#26

Title: Silas Marner

Author: George Eliot

Year: 1861

This book is one of my favorites for the year thus far; it's a short yet beautiful Victorian novel that will let you experience the genre without the usual bulky page count.

#25

Title: New Moon

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Year: 2006

The second installment of The Twilight Saga is as entertaining as the first, but beware that the romance is even more sappy and over-the-top.

#24

Title: And Then There Were None

Author: Agatha Christie

Year: 1939

My second Agatha Christie book of the year (considered by many to be her most famous work) did not disappoint; it's the perfect read for the all-grown-up Nancy Drew fan.

#23

Title: Twilight

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Year: 2005

This book is narrated by a sappy, love-sick teenager who falls for a vampire; clearly, we're not going for Pulitzer Prize winning writing here, but rather a plot-driven, easy read for the backyard or the beach (I enjoyed it).

#22

Title: Boiling Point

Author: Ross Gelbspan

Year: 2004

This book provides a good, accessible overview of global warming's impact on the natural and social worlds; the author claims that the general public has been intentionally deceived to believe that global warming is not a real threat and not caused by human actions, and he offers a solution (which seems overly idealistic) for solving the climate change problem.

#21

Title: Peony in Love

Author: Lisa See

Year: 2009

This novel is rich in Chinese history, detailing the struggles of women during the early Qing Dynasty; I love the author's focus on uncovering women's silent attempts to be heard, both in writing and in their society, but I feel the mode of first-person narrative seems at times inauthentic and tedious.

#20

Title: Cutting for Stone

Author: Abraham Verghese

Year: 2009

A complex story spanning continents and generations, this 500+ page book took a while to read but was ultimately worth it; Verghese has previously published non-fiction accounts of his work in the medical field, and this novel, while at times intimidating with its medical jargon, appeals enough to the non-specialist realm of human emotion to make it enjoyable for the common reader.

#19

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Author: J. K. Rowling

Year: 2007

This final book in the series left me guessing until its compelling conclusion, and I disagree wholeheartedly with those who claim this series isn't "literary"; the masterful writing and complex subject matter of this epic allow Rowling's fantasy world to, in many ways, mirror reality, and therefore address the themes and concerns that persist throughout centuries of celebrated literature.

#18

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Author: J.K. Rowling

Year: 2005

Wow; that's all.

#17

Title: On the Road

Author: Jack Kerouac

Year: 1957

I found this book to be tedious and at times frustrating, though there were several poignant passages that I enjoyed; my favorite line was: "Holy flowers floating in the air, were all these tired faces in the dawn of Jazz America" (it reminds me of an Ezra Pound poem; can you guess which?).

#16

Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Author: J. K. Rowling

Year: 2003

With a 100-page climax, this book is one of the most intense and gripping that I've read yet this year; two more in the series to go!

#15

Title: Shopaholic Ties the Knot (Series Book 3)

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Year: 2003

This is probably the last I'll read of the series; it was funny and entertaining at parts but just way over the top to the point where I wanted to scream at Becky and say "what is wrong with you???"

#14

Title: Northanger Abbey

Author: Jane Austen

Year: 1818 (posthumous)

This short and witty story follows the "heroine," Catherine, through adventures in friendship and love during a visit to Bath; her subsequent follies and misfortunes are entertaining, and the conclusion is satisfying; overall, I enjoyed this book, but to me it doesn't rival Pride and Prejudice as Austen's best work.

#13

Title: Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (Series Book 2)

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Year: 2002

For most of the book, I was annoyed with Becky and could no longer sympathize with her blundering ways (even her chatty narrative grew tiresome and repetitive at times); however, the conclusion was outstanding, though far-fetched (but what romantic comedies aren't?) and made me want to keep reading the series.

#12

Title: As I Lay Dying

Author: William Faulkner

Year: 1930

Complex both in its form and its psychology, this novel intrigued me greatly but also perplexed me; reading it once isn't enough to fully understand it, but I guess that's expected with Faulkner, right?

#11

Title: Confessions of a Shopaholic

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Year: 2000

This is the ideal "girly-girl" book; it has just enough clothes, shoes, and romance without the bawdy elements of many women's books, and it's easy enough to read in a day or so.

#10

Title: Cannery Row

Author: John Steinbeck

Year: 1945

Previously, the only Steinbeck book I'd read was Of Mice and Men, and while I enjoyed it, I think I liked this one even better; its almost musical prose is rich in both tragedy and humor, and the pace was fast enough to allow me to complete the novel in just two days.

#9

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Author: J. K. Rowling

Year: 2000

The story is growing darker and more serious, and of course more captivating; luckily for me, I don't have to wait until book 5 comes out to see what's going to happen next (there are benefits to reading an entire series once it's been completed!).

#8

Title: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Author: Agatha Christie

Year: 1926

Reading this book reminded me of many long, lazy childhood afternoons absorbed in a Nancy Drew mystery; it's been years since I've read a good mystery (I attempted a James Patterson book a few years ago but was disappointed by an excess of gruesome violence) and this book, as the first Agatha Christie story I've ever read, makes me want to read more in the future!

#7

Title: Don Juan

Author: Lord Byron

Year: 1818-1823

Written and published in installments yet remaining unfinished at the time of Byron's death, this lengthy poetic work (written in 8-line rhyming stanzas, totalling over 500 pages) follows the romantic and other adventures of its "hero," Don Juan; certain parts were intriguing but overall, I would not recommend this book for pleasure reading because its many digressions and historical/political allusions require much supplementary reading and research to fully comprehend.

#6

Title: Middlemarch

Author: George Eliot

Year: 1871-1872

I didn't like it at the start, but this 900-page Victorian saga has, upon completion, reached a high place on my list of all-time favorite books for its intricate portrayal of characters and emotions; if you're patient and struggle through some tedious passages along the way, you might end up feeling the same way too.

#5

Title: Leaves of Grass [The Original 1855 Edition]

Author: Walt Whitman

Year: 1855

This slim volume of poetry, to which Whitman added until his death (resulting in the hefty "Death Bed Edition"), contains the original 12 poems, all untitled, but which would later become Whitman's well-known masterpieces (including "Song of Myself"); by no means an easy read, this collection is still accessible enough to be enjoyed by casual readers and serious scholars alike.

#4

Title: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Author: James Joyce

Year: 1916

Intimidated by the very idea of James Joyce, I wearily began reading this novel hoping to at least comprehend a small portion; while the first half provides a relatively easy narrative, the book's language gradually grows more complex, and even the dialogue becomes rich with allusions (relating mainly to Catholicism and Irish politics) that are largely convoluted yet do not completely obfuscate the focus of the text: the adolescence and intellectual development of Joyce's partly autobiographical protagonist, Stephen Dedalus.

#3

Title: The Glimpses of the Moon

Author: Edith Wharton

Year: 1922

Caught among an elitist social group that upholds money as its moral standard, Nick and Susy can either fall into the rhythm of a glamorous existence or attempt to transcend it; the novel begins with their honeymoon and schemes for financial gain, then continues to chronicle the following year of their marriage, set against the wanderings and moral infractions of their "friends".

#2

Title: The Reader
Author: Bernhard Schlink

Year: 1995

Intrigued by the hype surrounding the movie, I decided to read the book before viewing its film rendition; having finished the final pages tonight, I am flummoxed by the moral and historical tangles that Schlink creates but ultimately left feeling slightly (but only slightly) more sympathy than scorn for Hanna, an imbalance that the novel's first-person narrative seems to subtly invite.