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by Jane Austen, Carol Howard (Introduction)
My favorite novel in the whole wide world and it is the only book for which I retain multiple copies - I can't give them up!
by Charlotte Bronte, Susan Ostrov Weisser (Introduction) , Susan Ostrov Weisser (Noted by)
Sigh, I always imagined little, plain-old me catching Mr. Rochester's eye (I could do without the charity school and crazy wife, though).
by Charles Dickens, Phiz (Illustrator) , Tatiana M. Holway (Introduction)
Dickens's amazing novel creates a moving portrait of men and women caught in England's Chancery court. Don't miss his amazing characters either - Jarndyce, Mrs. Jellyby, Guppy, Lady Dedlock, Dr. Woodcourt, Nemo, and Esther (she's not so bad).
by John Fowles
A novel with the creepiest storyline, better than any thriller. Bonus: this book was the basis for a cipher in the "Criminal Minds" episodes "The Fisher King, I and II".
by J. R. R. Tolkien, Alan Lee (Illustrator) , Douglas A. Anderson (Noted by)
A little book about Bilbo Baggins and his adventures with some dwarves and a wizard. I read it aloud to my little brothers when they were in grade school.
My favorite Faulkner novel. The beauty lies in the shifting motivations and actions of the fifteen narrators - most members of the Bundren family - as they take Addie's body to Jefferson for burial.
A hauntingly beautiful novel centered around a woman who barely gets a mention in the Bible - Dinah, Jacob's only daughter.
If you like funny, quirky things and you LOVE to read, then Fforde's Thursday Next series is right up your alley. Once you're done with Thursday's shennanigans you can move on to his Nursery Crimes series. You'll bust a gut!
by Walt Whitman, Karen Karbiener (Introduction)
People just don't read enough poetry these days. Whitman makes me cry.
by Jean Rhys, Judith L. Raiskin (Editor)
A beautiful contrast to "Jane Eyre" where Jean Rhys imagines the life the first Mrs. Rochester led prior to her incarceration in the attic at Thornfield.
My mother confiscated this so I would actually be sociable during a visit to my grandparents' house - I couldn't stop reading!
Tolkien's epic. Although I find "The Hobbit" more accessible, nothing compares to the scope of Middle-Earth as we journey from the Shire to Mordor - hobbits, men, elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs, giant spiders, and wraiths.
by Howard Zinn
Zinn details the "underdog" side of American history.Try not to get riled up when you read this. I dare you (I was fortunate to listen to Zinn lecture at the UI two years ago - it was amazing)!
by Sandra M. Gilbert, Susan Gubar, Susan Gubar
The most accessible piece of criticism I've ever read. Gilbert and Gubar show amazing textual skills in comparing female writers from the nineteenth century.
by James Joyce, Kevin J. Dettmar (Introduction) , Kevin J. H. Dettmar (Introduction)
A good way to start reading Joyce. "Portrait" is a great introduction to Joyce's style and "The Dead" is one of my favorite stories.
