Books You Should Read. No, Really.

Author Amy Greene

Because this is a book blog, I'm often recommending (or not recommending) that you read this book or that book. You can even find my favorite reads over on my Goodreads page (which hasn't been updated in a while except for basic info, like a simple list of books I've read and am reading).

I was exploring author Amy Greene's website the other day, and saw a list of book recommendations she posted back in the summer. Instead of doing it meme-style and putting Xs beside the books on that list I've read, I thought I'd just share with you the books I've read and loved from her list -- and then add some more that I've also loved.

Why Amy Greene? Deep down in my heart I'm a lover of southern literature first and foremost, even though I read a lot of other genres. Greene wrote Bloodroot, one of the best examples of southern lit in 2010, and I had the pleasure of hearing her speak at the Southern Festival of Books last fall. Since she's a excellent recent example of my reading roots, I feel as though our reading recommendations would be similar.

Without further ado, a sampling of the books I love from Amy Greene's recommended books list:

Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Olive Kittredge by Elizabath Strout
Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House
Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
A Gracious Plenty by Sheri Reynolds
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

And some I will add to this must-read list of favorites:

My Antonio by Willa Cather
O, Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Me and My Baby View the Eclipse by Lee Smith
Clay's Quilt by Silas House
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams
The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
Before Women Had Wings by Connie May Fowler
The Hottest State by Ethan Hawke

If you want to read about the best books I read this year, come back later in the week. That post will be up by the end of the year!