Defoe, Daniel: Moll Flanders
    Dickens, Charles: Bleak House
    Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: The Idiot
    Doyle, Arthur Conan: The Hound of the Baskervilles
    Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Count of Monte Cristo
    Eliot, George: Middlemarch
    Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones
    Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary
    Flaubert, Gustave: Sentimental Education
    Ford, Ford Madox: The Good Soldier
    Forster, E. M.: A Room With a View
    Forster, E. M.: Howard End
    Gaskell, Elizabeth: North and South
    Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls
    Gorky, Maxim: The Mother
    Haggard, H. Rider: King Solomon’s Mines
    Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D’Urbervilles
    Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The Scarlet Letter
    Homer: The Odyssey
    Hugo, Victor: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    Hugo, Victor: Les Misérables
    Huxley, Aldous: Crome Yellow
    James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady

     Volume 2


    – Little Women [Louisa May Alcott]
    – Sense and Sensibility [Jane Austen]
    – Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) [J.M. Barrie]
    – Cabin Fever [ B. M. Bower]
    – The Secret Garden [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – A Little Princess [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [Lewis Carroll]
    – The King in Yellow [Robert William Chambers]
    – The Man Who Knew Too Much [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Woman in White [Wilkie Collins]
    – The Most Dangerous Game [Richard Connell]
    – Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – On the Origin of Species, 6th Edition [Charles Darwin]
    – The Iron Woman [Margaret Deland]
    – David Copperfield [Charles Dickens]
    – Oliver Twist [Charles Dickens]
    – A Tale of Two Cities [Charles Dickens]
    – The Double [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – A Room with a View [E. M. Forster]
    – Dream Psychology [Sigmund Freud]
    – Tess of the d’Urbervilles [Thomas Hardy]
    – Siddhartha [Hermann Hesse]
    – Dubliners [James Joyce]
    – The Fall of the House of Usher [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Arabian Nights [Andrew Lang]
    – The Sea Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Call of Cthulhu [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – Anne of Green Gables [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – Beyond Good and Evil [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Murders in the Rue Morgue [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Black Cat [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Raven [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – Swann’s Way [Marcel Proust]
    – Romeo and Juliet [William Shakespeare]
    – Treasure Island [Robert Louis Stevenson]
    – The Elements of Style [William Strunk Jr.

     

    Vol 3  finished keeping for the historical record

     

    This book contains the following works arranged alphabetically by authors’ last names.

    Starting with volume 3 then will go back and do volumes one, two, and the Harvard classics. The goal is to finish all of these by the end of next year.  I almost finished Volume One.  Will do some of the WC reading books as well.

    – What’s Bred in the Bone [Grant Allen]
    – The Golden Ass [Lucius Apuleius]
    – Meditations [Marcus Aurelius]
    – Northanger Abbey [Jane Austen]
    – Lady Susan [Jane Austen]
    – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [Lyman Frank Baum]
    – The Art of Public Speaking [Dale Breckenridge Carnegie]
    – The Blazing World [Margaret Cavendish]
    – The Wisdom of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Heretics [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Donnington Affair [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Innocence of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [John Cleland]
    – The Moonstone [Wilkie Collins]
    – Lord Jim [Joseph Conrad]
    – The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – The Pickwick Papers [Charles Dickens]
    – A Christmas Carol [Charles Dickens]
    – Notes From The Underground [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Gambler par Fyodor [Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Lost World [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Hound of the Baskervilles [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Sign of the Four [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Man in the Iron Mask [Alexandre Dumas]
    – The Three Musketeers [Alexandre Dumas]
    – This Side of Paradise [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – Curious, If True: Strange Tales [Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell]
    – King Solomon’s Mines [Henry Rider Haggard]
    – The Hunchback of Notre Dame [Victor Hugo]
    – Kim [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Captain Courageous [Rudyard Kipling]
    – The Jungle Book [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Lady Chatterley’s Lover [David Herbert Lawrence]
    – The Son of the Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Einstein Theory of Relativity [Hendrik Antoon Lorentz]
    – The Dunwich Horror [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – At the Mountains of Madness [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – The Prince [Niccolò Machiavelli]
    – The Story Girl [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – The Antichrist [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Republic [Plato]
    – The Last Man [Mary Shelley]
    – Life On The Mississippi [Mark Twain]
    – The Kama Sutra [Vatsyayana]
    – In the Year 2889 [Jules Verne]
    – Around the World in Eighty Days [Jules Verne]
    – Four Just Men [Edgar Wallace]
    – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ [Lewis Wallace]
    – Jacob’s Room [Virginia Woolf]

     

    Sci-Fi short stories

     

    The Big Book of Science Fiction is a massive anthology of science fiction stories edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It covers the history and evolution of the genre from the early 20th century to the end of the millennium, featuring works from over 30 countries and many languages. The book contains 105 stories, ranging from classics by H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula K. Le Guin, to lesser-known gems by W.E.B. Du Bois, David R. Bunch, and Liu Cixin. The book also includes comments from the editors and the authors, offering insights into their creative process and vision. The book is divided into 11 sections, each with a thematic focus and chronological order.

    Here is the table of contents for the book1:

    Goal read one to five per week alternating with Kindle classics and reading poetry collections finish by end of the year

     

    Introduction: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

    The Lens of Time: Science Fiction as a Way of Seeing

    H.G. Wells: “The Star” (1897)

    Lu Xun: “The New Overworld” (1902)

    Sultana’s Dream: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1905)

    Albert Robida: “The Triumph of Mechanics” (1908)

    Miguel de Unamuno: “Mechanopolis” (1913)

    W.E.B. Du Bois: “The Comet” (1920)

    Claude Farrère: “The Fate of the Poseidonia” (1923)

    Edmond Hamilton: “The Star Stealers” (1929)

    David H. Keller: “The Lost Language” (1934)

    Stanislaw Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Jorge Luis Borges: “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” (1940)

    Cixin Liu: “The Poetry Cloud” (1997)

    Invasions

    Edgar Rice Burroughs: “A Princess of Mars” (1912) excerpt

    Leslie F. Stone: “The Conquest of Gola” (1931)

    Stanley G. Weinbaum: “A Martian Odyssey” (1934)

    John W. Campbell Jr.: “Who Goes There?” (1938)

    Ray Bradbury: “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” (1949)

    Katherine MacLean: “Pictures Don’t Lie” (1951)

    William Tenn: “The Liberation of Earth” (1953)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Voices of Time” (1960)

    Dino Buzzati: “Catastrophe” (1966)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side” (1972)

    Joanna Russ: “When It Changed” (1972)

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “The Spontaneous Reflex” (1973) excerpt

    Octavia Butler: “Bloodchild” (1984)

    James Patrick Kelly: “Think Like a Dinosaur” (1995)

    Monsters

    H.P. Lovecraft: “The Dunwich Horror” (1929)

    Ray Bradbury: “The Foghorn” (1951)

    Jerome Bixby: “It’s a Good Life” (1953)

    Julio Cortázar: “Axolotl” (1956)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Drowned Giant” (1964)

    R.A. Lafferty: “Nine Hundred Grandmothers” (1966)

    Terry Carr: “The Dance of the Changer and the Three” (1968)

    Harlan Ellison®: “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967)

    Lisa Tuttle & George R.R. Martin: “The Storms of Windhaven” (1975)

    John Varley: “Air Raid” (1977)

    William Gibson: “New Rose Hotel” (1984)

    Ted Chiang: “Story of Your Life” (1998)

    Experiments

    Alfred Jarry: “Elements of Pataphysics” (1911)

    Karel Čapek: “R.U.R.” (1920) excerpt

    Stanisław Lem: “How Erg the Self-Inducting Slew a Paleface” (1955)

    William S. Burroughs: “Excerpt from Naked Lunch” (1959)

    J.G. Ballard: “Chronopolis” (1960)

    Philip K. Dick: “Beyond Lies the Wub” (1952)

    Boris Vian: “Froth on the Daydream” (1947) excerpt

    Joanna Russ: “Useful Phrases for the Tourist” (1970)

    George Alec Effinger: “Two Sadnesses” (1973)

    John Sladek: “Solar Shoe Salesman” (1974)

    Dafydd ab Hugh: “The Coon Rolled Down and Ruptured His Larinks, A Squeezed Novel by Mr. Skunk” (1986)

    Generation Ships

    Don Wilcox: “The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years” (1940)

    Judith Merril: “Daughters of Earth” (1952)

    Brian W. Aldiss: “Non-Stop” (1958) excerpt

    Robert Silverberg: “Sundance” (1969)

    Pamela Zoline: “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967)

    Gene Wolfe: “A Cabin on the Coast” (1984)

    Bruce Sterling: “Swarm” (1982)

    Geoff Ryman: “The Unconquered Country” (1984)

    New Worlds

    Cordwainer Smith: “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” (1961)

    Samuel R. Delany: “Aye, and Gomorrah …” (1967)

    Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and Slower” (1971)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” (1976)

    Frederik Pohl: “The Gold at the Starbow’s End” (1972)

    Angélica Gorodischer: “Of Navigators and Traitors” (1973) excerpt

    John Crowley: “Snow” (1985)

    Iain M. Banks: “A Gift from the Culture” (1987)

    Greg Egan: “Learning to Be Me” (1990)

    Future War

    Jack London: “The Unparalleled Invasion” (1910)

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton: “The Coming Race” (1871) excerpt

    George Griffith: “The War of the Viruses” (1895)

    Philip Francis Nowlan: “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” (1928)

    E.E. “Doc” Smith: “The Skylark of Space” (1928) excerpt

    Olaf Stapledon: “Star Maker” (1937) excerpt

    Robert A. Heinlein: “Solution Unsatisfactory” (1941)

    C.M. Kornbluth: “Two Dooms” (1958)

    Joe Haldeman: “Hero” (1972)

    Harry Harrison: “The Streets of Ashkelon” (1962)

    David R. Bunch: “Moderan” (1967)

    Harlan Ellison®: “A Boy and His Dog” (1969)

    James S.A. Corey: “Rates of Change” (2011)

    Virtual Reality

    Stanisław Lem: “The Seventh Sally or How Trurl’s Own Perfection Led to No Good” (1965)

    Philip K. Dick: “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966)

    John Brunner: “The Vitanuls” (1967)

    Roger Zelazny: “For a Breath I Tarry” (1966)

    Robert Silverberg: “Passengers” (1968)

    Rudy Rucker: “Software” (1982) excerpt

    William Gibson: “Burning Chrome” (1982)

    Pat Cadigan: “Pretty Boy Crossover” (1986)

    Neal Stephenson: “Snow Crash” (1992) excerpt

    Humanity 2.0

    Olaf Stapledon: “Odd John” (1935) excerpt

    C.L. Moore: “No Woman Born” (1944)

    Cordwainer Smith: “Scanners Live in Vain” (1950)

    Algis Budrys: “Who?” (1955)

    James Blish: “Surface Tension” (1952)

    Gregory Benford: “Blood Music” (1983)

    Bruce Sterling: “Mozart in Mirrorshades” (1985)

    Vernor Vinge: “True Names” (1981)

    Ted Chiang: “Understand” (1991)

    Alien Minds

    Arthur C. Clarke: “The Sentinel” (1951)

    Isaac Asimov: “The Last Question” (1956)

    Clifford D. Simak: “Desertion” (1944)

    James H. Schmitz: “Grandpa” (1955)

    Frank Herbert: “Try to Remember!” (1961)

    Philip José Farmer: “Sail On! Sail On!” (1952)

    Stanisław Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “Roadside Picnic” (1972) excerpt

    Karen Joy Fowler & Pat Murphy: “Rachel in Love” (1987)

    Ian McDonald: “The Tear” (2008)

    Walter M MIller, JrAfter the End

     

    Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century Poetry

     

    BOLD read

    Edward Lee Masters.

    The Hil

    Fiddler. Jones,

    Petite the Poet

     

    Edwin Arlington Robinson

    Miniver Cheevy

    Mr. Flood’s Party.

     

    James Weldon Johnson

    The Creation

    Paul Laurence  Dunbar.

     

    The Poet

    Life

    Life’s Trajedy

     

    Robert Frost.

    The Death Of The Hired Man.

    Mending Wall.

    Birches

              Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening.

              Tree In My Window.

    Directive.

    Amy Lowell

    Patterns.

     

    Getrude Stein

    Susie Asado.

    From Tender Buttons A Box.

     From Tender Buttons, A Plate.

     

    Alice Moore Dunbar Nelson

    I sit and sew .

    Carl Sandburg.

    Grass.

    Cahoots.

     

    Wallace Stevens.

    Peter Quince at the Clavier.

    Disillusionment of 10:00.

    13 Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird.

              Emperor Of Ice Cream.

    A Mere  Being.

    Angelina Weld Grimke

    Fragment.

    William Carlos Williams.

    Tact.

    Dance Ruse

    The Yachts.

    From Apostlethat Greeny  Flower Book 1, Lines 1 To 92.

     

    Sarah Teasdale.

    Moonlight.

    There Will Come Soft Rains.

     

    Erza Pound

    The Jewel Stairs Grievance.

    The River Merchants Wife Letter.

    In A Station At The Metro.

    Hugh  Selwyn Mulberry.

    From Conto. 56 Libretto Yet Ere This Season Died A Cold

     

    Hilda Doolittle, HD.

    Sea Rose.

    The Helen.

    From The Walls Do Not Fall An Incident Here And There.

    From Hermeneutic Definition Red Rose And A Beggar. Why Did You Come?

    Take Me Anywhere.

    Venicc. Venus.

     

    Robinson, Jeffers.

    Gala in April.

    Shine, Perishing Republic.

    Cloudss at Evening.

    Credo

    Mararane Moore

    Fish.

    Poetry.

    Poetry.

     

    TS, Elliott.

    Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

    The Wasteland.

     

    Claude McKay.

    If We Must Die.

    Harlem Dancer.

     

    Archibald MacLeash,

    Arts Poetica

    Edna, Saint Vincent Millay.

    First Fig

    Recuerdo

    E E Cummings.

    In Just.

    Buffalo Bill

    The Cambridge Ladies Have Lived In Furnished Souls.

    Next To, Of Course, God, America.

    Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled Gladly Beyond.

    Rpophessagr

    Gene Toomor.

    Reapers.

    November Cotton Flowers.

    Portrait in Georgia.

    Louise Bogan

    Medusa.

    New moon.

    Melvin B Tolson

    Dark Symphony.

    From Harlem Gallery PSI Black Boys, Let Me Get Up From The White Man’s Table.

     

    Hart Crane

    From the Bridge

    Poem to Brooklyn Bridge

    From 11  Powhatan’s Daughter the River.

     

    Robert Francis.

    Silent Poem

    Langston Hughes

    Nego speaks of rivers.

    I, Too.

    Dreams Boogie.

    Harlem

    Countee Cullan

    Incident

    To John Keats Poet at Springtime

    Yes I Do Marvel

    From the Dark Tower

    Stanley Kutitz

    Father and Son

    The Protrait

    Touch Me

    WH Auden

    Mussee Des Beaux Arts

    Epitah on a Tryant

    Theordore Roethke

    My Papa’s Waltz

    The Waking

    In a Dark Time

     

    Charles Olson.

    From The Maximum Poems One Maximum Of Gloucester To You.

    The Distances.

    Elizabeth Bishop.

    The Fish

    Sestina

    First Death In Nova Scotia.

    Visit  To Saint Elizabeths.

    One Art.

    Robert Hayden.

    Morning Poem For The Queen Of Sunday.

    Those Winter Sundays.

    Frederick Douglass.

    Middle Passage.

    Muriel  Rukeyser?

    Effort At Speech Between Two People.         ‘

    Then I Saw What The Calling  Was.

    The Poem as Mask

    Delmore  Swartz.

    The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me.

    John Barryman.

    From Dream Songs.

    Feeling Your Compact And Delicious Body. ‘

    Life, Friends, Is Boring. We Must Not Say So.

    There Shut Down Once.  ‘

    This World Is Gradually Becoming A Place.

    Henry’sUnderstanding

     

    Randall, Jarell.

    90 North.

    The Death Of The Bell Turret Gunner.

    The Woman At The Washington Zoo.

    Next Day.

    Weldon Kees.

    To My Daughter?

     

    Dudley Randall

    A Different Image

    William Stafford.

    Traveling Through The Dark.

    At The Bomb Testing Site.

     

    Ruth Stone.

    Scars.

