On the theory that no one really cares what ordinary members think, I do not often do the blogging "homework" but I'll make an exception when that homework is to write about our favorite books and/or authors.
As the son of a bookseller, I grew up with and on books, and hardly a day passes that I'm not parallel-reading two or more. Many books are for one-time consumption only, and generally, I feel life is too short to read any book more than once... but I will make an exception for my two favorite books:
One is Nabokov's Lolita, a fascinating and fantastic novel that truly has the power to move the reader to tears of laughter one moment and tears of sorrow the next. It's a superbly moving love story above everything else. Reading enjoyment is greatly enhanced when you read the annotated version, that is, one where the numerous hidden meanings of Nabokov are deciphered.
My other favorite book is Reinhart in Love, by Thomas Berger - and incidentally, when I researched book covers for this post, I found that unbeknownst to me, Berger had recently died at the age of 89, which saddened me no end. It is the second book in what turned out to be a 4-book series (or tetralogy, if you want to be real fancy). It's difficult to describe the immense playfulness of the language and the panopticum of memorable characters that make this novel so memorable. Somehow Berger (whose most well-known book is Little Big Man, which was turned into a film with Dustin Hoffman) hasn't received more acclaim or respect; nearly all of his books are extremely readable and original. If anyone reading this wants to follow my advice, he or she would do well to skip the first Reinhart volume (Crazy in Berlin) and focus on this one and its two sequels, Vital Parts and Reinhart's Women. I'd be happy to hear from anyone who has read them!
I'll just add a footnote here, with the 3rd book I happily re-read from time to time - A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, a true comic masterpiece that, like all great comedy, also offers deep observations into human nature and the human condition.
