America, You Are the Biblioracle
Today, from 2-3:00 p.m., the Biblioracle will use his magical powers to recommend the next book you’ll love. Prior to that, a call-to-arms to save the plight of reading and an announcement about the 2012 Tournament of Books reader-judge contest.
Since last we met, the Biblioracle has an important new distinction: published novelist!
Or maybe it isn’t all that important. Truth be told, even with the well-wishes and congratulations and incredible opportunities to read in front of people who at least looked like they were paying attention, the birth of a book, in the grand scheme of things, just isn’t that big of a deal.
It’s not like I wasn’t previously aware of this fact. But to be on the receiving end of indifference has caused some bouts of insecurity, a creeping feeling of doubt as to whether the enterprise of writing is “worth it.”
I did some traveling to bookstores. At each store, I’d ask how things were going, and in three different stores I heard this: “We’re fighting the good fight.” I nodded my agreement, because there is no doubt that the fight is good and deserves to be fought. While an insecure debut novelist may doubt the worth of “it” for himself—the time it takes to produce his specific book—there is no doubt that books, in general, deserve the most vigorous possible defense.
But there is a subtext underneath this language, a subtext that says that while we are fighting the good fight, it is a fight we are sadly not winning. I hear this anecdotally from other sources, that books everyone figured would explode are fizzling, and more modest releases (such as my own) are barely making a sound. Oprah is off the air and the review space is shrinking. “Regular people” (non-readers) don’t have any thirst for book coverage, I’m told.
At first, this didn’t make sense, since the proliferation of book-related websites and writing is in a kind of boom phase, with more book-centric sites popping up all the time. I read more interesting writing about books than ever. But then I thought about it more. In a world where every subgroup can carve out its own parts of the Internet, book people risk becoming tribal, insular—the web becomes a fortress in which we pore over our treasures, which we don’t do enough to share with those outside the walls.
We book people are strong. We are passionate. But let’s face it, we are not legion.
Ask yourselves, how many people in your lives can’t play the Biblioracle game because they can’t actually remember the last five books they’ve read because it’s been so long since they read a single book, let alone five? If you’re like me, it’s too many. We book people are strong, we are passionate. But let’s face it, we are not legion.
We should be, though. At some point, every single American, every human being on the planet, more than anything, wanted to hear a story. Each human begged his or her parents for one more page before the lights went out. And then when they themselves learned to read, the world looked a little bit larger.
My hope is that most people just need a reminder of that fact, a re-ignition of that feeling, and all it takes is the right book.
So here’s what I’m asking you to do. After you receive your book recommendation from me, become the Biblioracle for someone else. Someone who is not a member of the tribe. Think of that person and imagine what they should read. Then when you go to acquire the book I recommend for you, grab that book for this other person and give it to them and say, “You really should read this because you’ll enjoy it, and you’ll thank me later.”
It’s easy to do. Visit your local bookstore, preferably an independent, and buy a copy. If you’re a Kindler, give the book as a gift to that person. All you need is their email address; all they need is a smart phone or tablet. If you’re a library user, check out an extra book. If you can’t afford to buy a new book, give one from your personal stash.
Honestly, let’s do this. Let’s make a start.
Now, two announcements before we begin: First, to play the game, leave a comment below with the last five books you’ve read, and I’ll reply with your next great read (my credentials have previously been explained). Given how many people tend to participate, the comments section will be open for only one hour today, 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET, Wednesday, November 2, 2011. Anyone who files their request during that hour, I’ll do my best to give a recommendation. As always, you can reach the Biblioracle at biblioracle@gmail.com or @biblioracle on Twitter.
Our second announcement: The planning for TMN’s 2012 Tournament of Books is well under way, and you’ll have a chance to become a judge. Keep an eye on the website and TMN’s Twitter feed (@themorningnews) for a contest in the next couple weeks.
List the last five books you’ve read, and the Biblioracle tells you what to read next.
These comments are now closed.
270 comments
Biblioracle! What a relief!
Here's the latest:
Bluets by Maggie Nelson
Nets by Jen Bervin
Alibis by Andre Aciman
A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman
The Glass House - Simon Mawer
Biblioracle me, Biblioracle!