    Margaret Walker.

    For My People

    Gwendolyn Brooks.

    The Mother.

    A Song In The Front Yard.         ‘

    The Bean Eaters

    The Lovers Of The Poor.

    We  Real Cool.      ‘

    The Blackstone Rangers.

     

    Robert Lowell.

    To Speak Of Woe That Is In Marriage.

    Skunk Hour .

    For The Union Dead.

    Robert Duncan.

    Often I’m Permitted To Return To A Medow.

    My Mother Would Be A Falconress

    Lawrence Ferlinghetti

    Populist Manifesto.

    William Meredith.

    Parents. Howard Nemeroff.

    Because You Asked About The Line Between Prose And Poetry.

    Hayden Caruth.

    The  Hyacinth Gardens In Brooklyn.

    August 1945.

    Richard Wilber

    Love Calls Us to the Things of This World

    Cottage Street

    The Writer

    James Dickey

    The Sheep Child

    Alan Duncan.

    Love song I And Thou

    Anthony Act.

    More light, More light.

    Richard Hugo.

    The Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg.

    The Freaks at Spring General Rd. Field.

    Dennis Levertov.

    The Unwritten Poem

    Cademon.

    Swan in Falling snow.

    Who is Simpson?

    American Poetry.

    Carolyn Kaiser.

    A Muse of water.

    Kenneth Koch.

    Fresh air.

    Permanently.

    Maxine Coleman.

    Morning Swim.

    How Is It?

    Gerald Stern.

    Behaving Like A Jew.

    The Dancing.

    Another Insane Devotion.

    AR Ammons.

    The City Limits.

    Corson Inlet.

    Robert Blye.

    Snowfall In The Afternoon.

    Driving Into Town Late To Mail A Letter.

    Walking From Sleep.

    Robert Creeley.

    The Flower.

    I Know A Man.

    The Language.

    The Rain.

    Bresson’s Movies.

    James Merrill.

    Victor Dog.

    Frank O’Hara New York School.

    Steps.

    Poem Lana Turner Has Collapsed.

    The Day Lady Died.

    John Ashberry. New York School

    Some Trees.

    Self-Portrait In A Convex Mirror.

    What Is Poetry?

    Galway, Kennel.

    The Bear.`

    After Making Love, We Hear Footsteps.

    Saint Francis And The Soul.

    Ws Merwin.

    Air.

    For The Anniversary Of My Death.

    Yesterday.

    Chord .

    James Wright.

    A Blessing.

    Autumn  Begins In Martins Ferry, Oh.

    Lying In A Hammock At William Duffy’s Farm In Pine Island, Mn.

    In Response To The Rumor That Otis Warehouse In Wheeling, Wv Has Been Condemned.

    Donald Hall.

    My Son, My Executioner.

    Digging.

    Philip Levine.

    Animals Are Passing From Our Lives.

    They Feed They Lion.

    You Can Have It.

    The  Simple Truth.

     

    Anne Sexton.

    Her Kind

    Adoption.

    Waiting To Die.

    In Celebration Of My Uterus.

    Rowing

    Adrienne Rich.

    Orion

    Planetarium.

    A Valedictorian Forbidding Mourning.

    From 21 Love Poems 13 The Rules Of Break Like A Thermometer.

    Gregory Corso.

    Marriage

    Gary Snyder.

    Hay, For The Horses.

    Riprap.

    Mid August As Sourdough Mountain Lookout.

    Dereck  Walcott.

    A Far Cry From Africa.

    Sea Grapes.

    Find The Schooner Flight Part 11 After The Storm. There’s A Fresh Light That Follows.

    The Light Of The World.

    From Omeros Book. 7. 44 I Sing Of Quiet,Achiles, Afrolabe’s Son.

    Miller Williams.

    Let Me tell you.

    Etheridge Knight

    Idea Of Ancestry.

    Amira Baraka, Leroy Jones.

    Preface To A 20 Volume Suicide Note.

    Agony As Now.

    SOS.

    Black Art.

    Ted Berrigon .

    Wrong Rain.

    A Final Sonnet

    Andre Lorde.

    Power.

    Sonia Sanchez.

    Poetry at 30.

    Mark Strand.

    The Prediction.

    The Night, The Porch.

    Russell Edson.

    A Stone Is Nobody’s.

     

    Mary Oliver.

    Singapore.

    The Summer’s Day.

    Charles Wright.

    Reunion.

    Dead Color.

    California Dreaming.

    Lucile  Clifton.

    Homage To My Hips.

    At Least At Last We Killed The Roaches.

    The Death Of Fry, Alfred Clifton.

    To My Last.

    June, Jordan.

    Home About My Rights.

    Frederick Seidel.

    1968.

    CK Williams.

    Find My Window.

    Blades

    Tynan Wilkowski.’

    The Mechanic.

    Michael S Harper.

    Dear John. Dear Coltrane.

    Last Affair. Bessies Blues Song.

    Grandfather.

    Nightmare Begins Responsibility.

    Charles Simik .

    Stone.

    Fork.

    Classic Ballroom Dances.

    Paula Gunn Allen.

     

    Grandmother.

    Frank Bidart.

    Ellen West.

    Carl Dennis.

    Spring Letter.

    Two Or Three Wishes.

    Stephen Dunn.

    Allegory Of The Cave.

    Tucson.

    Robert Pensky.

    History Of My Heart.

    The Questions.

    Samurai Song.

    James Welch.

    Christmas Comes To Moccasin Flat.

    Billy Collins.

    Introduction To Poetry.

    The Dead.

    Toi Derricote .

    Allen Ginsberg.

    The Weakness.

    Stephen Dobyns.

    How To Like It?

    Lullaby.

    Robert Hass.

    Song.

    That Photographer?

    Return Of Robinson Jeffers.

    Lyn Hejinian

    From My Life trim With Colored Ribbons.

    BH  Fairchild.

    The Machinist Teaching His Daughter To Play The Piano.

    Haik R Madhubuti Don L Lee.

    But He Was Cool Or Even Stopped For Green Lights.

    Upon To Compliment Other Poems.

    William Matthews.

    In Memory Of The Utah Stars.

    The  Accompanist

    . Sharon Olds

    The Language Of The Brag.

    The Lifting.

    Henry Taylor.

    Barbed Wire.

    Tess Gallagher.

    Black, Silver.

    Under Stars.

    Michael Palmer.

    I Do Not.

    James Tate.

    The Lost  Pilot.

    Norman Dubie.

    Elizabeth War With The Christmas Bear.

    The Funeral.

    Carol Muske Dukes,.

    August, Los Angeles Lullaby.

    Kay Ryan.

    Turtle

    Bestiary

    Larry Levis.

    Childhood Ideogram

    Winter Stars

    Adrian C Lousis

    Looking For Judas

    How much lux?

    The People of the Other  Village.

    Marilyn Nelson.

    The Ballad of Aunt Geneva.

    Star Fix.

    Run Stilleman

    Albany

    AI

    Cuba 1963

    The Kid

    Finished

    Yusef Komunyakaa

    Thanks

    To Do Street

    Facing It

    Nude Interogation

    Nathaniel Mc Kay

    Song of the Aduumboulou

    Gregory Orr

    Gathering the Bones Together

    Two Lines From the Brother Grimm

    Origin of the Marble Forrest

    Robert Hill Whiteman

    Reaching Yellow River

    Albert Goldbarth

    Away

    Heather Mc Hugh

    Language Lesson 1976

    What He Thought

    Leslie Marmon Silko

    In  Cold Storm Light

    Olga Boumas

    Calypso

    Victor Hernadez Soul

    Latin and Soul

    Jane Miller

    Miami Heart

    David St. James

    Iris

    CD Wright

    Why Ralph Refuses to Dance

    Girl Friend Poe # 3

    Crescent

    Carolyn Forche

    Taking Off My Clothes

    Jorie Graham

    San Sepolcro

    Marie Howe

    What the Living Do

    Joy Harjo

    She Had Some Horses

    My House is Red Earth

    Garret Honjo

    The Legend

    Andrew  Hugins

    Beggoten

    We Were Simply Talking

    Brigit Peggen Kelly

    Imaging Their Own Hyms

    Song

    Paul Muldoon

    Meeting the British

    Errata

    The Throwback

    Judith Orez Coffer

    Quinceanera

    Rita Dove

    Parsley

    Day Star

    After Reading Mikey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed

    Alice Fulton

    Our Calling

    Barbara Hamby

    Thinking of Galileo

    Hatred

    Mark Jarman

    Unholy Sonnet

    Naomi Shihab Nye

    The Traveling Onion

    Arabic

    Wedding Cake

    Alberto Rios

    Nani

    England Finally like My Mother Always Said We Would

    Laurie Sheck

    Nocturne Blue Waves

    The Unfinished

    Gary Sotto

    Field Poem

    Oranges

    Black Hair

    Susan Stewart

    Yellow Star and Ice

    The Forrest

    Mark Dotty

    Brillance

    Esta Noche

    Bill’s Story

    Harryette Mullen

    Black Nikes

    Franz Wright

    Alcohol

    Lorna Dee Cervantes

    To My Brother

    Love of My Flesh, Living Death

    Sandra Cisneros.

    My Wicked, Wicked Ways.

    Little Clowns, My Heart.

    Cornelius, Eady.

    Jack Johnson Does The Eagle Rock.

    Crows In A Strong Wind.

    I’m A Fool To Love You.

     

    Louise Eldritch

    .         Indian Boarding School. The Runaways.

    David Mason.

    Spooning.

    Marilyn Chin.

    How I Got That Name?

    Compose Near The Bay Bridge

    The Survivor

    Cathy Song .

    The Youngest Daughter.

    Ann Finch.

    Another Reluctance.

    Insert

    Lee Young Lee.

    The Gift

    Eating Together.

    Carl Phillips

    Our Lady

    As From a Quiver of Arrows

    Nick Flynn

    Bag of Mice

    Cartoon Physics

    Elizabeth Alexander

    The Viena Hott not

    Reetika Vazirani

    From White Elephants

    A million Balconies

    Train Windows

    Sherman Alexie

    What the Orphan Inherits

    The Pow Wow at the End of the World

    Natasha Trethewey

    Hot Combs

    Amateur Fighter

    Flounder

    A E Stallings

    The Tantrum

    Joana Klink

    Spare

    Brenda Shaughnessy

    Post feminism

    Your One Good Dress

    Kevin Young

    Quivira City Limits

    Everywhere is Out of Town

    Whatever You Want

    Terrance Hayes

    At Pegasus

    Lady Sings the Blues

     

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  • Review of Willa Cather’s “My Antonio”

    Review of Willa Cather’s “My Antonio”

    Review of Willa Cather’s “My Ántonia”

    Reading the Classics Updated
    Reading the Classics Updated Lists
    Reading the Classics

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3i8

    When I retired a few years ago, I embarked on a goal of reading as many of the great classics as I could, including writing reviews of the books as I read them.

    One thing to bear in mind when reading the classics is that many of the classics to a modern reader appear ablest, colonist, racist, sexist,  and all the other isms that some modern readers might find objectionable, including freely use the N word and other pejorative words.  The key is to acknowledge that fact, and then read and enjoy the novel on its own terms in its own time and place and not get too hung up on dealing with the racism etc that may be found in the book.

    Fortunately, “My Antonio” does not contact much sexism, racism or other issue to distract the jaded modern reader.

    This is my review of the classic novel, “My Ántonia” published in 1918 by the American woman author, Willa Cather. This novel is considered Cather’s first masterpiece. Cather was praised for bringing the American West to life and making it personally interesting. The novel is part of Cather’s “Prairie Trilogy,” which includes “O Pioneers!” and “The Song of the Lark.”

    The novel takes place in the late 19th century in Nebraska and details the life of immigrants in the settlement of Nebraska. The protagonist is an orphan, Jim Burden, who is sent to live with his grandparents who are pioneer farmers. Jim befriends Ántonia, a local Bohemian immigrant and her family who settled next door. Ántonia is a free-spirited woman who runs the farm for her mother and brother after their father commits suicide. Life in the Nebraskan frontier was difficult. Ántonia eventually moves into the nearby town and works for a local family. She eventually has a child out of wedlock, then marries another Bohemian immigrant and has eventually ten children.

    . Throughout it all, she keeps up her free spirit and emerges as a strong, determined woman. Jim finishes high school, goes to Harvard, and becomes a lawyer. Twenty years later, he returns to Nebraska and befriends Ántonia and her family again.

    The highlight of the novel for me is the characters and their relationships with each other, and the hardships that they all faced together in the settlement of Nebraska. The main characters are all immigrants, some from Germany, some from Hungary, some from Norway and Sweden, and others who are from back east, like Jim and his grandparents.

    The action takes place on Jim’s grandparents’ farm, in the nearby settlements, and in the nearby town where the grandparents move after finding managing a farm too difficult for them. There is even a murder, and assorted scandals in the small Nebraskan settlements.

    Co-Pilot provided the following bio and list of Willa Cather’s works:

    Biography of Willa Cather

     

    Willa Cather (1873-1947) was an American writer known for her novels about frontier life on the Great Plains. Born in Virginia, she moved to Nebraska with her family when she was ten years old. She attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and later worked as a journalist before turning to full-time writing. Cather’s works often explore themes of the American frontier and the immigrant experience. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1922 for her novel “One of Ours.”

    List of Willa Cather’s Works

    • “O Pioneers!” (1913) part of Prairie trilogy
    • “The Song of the Lark” (1915) part of Prairie trilogy
    • “My Ántonia” (1918)  part of Prairie trilogy
    • “One of Ours” (1922) – Pulitzer Prize winner
    • “A Lost Lady” (1923)
    • “The Professor’s House” (1925)
    • “Death Comes for the Archbishop” (1927)
    • “Shadows on the Rock” (1931)
    • “Lucy Gayheart” (1935)
    • “Sapphira and the Slave Girl” (1940)
    • “The Prairie” (1941)

    Quotes from “My Ántonia”

    “Some memories are realities and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again.”

    “If there were no girls like them in the world, there would be no poetry.”

    “I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep.”

    “The country girls were considered a menace to the social order. Their beauty shone out too boldly against a conventional background.”

    “The sky was growing pale, and that forgotten plow had sunk back to its own littleness somewhere in the prairie.”

    “Now I understood that the same road was to bring us together again. Whatever we had missed, we possessed together the precious, the incommunicable past.”

    “She’d always believe him. That’s Ántonia’s failing, you know; if she once likes people, she won’t hear anything against them.”

    “The idea of you is part of my mind … you really are a part of me.”

    “I was convinced that man’s strongest antagonist is the cold.”

    “This is reality, whether you like it or not — all those frivolities of summer, the light and shadow, the living mask of green that trembled over everything, they were lies, and this is what was underneath. This is the truth.”

    “Whatever we had missed, we possessed together the precious, the incommunicable past.”

    “That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep.”

    “There seemed to be nothing to see; no fences, no creeks or trees, no hills or fields. If there was a road, I could not make it out in the faint starlight. There was nothing but land: not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made.”

    “The prayers of all good people are good.”

    “As I went back alone over that familiar road, I could almost believe that a boy and girl ran along beside me, as our shadows used to do, laughing and whispering to each other in the grass.”

    “This was enough for Ántonia. She liked me better from that time on, and she never took a supercilious air with me again. I had killed a big snake – I was now a big fellow.”

    “More than any other person we remembered, this girl seemed to mean to us the country, the conditions, the whole adventure of our childhood.”

    End Quotes

    I have been reading books from the collection titled “50 Books You Must Read Before You Die” which consists of three volumes. I finished all of Volume Three first and am working my way through Volume One and Two. Hope to finish it all by the end of the year.

    I am currently reading “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin and will write a review when I am finished with it.

    Here’s the list of the books I am reading, with the ones I completed in bold:.

    Here’s the list of the books I am reading, bolded are the ones I completed

    Harvard Classics

     (1) Franklin, Woolman, Penn

     (2) Plato, Epictetus,

     Marcus, Aurelius Meditations

    (3) Bacon,

    Milton’s Prose,

    Thomas Browne

    (4) Complete Poems in English: Milton

    (5) Essays and English Traits: Emerson (

    6) Poems and Songs: Burns (7)

    Confessions of St. Augustine. Imitation of Christ

    (8) Nine Greek Dramas (9)

    Letters and Treatises of Cicero

    Pliny

    (10) Wealth of Nations: Adam Smith

    (11) Origin of Species: Darwin

    (12) Plutarch’s Lives (13)

     Aeneid Virgil (14)

    Don Quixote Part 1: Cervantes

    (15) Pilgrim’s Progress. Donne

    Herbert. Bunyan, Walton

    (16) The Thousand and One Night

    (17) Folk-Lore and Fable. Aesop, Grimm,

    Andersen

    Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales

    (18) Modern English Drama

    (19) Faust,

    Egmont Etc.

