Has anyone ever asked you for a good recommendation? I love when I am asked for one but I also love asking others. I sometimes get recommended the greatest books and every time I thank my lucky stars that I asked. It’s so much easier and satisfying than walking around a bookstore for hours only to keep seeing the soulless books written by the so called “authors” of today. These days the book selection is marred by the fact that anyone on the street can get a book deal and spew out some pretty worthless literature (I’m looking at you Kendall and Kylie). Anyway here are my top 4 recommendations for books.
- Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar
This book was recommended to me by a dear friend, I didn’t have time to go get it so she bought it for me for my birthday. The book is absolutely sensational. It’s not very long so if you like shorter books this can be an option for you. The story is not a light-hearted story but it is beautiful. It deals with the main character Esther, her relationship with her mother, and the unfortunate tormets that life has brought unto her. You follow her on her journey in understanding the depths of mental illness and anguish. It is a truly beautiful read.
2. Gary Jennings’ Aztec
To be honest I’m not a huge fan of Native American Literature whether fiction or non-fiction I have never been able to get into it. This book is an aboslute exception, it was recommended to me by an ex-boyfriend. I didn’t want to read it so I kept making excuses when he would ask if I had started it, finding that I couldn’t keep up my game I gave in and started reading it…and I didn’t stop until I finished it. I can’t tell you how moving this book is. It has everything you could ever ask for in a story, this book made me feel every emotion a person is capable of feeling. Let me warn you that it is pretty long so it will take some time to get through but it is worth it. Also, be warned that the beginning starts out a bit slow but trust me, everyone needs to read this book at some point in their lives.
3. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender Is The Night
I will come out and say first and foremost that Fitzgerald is my favorite author, so I was surprised that I had not read this book. It was recommended to me a long time ago after I finished reading The Beautiful and Damned, I was speaking about it with a friend and he told me to check out Tender is The Night. This is another story that deals with mental illness and the impact it has on not just the person who is dealing with it but those whom they are surrounded by as well. Beautifully written about two complicated individuals, Dick and Nicole Diver, you get seeped into their world and in turn take their devastatingly romantic yet tragic ride with them. I’ve read this book 8 times and I’m still not sick of it.
4. Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita
With Fitzgerald being my favorite author Lolita is my favorite book. The subject of this book is controversial to say the least, it is about European intellectual Humbert Humbert and his obsession with 12-year-old Dolores (Lolita) Haze. The book is not simple to read, the language is intense yet delightfully lavish. This book is an intellectual masterpiece not meant for a lazy summer beach read. If you are ready for such an experience then when finished know that this book will leave you breathless and irritated that it is over.