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud
Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirley
The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
Thank you!
Await Your Reply - Dan Chaon
The Lazarus Project - Aleksandar Hemon
Your Face Tomorrow Volume 3 - Javier Marias
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter - Mario Vargas Llosa
Any Human Heart - William Boyd
Journey to the End of Night - Celine
This looks fantastic! Thank you.
Big Machine-Victor Lavalle
Blue Flower-Penelope Fitzgerald
Angels-Denis Johnson
A Visit from the Goon Squad-Egan
So Long, See you Tomorrow-William Maxwell
Thanks so much!
The Lonely Polygamist - Brady Udall
number9dream - David Mitchell
Skippy Dies - Paul Murray
Dark Places - Gillian Flynn
The Fates Will Find Their Way - Hannah Pittard
The Man in My Basement - Walter Mosley
So Much Pretty - Cara Hoffman
The Postmortal by
Drew Magary
White Teeth by Zadie
Smith
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
Thank you!!!
A frequent customer, right?
The Book of Life - Stuart Nadler
Oh yea, it makes my day seeing a biblioracle google alert. And your recommendation, as always, sounds great.
My last five books not read for class were:
Leaving the Atocha Station – Ben Lerner
The Drowned World – J.G. Ballard
Chocky – John Wyndam
Total Eclipse – John Brunner
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula LeGuin
This might be a little skewed because it's for class and part of the Biblioracle magic is knowing what you've chosen to read, but, it looks to me like you're read for:
The Devil all the Time - Donald Ray Pollack
The last 5 books I have read:
Death Comes for the
Archbishop by Willa Cather.
Middlemarch by
George Eliot.
The Voyage Out by
Virginia Woolf.
The Age of Innocence by
Edith Wharton.
Work by Louisa May
Alcott.
A diet of classics. I'm going to give you a living author.
Cruddy - Lynda Barry
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
The Tragedy of Arthur by William Shakespeare: The First
Modern Edition of His Lost Play, with an Introduction and Notes by Arthur
Phillip
Been Down So Long It Looks like Up To Me by Richard Farina
Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
already read this and liked it. thanks!
American Salvage - Bonnie Jo Campbell
Thanks 2x!
Erica, I just finished Jean Thompson's The Year We Left Home, which reminded me strongly of Olive Kittredge and I highly recommend it. (Lonely Polygamist is one of my recent reads, too).
Thanks Kristin!
We're up and going. Please do take the introductory message to heart and buy a book for someone who doesn't normally read books. Dare I suggest a certain recently released novel that The Daily Beast named one of the best debuts of the Fall. I dare: http://www.amazon.com/Funny...
Now, let's bring it on!
Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys; Freedom, Jonathan Franzen; Essays, Montaigne; A Criminal History of Mankind, Colin Wilson; Koba the Dread, Martin Amis.
A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters - Julian Barnes
Lola California by Edie
Meidav
The Instructions by Adam
Levin
The Sisters Brothers by
Patrick DeWitt
The Woman in the Dunes by
Kobo Abe
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
My gut says JR - Willam Gaddis, though my other gut says I shouldn't recommend another door stop. Still, I'm going to listen to my first gut and stick with JR.
Wonderful idea!
Aurorarama - Jean-Christophe Valtat
1493 - Charles Mann
Luminous Airplanes - Paul La Farge
Cain - Jose Saramago
Pirate King - Laurie R. King
-Laura S., Boston
Caleb's Crossing - Geraldine Brooks
I actually forgot I did this and didn't come back until today. It's like a time capsule! This looks awesome, definitely going to check out this book.
-L
The Marriage Plot – Eugenides
The Warmth of Other Suns – Wilkerson
Matterhorn – Marlantes
Unbroken – Hillenbrand
Rodin’s Debutante – Ward Just
Skippy Dies - Paul Murray
“Mockingjay” by Suzane Collins
“Edinburgh” by Alexander Chee
“The Brief History of the Dead” by Kevin Brockmeier (one of your divinations)
“1Q84” by Haruki Murakami
“The Marriage Plot” by Jeffrey Eugenides
Everything Matters! - Ron Currie Jr.
