Ten Most Memorable Books - What Do Writers Read?

We live in a world that loves lists and this seems to be especially true where it comes to social media and books. A couple of weeks ago I noticed a number of writers were Facebook posting each other with a challenge to name the 10 books they considered most memorable. I started following some of the threads and realized it was a list made up of not only the tried and true but the radically obscure – at least where it came to my knowledge base. Not only were there books I’d never heard of, but many writers as well. These answers were not supplied by anyone with an agenda, but by people who read a lot and do so with a critical eye.

Several of my favorites are on the list: A Fine Balance, The Alexandria Quartet and House of the Spirits among them. There are a number of short story collections listed and two writers I know through The Writer’s Studio. Shaena Lambert’s Oh, My Darling and Ayelet Tsabari’s The Best Place on Earth are both wonderful.

My CTRL C impulse kicked in, the weather changed to autumn and blog #5 was born. Why should I keep this list to myself? Wouldn’t others benefit from this spontaneous outpouring of lit love? While those in Vancouver (where I live) may complain when winter arrives, I think there are many who walk past their stack of carefully selected cold-weather reads, just waiting for long evenings and quiet weekends.

Click this link for your downloading pleasure. I’m sure there were many posts I missed but this is a worthy list for anyone to get through. I’m not sure who started the challenge but perhaps it will come back around at some point. If it does, will someone please add Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things?

Enjoy!