    Doctor Faustus,

    Goethe,

    Marlowe

    (20) The Divine Comedy: Dante

    (21) I Promessi

    Sposi,

    Manzoni

    (22) The Odyssey: Homer

    (23) Two Years Before Mast. Dana

    (24) On the Sublime French Revolution Etc. Burke

    (25) Autobiography Etc. Essays and Addresses: J.S. Mill,

    1. Carlyle

    (26) Continental Drama

    (27) English Essays: Sidney to Macaulay

    (28) Essays. English and American

    (29) Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin (

    30) Faraday,

    Helmholtz,

    Kelvin,

    Newcomb,

    Geikie

    (31) Autobiography: Benvenuto, Cellini

    (32) Literary and Philosophical Essays:

    Montaigne,

    Sainte Beuve,

    Renan,

    Lessing,

    Schiller,

    Kant,

    Mazzini

    (33) Voyages and Travels

    (34) Descartes,

    Voltaire,

    Rousseau,

    Hobbes

    (35) Chronicle and Romance:

    Froissart,

    Malory,

    Holinshed (36)

    Machiavelli, the Prince

    More,

    Luther

    (37) Locke,

    Berkeley,

    Hume

    (38) Harvey,

    Jenner,

    Lister,

    Pasteur

    (39) Famous Prefaces

    (40) English Poetry 1: Chaucer to Gray

    (41) English Poetry 2: Collins to Fitzgerald

    (42) English Poetry 3: Tennyson to Whitman

    (43) American Historical Documents

    Federalist Papers

    Constitution

    Bill of Rights

    Declaration of Indepedence

    (44) Sacred Writings 1

    (45) Sacred Writings 2

    The Bible

    The Quaran

    The Analects of Confucius

    Mencius

    Buddist Writing

    Bhaga Vita

    Lao Tzo The Tao

    (46) Elizabethan Drama 1

    (47) Elizabethan Drama 2

    (48) Thoughts and Minor Works: Pascal

    (49) Epic and Saga (

    50) Introduction, Readers Guide,

     

    50 Books to Read Before You Die

    Vol 1 starts with Volume One

    Alcott, Louisa May: Little Women
    Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice
    Austen, Jane: Emma
    Balzac, Honoré de: Father Goriot
    Barbusse, Henri: The Inferno
    Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
    Brontë, Charlotte: Jane Eyre
    Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights
    Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan of the Apes
    Butler, Samuel: The Way of All Flesh
    Carroll, Lewis: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia
    Cervantes, Miguel de: Don Quixote
    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening
    Cleland, John: Fanny Hill
    Collins, Wilkie: The Moonstone
    Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness
    Conrad, Joseph: Nostromo
    Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans
    Crane, Stephen: The Red Badge of Courage
    Cummings, E. E.: The Enormous Room
    Defoe, Daniel: Robinson Crusoe
    Defoe, Daniel: Moll Flanders
    Dickens, Charles: Bleak House
    Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: The Idiot
    Doyle, Arthur Conan: The Hound of the Baskervilles
    Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Count of Monte Cristo
    Eliot, George: Middlemarch
    Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones
    Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary
    Flaubert, Gustave: Sentimental Education
    Ford, Ford Madox: The Good Soldier
    Forster, E. M.: A Room With a View
    Forster, E. M.: Howard End
    Gaskell, Elizabeth: North and South
    Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls
    Gorky, Maxim: The Mother
    Haggard, H. Rider: King Solomon’s Mines
    Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D’Urbervilles
    Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The Scarlet Letter
    Homer: The Odyssey
    Hugo, Victor: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    Hugo, Victor: Les Misérables
    Huxley, Aldous: Crome Yellow
    James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady

    Volume 2

    – Little Women [Louisa May Alcott]
    – Sense and Sensibility [Jane Austen]
    – Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) [J.M. Barrie]
    – Cabin Fever [ B. M. Bower]
    – The Secret Garden [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – A Little Princess [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [Lewis Carroll]
    – The King in Yellow [Robert William Chambers]
    – The Man Who Knew Too Much [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Woman in White [Wilkie Collins]
    – The Most Dangerous Game [Richard Connell]
    – Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – On the Origin of Species, 6th Edition [Charles Darwin]
    – The Iron Woman [Margaret Deland]
    – David Copperfield [Charles Dickens]
    – Oliver Twist [Charles Dickens]
    – A Tale of Two Cities [Charles Dickens]
    – The Double [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – A Room with a View [E. M. Forster]
    – Dream Psychology [Sigmund Freud]
    – Tess of the d’Urbervilles [Thomas Hardy]
    – Siddhartha [Hermann Hesse]
    – Dubliners [James Joyce]
    – The Fall of the House of Usher [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Arabian Nights [Andrew Lang]
    – The Sea Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Call of Cthulhu [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – Anne of Green Gables [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – Beyond Good and Evil [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Murders in the Rue Morgue [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Black Cat [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Raven [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – Swann’s Way [Marcel Proust]
    – Romeo and Juliet [William Shakespeare]
    – Treasure Island [Robert Louis Stevenson]
    – The Elements of Style [William Strunk Jr.

    Vol 3  finished keeping for the historical record

    – What’s Bred in the Bone [Grant Allen]
    – The Golden Ass [Lucius Apuleius]
    – Meditations [Marcus Aurelius]
    – Northanger Abbey [Jane Austen]
    – Lady Susan [Jane Austen]
    – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [Lyman Frank Baum]
    – The Art of Public Speaking [Dale Breckenridge Carnegie]
    – The Blazing World [Margaret Cavendish]
    – The Wisdom of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Heretics [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Donnington Affair [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Innocence of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [John Cleland]
    – The Moonstone [Wilkie Collins]
    – Lord Jim [Joseph Conrad]
    – The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – The Pickwick Papers [Charles Dickens]
    – A Christmas Carol [Charles Dickens]
    – Notes From The Underground [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Gambler par Fyodor [Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Lost World [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Hound of the Baskervilles [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Sign of the Four [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Man in the Iron Mask [Alexandre Dumas]
    – The Three Musketeers [Alexandre Dumas]
    – This Side of Paradise [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – Curious, If True: Strange Tales [Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell]
    – King Solomon’s Mines [Henry Rider Haggard]
    – The Hunchback of Notre Dame [Victor Hugo]
    – Kim [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Captain Courageous [Rudyard Kipling]
    – The Jungle Book [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Lady Chatterley’s Lover [David Herbert Lawrence]
    – The Son of the Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Einstein Theory of Relativity [Hendrik Antoon Lorentz]
    – The Dunwich Horror [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – At the Mountains of Madness [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – The Prince [Niccolò Machiavelli]
    – The Story Girl [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – The Antichrist [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Republic [Plato]
    – The Last Man [Mary Shelley]
    – Life On The Mississippi [Mark Twain]
    – The Kama Sutra [Vatsyayana]
    – In the Year 2889 [Jules Verne]
    – Around the World in Eighty Days [Jules Verne]
    – Four Just Men [Edgar Wallace]
    – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ [Lewis Wallace]
    – Jacob’s Room [Virginia Woolf]

    Substack

    https://jakecosmosaller.substack.com/p/review-of-my-antonio?r=3i9lm

    Substack Podcast

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/review-of-willa-cathers-my-antonio?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Medium

    View at Medium.com

    Wattpad

    You just published Review of WIlla Cather’s My Antonio !

    Your story can be found here

    #classism #frontier #history #nebraska

    Spotify Podcast

    https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/j-cosmos/episodes/Review-of-WIlla-Cathers-My-Antonio-e2tmara

    The End

  • Books Read 2024

    Books Read 2024

    Books Read 2024

    Close up of books on desk in library.
    Close up of books on desk in library.

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-3gN0

    BN 2024 Best List

    time list of best books for 2024

    Books Read 2024

    Cosmos Books Read 2021 Update

    1001 Books to Read Before You Die List

    Cosmos Books Read 2020 Revised

    Books Read 2020Books read 2019

    books read during 2018

    books read

    Ode to Unread Books on my Bookshelf

    Goals:

    read a lot more classic books finish the three volume series, 50 books You Need to Read Before You DIe and Harvard Classics

    Read A Lot More Poetry

    Read At Least One Book A Year in Spanish  starting with Pablo Neruda poems.

    Read At Least One Book A Year in Korean starting with bilingual short stories

    This year I read a lot of books, and lots of individual poems and stories.  I kept track of all my reviews I do daily on fan story and writing com but did not list them here as that was too unreadable and boring to post.

    Total Numerical listing

    books read

    The List – fiction/non-fiction/poetry

    Fiction

    Classics

    1. Virginia Woolf Jacob’s Room
    2. Alcot Little Woman
    3. Balzac, Honoré DE: Father Goriot
    4. Lucy Maud Montgomery The Story Girl
    5. Willa Cather My Antonia
    6. Author Connor Doyle’s The Lost World
    7. Barbusse, Henri: The Inferno REVIEW DUE
    8. Butler, Samuel: The Way OF All Flesh
    9. Brontë, Anne: The Tenant OF Wildfell Hall
    10. Peston and Child the Pharoch Key
    11. Liz Wiehl The Candidate
    12. Grisholm Camino Island

    Flashman Novels

    1. George Mac Donald Fraser Flashman And The Redskins
    2. George Macdonald Fraser Flashman And The Angel Of The Lord
    3. George Macdonald Fraser Flashman On The March
    4. George Mac Donald Frazer Flashman And The Dragon

    Thrillers/Crime

    1. Janet Evanovich To Nines
    2. Liz Wiehl The Candidate Medford Library
    3. John Grisham Camino Ghosts Medford Library
    4. Harlan Coben Think Twice Medford Library
    5. David Baldacci The 6:20 Man Camp H Library

     

    1. Frederick Pohl Collected Stories Medford Library

      1. THE Merchant OF Venus
      2. The Thing That Happen
      3. The Hight Test
      4. My Lady Greensleeves
      5. The Kindly Isle
      6. The Middle OF Nowhere
      7. I REMEMBER A Winter
      8. The Greening OF Bed Stuv
      9. The Map Makers
      10. Spending A Day AT THE Lottery Fair
      11. Celebrating No Hit Inning
      12. Some Joys Under The Star
      13. Servant Of The People

    Anderson Stories

      1. Anderson FABLES THE Almshouse
      2. Anderson FABLES THE Angel

    Poetry

     

    Total: 3,000 poems including fan story review, writing com review and selected classic poems -some listed below.

    Selected Poems by Famous Writers  etc

    Christopher Micheal Nuclear Orange Cupid is the Devil

    I received this book last year for participating in the Poetry Superhighway annual poetry contest.

    Christopher Michael is a published poet who lives in Austin, Texas and has been winning poetry slams since 1989 when he entered his first slam.

    the book contains the following poems ==

    Tea Em Eye

    Haiku

    Father

    Imagine

    The Boys

    Not A Thief

    The Gravityof Pity

    Job Application

    Plugs To Give

    Fakery

    Political Stuff

     

    Glass House

    Mr. Bullet Goes To Work

    Zombie Swarm

    Bee Swarm

    Eye  Am Here For You

    The October Menace

    Herbicide Maniac

    Bacon

    She’s Black

    Flash And America

     

    The Flash and the Fireball

     

    Feeling Her

    SIN

    Theoretical Love

    Baby

    The Muse

    Love And Landmines

    Skeletons And  Corny Jokes

    Dookie Man

    Belly Buttons

    Severed Fingers And Heavy Bags

    The Firestorm

    Razors And Regrets

    The Relapse

    Love Turns Cowards Into Lions

    The Fall Out

    Nuclear Orange

    Fields Of Flammable Fantasies

    Zombie Loss

    I Warned You

    BJ Buckley In January the Geese

    I received this book last year for participating in the Poetry Superhighway annual poetry contest.  Everyone who enters gets a book of poetry for participating.  The contest opens in July and closes around labor day, winners are announced in October. I have also participated in the annual poetry chapbook give away challenge which is held in November.

    There are 26 poems in this book. The poems are based on the author’s lived experience growing up on a farm in rural Wyoming and Montana. A number of the poems are written from the animal’s point of view.  For example, In January the geese, first bear, long division. box with bugs, night herding, pronghorn elegy, rescue last rites.

    the poems are:

    1. Upthrust
    2. in January, the geese
    3. first bear
    4. long division
    5. gates
    6. C store 5:00 AM
    7. fields
    8. burn pile
    9. Sunriver
    10. slamming
    11. hard frost
    12. seed
    13. on Sunday morning
    14. box with bugs
    15. Watchman
    16. Funeral
    17. night herding
    18. Instrument
    19. almost July
    20. instrument
    21. pronghorn Elegy
    22. rescue
    23. towards evening Teton river
    24. infinite haze
    25. September
    26. bad shot
    27. last rites

    Wade Riddle

    I received this book for entering the Poetry Superhighway annual contest

    1. Groove Power Of Summer
    2. Wade Riddle Summer In Santa Monica Power Of Summer
    3. Wade Riddle The Tom Hardy Party Power Of Summer
    4. Wade Riddle Kiss Me Chris Pine Power Of Summer
    5. Wade Riddle Dance To The Beat Of The Beach Boy’s Power Of Summer
    6. Wade Riddle The Power Of Summer Power Of Summer
    7. Wade Riddle L.A. Blue Power Of Summer
    8. Wade Riddle Take Me Home To Venice Beach Power Of Summer
    9. Wade Riddle’s An Ode To A Summer’s Song
    10. Wade Riddle Chocolate Man Children Horror

    Lawrence  Ferlinghetti A Coney Island of the Mind

    I Am Waiting

    1. Junkman’s Obbligat0
    2. In Goya’s Gardens
    3. Autobiography
    4. The Changing Ligh
    5. Sometime During Eternity
    6. The World Is a Beautiful Place to Drown In
    7. The Great American Poem

    9 Poem #1 10

    TS Elliot

    The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock  ,

    The Waste Land

    Franz Kafka Surreal Prose Poems

    1. An Imperial Message
    2. Pekin And The Emperor
    3. The News Of The Building Of The Wall: A Fragment
    4. The Great Wall And The Tower Of Babel
    5. The Building Of The Temple
    6. Prometheus
    7. Poseidon
    8. The Sirens
    9. The New Attorney
    10. The Building Of A City
    11. The Imperial Colonel
    12. The Green Dragon
    13. The Tiger
    14. The Truth About Sancho Panza
    15. Robinson Crusoe
    16. My Destination

    Maya Angelous

    Insomniac

    When You Come

    Passing Time

    A Conceit

    The

    Gwendolyn Brooks

    We Real Cool

    Charles Bukowsk

    i And The Moon And The Stars And The World

    Emily Dickison

    A Book

    Faith” Is A Fine Invention

    Ronald Dahl

    Hot and Cold

     

    Robert Frost

    Two Roads Diverge

    Road Not Taken

    Nothing Gold Can Stay

    A Question

    The Rose Family

    After Apple-Picking)

    The Death Of The Hired Man.

    Mending Wall.

    Birches

    Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening.

    Tree In My Window.

    Directive.