Oh no! You've actually given me that same one before! Fortunately, for the sake of your credentials, it was a great read.
How about:
Miss Peregrine's home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
yikes. sorry for the wacky spacing.
David Foster Wallace - “The Pale King”
Bret Easton Ellis - “Lunar Park”
John Williams - “Stoner”
Alex Shakar - “Luminarium”
Tao Lin - “Richard Yates”
Kapitoil - Teddy Wayne
Hi there, I'm excited about getting outside my own head to get a new book recommendation. It goes down the list to end with most recent read. Thanks very much!
Busy Monsters by William Giraldi
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
How To Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by
Charles Yu
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Geek Love - Katherine Dunn
Under a Glass Bell, Anais Nin
A Lover's Discourse, Barthes
Macbeth, Shakespeare
The Annotated Waste Land, Eliot
Nightmare Alley, William Lindsay Gresham
Thanks again so much!
Heavy stuff. We'll lighten up, but with substance that I think you'll dig.
Ship of Fool - William Trowbridge
Hi, first time Biblioracle user. This is a wonderful offer!
The last five books I've read are:
The Magicians, by Lev Grossman
The Slap, by Christos Tsiolkas
The Keep, by Jennifer Egan
Air, by Geoff Ryman
Iron Council, by China Mieville
Look forward to your response, and thanks again!
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter - Tom Franklin
Here are my last 3 reads:
Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin
George Saunders, In Persuasion Nation
Shawn
Home Land - Sam Lipsyte
Hey John, thanks for doing this! I'm currently reading Irving's THE WATER-METHOD MAN (which you recommended at your reading in DC) but the last five books I read were:SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY by Gary Shteyngart
REAMDE by Neal Stephenson
MISADVENTURE by Millard Kaufman
LAST EVENINGS ON EARTH by Roberto Bolano
YOU LOST ME THERE by Rosecrans Baldwin
Another McSweeney's release: Fever Chart - Bill Cotter
A Visit From the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
The Imperfectionists - Tom Rachman
The Magicians - Lev Grossman
This will either be a home run, or a total whiff, but I'm swinging for the fences.
House of Leaves - Mark Danielewski
The Corrections
Leviathan Wakes
All The Pretty Horses
The Wilding
The City & The City
Thanks in advance!
The Signal - Ron Carlson
When She Woke, Hillary Jordan
On a Day Like This, Peter Stamm
Now Is The Hour, Tom Spanbauer
Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man, Bill Clegg
Maurice, E.M. Forster
Edinburgh - Alexander Chee (TMN's own!)
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
The Tragedy of Arthur by William Shakespeare: The First
Modern Edition of His Lost Play, with an Introduction and Notes by Arthur
Phillip
Been Down So Long It Looks like Up To Me by Richard Farina
See above.
The Avian Gospels (Book I) by Adam Novy
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Atlas Of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky
Maps And Legends by Michael Chabon
Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris
Thanks a bunch in advance.
Hard Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World - Haruki Marukami
(Everyone should also check out The Avian Gospels (listed above) by my old high school classmate, Adam Novy)
Thanks. It's been on my to-read list. I'll have to move it up a couple spots now.
I'd say this is a test comment, but the truth is I just want me some Biblioracle.
The God of the Hive, Laurie King
Threats, Amelia Gray
Nocturnes, Kazuo Ishiguro
Possession, A.S. Byatt
1Q84, Haruki Murakami
Gotta please the boss.
Ask the Dust - John Fante
I believe we have this at home, Rosecrans! Check the shelf. If not, it will be at my parents' house. But we will buy a book from an indie bookstore regardless!
David Foster Wallace - “The Pale King”
Bret Easton Ellis - “Lunar Park”
John Williams - “Stoner”
Alex Shakar - “Luminarium”
Tao Lin - “Richard Yates”
Think I got this one above. Some technical bobbles in the comments, I think.
Last Five –
Fat Cat by Robin Brande
If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster
Ladies with Options by Cynthia Hartwick
Heat Rises by Richard Castle
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Case Histories - Kate Atkinson
The last 5 books I've read. Although I'm still reading The Marriage Plot...
