Page created 22 Oct 2003 by blvdgirl
URL: http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html
You are the smartest readers I know... So, let's get on the bandwagon and make a recommended reading list for the diner. Everyone is welcome to submit up to ten titles for each category by December 15, 2003. After that, I'll compile the lists.
Categories:
Fiction
Nonfiction
Poetry
Youth Fiction
Children's Fiction
Youth & Children's Nonfiction
Youth & Children's Poetry
How the lists will be compiled: You do not need to rank your titles. Each time a title is submitted it receives one vote. So, if many people submit the same title, it will be ranked higher on the list. Please attempt to assemble your lists without consulting the lists of others as that would skew the results.
FULL DINER PARTICIPATION WOULD BE APPRECIATED, but it you only know a couple books for a couple categories, submit as you feel comfortable.
If we don't want people to see our lists, we shouldn't post them here, or it will be inevitable that we'll see or read them in a moment of weakknees.
Email me... Pedro, is there anyway you could hook me up with something through the diner? I'm afraid that if they email my hotmail, stuff will get filtered out or missed...
People! Email your reading lists to blvdgirl wiggidy-wack at tastytronic.net. (Without the wiggidy-wack.)blvd, I'll email you at h0tmail with instructions of how to check it.
I started compiling some lists and it's harder than I thought it would be.
what if you feel a book could fit into two categories and should rightly be nominated for both?also, should we vote according to what we enjoy most or should we vote for works we feel should be the ten books read over all others in that category. universal importance vs. personal favorites?
I tend to favor personal favorites over universal importance for the diner list... I mean, if someone wants universal importance they can link to the modern library site listed above or some other critics choice list... But, that is up for Diner discussion.
I'm not sure about the one book on two lists thing... I think it would be best to just list it on one... Is the gray area between children's and youth fiction? What's the gray area? Maybe we can define it better for everyone.
In my mind a kid's book is like Mr. Bohm and the Herring or A Day with Wilbur Robinson. Books that have text, but also lots of illustrations. The Very Hungry Caterpillar might be at the low end of this category and another one that comes to mind is Where the Wild Things Are. Whereas youth fiction is stuff like Judy Blume, The Hardy Boys, A Wrinkle in Time, Roald Dahl, Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, Little House on the Prairie, etc.
i think the lines blur between youth fiction and adult fiction. say, harry potter. i guess those should go into youth, but they also...shouldn't. and then also, fiction and non-fiction. the bell jar, for instance. this is technically fiction. but it is also vividly based on her life. angela's ashes is another example of that, though i haven't read it so can't make too many claims on it.and dr. suess books: children's fiction or poetry?
sorry to make something fairly straightforward into a circus.
I'd list Harry Potter as youth (though it is greatly enjoyed by adults). Wasn't it CS Lewis that said that any children's book worth reading ought to be worth reading for adults as well? (Poor and wordy paraphrase of something I think I heard said...)
Bell-Jar- I'm going fiction.
Angela's Ashes is nonfiction.
Dr. Suess- I could go either way. What do you think?
If it turns out that Dr. Seuss places in two categories, that just represents our tastes all the more. But that's just me.
i've been working on my lists...really.I was lookign at other lists the other day to formulate a christmas wishlist and i came across a list of best 100 books (fiction I guess) and everything ayn rand had ever written was in the top 10. There's something wrong with this picture...
she's dumb.
Lists are due Dec. 15, 2003.
Drama:
Full or one-act to be submitted in the same category. Up to ten names per person.
I realize that most of you are procrasinators and that I won't see these lists until midnigt on the 15th, but I wanted to remind you anyway.
act of faith, A-mi . . .
Now where are the lists from the rest of you punks?
That asked let's note the irony that I am a day late in checking for lists... Does it occur to anyone else as funny that I am enforcing a deadline (or sadly attempting to)? That I, in fact, spend a great part of every day educating the youth of this country about the importance of deadline and follow-through and responsibility. Ha! This from the girl who turned in a take-home final a year late in grad school (all that couple weeks here, couple weeks there in college was just a warm-up). And did I ever ask for an extension or offer any excuses? Nah- I just didn't turn stuff in until I did... Blessed star or something- I aced that final....
