Reading List #1: Secrets
Posted: January 15, 2012 Filed under: books, Reading List Leave a comment »People often ask me “Could you recommend a good book?” This is a difficult question to answer, in a way, because there are thousands of good books and whether or not you find a book “good” really depends on what’s happening in your life at the moment the book finds you. I say it that way on purpose. The best books are the ones that choose you.
So, I’m making some reading lists over the next several months based on various themes. Say you like books about “Women on the Verge” or maybe you like “Food Porn Fiction” or “New York Shitty.” This way, you can find a theme that interests you, trot off to your favorite independent bookstore, make a pot of tea, and settle in.
Each of these books look at what it means to keep secrets — between spouses, parents & children, communities and their inhabitants, lovers — as well as the repercussions once the secrets are revealed, or discovered. Or, in some cases, not revealed. How the secret can become your whole life.
- Silver Sparrow, by Tayari Jones
- The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt
- The Keep, by Jennifer Egan
- Edinburgh, by Alexander Chee
- Before & After, by Rosellen Brown
- Oyster, by Janette Turner Hospital
- Boys of Life, by Paul Russell
- Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel
