Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.
I read both in a row, they were so amazing. I am so envious of his mix of things so sad you will cry and things so funny you will laugh aloud like a crazy person whilst you read. These are true gems and I keep looking back to them. In Extremely he expiriments with different typography- so amazing. And I will never forget in Everything when a character repeats "Iamsoafraid of dying. Iamsoafraidofdying."
Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
I did a very long paper on this and the intersex community. This is the story of Cal and his struggles aligning his gender with his sex. The first section is on his grandparents, but stick it out and you will be rewarded with a thrilling account of adolescence that only Eugenides could write so realistically.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
This year's Pulitzer winner. I liked it enough, a very interesting concept about a fat "ghetto nerd." A basic knowledge of Spanish is practically a requirement though.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
A classic, and very feministy for 1847. Very long becasue it was published in installments, but it's a good thing to have read.
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Written by Smith when she was just 24. This book is an amazing interwoven web that looks at purity versus hybridity. You'll keep thinking about it long after you put it down. After struggling through the first few chapters it is very engaging.
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
A collection of simple, quiet stories which have amazing depth that you don't even realize until later. Each is unique- only July would be able to come up with this stuff. I got this from the BPL as my one outside reading this semester (I read about 17 novels!), so I had to speed through it and I want to come back to it soon.
Valencia by Michelle Tea
A fictionalized memoir by a queer punk girl in San Fransisco. Fast paced and fun, plus she's a cutie and has very unique metaphors and funny stories.
Books to Avoid:
Never Let Me Go by Kazou Ishiguro
This story is exactly like The Island (clones used for their body parts) except it is told in the 1st person by a dull narrator who starts her sentences with "Anyways, what I wanted to talk about now.." We had to read it for Brit Lit. In included tons of irrelevant anecdotes and tried to keep you guessing even though the plot was so predictable.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
How is this book a best seller? Everything works out so well for the sake of the story (the character speaks Polish, and it just so happens the elephant only understand Polish. What a coincidence!) It's a typical love story set in a circus- why is it more than 300 pages?
And coming up: Go Tell It On the Mountain, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, On the Road and Lady Chatterley's Lover
Happy Reading!
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