“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… The man who never reads lives only one.”
George R. R. Martin
“No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.”
Mary Wortley Montagu
The story of my life would be a bibliography of the books I read and the stories that shaped me.
I’ve been reading at least fifty books a year since high school. Wherever I go, I always have at least one book with me—whether it’s in my purse, or an ebook or audiobook on my phone or ereader. I listen to audiobooks when commuting, cooking, exercising, folding laundry.
When I look at my phone, I’m not checking social media; I’m reading a book. (Or doomscrolling The Washington Post.)
“Luckily, I always travel with a book, just in case I have to wait in line for Santa, or some such inconvenience.”
David Levithan
Reading allows me to escape, to learn, to empathize, and to enhance my understanding of my world. I read to understand my own mind. I read to understand other people’s minds. I read to deepen my experience of this world, and to widen my understanding of what’s possible. Reading has enriched my life in so many ways.
My identity as a writer is a natural extension from my love of reading.
I was about eight years old when my parents first read The Neverending Story to me. The speech from the Gmork when he says the reason people are easy to control is because they are story-starved, they lack rich imaginations and therefore cannot imagine hopeful possible futures, and that Bastian’s gift was to bring stories to Fantastica. Man…from that moment I was hooked! This was my purpose in life.
(For the record, I’m not one of those Luddite snobs who thinks books are the “only” good entertainment. I’ve seen so many inspiring films, good video games, music, art, theater…inspiration comes in many forms. Reading and writing are just my preferred mediums.)
The Neverending Story was the first book that brought me wonder of what it would be to be a magician. From that moment on, I felt that spark of wonder. I wanted to get inside stories, learn how they worked, practice all the tricks, to be the magician so I could inspire that same wonder and excitement in others.
The books we like say a lot about us. The books we choose as our favorites say a lot about what we love, what we fear, and what ignites our curiosity.
What follows is a list of books that have influenced me. I’ve put them in alphabetical order by the author’s last name, and alphabetically by title.
Most of my reading these days is done through books I’ve purchased at library sales, from my library, or from the Libby library app. Find your local library either through worldcat.org or usa.gov. If you don’t find a book listed at your library, you can always request they add the book to their physical or digital catalogue.
Find your local bookstore here through Indie-Bound. Some of the older books are also available for free through Project Gutenberg.
“Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.”
Anne Herbert
Of course I would love to have you buy and read my books. But I’d also love it if you read any books. There are so many wonderful books out there. My books might not be for you, but I hope you find something that will.
“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.”
J. K. Rowling
If you like what you see, you might consider signing up for my newsletter. You’ll get a free short story, and periodic blog updates of book reviews and recommendations from books I enjoyed.
Books for the Wonder Years ~ Children’s, Middle Grade, and YA Stories I Love
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Dr. Seuss
“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.”
W. Somerset Maugham
Anderson, Hans Christian. Fairy Tales. — “The Little Match Girl.” “The Little Mermaid.” “Thumbelina.” “The Snow Queen.” “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” And the tragic story “Anne Lisbeth,” of a woman who had to abandon her own child in the countryside in order to be the wet-nurse to a wealthy family.
Anderson, M. T. Feed. — In a futuristic society where everyone has computer implants, one privileged boy falls in love with a girl who only has a partial implant. A spooky and intelligent critique of our vapid social-media, conspicuous consumption society.
Bacigalupi, Paolo. The Ship Breaker, trilogy. — Three tales of child refugees trying to survive and escape a landscape brutalized by global-warming charged super-storms, genetically engineered humans, and the breakdown of law and order.
Baum, L. Frank. Wizard of Oz, series. — A few years ago I read the series for the first time to my son. It surprised me how many things differed from the movie. Violent Tin-Men. Transgender protagonists. Wise, avuncular homeless men. Talking chickens. Every chapter was a complete surprise.
Bradbury, Ray. Something Wicked This Way Comes. — Two boys sneak away to the creepy carnival that has rolled into town one Halloween, only to discover that the carnival master will grant people’s secret wishes…for a price. The core of this story is how friendships change as children age.
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. A Little Princess. — A resilient young girl stoically survives loss and humiliation through the power of compassion, dignity, imagination, and always looking for opportunities to be kind to others.
Cooper, Susan. The Selkie Girl. — A magical seal-woman is trapped into marriage and motherhood and forced to give up her identity as a sea creature. When she finds her seal-skin again, she abandons her family to return to her element and her underwater family. One of the most delightfully passive-aggressive fairy tales ever. I found so much inspiration in it that I reimagined the story in my first novel, Candid Family Portrait…albeit a much sweeter version of it.