The Marriage Plot
Seeing by Jose Saramago (and I hated it, although I loved Blindness. Go figure)
Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee
Sick Puppy by Carl Hiassan (I was in Florida!)
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
A Friend of the Family - Lauren Grodstein
That sounds great! Thank you!
The 80/10/10 Diet, by Douglas Graham
Before I Go to Sleep, S. J. Watson
Abandon, Meg Cabot
Squeeze Play, Jane Leeves
The Mockingbirds, Daisy Whitney
Dark Places - Gillian Flynn
The last five books I've read: Alan Bradley's I am Half-Sick of Shadows; N.K. Jemisin's The Kingdom of Gods; Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races; Haruki Murakami's 1Q84; and Kate Atkinson's Case Histories (that one was a reread).
In the Woods - Tara French
I've already read that, but I loved it, so good recommendation! Thanks!
Your last recommendation to me, Walker Percy's THE MOVIEGOER, was pretty amazing. So thanks very much.
My last 5, in order from most recent:
1) IN COLD BLOOD - Capote
2) RED HARVEST - Hammett
3) A SPORT AND A PASTIME - Salter
4) CRASH - Ballard
5) THE DEVIL AND SHERLOCK HOLMES - Grann
The Sportswriter - Richard Ford
Reamde, Neal Stephenson
Lightning Rods, Helen DeWitt
Easy Chain, Evan Dara
Art of Cruelty, Maggie Nelson
Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach
Against the Grain - Huysmans
(Not the easiest read, but you'll dig it.)
Love this - and, love reading, and getting a good new book recommendation. My five most recent reads are Kate Atkinson's Started Early, Took my Dog; Tana French's Faithful Place; Sophie Hannah's The Dead Lie Down; Jo Nesbo's The Snowman; Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife. I loved them all, but the four first mysteries the most (especially Atkinson, and French).
Here's a fun book-related mystery.
The Thieves of Manhattan - Adam Langer
Thank you!
Thanks for your last recommendation (see below) and for doing this again; love it!
Savages by Don Winslow
God on the Rocks by Jane Gardam
The Thousand by Kevin Guilfoile (a previous biblioracle rec. Loved it!)
Finder Library v. 1 GN by Carla Speed McNeil
The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson
I'd Know You Anywhere - Laura Lippman
John, I just finished this, though I bought it just after you recommended it. Devoured it in two days. Tense, and really satisfying. Thanks for the rec!
The Sense of and Ending - Julian Barnes
Shine - Lauren Myracle
The Night Circus - Lauren Morgenstern
The Magician King - Lev Grossman
Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
Having a hard time getting this to nest:
The Stranger's Child - Allan Hollinghurst
Thanks!!!
My List:
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Beowulf
Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith
My friend showed me this today, and I think it's a great idea and so thoughtful of you! Thanks for doing this!
Oh, Ripley. My favorite series ever.
Elegy for April - Benjamin Black
Dear John,
Here are my last 3 reads:
Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin
George Saunders, In Persuasion Nation
Thanks for forecasting my next book.
Shawn
Evolution Man - Roy Lewis
(A truly forgotten classic.)
Hey! I'm hoping you have a great recommendation. Here's what I've just read: The Marriage Plot (Eugenides), Arkansas (Brandon), Varieties in Disturbance (Davis), Heaven in Mercury (Watson), and Perseopolis (Satrapi).
Not sure why this is coming to me. No rational reason, but then again, these things aren't rational:
Ironweed - William Kennedy
Thank you! Running up to my local bookstore right now.
My most recent 5:
1) The Poisonwood Bible (reading now)
2) The Night Circus
3) In the Garden of Beasts
4) The Submission
5) The Art of Fielding
Nobody's Fool - Richard Russo
This one's for my book group, which reads mostly fiction with themes of myth/religion:
Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Mrs. Dalloway
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
History of Love by Nicole Krauss
God Is Dead - Ron Currie Jr.
The Stranger's Child (currently)
The Marriage Plot
Back When We Were Grownups
Framley Parsonage
Ghost Light
(I'll be curious to see if you come up with one of the three on top of my TBR pile!)
This isn't on your TBR list, but it should be!
Some Tame Gazelle - Barbara Pym
(Join the cult of Pym, people.)
