Contemporary Readings List
"The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts." --Oliver Wendell Holmes
Anthony Doerr
Elaine Hawker introduced me to Doerr, first with All the Light We Cannot See and then About Grace. It wasn't until I bought his short story collection The Shell Collectors at the Boise airport that I really began to like him. He's now a favorite, and I've read what this Boise author has written.
|
Colum McCann
I discovered this Irish writer the first semester I taught Contemporary British and American literature when I read his powerful short story "Everything in this Country Must." He immediately became one of my favorites. He rightfully won the National Book Award for Let the Great World Spin.
|
Cormac McCarthy I was the first person in the department to read and use The Road in class. I no longer use it because everyone else does. I would really like to use his Border trilogy in class, but I'm not comfortable because of the language, but John Grady is a character who has had a strong influence on me.
|
Anne Tyler
I like that Tyler's characters are so quirky, normal, and likeable. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant , Breathing Lessons, and Saint Maybe are three of my favorites. I won't list all of her novels, but I do recommend them.
|
Isabel Allende
The first Allende novel I read was Eva Luna. Eva Luna has become one of the most intriguing characters I've ever read, and Allende has such a gentle magical realism style.
|