JULIA NEESON
Business / Design / Editorial
An Ongoing Book List:
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” — Stephen King
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
Katherine Boo
“becoming attached to a country involves pressing, uncomfortable questions about justice and opportunity for its least powerful citizens.”
Boo has the amazing talent of weaving nonfiction and storytelling in an authentic and moving way. This book describes a slum in current existence of Mumbai, India, and follows the overlapping lives of a variety of people living there.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
“The world had taken a deep breath and was having doubts about continuing to revolve.”
Maya Angelou completes the seemingly unacheivable task of writing about a childhood - which was plagued with terrors, violence, and rejection - without a hint of anger in her tone. She realizes the power of her words early in life and turns them into a weapon of grace and freedom. This book is hard to read, but with a beautiful message.
The Eye
Vladimir Nobokov
"A mysterious thing, this branching structure of life"
I've read the majority of Nabokov's novels for a Russian Literature class, and I find that this one sums up his style the best. The reader views the world from an interesting narrator- the lingering concious of a man who just committed suicide. It is bizarre, complex, and well written- all of Nobokov's most identifying traits.
The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho
“Sometimes there's just no way to hold back the river.”
This is, to date, the only book I have read in two separate languages. Originally written in Portuguese, I attempted to read the novel in Spanish as it would have a closer resemblence to the original. It was amazing in both languages; Coelho has a style that is enchanting and simple.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer
“Isola doesn't approve of small talk and believes in breaking the ice by stomping on it.”
This gem of a book is unique in that it is written entirely in the form of letters. It follows an London author in the aftermath of World War II and leaves readers with a sense of history, adventure, and love of literature.
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
“Mothers are all slightly insane.”
Holden Caulfield's angsty musings are always a fun read.
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
“I haven't the pleasure of understanding you.”
“Till this moment I never knew myself.”
The Outsiders
S.E. Hinton
“Get smart and nothing can touch you.”
There probably won't be an abundance of Young Adult Literature on this page, but The Outsiders is definitely exception material. This book holds the power of a classic in a relatable and easy-to-read format; it's just one of those books that changes you as soon as you hit the back cover. The narrative takes on themes such as rivalry, forgivness, poetry, desperation, and family. I have read this at several different ages and it has never dissapointed. Heartwrenching, but worth it.
The Collected Stories
Eudora Welty
“It was in a place where the days would go by and surprise anyone that they were over.”
Spending an entire semester on Eudora Welty for a directed studies course my sophomore year was nothing less than a luxury because, well, you pretty much need an entire semester to understand her. Welty is the quintissential southern woman and her style is whimsical, overlapping, and almost dreamlike. Her collected stories show what a truly great short story writer she was. My favorites include- First Love, Why I Live at the P.O., and A Wide Net.
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
Thomas C. Foster
"It's never just rain."
This book is simultaneously infuriating and eye opening. Foster breaks down themes within literature and what it means to be original, while giving the reader tools to bring new meaning to classic favorites. His examples are entertaining, illuminating, and relatable.
Serial
This American Life
Ok, so this isn't a book. But this amazing podcast is a real life trail case written and spoken like a narrative from a novel. It's my current obsession, along with the majority of the globe. Sarah Koenig narrates her investigation of Adnan Syed's murder charges from 1999 with raw audio interviews and intricately narrated context, leaving the audience/internet to write conspiracy theories, map out timelines, and obsess for weeks now. Who is lying?
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Betty Smith
“From that moment on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again. ”
This is the quintissential coming-of-age novel, and one that has stuck with me every since I read it in the early years of high school.
A Moveable Feat
Ernest Hemmingway
"But Paris was a very old city and we were young and nothing was simple..."
I read Ernest Hemmingway's memoirs of 1920s Paris during a trip our family took to France to meet our newfound French in-laws. Not published by Hemmingway himself, it is a great collection of small memories he wrote and one of my favorite representations of his voice as a writer.
Pride and Prejudice is a classic in my family; I've read it more times than I care to admit. People often love it for the pretty dresses and romantic men, but I have to say that's not really the draw for me. Rather, Austen's sharp wit and hilarious commentary will never grow old; I grew up with her voice as my favorite.