The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List discussion

Classic: Handily highbrow
More Great Reads: not so hoity-toity!

CLASSICS: HANDILY HIGHBROW
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Plot against America by Phillip Roth
Rabbit Run by John Updike
We the Living by Ayn Rand
We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

MORE GREAT READS: NOT SO HOITY-TOITY
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Captain Corelli's Mandolon by Louise de Bernieres
Charms for and Easy Life by Kay Gibbons
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Hadden
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Happenstance by Carol Shields
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquival
Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heavan by Sherman Alexie
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
Perfume: The Story of Murder by Patrick Suskind
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Pratical Magic by Alice Hoffman
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
Falling on Cedar by David Guterson
Three Junes by Julia Gjass
The Tortilla Curtain by T. Coraghessan Boyle
Underworld by Don DeLillo
Waiting by Ha Jin
White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Do you think that with time the "not so hoity-toity" ones will be considered "handily high brow" :)

Some day I am sure.

Kindred by Octavia Butler should totally be a book that Oprah would endorse. It's not new but the story is amazing. I've read this book a few times and I can't help but try to get others to read it as well.

Ranata - funny you should mention Kindred. I just read this in the past month. What a great book. Sci fi meets historical fiction meets romance. I highly recommend it as well.

Melissa, I am so glad you loved it. It was so fascinating. You almost felt sorry for Ruffy in the end.

I thought the plot was brilliant, especially when the husband was drawn into it all but I don't want to spoil it for anyone else.

Read it though, you won't regret it!

CLASSICS: HANDILY HIGHBROW
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Plot against America by Phillip Roth
We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

MORE GREAT READS: NOT SO HOITY-TOITY
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Charms for and Easy Life by Kay Gibbons
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Hadden
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquival
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
Perfume: The Story of Murder by Patrick Suskind
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Pratical Magic by Alice Hoffman
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
Snow Falling on Cedat by David Guterson
Three Junes by Hulia GLass

this is a hard list because several on here I tried but didn't get into them so put them aside to try again later.

Again, not too many from me. I have read We Were the Mulvaneys and The Lovely Bones. Both were not that impressive in my opinion. Maybe just not my style.

I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Hadden and didn't enjoy it. Appreciated it for what it was but didn't have a good time reading it really.

Absolutely loved The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I felt it was a very well written novel with a much different outlook on death.

I tried Middlesex but just couldn't get into it. I'm thinking maybe the "highbrow" books just aren't for me? ;)

IF there are any books you have read and there is not a thread started to discuss it. Please feel free to start one.

MJ, are we just supposed to list what we've read under these threads and then discuss them or give our opinions elsewhere?

Loved The Lovely Bones...read it before she had on her list though.

Not a fan of Oprah either but I have read Drowning Ruth and I throughly enjoy that one. One of her before she quit and then came back to the book club scene.

Now I just finished in two days 566 pages of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle A Novel

Highly recommend if you are an animal lover of dogs, but make sure you have kleenex. Stunning prose worthy of 4 or 4 1/2 stars.... This reader did not like the ending and this was shared alike with my brown bag/book discussion group at the library today.