i’ve been trying to expand my choices when it comes to reading- i always tend to stick to my favourite authors and books that are an “easy read” per se. but i’ve made a decision to put myself out there and try reading outside my comfort zone.
I’m also trying to read a lot more female authors (reading the bell jar by sylvia plath at the moment), so could you please recommend a few books that i could read?
i was planning on reading the handmaids tale next- so if anyone has read this, please give me a review!!
by Kooky_Media_3988
4 Comments
yes you should read The Year of Magical Thinking.
Joan Didion is one of my favorite authors ever. I would place her in the canon of great American writers, emphasis on American. Her writing often focuses on the landscape of American culture in a way that is incisive and sharply observed. She is better known for her nonfiction than her fiction, and her most famous (and in my opinion, best) work is her essay collection Slouching Towards Bethlehem (which is named for her most famous essay, an exploration of the counterculture movement in 60’s San Francisco). That is typically the entry point I would recommend to folks interested in Didion, it will give you a great sense of her writing style. I see the other books you’ve mentioned are fiction though, and if you’re more interested in fiction I’d recommend Democracy. I’ve only read two of her novels (the other being her more famous one, Play It As It Lays), but personally I preferred Democracy. It’s not as good as her best nonfiction but it’s still pretty damn good. It’s hard to go wrong with Didion.
The Year of Magical Thinking is absolutely brilliant.
She has the best sentences of any American writer. So yeah, Queen Joan is worth reading