Coville, Bruce. Into the Land of Unicorns. — A young girl must save some of the last remaining unicorns from her father, who hunts unicorns. This was one of the first books I read that made me cry so hard I could barely see the page.
Dahl, Roald. Matilda. — When schools closed during the pandemic, my son and I spent hours reading Matilda together. He loved the story of a small girl giving a tyrannical teacher her comeuppance. “I think my kindergarten teacher was The Trunchbull,” he said.
– – . The Witches. — Stranger danger! Don’t trust any stranger offering you chocolate, or else the next thing you know, you’ll be trapped in a painting or turned into a mouse.
Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother. — Teen hackers are kidnapped and interrogated by Homeland Security in the wake of a terrorist attack.
Ende, Michael. The Neverending Story. — The meaning of life comes from offering hope, friendship, and love to the people around us who need us. So many great messages in this book.
Fitzhugh, Louise. Harriet the Spy. — A cautionary story about how words have the power to hurt and heal, and so they should be wielded with kindness and tact.
Gaiman, Neil. Coraline. — Are your parents boring because they work all the time and aren’t able to play with you? The “perfect” parents are just next door. All you have to do to stay with them is sew buttons onto your eyes… Hmm. Maybe boring parents aren’t so bad.
– – . The Graveyard Book. — A boy raised by a whole graveyard of loving ghosts.
Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Beautiful Creatures, series. — A fun counterpoint to the Twilight series in that these are YA love stories where a regular, unremarkable human boy falls in love with a girl with (wild mood swings) magical powers.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Grimms’ Fairy Tales. — Talking animals. Witches. Evil step-mothers. Questionable contracts. Curses. Matricide. Infanticide. Theft. Kidnapping. Murder. Mutilation. Starvation. Death-by-barrel-full-of-nails-thrown-into-a-river. As flawed as late-stage capitalism and our modern court systems are, I think many of us take for granted that at least we aren’t living in the anarchy/law-of-the-jungle times of The Brothers’ Grimm. These stories will either give you nightmares or fill you with gratitude that at least you don’t have family members—or problems—as bad as the poor suckers in these stories.
Frank Herbert, Dune. — “Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me.” Worth reading just for that lovely quote.
Judith Guest. Ordinary People. — I love stories with good therapists who help their patients recover from trauma.
Gary Larson. The Far Side. — Many of these comics still make me laugh.
Lobel, Arnold. Owl at Home. — An introverted owl living a rich inner life by himself in his owl house.
– – . Uncle Elephant. — When an elephant-child’s parents go missing after a ship-wreck, Uncle Elephant adopts him and helps him get through a hard time of sadness and uncertainty.
Lowry, Lois. The Giver. — When the world you see is in color and all anyone else sees is black-and-white.
Mabbit, Will. The Unlikely Adventures of Maybelle Jones, series. — A young girl eats her own booger and the next thing she knows she’s kidnapped by animal pirates and forced to become a pirate herself. One of my favorite things about this book is how the illustrations, story, and typesetting all interact. A beautifully-made book. Must be read in hardback or paperback.
Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight, series. — Despite the elitist backlash against Stephenie Meyer, I still really love this series because I think she touched on a fundamental dilemma: how do you build up the nerve to go on a date when the males of our species are the most lethal apex predators our planet has ever known?
Pilky, Dav. Dog Man, graphic novel series. — From the author of Captain Underpants, the Dog Man series of graphic novels are funny, profound, and hopeful stories of the redemptive power of love and kindness.
The Rabbit Ears Radio stories. — Famous actors, like Robin Williams and Meryl Streep, read fairy tales and tall tales for public radio. I used to listen to this series on the radio as a kid, and I bought the entire series for my son on Audible. We listen to these together almost every night.
Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children, series. — In this spooky and haunting young adult series, a young man discovers a time-loop and a school of never-aging children with strange powers.
Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson & The Olympians, series. — What if there were a parallel reality where Greek Gods still existed (and lived in the sky above Mt. Olympus) and their demi-god children walked among us? Part of what I love about Rick Riordan’s stories are the diversity of blended families, mixed families, and families-of-choice in many of his stories.
– – . The Heroes of Olympus. — What if Roman Gods lived near San Francisco and the Greek Gods and Roman Gods went to war?