Oooh goody. Excellent Women has been buried down in the middle of my list for months, but I'll order STG immediately. Thanks so much--what you're doing is truly a public service.
1) Free for All: Joe Papp, The Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told - Kenneth Turan
2) A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
3) Tabloid City - Pete Hamill
4) Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
5) An Object of Beauty - Steve Martin
Thanks!
The Clown - Heinrich Boll
(I'm on the lookout every time for someone to recommend this book to.)
The Fates Will Find Their Way - Hannah Pittard
People of Paper - Salvador Plascencia
The Family Fang - Kevin Wilson
Bossypants - Tina Fey
Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
I'm game! I've read a lot of NF lately, but would like a good fiction rec, if possible. I'll also take NF if you've got something too good to pass up. Thanks!
A Chicken in Every Backyard
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Lit by Mary Karr
Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
An Instance of the Fingerpost, Ian Pears
Absurdistan, Gary Shteyngart
Perdido Street Station, China Mieville
The Wings of the Dove, Henry James
Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu
60 Stories by Donald Barthelme
Pastoralia by George Saunders
Descent of Man by T.C. Boyle
The Dick Gibson Show - Stanley Elkin
I love the Biblioracle! Last 5:
"Jayber Crow" - Wendell Berry
"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" - Junot Diaz
"A Confederacy of Dunces" - John Kennedy Toole
"Mind's Eye" - Oliver Sacks (non-fiction)
"The Future of Life" - E.O. Wilson (non-fiction)
You Deserve Nothing - Alexander Maksik
Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - Mitchell
Charmed Thirds - McCafferty
Edible History of Humanity - Standage
Girls Don't Fly - Chandler
Cosmicomics - Calvino
Thank you!
Domestic Violets - Matthew Norman
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
Netsuke by Rikki Ducornet
Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette
Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines
Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross
Miss Lonelyhearts - Nathanael West (often paired with The Day of the Locust, also recommended.)
The Stranger's Child - Alan Hollinghurst
The Art of Fielding - Chad HarbachA Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin
Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
The Magician King - Lev Grossman
The Adults - Allison Espach
A Dance With Dragons
Freedom
The Devil In the White City
Stranger Than Fiction
Nine Stories
Day for Night - Frederick Reiken
Thanks!
John Updike "Of the Farm"
Jane Austen "Persuasion"
Jack London "To Build a Fire"
Jane Austen "Lady Susan"
Tea Obreht "The Tiger's Wife"
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
One of my favorites :)
Yay! What a nice surprise this afternoon.
The Stranger's Child, Hollinghurt
State of Wonder, Ann Patchett
White Tiger, Aravind Adiga
Private Life, Jane Smiley
Ms Hempel Chronicles, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
Thanks.
We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver
Hi Biblioracle,
Cat'sTable -Ondaatje
Chronic City - Lethem
The Sentamentalists - Johanna Skibsud
Feather Woman of the Jungle - Amos Tutola
Drown - Junot Diaz
Thanks for you suggestion. I really enjoyed the last one.
Take CareDarren
Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri
Smilla's Sense of Snow - Peter Hoeg
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again - David Foster Wallace
American Born Chinese - Gene Luen Yang
Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance - Lloyd Jones
Anne's House of Dreams - L.M. Montgomery
The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon
ZONE ONE by Colson Whitehead
LONG DRIVE HOME by Will Allison
THE TASTE OF SALT by Martha Southgate
THE SUBMISSION by Amy Waldman
36 ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
Thanks, Biblioracle!
My New American Life - Francine Prose
Thanks! I have read and enjoyed a couple of other books by Prose, but I haven't picked that one up yet.
Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
War - Sebastian Junger
The Finkler Question (ugh) - Howard Jacobson
Drama - John Lithgow
On Beauty - Zadie Smith
Open City - Teju Cole
Yay! Thank you Biblioracle!
