Help! Fun help, I think!

[kate]

Hello there dwircle! Apologies for being absent. Life is absolutely bonkers and I shall not get into it right now because I have a task and it is a happy thing for a Saturday and a way to not think about work.

My nephew is turning 17 next Saturday. My older sister got him a poster of 100 books he should read (I think that's just a list and the poster isn't just... a big blob of text? I hope???) and 6 books off the list.

* To Kill a Mockingbird
* Grapes of Wrath
* The Shadow of the Wind
* Lord of the Flies
* The Da Vinci Code
* War and Peace

I also bought 8 books off the list.

* The Phantom Tollbooth
* The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
* Beloved
* Brave New World
* The Color Purple
* 1984
* The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
* The Little Prince

And then thought... you know what? I have books that I thought were worthy and changed my life. Important books to me, books that brought insight or just taught me new ways to look at things or just deeply affected me at different points in my life (as the 8 above had).

* The Lost Language of Cranes (David Leavitt)
* Blink (Malcolm Gladwell)
* Equal Rites (Terry Pratchett)
* Written on the Body (Jeannette Winterson)
* I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou)
* Nop's Trials (Daniel McCaig)
* Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)

I asked my wife, her friends, my friends, and their friends.

* Into the Wild (Jon Krakauer)
* Passage (Connie Willis)
* Wicked (Gregory Maguire)
* The Alchemist (Paulo Coehlo)
* The Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson)
* The Folk Keeper (Franny Billingsley)
* The Art of War (Sun Tsu)
* The Dogs of Babel (Carolyn Parkhurst)

And now I am asking you fine folks. What books would you add here? Books that brought you joy, challenged you, taught you something, or made you feel something? He loves to read, so while he might not read everything, he will try, and I want to give him as wide a variety of authors and subjects as possible. Your help is GREATLY appreciated. Also, wax lyrical about your fave books, fam, I want to hear it. <33333

Comments

[lomedet]

You are most welcome!

and I forgot one: Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein

(for my own sanity, I'm trying to read mostly works by women/non-cis-men these days, so I'm not entirely surprised that this was the list I came up with)

[lomedet]

and of the list:

I have read Pride & Prejudice, The Wood Wife, and The Daughter of Time so many times that the books have fallen apart.

36 Arguments...is the novel I recommend when people/students ask me for a good, thinky read

I read The Sparrow at the start of grad school and it deeply shaped how I think about grief and accountability


He, She and It is Jewish mysticism + chosen family + reflection on the responsibilities and dangers of technological advancement, and a compellingly drawn near-ish future

The Bone People was assigned in my first year of college. It was deep and challenging and amazing and I have never been able to bring myself to re-read it.

Code Name Verity is both an exercise in having your expectations turned on your head, and a powerful meditation on friendship.

[kate]

Thank you thank you! These all sound amazing, I have added them to nephew's list but will likely pick up a few myself!