– – . The Kane Chronicles, trilogy. — What if two siblings discovered the were the human hosts of Egyptian gods intent on re-enacting ancient dramas in the modern world?
– – . Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, trilogy. — What if a homeless teen in battle and was resurrected in Valhalla by a hijab-wearing valkyrie as a Norse warrior? I especially liked the second and third books in the series, which feature a gender-fluid protagonist. The second book, The Hammer of Thor was a winner of the 2017 Stonewall Book Award for “exceptional merit relating to the GLBT experience.”
Rylant, Cynthia. Harold and Mudge, early reader series. — What I love about Cynthia Rylant is the sweetness and humanity in her early reader books. The characters are wonderful people, being kind to each other. A shy boy, his enormous slobbery mastiff, and his loving parents experience the sweet life in rural Virginia.
– – . Putter and Tabby, early reader series. — A sweet old man, his mellow cat, and his plucky neighbor and her dog enjoy their retirement days in a small town.
Seuss, Theodore Geissel. Green Eggs and Ham. — Basically a re-enactment with every negotiation I’ve ever had with a child about why they should eat their vegetables.
– – . Horton Hears a Who. — An elephant protects and stands up for the rights of the tiny people living on a dandelion fluff. Basically, a story about why participating in democracy and political advocacy is important.
– – . How the Grinch Stole Christmas! — The best thing about the holidays is the love and fellowship we share, not the stuff we buy. And dogs. Dogs will love you no matter what. Even if you a grumpy green man with in fur the texture of a shag carpet, your dog Max will still love you. No matter what.
– – . Oh the Places You’ll Go. — I think about the lines from “The Waiting Place” every single time I feel impatient about waiting for something. I also love this YouTube video rendition of the book from Burning Man.
– – . One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. — So many silly, quirky poems. I just love it.
– – . The Sneeches and Other Stories. — Stories of greed, prejudice, obstinance, and fear put in absurd terms to help children recognize them when they are happening, and hopefully choose kindness, flexibility, and tolerance instead.
– – . The Lorax. — A cautionary tale about the destruction of the environment. What I never understood is why that stupid Once-ler held onto that truffala seed for all those years and never bothered to plant it himself. “Here kid, I ruined the environment. You fix it.”
Sutherland, Tui T. The Wings of Fire, series. — A generation of child-dragons choose friendship and compassion over fear and prejudice.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit. — Greed will disfigure your body and soul and turn you into a homicidal maniac. Am I right?
Valmiki. The Ramayana. — My favorite version is audio version retold by William Buck and narrated by Ram Dass. The Ramayana is a love story about a princess captured by a demon, and her prince who travels to the ends of the earth with his army of monkeys and bears to rescue her.
Watterson, Bill. Calvin & Hobbes. — A philosophical six-year-old and his benevolent toy tiger go on adventures and try to figure out how to live in this world. Much of this book reminded me of the sweet adventures and discussions my son and I would go on when he was a toddler.
Willems, Mo. Elephant & Piggie, series. — An elephant and a pig are friends. I love that these stories are funny and simple enough that small kids can read them, yet clever and intelligent enough that it doesn’t do your thinking for you.
– – . Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs. — “And the moral of the story is that when you realize you are in the wrong story, leave.” Required reading for all children. There have been so many times in my life that I found myself in a story I didn’t want to be in, and I didn’t realize that my best option was to leave.
– – . The Story of Diva & Flea. — A flaneur cat teaches a high-strung dog how to enjoy the outdoors. The high-strung dog teaches the flaneur cat how to feel safe indoors. A beautiful story about how friendships expand our worlds.
Adult Fiction
“That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.”
Jumpa Lahiri
“Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.”
Mary Schmich
Alderman, Naomi. The Power. — In this sci-fi book, females suddenly develop the biological ability to unleash electrical power, and then terrify and dominate the men who terrified and dominated them for so many centuries. This reverse-sexism story is a critique of physical power as a means to domination. Societies that protect and respect the vulnerable are better societies for everyone to live in.
Atwood, Margeret. The Handmaid’s Tale. — A terrifying story about being a woman in a society that has stolen your agency over your own body.
Austen, Jane. Persuasion. — My favorite of Jane Austen’s books. This is a story of rejection, disappointment, separation, and second chances at love.
Bacigalupi, Paolo. The Wind-Up Girl. — A robot-woman is abandoned by her owner in Bankok, and the city is about to be flooded by rising sea. I loved the gritty, global-warming, noir aspect of this book.
