5 Best Books I’ve Read This Year and The Worst (so far)
100 Days of Writing (Day Forty-One)
Books are the passageways to a writer’s soul and they often pull back the veil of human experiences we are not aware of or would be without literature. This year I have read a total of FIFTEEN books but to my shame only THREE of them were nonfiction. The rest were either novels or collections of short stories and though I wanted to play it safe by reading well-known and celebrated authors, you may be surprised by the book that disappointed me most so far. Without further delay, here is my list of the five books I enjoyed reading most and the one I enjoyed the list.
5. Crime and Punishment by Fydor Dostoevsky
Published in 1866, Crime and Punishment had me at the edge of my seat because I could never guess what Raskolnikov was going to do next. Dostoevsky masterfully reveals the human ability to justify the most heinous crimes in the name of love or altruism, but our consciousness is tormented by justice we cannot escape. How well you are able to enjoy this book has a great deal to do with the translation you choose to read. If you want to play it safe, read the Penguin Classics translation, but if you must know, I read The Coulson Translation. At times when I would listen to the audiobook, I was annoyed by the difference between what I was reading and hearing. If you choose to read this book, keep your highlighter and sticky notes handy because you will be marking this book all over.
Here is a quote I really enjoyed from the book:
“…a follower of the latest ideas, was explaining that in this age the sentiment of compassion is actually prohibited by science and that that is how they order things in England, where they have political economy.”
4. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
If you ever feel like laughing and crying with your face buried in your palms during one sitting, then I recommend reading Kurt Vonnegut’s hilariously dark and deep Slaughterhouse-Five. This is a partially autobiographical novel retelling the events of the Bombing of Dresden during the Second World War through the time-traveling character Billy Pilgrim. The story jumps to various stages of his life at any given time, providing humorous and absurd breaks from the dreadful gravity of being a prisoner of war during one of the most violent wars of all time. Vonnegut questions the meaning of suffering and the lives affected by the crusades of others. There is enough wit and tragedy to captivate any reader in a journey you won’t soon forget.
Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book:
“It ain’t no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be. It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor.”
3. Hondo by Louis L’Amour
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book because I picked this up for free at one of my neighbor’s community library bookshelf during my walk. Between large books or a series, I will usually take a break by reading a small two-hundred-page palate cleanser that is totally different from the last book. Hondo was the perfect book to wash down the taste of a deeply philosophical science-fiction trilogy because it was action-packed, fast-paced, and romantic. My only regret is reading it too fast because it was over before I was ready to move on. The good news is there is a movie starring (of course) John Wayne, I still have yet to watch it.
Here is my favorite quote from the book:
“There was something her father had said. “We do not own the land, Angie. We hold it in trust for tomorrow. We take our living from it, but we must leave it rich for your son and for his sons and for all of those who shall follow.”
2. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
There is a reason we remember Charles Dickens to this day and people gather for festivals in honor of this grand storyteller, but I didn’t know the reason until this year when I read Great Expectations. Never have I read a book with such colorful and mysterious characters who seem to leap right out of the pages and come to life as this book did, which I am discovering is a distinguishing quality of Dicken’s novels. This story is about a poor orphan boy who befriends a runaway prisoner and a tormented old woman in a wedding gown, then suddenly finds himself the beneficiary of a fortune by an anonymous source. The love story is not what you’d expect but it is absolutely darling.
Here is my favorite quote from the book:
“I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.”
1. Stoner by John Williams
I know what you’re thinking, this book is not about drug abuse as the title might suggest. This book is about the human experience that is devoid of ambition or a will to fight for yourself. Published in 1965, Stoner tells the story of William Stoner, a simple farm boy who discovers a love of literature after his parents send him to the University to study agriculture. He abandons his parent’s goal and becomes an assistant professor of literature, gets married, and watches two World Wars from the sidelines. He loves his job but seeks no advancement or promotion. He loves his wife but pursues the affection of a young student. He loves his daughter but is unwilling to fight for their relationship. This is the tragic but enthralling story of Stoner.
Here is my favorite quote from the book:
“It was a passion neither of the mind nor of the flesh; rather, it was a force that comprehended them both, as if they were but the matter of love, its specific substance. To a woman or to a poem, it said simply: Look! I am alive.”
Least Favorite Book I’ve Read So Far…
Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
I am sorry to write this because John Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors and this is no insult to him as a writer, but I just did not enjoy this book as much as the other books I read this year. Tortilla Flat is a satirical story of poor Mexican-American friends written in the likeness of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, only their heroics involve deception and robbery with the reward of wine at the end of every chapter. The problem with this story was that it didn’t satisfy what I was looking for in a Steinbeck novel. It was funny and entertaining but it lacked the depth that I wanted. After reading books like of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath, and The Pearl this book fell short but I blame my expectations more than the story. I believe I would’ve enjoyed it more if I was expecting a funny palate cleanser, so know what you’re getting into if you decide to read this book.
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