So there is a meme/challenge thing going around on social media in which you are asked to list your 10 favourite books. This appeals to me right away because a) I like books and b) I like lists. But the problem with this whole thing is that I like books too much. Veeeeerrrrry hard to whittle it down to 10. So I didn't. Because what, the book list police are going to come and get me? My friend Steph, a writer/editor/epic book lover tagged me in it, like, weeks ago and I've been mulling it over ever since. So here goes. 
I basically just tried to do this off the top of my head, without even looking at my bookshelf (because I was trying to keep the list down, right?) I've ordered them sort of as I read them, but had a bit of trouble in the middle there remembering what I read first.
Let me just digress a moment and say that I really like books as objects. I mean, I like the physical presence of a book in my life. I like having something to shove in my purse when I leave the house, and I like the weight of it in my hands and I like worrying the crisp corner of the pages on the right hand side as I work my way along. And no, I don't have an e-reader. Not that I'm a luddite. Ok, maybe I'm a bit of a luddite, (says the woman who does not yet own a cell phone. I know.) and I can see how an e-reader would be great. You could read trash on the metro without being judged, and take oodles of books with you everywhere you go. But who reads oodles at a time? I read, like two or three max (usually a fiction and a non-fiction) so I don't really see the point of an e-reader in my life at least. Though really, the important thing is the story so its not like I judge you if you are all about your kindle. But I think I would miss turning pages.
And here's some pages that got turned a LOT! The copy on the left is the one from my childhood and the copy on the right is one I picked up at a thrift store recently so that I could read it to the boys someday, and NOT have it literally fall apart in my hands!
Note that the price of paperback books had gone up a bit in the intervening years. Aaaaanyhow, my point is the A Little Princess is a really good book that I read and re-read as a child. And no, it is not actually about a princess. It is about a girl named Sara Crewe who was very wealthy and was treated like a little princess but then lost it all and experienced a drastic change in her life and the way people treated her. It is sort of a classic "the good are rewarded and the evil are punished" book which is satisfying of course, especially when you are young, and not uncommon for a book written for children at the turn of the century. One of the things I particularly remember is how Sara learns to cope with loss; the loss of her parents, the loss of her position in society, the loss of material comforts by imagining herself to be suffering these things in a different context (that she is a prisoner in the Bastille for example. What also really sticks with me is that, despite its satisfying "all is restored to her" happy ending, and positive messages Sara at one point cannot successfully use the power of her imagination to deal with it, and sort of breaks down emotionally. Its a lot more realistic than and less Pollyanna then one would think. Another great book worth reading by Francse Hodgson Burnett is The Secret Garden.
Moving along to Margarte Atwood. Actually, the book I jotted down on my little list was Cat's Eye. I really like a lot of Margaret Atwood's books, but Cat's Eye is the one that resonates with me the most. Its about an artist in Toronto in the 80's, but flashes back to earlier in her life, particularly to her childhood in the 1940's, in which she got bullied by some other little girls. Its so great, and such a nuanced description of childhood bullying, in all its awful subtleties and shifts of power. And this is one of the few books that describes the life of an artist in a way that is not ridiculously glamorized or oddly laughable. I can't even tell you how many times I've read this book. Whenever I'm at a loss for something to read I go back to it, and it really holds up. But I could not find my copy today (I think I lent it to my mom) so I've taken a picture of The Handmaid's Tale, an equally good book by Maggie A. Though not one I can relate to, thank goodness as it is about a fairly dismal and awfully sexist dystopian future. I read this book waaaaaaay before I should have. My sister was reading if for high school and she is eight years older than me, and probably read it in grade 12. And I pestered her and pestered her to know what it was about (because the cover was so interesting) and she told me that is was "not good for little kids". So naturally I had to read it. (Ditto for Flowers in the Attic. Though of course she was not reading that for school.) Word of advice to parents who want to get their kids to read: Tell them they MAY NOT read a book, and I absolutely guarantee you they will. My sister is eight years older than I am so I probably read this in grade four or five, (which kind of shocks me as a parent now. There is a lot of weird sex stuff and very adult themes in this book) Anyhow, this book sparked my lifelong interest in the whole Dystopian Future genre. And luckily did not leave me with a preference for heavily ritualized threesomes with religious overtones. (Religious relatives please don't be alarmed. That is a joke for those who have read the book.)
Another one from the high school reading list era, is The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. Though I actually did read this one in high school when it was assigned to me, and not furtively behind the dresser in my sister's room. This is such a great book. Dystopian Future stuff again, about living in a post nuclear world, where a fear of mutations has been worked into the fundamentalist conservative style religion of their culture. Being born with a mutations of any grade (extra fingers, excessive body hair) would be cause for death. A group of children who are physically "normal" realizes that they have a mutant quality that is not visible to those around them. They can communicate telepathically. The question becomes whether this is a mutation to be feared or an evolution to be embraced. Super good book and I often wonder why it has never been made into a movie. Someone get on that and please offer me a role. Just something small like the mother of the six toed girl. That'd be great.
Late high school, and not on any reading list. I believe my bookish older boyfriend introduced me to this one. Another one I've read multiple times. A Prayer for Owen Meany is the story of an abnormally small boy named Owen Meany (obvs) growing up on the Eastern Seaboard in America in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Lots of tie in's to the political and social movements of the time, dealing with racism, the Vietnam war etc. He is very smart and has a sharp, acerbic wit. He is also a devout Catholic and is convinced he is an instrument of God who will be part of saving lives in the bigger picture of life. It's the type of book that appeals to me in that it covers his whole life and even things proceeding his life that still had an effect on him. One of those sort of "we are all interconnected" themes, like the Stone Diaries by Carol Sheilds, which is also really great. Just do yourself a favour and read them both. 
