Burma and Fighting for your Babies.

Gina gave me the "Glass Palace" by Amitav Ghosh  as a way of introducing me to her father's Burma.  It's an epic  novel that leverages the lives of three generations of Burmese and Indians  to illustrate the tumultuous economic, social and political changes in southeast Asia from the 1800's when Burma's king was ousted from power, to modern day Myanmar. 

I was eager to dive into "The Glass Palace" because I wanted to get a glimpse into a dear friend's background.  Her recent attempts to return to her father's homeland have been foiled by political unrest  and so I was keen to "study up" on Burma to be more in the know and as she suggested, get inspired to eventually explore the country with her as my guide.  I expected the book to connect me to Gina's inner Burmese, but it didn't. Instead I found myself reflecting more on Gina's maternal heritage,  her relationship with her mother (who isn't Burmese)  and her  amazing daughter, Charlotte.

One of the main characters in "The Glass Palace" is Dolly, nursemaid to the Second Princess.  She is an exquisite beauty, stunning and breathtaking, yet unaware that she is.  So too, is my friend Gina.    Yet, unlike my  Gina, Dolly is passive,  accepting life's circumstances without challenge or verve.   This changes dramatically though, when her child falls ill.   Dolly's resolve and determination to support her sick son through recovery again reminded me of my dear friend.

 Gina's daughter Charlotte came into the world early, very early.  Born at about 1.5 pounds,  the Rayfield  Peanut was frail and tiny and as you'd expect,  her premature arrival transformed what was supposed to be a joyous time for her family into a frightening one.  Strangely, nearly thirteen years later and because of a nudge I received from  Dolly in "The Glass Palace", I find myself drifting back to that period that forever transformed my friend's life. 

Naturally, we were focused on Charlotte's condition,  never expecting things to get hairy for Gina.   Yet, as her newborn daughter was being cared for in the NICU, Gina started to bleed and bleed and bleed and late at night, was whisked from her room straight into emergency surgery.  As just one support entity nearby for the family, our focus was on Mike, Gina's husband.  It's not necessary to recall the details of the discussions we shared during that difficult time,  but suffice it to say the man adores his wife -- as he should!

Interestingly,  "The Glass Palace"  has forced me to change the lens on how I look back on Charlotte's birth.  Having just read about Burma, Malaysia and India through the eyes of child, parent and grandparent,  I began to reflect on that crisis from the  perspective of Gina's mom.    How did Lynn keep it together when in a flash,  both her "baby" and "grandbaby" were in a fight for their lives?   I wrack my memory to recapture the  images I have of Lynn at the hospital,  talking to Mike and other visitors, so calm and strong.   I imagine how I'd have handled the situation if I were in her shoes.  Since I'm sure  I'd have been a blubbering baboon, I am convinced I've screwed something up on my recall.

But, I know I haven't.    Just like Dolly, I now understand that Lynn dug in deep and tapped into her Momma strength, something powerful and mighty.  And magically, or  genetically, she's passed that inner courage onto her daughter.

For the last 13 years, I've been blown away by Gina's resolve.  It's almost as if she, like Dolly, has a spiritual connection that powers her tenacity and it's that drive that has helped transform the Nut into Charlotte, the beautiful, talented, delightful and bigger than life preteen that she is today.   Yes, Charlotte  has had her share of issues due to her premature start to life, but Gina helps her daughter simply take it day by day.   And because of that, Charlotte has the very best --  care, experiences, opportunity, and dreams a child could ever have.  

I look ahead ten, fifteen or twenty years from now -- to when we get to watch Charlotte find her way as a Mom.  I can't wait to experience the deja vu moments we'll enjoy recalling the history of her maternal line as Charlotte taps into her own inner courage to fight for her babes.  When it's time, remind me to tell the Rayfields, I want a front row seat to enjoy the show.

Recipes for a LIfetime

I love food.    I love to smell it, eat it, think about it, and share it.  So, Kate's book selection, Tender on the Bone, was a perfect recommendation for my Cinquenta List.  It's a memoir by Ruth Reichl,  Gourmet's editor in chief and former food critic for the NY Times.  The story is a  simple one;  people throughout her life shaped Ruth's love for cooking and food.  From childhood through adulthood, there is  an individual, story and correlating recipe.

