Super Scholar’s 50 Most Influential Books of the last 50 Years

The editors at Super Scholar have put together an impressive list of the 50 most influential books of the last 50 years.  50 books people have been impacted by from the last 5 decades – a wonderful reading list for those who want to discover the ideas people raved over.

In compiling the books on this list, the editors at SuperScholar have tried to provide a window into the culture of the last 50 years. Ideally, if you read every book on this list, you will know how we got to where we are today. Not all the books on this list are “great.” The criterion for inclusion was not greatness but INFLUENCE. All the books on this list have been enormously influential.

 

In no particular order from Super Scholar:

1. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958), as the most widely read book in contemporary African literature, focuses on the clash of colonialism, Christianity, and native African culture.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

2. Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979) reinvented the science fiction genre, making it at once sociologically incisive as well as funny.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

3. Robert Atkins’ Dr Atkins’s New Diet Revolution (1992, last edition 2002) launched the low-carbohydrate diet revolution, variants of which continue to be seen in numerous other diet programs.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

4. Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion (2006), drawing on his background as an evolutionary theorist to elevate science at the expense of religion, propelled the neo-atheist movement.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

5. Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind (1987) set the tone for the questioning of political correctness and the reassertion of a “canon” of Western civilization.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

6. Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (2003), an entertaining thriller, has been enormously influential in getting people to think that Jesus is not who Christians say he is and that Christianity is all a conspiracy.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

7. Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (1970) transformed the way we view native Americans as they lost their land, lives, and dignity to expanding white social and military pressures.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

8. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) more than any other book helped launch the environmental movement.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

9. Noam Chomsky’s Syntactic Structures (1957), laying out his ideas of transformational grammar, revolutionized the field of linguistics and at the same time dethroned behaviorism in psychology.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

10. Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Successful People (1989) set the standard for books on leadership and effectiveness in business.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

11. Michael Behe’s Darwin’s Black Box (1996), though roundly rejected by the scientific community, epitomizes the challenge of so-called intelligent design to evolutionary theory and has spawned an enormous literature, both pro and con.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

12. Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997), in employing evolutionary determinism as a lens for understanding human history, reignited grand history making in the spirit Spengler and Toynbee.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

13. Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose (1980) examines, in the context of a mystery at a medieval monastery, the key themes of premodernity, modernity and postmodernity.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

14. Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning (1962) provides a particularly effective answer to totalitarian attempts to crush the human spirit, showing how humanity can overcome horror and futility through finding meaning and purpose.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

15. Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963), in giving expression to the discontent women felt in being confined to the role of homemaker, helped galvanize the women’s movement.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

16. Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom (1962) argued that capitalism constitutes a necessary condition for political liberties and thus paved the way for the conservative economics of the Reagan years.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

17. Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence (1995) showed clearly how skills in dealing with and reading emotions can be even more important than the cognitive skills that are usually cited as the official reason for career advancement.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

18. Jane Goodall’s In the Shadow of Man (1971), in relating her experiences with chimpanzees in the wild, underscored the deep connection between humans and the rest of the animal world.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

19. John Gray’s Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus (1992), in highlighting and elevating the differences between men and women in their relationships, challenged the contention that gender differences are socially constructed.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

20. Alex Haley’s Roots (1976), by personalizing the tragic history of American slavery through the story of Kunta Kinte, provided a poignant challenge to racism in America.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

21. Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time (1988, updated and expanded 1998), by one of the age’s great physicists, attempts to answer the big questions of existence, not least how the universe got here.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

22. Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (1961) etched into public consciousness a deep skepticism of bureaucracies, which in the book are portrayed as self-serving and soul-destroying.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

23. Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962, last edition 1978) changed our view of science from a fully rational enterprise to one fraught with bias and irrational elements.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

24. Harold Kushner’s When Bad Things Happen to Good People (1981) transformed people’s view of God, exonerating God of evil by making him less than all-powerful.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

25. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) served as prelude to the civil rights advances of the 1960s by portraying race relations from a fresh vantage—the vantage of an innocent child untainted by surrounding racism and bigotry.
[Amazon Link] – [Wikipedia Link]

 

For 25 – 50 please follow the link to the Super Scholar article:

http://www.superscholar.org/features/50-most-influential-books-last-50-years/

Notable Works of Fiction & their Famous Irish Authors

In celebration of St Patrick’s Day I’ve put together this list of famous writers who you may or may not have known hail from Ireland.  The list includes both classic and contemporary works of notable fiction.  Today, wear something green and pick up a book by an Irish author!  Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Gulliver’s Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) by Oscar Wilde

Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker

Ulysses (1922) by James Joyce

The Chronicles of Narnia (1949) by C S Lewis

Under the Net (1954) by Iris Murdock

Amongst Women (1990) by John McGahern

Circle of Friends (1990) by Maeve Binchy

Every Dead Thing (1999) by John Connelly

Artemis Fowl (2001) by Eoin Colfer

The Sea (2005) by John Banville

The Gathering (2007) by Anne Enright

Brooklyn (2009) by Colm Toibin

Room (2010) by Emma Donoghue

The Brightest Star in the Sky (2011) by Marian Keyes

NYT: Notable Crime Novels of 2010

 

Crime fiction is one of the most popular genres and if you’re thinking of giving the gift of great reading this Christmas you might find something on this list of notable crime novels of 2010 from the New York Times for family or friends.  I’ve also included the PW review for each novel for your pleasure.

 

SPLIT IMAGE by Robert B. Parker

Bestseller Parker’s enjoyable ninth novel featuring Paradise, Mass., police chief Jesse Stone (after Night and Day ), focuses on Stone’s deepening connection with PI Sunny Randall, the star of her own series (Spare Change , etc.). Both Jesse and Sunny are still recovering from failed relationships, and Parker does a nice job of integrating their separate therapy sessions (in Sunny’s case, with Susan Silverman, the significant other of Parker’s best-known detective, Spenser) with two criminal investigations. The parents of 18-year-old Cheryl DeMarco ask Sunny for help in getting Cheryl out of a religious cult, while Stone probes the gunshot murder of Petrov Ognowski, a mob soldier whose boss, Reggie Galen, is the next-door neighbour of another gangster. Neither case is particularly compelling on its own, but they effectively serve as plot devices for the main characters to understand more about themselves and each other. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

DOORS OPEN by Ian Rankin

In Scottish author Rankin’s intricately plotted heist thriller, software millionaire Mike Mackenzie, high-end banker Allan Cruikshank, and college art professor Robert Gissing devise a plan to “liberate” forgotten works of art from a warehouse storing the overflow from Edinburgh’s museum collections. The trio commissions an art student nursing an antiestablishment grudge to paint fakes to swap for the originals, and Mackenzie’s chance meeting with schoolmate Charlie “Chib” Calloway, now one of the city’s most notorious gangsters, allows the group access to muscle and weapons. But cracks soon appear in the plan, with an inquisitive detective inspector, who’s been on Calloway’s trail for months, getting too close for comfort. Using the smalltown feel of Edinburgh to advantage, Rankin (Exit Music ) gives his caper novel a claustrophobic edge while injecting enough twists, turns, and triple crosses that even the most astute reader will be surprised at the outcome. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

STILL MIDNIGHT by Denise Mina

At the outset of Mina’s stellar first in a new series, two men in army fatigues, Pat and Eddy, break into the suburban Glasgow house of the Anwars, a Muslim family, demanding to speak to a man none of the family has ever heard of. The pair abduct the father, Aamir, after Pat shoots Aamir’s attractive teenage daughter in the hand. Det. Sgt. Alex Morrow wonders if religious bigotry prompted the crime, but she soon realizes that money is the key when Pat and Eddy demand a £2 million ransom, an exorbitant sum for a family of modest means. As Morrow and her partner, Det. Sgt. Grant Bannerman, dig deeper into the lives of the Anwars, particularly middle child Omar, they begin to untangle a complex web of intrigue. Meanwhile, the frantic kidnappers realize too late they’re out of their depth. Mina (Slip of the Knife ), who’s as much at ease with cops as she is with the people they chase, laces this potent crime thriller with colourful Scottish slang and delivers a sucker-punch climax. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

THE LAST DAYS OF PTOLEMY GREY by Walter Mosley

Mosley (Known to Evil) plays out an intriguing premise in his powerful latest: a man is given a second shot at life, but at the price of a hastened death. Ptolemy Grey is a 91-year-old man, suffering from dementia and living as a recluse in his Los Angeles apartment. With one foot in the past and the other in the grave, Ptolemy begins to open up when Robyn Small, a 17-year-old family friend, appears and helps clean up his apartment and straighten out his life. A reinvigorated Ptolemy volunteers for an experimental medical program that will restore his mind, but at hazardous cost: he won’t live to see 92. With the clock ticking, Ptolemy uses his rejuvenated mental abilities to delve into the mystery of the recent drive-by shooting death of his great-nephew, Reggie, and to render justice the only way he knows how, goaded and guided by the memory of his murdered childhood mentor, Coydog McCann. Though the details of the experimental procedure are less than convincing, Mosley’s depiction of the indignities of old age is heartbreaking, and Ptolemy’s grace and decency make for a wonderful character and a moving novel. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