Enough irony. Get me those lists!
to have a list in by tonight, or tomorrow night at the lastest...really....
I still only have Jen's list.... Her list is good and my list is good- but if we want a list to represent the diner's recommendations, then we might want a little more variety... Just a thought.
i forgot my list in cali. the earliest i'll have it in hand is the first of the year. sorry, blvd.
i started from scratch today. I think it's easier just to write it quickly than to pore over it for days and days adding and removing books. Mine isn't necessarily a 'greatest books ever' list. It's more of a good-books-I-like reading list.
NEW DEADLINE--JAN. 5TH
I got your list Lukas. Thanks. The rest of you have four days....
Still only have lists from Lukas, Jen, and myself... Question: Are the rest of you planning on sending anything or not? If not, I will compile what I have, but if you are planning on doing it and just haven't yet, let me know so that I'll know that my waiting has a purpose/meaning....
it's not that hard and it was lots of fun to do!
I swear I have a list or two in various stages of composition . ..end of the week, tops
I got your list. Thanks.
Thanks!
You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here...
I'm going to put together the little I have on Sunday night and be done with it.
Blvd? I don't mean to be a pain but I'm in the market for a new book to read. Any word on the list status?
Pushy teacher gets slap on the wrist. Jen- I will get it done and up here this weekend. I might have to do a little cleaning around my desk first (in order to find those beautiful lists) but will get them up. Thanks everyone for your patience with me....
some recommendations:siddhartha. this book sent me on a renewed spiritual journey.
i've just picked up vonnegut for the first time and i'm crazy about it. i'm reading cat's cradle and it is fantastic.
have you read a prayer for owen meany? i've never heard of anyone disliking this book. it is endearing in many ways and the characters are so vivid and enjoyable making the book spring to life. if you read aloud to the girls, anna might really love this one in installments and with explanations. you may want to get a second opinion on that idea because i always think everything is suitable for children.
also, i'm sure you've read lysistrata before, what with your involvement in theatre, but i re-read it recently and was reminded of how good a play it is and also how modern it seems today.
good luck picking something enjoyable.
I have all those books, except for siddhartha! I should re read lysistrata I think. I love vonnegut too, but its been awhile since I read any.I'll go find meself siddhartha and try it next. Thanks!
You're right, she probably would like owen meany out loud. I'm just starting the secret garden with her... we read aloud for about an hour a day :)
Hey, can people still post lists? I never noticed tbis entree until now...
email me gary at blvdgirl at tastytr0nic dot n3t
A friend of mine, Julia, my dorm mate ( not in the same room but on the same floor) of Tsinghua University 1984-1988 was the queen on the campus. She hanged herself on July 28, 2003 after a divorce that she initiated herself a year before. She longed for freedom and her body finally rests in peace most decisively through her own will. What about the will of all men she loved before? i wonder...
My apologies Dex and other patient friends... I have let my guest bedroom become an absolute trash heap over the last several months, and the lists are buried in it... I could always print up new copies (and I will if it takes me too much longer to find them) but I'd rather not waste the ink if it can be helped as I am LOW and ink cartridges are expensive.... So soon.
A recommendation though Dex, have you ever read The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery. As a fan of the Anne books you may like it... I think it was the most melodramatic thing that she wrote, and it is hysterically funny and fun while still being sweet and readable. And another one, for Anna, The Paperbag Princess.
I'll look em both up!
I have the lists all compiled. I have them in a beautiful word document. I am going to try to transfer them onto here by category. With the html stuff- the lists as posted here may be less than beautiful....
These books were recommended by a fabulous nominating committee: barefootjumper, dex, JT, lukas, pmack, and myself.
Books are listed in alpha order by title. Authors are cited whenever possible. Poets are recommended by name, with specific works listed as deemed appropriate by the nominating committee.
1984 George Orwell
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
Brave New World Aldous Huxley
A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller, Jr.
The Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger
Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut
Cat's Eye Margaret Atwood
The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
Contact Carl Sagan
The Dead James Joyce
Franny and Zooey JD Salinger
Frankenstein Mary Shelley
Gravity's Rainbow Thomas Pyncheon
The Great Divorce CS Lewis
The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald
Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Heart of the Matter Graham Greene
Infinite Jest David Foster-Wallace
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Larry's Party Carol Sheilds
The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Leguin
Life of Pi Yann Martel
The Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkien
Mr. Ive's Christmas Oscar Hijuelos
The Myst Novels Rand Brothers
The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde
`O Pioneers Willa Cather
Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
The Pearl John Steinbeck
Perdido Street Station China Mieveille
Pobby and Dingan Ben Rice
A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
Riders of the Purple Wage Philip Jose Farmer
A Room With a View EM Forster
Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash Neal Stevenson
The Sot-Weed Factor John Barth
This Side of Paradise F Scott Fitzgerald
Traveling Mercies Anne Lamont
The White Plague Frank Herbert
The Wind Up Bird Chronicles Haruki Murakami
Winter's Tale Mark Helprin
World of Tiers, Volumes I & II Philip Jose Farmer
Most Recommended Book in this category: Franny & Zooey
from DeR0ul3t's Christian Lit. class.
The Dictionary
Blood Brother Father Elias Chacour
Buster Keaton's Biography (actual title & author not specified)
Cash Johnny Cash
Devotional Classics Richard J. Foster
Einstein's Theory of Relativity Max Born
The Elegant Universe Brian Greene
Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser
Food, Your Miracle Medicine Jean Carper
The Feminine Mystique Betty Frieden
Godel, Escher, Bach Douglas R. Hofstadter
I'm a Stranger Here Myself Bill Bryson
Into the Wild John Krakauer
Letters to a Young Poet Rainer Marie Rilke
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them Al Franken
Lost in the Cosmos Walker Percy
The Life You've Always Wanted John Ortberg
Me Talk Pretty One Day David Sedaris
Mountains Beyond Mountains Tracy Kidder
Picasso: A Biography Patrick O'Brien
The Politics Presidents Make Stephen Skowronek
QED Richard Feynman
The Road Less Traveled M. Scott Peck
Schoolgirls Peggy Orenstein
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Thomas Kuhn
Succulent Wild Woman SARK
A Walk in the Woods Bill Bryson
The World Split Open Ruth Rosen
these are great!
The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking Astrid Lindgren
Alice's Adventures on Wonderland Lewis Carroll
Anne of Green Gables LM Montgomery
The BFG Roald Dahl
The Blue Sword Robin McKinley
The Bridge to Terebithia Katherine Patterson
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl
The Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis
The Giver Lois Lowry
Harry Potter Series JK Rowling
The Hobbit JRR Tolkien
Island of the Blue Dophins Scott O'Dell
James and the Giant Peach Roald Dahl
The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe* CS Lewis
The Mad Scientists' Club Bertrand R. Brinley
The Mouse and the Motorcycle Beverly Cleary
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh Zena Bernstein
The Outsiders SE Hinton
The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster
The Prydain Chronicles Lloyd Alexander
Ramona the Brave Beverly Cleary
The Secret Garden Frances Hodges Burnett
Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing Judy Blume
Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt
Watership Down Richard Adams
Where the Red Fern Grows Wilson Rawls
The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar... Roald Dahl
A Wrinkle in Time Madeline L'Engle
* This book is one of the Chronicles of Narnia.