For years, my personal collection of food memories  were housed in a manila folder I jammed in with my cookbooks.  One year, my daughter Julia gave me the perfect Mothers' Day gift -- she carefully organized my mess in a hand-decorated binder she entitled "Mom's Old & New Recipes and Experiments".  In it sit my treasures, prized possessions I've collected  from friends and family that shape virtually every special meal I prepare -- a simple dessert to welcome a child home, a dinner to enjoy with friends from out of town, a massive holiday feast or a menu to feed 50 to ring in the new year!   The book grows each year with new food ideas that are forever  tied to the people who've shared them with me.

I browse my collection lovingly.    My grandmother's apple cake, banana bread, and famous cookie recipes are there, all handwritten on now-faded legal paper.  GG was our family's great baker.  She came to visit us in California when she was 95 years old and one day  when we were enjoying some downtime,  I asked her to her select her favorite desserts I could pass on to my  children.  I assumed she'd go home, find the recipes and then send me her top selections, but instead, she simply asked for  paper and a pencil and spent the next 20 minutes jotting them down for me.  95 Years Old.  6 Recipes.  By Heart. 

My mother  was an INCREDIBLE cook.  Two of her specialties are in my binder and I cherish them  for the recipes themselves, as well as  for the paper they are written on and the memories they illicit.  The first one she sent upon my request.  It was for her killer white chocolate cheese cake (which is to die for!), which she hastily scribbled on the back of an old wedding invitation.  Faded card stock, formal engraved letters documenting my cousin's second attempt at marriage immortalizes the dessert my mom first made when she invited Jeff's parents over to dinner to celebrate our engagement!   

I'm the guilty scribbler of my mom's other contribution to the food binder.   It was our first Thanksgiving and I wanted to impress my mother-in-law.  Mom dictated the recipe for her pumpkin bread over the phone which I captured  under the masthead of a now defunct ad agency, Wooding & Housely, the firm that gave me my start in marketing.  The recipe brings me back to a moment in time  and that, along with that yummy bread, is priceless to me.

My blog is no book -- but I'll follow Ruth's lead by using the medium to share the food that has shaped my life.    Below are my Top 25 .....if you want the recipe, let me know and I'll send them.  Enjoy....

1.  Kate's Cheese Dips (I have two).  I brought my dear friend's curry/chutney dish to a holiday party this year and two women came up to me raving about it.  (It really is one of those creations that when you start with a taste, you just can't stop eating, eating, eating.)  The small world connection was that both of the dip's admirers knew Kate (who had moved to Minneapolis years earlier)  and when I credited her as the rightful owner of the appetizer glory, we then spent the next 30 minutes enjoying wonderful Kate and Barry stories.  I love how food does that!

2.  Aunt Pat's Chicken Wings.  Her daughter explained the prep secret to me......"cook the shit out of them".

3.  My sister's cook books.  The best in my own cookbook collection are from Ellen.  Hundreds of yummy treats from my big sister's talents, creativity and passion for all things food-related!

4.  Mary's Spinach recipe.  Not healthy, but so, so yummy.    I make it nearly every Thanksgiving.

5.  Gina's Gumbo.  My version paled in comparison to hers,  but my mother and grandmother weren't from New Orleans.  Gina's were, so great gumbo is in this woman's DNA.  Clearly, not mine.    What Gina can do with gumbo, her husband Mike can do in a smoker.  It's kind of pointless eating ribs or pork butt if Mike hasn't prepared them, so I don't bother, but I have tried to recreate some of his sauces and those attempts/formulas are captured in my book. 

6.  Bob's Crabcakes.  Basically, anything Bob Blasing makes is incredible, but these are off the charts, the BEST crabcake I have ever, ever, ever tasted.  Astounding.

7.  Judy's Grammy Angie's cookies, but we call them Judy Kaufman's cookies.   Again, my version SUCKS compared to hers, but I make them every year,  and my kids devour them.  Thanks Judy.

8.  Danielle's Lemon Cake.  Frozen, light, lovely.  The crust (made with graham crackers and pretzels) is the best on the planet.

9.  Carol Sack's Nana's Brisket.  I grew up in a Jewish household, but couldn't crack the "melt in your mouth" brisket code.  Until I saw this on Carol Sack's facebook page. 

10.  Regina's Pavlova.  Who knew I could make something so elegant? (Not my forte)  One of my favorite desserts for a summer dinner, of all time.

11.  Erika's Chicken and Date concoction.  When she said, "it's so good, you could eat it for days", she was spot on.

12.  Amy's Date/Bacon appetizer.  Obscene.

13.  Michelle's, arugula, goat cheese, prosciutto appetizer.  More obscene.

14.  Chocolate Souffle's.  Sadly, I don't know who gave me this recipe.  It's an easy to make, easy to impress, dramatic dessert. A staple in my book. 

