This book blog topic makes me want to cry a little because, well, I rarely have the time to do it anymore. Yes, yes–adulthood can truly stink up the joint sometimes. The big blue meanies over at The Broke & The Bookish have asked us to share our list of “The Top Ten Books to Read in a Day.”
There is something wonderful about staying in your pajamas all day long, curled up under a cozy blanket (which is even better when the rain is pouring down outside), getting lost in the pages of a book with a mug of tea or hot cocoa steaming on the bedside table. Here are ten books that I remember completing in a day (or just a tad over), and you can see by reading over it that I’m not choosy when it comes to gorging myself on words like it’s some literary variation on the Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest!
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins—I did read this one over the better part of an afternoon and evening. It’s quite simply the best book of the trilogy. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that had they trimmed Mockingjay and tagged it onto the back of this one, the entire series would have been much better for it. Full of action, drama, and true surprises, this is one book I can’t wait to see make the transition to film!
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig—I am embarrassed to say I read this book. (In fact, I guiltily gobbled it and two or three other books in the series down like a binge eater, crying in shame and shoveling it down at the same time.) My only excuse was that I was going through a Scarlet Pimpernel kick at the time, and this book provided access to the world in an obtuse sort of way. I mean, Sir Percy was an ancillary character in the first book. Essentially, this is chick romance/action at it’s best and worst, and until an intervention took place, I was entrenched in it.
The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1) by Lemony Snicket—I’m not ashamed to have read this book, or any of the twelve others in the series. If you’ve not read the Lemony Snicket books, you’re really missing out. Daniel Handler has a wicked sense of humor, and his knack for storytelling is off the charts. This was “kid” fiction written with adults in mind. The books were fun to collect, like little pocket-sized crime novels with uneven pages and old-school illustrations. Just fun, fun reads. My friends and I used to wait until the new ones came out and host parties where we’d take turns reading using Tim Curry’s voice from the audiobooks (which are FABULOUS if you’ve never heard them.)
Frankenstein: Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz—The series took a weird turn or two that I wasn’t expecting, and I wasn’t totally thrilled with the ending. However, the first book in the Frankenstein series by Dean Koontz was fabulous! It totally changed up the monster narrative we all know and love. The “creature” renames himself Deucalion and devotes his long (if not eternal) life to destroying the master who built him and who is, several hundred years later, as power hungry and maniacal as ever. Set in New Orleans with two wise-cracking cops, this was a fun and wild read I tore through in one day on a particularly long car trip.
Common Sense by Thomas Paine—I don’t know about you, but if I’d read this work sooner in my life, I might have been much better off. It is truly an amazing work, one that riled a sleeping collection of colonies and made them a national force. It’s an example of great writing as well as how words are indeed more powerful than the sword. Paine is really an uncredited founding father, and you’d do yourself a favor reading the work where amazing quotes like this reside:
“Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.”
Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar—My graphic novel inclusion for this list is an alternate-universe three-issue series that explored a simple idea—what if Superman’s capsule had landed on a collective farm in Soviet Russia instead of the Heartland of America? What would have been different in the DC universe (and the world at large) if he fought not for “truth, justice, and the American way” but “as the Champion of the common worker who fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact.” A fascinating read with great art and a tight narrative.
Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice—I read this when I was living on my own in a crappy efficient apartment during my first semester in college. I curled up in my Murphy Bed and read until the sun came up. I was so fascinated with the concept of the Italian opera starts know as the castrati that I did hours of research (the old fashioned way—with books, a card catalog, stacks, and microfiche!! There were fewer academic wimps back in the day.) I wrote my ENG 1101 research paper on them and argued that they had played a larger role in the development of Italian opera than had previously been recognized. My professor said it was a welcome change from the papers on legalizing pot, gun control, and animal testing.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern—I was hooked by this one and read it in just a shade over a day. There was something magical about it, something otherworldly that just sucked me in. I was like the circus devotees, and I wanted to spend my life finding it and spending time within it. Morgenstern may not be the best writer in the world, but she’s a darned good one who isn’t afraid to color outside the lines to create compelling characters and an engaging story that, despite being impossible, makes you wish it was altogether real.
Passing by Nella Larsen—I read this one in grad school and loved it. We were supposed to read it over a two week period, dividing it in half, but I couldn’t wait. This one tells the story of Clare and Irene, two African American girls who were friends but lost touch after Clare’s father died. She went on to live with her two white aunts who let her “pass” for while and marry a white man who also happens to be a raving racist. Irene lives in Harlem and is committed to fighting for the cause of equality. The books is wonderfully ambiguous and lets readers interpret the actions in whatever way they choose. I wouldn’t want to rob you of the joy of it by telling you what I thought. Go pick it up!
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1) by Patrick Rothfuss—I’m putting this here. It took me longer than a day because it comes in just a bit under 700 pages in length. I’m a very quick reader, but even I had to take a break and sleep a little rather than risk choking myself on this tome. If you enjoy fantasy novels, I cannot recommend this one highly enough. I shot through it and book two, The Wise Man’s Fear, in under a week and regretted it terribly because I now have to wait until 2013 to see how the story ends. Rothfuss places readers in a world that is both recognizable and altogether foreign and crafts a tight plot free of holes. Kvothe for President in 2012. That’s all I have to say about that. 🙂
**For the record, I have no clue why the font on this post went “straight to plaid” as they said in Spaceballs—single spaced and italicized. What I do know is that I’m too lazy to do what it takes to fix it.**
How about you all? What books did you indulge in for a full twenty-four hours? Is there a book you’ve been wanting to lock yourself in an attic with dripping candles and an apple to read?