THE LOCK ARTIST by Steve Hamilton

At the start of this offbeat thriller from Edgar-winner Hamilton (A Stolen Season and six other titles in the Alex McKnight PI series), the book’s intriguing narrator, Mike (aka the Golden Boy, the Young Ghost, the Lock Artist, etc.), confesses that a traumatic experience at age eight left him unable to speak and that he has been in prison for nine years. His strange odyssey, which hops around in time, takes Mike and his twin talents, art and lock breaking, from his Michigan home to both coasts while in thrall to a mysterious man in Detroit whom he doesn’t dare cross. Propelled by an aching desire to recover his voice, Mike has brushes with the law, flirts with romance and makes alliances with criminals, from rank amateurs to consummate professionals. Along the way, Hamilton drops tantalizing clues about Mike’s troubled past and his uncertain future. Readers will hope to hear more from Mike. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

 SLEEPLESS by Charlie Huston

In Huston’s impressive, challenging thriller set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, a devastating illness renders the afflicted unable to sleep. In about a year, those with SLP (as the sleepless illness is known) deteriorate and die. Amid the city’s rampant violence and lawlessness, LAPD cop Parker “Park” Haas tries to persuade himself that a future exists for his newborn daughter. As the outside world becomes increasingly dangerous, Park pursues an undercover investigation that takes him deep into the milieu of an online game called Chasm Tide, into which many people have retreated. As in the author’s Joe Pitt vampire series (My Dead Body , etc.), this book has at its heart a love story: Park’s wife is dying from SLP, and Park begins to fear he may be getting it, too. Can the mysterious mercenary known only as Jasper help? Some fans of Huston’s crime fiction may not be comfortable with a novel that itself resembles a role-playing game, but it will gain him a whole new readership. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

SO COLD THE RIVER by Michael Koryta

In this explosive thriller from Koryta (Envy the Night ), failed filmmaker Eric Shaw is eking out a living making family home videos when a client offers him big bucks to travel to the resort town of West Baden, Ind., the childhood home of her father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, to shoot a video history of his life. Almost immediately, things go weird. Eric uncovers evidence of another Campbell Bradford, a petty tyrant who lived a generation before the other and terrorized the locals. The older Campbell begins appearing in horrific visions to Eric after he sips the peculiar mineral water that made West Baden famous. Koryta spins a spellbinding tale of an unholy lust for power that reaches from beyond the grave and suspends disbelief through the believable interactions of fully developed characters. A cataclysmic finale will put readers in mind of some of the best recent works of supernatural horror, among which this book ranks. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

LOVE SONGS FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE by Colin Cotterill

Set in 1978, Cotterill’s superb seventh mystery to feature Dr. Siri Paiboun (after 2009′s The Merry Misogynist) finds "the national and only coroner of the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos" nearing his 74th birthday chained to a lead pipe in a Cambodian prison. Siri’s captivity is wrapped around investigating the puzzling deaths of three Laotian women, each skewered by duelling swords that are a decided rarity in Laos. A strong supporting cast, including Siri’s recently acquired wife, Madame Daeng, and morgue colleague Nurse Dtui, who’s married to Inspector Phosy, enriches the narrative. The unfathomable violence of the Khmer Rouge reign emerges during Siri’s unexpected ordeal and forms a vivid contrast to his humanity in seeking to protect the murder suspect in the three sword deaths. This immensely satisfying mystery has it all–a heroic protagonist, a challenging puzzle, and an exotic setting. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

