These are my ten favorite novels, in roughly the order I would put them if I absolutely had to (which I don't, because it's my list). It is subject to change at whim, which it did for the first time in a long time in 2010.
1. A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell (discussed here);
2. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov;
3. Sophie’s Choice by William Styron (reviewed here);
4. The Road Home by Jim Harrison;
5. Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco;
6. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (reviewed here);
7. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (reviewed here);
8. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald;
9. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell; and
10. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan.
NOTE
Updated June 19, 2010 (Cold Comfort Farm displaced The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All)
OTHER REVIEWS OF THE BOOKS ON THIS LIST
(If you would like to be listed here, please leave a comment with links to your reviews ans I will add them.)
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Hello, Rose City Reader. I'm here via the comment you left on Les' blog. It's nice to meet a fellow book lover! Of the choices you've listed here I've read Sophie's Choice (my goodness, is there a more upsetting book?), All The King's Men (wonderful!, and I believe it won a Pulitzer), Tender is The Night and Gone with the Wind. I've tried Foucault's Pendulum but never finished it. However, I did love Eco's novel about Queen Loana. I'm forgetting the title exactly, just now. It's an interesting idea to list your top ten; I wonder if I could do that. My friend says what's your top three, and that is just impossible to define for me!
ReplyDeleteI came over from Les' blog as well. You're from one of my favorite cities. We lived in the Portland area in the '90's before we came back home to Texas. I'll be stopping by from time to time and seeing what you've been reading.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bellezza. I don't think I coud narrow down a favorites list to the Top 3. That would be a favorites clump!
ReplyDeleteI just got the Queen Loana book (whatever it's called) at Powell's last week. I'm looking forward to reading it.
And thank you, Kay. Please come back to visit!
ReplyDeleteIt'll by fun to discuss The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (I think I got the title back!) with you when you finish it. I have an idea about the man who tells the story which I'd love to toss around with you.
ReplyDeleteIt is very hard for me to make a favorites list -- I like too many! You've got quite a wonderful book collection (I've been snooping around your collection on LibraryThing and added you to my interesting libraries). I've not heard of the all consuming site before; interesting site.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the wonderful world of book bloggers, Rose City Reader. I saw your comment on Kay's blog. You'll find a lot of us who love to make lists. One of the funnest things about joining challenges is making the list.
ReplyDeleteI've only read Gone With the Wind that's on your top ten list. I'll be adding some to my TBR list.
I saw the movie Sophie's Choice and it had a big impact on me.
You live in Portland, which is one of my favorite cities. I have been trying for years to talk my husband into retiring there. The big problem is that our only two grandchildren live in the house just behind ours. So now I need to convince daughter and son-in-law to move to Portland, too.