Over the next couple of days I'm going to talk about my top 5, all time, favorite books. This is a list that will never change, unless I read something better. The only stipulation being that I have to own the books. So here's the list:
1. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Nieffenegger
2. The Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger
3. House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
4. How To Breathe Underwater - Julie Orringer
5. The Collected Stories - Amy Hempel
So I'm going to do the list a little bit backward and start with my most favorite book, The Time Traveler's Wife. The book is a 536 page epic. The story is of Henry DeTamble a man who involuntarily time travels, and his love, Claire Abshire who lives in a linear fashion like the rest of us. The best thing about the book is it has a science fiction premise, time travel, yet is far, far from being a science fiction book. See, Henry first meets Claire when he's 28 and she's 20. She first meets him when she's 6 and he's 38. The book makes a whole lot more sense of it. The book follows Henry from being a little boy learning to live with his "chrono-impairment" to coping with his mother's death and the fact that even though he can (and often does) time travel he still can't change what has already happened no matter how hard he tries. The book also follows Claire as she's as small girl infatuated with this man who literally keeps popping into and out of her young life, a man she knows she will one day marry.
See, I'm a secret sucker for a good love story. I'm also a sucker for characters I can fall in love with, and for that Henry and Claire are the perfect pair. Henry gets scared because no matter how many different ages Claire has seen him, she's never seen him over 40, and Claire is afraid because when Henry leaves she never knows if he's coming back.
I can sing the praises of the book all day, but it's still going to probably sound silly, a man who can time travel and the woman who loves him. It's a perfectly crafted love story though. Boy meets girl (and girl meets boy), they start to fall apart because Henry's absence starts to get to them, and what brings them together, well the last half of the story I don't want to give away.
If you don't believe me I'll give you my copy of the book to read and I won't expect it back, actually I'd be flattered if you liked it enough to keep if for yourself. I have no qualms about buying myself another copy.
I do remember the first time I read it, it was maybe 4 or 5 in the morning and by time I got to the end even I, a man, was tearing up.
Like I said, give it a try, there's a free copy for anyone who's willing to give it a shot.
1. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Nieffenegger
2. The Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger
3. House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
4. How To Breathe Underwater - Julie Orringer
5. The Collected Stories - Amy Hempel
So I'm going to do the list a little bit backward and start with my most favorite book, The Time Traveler's Wife. The book is a 536 page epic. The story is of Henry DeTamble a man who involuntarily time travels, and his love, Claire Abshire who lives in a linear fashion like the rest of us. The best thing about the book is it has a science fiction premise, time travel, yet is far, far from being a science fiction book. See, Henry first meets Claire when he's 28 and she's 20. She first meets him when she's 6 and he's 38. The book makes a whole lot more sense of it. The book follows Henry from being a little boy learning to live with his "chrono-impairment" to coping with his mother's death and the fact that even though he can (and often does) time travel he still can't change what has already happened no matter how hard he tries. The book also follows Claire as she's as small girl infatuated with this man who literally keeps popping into and out of her young life, a man she knows she will one day marry.
See, I'm a secret sucker for a good love story. I'm also a sucker for characters I can fall in love with, and for that Henry and Claire are the perfect pair. Henry gets scared because no matter how many different ages Claire has seen him, she's never seen him over 40, and Claire is afraid because when Henry leaves she never knows if he's coming back.
I can sing the praises of the book all day, but it's still going to probably sound silly, a man who can time travel and the woman who loves him. It's a perfectly crafted love story though. Boy meets girl (and girl meets boy), they start to fall apart because Henry's absence starts to get to them, and what brings them together, well the last half of the story I don't want to give away.
If you don't believe me I'll give you my copy of the book to read and I won't expect it back, actually I'd be flattered if you liked it enough to keep if for yourself. I have no qualms about buying myself another copy.
I do remember the first time I read it, it was maybe 4 or 5 in the morning and by time I got to the end even I, a man, was tearing up.
Like I said, give it a try, there's a free copy for anyone who's willing to give it a shot.