PORTOBELLO by Ruth Rendell

London’s Portobello Road, a street fabled for its shops and outdoor market, provides the backdrop for Edgar-winner Rendell’s superlative suspense novel, which features a cast of colourful characters from varied classes and walks of life. Secretive 50-year-old Eugene Wren, who’s addicted to cheap candy lozenges, is toying with marrying his longtime girlfriend, physician Ella Cotswold. Rootless Lance Platt cases the neighbourhood for costly homes he can break into, and clashes with his great-uncle, Gilbert Gibson, a former burglar who now preaches the gospel. One man’s losing 115 pounds triggers a series of coincidences that brings this disparate lot closer together, toward haphazard violence and death. Rendell (The Water’s Lovely) is particularly adept at portraying young people just a dole check away from homelessness as well as the carelessness and callousness of the book’s upper-middle-class characters. Her style has become ever more spare while retaining its subtle psychology and vivid sense of place. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

THE EXECUTOR by Jesse Kellerman

At the start of this outstanding novel of psychological suspense, Kellerman’s fourth (after The Genius ), 30-year-old philosophy grad student Joseph Geist finds himself at loose ends after being suspended from Harvard (for failing to do any work) and breaking up with his longtime girlfriend. When Geist answers an ad in the Harvard Crimson seeking a serious “conversationalist,” he ends up being paid to debate free will for a few hours a day with Alma Spielmann, an elderly woman of Viennese origin. After the two bond, Spielmann offers Geist free room and board at her Cambridge house, where she lives alone. The sudden appearance of Spielmann’s difficult nephew, who relies on Spielmann’s financial support, threatens Geist’s comfortable relationship with his benefactor. The plot builds to a climax that’s as devastating as it is plausible. Few thriller writers today are as gifted as Kellerman at using lucid and evocative prose in the service of an intense and nail-biting story. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

BLACKLANDS by Belinda Bauer 

British author Bauer’s solid debut focuses on Steven Lamb, an unhappy 12- year-old boy who lives with his mother, grandmother, and five-year-old brother in Shipcolt, Somerset. Steven’s grandmother is still haunted by the disappearance and suspected murder of her 11-year-old son, Billy, 19 years earlier. The authorities assume Billy was killed by paedophile Arnold Avery, who was convicted of six counts of murder and is serving a life sentence in Longmoor prison. Determined to find Billy’s remains, Steven has been methodically digging up the moor near his house. Frustrated by his lack of progress, he writes a letter to Avery asking for information, and so begins a cat-and-mouse game that will have dire consequences. Bauer creates believable tension within the Lamb household as her characters shoulder enormous psychological burdens, though a somewhat far-fetched climax dilutes the quiet power of the preceding story. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

A THOUSAND CUTS by Simon Lelic

In the wake of a London school shooting, Det. Insp. Lucia May finds herself unable to accept the simple version of what transpired in Lelic’s outstanding debut—that Samuel Szajkowski, a new history teacher, gunned down two students and a colleague in an assembly hall before turning the weapon on himself. While Szajkowski was the subject of cruel pranks from his first day on the job, pranks that escalated to serious physical injury, May resists her supervisor’s directives to write a straightforward final report, and looks into a possible link between the massacre and an off-campus beating of a student. Artfully offering a range of perspectives on the events leading up to the fatal day, Lelic manages to make the murderer sympathetic as he sensitively explores the varying degrees of responsibility for the tragedy borne by others whose response to bullying was inadequate. This deeply human and moving book heralds a bright new talent. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

WANNA GET LUCKY? by Deborah Coonts

 

A BAD DAY FOR PRETTY by Sophie Littlefield

Littlefield’s rollicking second novel featuring tough-talking Stella Hardesty, who manages a sewing shop and doles out her own brand of justice to wife-beaters, delivers on the promise of her debut, A Bad Day for Sorry. When a tornado uncovers a mummified woman buried at the Prosper, Mo., fairgrounds, the police suspect Neb Donovan, whom Stella once helped kick an OxyContin addiction, and Stella reluctantly accepts Donna Donovan’s pleas to clear her husband’s name. Complicating Stella’s investigation–and her long-simmering feelings for Sheriff Goat Jones–is the arrival of Goat’s former wife, Brandy Truax, who has designs on her ex and a possible link to the murdered woman. With her plucky assistant, Chrissy Shaw, Stella must exonerate Neb while eluding the real killer. Littlefield wields humour like a whip, but never lets it dilute the whodunit. A force to be reckoned with, Stella is a welcome addition to the world of unorthodox female crime fighters. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

