Author Catherine Cavendish gave me a poke/nomination re: the {Booker} Award, so now I’m to list what I think are the five best books of all time. Not easy! I’ll just make it less intimidating on myself and say the following books I super-loved:
A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire #3) by George R.R. Martin. My favorite in the ASoIaF trilogy, this cemented my love for Jon Snow, Sex God of the Night’s Watch. So many fascinating characters and events happened in this story. I couldn’t even bear to put it down; it was word crack. Fantasy is not usually my cup of tea, but I’m so happy my friends turned me on to this. Martin is an exceptional storyteller; even his minor characters are fully fleshed out. And the twists and turns! I love not being able to predict what comes next. Oh my sad little heart @ the thought of waiting five years for The Winds of Winter to come out!
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. Love, sex, wit, pop culture references–this is everything I could ask for in a novel. It’s hilarious, smart and painfully true, and I love how it’s been more than a decade since I first read this and I haven’t yet outgrown it. In fact, every time I read it, I change my mind about how I feel toward Rob and his romantic plights depending upon my own.
Boy Toy by Barry Lyga. In this stunningly written and surprisingly explicit YA novel, a teenage boy is forced to face his past, primarily the point in his life when his teacher seduced him when he was about thirteen. Another book I couldn’t put down. Totally fascinating and shamefully sexy, even. I couldn’t believe this was for young adults but there you have it!
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. Dreamy, evocative and mired in nostalgia, Eugenides tells the story from the POV of a band of nameless neighborhood boys, all in love with the five blond and increasingly sheltered Lisbon sisters, who, in the span of one year, all wind up committing suicide. Thanks to the beautiful, rich description, I fell in love with the ’70s and this style of writing.
The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen. This stunning, beautifully told novel explores intention, faith and creativity. When a lonely, motherless young girl with an emotionally closed-off father experiences an excess of cruelty at school, she turns to The Land of Decoration, a world she’s constructed in her bedroom out of found objects. When she notices correlations between the land she’s created and reality, she realizes she has the power to create what she calls “miracles” and believes she is God’s Instrument. As could be expected, such power leads to great responsibility, and she finds her miracles are not without consequences. Emotionally riveting and with arresting imagery, this is beyond a successful first novel and I look forward to reading more of the author’s work.
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Lux Zakari
luxzakari@gmail.com
www.luxzakari.com
