American Pastoral by Philip Roth
This is one of the best modern novels I’ve read, hands down. It captures the human experience breathlessly with a great story written exceptionally well. Heartbreaking, yet enjoyable, beautiful, yet full of despair. It does contain quite a bit of obscene language, if that is something that turns you off, please be aware. 10/10.
Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis
I am re-reading the Chronicles this year, and this is my second book in. I’ve always liked Caspian because it captures a lot of the magic of Narnia well, but it is fairly slow, and certainly not my favorite of the lot. But a very solid offering in the series nonetheless. 8/10.
The Second Wives Club by Jane Moore
For a light beachy read of little consequence I won’t think of much again – I liked it just fine. It’s not profound, but it does explore with some depth the trials and tribulations of being a second wife. 6/10.
Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life by Robert Lupton
This book has a great deal of wisdom about charity and community development in the life of a Christian. Much of it is composed of things I already knew from much more tedious reading or life experience but these insights are packaged winsomely and easily understood and digested by a broad audience. The chapters are short, the book is thin, and you will not come across many things so profitable that are its equal in ease. 10/10.
Intuition by Allegra Goodman
A book about an astonishing discovery in a lab, and the way that it affected a workplace and relationships. Perhaps my problem was that I heard a few too many positive reviews, but I just didn’t find this to be that amazing, it was predictable and a little boring, and the writing was not exceptional. 5/10
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Persuasion is a gem, but the sort that takes preparation. It’s immensely enjoyable after you’ve read other Austen, and you can see the development in her writing, the differences and similarities. Anne Elliot is a good heroine, but a different one, one very little like me, but with admirable qualities I can respect and some that I pity. The plot and characters are very Austen, but with some subtle growth. I am really looking forward to discussing this with my book club! 10/10.
Thanks for this list. I’ll have to add some of these to my wishlist.
thanks! i’m definitely going to pick up some of your “10’s”…
Katie, The Lupton book is a revised and expanded version of And You Call Yourself a Christian, which I know Mandie read, so maybe you have, too! Just didn’t want you to spend money on a book you might have on your shelf.
I read American Pastoral last year, along with the two books that followed it in Roth’s America Trilogy. I liked American Pastoral overall, though it began rather slowly and ended very abruptly. It had a lot of very well-written and heartbreaking passages. If you liked it you might like The Human Stain, which came two books later in Roth’s career. I actually preferred it to AP but both are good.
I’ve also read American Pastoral. I think you are right about it, I think it is good. And, yes, it does have obscenities, so people should watch out for that. I think Roth has done a good job of capturing an era and telling a compelling tale.
I have I Married A Communist, also by Roth, but haven’t delved into it yet. I think its a bit shorter than American Pastoral.
I think some contemporary American authors are actually pretty good. There is ugliness and post-modernity and what not, but there is also a certain rich texture and actually quite a bit to be commended. Whatever one may think about Roth, Heinlein, McCarthy, Pynchon, Kesey, Vonnegut, etc., it must be conceded that they all bring something unique to the table and can’t be discounted off-hand.