    Langton Hughes

    My People

    Dreams

    Suicide’s Note

    Mother to Son

     Spike Milligan

    A Silly Poem

    Ogden Nash

    Word To Husbands

    Dorothy Parker

    A Very Short Song

    Edgar Allen Poe

    Anabel Lee

    Vikram Seith

    All You Who Sleep Tonight

     

    William Carlos Williams

    the red wheel barrel

    This Is Just To Say

     

    Villanelle

     W.H. Auden’s

    “If I Could Tell You”

     

    Elizabeth Bishop’s

    “One Art”

     

    Leonard Cohen

    “A Villanelle for Our Time”

    Edmund Gosse “

    Villanelle”

    Dylan Thomas

    “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”

    Vision and Prayer

    Jean Passerat’s poem

    “Villanelle (I Lost My Turtledove),

    Wilde’s

    “A Villanelle”

    Interlocking Rubiyat

    Carol Ward Day

    Fitzgerald

    Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

    Mike Montreuil

    Yesterday

    Jainrohit

    Rubaiyat

    concrete Poems

    Lewis Carrol

    l The Mouse’s Tail  

     

    E.E. Cumming

    sr-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r

    Senryu

     

    Al Pizzarelli

    the Fat Lady

     

    Anon. Senryu

    (early 18th century)The bird set free,

    •  He shuts His Eyes

    (early 18th century) Last Night

    • Sazanka

    Losing his job

    (early 18th century) “Make a profit

    Alexis Rotella

     

    Trying to forget him

     

    George Swede

     

    Unhappy wife

    Marlene Mountain

     

    The leans on the gate going staying

    Anita Virgil

    After the child’s funeral –

    Jack Kerouac’s Kicking the Icebox

     

    Chatuska Russian LImerick

    Annyomous  Mother, Spare Me, Don’t Scold Me
    Kolkhoz Life

    Time Got Shifted By An Hour

    Political And Anti-Religious Propaganda

    We Remember Lenin’s Words

     Margaret Atwood

    Siren Song

    Robert Hayden

    a  Plague of Starlings

    Ava Hofmann’s

    [A woman wandered into a thicket]  ,

    Natalie Diaz

    From the Desire Field 

    Ruth Fainlight

    The Prism 

    1. B. Shelley

    Ozymandias 

    Shakespeare

    Sonnet 138

    .Annyomous

    Beowulf  ,

    William Blake

    The Tyger

    Robert Burns

    A Red, Red Rose

    John Keats.

    Ode to a Nightingale

    Daddy

    Dr love Jesus

    ABC to my imaginary friend

    Camusat

     Finding Truth

    Stuart Witt

    Precedent

    George Herbert

    Easter Wings

    Patty Mazurka

    Your Last September

    Ubi Sunt Poems

     

    Francis VIllon  ubi sunt  “Ballade des dames du temps jadis” (“Ballad of the Ladies of Times Past”)

    “Where are the snows of yesteryear?”

    Thomas Nashe’s

    “Adieu, Farewell, Earth’s Bliss,”

    Sir Philph Sidney

    “Astrophel  Stella CII: ‘Where be the roses gone, which sweetened so our eyes?’”,

    Mark Strang

    “Where Are the Waters of Childhood?”

    James Macpherson‘s

    ”          translation” of Ossian. The eighth of Macpherson’s Fragments of Ancient Poetry (1760)

    Fingal (1761)

    Temora (1763),

    Pete Seeger

    Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”

    Paula Cole’s 1997 hit song

    “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone.”

    Bonnie Tyler’s 1984 hit,

    “Holding Out for a Hero”,

    Joseph Heller’s 1961

    novel Catch-22,

    Martin Amis’

    The War Against Cliché

    Irish Rose

    Frosted Fantasy ABC Poem

    Ava Hofmann’s

    [A woman wandered into a thicket]  ,

    Natalie Diaz

    From the Desire Field 

    Ruth Fanlight

    The Prism 

     Choka Yamanoue no Okura

    Eating Melons

     

    Limericks

     

    Dayton Voorhees

    There Once Was A Man From Nantucket

    Edward Lear

    There Was An Old Man In A Tree,

    There Was An Old Man With A Beard,
    There Was A Young Lady Of Ryde,
    There Was An Old Man Of Quebec,
    There Was A Young Lady Whose Bonnet,
    There Was A Young Belle Of Old Natchez

    There Was A Young Lady Of Station,

    Hickory Dickory Dock

    There Was A Small Boy Of Quebec,
    A Demi-Young Author Named Jong

    Our Novels Get Longa And Longa

    WH Auden

    Limerick

    Lewis Carroll

    Lucy O’Finner

    William Shakespeare

    Othello

    Japanese death poems

     

    As the Nigerian Naira steadily falls, the economy crumbles

    Yuan Chonghuan

    A life’s work totals to nothing

    Xia Wanchun

    I have been on the path of the war for three years

    Yang Jisheng Bear

    righteousness and the way on a shoulder of iron,

    Wen Tianxiang

    Confucius speaks of perfecting nobility

    — Zen monk Kozan Ichikyo (1283–1360)[11]

    Fujiwara no Teishi,

    If you remember the promises between us,

    Tadamichi Kuribayashi

    Unable to complete this heavy task for our country

    Takarai Kikaku

    Falling ill on a journey

    Moriya Sen’an

    Bury me when I die

    Korean death poems

    Seong Sam-mun

    What shall I become when this body is dead and gone?
    As the sound of drum calls for my life,

     

    Jo Gwang-jo (조광조;

    I loved the king as if he were my father

    Chŏng Mong-ju

    Should this body die and die again a hundred times over,

    Hwang Hyun

    Birds and beasts cry in sorrow and the mountains and oceans frown

    Matsuo Basho

     Old Pond

    Groot

     

    Piet Hein

    Missing Link

    Road To Wisdom

    Prescription

    Timing Toast
    Circumscripture

     

    Best American Poetry 2023

     

    Will Alexander the Polish mathematics

    Michael Ania covering standups.

    Ray Armitage fortune

    WHR then we get the dialectic fairly well.

    Martin Bell and a definite player

    Charles Bernstein people

    Mark Bibbins from 13 balloons

    Lee Ann Brown as an American

    Kamryn Alexa Castro Yes

    Mariane Chan the shape of Biddle City

    Victoria Chang World’s End

    Maxi         ne Chernoff the Songbird Academy

    Kwame Dawes Photo Shoot

    Alex Demetrio the years

    Stuart Disc hell after the exhibition

    Timothy Daniel Instagram

    Boris Dayak Days at the Races

    Joana Fuhrman 330 College Avenue

    Amy Gerstle Night Herons

    Peter Gizzi revisionary

    Herbert Gold’s other news

    Terrene Hayes Strange as the rule of grammar

    Robert Herston All Right

    Paul Hoover abominations, afternoon

    Shirley Jackson’s Best Original Enigma

    Patrica Spears Jones the Devil’s wife explains 45.

    Ilay Kaminsky, I ask that I not die.

    Vincent Katz’s A Marvelous Sky

    John Keen Straight No Chaser

    Miho Kinas’ Three Shrimp Boats

    Wayne kepstrum Misran Master Craftsman

    Yusef Komunyakaa from the autobiography

    Michale Lay I meant to

    Dorothea Lasky Green Moon John Yao zone

    Bernadette Ayer Pi Day

    Maureen Mc Lane Moonrise

    Yusef Michael tablet 6

    Stephen Paul Miller dating Buddha

    Susan Mitchell Chaplin in Palma

    Backus more extraordinary life

    diesel to social in several invoices

    Elliot Mullen as I wander lonely in the cloud Kathy and also the facts.

    Eugene Austin Husky from the fainting feeling Sonnets You Go Out Tomorrow.

    Sunday game

    Marine Owen in space surface tensional force

    John Phillips’s film theory

    Catholic bullet round front shirt

    Caroline Marie Rodgers phone number two my kind of feminism

    Jerome Sarah’s Something I’m Not Hot takes in Spiderman her dark drama.

    Turkey Tim civils all the time

    Diana’s success little few state

    David Shapiro lost all of Jesus.

    Mitch Siskin only tough woes

    Amanda Smeltz Green goddess girls in blacks Cole Swensen’s various gloves out

    Arthur Sze wildlife season OK

    Diane Thiel Listening in Deep Space

    Rodrigo Toscano Full House

    Tony Trigilio The Steeplejack

    David Trinidad the poems attributed to Him May Be by Different poets.

    Anne Waldman’s three poems form 13 Moon Kora

    Sarah Anne Wallen, I can see Mars.

    Elizbeth Winch and What My Species Did

    Terrence Winch Gear Sizzle

    Jeff Cyphers Wright Sweepstakes

    John Yau Song for Mie Yum

    Geoffrey Young Parrel Bars

    Jeffrey Young parallel bars

    Matthews’sZaprudar the empty grave of Zza Zaza Gabor

    Harvard Classics

    The volumes are:

    Bolded read

    Franklin, Woolman, Penn

    Plato, Epictetus,

    Marcus, Aurelius Meditations

    (3) Bacon,

    Milton’s Prose,

    Thomas Browne

    (4) Complete Poems in English: Milton

    (5) Essays and English Traits: Emerson (

    6) Poems and Songs: Burns (7)

    Confessions of St. Augustine. Imitation of Christ

    (8) Nine Greek Dramas (9) Letters and Treatises of Cicero and Pliny

    (10) Wealth of Nations: Adam Smith

    (11) Origin of Species: Darwin

    (12) Plutarch’s Lives (13)

    Aeneid Virgil (14)

    Don Quixote Part 1: Cervantes

    (15) Pilgrim’s Progress. Donne

    Herbert. Bunyan, Walton

    (16) The Thousand and One Night

    (17) Folk-Lore and Fable. Aesop, Grimm,

    Andersen

    Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales

    (18) Modern English Drama

    (19) Faust, Egmont Etc. Doctor Faustus, Goethe, Marlowe

    (20) The Divine Comedy: Dante

    (21) I Promessi

    Sposi,

    Manzoni

    (22) The Odyssey: Homer

    (23) Two Years Before the Mast. Dana

    (24) On the Sublime French Revolution Etc. Burke

    (25) Autobiography Etc. Essays and Addresses:

    J.S. Mill,

    T. Carlyle

    (26) Continental Drama

    (27) English Essays: Sidney to Macaulay

    (28) Essays. English and American

    (29) Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin (

    30) Faraday,

    Helmholtz,

    Kelvin,

    Newcomb,

    Geikie

    (31) Autobiography: Benvenuto,

    Cellini

    (32) Literary and Philosophical Essays: Montaigne,

    Sainte Beuve,

    Renan,

    Lessing,

    Schiller,

    Kant,

    Mazzini

    (33) Voyages and Travels

    (34) Descartes,

    Voltaire,

    Rousseau,

    Hobbes

    (35) Chronicle and Romance:

    Froissart,

    Malory,

    Holinshed (36)

    Machiavelli,

    More,

    Luther

    (37) Locke,

    Berkeley

    , Hume

    (38) Harvey,

    Jenner,

    Lister,

    Pasteur

    (39) Famous Prefaces

    (40) English Poetry 1: Chaucer to Gray

    (41) English Poetry 2: Collins to Fitzgerald

    (42) English Poetry 3: Tennyson to Whitman

    (43) American Historical Documents

    (44) Sacred Writings 1

    (45) Sacred Writings 2

    (46) Elizabethan Drama 1

    (47) Elizabethan Drama 2

    (48) Thoughts and Minor Works: Pascal

    (49) Epic and Saga (

    Federalist Papers

    50 Masterpieces You Have to Read Before You Die

     

    Started reading the first one of Volume 3

    Bolded indicates I have read it.

     

    Vol 1 starts with Volume One

    Alcott, Louisa May: Little Women
    Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice
    Austen, Jane: Emma
    Balzac, Honoré de: Father Goriot
    Barbusse, Henri: The Inferno
    Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
    Brontë, Charlotte: Jane Eyre
    Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights
    Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan of the Apes
    Butler, Samuel: The Way of All Flesh
    Carroll, Lewis: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia
    Cervantes, Miguel de: Don Quixote
    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening
    Cleland, John: Fanny Hill
    Collins, Wilkie: The Moonstone
    Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness
    Conrad, Joseph: Nostromo
    Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans
    Crane, Stephen: The Red Badge of Courage
    Cummings, E. E.: The Enormous Room
    Defoe, Daniel: Robinson Crusoe
    Defoe, Daniel: Moll Flanders
    Dickens, Charles: Bleak House
    Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: The Idiot
    Doyle, Arthur Conan: The Hound of the Baskervilles
    Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Count of Monte Cristo
    Eliot, George: Middlemarch
    Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones
    Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary
    Flaubert, Gustave: Sentimental Education
    Ford, Ford Madox: The Good Soldier
    Forster, E. M.: A Room With a View
    Forster, E. M.: Howard End
    Gaskell, Elizabeth: North and South
    Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls
    Gorky, Maxim: The Mother
    Haggard, H. Rider: King Solomon’s Mines
    Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D’Urbervilles
    Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The Scarlet Letter
    Homer: The Odyssey
    Hugo, Victor: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    Hugo, Victor: Les Misérables
    Huxley, Aldous: Crome Yellow
    James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady

    Volume 2

    – Little Women [Louisa May Alcott]
    – Sense and Sensibility [Jane Austen]
    – Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) [J.M. Barrie]
    – Cabin Fever [ B. M. Bower]
    – The Secret Garden [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – A Little Princess [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [Lewis Carroll]
    – The King in Yellow [Robert William Chambers]
    – The Man Who Knew Too Much [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Woman in White [Wilkie Collins]
    – The Most Dangerous Game [Richard Connell]
    – Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – On the Origin of Species, 6th Edition [Charles Darwin]
    – The Iron Woman [Margaret Deland]
    – David Copperfield [Charles Dickens]
    – Oliver Twist [Charles Dickens]
    – A Tale of Two Cities [Charles Dickens]
    – The Double [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – A Room with a View [E. M. Forster]
    – Dream Psychology [Sigmund Freud]
    – Tess of the d’Urbervilles [Thomas Hardy]
    – Siddhartha [Hermann Hesse]
    – Dubliners [James Joyce]
    – The Fall of the House of Usher [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Arabian Nights [Andrew Lang]
    – The Sea Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Call of Cthulhu [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – Anne of Green Gables [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – Beyond Good and Evil [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Murders in the Rue Morgue [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Black Cat [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Raven [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – Swann’s Way [Marcel Proust]
    – Romeo and Juliet [William Shakespeare]
    – Treasure Island [Robert Louis Stevenson]
    – The Elements of Style [William Strunk Jr.

     

    Vol 3  finished keeping for the historical record

    This book contains the following works arranged alphabetically by authors’ last names.

    Started with volume 3 then will go back and do volumes one, two, and the Harvard classics. The goal is to finish all of these by the end of next year.  I almost finished Volume One.  Will do some of the WC reading books as well.

