It's summertime! Time to kick back outside with a refreshing beverage and spend time between the cover of a book... or at least that's my idea of a good time. If you're looking for a good story to take you out of your time or world, look no further! Here are my top 7 picks for works of fiction (that I think you should read this summer).
1) The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the nation by M.T. Anderson
1) The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the nation by M.T. Anderson
Octavian Nothing is marketed as young adult fiction, but it is definitely one that I will not allow to be "relegated" to the shelves exclusive teen fiction... I think it a valuable story for everyone.
The story follows Octavian, who is being raised in a household of philosophers, his primary teacher being designated Mr. 03-01. Octavian and his mother, for probably the first half of the book, have all kinds of visitors at the house, all with different questions, all with different experiments and, at one point, leaving the house to watch an astronomical event, the transit of Venus across the sun. The story is also taking place in Boston just before the American Revolution. With that as a backdrop, the story is firmly wedged between historical fiction and political commentary. One of the best commentaries of the book has everything to do with something about Octavian... but I don't want to spoil that surprise for you.
The story follows Octavian, who is being raised in a household of philosophers, his primary teacher being designated Mr. 03-01. Octavian and his mother, for probably the first half of the book, have all kinds of visitors at the house, all with different questions, all with different experiments and, at one point, leaving the house to watch an astronomical event, the transit of Venus across the sun. The story is also taking place in Boston just before the American Revolution. With that as a backdrop, the story is firmly wedged between historical fiction and political commentary. One of the best commentaries of the book has everything to do with something about Octavian... but I don't want to spoil that surprise for you.
2) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
I don't know whether there are many people who would deny that Catch-22 is a classic, but I wonder how many people have actually read it? I secretly worry that people use the idiom without actually knowing what it came from. Moreover, how can people pass it up when the story starts, "It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain, he fell madly in love with him."
Catch-22 follows Yossarian, who is a bombardier stationed in Italy during World War II. However, the story is not told from beginning to end. Every character that is introduced has a certain amount of mystery to them because they are all fully formed characters, but you, as the reader, feel like you're missing part of the story when you first meet them. Which you are. And you work for the rest of the book to figure out how each character got to where they are when you meet them. But despite your best efforts to understand them, Heller still manages to tell a story about real characters who are stuck in a war that will get them one way or the other.
3) Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein
Okay, so this isn't a single book. I was going to suggest Fellowship of the Ring first since it comes first chronologically, but even that one, inside its own binding, is divided into Book One and Book Two. Then The Two Towers is divided into three and four and likewise in The Return of the King. Meh. So I'm recommending the entire Lord of the Rings story. You can get it in one binding, anyway...
This is a book that I would describe as beautiful. And epic. I don't use either of those words lightly. Lord of the Rings is a story that sweeps across an entire world and involves the heroes from every group of people on that world. There's magic and adventure and distinctive characters. I also like that, in terms of Joseph Campbell's Hero Cycle, this is not a story about trying to find a treasure or save a princess, but to get rid of something, the One ring, the existence of which could destroy the world.
So why am I recommending this one? Because if you've watched the movies and think you know the whole story, you're wrong.
4) Skin by Roald Dahl
This is an anthology of short stories from the guy who wrote great children's classics like James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So you would think that this is more more great stories that you can read to kids before bedtime, right? No way.
I think this set of short stories are a demonstration of how incredible a write Roald Dahl was. For example, the title story is about a man who was friends with a great artist. He once criticized the artist for only creating that would hang on a wall, things that had no life in them. The man wanted something beautiful that he could keep with him. So the artist made tattooed a work of art on his friend's back. And then later, when the artist had died and his work has become famous, a young collector decided that he wanted all of the artwork in one gallery. All of the artwork.
These are the kinds of stories contained in this anthology. You should check it out. You won't read Matilda or The BFG the same way again
5) Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
I read this story for the first time when I was fairly young, so I've had to revisit it in order to speak about it. However, each time I've revisited it, I have found more that I like about it (that's the trait of a great book, isn't it?). When I was younger, I was enchanted by this early 20th century illustration of space travel because it was treated almost like a magic system and it was written about so poetically. Later, I started seeing the themes of personhood and respect for the created order come out.
Regardless of the underlying themes, the plot follows Dr. Elwin Ransom, who we meet as he is taking a walking tour of the Midlands in England. This particular evening, when he stops to find a place to stay for the night, he apparently picks the wrong (or the right) place, as he is kidnapped and taken out into space. The two men who have kidnapped him (one of whom was an acquaintance of his at school) plan on taking him to Malacandra as a sacrifice. Of course, Ransom is not sacrificed, but he does befriend and acculturate with the sentient race when he arrives on the planet, while his kidnappers are more adversarial. You may be able to guess some of the other things that happen after this point, but I won't tell you and spoil it for you.