Adventures of Brer Rabbit Joel Chandler Harris
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible... Judith Viorst
Amelia Bedelia Peggy Parish
Are You My Mother? PD Eastman
A Day with Wilbur Robinson William Joyce
Encyclopedia Brown Series Donald J. Sobol
The Fantastic Mr. Fox Roald Dahl
The Giving Tree Shel Silverstein
Good Night, Gorilla Peggy Rathmann
Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brown
Guess How Much I Love You Sam McBratney
Harold and the Purple Crayon Crockett Johnson
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Lara Joffe Numeroff
Jumanji Chris Van Allsburg
The Little House Virginia Lee Burton
Madeline Ludwig Bemelmans
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel Virginia Lee Burton
Miss Nelson is Missing Harry G. Allard
The Monster at the End of this Book Jon Stone
Mr. Bohm and the Herring Peter Cohen
The Paper Bag Princess Robert M. Munsch
Pat the Bunny Dorothy Kunhardt
Runaway Bunny Margaret Wise Brown
The Story of Babar Jean De Brunhoff
The Story of Ferdinand Munro Leaf
Stuart Little EB White
The Tomten Astrid Lindgren
Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak
The Velveteen Rabbit Margery Williams
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle
Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake (Cookbook) Donald J. Sobol
The Hardy Boys Detective Handbook Franklin W. Dixon
The Guiness Book of World Records
Juggling for the Complete Klutz John Cassidy
The Way Things Work David McCauley
What is the Name of this Book? The Riddle... Raymond Smullyan
Special thanks to lukas, the only submitter for this category.
I've been looking for some new things to read lately, and this gives me lots of fodder.
Poets are listed alphabetically by last name. Specific works listed are suggestions from the nominating committee; however, all works by all of these poets are recommended.
Maya Angelou
Elizabeth Bishop The Complete Poems 1927 - 1979
Richard Brautigan The Pill vs. the Springhill Mine Disaster
Elizabeth Barrett Browning Sonnets from the Portuguese
Robert Bly Eating the Honey of Words
e.e. cummings
Emily Dickinson
TS Eliot The Waste Land
Robert Frost The Road Not Taken and Other Poems, Country Things and Other Poems
Frederico Garcia-Lorca Poet in New York
Homer The Odyssey
Langston Hughes
Edna St. Vincent Millay Renaissance, A Few Figs from Thistles
Pablo Neruda Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
Dorothy Parker
Sylvia Plath
Edgar Allen Poe Complete Tales and Poems
Rainer Marie Rilke
Carl Sandberg Selected Poems
Sappho
Anne Sexton Transformations
William Shakespeare Sonnets
Walt Whitman Leaves of Grass
James Wright Above the River
WB Yeats
Various The Psalms
Dr. Suess Recommendations:
The Cat in the Hat
Fox in Socks
Green Eggs and Ham
Horton Hears a Who
The Lorax
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Yertle the Turtle
Other Recommendations:
Roald Dahl Revolting Rhymes
Ogden Nash Food
Jack Prelutsky The Dragons are Singing Tonight
Shel Silverstein A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends
Robert Lewis Stevenson A Child's Garden of Verses
Various Poems to Read the Very Young
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea John P. Shanley
A Doll House Henrik Ibsen
Fools Neil Simon
Hatfull of Rain
The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
Lysistrata Aristophanes
Much Ado About Nothing William Shakespeare
A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams
Tartuffe Moliere
True West Sam Sheppard
Twelfth Night William Shakespeare
The Zoo Story Edward Albee
The Atlantic Monthly
Found Magazine
That's all she wrote... Enjoy!
Unsolicited Periodical sounds like a good name FOR a periodical.
good call Dex.sorry i didn't participate in this. although, i don't know much that i would have contributed, other than the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card.
is there any way to get my hands on the word file of those lists?my e-mail is my tastytronic name at hotmail.
thanks, amy, for compiling the lists!
I'm sending an attachment your way
You did a fantastic job, Amy. I just rediscovered the fixings of my lists somewhere in a pile of class notes.All of you should go read Richard Russo right now! (Long story short)
I also would like to have these on Word file; email's on my user page.
and if I haven't said it before, aloha, sister Amy!
email them to me as a plaintext document, and I will put them up on the web. That way, people can email you additions, you can add them, and I will upload the new version. I could even teach you how, if you're interested in learning.
Save As text in Word, or use Notepad.
Okay, I know I was at the limit in each category, but I can't believe I left out these two books: How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell and The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. I wore my copy of HTEFW out I read it so often.
I didn't see your email on your user page (or at least not on your personal info page- they may be different things). Email me at blvdg1rl at t@stytronic dot n3t and I will reply with the word attachment. Same goes to anyone else who wants it.
Would you all like to try compiling a movie recommendations list? If you're interested, go ahead and post category suggestions on here. Then, after getting your feedback, I'll post submission guidelines.