    – What’s Bred in the Bone [Grant Allen]
    – The Golden Ass [Lucius Apuleius]
    – Meditations [Marcus Aurelius]
    – Northanger Abbey [Jane Austen]
    – Lady Susan [Jane Austen]
    – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [Lyman Frank Baum]
    – The Art of Public Speaking [Dale Breckenridge Carnegie]
    – The Blazing World [Margaret Cavendish]
    – The Wisdom of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Heretics [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Donnington Affair [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Innocence of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [John Cleland]
    – The Moonstone [Wilkie Collins]
    – Lord Jim [Joseph Conrad]
    – The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – The Pickwick Papers [Charles Dickens]
    – A Christmas Carol [Charles Dickens]
    – Notes From The Underground [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Gambler par Fyodor [Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Lost World [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Hound of the Baskervilles [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Sign of the Four [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Man in the Iron Mask [Alexandre Dumas]
    – The Three Musketeers [Alexandre Dumas]
    – This Side of Paradise [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – Curious, If True: Strange Tales [Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell]
    – King Solomon’s Mines [Henry Rider Haggard]
    – The Hunchback of Notre Dame [Victor Hugo]
    – Kim [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Captain Courageous [Rudyard Kipling]
    – The Jungle Book [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Lady Chatterley’s Lover [David Herbert Lawrence]
    – The Son of the Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Einstein Theory of Relativity [Hendrik Antoon Lorentz]
    – The Dunwich Horror [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – At the Mountains of Madness [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – The Prince [Niccolò Machiavelli]
    – The Story Girl [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – The Antichrist [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Republic [Plato]
    – The Last Man [Mary Shelley]
    – Life On The Mississippi [Mark Twain]
    – The Kama Sutra [Vatsyayana]
    – In the Year 2889 [Jules Verne]
    – Around the World in Eighty Days [Jules Verne]
    – Four Just Men [Edgar Wallace]
    – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ [Lewis Wallace]
    – Jacob’s Room [Virginia Woolf]

     

    Sci-Fi short stories

    Goal read one to four stories per week

    The Big Book of Science Fiction is a massive anthology of science fiction stories edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It covers the history and evolution of the genre from the early 20th century to the end of the millennium, featuring works from over 30 countries and many languages. The book contains 105 stories, ranging from classics by H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula K. Le Guin, to lesser-known gems by W.E.B. Du Bois, David R. Bunch, and Liu Cixin. The book also includes comments from the editors and the authors, offering insights into their creative process and vision. The book is divided into 11 sections, each with a thematic focus and a chronological order. Here is the table of contents for the book1:

    Introduction: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

    The Lens of Time: Science Fiction as a Way of Seeing

    H.G. Wells: “The Star” (1897)

    Lu Xun: “The New Overworld” (1902)

    Sultana’s Dream: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1905)

    Albert Robida: “The Triumph of Mechanics” (1908)

    Miguel de Unamuno: “Mechanopolis” (1913)

    W.E.B. Du Bois: “The Comet” (1920)

    Claude Farrère: “The Fate of the Poseidonia” (1923)

    Edmond Hamilton: “The Star Stealers” (1929)

    David H. Keller: “The Lost Language” (1934)

    Stanislaw Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Jorge Luis Borges: “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” (1940)

    Cixin Liu: “The Poetry Cloud” (1997)

    Invasions

    Edgar Rice Burroughs: “A Princess of Mars” (1912) excerpt

    Leslie F. Stone: “The Conquest of Gola” (1931)

    Stanley G. Weinbaum: “A Martian Odyssey” (1934)

    John W. Campbell Jr.: “Who Goes There?” (1938)

    Ray Bradbury: “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” (1949)

    Katherine MacLean: “Pictures Don’t Lie” (1951)

    William Tenn: “The Liberation of Earth” (1953)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Voices of Time” (1960)

    Dino Buzzati: “Catastrophe” (1966)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side” (1972)

    Joanna Russ: “When It Changed” (1972)

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “The Spontaneous Reflex” (1973) excerpt

    Octavia Butler: “Bloodchild” (1984)

    James Patrick Kelly: “Think Like a Dinosaur” (1995)

    Monsters

    H.P. Lovecraft: “The Dunwich Horror” (1929)

    Ray Bradbury: “The Foghorn” (1951)

    Jerome Bixby: “It’s a Good Life” (1953)

    Julio Cortázar: “Axolotl” (1956)

    J.G. Ballard: “The Drowned Giant” (1964)

    R.A. Lafferty: “Nine Hundred Grandmothers” (1966)

    Terry Carr: “The Dance of the Changer and the Three” (1968)

    Harlan Ellison®: “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1967)

    Lisa Tuttle & George R.R. Martin: “The Storms of Windhaven” (1975)

    John Varley: “Air Raid” (1977)

    William Gibson: “New Rose Hotel” (1984)

    Ted Chiang: “Story of Your Life” (1998)

    Experiments

    Alfred Jarry: “Elements of Pataphysics” (1911)

    Karel Čapek: “R.U.R.” (1920) excerpt

    Stanisław Lem: “How Erg the Self-Inducting Slew a Paleface” (1955)

    William S. Burroughs: “Excerpt from Naked Lunch” (1959)

    J.G. Ballard: “Chronopolis” (1960)

    Philip K. Dick: “Beyond Lies the Wub” (1952)

    Boris Vian: “Froth on the Daydream” (1947) excerpt

    Joanna Russ: “Useful Phrases for the Tourist” (1970)

    George Alec Effinger: “Two Sadnesses” (1973)

    John Sladek: “Solar Shoe Salesman” (1974)

    Dafydd ab Hugh: “The Coon Rolled Down and Ruptured His Larinks, A Squeezed Novel by Mr. Skunk” (1986)

    Generation Ships

    Don Wilcox: “The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years” (1940)

    Judith Merril: “Daughters of Earth” (1952)

    Brian W. Aldiss: “Non-Stop” (1958) excerpt

    Robert Silverberg: “Sundance” (1969)

    Pamela Zoline: “The Heat Death of the Universe” (1967)

    Gene Wolfe: “A Cabin on the Coast” (1984)

    Bruce Sterling: “Swarm” (1982)

    Geoff Ryman: “The Unconquered Country” (1984)

    New Worlds

    Cordwainer Smith: “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” (1961)

    Samuel R. Delany: “Aye, and Gomorrah …” (1967)

    Ursula K. Le Guin: “Vaster Than Empires and Slower” (1971)

    James Tiptree Jr.: “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” (1976)

    Frederik Pohl: “The Gold at the Starbow’s End” (1972)

    Angélica Gorodischer: “Of Navigators and Traitors” (1973) excerpt

    John Crowley: “Snow” (1985)

    Iain M. Banks: “A Gift from the Culture” (1987)

    Greg Egan: “Learning to Be Me” (1990)

    Future War

    Jack London: “The Unparalleled Invasion” (1910)

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton: “The Coming Race” (1871) excerpt

    George Griffith: “The War of the Viruses” (1895)

    Philip Francis Nowlan: “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” (1928)

    E.E. “Doc” Smith: “The Skylark of Space” (1928) excerpt

    Olaf Stapledon: “Star Maker” (1937) excerpt

    Robert A. Heinlein: “Solution Unsatisfactory” (1941)

    C.M. Kornbluth: “Two Dooms” (1958)

    Joe Haldeman: “Hero” (1972)

    Harry Harrison: “The Streets of Ashkelon” (1962)

    David R. Bunch: “Moderan” (1967)

    Harlan Ellison®: “A Boy and His Dog” (1969)

    James S.A. Corey: “Rates of Change” (2011)

    Virtual Reality

    Stanisław Lem: “The Seventh Sally or How Trurl’s Own Perfection Led to No Good” (1965)

    Philip K. Dick: “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966)

    John Brunner: “The Vitanuls” (1967)

    Roger Zelazny: “For a Breath I Tarry” (1966)

    Robert Silverberg: “Passengers” (1968)

    Rudy Rucker: “Software” (1982) excerpt

    William Gibson: “Burning Chrome” (1982)

    Pat Cadigan: “Pretty Boy Crossover” (1986)

    Neal Stephenson: “Snow Crash” (1992) excerpt

    Humanity 2.0

    Olaf Stapledon: “Odd John” (1935) excerpt

    C.L. Moore: “No Woman Born” (1944)

    Cordwainer Smith: “Scanners Live in Vain” (1950)

    Algis Budrys: “Who?” (1955)

    James Blish: “Surface Tension” (1952)

    Gregory Benford: “Blood Music” (1983)

    Bruce Sterling: “Mozart in Mirrorshades” (1985)

    Vernor Vinge: “True Names” (1981)

    Ted Chiang: “Understand” (1991)

    Alien Minds

    Arthur C. Clarke: “The Sentinel” (1951)

    Isaac Asimov: “The Last Question” (1956)

    Clifford D. Simak: “Desertion” (1944)

    James H. Schmitz: “Grandpa” (1955)

    Frank Herbert: “Try to Remember!” (1961)

    Philip José Farmer: “Sail On! Sail On!” (1952)

    Stanisław Lem: “Solaris” (1961) excerpt

    Arkady & Boris Strugatsky: “Roadside Picnic” (1972) excerpt

    Karen Joy Fowler & Pat Murphy: “Rachel in Love” (1987)

    Ian McDonald: “The Tear” (2008)

    After the End

    Walter M. Miller Jr.: “The Darfsteller” (1955) J.G. Ballard: “The Terminal Beach” (1964) John Wyndham: ”

     

    Substack

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/books-read-2024?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Medium

    View at Medium.com

    Wattpad

    #2024 #books #classics #lists #reading

  • 2024 K Drama Updates

    2024 K Drama Updates

    2024 K Drama Updates

    Over the last few years, I finally became a k drama fan. Part of the reason is that my Korean is now good enough to follow the dialogue although i still need subtitles mostly.

    Here are some of my favorite k dramas- i provide a synopsis and my comment on each.

    In general k dramas come in two forms – movies and series. The series are reminiscent of Mexican telenovelas – usually 16 episodes, occasionally 20, and occasionally fewer. A few have two seasons. Most run for about a month. Almost all are available now on Netflix and Hulu with English sub-titles. A few were quite controversial.

    Parasite of course won the 2020 Oscar. And Minuri won best-supporting actress 2023.

    10 Best Family-Focused K-Dramas

    best K history dramas
    Top K Dramas on Netflix

    My favorite K dramas so far include:

    1. Crash landing on you
    2. Vincenzo,”
    3. Mine”
    4. ,4. “Move To Heaven
    5. “Parasite”,
    6. DP,
    7. Camilla Blooming
    8. Itaewon Class
    9. . Stranger
    10. Mr. Sunshine
    11. Last Man Standing
    12. Mad About You
    13. Minuri Movie
    14. Squid Games Season One
    15. Squid Game Season Two K Drama
    16. Gyesang Creature K Drama Part One B
    17. Gyesang Creature K Drama Part Two
    18. Parasite the Gray
    19. Millionaire First Love K Drama A
    20. Hyenna K Legal Drama A
    21. Badlands Hunters K Post-Apocalypse Drama A
    22. Captivating The King K Historical Drama A
    23. Doctor Slump K Drama B
    24. Queen Of Tears K Rom-Com
    25. Physical Season One K Reality Show
    26. Physical Second Season K Reality T
    27. Crash landing on you
    28. Vincenzo,”
    29. Mine”
    30. ,4. “Move To Heaven
    31. “Parasite”,
    32. DP,
    33. Camilla Blooming
    34. Itaewon Class
    35. . Stranger
    36. Mr. Sunshine
    37. Last Man Standing
    38. Mad About You
    39. Minuri Movie
    40. Squid Games Season One
    41. Squid Game Season Two K Drama
    42. Gyesang Creature K Drama Part One B
    43. Gyesang Creature K Drama Part Two
    44. Parasite the Gray
    45. Millionaire First Love K Drama A
    46. Hyenna K Legal Drama A
    47. Badlands Hunters K Post-Apocalypse Drama A
    48. Captivating The King K Historical Drama A
    49. Doctor Slump K Drama B
    50. Queen Of Tears K Rom-Com
    51. Physical Season One K Reality Show
    52. Physical Second Season K Reality Tv Show
    53. Parasite The Grey Korean Version Of Body Snatchers
    54. A Typical Family K Drama About A Scheming Family B
    55. 12 12 – Day28.
    56. Military Prosecutor Doberman K Drama Featuring A Really Bad Ass Female Lead
    57. Hierarchy K Drama Rich Teenagers Plotting
    58. Flower Of Evil K Drama A
    59. Eve K Drama one Of The Best I’ve Seen
    60. Culinary Class War K Reality Tv Good Food Challenge Show
    61. Virtuous Business K Drama Quite Racy K Romcom With A Twist
    62. Mr Plankton K Drama
    63. Pilot K Comedy B Movie
    64. Check-In Hanyang K Drama
    65. Parasite The Grey Korean Version Of Body Snatchers
    66. A Typical Family K Drama About A Scheming Family B
    67. 12 12 – Day28.
    68. Military Prosecutor Doberman K Drama Featuring A Really Bad Ass Female Lead
    69. Hierarchy K Drama Rich Teenagers Plotting
    70. Flower Of Evil K Drama A
    71. Eve K Drama one Of The Best I’ve Seen
    72. Culinary Class War K Reality Tv Good Food Challenge Show
    73. Virtuous Business K Drama Quite Racy K Rom com With A Twist
    74. Mr Plankton K Drama
    75. Pilot K Comedy B Movie
    76. Check-In Hanyang K Drama
    77. Arkndal Chronicles
    78. The Last Man Standing K drama
    79. Mr. Kim’s convenience
    80. Signal (South Korean tv series)

    Biggest Disappointment:

    Sisyphus: the myth (2021)

    started okay but the story ended up all over the place and the ending was rushed and unsatisfactorily. I suppose they were trying to do a remake of ‘A Beautiful Mine” but could not figure out how to tie it all together – A for the attempt B for Acting, C for direction and D – almost how not to write good Sci-Fi. Not worth the time and effort -way too long a series could have worked as stand alone movie with much better writing and direction..

    An unfathomable incident introduces a genius engineer to dangerous secrets of the world — and to a woman from the future who’s come looking for him. Han tae Sul, a co-founder of quantum and time, is a genius engineer with the highest level of coding skills and outstanding looks that outweighs his engineer fashion sense. Due to his innovative achievements, quantum and time is a world-class company, dubbed “the miracle of south Korea’s engineering industry.” in reality, tae Sul has constantly caused his company’s stocks to fluctuate after his brother’s death ten years ago. One day, he witnesses something unbelievable. To reach the truth, he sets off on a dangerous journey. Kang seo hai is a survivor of a future dystopian world. With the survival skills that she’s learned from living amongst gangsters and warlords, she travels back to save han tae Sul. (source: netflix, newsmen) edit translation

    English
    Native title: 시지프스: the myth

    jo seung woo
    Han tae sul
    Main role

    park shin hye
    Kang seo hai
    Main role

    kim Byung chul
    Seo won ju / “sigma”
    Main role

    sung dong-il
    President park [president of Asia mart]
    Support role

    tae in ho
    Eddie kim / kim seung bok [tae Sul’s friend / co-founder of quantum & time]
    Support role

    Chae Jong hyeon
    Sun / choi jae sun [Chinese restaurant delivery guy]
    Support role

    All you need is love
    Sisyphus: the myth is an intriguing drama. The thrilling teaser that was released late last year stoked the flames of excitement for many avid k-drama viewers. Coupled with a cast that’s headlined by bankable stars the likes of cho seung woo and park shin hye, it became one of the most talked-about and highly anticipated shows for 2021. When it finally aired, however, it polarized opinions here in mdl and left several viewers’ expectations somewhat unfulfilled, to the extent that the ratings steadily declined to the current score hovering at around 8.

    Some continued to enjoy the show, for various reasons, and i happen to be one of them. Allow me to share my (spoiler-free) thoughts and then you can make your own decision on whether or not to embark on what has largely been a fun-filled escapist roller coaster ride.

    What is it about?
    In a nutshell, a woman from the dystopian future of south Korea travels back in time in the hopes of altering the course of history by preventing the seemingly inevitable fate that befell the country, the looming catastrophe of nuclear war. Central to this mission is the man who invented the time-traveling machine. These two characters are played by park shin hye and cho seung woo, respectively.

    The drama contains a mix of science fiction, action, drama, and romance genres imbued with themes of revenge, redemption, remorse, love, friendship, and familial bond. The director is jin hyeon, who notably helmed the legend of the blue sea, the master’s sun, and city hunter, among others. The screenplay is written by the husband and wife team of jeon chan ho and lee je in, for only their third production.

    This show is jointly produced by drama house and job and has been publicized as the network’s 10th-anniversary special drama. Its title is derived from the ancient character from Greek mythology, king Sisyphus of Corinth, and is completely pre-produced with principal photography that has taken place toward the end of 2020.

    What’s great about it?

    The production values
    as expected of a job production, this drama is very well, made. I love the cinematography (in particular the indoor lighting), the many gorgeous scenic views of both seoul in the present time and the vast landscape of the dystopian future. The set designs for various settings are quite exemplary while the special effects (CGIs, firefights, and pyrotechnics) are considered top tier for a show of this nature.

    The acting and cast
    in my humble opinion, the leads are fantastic and i have absolutely no complaints. While cho seung woo fully embodies the character of han tae Sul, the same goes for park shin Hye’s kang seo hai. They deliver very strong performances in their portrayal of deeply flawed and emotionally scared individuals. These are the types of roles that perhaps mature actors with adequate professional and life experiences are better-equipped to articulate and convey convincingly, which is very much the case here.

    It’s interesting to note that unlike cho seung woo’s other more serious roles, especially that of Hwang shi mock in stranger, here his han tae Sul is much more comedic and mischievous with a copious dose of flamboyance and swagger. Despite possessing similar social awkwardness, this character is remarkably more fun while his ingenuity in getting out of tricky situations bears an uncanny resemblance to the MacGyver persona.

    Such nuanced characterization is depicted by the other veteran supporting cast as well, notably sung dong il, kim Byung chul, and kim Jong tae. Kim Byung chul in particular surprised me with his depiction of seo won ju. Despite being slightly ot, i suspect he had the time of his life being “unleashed” from his usual more understated roles. Here he plays “dual characters” where his versatility is quite commendable.

    Special mention goes to the young actor lee joo won, who plays the young version of seo won ju. This kid truly gave me goosebumps with his chilling portrayal.

    The action
    for the most part, the choreography has been outstanding. From the numerous unarmed combat sequences to the firefights involving some pretty impressive military hardware. It’s not often that we see plenty of intense (and at times, logic-defying) gun battles in a non-military drama so this aspect of the production is indeed praiseworthy. Other forms of action include a lot of hard running in chasing (and being chased by) a multitude of characters.