– – The Water Knife. — When global warming and drought cause the rivers to the American Southwest to dry up, the cities will disappear, and all who used to live there will become global warming refugees.
Bear, Greg. Blood Music. — A scientist smuggles nanocytes out of the lab…and causes the end of the world as we know it.
Bell, Alden. The Angels Are the Reapers. — A capable and resilient teenager survives and thrives in the post-zombie apocalypse by appreciating the world as it is, rather than constantly fantasizing about what it used to be.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. — A “firefighter” whose job it is to burn books, saves one book and discovers a subversive world of inner richness among a society of secret readers.
Bradley, Marion Zimmer. The Mysts of Avalon. — The King Arthur tales from the female perspective.
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. — A governess maintains her integrity and belief in herself despite social pressure from men around her. (And pyromaniac ex-wives in the attic. No gothic novel is complete without a woman trapped in an attic.)
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. Tarzan of the Apes. — The literate and sexy jungle-man sets out to woo Jane Porter, the first human woman he has ever seen.
Butler, Octavia. Lilith’s Brood, series. — Octopus-aliens rescue the last remaining humans on Earth. The aliens decide that humans have too many prejudices to be allowed to procreate themselves, so all babies must be made in a human-alien-human three-way as the only way to re-populate Earth.
Butler, Robert Olen. Tabloid Dreams, short story collection. — The organizing theme for this collection is that the ideas are lifted from tabloid newspapers. One of the funniest, and one of my favorite stories, is of a jealous husband who is reincarnated as a parrot and he is trapped in a cage, having to watch his widow date new people. What I learned from Robert Olen Butler, as a writer, is a specific technique of writing as if the past and the present are happening at the same time. This was a technique I intentionally used in my short story, “Heart in a Jar,” which people can read for free by signing up for my newsletter.
Cronin, Justin Cronin. The Passage, series. — After the vampire-apocalypse, one mysterious girl seems to hold the cure. What I loved about this series was how much it was a love story between many of the characters. It’s a story of found-family. The last book in the series is especially powerful as it follows the pre-apocalypse life of one of the first vampires, a man who jumped to a higher social caste in college and felt damned by having to leave his original family behind.
Cole, Alyssa. When No One is Watching. — A truly terrifying and haunting thriller about gentrification.
Cole, Kresley. Lothaire. — A fated romance between a sociopathic vampire and a willy country girl. Very entertaining and funny.
– – . Shadow’s Claim. — A princess is being offered as the prize for a gladiator contest between demons. Her true love must destroy all opponents to save her. A classic set-up, yet so much fun to read.
Collins, Wilkie. The Woman in White. — One of the first legal thrillers of the 19th-century. A woman’s wealth is stolen through a conspiracy between lawyers and her relatives. Luckily, her (lesbian?) cousin and a potential male suitor are on the case to save her.
Diaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. — Geek-culture gets plenty of page-time in this magical realist story about tragic love in New York and the Dominican Republic.
Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. — A story about the perils of waiting around for an inheritance when one should worry about making one’s own way in the world.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. Sherlock Holmes. — The original literary bromance upon which all buddy-cop movies and detective stories have been based. It was surprising to read in the first novel that Dr. Watson had been injured in the war in Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan! A Study in Scarlet was published in 1887. Graveyard of empires, indeed!
Esquival, Laura. Swift as Desire. — The boy can hear the secret things people say to each other in addition to their words. As the child of divorce, I deeply connected to this story. If only there were a way for us to speak with our hearts, and not just with our words.
Forsyth, Kate. Witches of Eileanan, series. — What if the Celtic culture transported itself to a parallel planet using magic? What if they had been involved in a centuries-long war with the native ocean people who lived there? There was so much magic and mystery in this book series. I simply loved it when I read it as a teen, and I still loved it when I read the entire series again as an adult.
Gabaldon, Diana. Outlander, series. — After WW II, a nurse accidentally time-travels back to 18th century Scotland where she meets and falls in love with a Scottish highlander. This series covers their love story, and the stories of their children in a thrilling tale that shows that love can transcend time and circumstance. This couple is constantly getting separating and fighting to get back together.
Goldman, William. The Princess Bride. — “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” The book is just as great as the movie, but longer.