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me
City of Thieves- Benioff
Too Loud a Solidute- Hrabal
The Anthology of Rap
A Moment in the Sun - Sayles
Lush Life - Richard Price
Revenge of the Radioactive Lady - Stuckey
Cutting for Stone - Verghese
Case Histories - Atkinson
Imperfectionists - Rachman
Long Walk to Freedom - Mandela
The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey EugenidesThe Land of Green Plums - Herta MüllerA Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America - Michael E. McGerrA Place of Greater Safety - Hilary MantelThe Possessed - Elif Batuman
Comedy in a Minor Key - Hans Keilson
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman
Just Kids by Patti Smith
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Thank you!
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
Infinite Jest. DFW
A Confederacy of Dunces. John Kennedy Toole
Gentlemen of the Road. Micael Chabon
In Cold Blood. Truman Capote.
Glass Bead Games. Hermann Hesse
Edwin Mullhouse - Steven Millhauser
I'm so excited to participate as I missed the last one!!
Here's my list:
1. The Greater Journey - Americans in Paris
2. The House of the Spirits
3. A Visit from the Goon Squad
4. Jude the Obscure
5. Brideshead Revisited
The Last Brother - Nathacha Appanah
Trying again with hopes for better formatting
The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey EugenidesThe Land of Green Plums - Herta Müller
A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America - Michael E. McGerr
A Place of Greater Safety - Hilary Mantel
The Possessed - Elif Batuman
Think I got this one.
Blue Nights (Joan Didion)
Feynman (Jim Ottaviani)
The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor (Robert Kirkman) [I know: A lapse in taste.]
Henry IV, Part I (Shakespeare)
Johnny Tremain (Esther Forbes)
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky - Heidi Durrow
1. The Third Policeman - Flann O'Brien
2. City of Bohane - Kevin Barry
3. Assumption - Percival Everett
4. Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach
5. Tanners-Robert Walser
Bad Marie - Marcy Dermansky
Blake Butler, There in No Year
John D'Agata, About a Mountain
Gary Lutz, Divorcer
Teju Cole, Open City
Joshua Cohen, A Heaven of Others
Remainder - Tom McCarthy
The Magicians – Lev Grossman
The Unnamed – Joshua Ferris
Motherless Brooklyn – Jonathan Lethem
A Visit From the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan
Carter Beats the Devil – Glen David Gold
Thanks again!
Blame - Michelle Hunevan
You’ve already introduced me to two amazing books I might never have read otherwise, so I’m thrilled the Biblioracle is back. I’m already going through my stash to see what I can foist upon friends.
Maugham, The Painted Veil
William Gay, Twilight
Larry Brown, Father and Son
Richard Ford, Rock Springs
Rick Bass, Platte River
The Name of the Nearest River - Alex Taylor
The Power of Six
The Red Pyramid
Wader Rant
Perks of Being a Wallflower
East
Cast of Shadows - Kevin Guilfoile
Thanks, John! I put this on for a student of mine who will be delighted with your suggestion. Much appreciated!
Alright, Biblioracle, let's see what you've got:
John Adams by David McCullough
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llywellyn
The Real James Herriot by James Wight
The Robe by Lloyd Douglas
9 Stories by J. D. Salinger
We got: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Skippy Dies - Paul Murray
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
Away - Amy Bloom
The Magician King - Lev Grossman
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Thanks!
The Invisible Bridge - Julie Orringer
That looks fantastic, thank you!
Yay! I always look forward to your recommendations.
The Hour I First Believed - Lamb, Wally
Bound - Gunning, Sally
The Cookbook Collector - Goodman, Allegra
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - Mitchell, David
The Windup Girl - Bacigalupi, Paolo
Thanks!
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name - Vendela Vida
Good call - I already enjoyed that one very much. :) If there's a chance to get an alternate rec, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, I'll just catch you next time.
Thanks!
From oldest to newest:
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, by Karen Russell
Magic for Beginners, by Kelly Link
In the Heart of the Sea, by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett
Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Lamb - Christopher Moore
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Annexed
19 Minutes
My Sister's Keeper
The End of Everything - Megan Abbott
Power of Six
I am Number 4
Michael vey
Order of the Odd Fish
Hunger Games
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran
The Silent Land by Graham Joyce
Dreadnought by Cherie Priest
Embassytown by China Mieville
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
Thanks,
Andrew
The Intuitionist - Colson Whitehead
That sounds great. Thanks!
Greetings Biblioracle!