    The romance
    this particular theme is so beautifully and convincingly conveyed. It helps immensely that cho seung woo and park shin hye abundantly possess such wonderful chemistry which is poignantly manifested amidst the ensuing intrigue and mayhem. The pairing of han tae Sul and kang seo hai, in many ways, makes a lot of sense. They are each plagued by a traumatic past and rendered seriously flawed, emotionally damaged, and are now fighting against the odds to change their fate.

    What could’ve been better?

    The science
    i love the concept here about time traveling to the past to change the future which gives me vibes of the twelve monkeys where the premise is quite similar. However, i do feel that the science as depicted in the show is super messy. Many technical aspects are open to interpretation and left to the viewers to fill in the blanks, as the story progresses. It’s a process of trial and error where we discover new things during every episode. The finale is possibly the most mind-blowing of all.

    The screenplay
    a parallel narrative and converging plot format are used to tell the story, which includes numerous flashbacks and flashforwards by various major characters in multiple timelines – the past, present, and future. Sometimes title cards are used to indicate the date, but not when the scene is obvious. It can get a little disorienting unless viewers pay close attention to the details.

    How and why certain events transpire are quite convoluted and require too much deductive reasoning to derive a sense of what the answers could be. The credibility of certain characters is questionable while quite a number of the sequences appear utterly ridiculous and fantastical, despite the sci-fi tag. The seeming lack of logic in certain respects of the overarching plot has led me to strongly suspect the screenwriters were high on recreational psychoactive substances as they were writing this.

    Overall
    the sooner viewers suspend disbelief and forgo questioning how the technology works by accepting the science as it is, the less confusing the show would appear to be. Regardless of the perceived weaknesses resulting from the flawed execution of the concept, i found myself enjoying the wild and, at times, exhilarating ride once i shut down my cerebral process and went instinctive. I would advise you to do the same because this is the only way to truly appreciate Sisyphus: the myth. And if you do decide to watch this, be rest assured – the ending is very much a happy one, for everyone (kind of).
    Mediocre myth
    At outset, the drama starts with an interesting and pioneering perspective of time travel. With the use of new ideas like uploader and downloader, the science-fiction aspect is on par with that of the contemporary world of science fiction entertainment.

    Along with this, is the backdrop of a nuclear war involving Koreas, it provides an exquisite playing field for proficient storytelling. These themes remind me of the “tenet” movie.

    The show is almost convincible scientifically about time travel*. But that’s where the spectacle of this show ends. This show has countless flaws.

    One, after setting the story, the show becomes more character-driven and not plot-driven. Thus, giving little scope for further exploring the sci-fi elements or packing it with more plot elements. Viewers are taken through detailed narratives about various side characters. These insights could have been less detailed.

    Two, will over wits. Almost every scene has some sort of test for characters to make a choice. Almost every character ends up making emotion-driven decisions and not reason-driven. This leads to a countless loop of bad folks coercing good folks to fall into their traps. Countless episodes are wasted in these cat-and-mouse endeavors.

    Three, lack of an alternate answer to the recurring question “girl or world?” right in the first instance of asking this question, the answer is undeniably obvious. Yet, the protagonist delays choosing the answer giving false hope of the possibility of an alternative answer. Had this been answered earlier, it would have ended the show quicker.

    Four, romance: the leads’ relationship feels more like comradeship and less like a romantic one. If at all it is present, it is not so passionate and intense given their life-threatening circumstances.

    Five, the beginning of the time loop. How did all this begin? That is, the events right before the first loop are hardly explained. I believe that explaining a bootstrap paradox is an unimaginable task.

    Despite the flaws, there are a couple of appreciable elements like one, ambitious production. The initial fights and stunts scenes felt amateurish in CGI. But the events of the future were well produced. The drone chase scene was a personal favorite. The fights scenes were really good, especially the last fight of the future timeline. Two, despite the ever-looming question of “save the world”, the intermittent scenes of future events were very imaginative. Three, badass FL and genius ml both bring something unique to the plot. Four, the “act of kindness” (without letting the spoiler out), was the best moment in the entire drama and gave the best “glimmer of hope”, an essential feature of the sci-fi genre.

    Acting-wise, both the leads are exceptional. Push stunt scenes are awe-worthy. Kim Byung chul does an incredible job. Music-wise, i liked the title music of whizzing sound and the end song. Rewatch value is lower as sci-fi elements are hardly convoluted.

    Sisyphus: the myth is an inventive concept but fails in storytelling.
    ~~
    *logical inconsistencies do exist.
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    Comment::

    I have to agree with the consensus on this one. It just did not work for me. The plot was just too convoluted and contradictory. The acting was superb but the writing was sub-par, particularly the ending. One principle of creative writing is that when you write you are creating an alternative world. And every world has rules. Violating the rules of your alternative universe leaves the readers or viewers confused, disappointed, or even angry. The special effects were good, not great. The plot had too many holes in it. In the end, it was defeated by the writing. End comment

    Memories of the Alhambra

    Also an incoherent mess but filmed in Spain and Korea.

    On my list

    Sky castle
    Kingdom (South Korean TV series)
    My mister
    Hospital playlist
    The Guardian

    Substack

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/k-drama-updates-2024?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Medium

    View at Medium.com

     

     

  • Cosmos Movies TV Programs 2024 List

    Cosmos Movies TV Programs 2024 List

    Movie Watching Goals 2024

    movies watched during 2018
    night at the movies

    8 Best Sci-Fi Movies of 2024

    Here are 10 Must-Watch Netflix

    The Top 10 Best Films Of 2024

    top netflix movies of 2024

    best movies of 2024

    Master Movies Seen 1970- 2024

    movies master list

    Cosmos Movies Seen 2022

    Movies Seen 2021

    movies seen 2020

    movies seen 2019

    Movies Watched During 2018

    278  Movies/TV Series/Plays/Big News coverage, YouTube Documenatries , etc by the end of the year.

    At Least One Korean Movie Per Week

    At Least One Spanish Movie Every So Often

    One Bollywood Or Another Foreign Language Movie Every So Often

    A Mixture Of Thrillers, K Drama, Comedies, Romcom, Etc

    Make A List Of Oscar Movies And Watch Several.

    Resume Going To The Theater Later In The Year. Saw Wolverine And Deadpool And Wicked In Medford in the fall of 2024

    When Traveling To The US Watch Ten Movies Each Trip

    Including One Bollywood, One Spanish, Three To Four Blockbusters, One Classic, One Comedy

     

    Numerical List

    1. Confession K Drama A-
    2. Love In The Villa A
    3. Love At First Sight A
    4. Collectors K Drama B
    5. The Spy Gone North B K Drama
    6. Goodbye Mr. Black K Drama Did Not Finish
    7. My Demon Love K Drama Did Not Finish
    8. My Annoying Brother K Drama B
    9. Me And Me K Drama B
    10. Bodies British Sci-Fi B
    11. October Faction Vampire series
    12. Katyal Sci-Fi series
    13. Glass Onion Knives Out B
    14. Obliteration US Series C Did Not Finish
    15. Squid Game Season International Did Not Finish
    16. Squid Game Season Two Korean Series Finished
    17. Fair Play B-1 Is A Bit Too Violent And Dark
    18. In The Cold Netflix Series B
    19. Leave The World Behind Lots Of Stars But A Meh
    20. Gyesang Creature K Drama Part One
    21. Gyesang Creature K Drama Part Two B
    22. Manifest Season Four -Finished Series
    23. Stray UK Drama B
    24. Wednesday B
    25. Pretty Woman Classic Richard Gere/Julia Roberts A
    26. Somebody K Drama B
    27. Superbowl
    28. The Devil Plan Was Too Complicated To Follow K Drama
    29. Night Agent A
    30. VIP K Drama B
    31. Destined With You K Drama
    32. My Annoying Brother K Drama B
    33. Spy Gone North Did Not Finish K Drama
    34. Catering Christmas Gala B
    35. Watcher B
    36. Millionaire First Love K Drama A
    37. Lift Heist Movie American Meh
    38. Hyenna K Legal Drama A
    39. Badlands Hunters K Drama Post-Apocalypse Drama A
    40. Captivating The King K Historical Drama A
    41. Doctor Slump K Drama B
    42. The Trip Norwegian Dark Drama B
    43. Taken K Drama Movie B
    44. The Swindler K Drama Movie A
    45. Everything Happens Everywhere At Once Hoopla A Best Picture 2023
    46. A Transformers Compang TV B
    47. Golden Holliday K Movie Compang TV B
    48. Peacekeeper B
    49. Knock On The Cabin B
    50. Oppenheimer – Documentary – Not The Movie
    51. Don’t Buy The Seller K Drama B
    52. Tourist Love Affair Cute But Predictable Filmed In Vietnam B
    53. The Dude In Me K Drama Is Cute A
    54. Black Phone B
    55. Rebel Moon US Film Part One
    56. Rebel Moon US Film Part Two
    57. Silent Sea K Sci-Fi Series
    58. The Order US Werewolf/Vampire Occult Thriller Series
    59. Warrior Nuns
    60. Single In Seoul K Movie B
    61. Secret Obsession American Movie B
    62. Age Of Adeline A
    63. In From The Cold C
    64. Trip B
    65. Try To Kill Me I Dare You Polish Movie B
    66. Lee Kiwon K Movie About NK Refugees In Belgium
    67. Chronicle Sci-Fi Meh C
    68. Young Police K Drama B
    69. Sweat And Sour K Drama B
    70. Happiness For Beginners US Drama B
    71. Catering Christmas US Drama B
    72. The Gentlemen British TV Crime Series
    73. Killer Paradox K Crime Drama
    74. Queen Of Tears K Rom-Com Tbc
    75. Keeping Up With The Jones American Spy Comedy B
    76. Little Woman  British Is Based On The Classic Novel I Just Finished Reading
    77. Damsel American
    78. Secret Obsession US Film
    79. In The Shadow Of The Moon
    80. Tourist Guide To Love B+
    81. Art Of Love – Did Not Finish
    82. Three-Body Problem A Chinese Sci-Fi
    83. Paradise K Drama
    84. Awake US
    85. You Netflix Series B
    86. Night Teeth US
    87. Physical Season One K Reality TV Show
    88. Physical Second Season K Reality TV Show
    89. Parasite The Grey Korean Version Of Body Snatchers
    90. The Signal German Sci-Fi B
    91. Dark German Sci-Fi A
    92. Chicken Nugget Silly K Drama Did Not Finish
    93. Oppenheimer A Oscar Winner 2024
    94. Lady Chatterley’s Lover TBC
    95. Ripley A
    96. Last Days Of Earth K SF Drama – Did Not Finish
    97. No Hard Feelings US Romcom B
    98. Brazen B
    99. Brigands K Drama C Did Not Finish
    100. Lost Phone K Crime Thriller Repeated B
    101. Downsizing B+
    102. The Day I Died Undisclosed Case K Drama B
    103. Unfrosted K Drama Bit Disappointing
    104. Frankly Speaking K Drama B
    105. A Werewolf Boy K Drama Remake Of A French Movie B
    106. A Typical Family K Drama About A Scheming Family B
    107. Tidal Wave – Did Not Finish
    108. 12 12 – Day B D Drama About Chun Dohan’s Rise To Power – Which I Lived Through In 1979.
    109. Mother Of The Bride B
    110. Bring Me Home K Drama About Child Abuse B
    111. Tutor K Drama B
    112. Big Fat Greek Wedding Part 1 Seen Years Ago
    113. Big Fat Greek Wedding Part Part 2 Seen Years Ago
    114. Big Fat Greek Wedding, Part 3
    115. In The Depth Of The Ocean US Drama
    116. Zoo K Drama B
    117. 88 Minutes US Drama
    118. Artificial City B
    119. Keys To The Heart K Drama A
    120. Hit And Run Squad K Drama
    121. Love Struck In The City K Drama Did Not Finish
    122. Don’t Steel The Foggy Mountain Treasure B-1
    123. Sweet And Sour K Drama B
    124. Hustle US Drama
    125. Daily Dose Of Sunshine K Drama Series

     

    On Plane To US

     

    1. Aquarman And The Lost Kingdom
    2. King Kong V Godzilla
    3. The Killing Of Flower Moon
    4. Barbie

     

     

    Oregon

     

    1. Atlas

     

    1. Atypical Family Swedish Drama
    2. War Of The Worlds Extinction Fubar
    3. Adams Family Re-Run On Pluto TV
    4. Beverley Hillbillies Re-Run On Pluto TV
    5. Military Prosecutor Doberman K Drama Featuring A Really Bad Ass Female Lead
    6. Fall Out Amazon
    7. Andromeda Free TV
    8. Hierarchy K Drama  Rich Teenagers Plotting
    9. Hit Man
    10. Flower Of Evil K Drama
    11. Reflection Of You K Drama
    12. Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode) Real Life
    13. Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode) Autofa
    14. Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode) This Is Human
    15. Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Real Life (Amazon List Each Episode)
    16. Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Crazy Diamond
    17. Philip K Dick Electric Dreams The Hood Maker
    18. Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Father Thing
    19. Philip K Dick Electric Dreams The Impossible Planet
    20. Philip K Dick Electric Dreams The Commuter
    21. Philip K Dick Electric Dreams Kills All Others
    22. Miss Night And Day K Drama Comedy
    23. Republican Convention
    24. Biden-Trump Debate
    25. Far Scape US Sci-Fi Classic Amazon
    26. Universe Spider Woman Drama B
    27. Love Next Door K Drama
    28. Romance In The House K Drama
    29. DNC
    30. Union American Spy Movie – Not Bad
    31. All Good Things Based On True Crime Stories Not Bad
    32. Frogs K Murder Mystery Series
    33. Dune Earlier Version
    34. Coming Blackout Right-Wing Paranoia Docudrama Commercial Youtube
    35. The Deliverance – Too Scary
    36. Discovery Of Witches
    37. Wolverine And Dead Pool Medford Cinemax
    38. Jane Eyre OSF
    39. The Silurian Hypothesis Youtube Documentary
    40. Harris Trump Debate
    41. Perfect Couple US Murder Mystery Series
    42. Green Tea Extra YouTube Documentary
    43. Why Is Marijuana Illegal YouTube Documentary
    44. Discovery Of Witches Vampire Witches US Series
    45. Spaccell British Black Sci-Fi Series
    46. 25 23 K Drama Did Not Finish
    47. Influencer Challenge K Reality TV
    48. Culinary Class War K Reality TV
    49. Spencer Confidential US Crime Comedy
    50. The Signal K Crime Series
    51. What Are Some Surprises Being Found On Jupiter YouTube Short
    52. Bad Boys Ride For Life Or Die
    53. Kamala Harris On Steven Colbert
    54. Tim Walz On Steven Colbert
    55. Tim Walz On Jimmy Kimble
    56. Virtuous Business K Drama
    57. Outer Banks Season 3
    58. Backstreet Rookie K Drama Series
    59. Run-On K Drama Series
    60. Letter From God God Pod -We Want The Black President
    61. Where NASA Believes Extraterrestrial Life Is Found In The Outer Solar System
    62. Family Pack YouTube Movie
    63. The Host YouTube Movie
    64. War Of The World BBC Series New To Me
    65. Don’t Move
    66. World Series 2024
    67. Beverly Hills Cops Alert
    68. Logan Lucky
    69. Look Both Ways
    70. Tarot
    71. Spaccell Uk Sci-Fi Series
    72. The Whirlwind K Drama
    73. Killing Eve
    74. Spenser
    75. 365 Days
    76. Time Cut Sci-fi
    77. The Gray Man James Bond Wanna Be Movie
    78. The Influencers K Reality
    79. Pixels
    80. Election Coverage
    81. Ten Trendy US Cities -Citynerd Youtube
    82. Find Me Falling US Romcom Set In Cyprus
    83. The Frog K Drama
    84. Vagabond K Drama
    85. The Little Things
    86. American Assasin
    87. Frankly Speaking K Drama
    88. Letter From God What Happened?
    89. Mechanic
    90. Misfits
    91. Wicked In Medford Theater
    92. Why Files Adam And Eve Story Youtube Documentary
    93. Just Go For It Did Not Finish
    94. Plankton K Drama
    95. Dangerous Lies Did Not Finish
    96. Wild Wild West Documentary About The Ranesh Case
    97. White Sky Forgettable Zombie Movie Tubi
    98. Last Seen Alive Thriller 2024 Thriller
    99. Predestination Time Travel Thriller
    100. Arkansas Noir Thriller
    101. Top Ten Countries Americans Are Not Welcomed
    102. Great Courses History Of Roman Empire – Goal One Course Per Month
    103. A Simple Favor Is A Good Thriller
    104. When The Phone Rings K Drama
    105. Your Lucky Day Is An Intense Crime Drama
    106. Father Figures Good Comedy
    107. Afraid Chilling Movie About The Future Of AI

