BOOKS

What would I do without books? I can't begin to imagine a world without literature or art. I have been reading constantly from the time I learned and my taste jumps all over the place, as long it is well written. I have gone through phases - one year I read nothing but science fiction, one month I read nothing but Raymond Chandler. Sometimes I get stuck in memoirs and biographies, sometimes it's historical novels. Some books were amazing when I first read them, but didn't stand the test of time. Others I have read several times and will probably read again. The books below are favorites. I can recommend them unconditionally - but beware, I have recommended all of them at one time or another, but they haven't always been loved the way I love them!

In no particular order, some of my favorite books:

The Brothers K - David James Duncan
The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh
In an Antique Land - Amitav Ghosh
Things Kept, Things Left Behind - Jim Tomlinson
The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Naipul
A Pugilist at Rest - Thom Jones
The Bone People - Keri Hulme
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Out of Africa - Isak Dineson
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein
Dune - Frank Herbert
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller, Jr.

In addition, here are some books I've read lately (or am currently reading). I can recommend these also. Only time will tell if they go on my favorite list.

Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant - Daniel Tammet
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - Ishmael Beah
Lost Girls and Love Hotels - Catherine Hanrahan
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland
Maus I & Maus II - Art Spiegelman
The Samurai Garden - Gail Tsukiyama
It Don't Mean Nothing - Sue O'Neill
True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey