Fiction or non-fiction? JEEEEEEEEEZ. Okay, I answer with fiction.
- Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen. My fave novel in the English language. Social satire, funny, pointed. It loves its heroine but does not spare her the judgement and the character growth she must endure to be worthy of the love match she so wishes.
- The Hobbit, JRRRRRRRRR Tolkien. I have no idea what Peter Jackson did to this one, and I don’t want to discuss any version of this story other than the English prose one. This book is lovely when read aloud. It flows beautifully. I want someday to have that kind of mastery of my native tongue. And it is sweet and also shows us its hero growing and changing.
- The Use of Weapons, Iain M Banks. My favorite SF writer, a writer who simply never flinched or stopped inventing or wavered. This is a twisty tale with a revelation that will make you shout when you reach it, but your many many re-reads will prove that Banks earned it; he gave you all the clues; you should have seen it coming. What a book. What a moral point. Like all the best titles, this title has many many meanings in the context of the novel.
- Small Gods, Terry Pratchett. The late much-mourned PTerry was at his best when he was angry about something, and he was angry about something here. And yet it never stopped being funny. And full of reference to history and literature and itself.
- HMS Surprise, Patrick O’Brian. The one Aubrey & Maturin book I re-read, because it’s more contained than the others. My favorite of the best historical novel series I’ve ever read. (If it gets better than POB I will cry with joy.)
P&P is mine too! Basically any of Jane Austen’s as well as Northanger Abbey with I heart! I will have to check out The Use of Weapons!!
say you love me 