Must reads?

j. eugenides- the virgin suicides
j. eugenides- middlesex
j.d. sallinger- the catcher in the whry (but you obviously read that*g*)
u. eco- the name of the rose
e. jelinek- the pianist (and if you were an austrian you'd have to read women as lovers)
n. hornby- high fidelity
j. irving- the cider house rules
s. marai- embers (great book- it deserves the fame of milan kunderas' unbearable lightness of being)
???- mozart letters (you'll be surprised )
g. grass- the tin drum

My must-reads are:

Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
My Ishmael - Daniel Quinn
The Ballad Of Carl Drega - Vin Suprynowicz
A Drink Before The War -
Darkness, Take My Hand -
Prayers For Rain - Dennis Lehane
Cabinet Of Curiousities - Douglas Preston
The Tomb -
Legacies -
All The Rage -
Hosts -
Gateways - F Paul Wilson

With the exception of Les Miserables, and the three by Dennis Lehane (who's been called the "master of neo-noir" FWIW) none of those are "classics" as traditionally defined. I've found them all to be darn good though.

Adrian

Ooh, great topic! Titles that spring to mind:

- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
- Any book by Jane Austen but Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice especially
- Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
- Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
- The Hours by Michael Cunningham
- Any book by Kate Atkinson except perhaps Case Histories (perhaps you'd really like these, Alex)
- Harry Potter series
- Most books by Margaret Forster
- Both books by Jeffrey Eugenides, as Martin said
- Anne Frank's Diary
- Nothingness (Nada in the original version) by Carmen Laforet
- Living's the strangest thing (Lo raro es vivir in the original version) by Carmen Martín Gaite
- Métaphysique des tubes and Stupeur et Tremblements (and there's a third autobiographical one that I don't remember) by Amélie Nothomb
- Any Amy Tan except for The Hundred Secret Senses
- The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster (really, really recommendable)
- True Tales of American Life, edited by Paul Auster
- Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
- Bridget Jones's Diary (both) by Helen Fielding
- Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell (very sad book)
- The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
- Collected Short Stories by Vladimir Nabokov (though I've not read them all yet).

Got carried away Perhaps some of those are not *real* must-reads but to me they are because I like them so much.

I've read The Virgin Suicides, but I hated it. Never really got to me.
Martin, I believe I've read Die Blechtrommel for my German classes - that's about the boy who didn't want to grow up, right?
What's Eco like? I've seen the movie, but never read any of his books.

Keeper, why do you think I'd like Kate Atkinson?
I recently re-read The Bell Jar, btw. Definitely a must read.

Thanks again, everyone. Although making my wish list is even a tougher job now

Hmmm... I don't know why exactly but I think you'd like Kate Atkinson. I've recommended her books to a few people already and they always seem to like them. She has a very twisted sense of humour and will make you laugh at the saddest things. She's very original as far as writing is concerned too. Just take a look at her books on Amazon. Behind the Scenes at the Museum or Human Croquet are masterpieces IMO.

Too bad you didn't like The Virgin Suicides

I'll keep her in mind. Thanks

Catcher in the Rye is brilliant - might read that again soon. I guess it depends what you want to read. I've always loved reading Stephen King, It springs to mind, and James Patterson is good. If you want more "literature" I'll think for a bit!

i used to love stephen king back in my teen years. he's brilliant.

For me classic is The Call of Cthulhu by HP Lovecraft. But I'm a weird persone...