STRIP by Thomas Perry

Half a dozen characters vie for primacy in this rambunctiously entertaining L.A. crime novel from Edgar-winner Perry (Runner ). Aging strip-club owner Manco Kapak orders his boys to find the masked man who stole his cash receipts and take care of him. The boys settle on the wrong guy, L.A. newcomer Joe Carver, who decides to fight back. Jefferson Davis Falkins, the real thief, decides to continue to rob Kapak. LAPD Lt. Nick Slosser is mainly interested in keeping the peace—and keeping his two marriages a secret as well as figuring out how to pay for five kids at or nearing college age. Other meaty roles include Carrie Carr, who hooks up with Falkins and becomes a Bonnie Parker–like adrenaline junkie urging him to ever riskier deeds, and Spence, Kapak’s trusted bodyguard and the only one smart enough to deal with Carver. Perry’s exquisite timing and finesse provide near perfect endings to the multiple story lines and make this escapist reading at its best. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

HOLLYWOOD HILLS by Joseph Wambaugh

The LAPD’s Hollywood Station deals with some of the strangest lawbreakers anywhere, as shown in MWA Grand Master Wambaugh’s amusing fourth novel to feature Hollywood Nate Weiss, surfer cops Flotsam and Jetsam, and the rest of the series’ colourful police crew (after Hollywood Moon). In the main plot line, the paths of a pair of drug-addled thieves–high school dropout Jonas Claymore and his down-on-her-luck housemate, Megan Burke–converge and collide with those of snooty art dealer Nigel Wickland and sleazy part-time butler Raleigh L. Dibble with results both absurd and tragic. Meanwhile, Wambaugh diverts with smaller episodes about such odd Hollywood denizens as the Wedgie Bandit and the Goths, a couple whose dress and house channels the Addams family. Veteran police officer Della Ravelle’s sage mentoring of young officer Britney Small lends some gravity to this deliciously convoluted caper. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

THE RED DOOR by Charles Todd

Set in 1920, bestseller Todd’s 12th mystery to feature the shell-shocked WWI veteran and Scotland Yard inspector Ian Rutledge (after 2008′s A Matter of Justice ) is one of the strongest entries yet in a series that shows no sign of losing steam. Rutledge first looks into the disappearance of missionary Walter Teller, who suddenly fell ill in London and later apparently walked out of the clinic where he was being treated. Rutledge questions members of Teller’s immediate family, including his brothers, Peter and Edwin. After the resolution of the case of the missing missionary, Rutledge investigates the bludgeoning death of Florence Teller, apparently the wife of another Peter Teller, in Lancashire. Once again Todd (the pseudonym of a mother-son writing team) perfectly balance incisive portraits of all the characters, not just the complex and original lead, with a tricky puzzle in which the killer is hidden in plain sight for the discerning reader to discover. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

 FAR CRY by John Harvey

Det. Sgt. Helen Walker and Det. Insp. Will Grayson hunt for a missing girl in this worthy sequel to Gone to Ground from Cartier Diamond Dagger–winner Harvey. In 1995, pubescent Heather Pierce and her friend Kelly Efford disappear while on holiday in Cornwall. An eccentric Good Samaritan saves Kelly; searchers find Heather dead at the bottom of an old mining engine house, the apparent victim of a misstep in the fog. In present-day Cambridge, Heather’s half-sister, Beatrice, who’s about the same age as Heather was in 1995, vanishes. Is Heather’s tragic history repeating itself, or is Beatrice the victim of something even darker? While Walker examines Heather’s still unresolved death for a link to Beatrice’s disappearance, Grayson becomes obsessed with a recently released paedophile, whom he suspects of committing terrible, undetected crimes. Harvey isn’t afraid to let his characters grow in this thoughtful, complex thriller. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

FAITHFUL PLACE by Tana French

French’s emotionally searing third novel of the Dublin murder squad (after The Likeness) shows the Irish author getting better with each book. In 1985, 19-year old Frank Mackey and his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, made secret plans to elope to England and start a new life together far away from their families, particularly the hard-drinking Mackeys. But when Rosie doesn’t meet Frank the night they’re meant to leave and he finds a note, Frank assumes she’s left him behind. For 22 years, Frank, who becomes an undercover cop, stays away from Faithful Place, his childhood Dublin neighbourhood. When his younger sister, Jackie, calls to tell him that someone found Rosie’s suitcase hidden in an abandoned house, Frank reluctantly returns. Now everything he thought he knew is turned upside down: did Rosie really leave that night, or did someone stop her before she could? French, who briefly introduced Mackey in The Likeness, is adept at seamlessly blending suspenseful whodunit elements with Frank’s familial demons. (Publishers Weekly Review)