I probably read Solomon Gursky Was Here in University, after being introduced to Mordecai Richler in high school. Though I can't remember which of his books we read then. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz maybe? Anyhow, this one is for sure my favourite Mordecai Richler book. It is absolutely epic in scope, and follows successive generations of the Gursky family as they emigrate to Canada and go from being bootleggers on the wrong side of the law, to being the wealthy and well respected owners of a massive rum distillery. And it has that great dark humour and sharp observations of the foibles of people as they climb the ladders of society. So many great personalities in here. And lots of interesting observations on religion, race and culture in Canada. And lots of great stuff about being an Anglophone in Quebec and living in Montreal and other things that I can relate to.
I read The Colour Purple in university. Before I saw the movie. And I was just blown away by it. And then I saw the movie and was blown away by that too. I've read this book and seen the movie multiple times and STILL cry every time I do. The story of two sisters, separated from each other, but trying to stay connected, the brutal treatment of a wife by her husband, the injustice perpetrated against the "freed" slaves in the South, the injustice and brutality against women by the men who claim to love and protect them - there are just so many strong themes going on here. Its an amazing book and I need to read it again soon.
Two works of non-fiction here by the same author (see how I'm cheating on the whole "10 books" thing there). Anne Lamott is so, so awesome. One of the people I want to invite to my desert island dinner party. I often describe her as A Christian who says "Fuck", and I really relate to her and her books on that level. I don't always connect with Christian books so well, as I often feel so very flawed and imperfect and can't relate to all the "rah rah Jesus loves you and you should love everyone too!" tone of much inspirational Christian literature. I just don't. But I really connect to Anne Lamott's "Jesus loves you even when your behaviour makes him want to drink gin out of the cat dish" thing. He first book, Travelling Mercies was the one I wanted to put on my list, but I just gave it to my niece, so I've taken a picture of her second book Grace (Eventually) which is equally good. And Operating Instructions, the book she wrote about her first year as a mother is one of the best, most truthful accounts of parenting ever. A must if you have, are ever considering having or at one time were a baby. So basically, that's all of you. Read it.
I read Beloved when I was in my early thirties probably. And it was like a punch to the gut. It describes the horrors of slavery in such an incredibly visceral way. I absolutely tore through this book, and then put it down, took a deep breath, ate some lunch and then reread it right away. Its almost like I could not fully take it in the first time and needed to go over it again at a more relaxed pace so I could really absorb it. It also made me go out and read everything else that Toni Morrison has ever written. Damn she's good. Her books will stick in my brain forever.
I picked To Hell With All That because it was in the cheap bin by the door at Chapters, and the title made me laugh. And it was only $3.99. And then I actually read it and it really resonated with me as I was, by that time a new mom and full time housewife. So I had a lot of "right on sister! Preach!" moments in my head as I read it, even though Caitlin Flanagan tends to be a bit judg-y, and not exactly a feminist. She is feminist-ish. Just a titch on the upper-middle-class side, if you know what I mean. I wouldn't recommend it as a guide for living, and there are certainly those who have done a very good job of pointing out the holes in her arguments. But I do appreciate her for embracing the contradictions inherent in wanting to have it all, but not wanting to do it all. Also, she is very funny.
If Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling could through some miracle or magic of science manage to meet and fall in love and have a baby, then Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is the book that baby would write. I can read this book any time, any place and be completely absorbed. It has that wonderful Austenian style of prose and is so constantly and quietly funny and full of wonder. And the footnotes, oh the footnotes! Some of them go on for almost two pages and are as interesting as the main story. Susanna Clarke is an author to be admired.
I picked The Corrections up at our local library's book sale, having a vague feeling of "Oh, I've heard of Jonathan Franzen. I'll bet this is good." And then I just adored this book and pestered my husband until he read it and he loved it too. Its another one of those "the story from the viewpoint of all the different characters in it" books, a la Carol Sheilds and Mordecai Richler. So many different perspectives and voices and stories in different places and times. And Franzen makes such sharp observations about human nature. He is almost cruelly accurate in the way he describes the difference of values between the generations.
So there you have it. My list of 10 books that I really like. I'd like to add an honourable mention for The Best Thing I Ever Ate by Sallie Tisdale. Which is not a book of food, but a book about food and what it means in our culture. It was so good and so interesting and so well written that I kind of can't believe I don't own a copy. I took it out of the library to read, when I lived in Montreal and had no room for book storage. It was so good that I decided to look up an dread other books that Sallie Tisdale wrote. So I looked up Talk Dirty to Me, which was also a great book about that other human appetite. I also took that one out of the libary which made for a very funny moment when the librarian had to call me and leave a message that said "Your hold has come in. Will you please come to the library for talk dirty to me, I mean, to pick up "Talk Dirty to Me"! Um. Thank you. Goodbye." I'll bet we both laughed about that one.
So that should about cover it. Plus also anything that Jane Austen wrote. Oh, and Fingersmith by Sarah Water. Ok, I should stop now because I could just keep going forever.
And I need another whole list for children's book. Stay tuned.
