The Must List, Novels

Read up, bloggers and other people! These are the 6 Must Read books, you know, in my opinion. And, they're in no particular order.

1. Fall of Giants by Ken Follet
Ken Follet wins again in his first book of the Century Trilogy. On the brink of World War I, the reader follows the adventures of several different families from around the world, including two brothers in Russia, a miner family in Wales, and an American diplomat. The second book just came out, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Don't be put off by the sheer volume and massiveness of the book!! It's worth the time.

2. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Henry DeTamble can time travel, and this makes dating difficult. But, Clare Abshire loves him enough to fight through the worrying about when he's ever coming back and the trials of marrying a time traveler. Their love is pure and beautiful with raw fights and precious moments. It is a book that will make you fall in love with marriage and babies and love itself. This book got me through some rough moments when Stuart and I were in a long distance relationship.

3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
READ THIS BOOK... and then ask yourself: Why is a white woman writing from the perspective of a black woman? What gives her the right to do this? Why do the black women talk in Southern slang but the white women do not? Is this book - which fights racism and celebrates equality among its characters - really a racist novel after all???

4. The Cider House Rules by John Irving
Leave it to Irving to take you away to a place involving Maine, sexual disease, and the questioning of one's morals and own usefulness. I just love the narrative of this novel, the beautiful thought process of Dr. Wilbur Larch, who I read in the voice of Michael Caine since he played the movie character in the film adaptation. Just watch the first five seconds of the trailer, and you can see the amazingness of the casting for this film and how beautiful Caine's voice is. It makes reading the novel 50 times better!! Meh, not so much with Tobey MacGuire.

5. Three Weeks with my Brother by Nicholas and Micah Sparks
This is Nicholas Sparks' first memoir, and I prefer it over all his fiction writing! Nicholas and his older brother Micah go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world, seeing  places like Easter Island and Ayers Rock in Australia. In between the recounting of the adventure - JARS AND BOWLS - Nicholas recounts their childhood with their sister and parents. You will laugh hysterically like never before, and you will weep from a breaking heart over this real life tale. My favorite moment is when Nicholas teaches his son to speak for the first time after years of silence and letting his wife hear her son say "I love for you" for the first time. Even if you've never enjoyed The Notebook or still haven't forgiven him for writing a film with a part specifically for Miley Cyrus (The Last Song), you still need to read this memoir.

6. Wicked by Gregory Macguire
I still haven't had the opportunity to see the musical, but this is a wonderful book. It is full of magic, mischief, love, Oz politics, and all around fun. Follow the life of the Wicked Witch of the West in her time in the green land of Oz - why is she green, what's really going on with The Wizard, when did she become wicked, what's Glenda problem, and why aren't the animals talking anymore? With its green-rimmed pages and small illustrations, you won't put it down!

16. The Fourth Hand

Book 16: The Fourth Hand by John Irving (A)

Yes! John Irving wins again!!! Sir, you are my novelist hero! How are you so awesome? Please, spill your secrets to me! I must know how to write like you, sir!

Irving

(If you can't tell) I love John Irving! Since the day I picked up his book The Cider House Rules, I have devoured his novels! They are unbelievable, strange, and intelligent and The Fourth Hand is no exception.
In India, a journalist named Patrick gets his left hand eaten by a lion. On the east coast, a doctor wants to be the first surgeon to perform the world's first hand transplant. In Green Bay, Michigan, a couple is desperately trying to get pregnant. Life and circumstance bring them together. The husband of the Michigan couple accidentally kills himself with his hand gun after the Packers lose the Super Bowl and his wife, who felt pity for the man whose hand was eaten by a lion, decides to give her husband's hand to Patrick. The doctor, who is trying to reconnect with his young son whose mind has been poisoned against his father by a bitter ex-wife, gets to perform the surgery. However, there's a catch: the wife wants visitation rights to the hand after the surgery! The wife falls in love with her husband's hand. Patrick falls in love with the wife. Five years pass as the three characters continue about their lives with Patrick trying to stay in the wife's life for good.
Irving, you have inspired me to be not just a novelist but a great one. My work will never stand up to yours, but I will try my hardest and use techniques I have learned through reading only your books!! Your deep description of every character, even the one who only shows up for three pages, is so beautiful and painstaking! Your detailed background that goes against the main focus of the story may seem irrelevant until that last paragraph when everything is tied together and the whole world makes sense! You sir are a freaking genius!!!