 

Original Post: Notable Crime Books of 2010 by Marilyn Stasio

A Christmas Reading List

Christmas is upon us and with it holidays and downtime.  For the readers out there, this is a time for reading.  We don’t often get this much time to sit down and relax with a good book so I’ve put together a list of 20 books to read over the festive season.  In no particular order, you’ll find books of all genres; some thrillers, crime novels, romance, spiritual stories, classics and some funny stuff.  Oh, and two nonfiction novels too.  This list is for adult readers so take a look and enjoy.  If you manage to read any of these or have read them already, leave us a comment with your thoughts.  You’ll notice I’ve included 4 offerings from Richard Paul Evans on this list and the reason is because they are said to be beautiful novels with powerful messages -  I plan to read those 4 this Christmas.

 

 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

London 1843 few know any leisure, and Christmas has all but been forgotten…Enter Charles Dickens and his "Ghostly little book," in which he invents the modern concept of Christmas Spirit and offers one of the world s most adapted and imitated stories. We know Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, not only as fictional characters, but also as icons of the true meaning of Christmas in a world still plagued with avarice and cynicism. (GoodReads)

Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding

Helen Fielding’s devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud account of a year in  the life of a thirty-something Singleton launched a genre and transcended the pages of fiction to become a cultural icon. (GoodReads)

 

The Christmas Train by David Baldacci

Disillusioned journalist Tom Langdon must get from Washington D.C. to L.A in  time for Christmas. Forced to travel by train, he begins a journey of rude awakenings, thrilling adventures and holiday magic. He has no idea that the locomotives pulling him across America will actually take him into the rugged terrain of his own heart, as he rediscovers people’s essential goodness and someone very special he believed he had lost. The Christmas Train is filled with memorable characters who have packed their bags with as much wisdom as mischief…and shows how we doget second chances to fulfill our deepest hopes and dreams, especially during this season of miracles. (GoodReads)

 

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote

First published in 1956, this much sought-after autobiographical recollection of Truman Capote’s rural Alabama boyhood has become a modern-day classic. We are proud to be reprinting this warm and delicately illustrated edition of A Christmas Memory—"a tiny gem of a holiday story" (School Library Journal, starred review). Seven-year-old Buddy inaugurates the Christmas season by crying out to his cousin, Miss Sook Falk: "It’s fruitcake weather!" Thus begins an unforgettable portrait of an odd but enduring friendship between two innocent souls—one young and one old—and the memories they share of beloved holiday rituals.  (GoodReads)

 

There’s Something about Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Bestselling author Debbie Macomber (who won a Quill Award for Best Romance with 44 Cranberry Point) delight her many fans with an annual Christmas romantic comedy. This time, she delivers not only love and laughter but also fruitcake.  Macomber’s sweet romance pits Emma Collins, a young reporter, against pilot Oliver Hamilton. Yes, he’s attractive; yes, she’s attracted; but Emma has issues. She is estranged from her father, she doesn’t trust men, and Christmas is just another day to go to the movies alone. A coveted feature assignment takes her by plane to interview the three finalists in a national fruitcake contest. By the time the article is finished, Emma has learned more than a little about life and love from each woman — and, with Oliver’s help, she has rediscovered the joy of Christmas. (Bakers, take note: Recipes for the winning fruitcakes are included — applesauce, chocolate, and a special no-bake version!) (GoodReads)

 

How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

"The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!/Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason." Dr. Seuss’s small-hearted Grinch ranks with Scrooge when it comes to the crankiest, scowling holiday grumps of all time. For 53 years, the Grinch has lived in a cave on the side of a mountain, looming above the Whos in Whoville. Noisy holiday preparations & infernal singing by the happy little citizens below annoy him to no end. He decides the frivolous merriment must stop. His "wonderful, awful" idea is to don a Santa outfit, strap heavy antlers on his poor, quivering dog Max, construct a makeshift sleigh, head down to Whoville & strip the chafingly cheerful Whos of their Yuletide glee forever.  Looking disturbingly out of place in his makeshift get-up, the Grinch slithers down chimneys with empty bags, stealing presents, food, even logs from humble fires. He takes the ramshackle sleigh to Mt. Crumpit to dump it, anticipating the sobs of the Whos when they wake up to discover the Christmas trappings have disappeared. Imagine the their dismay when they discover the evil-doings of Grinch in his anti-Santa guise. But what is that sound? It’s not sobbing, but singing! Children simultaneously adore & fear this triumphant, twisted testimonial to the undaunted cheerfulness of the Whos, the transcendent nature of joy, & of course, the growth potential of a heart that’s two sizes too small. This holiday classic is perfect for reading aloud to your favorite little Whos. (GoodReads)

