Or perhaps I should call this post Looking for Blog Fodder. I seem to have…
Three On Thursday
Well. Thank you all so much for your questions yesterday! You have certainly given me blog fodder and I will be answering all of them in the days to come. I’m picking Bonny‘s question for today, partly because it was the first one I received and partly because she ask for three things. I mean, how could I not?
My Top Three Books of All Time
- Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. Anyone involved with Read With Us knows that I loved this book, Is it traumatic and difficult? Oh yes. But is it also relatable for someone raised in an alcoholic household? Hell yes. I don’t think I ever felt so seen by an author as I did when I was reading this book.
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Another Read With Us book and a truly surprising turn around since I despised this book the first time I read it about 20 years ago. This time around I found it to be incredibly beautiful, with richly drawn characters, a vivid setting, and a utterly compelling plot.
- The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. I read this book in January 2024 and I still think about it frequently. The things I said in my review still stand: An engrossing and encompassing story of one family’s roots, stolen land, the brutality of slavery, and the racism of modern day America, this is a masterpiece of a book. It’s long but never drags, the characters are real and wonderful, it made me angry and it made me cry and it gave me hope.
This was hard, friends! I wanted to include Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Strout and Nathan Hill and so many more. But Bonny asked for 3 and I went with these because they were the first ones that came to my mind.
What are your top 3 books?
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I love this list, Carole! I would have to say that Douglas Stuart’s second novel, Young Mungo gets on my list. As does the latest book by Hisham Mater, My Friends… like you, I still think about these books frequently! The other one was a bit of a surprise for me… it is The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl. This book altered my life in such unexpected ways. I am on my fourth read through… and each week it is as impactful as the first time I read it! (and a bit yes to The Poisonwood Bible… I loved that book so much as well!) I will put in a plug for Read With Us here as well, this group and the books we read are the best!
Thanks for sharing these, Carole.
I, too, read The Poisonwood Bible about 20 years ago, when it was assigned reading in my daughter’s English class. Perhaps I should have another go at it to see if I have the same result you did.
As for a favorite book, I can’t narrow it down. However, if I look back at what made me the avid reader I have been all my life, I believe it was two series so far different from each other, but meaningful to a young girl back in the late ’60s/early 70s– The Little House books, and the Trixie Belden mysteries. I also enjoyed every single on of the biographies that were in my school library on famous Americans.
Now my reading tastes swing with the wind. Totally all over the place.
Looking forward to seeing what others post as their favorite books, too.
Thanks for your interesting answers! They’re a bit of a surprise to me, but I can certainly understand why you chose these. My top three are chosen mainly for how they made me feel -The Shipping News, Anne of Green Gables and The Shell Seekers. (And maybe The Poisonwood Bible and The Secret History if I was choosing my top five.)
Oh wow! I did not read Shuggie Bain (and don’t want to, because you all know I did not like Young Mungo AT ALL!!). The Poisonwood Bible definitely makes my top list (loved it when I first read it and loved it again when I read it for our RWU group). I read The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois, but didn’t feel as strongly about it as you do Carole. I thought it was good, but way too long! It really is hard to pick just 3! But two more in my top list (which is longer than 3) are Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
Laughing at Mary’s comment – I remember those Trixie Belden books (loved them) and also all the biographies that I took out at the library (Clara Barton, etc.). Good memories.
This one is easy for me, although like you, I could name a lot more that are in the running.
Cutting for Stone, This Much I Know is True, and All the Light We Cannot See are my top three. If I could add, I would add Poisonwood Bible, Prodigal Summer, and so many others right off the top of my head. (It’s early!)
I’m going with books that I’ve read multiple times for my three: Lincoln In The Bardo, A Thousand Summers, Population: 485. And I’m pretty sure I’ll read them all again.
Everything that Mary wrote rings true for me (except for Trixie Belden — I never got into those, but my sister Sharon loved them) (and I still have some). The Little House Books will always be in my favorites, and I could still walk blindfolded to the biography section of my elementary school library — I made a bee-line for it every time!!
Hmmmm tough one…Lassie Come Home from my youth, and The Hearts Invisible Furies (audio) and A Prayer for Owen Meany are two that have really stuck with me over the last 10 years or so. Super hard question Bonny! 🙂 (And same with Poisonwood Bible…liked it so much better second time around!)
I’m not sure I can pick my three favorite books — I love too many! I think I would have to pick groups of three under different themes or headings.