     

    Father Brown – see separate listing for synopsis and my commentary

     

    1. Father Brown BBC Series The Hammer Of God
    2. Father Brown BBC Series  The Ghost In The Machine
    3. Father Brown BBC Series The Madness Of All
    4. Father Brown The Pride Of The Pryde
    5. Father Brown The Shadow Of The Scaffold

     

    On Plane

    1. Blink Twice B
    2. Dune B
    3. Ghostbusters B
    4. Beetlejuice B
    5. Fly Me To Moon B
    6. The Strangers C

     

    Back In Korea

     

    1. Run On K Drama Series
    2. Captivating King K Drama Series
    3. Chief Of Staff K Drama Series
    4. The Visitor Hoopla
    5. What If Return Of The Ice Age You Tube Short Documentary
    6. Tenet SCIFi Netflix B
    7. Fall Guy Netflix B
    8. Trunk K Drama Series
    9. Reptile US Crime Drama
    10. Beef Asian Immigrants In LA
    11. Silente Sea K Sci-Fi Series
    12. The Last Lovecraft Relic Of Cthulu Hoopla
    13. The History Of The Roman Empire Great Course Course
    14. Carry On US Movie
    15. It’s What Inside Did Not Finish
    16. Bringing Back Extinct Animals Short YouTube Documentary
    17. Slyth Thai Sci-Fi Did Not Finish It – I Understood Some Of The Dialogue But Not Much C
    18. Count Down To Jerusalem Movie C
    19. Pilot K Comedy B Movie
    20. Check-In Hanyang K Drama
    21. The Hunt Did Not Finish US Drama
    22. Trouble Swedish Drama C
    23. Robert Reich’s Ten Economic Myths Debunked
    24. Squid Game 2 B
    25. Squid Game International Game C
    26. NYE coverage
    27. Yoon Impeachment news coverage
    28. NYE terror attack coverage
    29. CNN Best and Worst of the Year
    30. BBC end of the Year Coverage

    Oscar Winners

    Bold –  Seen

    Last Year Everything All At Once

    BEST PICTURE

    American Fiction
    Anatomy Of A Fall
    Barbie
    The Holdovers
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Maestro
    Oppenheimer
    Past Lives
    Poor Things
    The Zone Of Interest

    BEST DIRECTOR

    Jonathan Glazer, The Zone Of Interest
    Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
    Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
    Martin Scorsese, Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Justine Triet, Anatomy Of A Fall

    BEST ACTRESS

    Annette Bening, Nyad
    Lily Gladstone, Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Sandra Hüller, Anatomy Of A Fall
    Carey Mulligan, Maestro
    Emma Stone, Poor Things

    BEST ACTOR

    Bradley Cooper, Maestro
    Colman Domingo, Rustin
    Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
    Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
    Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

    Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
    Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
    America Ferrera, Barbie
    Jodie Foster, Nyad
    Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

    BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

    Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
    Robert De Niro, Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
    Ryan Gosling, Barbie
    Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

    BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

    Justine Triet And Arthur Harari, Anatomy Of A Fall
    David Hemingson, The Holdovers
    Bradley Cooper And Josh Singer, Maestro
    Samy Burch, May December
    Celine Song, Past Lives

    BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

    Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
    Greta Gerwig And Noah Baumbach, Barbie
    Tony McNamara, Poor Things
    Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
    Jonathan Glazer, The Zone Of Interest

    BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

    Io Capitano, Italy
    Perfect Days, Japan
    Society Of The Snow, Spain  On Netflix See
    The Teacher’s Lounge, Germany
    The Zone Of Interest, United Kingdom

    BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

    The Boy And The Heron
    Elemental
    Nimona
    Robot Dreams
    Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

    BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

    Bobi Wine: The People’s President
    The Eternal Memory
    Four Daughters
    To Kill A Tiger
    20 Days In Mariupol

    BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

    El Conde
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Maestro
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST EDITING

    Anatomy Of A Fall
    The Holdovers
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST COSTUME DESIGN

    Barbie
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Napoleon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

    Golda
    Maestro
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things
    Society Of The Snow

    BEST SOUND

    The Creator
    Maestro
    Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
    Oppenheimer
    The Zone Of Interest

    BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

    The Creator
    Godzilla Minus One
    Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
    Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
    Napoleon

    BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

    Barbie
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Napoleon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST ORIGINAL SONG

    “What Was I Made For?”, Billie Eilish And Finneas, Barbie
    “I’m Just Ken,” Mark Ronson And Andrew Wyatt, Barbie
    “The Fire Inside,” Diane Warren, Flamin’ Hot
    “It Never Went Away,” Jon Batiste, American Symphony
    “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People),” Osage Tribal Singers, Killers Of The Flower Moon

    BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

    American Fiction
    Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
    Killers Of The Flower Moon
    Oppenheimer
    Poor Things

    BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

    The After
    Invincible
    Knight Of Fortune
    Red, White, And Blue
    The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar

    BEST ANIMATED SHORT

    Letter To A Pig
    Ninety-Five Senses
    Our Uniform
    Pachyderm
    War Is Over! Inspired By The Music Of John & Yoko

    BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

    The ABCs Of Book Banning
    The Barber Of Little Rock
    Island In Between
    The Last Repair Shop
    Nai Nai & Wai Po

    Golden Globes 2024

    Winners bolded

    *Seen

    Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture

    • Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez” — Winner
    • *Ariana Grande, “Wicked”
    • Selena Gomez, “Emilia Pérez”
    • Felicity Jones, “The Brutalist”
    • Margaret Qualley, “The Substance”
    • Isabella Rossellini, “Conclave”

    Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy

    • Jean Smart, “Hacks” — Winner
    • Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This”
    • Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”
    • Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”
    • Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building”
    • Kathryn Hahn, “Agatha All Along”

    Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

    • Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain” — Winner
    • Yura Borisov, “Anora”
    • Edward Norton, “A Complete Unknown”
    • Guy Pearce, “The Brutalist”
    • Jeremy Strong, “The Apprentice”
    • Denzel Washington, “Gladiator II”

    Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama

    • Hiroyuki Sanada, “Shōgun” — Winner
    • Donald Glover, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”
    • Jake Gyllenhaal, “Presumed Innocent”
    • Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”
    • Eddie Redmayne, “The Day of the Jackal”
    • Billy Bob Thornton, “Landman”

    Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Television Series

    • Jessica Gunning, “Baby Reindeer” — Winner
    • Liza Colon-Zayas, “The Bear”
    • Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”
    • Dakota Fanning, “Ripley”
    • Allison Janney, “The Diplomat”
    • Kali Reis, “True Detective: Night Country”

    Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Television Series

    • Tadanobu Asano, “Shōgun” — Winner
    • Javier Bardem, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
    • Harrison Ford, “Shrinking”
    • Jack Lowden, “Slow Horses”
    • Diego Luna, “La Maquina”
    • Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”

    Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy

    • Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear” — Winner
    • Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This”
    • Ted Danson, “A Man on the Inside”
    • Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”
    • Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”
    • Jason Segel, “Shrinking”

    Best Screenplay — Motion Picture

    • Peter Straughan, “Conclave” — Winner
    • Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez”
    • Sean Baker, “Anora”
    • Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold, “The Brutalist”
    • Jesse Eisenberg, “A Real Pain”
    • Coralie Fargeat, “The Substance”

    Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television

    • Ali Wong, “Single Lady” — Winner
    • Jamie Foxx, “What Had Happened Was”
    • Nikki Glaser, “Someday You’ll Die”
    • Seth Meyers, “Dad Man Walking”
    • Adam Sandler, “Love You”
    • Ramy Youssef, “More Feelings”

    Best Motion Picture — Non-English Language

    • “Emilia Pérez” — Winner
    • “All We Imagine as Light”
    • “The Girl with the Needle”
    • “I’m Still Here”
    • “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
    • “Vermiglio”

    Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

    • Colin Farrell, “The Penguin” — Winner
    • Richard Gadd, “Baby Reindeer”
    • Kevin Kline, “Disclaimer”
    • Cooper Koch, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
    • Ewan McGregor, “A Gentleman in Moscow”
    • *Andrew Scott, “Ripley”

    Substack

    https://jakecosmosaller.substack.com/p/cosmos-tvmovie-list-for-2024?r=3i9lm

    Medium

    https://medium.com/@jakealler/cosmos-movie-tv-list-for-2024-c2b13d582be8

    Wattpad

    Your story can be found here

    #movies #news #tv

     

  • Review of Harlan Coben’s Think Twice

    Review of Harlan Coben’s Think Twice

    Review of Harlan Coben’s Think Twice

    think twice
    think twice

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-38e

    Review of Camino Ghosts

    Cosmos Reading List 2023

    Reading the Classics Updated Lists

    I just finished reading Harlan Coben’s Think Twice, the 12th novel in the Myron Bolitar series. The plot is intriguing. Greg Downing, a “frenemy” of Myron Bolitar, a sports agent, and one of his clients died three years ago, but his DNA was found at a crime scene. The FBI is convinced somehow he faked his own death three years ago. The relationship between Greg and Myron is complicated. They were basketball rivals in high school and college.  Myron blamed Greg for the foul that knocked him out of a championship game when he played for Duke and he played for the University of North Carolina.    Myron’s girl friend left him for the charismatic Greg Downing.

    Myron retired before he could start his NBA career, went to law school, and became a sports agent with his partner, Win, who is from a prominent family. Win handled financial advising for their clients who ran a private investment firm and was an amateur PI as was Myron. They are determined to track down Greg and find out why he faked his own death. They find him and the reasons he faked his death are shocking.

    Joey the Toe, whose full name is Joseph Turant, is a significant character in “Think Twice.” He is a mob boss who was imprisoned four years before the events of the novel due to DNA evidence linking him to the murder of Jordan Kravat.

    A side plot has to do with the decline in serial killers in the world due to the increased use of mass surveillance and DNA testing, in short, it is harder to get away with being a serial killer.  Most serial killers are men who are lone wolves, a couple engaging in serial killing is very rare as are female serial killers.  I learned a lot about the psychology of serial killers from this novel.

    Witty Dialogue

    Coben is a master of witty dialogue.  Co-Pilot provided a few choice quotes

    “She wore pearls and bold colors4. Her blouse and skirt were both super-tight4.”

    “It had been Sadie Fisher’s idea4. When Sadie first started representing women who had been sexually harassed or assaulted, she had been told to ‘tone down’ the outfits, to wear clothing that was both drab and shapeless4. Sadie hated that4.”

    “The reason for Myron’s surprise is simple: Greg Downing died three years ago1.”

    “Fear and divisiveness offer engagement. Agreement and moderation do not.”

    “Sometimes the loudest cries for help are silent.”

    “It takes so much to hold on to hate—you lose your grip on what’s important, you know?”

    “Life may not always fall into neat chapters, and you may not always get the satisfying ending you’re looking for, but sometimes a good explanation is all the rewrite you need.”

      We all have secrets, but some secrets are heavier than others.”

      “Sometimes the truth is so ugly, you have to make it up.”

      “The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there.”

      “Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is to trust someone.”

    Myron Bolitar: “You expect me to believe that Joey the Toe is behind all of this?”

    Windsor Horne Lockwood III (Win): “Expect you to believe it? Myron, I expect you to do something about it.”

    Myron: “Right. Easy-peasy, just like taking a stroll through Central Park at midnight with a neon ‘Mug Me’ sign.”

    Win: “Precisely. Shall we?”

    Chat GP’s Literary Bet

    One criticism of Harlan Coben and other popular writers is that they are formulistic writers. One day, Chat GP’s developers issue a challenge – they would challenge top thriller and popular fiction writers to a challenge. Chat GP would write a novel in their style, and they would write their next novel. Both would be reviewed by literary critics and fans. The panel would be asked to evaluate both books and determine which were written by Chat GP and which were written by the human author.  If Chat GP won the bet they would pay the author 1 million dollars, if the author won they would pay Chat GP 1 million dollars.

    Harlan Coben and John Grisham took the challenge.  The panel voted that Chat GP wrote the books.   Harlan Coben and John Grisham paid the debt and issued a warning about the danger of AI to the literary world.

    Co-Pilot also provided a bio, and list of his books and movies. I bought the ones I have read.

     Author Bio: Harlan Coben

    Harlan Coben is an American author of mystery novels and thrillers. Born around 1962 in Newark, New Jersey, he has written over 35 novels, including the renowned Myron Bolitar series. His books have sold  over 80 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 46 languages.

    Coben has won several awards, including the Edgar Award, Shamus Award, and Anthony Award  He has also had twelve of his novels adapted for film and television.

    List of Books by Harlan Coben

    Myron Bolitar Series:

    Deal Breaker

    Drop Shot

    Fade Away

    Back Spin

    One False Move

    The Final Detail

    Darkest Fear

    Long Lost

    Live Wire

    Home (short story)

    The Innocent

    Stay Close

    Gone for Good

    Live Wire

    The Stranger

    Hold Tight

    The Woods

    Fool Me Once

    Stay Close

    The Innocent

    The Woods

    Safe

    The Five

    Run Away

    Win

    The Boy from the Woods

    Tell No One

    I Will Find You

    Think Twice

    Movies and TV Shows Based on His Books

     Netflix Series:

     The Stranger

    Gone for Good

    Fool Me Once

    Stay Close

     Safe

    The Woods

    The Innocent

    Hold Tight

    Run Away

    Win

    The Boy from the Woods

    Tell No One

    I Will Find You

    Think Twice

     

    1www.goodreads.com2

    en.wikipedia.org3

    www.harlancoben.com4

    http://www.goodreads.com

    Medium

    Substack

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/review-of-think-twice?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Substack Podcast

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/review-of-harbin-cobens-think-twice?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Wattpad

    Your story can be found here

    #mystery #review #thrillers

    Spotify Podcast 

     

     

  • Review of Camino Ghosts

    Review of Camino Ghosts

    grisham-camino-ghosts-7
    grisham-camino-ghosts-7

     

     

     

     

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-380

     

    Cosmos Books Read 2021 Update

    Review of Camino Ghosts

    I recently finished reading Camino Ghosts by John Grisham one of my favorite writers.

    The novel is based on a real case – the successful fight to preserve Dark Isle an island off the coast of Florida that developers wanted to pave over including a casino and condos at the turn of the century.  The problem was that the island was settled by escaped slaves whose descendants lived on the island isolated from the modern world until 1955 when the last resident left for the mainland and nearby Camino Island when due to pollution and over-development the fishing grounds and shrimping grounds failed.  One of the original settlers was a voodoo priest who arrived on the island when her slaver ship sank nearby. She put a curse on the island saying that no white man could survive coming to the island.  For almost 200 years no white person visited the island and survived except for one person who survived a massacre by the natives and was allowed to leave after the residents told him they were cannibals, part of their successful physiological warfare campaign to keep outsiders from visiting the island.

    Both Florida and Georgia state authorities and the public ignored the island for over 250 years because of its small size, isolation, small resident base (no more than 300 people ever lived there) and the legend of the curse.  The residents were left to fend for themselves and were subsidence farmers and fishermen, trading occasionally with black fishermen in Camino Island. They spoke their own dialect – a mixture of English and African dialects, and most were illiterate as they had no schools or public institutions on the island.

    When a hurricane swept through the island, it became feasible to build a bridge to the island and a big Florida property developer eyed taking over what was considered to be abandoned and deserted.  There are over 8,000 such small islands near Florida, many of which are barrier islands, which according to a 60-year-old law are considered to be State property, although the Bahamas claim some as well.  but most remain undeveloped and uninhabited, many are quite small, and many have disappeared over the years due to increased hurricane activity.

    Lovely Jackson the last resident is now 80 years old and filed a suit to stop development claiming she is the sole legal owner of the island.  A scrappy retired environmental lawyer, a local writer, and bookstore owners all step in to defend her claims to the island and they stop the development in its tracks.

