Thursday, January 24, 2008

Booking Through Thursday - January 24

What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”

I have met a lot of people that have never heard of The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, which is one of my all-time favorites. Winterdance, by Gary Paulsen, another favorite, is virtually unknown, even by book lovers. One of my new favorite authors, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is still not very well known here in the U.S. Some other authors that come to mind are: Tim Winton, Luong Ung, Soseki Natsume, Nick Earls, and Barbara Pym.

8 comments:

Chrisbookarama said...

Oh no, never heard of The Handmaid's Tale? It's a favorite of mine as well.

Lesley said...

I'm reading Barbara Pym right now! And loving it.
Tim Winton is a fantastic writer.

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

I run into people who aren't familiar with Handmaid's Tale, too. I always look at them like ... well, "huh?" -- it's such a classic. I read it in college, even.

Anonymous said...

Definitely shocked that people haven't at least heard of Handmaid's Tale!

That being said, I'm not familiar with any of the other authors you listed....

pussreboots said...

I've read The Handmaid's Tale and the Paulsen book is on my TBR pile. The other authors I haven't heard of. Happy BTT.

Crafty Green Poet said...

It surprises me sometimes too what people haven't heard of...

Lesley said...

Hi there, Alisia,
I'm back to reply to a comment you left on my blog — thank you! (I couldn't find an email address on yours.)
Yes, we lived in Perth before moving to the US two years ago. And before Perth I lived in Norwich, UK, while my husband was brought up in Singapore and Brisbane.
I'm not surprised you never made it to Perth from Brisbane — it's a long way, and well, let's face it, Queensland has got everything going for it! And there's Sydney just down the road, too ...

Anonymous said...

I loved Winterdance, too, and reviewed it on my blog a few months ago. I haven't gotten around to reading The Handmaid's Tale yet, but I've heard good things!