If you’re a bookworm (or you’ve just watched everything on Netflix) and want to spend some quality time catching up on the missing gaps in your reading list, here are a few books that will make you sound smarter at the next party you attend.
City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg – This tome was named the best book of last year by just about everyone, including The New York Times resident fiction-hater Michiko Kakutani, who hailed it for its “head-snapping ambition and heart-stopping power.” This debut novel, set in chaotic 1970s New York City, impresses until the final drop.The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – An explosion at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum kills the 13-year-old narrator’s mother, and the youngster wanders out of the wreckage in shock and in possession of the classic painting by Dutch painter Carel Fabritius. This thrilling bildungsroman takes us through a Dickensian landscape of places and people that will fill your days and nights with flights of fancy.Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace – The best writer of his generation may have taken his own life, but he left behind this magnum opus described as a “mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America.” This 1,088-page masterpiece in post-modernism will keep you in good company and in stitches for weeks.The Insanity Defense by Woody Allen
– The complete collection of the Wood-man’s short stories, many of which originally were published in The New Yorker. Despite the issues in Allen’s personal life, his comedy has dominated the last half-century, and his prose is as good as it gets. This one is perfect to be read in seclusion since you’ll be snorting with laughter at some of these classic stories from Getting Even, Without Feathers and Side Effects.
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville – Isn’t it time you finally read this classic, obsessive quest by Ahab for the Great White Whale? Sure, you know the opening line is “Call me Ishmael,” but do you know how the fish tale actually ends? I hereby grant you “special dispensation” to skim through the really dull sections about the construction of the whaling vessel.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy – This Pulitzer Prize winner is the story of a father and son trying to “carry the fire” through an apocalyptic journey, complete with cannibalism. With soaring poetic prose, it will have you weeping during its denouement.
Other recommended reads (adapted from The New York Times best-sellers list):
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – This Pulitzer Prize wining novel takes place during World War II. Marie-Laure LeBlanc is a blind French girl who, along with her father, must flee France after the Nazi invasion. Werner Pfennig is a German orphan in the coal mining town of Zollverein who eventually enters an elite Nazi military training school. Both have ties to the world of science and a Sea of Flames diamond. When they eventually cross paths, a soft explosion of tragedy, mystery and intrigue follows.The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins – The book everyone’s talking about. This psychological thriller features first-person narratives told by three separate women: Rachel, Anna and Megan. Set in London, Rachel, an unemployed alcoholic, is struggling to deal with the fact her husband left her for Anna, his mistress. Every day she passes by her former home to check on the new couple and begins to become infatuated with the life of a neighbor, Megan, whose mysterious disappearance has strong ties to Rachel and a drunken blackout.The Martian by Andy Weir – Weir first self-published The Martian, which has since become a major motion picture starring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott, in 2011. It’s the tale of astronaut Mark Watney, a botanist and mechanical engineer, who is stranded on Mars by his crew after an intense dust storm. Feared dead, Watney must use his skills in order to survive on the red planet. Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham – Grisham’s latest legal thriller features bourbon-swilling, cage-match-aficionado defense attorney Sebastian Rudd, operating out of a bulletproof van after his office was firebombed. He’s offended everyone from his ex-wife to the police to gang members, and his latest case has him defending a dropout accused of the sadistic double murder of two girls in a small town.
This article appears in Jan 6-13, 2016.