Haggard, H. Rider. She, A History of Adventure. — Boy meets girl. Boy finds out that there is a second girl who is immortal and has been trying to get with him for centuries, through multiple past lives and multiple bodies. Immortal girl kidnaps mortal girl. Boy must rescue mortal girl or die trying.
Hoang, Helen. The Kiss Quotient. — An autistic woman hires a male escort to help her learn how to be physically intimate in a relationship. The two fall in love for real. Awww!
Jemisin, N. K. How Long ‘Till Black Future Month. — So many wonderful stories, featuring black heroes. As she states in her introduction, many of these stories were test-runs of ideas she later developed into novels.
King, Stephen. Carrie. — A teenage outcast gets her period, develops psychokinetic powers, and exacts revenge on all who tormented her.
– – . Christine. — A possessed car destroys all who own it.
– – . Cujo. — A rabies-infected dog terrorizes a mother and child trapped in a broken-down car in a remote farm.
– – . The Dark Half. — After a famous writer’s pseudonym is revealed, the embodiment of that pseudonym comes to life and starts killing everyone involved with the exposure. Like reading Stephen King’s therapy notes.
– – . Firestarter. — After signing up for genetic experiments in college, two adults with psychic powers have a daughter who can start fires with her mind. The father and daughter must go on the run to escape government scientists who want to kidnap them for further experimentation.
– – . The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. — A survival story about a girl who wanders off the path in the Maine woods and must then find her way back to civilization.
– – . It. A demonic clown haunts a small town, causing its citizens to murder their children.
– – . Lisey’s Story. — The widow of a famous writer processes her grief at the loss of her husband.
– – . The Tommyknockers. — An alien ship is unearthed in the woods, and the surrounding town members develop ultra-intelligence, but at the cost of their bodies crumbling.
– – . ‘Salem’s Lot. — Dracula comes to a rural town in Maine.
– – . The Shining and the sequel, Doctor Sleep. — In The Shining, a psychic boy and his mother escape his homicidal father and a haunted hotel. In Doctor Sleep, the psychic boy grows up to become a drunk and then seeks redemption by working in a hospice center. He also helps mentor a girl who also has psychic abilities.
– – . The Stand. — Global pandemic kills almost everyone. The survivors gather into two tribes in Los Vegas and Boulder. They contemplate war with each other, because (possessed?) anarchists want the end of everything.
– – . Under the Dome. — A microcosm of global warming occurs when an impenetrable bubble gets dropped on a small Maine town, slowly suffocating the inhabitants trapped inside it.
Kostova, Elizabeth. The Historian. — A woman searches for her lost father, who had gone looking for the original Count Dracula. I loved how this book captured the flavor of Eastern Europe cities.
Kundera, Milan. The Joke. — A man in Czechoslovakia is forced to emigrate after making the wrong sort of joke in front of the wrong sort of politician.
– – . The Unbearable Lightness of Being. — A story of love and infidelity, selfishness and loyalty, in communist Czechoslovakia.
Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake. — An Indian-American struggles with reconciling his Indian heritage and his American upbringing. This is a story many second-generation Americans can relate to.
Le Carre, John. A Perfect Spy. — The “perfect spy” is someone who just wants to please everybody…until he has a mental schism disappears.
Leroux, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. — Toxic love meets art and ambition.
Liu, Ken. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, short story collection. — I’ve read “The Paper Menagerie” half a dozen times. It makes me cry every time.
Ludlum, Robert. The Bourne Identity. — My favorite thing about these books is the set-up of this guy who starts out floating in the ocean with amnesia, and then through the course of the book he MacGyvers himself into having money, a girlfriend, cars, and a safe house.
Maugham, Somerset. The Razor’s Edge. — I actually like the movie version with Bill Murray better, but the book is good too.
McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. — A father and son travel across the country by foot in search of a safe place for the son to live. There is so much about this book that touches on the fears and anxieties all of us parents have right now for the fate of our children.
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia. Mexican Gothic. — A Mexican debutant heads to the highlands to rescue her cousin from a bad marriage. This book is Yellow Wallpaper meets Wuthering Heights in Mexico.
Moriarty, Liane. Apples Never Fall. — A story about how marriages age.
– – . Big Little Lies. — I loved this book because it perfectly captures the backstabbing, loyalties, and betrayals among the parents of school-aged children.
– – . The Last Anniversary. — Covers topics of post-partum depression in a relatable interesting way.
– – . What Alice Forgot. — How certain age milestones can cause us to re-evaluate ourselves and our relationships.