Moby Dick by Herman Melville—The first book I’m excited about reading fulfills the requirement for number two. I’m not excited about this book for the same reason I am others on the list. I think, more than anything, I relish the challenge. I was the student in school who typically picked the most difficult book she could get her hands on for a reading project. (I even took on the challenge of reading Ulysses in two weeks just because I could. If you want to hear what that experience was like, read a 
Insurgent by Veronica Roth—This one is due out May 2012. I read the first book in this trilogy, Divergent, late in 2011 and loved it. It’s YA fiction, so it falls short in some areas like character development and vocabulary. However, the plot was intriguing enough that I finished it in record time. If she can continue to play nicely with the intricate story she began weaving, this should be a great read. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes The Hunger Games for pure action, a strong female protagonist, and an interesting love story. Personally, I tend to like works that are dystopian in nature, so this one was right up my alley. If you’re like me and enjoy books like 1984, Brave New World, Blade Runner, and The Road, this is for you.
Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore—Another YA read that’s due out in May of 2012. Books like these are my weakness; I simply can’t turn them down. This one, also slightly dystopian, is fantasy based rather than sci-fi, which is nice for someone like me who would rather read Tolkien than Verne. Unlike Fire, the second book in the series, which was actually a prequel to the first book, Graceling, this one is set eight years after the first and is a continuation of its events. Therefore, all the characters like Po, Katsa, and (of course) Bitterblue will be back in action with all sorts of evil plans to thwart and goodness to defend in all seven realms. This one is a little edgier than most YA fiction, and the plots hang together very well. There’s quite a bit of “girly love stuff,” but it never overwhelms the book as a whole.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho—This one has been out for awhile, since 2006 in fact, but I’ve never read it. It sounds a bit like Gabriel Garcia Marquez to me–a sort of coming-of-age plot with a dash of magical realism thrown in. However, unlike Marquez, I think this one stands a chance of being mystical with a chance of promise, a smidgen of hope. Quite literally, a young shepherd boy, goes on a quest across continents to find his dreams–a bildungsroman of the highest order. I’ve heard many good things about this one, so it should be a good read.
The Painted Veil by M. Somerset Maugham—I saw the film version of this book starring my boyfriend, Edward Norton, a year or two ago and fell in love with it. I’m eager to see what the original text is like because I know, without a doubt, as great as that film is, the book is bound to be ten times better. Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, it follows Kitty Fane, a love-starved Englishwoman married to a doctor. When he finds out about her adultery, he forces her to go with him into the heart of a cholera epidemic. It is there that she gains a true perspective of purpose, love, and devotion. I can’t wait to finally read this as Maugham intended!
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett—I’m a huge fan of Bogart, and I love film noir and gumshoe detective stuff. For some reason, however, I’ve not read much of it. Sam Spade is that archetypal character women have always wanted and men have always wanted to be just like. As the summary on Goodreads says (and I love this!), “Spade is bigger (and blonder) in the book than in the movie, and his Mephistophelean countenance is by turns seductive and volcanic. Sam knows how to fight, whom to call, how to rifle drawers and secrets without leaving a trace, and just the right way to call a woman ‘Angel’ and convince her that she is. He is the quintessence of intelligent cool, with a wise guy’s perfect pitch.” Sounds just right for a Friday night at home with a glass of wine, yes?
The Enders Hotel by Brandon R. Schrand—This is a non-fiction work that won the River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize in 2008. It is his memoir about growing up in the boom town of Soda Springs, Idaho and watching as different people came and went in the hotel/bar/cafe his parents owned there called, of course, The Enders. He essentially tells his story as well as those of the people who stayed in his family’s hotel, and the work is therefore dark and hopeful by turns. I think it is a fascinating idea for a memoir. After all, a hotel is a temporary place, a moving on place, and how can one ever establish a sense of home and of self in such a transitory space? It’s also interesting to me because of my people watching tendencies; a hotel is a fascinating place to spend time observing people, the most interesting walking and talking stories of all.
Cello Playing for Music Lovers: A Self-Teaching Method by Vera Matlin Jiji—I’ve decided that 2012 is the year I learn to play a second musical instrument. One of the two I’ve always wanted to learn is the cello, and there are several at my church that my orchestra director is willing to loan me. It’s not that I’ve mastered the French horn by any stretch of the imagination. I doubt anyone ever has. I’m just longing for something new, and this seems like it is in the realm of possibility. I might never be good enough to play cello in our orchestra, but I’d like to give it a try. This book came with the highest overall recommendations, so we’ll see how it goes. *fingers crossed*
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood—I truly enjoyed The Handmaid’s Tale and some of the short fiction I’ve read by Ms. Atwood. I met her a little over a year ago when she came to lecture at Emory University, and this was one of the works she mentioned only briefly. (She focused more on books like Oryx and Crake instead due to the fact the lecture series was sci-fi in nature.) However, this one looks too good to pass up. As always, Atwood weaves together at least two novels in one described as “a melancholic account of why writers write–and readers read–and one that frames the different lives told through this book.”