{"id":1335,"date":"2004-07-21T11:29:12","date_gmt":"2004-07-21T15:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=1335"},"modified":"2022-10-09T14:00:41","modified_gmt":"2022-10-09T18:00:41","slug":"50-essential-reads-by-contemporary-authors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=1335","title":{"rendered":"50 Essential Reads By Contemporary Authors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brought out by the Orange Prize for Fiction.<\/a> This list was “compiled by public vote”. Authors were also asked (later) to give their input.<\/p>\n

I’m not big on contemporary fiction – my taste is mercurial, and rather improvisational.<\/p>\n

But let’s take a look at the list. I’ll bold-type the ones I have read.<\/p>\n

THE LIVING LIBRARY OF TOP 50 ESSENTIAL CONTEMPORARY READS are (in alphabetical order by title):<\/b><\/p>\n

1. A Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez<\/p>\n

2. A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving <\/b> – one of my favorite books ever. I can count on one hand the books which made me dissolve into weeping at the very end. Owen Meany<\/i> is one. The other two are: Geek Love<\/i> by Katherine Dunn and Atonement<\/i> by Ian McEwan.<\/p>\n

3. A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth<\/p>\n

4. American Pastoral Philip Roth<\/p>\n

5. Atonement Ian McEwan<\/b> Hello!! I’ve written about the impact this book had on me before here<\/a> and here<\/a>. One of the saddest books I have ever read, and also one of the most masterful.<\/p>\n

6. Being Dead Jim Crace<\/p>\n

7. Birdsong Sebastian Faulks<\/p>\n

8. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Louis de Bernieres<\/p>\n

9. Cloudstreet Tim Winton – haven’t read it – but my friend Ted gave it to me a while back for a birthday. It’s on the “list”.<\/p>\n

10. Disgrace JM Coetzee<\/p>\n

11. Enduring Love Ian McEwan<\/p>\n

12. Faith Singer Rosie Scott<\/p>\n

13. Fingersmith Sarah Waters<\/p>\n

14. Fred and Edie Jill Dawson<\/p>\n

15. Fugitive Pieces Anne Michaels<\/p>\n

16. Girl with a Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier<\/p>\n

17. Grace Notes Bernard MacLaverty<\/p>\n

18. High Fidelity Nick Hornby <\/b> Love it.<\/p>\n

19. His Dark Materials Trilogy Philip Pullman<\/p>\n

20. Hotel World Ali Smith<\/p>\n

21. Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides<\/p>\n

22. Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie<\/p>\n

23. Misery Stephen King <\/b> It’s not my favorite Stephen King – but it’s up there! My favorite of his, hands down, is It<\/i>.<\/p>\n

24. Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow Peter Hoeg<\/p>\n

25. Money Martin Amis<\/p>\n

26. Music and Silence Rose Tremain<\/p>\n

27. Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit Jeanette Winterson <\/b> I’ve written about her before, too. (She’s also included in my Commonplace Book,<\/a> a couple of times over. Her writing is very quotable) I will read anything this crazy writer has ever written – even though her books over the last 10 years have descended into parody. But her early stuff: Sexing the Cherry<\/i>, and The Passion<\/i> are among my favorite books. Oranges are not the only fruit<\/i> is her memoir – one of her first books. (It tells you something about this writer’s massive EGO that her first book is a MEMOIR!!) Winterson is a lesbian, and she grew up in a cult of missionaries. It’s a very interesting story.<\/p>\n

28. Riders Jilly Cooper<\/p>\n

29. Slaughterhouse-five Kurt Vonnegut <\/b><\/p>\n

30. The Blind Assassin Margaret Atwood <\/b> Two thumbs down. Hated this book. Love Margaret Atwood, hated this book.<\/p>\n

31. The Corrections Jonathan Franzen – haven’t read it, but it’s on the “list”.<\/p>\n

32. The Golden Notebook Doris Lessing <\/b> Oh gimme a BREAK<\/p>\n

33. The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood <\/b> Now this is more like it. Margaret Atwood at her creepy best. Cat’s Eye<\/i> is still my favorite Atwood novel – but The Handmaid’s Tale<\/i> is a modern-day classic – I bet it will still be read long after her passing.<\/p>\n

34. The House of Spirits Isabelle Allende<\/p>\n

35. The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco<\/p>\n

36. The Passion Jeanette Winterson <\/b> One of my favorite books ever. I put it onto my list of “top historical fiction”. <\/a>Adore this book. It’s Winterson at her virtuoso very best.<\/p>\n

37. The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver <\/b> I read it. Couldn’t get into it. The story of the 1959 war for independence in the Belgian Congo? Should be right up my alley. Couldn’t get into it. Disappointment.<\/p>\n

38. The Rabbit Books John Updike I am embarrassed. I have never read the Rabbit books.<\/p>\n

39. The Regeneration Trilogy Pat Barker<\/p>\n

40. The Secret History Donna Tartt<\/p>\n

41. The Shipping News E Annie Proulx <\/b> One of my favorite books ever written. This book is in my heart forever. For many many personal reasons. I didn’t read this book. I LIVED it.<\/p>\n

42. The Tin Drum Gunter Grass<\/p>\n

43. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami<\/p>\n

44. The Women’s Room Marilyn French<\/p>\n

45. Tracey Beaker Jacqueline Wilson<\/p>\n

46. Trainspotting Irvine Welsh<\/b> Heh heh. Lots of fun.<\/p>\n

47. Unless Carol Shields<\/p>\n

48. What a Carve-Up Jonathan Coe<\/p>\n

49. What I Loved Siri Hustvedt<\/p>\n

50. White Teeth Zadie Smith<\/p>\n

(found this list via Book Slut<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brought out by the Orange Prize for Fiction. This list was “compiled by public vote”. Authors were also asked (later) to give their input. I’m not big on contemporary fiction – my taste is mercurial, and rather improvisational. But let’s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1335"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178020,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1335\/revisions\/178020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}