 

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That’s just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they’ll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won’t be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren’t even going to have a tree. They won’t need one, because come December 25 they’re setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But, as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences–and isn’t half as easy as they’d imagined.
A classic tale for modern times, Skipping Christmas offers a hilarious look at the chaos and frenzy that have become part of our holiday tradition. (GoodReads)

 

The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

‘Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all through the tiny community of Pine Cove, California, people are busy buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday spirit.  But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he’s not on his deathbed; no, his dog hasn’t run away from home. But Josh is sure that he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, and now the seven-year-old has only one prayer: Please, Santa, come back from the dead.  But hold on! There’s an angel waiting in the wings. (Wings, get it?) It’s none other than the Archangel Raziel come to Earth seeking a small child with a wish that needs granting. Unfortunately, our angel’s not sporting the brightest halo in the bunch, and before you can say "Kris Kringle," he’s botched his sacred mission and sent the residents of Pine Cove headlong into Christmas chaos, culminating in the most hilarious and horrifying holiday party the town has ever seen.  Move over, Charles Dickens — it’s Christopher Moore time. (GoodReads)

 

The Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn

It all started when Jeff Guinn was assigned to write a piece full of little-known facts about Christmas for his paper, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A few months later, he received a call from a gentleman who told him that he showed the story to an important friend who didn’t think much of it. And who might that be? asked Jeff. The next thing he knew, he was whisked off to the North Pole to meet with this "very important friend," and the rest is, well, as they say, history.  An enchanting holiday treasure, The Autobiography of Santa Claus combines solid historical fact with legend to deliver the definitive story of Santa Claus. And who better to lead us through seventeen centuries of Christmas magic than good ol’ Saint Nick himself? Families will delight in each chapter of this new Christmas classic-one per each cold December night leading up to Christmas! (GoodReads)

 

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

This year the Auditors, who want people to stop believing in things that aren’t real, have hired an assassin to eliminate the Hogfather. (You know him: red robe, white beard, says, "Ho, ho, ho!") Their evil plot will destroy the Discworld unless someone covers for him. So someone does. Well, at least Death tries. He wears the costume and rides the sleigh drawn by four jolly pigs: Gouger, Tusker, Rooter, and Snouter. He even comes down chimneys. But as fans of other Pratchett stories about Death (Mort, Reaper Man, and Soul Music) know, he takes things literally. He gives children whatever they wish for and appears in person at Crumley’s in The Maul.  Fans will welcome back Susan, Death of Rats (the Grim Squeaker), Albert, and the wizardly faculty of Unseen University, and revel in new personalities like Bilious, the "oh god of Hangovers." But you needn’t have read Pratchett before to laugh uproariously and think seriously about the meanings of Christmas. (GoodReads)

 

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie’s seasonal mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. It is Christmas Eve. The Lee family reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture, followed by a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed. But when Hercule Poirot, who is staying in the village with a friend for Christmas, offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man! (GoodReads)

 

Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher

Rosamunde Pilcher’s novel, despite its chilly setting, will warm the hearts of her growing army of loyal fans. Winter Solstice has all the familiar trademarks of a Pilcher saga, spun in her inimitable, homey, beguiling style. The story is told, chapter by chapter, from the perspectives of an eclectic array of characters. Former actress Elfrida–not very good by her own admission–leaves London for a geriatric bolthole in the country where she meets retired schoolmaster and organist, Oscar. Meanwhile, Carrie (Elfrida’s second cousin), returns to London from Austria where she had a brilliant career in the tourist industry, only to find her niece, 14-year-old Lucy, sadly neglected by her selfish mother and equally spoiled grandmother. Finally, handsome Sam is recalled from New York by his company chairman to revive an ailing Scottish textile mill.  As one character after another must learn to live with their losses, they find themselves collectively spirited northwards, from Sussex to Scotland, by way of Cornwall. And, as events unfurl, slowly, surely, but inevitably, those in need find solace in unexpected places. While her characterizations are generally carefully crafted and entirely rounded, Pilcher’s greatest strengths lie in her natural, easy narratives of everyday life and her thoroughly researched and captivating descriptions of scenery and surroundings. (GoodReads)

 

The Gift by Richard Paul Evans

There is no hurt so great that love cannot heal it. Nathan Hurst hated Christmas. For the rest of the world it was a day of joy and celebration; for Nathan it was simply a reminder of the event that destroyed his childhood until a snowstorm, a cancelled flight, and an unexpected meeting with a young mother and her very special son would show him that Christmas is indeed the season of miracles.  From the beloved author of the international bestseller The Christmas Box comes another timeless story of faith, hope, and healing. (GoodReads)

 

Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans

Finding Noel is about how people come into our lives for a reason. It is a love story about Macy and Mark, two young people from different worlds. (GoodReads)

 

 

The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans

This inspiring holiday tale tells the touching story of a widow and the young  family who moves in with her, and the ways in which they discover together the first gift of Christmas and what the holiday is really all about. Written by the author as a token of affection for his daughters, The Christmas Box has captured the hearts and minds of over a million readers. (GoodReads)

The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans

Like his 2008 bestseller The Christmas Box, Richard Paul Evans’s novel exudes true holiday spirit. Evans got the idea for the fiction while watching a local theater production of Dickens’s Christmas Carol. Almost instantly, Evans realized that is the story he wanted to write: the transformation of a present-day Scrooge into a caring human being. The list in the title isn’t a conventional reminder for gifts; it’s a roster of the people whom protagonist James Kier has most wronged. Unabashedly heartfelt and sentimental, The Christmas List has all the best elements of a redemptive Yuletide tale. (GoodReads)

 

Mr. Ives’ Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos

Hijuelos’ novel tells the story of Mr. Ives, who was adopted from a foundling’s home as a child. When we first meet him in the 1950s, Mr. Ives is very much a product of his time. He has a successful career in advertising, a wife and two children, and believes he is on his way to pursuing the typical American dream. But the dream is shattered when his son Robert, who is studying for the priesthood, is killed violently at Christmas. Overwhelmed by grief and threatened by a loss of faith in humankind, Mr. Ives begins to question the very foundations of his life. Part love story—of a man for his wife, for his children, for God—and part meditation on how a person can find spiritual peace in the midst of crisis,Mr. Ives’ Christmas is a beautifully written, tender and passionate story of a man trying to put his life in perspective. In the expert hands of Oscar Hijuelos, the novel speaks eloquently to the most basic and fulfilling aspects of life for all of us. (GoodReads)

 

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

O. Henry’s most famous short story, "The Gift of the Magi" has a universal  appeal that extends beyond the Christmas season. Set in New York at the turn of the century, the story centers on a young couple and the sacrifices each must make in order to buy the other a gift. (GoodReads)

 

On Strike for Christmas by Sheila Roberts

At Christmas time, it seems as though a woman’s work is never done. Trimming the tree, mailing the cards, schlepping to the mall, the endless wrapping—bah humbug! So this year, Joy and Laura and the rest of their knitting group decide to go on strike. If their husbands and families want a nice holiday—filled with parties, decorations, and presents—well, they’ll just have to do it themselves. The boycott soon takes on a life of its own when a reporter picks up the story and more women join in. But as Christmas Day approaches, Joy, Laura, and their husbands confront larger issues in their marriages and discover that a little holiday magic is exactly what they need to come together.  Sheila Roberts gives the best gift of all in this funny, heartwarming novel that touches the very core of Christmas spirit. (GoodReads)

 

Christmas: A Candid History by Bruce David Forbey

Written for everyone who loves and is simultaneously driven crazy by the holiday season, Christmas: A Candid History provides an enlightening, entertaining perspective on how the annual Yuletide celebration got to be what it is today. In a fascinating, concise tour through history, the book tells the story of Christmas–from its pre-Christian roots, through the birth of Jesus, to the holiday’s spread across Europe into the Americas and beyond, and to its mind-boggling transformation through modern consumerism. Packed with intriguing stories, based on research into myriad sources, full of insights, the book explores the historical origins of traditions including Santa, the reindeer, gift giving, the Christmas tree, Christmas songs and movies, and more. The book also offers some provocative ideas for reclaiming the joy and meaning of this beloved, yet often frustrating, season amid the pressures of our fast-paced consumer culture. (GoodReads)

 

Happy Reading!  If there’s a really good Christmas book missing from the list add your recommendation in the comments.