Freya North is the author of many bestselling novels including The Turning Point. One of her six best books, as shared at the Daily Express:MISTER PIP by Lloyd JonesRead about the other books on the list.
A slim novel that’s compelling and exquisitely written. It’s about a teacher, the only white man on an idyllic island, who has only one book to teach from. It’s Great Expectations which is my favourite Dickens. Some bits are shocking, others are uproariously funny.
Vivian Gornick's latest book is The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir. One of four books that changed the author, as shared at the Sydney Morning Herald:Sons and Lovers by D. H. LawrenceRead about the other books on the list.
I read this book three times between the ages of 20 and 35, each time identifying with another character, until at last I saw myself as the hero. This was the first book to teach me to think about the intimate relation between life and literature. It taught me to appreciate the fact that we find the books we need to read, at every stage of our lives that we can make the best use of them.
One of his six top books that offer as much practical education as entertainment value, as shared at the B&N Reads blog:Haunted, by Chuck PalahniukRead about the other entries on the list.
Anyone seeking a list of books to read in order to learn how to write would do well to include Haunted. The way it calls attention to its own structure—the main story is about a group of eccentric writers who agree to be locked away from the world for a period of time in order to force themselves to write their masterpieces, with the plot interrupted regularly by short stories written by the characters—coupled with the way Palahniuk explores the link between inspiration, personality, and creativity, make it a useful work for anyone trying to translate lived experiences into fiction.
Templeton from Charlotte’s Web by EB White and Garth WilliamsRead about the other entries on the list.
I’m sure many of you will be surprised that I didn’t choose Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web as my unappreciated hero. Charlotte is a kindly spider who, despite the spider typecast, saves Wilbur and her babies at the sacrifice of her own life. And don’t get me wrong, she is most definitely a hero but for this top 10, I chose Templeton as his character goes on so much more of a journey to heroism in this story. Stick with me and you’ll see.
Templeton is a grumpy rat and he is most definitely not a likeable character. He’s bad-tempered and selfish and even EB White describes him as having “no morals”. He needs so much coaxing to get on board to help save Wilbur’s life but despite that Templeton eventually proves himself a true hero when he abandons his ratty ways and helps save Charlotte’s babies.
See? What did I tell you? It’s all about Templeton’s journey.
At the Guardian, Harrison tagged her ten top depictions of British rain, including:Wuthering Heights by Emily BrontëRead about the other entries on the list.
The night Heathcliff disappears from the Heights, having overheard Cathy say that to marry him would “degrade” her, a violent thunderstorm adds to the novel’s already high foul-weather count. Cathy stays up all night, “bonnetless and shawlless”, calling for him in the rain. The next day she comes down with a fever that nearly kills her. The association between Heathcliff and bad weather persists – when his body is discovered, the window open, “his face and throat were washed with rain; the bed-clothes dripped, and he was perfectly still”.
Alanna of Trebond from the Song of the Lioness series by Tamora PierceRead about the other entries on the list.
Alanna’s skills as a knight come from years of hard training, working her way from an awkward young squire to the mythical figure of the Lioness Rampant. Every scrap of fighting in this red-headed heroine is learned and hard-earned. Alanna also holds a major place among my favorite heroines because she is the first heroine I remember reading about who dressed as a boy to go looking for a better destiny than the one society has given her. But, looking back, it’s also an awfully impulsive decision for a ruse that she has to spend years keeping up. When Alanna and her brother decide swap places, her twin winds up happily learning magic with no risk, while Alanna is left scrambling to figure out how to hide her true identity as puberty kicks in around a whole bunch of boys who are not quite so clueless that a few of them aren’t going to notice it happening.
For The Strand Magazine, Mike Dellosso tagged ten of "the most memorable and captivating novels featuring agents of the CIA," including:The Camel Club by David BaldacciRead about the other entries on the list.
In this first of the Camel Club books, we meet the major players—four misfits with checkered pasts who form a watchdog organization of sorts, investigating conspiracy theories. When they witness the murder of a Secret Service agent, things begin to ramp up. Baldacci is a master of writing page-turning conspiracy thrillers. There’s a bunch of other stuff that goes on in this story that complicates the plot and adds to the twists and turns.
Stiltsville, by Susanna DanielRead about the other entries on the list.
While taking place in a completely different time and place from Pride and Prejudice (late 20th-century Miami), I’d argue Daniel picks up where Austen left off, which is after the wedding vows have been exchanged. Stiltsville follows a marriage over many decades, from start to finish, and it’s incredibly wise, compassionate, and moving.
Silent Spring by Rachel CarsonRead about the other entries on the list.
An indelibly powerful exposé of the terrible effects of pesticides, this 1962 book shaped the burgeoning environmental movement. Carson is a phenomenally important writer, and this book is more relevant than ever. We seem to have forgotten the lessons she taught.
Read about the other entries on the list.The Year of Secret Assignments, by Jaclyn Moriarty
Three girls at a tony Australian school are forced to write letters to three boys at a somewhat more hurting Australian school. Moriarty is superb at brewing voices and terrifically deft with form—the book consists solely of things written by the characters in it, to each other or to themselves. My face hurt from grinning so much after I turned the last page.
Luckiest Girl Alive, by Jessica KnollRead about the other entries on the list.
The “mean girl” trope has been a staple for a long time, even after it was punctured in the titular Lindsay Lohan film. It’s become a bit of lazy shorthand: rich, plastic pretty girls are horrible and cruel. Few books explore what makes Mean Girls so mean in the first place, and even fewer bother to wonder what happens to Mean Girls after high school. Luckiest Girl Alive does both, and performs a remarkable trick by presenting a protagonist who is mean and difficult to like at first, then slowly humanizing her as her twisty and surprising story (trust us, you will think you’ve hit the twist—and then there is another twist) unfolds.
The Luxe, by Anna GodbersenRead about the other entries on the list.
It’s 1899, when we meet Manhattan socialite Elizabeth Holland…at her funeral, after she has drowned in the Hudson River after her carriage overturned. Sounds suspicious, doesn’t it? Flashback to before her death: Elizabeth and her sister Diana are the belles of the Manhattan social scene, and trying desperately not to let anyone know their family is broke. To save the family, Elizabeth is set to marry the handsome and rakish Henry Schoonmaker, who also happens to have stolen the heart of her best friend…but may be in love with Diana. Not that Elizabeth should mind, since she’s in love with her coachmen, Will (and so’s her maid, Lina). Things are getting confusing, and it sounds like there are plenty of people who’d like to see Elizabeth out of the way.
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