Orwell, George. 1984. — You’re watching the TV. The TV is watching you. The news-cycle makes less and less sense and language is losing its meaning because nobody is allowed to speak directly anymore.
– – . Animal Farm. — The donkey knows how it’s all going to go down right from the beginning. But that doesn’t mean he’s happy with it when he’s proven right.
Paton, Ainslie. Confidence Game, series. — What if there was a family of con-artists who agenda was to con bad guys and donate money to good guys? This romance series is based on that premise.
– – . Grease Monkey Jive. — Romance between a blue-collar mechanic and a ballroom dancer. Kind of like Strictly Ballroom if the genders were reversed.
– – . Unsuitable. — A single working mom falls in love with her male nanny.
Perrotta, Tom. Little Children. — A stay-at-home dad and a stay-at-home mom meet in a playground and begin an ill-fated romance.
Picoult. Jodi. The Leaving Time. — A girl goes searching for her lost mother with the help of a detective and a psychic. The ending left me both haunted and devastated.
– – . The Storyteller. — On the importance of stories, helping us mentally escape dark times when our bodies are trapped.
Robinson, Kim Stanley. Green Earth. — Originally published as the Science in the Capital series. You can still listen to the audiobooks. This is a story of global warming and politics.
– – . Three Californias triptych. — Three versions of California’s future. A post-nuclear version, a cyber-punk version, and a sustainable bicycle-riding version.
– – . Mars trilogy. — Likely scenarios of humans colonizing Mars.
– – . Aurora. — What happens if we travel all the way to another planet and discover we can’t colonize it because our microbiomes aren’t compatible? Makes the case that there is no “Planet B” so we’d better work on caring for this one.
– – . New York 2140. — The citizens of a flooded New York City are fed up with banks destroying the economy and the globe and facing no consequences. Global rent-strike. A must-read for fans of the anti-work sub-Reddit.
– – . The Ministry for the Future. — In the wake of deadly global warming heat waves, an international group sets out to change the global financial system in order to save the planet by linking money with carbon sequestration.
Ruiz Zafon, Carlos. The Angel’s Game. — A writer makes a deal with the devil in order to get the wealth and notoriety he dreamed of.
– – . The Prince of Mist. — A haunted ghost ship off of a vacation island.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. — When you are a workaholic who abandons your family and children, don’t be surprised if there are consequences.
Shriver, Lionel. The Post-Birthday World. — A woman faces a pivotal choice in her relationships. Does she choose Man A, or Man B? In this novel, we get to view parallel universes of how both relationships unfold side by side. And they more or less end up in the same place.
– – . We Need to Talk About Kevin. — In the wake of a school shooting, a mother re-evaluates her relationship with her son, who was the perpetrator.
Steel, Danielle. The Duchess. — In nineteenth century England, a well-born woman loses everything because of the inheritance laws of the time. Through sheer ingenuity, she wins it all back. I love stories where the woman wins in the end!
Steinbeck, John. East of Eden. — Just because your parents were a certain way, doesn’t mean you are fated to repeat their mistakes or continue toxic stories. You can choose your own fate, live your own life.
– – . The Pearl. — A cautionary tale of how greed can cause us to lose what is most important.
Stephenson, Neal. The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer. — A tablet is created to give a girl the best interactive education in the world. But instead of being given to the daughter of a wealthy elite, the tablet falls in the hands of a poor girl living in the slums.
– -. Seveneves. — Let’s just hope the moon doesn’t get smashed by a giant asteroid and ends life on Earth as we know it. Despite the destruction and horror, Stephenson still imagines utopian possibilities in the far-after events of the catastrophe.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. — Science verses mythology in the Victorian era.
Stewart, George R. The Earth Abides. — I hated this book at first until I realized Ish wasn’t the protagonist. The protagonist is the Earth and its ecosystems, finally free of the shackles of human subjugation. One of the best post-apocalyptic books ever written.
Villegas, Halli. The Hair Wreath and Other Stories, short story collection. — Stories of hauntings, betrayals, ghosts, grief, and regret, imagined so many different ways.
Verne, Jules. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. — My favorite chapter is the one where the submarine gets stuck beneath arctic ice and everyone nearly suffocates.
Yates, Richard. Revolutionary Road. — A Mad Men-type story of how the “golden age” of the white American man wasn’t really that great.
And Some Other Reading Lists I’ve Put Together
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
Ray Bradbury
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“You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.”
Paul Sweeney