Mystery writer Sara Paretsky, author most recently of Total Recall (Delacorte Press, $26), the 11th novel in the V.I. Warshawski series, chooses six of her favorite books.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Puffin, $7). This was my favorite book as a child. I read it every time I was home sick, wishing I had sisters and a warm, compassionate set of parents. I hated finding out the story behind Alcott’s life, although it confirms my belief that we often write about the world we wish to inhabit rather than the one we do inhabit.
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Penguin USA, $7). I know it’s not most people’s favorite, but the structure in this novel is perfect-and unlike most readers, I find Fanny Price and her struggles quite compelling.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (Everyman’s Library, $20). My favorite coming-of-age novel. The portrait of the artist as a young woman; the heroine who chooses her own path rather than having it chosen for her-these qualities appear again in later heroines, but Bronte was the first to present them in a significant novel.
Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham (out of print). I have a lot of favorite mysteries, but this one is a wonderfully constructed thriller. The smoke is the London fog, where a ruthless killer is stalking a family, for reasons both awful and compelling. Allingham has an amazing capacity for portraying the mind of the killer, and an equal capacity for compassion that never becomes maudlin.
The Poison Oracle by Peter Dickinson (out of print). Dickinson is my favorite contemporary crime writer. All of his books are arresting in construction and subject, and brilliant in their development of character. In this one, the use of a chimpanzee to solve the crime is set against the background of a wealthy oil sheikh in the middle of whose desert lands lives a shadowy African tribe. The issues of language and communication make this a tour de force.
A Blessing on the Moon by Joseph Skibell (Algonquin Books, $22). This book is my favorite recent novel-a haunting fable, a Holocaust novel that teaches, strengthens, and is so moving that each time I read it I have to start over again from the beginning. Only after I’ve read it through three times can I bring myself to put it down again.
-
Beth Macy’s 6 favorite books about living in a divided nationFeature The journalist recommends works by Nicholas Buccola, Matthew Desmond, and more
-
Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
-
Nathan Harris’ 6 favorite books that turn adventures into revelationsFeature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McGuire, and more
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
-
Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficultiesFeature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