It wasn't until much later, after I had read Out of the Silent Planet for the first time, that my mother told me that there were two more and that the books were referred to as Lewis' Space Trilogy. Truth be told, I may like the second book in the series more than I like this one, but I'll leave that topic for another post.
6) Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
This is, again, the first book in a series that Card wrote. However, Ender's Game is distinct because it was originally written by Card as a short story, only intending it as a lead-in to set the stage for the trilogy of books to come, when Ender has grown up. Card never intended for it to become its own novel. But I'm glad that he did allow it to go that way.
This book is a futuristic sic-fi that takes place years after an alien race has attacked Earth. In response, the International Fleet constructed the Battle School, which hangs in orbit around Earth and where the brightest, smartest, most ruthless children are recruited to be trained as commanders to protect humanity from the Buggers. And Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is the best. And he's eight years old.
With that description, I am aware that some of you may think that Ender's Game is just an early version of Battle Royale or The Hunger Games. It's not. It's a very subtle story about respect, authority, morality... and what it really takes to destroy an enemy.
7) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Apparently I have a thing for recommending first books in series. But this book of Adams' is actually first in a trilogy of five books... yes, you read that correctly. And what's more is Eoin Colfer, the author of the Artemis Fowl series, wrote the sixth book 30 years after Adams' original.
The story follows a man named Arthur Dent, who we find laying in the dirt, in his bathrobe, in front of a bulldozer, because his house is about to be demolished to make room for a highway bypass. His good friend, Ford Prefect, pulls him out and whisks him away because, at that moment, a few starships show up to demolish the Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass. And the improbable humor continues from there.
I love this one because of the dry British humor that Adams used to tell a story of twists and turns, but still telling it in a very measured kind of way. Others may hate this one for those exact same reasons.
Okay, those are my seven recommendations of fiction for you. Let me know what you think!
I read this story for the first time when I was fairly young, so I've had to revisit it in order to speak about it. However, each time I've revisited it, I have found more that I like about it (that's the trait of a great book, isn't it?). When I was younger, I was enchanted by this early 20th century illustration of space travel because it was treated almost like a magic system and it was written about so poetically. Later, I started seeing the themes of personhood and respect for the created order come out.
Regardless of the underlying themes, the plot follows Dr. Elwin Ransom, who we meet as he is taking a walking tour of the Midlands in England. This particular evening, when he stops to find a place to stay for the night, he apparently picks the wrong (or the right) place, as he is kidnapped and taken out into space. The two men who have kidnapped him (one of whom was an acquaintance of his at school) plan on taking him to Malacandra as a sacrifice. Of course, Ransom is not sacrificed, but he does befriend and acculturate with the sentient race when he arrives on the planet, while his kidnappers are more adversarial. You may be able to guess some of the other things that happen after this point, but I won't tell you and spoil it for you.
It wasn't until much later, after I had read Out of the Silent Planet for the first time, that my mother told me that there were two more and that the books were referred to as Lewis' Space Trilogy. Truth be told, I may like the second book in the series more than I like this one, but I'll leave that topic for another post.
6) Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
This is, again, the first book in a series that Card wrote. However, Ender's Game is distinct because it was originally written by Card as a short story, only intending it as a lead-in to set the stage for the trilogy of books to come, when Ender has grown up. Card never intended for it to become its own novel. But I'm glad that he did allow it to go that way.
This book is a futuristic sic-fi that takes place years after an alien race has attacked Earth. In response, the International Fleet constructed the Battle School, which hangs in orbit around Earth and where the brightest, smartest, most ruthless children are recruited to be trained as commanders to protect humanity from the Buggers. And Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is the best. And he's eight years old.
With that description, I am aware that some of you may think that Ender's Game is just an early version of Battle Royale or The Hunger Games. It's not. It's a very subtle story about respect, authority, morality... and what it really takes to destroy an enemy.
7) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Apparently I have a thing for recommending first books in series. But this book of Adams' is actually first in a trilogy of five books... yes, you read that correctly. And what's more is Eoin Colfer, the author of the Artemis Fowl series, wrote the sixth book 30 years after Adams' original.
The story follows a man named Arthur Dent, who we find laying in the dirt, in his bathrobe, in front of a bulldozer, because his house is about to be demolished to make room for a highway bypass. His good friend, Ford Prefect, pulls him out and whisks him away because, at that moment, a few starships show up to demolish the Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass. And the improbable humor continues from there.
I love this one because of the dry British humor that Adams used to tell a story of twists and turns, but still telling it in a very measured kind of way. Others may hate this one for those exact same reasons.
Okay, those are my seven recommendations of fiction for you. Let me know what you think!
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