The Book Thief
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
I Am the Messenger
A Mid Summer Night's Dream
Blueprints for Building Better Girls - Elissa Schappell
Thanks for helping me over hump day!
Kushiel's Chosen and Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Book of Night Women by Marlon James
The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart - Glenn Taylor
The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Naked - David Sedaris
Beloved - Toni Morrison
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing - Ted Conover
Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending
Alissa Grosso - Popular
John Warner - The Funny Man (coincidentally enough. and I quite enjoyed it!)
Joe McGinniss - The Miracle of Castel di Sangro
Colson Whitehead - Zone One
Thanks!
Such excellent taste.
The World According to Garp - John Irving
The Pale King, David Foster Wallace
Making the Mummies Dance, Thomas Hoving
House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
1Q84, Haruki Murakami
This is not a book I liked, but people who I trust liked it, and looking at your list, it could be just the thing for you.
2666 - Roberto Bolano
A Visit From the Goon Squad-Jennifer Egan
The Year of Magical Thinking-Joan Didion
Free For All: Joe Papp, the Public and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told-Kenneth Turan
Other People We Married-Emma Straub
Devil in the White City-Erik Larson
The Girl in the Flammable Skir - Aimee Bender
The Power of Six
The Help
Sarah's Key
Animal Farm
The Completely True Dairy of a Part Time Indian
I also LOVE Harry Potter and the Hunger Games
Another recommendation for The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
Hello Biblioracle!
shipbreaker ender's game
the power of six
the dead
plague
Let's go "harder" science fiction: The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick
Hello Biblioracle! Thanks for all of your recommendations!
Stardust- Neil Gaiman
Equal Rites- Terry Pratchett
Mort- Terry Pratchett
Souless- Gail Carriger
Poetics – Aristotle
The Postmortal - Drew Magary
Thanks! It looks great.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Game of Thrones by George R R Martin
Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
So excited I didn't miss the Biblioracle!
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mom Dies
The BFG
The Percy Jackson Series
The Hole We're In - Gabrielle Zevin
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Model Home - Eric Puchner
I have not read any books
Try The Funny Man by John Warner
But seriously, folks, how about - The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Thank you so much, I am reading and love this book....
Democracy - Joan Didion
Day for Night - Frederick Reiken
Although of course you end up becoming yourself - John Lipsky
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
Girl with a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier
Thank you!
The Submission - Amy Waldman
Bring it ... I can't wait! Congrats on the book!!
Cookbook Collector by Allegra
Goodman
Bird
Cloud by E Annie Proulx
Freedom
by Jonathan Franzen
Tis by
Frank McCourt
Coco
Chanel & Igor Stravinksy by Chris Greenhalgh
My Hollywood - Mona Simpson
Oooh, I didn't miss it this time!!
Reamde by Neal Stephenson
Remainder by Tom McCarthy
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Adventures of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
The Dawn Patrol by Don Winslow
Among the Dead - Michael Tolkin
Excellent! Here's mine:
The Magician King, Lev Grossman
Sensation, Nick Mamatas
A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism, Peter Mountford
Next, James Hynes
Hangover Square, Patrick Hamilton
How I Became a Famous Novelist - Steve Hely
The Funny Man
The Autograph Man
The Man with the Golden Arm
Falling Man
Pnin
Lot's of "Man" books.
Something to sink your teeth into: The Recognitions - William Gaddis
American Gods -- Neil Gaiman
Mary Poppins -- P.L. Travers
The Night Circus -- Erin Morgenstern
The Invention of Hugo Cabret -- Brian Selznick
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children --Ransom Riggs (which - caveat - I HATED and didn't even finish)
A classic: The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
OK...
A Month in the Country
Hello - thanks for doing this. Very happy to have an excuse to buy someone a book! Working backwards:
A visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
If nobody speaks of remarkable things by Jon McGregor (which I loved)
Blindness by Jose Saramago
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Go tell it on the mountain by James Baldwin
One Foot in Eden - Ron Rash
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Marriage Plot by Jeffery Eugenides
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Thank you!