15.  Deanne's Beef Tenderloin with chimichurri sauce  I love this dish -- it's spicy and smoky and devour-able.  I was introduced to it, along with Scott's Pomegranite Martini's  at a fun-filled dinner with some of my favorite people in the world. 

16.  Grandma Dot's Peanut Butter Blossom cookies.  These are basic peanut butter cookies with a Hershey kiss on top.  My mother-in-law gets the credit for this recipe  because she gave me the cookbook  that features it  and because my brother-in-law devours the cookies every time he visits us at Thanksgiving.  Dot was a HORRENDOUS cook, so this is the only attribution to a good recipe the woman will ever get!   (Though in fairness, she made killer mashed potatoes (we all miss them!) and "podada salad".....that's Boston for potato salad.) 

17.  Angie's Popeye Pancakes.  One cup flour, one cup milk, 6 eggs and lots of butter.  Lemon and powder sugar.  Breakfast heaven.

18. Mary Alice's Peanut Butter/Chocolate Balls.  Dottie's dear friend was a beautiful baker.  We used to visit with her late on Christmas Eve and enjoy what was left over from her family feast.....This is one of my favorites:  peanut butter, sugar, butter, chocolate.  Need I say more?

19.  Claudia's Cobbler recipe -- delivered with apricots grown from the Westrum's yard.  What's better than that?

20.  Shanan's Cranberry and Chocolate Chip Biscotti.  I got these when I was at TiVo and still love 'em.

21.  DD's Butternut Squash Soup.  Lot of prep work, but oh so worth it....I wish I had some right now!

22.  Nana's Welsh Cookies.  Emily Cashen wasn't a great cook -- the woman almost poisoned me when I was 8 months pregnant with Bobby (I will never eat corned beef  again), but Welsh Cookies are tied to generations of Cashen lore, so I include them here.

23.  Home-made Mud Pie.  My creation, but a Thanksgiving tradition my children and their friends won't let me break.    When in doubt, add more chocolate. 

24.  Carol's Toffee Brittle.  Carol was an admin in Jeff's office in the early TI days -- back in Boston.  Butter, sugar, chocolate and pecans.  Easy to make and even easier to eat. 

25.  Grilled Asparagus, Basil and Parmesan.  Jim Pena whipped these up on the grill in our early California days.  Throw balsamic vinegar in the mix and you're set.  My daughter will eat this from now,  until the end of time.

It's Time: A Sarah Palin Rant

The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver

Michelle gave me this book for my birthday.  I loved it.  Not only is it a great story,  but The Lacuna re-introduced me to important people and periods of  North American culture and history.    Hard to imagine a novel could credibly incorporate Diego Riveria, Frida  Kahlo , Leo Trotsky and Joseph McCarthy in a tale about a boy growing up in Mexico, but kudos to Barbara Kingsolver for pulling it off. 

The Lacune also zeroed in on an unpleasant period  of our history,  the infamous fifties when the government went a vast witch hunt to uncover subversive Communists in our society.   During the Red Scare, thousands of artists, actors, writers, and business people were ruined because Senator McCarthy fanned the flames of hatred and the American people were quick to jump on the Attack Bandwagon.  No surprise that a lot of liberal Jews fell under attack as well.    After celebrating the end of WWII and a glorious period of patriotism, our country plummeted into the bowels of ugliness.  I remember when I learned about this embarrassing period when I was a kid and it was the first time I felt a bit ashamed of my people, my government, my United States of America. 

Don’t mean for my Cinquenta Tales blog to be a political bully pulpit, because I don’t wish to offend, but if you’re reading this you know me and so already know that I absolutely despise Sarah Palin and the Tea Party values she ballyhoos.

When I came upon the McCarthy period in The Lacuna and was reacquainted with the Senator’s lovely handiwork, Sarah Palin’s hideous voice, winks to the camera and ignorant tirades  invaded my peace of mind.  It was a horrific and yet crystal clear connection.  She is a modern day Joe McCarthy. From checking out the Russians from her abode in Wasilla, ridiculing the “lamestream media”,  challenging President Obama’s patriotism, to going on the attack against any non-Fox News endorsed policy, this bitch could potentially drum up as much ugly behavior as McCarthy did 60 years ago!  