    The story is a fascinating look at the interplay between history, development, corruption, and Florida politics circa 2010, and is also a fascinating slice of long-neglected African American history.  the characters are well developed and the dialogue is first rate.  It is as most Grisham novels a legal thriller, but this one with an African American history story as its basis. The book was made into a TV series a few years ago.

    Here’s some background from Co-Pilot on the true history of Dark Isle.

    Background on the Dark Isle Case

    The Dark Isle case revolves around the fight to preserve the island, which has a rich history tied to freed
    slaves and their descendants4. The island is said to be cursed, with a legend that no white person who sets foot on it survives. Lovely Jackson, the last resident, left the island as a teenager in 1955, but now she is the key figure in the legal battle against the developer, Tidal Breeze. The case highlights the struggle to protect historical and cultural heritage from commercial development.

    Here’s a list of some of John Grisham’s books and the movies adapted from them:

    Books  Bold Indicated I read it

    A Time to Kill

    The Firm

    The Pelican Brief

    The Client

    The Chamber

    The Rainmaker

    The Runaway Jury

    The Street Lawyer

    The Testament

    The Brethren

    The King of Torts

    The Last Juror

    The Summons

    The Broker

    Playing for Pizza

    The Appeal

    The Confession

    The Litigators

    Calico Joe

    The Racketeer

    Sycamore Row

    Gray Mountain

    The Rooster Bar

    The Whistler

    Camino Island

    The Reckoning

    The Judge’s List

    The Guardians

    Camino Ghosts

    Movies:

    A Time to Kill (1996)

    The Firm (1993)

    The Pelican Brief (1993)

    The Client (1994)

    The Chamber (1996)

    The Rainmaker (1997)

    The Runaway Jury (2003)

    The Street Lawyer (TV movie, 2003)

    The Testament (TV movie, 2004)

    The Brethren (TV movie, 2006)

    The King of Torts (TV movie, 2009)

    The Last Juror (TV movie, 2011)

    The Summons (TV movie, 2011)

    The Appeal (TV movie, 2014)

    The Confession (TV movie, 2014)

    The Litigators (TV movie, 2015)

    Calico Joe (TV movie, 2015)

    The Racketeer (TV movie, 2016)

    Sycamore Row (TV movie, 2016)

    Gray Mountain (TV movie, 2016)

    The Rooster Bar (TV movie, 2017)

    The Whistler (TV movie, 2018)

    Camino Island (TV movie, 2019)

    The Reckoning (TV movie, 2020)

    The Judge’s List (TV movie, 2021)

    The Guardians (TV movie, 2022)

    Camino Ghosts (upcoming)

    1www.goodreads.com2

    jgrisham.com3

    http://www.kirkusreviews.com4

    http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com

    Medium

    View at Medium.com

    Substack

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/review-of-camino-ghosts?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Podcast

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/review-of-camino-ghosts-b51?r=3i9lm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Wattpad

    Your story can be found here

    #florida #grisham #history #thriller

    Spotify Podcast

    the End 

     

  • Where to Find my Work on the Web

    Where to Find my Work on the Web

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-37o

    Where to Find my Work on the Web

    where to find my work update

    Cosmos’s List of Where to Submit

    Where to Find Cosmos’s Work on the Web updates

    Where to Find Cosmos’s Work

    here’s where to find my work published on the web.

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSd9uHT4wdfQxxdc27uDyXu0TOnFsQULpzVn4mDYoN2rctbN_mS43tCeQqBaNwOmN-nyg-fRmZ0sQcv/pubhtml?gid=937362284&single=true

     

     

     

  • Review of the Tenant at Wildfelll Hall

    Review of the Tenant at Wildfelll Hall

    Review of the Tenant at Windfell Hall

    https://wp.me/p7NAzO-359

    windfell hall photo

    Wildfell Hall PhotoVersion 1.0.0

    Reading the Classics Updated
    Reading the Classics Updated Lists
    Reading the Classics

    I am still working my way through reading the classics, reading a three-volume series called Books You Have to Read Before You Die.

    I have read about 120 of the 150 books. I recently finished reading Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Windfall Hall, which is widely seen as a proto-feminist novel. Anne Bronte is one of the three Bronte sisters who wrote insightful novels set in the English countryside of the early to mid-19th Century.

    This novel was a critique of the prevailing view of marriage in Victorian England, where divorce was very difficult to get for a woman, women were expected to do their wifely duty put up with their husbands no matter what and endure loveless marriages. Most marriages in the upper class were arranged marriages. The expectation was that the couple would grow to love each other, or at least tolerate each other. The wife was supposed to stay home and take care of the children and manage the household servants and the estate while their husband engaged in business pursuits or hung out with his buddies through the club. Many women felt stuck in a loveless marriage. Taking a lover was unthinkable, and divorce as well. After divorce, women often sank into the lower class. Re-marriage was not a realistic option either. For widows, if they inherited the estate, and were under the age of 45 could remarry.

    The heroine of the novel, Helen Huntington, runs away from her alcoholic, abusive, womanizing husband and supports herself through her art as she is a talented painter. She lives in a small rural area  with her son, ans her long term servant, Rachale. Her friends and relatives do not know where she is. Her brother helps her get set up, and she lives in an old mansion he owns. She calls herself Mrs Graham and lets people think she is a widow. In a way, she is as she feels her husband is dead to her to use a modern expression.

    She falls in love with a local farmer who is beneath her socially but not too far away because he has his farm and is doing well economically. They agreed to not meet any more for fear of a scandal if known. In the end, after her abusive husband dies from acute alcohol poisoning, they get married and he adopts her 11-year-old son.

    Throughout the novel, the women in the novel are all deeply unhappy, as are their husbands. Many of the husbands are like her husband, alcoholic womanizers. Several hit on her and she rejects their advances.

    A sub-theme of the novel is how the traditional Christian view on marriage destroyed marital happiness, that women should be allowed to leave abusive relationships and re-marry for love. And that women should be allowed to pursue an independent career after marriage. In her view, a true marriage is a partnership entered in with someone whom you love. She rejected the norms of her time.

    Right-Wing In the U.S. Movement to Rescind No-Fault Divorce

    While reading this novel, I read articles on how the contemporary right-wing in the U.S. including JD Vance, the Republican nominee for Vice President,  and Speaker of the House Johnson, are in favor of ending no-fault divorce and making divorce much more difficult to get. All to support promoting their twisted view of “family values”, and return to traditional Christian values. The project 2025 and Agenda 47 which outline proposals for the Republicans if they get elected also spend a lot of time on the idea of promoting the end of the no-fault marriage.  They blame a lot of contemporary social problems on the breakdown of traditional Christian values.  Many of them, would no doubt feel comfortable bringing back the norms of the Victorian era.  They have probably not read this novel, nor do they care that women would again be stuck in loveless, or abusive marriages.

    Parallels in Korean Society

    I also was struck by how in contemporary Korea, many marriages, particularly among the upper classes, are still arranged marriages. Family elders, mostly women, fix up their children to marry matching them with people from suitable family backgrounds and providing their astrological charts match (mostly according to Chinese astrology but also Western as well), the couple is allowed to date for a few dates, and if they like each, they get married, and like in Victorian times, women are often encouraged to have children and quit work. This is changing but divorce is still a social stigma and many women are advised to stick it out even if their husband is abusive or has a mistress. But, many women don’t want to get married and have children and many men don’t feel that they can afford to get married and have children. Korea has a declining population because fewer women are having children.

    Co-Pilot provided additional background information on this proto-feminist novel.

    Synopsis

    “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” is Anne Brontë’s second and final novel, published in 1848 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. The story is framed as a series of letters from Gilbert Markham to his friend, recounting his experiences with a mysterious young widow, Helen Graham, who arrives at Wildfell Hall with her young son. Helen’s reclusive nature and her career as an artist soon make her the subject of local gossip. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that Helen is fleeing from her abusive, alcoholic husband, Arthur Huntingdon, in an attempt to protect her son from his influence12.

    Literary Reputation

    Upon its release, “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” was considered quite shocking due to its unflinching portrayal of alcoholism, psychological abuse, and the constraints placed on women in the 19th century. The novel was an immediate success but faced significant controversy. After Anne’s death, her sister Charlotte Brontë prevented its re-publication in England until 18541. Today, it is regarded as one of the first feminist novels, praised for its bold themes of gender equality and female independence23.

    Author Biography

    Anne Brontë (1820-1849) was the youngest of the three famous Brontë sisters. She was born in Thornton, West Yorkshire, England. Anne worked as a governess, which influenced her first novel, “Agnes Grey.” Her experiences and observations of the social issues of her time deeply informed her writing. Despite her early death at the age of 29, Anne’s work has left a lasting impact on English literature. She is remembered for her strong moral convictions and her commitment to addressing social injustices through her writing12.

    Would you like more detailed information on any specific aspect of the novel or Anne Brontë’s life?

    Themes

    “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” by Anne Brontë explores several significant themes:

    1. Gender, Sexism, and Double Standards: The novel critiques the societal norms that impose different standards of behavior for men and women. Helen’s struggles highlight the limited rights and freedoms of women in the 19th century1.
    2. Christian Faith and Morality: Helen’s strong Christian faith guides her actions and decisions throughout the novel. Her moral convictions are tested by her marriage to Arthur Huntingdon, but she remains steadfast in her beliefs1.
    3. Love and Marriage: The novel examines the complexities of love and marriage, particularly the consequences of marrying for the wrong reasons. Helen’s marriage to Arthur is a cautionary tale about the dangers of infatuation and the importance of mutual respect and understanding in a relationship1.
    4. The Destructive Force of Alcoholism: Arthur Huntingdon’s alcoholism is a central element of the story, illustrating how addiction can destroy lives and relationships. The novel portrays the devastating impact of Arthur’s drinking on his family and himself2.
    5. Work and Idleness: Helen’s ability to support herself and her son through her art is a significant aspect of the story. The novel contrasts the value of hard work with the destructive nature of idleness, as seen in Arthur’s lifestyle1.

    These themes contribute to the novel’s enduring relevance and its reputation as a pioneering work of feminist literature.

    1litcharts.com2cou

    Here’s the list of the 50 books to read. Bold indicated I have read it.

    Vol 1 starts with Volume One

    Alcott, Louisa May: Little Women
    Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice
    Austen, Jane: Emma
    Balzac, Honoré de: Father Goriot
    Barbusse, Henri: The Inferno
    Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
    Brontë, Charlotte: Jane Eyre
    Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights
    Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan of the Apes
    Butler, Samuel: The Way of All Flesh
    Carroll, Lewis: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
    Cather, Willa: My Ántonia
    Cervantes, Miguel de: Don Quixote
    Chopin, Kate: The Awakening
    Cleland, John: Fanny Hill
    Collins, Wilkie: The Moonstone
    Conrad, Joseph: Heart of Darkness
    Conrad, Joseph: Nostromo
    Cooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the Mohicans
    Crane, Stephen: The Red Badge of Courage
    Cummings, E. E.: The Enormous Room
    Defoe, Daniel: Robinson Crusoe
    Defoe, Daniel: Moll Flanders
    Dickens, Charles: Bleak House
    Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment
    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor: The Idiot
    Doyle, Arthur Conan: The Hound of the Baskervilles
    Forster, E. M.: A Room With a View
    Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers
    Dumas, Alexandre: The Count of Monte Cristo
    Eliot, George: Middlemarch
    Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones
    Flaubert, Gustave: Madame Bovary
    Flaubert, Gustave: Sentimental Education
    Ford, Ford Madox: The Good Soldier
    Forster, E. M.: Howard End
    Gaskell, Elizabeth: North and South
    Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: The Sorrows of Young Werther
    Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls
    Gorky, Maxim: The Mother
    Haggard, H. Rider: King Solomon’s Mines
    Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D’Urbervilles
    Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The Scarlet Letter
    Homer: The Odyssey
    Hugo, Victor: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    Hugo, Victor: Les Misérables
    Huxley, Aldous: Crome Yellow
    James, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady

    Volume 2

    – Little Women [Louisa May Alcott]
    – Sense and Sensibility [Jane Austen]
    – Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy) [J.M. Barrie]
    – Cabin Fever [ B. M. Bower]
    – The Secret Garden [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – A Little Princess [Frances Hodgson Burnett]
    – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [Lewis Carroll]
    – The King in Yellow [Robert William Chambers]
    – The Man Who Knew Too Much [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Woman in White [Wilkie Collins]
    – The Most Dangerous Game [Richard Connell]
    – Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – On the Origin of Species, 6th Edition [Charles Darwin]
    – The Iron Woman [Margaret Deland]
    – David Copperfield [Charles Dickens]
    – Oliver Twist [Charles Dickens]
    – A Tale of Two Cities [Charles Dickens]
    – The Double [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – A Room with a View [E. M. Forster]
    – Dream Psychology [Sigmund Freud]
    – Tess of the d’Urbervilles [Thomas Hardy]
    – Siddhartha [Hermann Hesse]
    – Dubliners [James Joyce]
    – The Fall of the House of Usher [Edgar Allan Poe]
    –     The Arabian Nights [Andrew Lang]
    – The Sea Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Call of Cthulhu [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – Anne of Green Gables [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – Beyond Good and Evil [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Murders in the Rue Morgue [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Black Cat [Edgar Allan Poe]
    – The Raven [Edgar Allan Poe]
    –     Swann’s Way [Marcel Proust]
    – Romeo and Juliet [William Shakespeare]
    – Treasure Island [Robert Louis Stevenson]
    – The Elements of Style [William Strunk Jr.

    Vol 3  finished keeping for the historical record

    This book contains the following works arranged alphabetically by authors’ last names.

    Started with volume 3 then will go back and do volumes one, two, and the Harvard classics. The goal is to finish all of these by the end of next year.  I almost finished Volume One.  Will do some of the WC reading books as well.

    – What’s Bred in the Bone [Grant Allen]
    – The Golden Ass [Lucius Apuleius]
    – Meditations [Marcus Aurelius]
    – Northanger Abbey [Jane Austen]
    – Lady Susan [Jane Austen]
    – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [Lyman Frank Baum]
    – The Art of Public Speaking [Dale Breckenridge Carnegie]
    – The Blazing World [Margaret Cavendish]
    – The Wisdom of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Heretics [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Donnington Affair [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – The Innocence of Father Brown [Gilbert Keith Chesterton]
    – Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [John Cleland]
    – The Moonstone [Wilkie Collins]
    – Lord Jim [Joseph Conrad]
    – The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe [Daniel Defoe]
    – The Pickwick Papers [Charles Dickens]
    – A Christmas Carol [Charles Dickens]
    – Notes From The Underground [Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Gambler par Fyodor [Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky]
    – The Lost World [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Hound of the Baskervilles [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Sign of the Four [Arthur Conan Doyle]
    – The Man in the Iron Mask [Alexandre Dumas]
    – The Three Musketeers [Alexandre Dumas]
    – This Side of Paradise [Francis Scott Fitzgerald]
    – Curious, If True: Strange Tales [Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell]
    – King Solomon’s Mines [Henry Rider Haggard]
    – The Hunchback of Notre Dame [Victor Hugo]
    – Kim [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Captain Courageous [Rudyard Kipling]
    – The Jungle Book [Rudyard Kipling]
    – Lady Chatterley’s Lover [David Herbert Lawrence]
    – The Son of the Wolf [Jack London]
    – The Einstein Theory of Relativity [Hendrik Antoon Lorentz]
    – The Dunwich Horror [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – At the Mountains of Madness [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
    – The Prince [Niccolò Machiavelli]
    – The Story Girl [Lucy Maud Montgomery]
    – The Antichrist [Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche]
    – The Republic [Plato]
    – The Last Man [Mary Shelley]
    – Life On The Mississippi [Mark Twain]
    – The Kama Sutra [Vatsyayana]
    – In the Year 2889 [Jules Verne]
    – Around the World in Eighty Days [Jules Verne]
    – Four Just Men [Edgar Wallace]
    – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ [Lewis Wallace]
    – Jacob’s Room [Virginia Woolf]

    Substack

    https://open.substack.com/pub/jakecosmosaller/p/copy-the-tenant-at-wildfell-hall?r=3i9lm&utm_ca

    mpaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

    Medium

    View at Medium.com

    Wattpad

     

    You just published The Tenant at Wildfell Hall !

    Your story can be found here

    #classcs #divorce #protp-femenist

    Spotify Podcast 

    https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jake1818/episodes/The-Tenant-at-WIldfell-Hall-e2npfjq

    the End