The Plot Against America - Philip Roth
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Arthur Bradley
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
The Unconsoled, Kazuo Ishiguro
Night Train to Lisbon, Pascal Mercier
The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery (That one's courtesy of mother Biblioracle, who owned a bookstore for 22 years, and is the source of my gifts.)
At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow
Gilgamesh: A Verse Plan by Yusef Komunyakka
The Natural by Bernard Malamud
The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Gilead - Marilynn Robinson
Oops. Let's try again.
A Month in the Country - Carr
The Art of Fielding - Harbach
Flaubert's Parrot - Barnes
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - Mitchell
Siegfried - Mulisch
Tinkers - Paul Harding
Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman
Winter's Bone - Daniel Woodrell
Thanks so much for this! Here's my last five:
Pulphead by John Jeremiah Smith
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Fall Higher by Dean Young
The Extra 2% by Jonah Keri
Collected Stories by Amy Hempel
Thinking Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman
1. particular sadness of lemon cake by Aimee Bender
2. Room by Emma Donoghue
3. Father of the Rain by Lily King
4. Double bind by Bohjalian
5. Book of night women by Marlon James
The Buddha in the Attic - Julie Otsuka
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Essays by Anne Fadiman
Patience and Fortitude by Nicolas Basbanes
Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt
Thank you!
Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
West of Here by Jonathan Evison
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
The Archivist - Martha Cooley
Blake Butler, There is No Year
Joshua Cohen, A Heaven of Others
Teju Cole, Open City
Gary Lutz, Divorcer
John D'Agata, Halls of Fame
See down below
The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolano
Homage to Catalonia - Orwell
The Man who was Thursday - G.K. Chesterton
Moscow to the end of the Line - Venedikt Erofeev
The Chair - Galen Cranz
So glad I didn't miss it this time!
Rings of Saturn - W.G. Sebald
Sorry for my double Post!
The Dragon's Tooth (Ashtown Burials I) by N.D. Wilson
The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective by Richard Rohr
Blue Ice by Frank Ewert
Wisdom and Eloquence by Robert Littlejohn and Charles E Evans
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe.
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
Thanks!
Biblioracle, please!
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
War Dances by Sherman Alexie
Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
The Imperfections by Tom Rachman
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
Outstanding. Already was on the sizable to-read list. Will move it up. Thanks.
Illuminated Manuscripts by Christopher DeHamel
Descriptive Bibliographies by Fretson Bowers
Night of the Avenging Blowfish-
Lone Ranger and Tanto: Fistfight in Heaven- Sherman Alexie
Red Meat Cures Cancer- Starbuck O'Duire
Thank You for Smoking - Christopher Buckley
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Marriage Plot by Jeffery Eugenides
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Thank you!
Our Ecstatic Days - Steve Erickson
Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
Infinite Jest -David Foster Wallace
Babel-17 -Samuel Delany
Anything by DeLillo
Anything by Philip Jose Farmer
I am Legend - Richard Matheson
Okay, anyone who originally posts after this one, I'll have to get you next time. Meanwhile, I'll be working back to get a recommendation to everyone who posted prior to this message.
The Great Influenza John Barry
Shogun - Clavel
The Shining - Stephen King
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - helen Simonson
the book thief - markus zusak
Blake Butler, There is No Year
John D'Agata, Halls of Fame
Teju Cole, Open City
Gary Lutz, Divorcer
oh no oh no oh no am i too late???
Just in case, here are my most recent books:
Lightning Rods -- Helen DeWitt
A Song of Ice and Fire, all of 'em -- George R.R. Martin
The Family Fang -- Kevin Wilson
The Sun Also Rises
The Old Man and The Sea
The Tipping Point
Into Thin Air
The Beatles (Bob Spitz?)
Hope I didn't miss you!
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Room by Emma Donoghue
Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky
On the chance you're still open:
The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut
The Tiger's Wife - Tea Obrecht
A Visit From the Good Squad - Jennifer Egan
White Noise - Don Delillo
Listen to This - Ales Ross
Alright, gotta call it a day. Remember to pay it forward with a book for a non-reading loved one (or even just liked one). I'll see you all soon. Good reading!
The 5 books that I have read recently are:
As a Man Thinketh - James Allen
Anthem - Ayn Rand
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard BachA Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini