a blog about a lot of things

These are inclined to change order depending on the day, so there's no ranking system. It might not even be these same writers all the time. But that's who it is today. Pretty easy list to make, I just have to look at the bookshelf. Novelists only since I don't read enough non-fiction or poetry these days, unfortunately. 5. Orhan Pamuk - Turkish Reference Novels: Snow; The Museum of Innocence; Istanbul: Memories and the City Why: I have always been of the opinion that love stories cannot be serious literature (in modern times, anyway) unless it's unrequited love. Snow disproved that for me, despite its complex politics and heavy symbolism it's essentially a tragic love story.  The Museum of Innocence ( a book I found accidentally in Shakespeare&Co) I also love because of the emphasis on obsessive love and the importance of things (garbage, really) in fueling obsession. 4. Ian McEwan - English Reference Novels: Atonement; On Chesil Beach; The C...

Disclaimer: I'm sure there will be many authors I've missed out simply because I haven't heard of them. It is impossible for me to read anything not published or translated into English or French. Or works that I cannot get a hold of even if translations exist ( the book market in Trinidad is a bit limited. It's not a perfect world). I'm making guesses with the material I have and hopefully the guesses are good. In no particular order: 12. Ian McEwan -  England Language: English Genres: Novels; Short Stories; Children's Stories; Plays; Screenplays; Libretto Reference Works: The Comfort of Strangers (1981); Amsterdam (1988); Atonement (2001);On Chesil Beach (2007) 11. Nuruddin Farah - Somalia Language: English, Somali Genres: Novels; Plays; Essays Reference Works: From A Crooked Rib (1970); A Naked Needle (1976); Variations on  the Theme of An African Dictatorship (trilogy)- 1979-1983 10. Kamau Brathwaite - Barbados Language: English ...

There are some books you can read in one sitting. The ones you don't feel like putting down and you can't wait to get back to. I'm not including novel series in this, because those are a whole other thing and if I did I'd be forced to fill the list with Ian Fleming and Tom Clancy Novels. I'm going with books published after 1960 as well. I'm only allowing books I managed to finish in a week. Only novels, no short stories and poetry, memoirs, non-fiction etc in no particular order : 15. Portnoy's Complaint - Phillip Roth - 1969 - USA Quick Summary: Comedy, sexual frustration and self-consciousness. Portnoy's Complaint is one long monologue to a therapist about different stages of his life. This could get depressing but thankfully his life is hilarious. 14. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro - 1989 - UK Quick Summary: Mostly flashbacks of a butler from the time preceding World War II, in which his master was heavily involved in appeasement. The inte...