I’m hoping that her kamikaze performance after the Tuscan tragedy will convince her supporters that she should disappear from the heady world of politics and simply focus on bad reality TV.  I’m hoping that in the next two years, the attack tone of politics of which she is the Master, softens (I know, I’m dreaming).    I’m hoping that we embrace thoughtful discourse, and discontinue the Palin way, stirring up discontent and anger by throwing around derogatory slams against opponents in the hopes of capturing a sound byte on the evening news.  

Right now, her talk and jabs simply ignite a faction of the Republican Party.  Lets hope that the likes of Ms. Palin don't gain enough influence in public office to replicate the bad-doings of the McCarthy era.  

Oh...and read The Lacuna.  Beyond the Hockey Mom connection, it made me want to do a little more research on Frida.  Any recommendations on biographies would be appreciated.

adios.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames, By David Sedaris

My son gave me this book for my birthday.  It’s a compilation of essays, many of which are very hilarious and stinging and touching all at the same time.  Because several pieces address death and dying, Bobby figured it was the perfect selection to mark my 50^th year.   Nice kid!     The truth is, the book instilled in me a sense of hope that I could one day write something as entertaining.  After all, Sedaris simply produced stories about what he observed or experienced.  He’s an essayist with a crazy fun sense of humor and writing style.  I thought I could mimic that.

The guy had plenty of material from which to work.  He came from a large family.   So did I.  He grew up in the sixties/seventies.  Me too.   Hell, just fashion and pop culture alone from those days could provide plenty of storytelling fodder.     The guy did one up me on the sexuality front.  He’s a homosexual and a neurotic one at that, which of course influenced his life and writing. Afraid my orientation is way too mild to spark any inspiration there. 

Nevertheless Sedaris got me wondering what memories or people in my life would help me uncover my hidden creative genius.  (Because it has to be buried somewhere!)   Ty Hobson, our quirky neighbor (who trapped a fox in his backyard and kept it in a cage)?  Dorothy I Cant Remember Her Last Name, the true babysitter from hell who terrorized us kids when my parents went away for overnight trips? Mrs. Striaight, the house cleaner who quit because our home was haunted?  Miss B, my piano teacher, who survived polio only to have to sit through years and years of lessons with the untalented and un-inspired?  Or what about our  move to Yardley, Pennsylvania?  High school drama, which really wasn’t that dramatic? Marriage? Parenthood?   I’d love to be able to capture a fraction of the hellacious adventures I’ve shared with my husband, children and friends. I’ve got 50 years of material, people !!!!!

The harsh reality though is that while Sedaris makes it look easy to share memories in a distinct and cunning way, it’s no small task to present an observation that will be INTERESTING to the unbiased reader, the individual who has absolutely no connection to you.  Sedaris’ book is filled with tales that actually make you laugh out loud or shed a tear or think about a very IMPORTANT something or someone.  And that is what a great writer can do.    I’m sure I could fumble along and create something that will make my family or friends smile, because 1) they love me and 2) I’d simply be recreating a story that we’ve already shared. It’s like sitting around the kitchen table and reminiscing together, laughing at funny memories, rehashing family and friend lore.   But Sedaris does so much more, He brings you into his life, introduces you to his quirks and phobias, successes and heartaches.  He lulls you into thinking you’re going to discover one thing or the other, and then with cunning, finds a way for you relate to his very personal story as if it were you own.   This is far beyond my Expository Writing 101 ability, for sure.  

Anyway, if you are need of some companionship on a trip, or just want to laugh a little before you go to bed, snuggle up with this read.  You can thank Danielle and Bobby for the recommendation. 

Advice for Tackling Anxieties or Just the Task at Hand: Bird by Bird.

I admit that I'm one who periodically spirals into panic, overwhelmed with the stupid trivial details of  life, like...how can I pick up the dry cleaning, complete something big and hairy for work,  get to a soccer game, see a friend, exercise, walk the dog,  run to the grocery store,  shoot off some critical emails, catch up with my kids and husband,  and not collapse before dinner.  The anxiety of course rears its head over big Mother problems too -- the things over which I absolutely cannot control.  What can set me off?  The shitty economy, crappy political issues,  the state of our schools, cancer messing with my friend or more personal traumas like trying to  protect my children from harm or heartache, as if I can make a difference in say, Bobby's law school applications or Audrey's success in her SAT's.  

I escape from these periods of dread and worry by sipping wine, lots of it at times, soaking in a hot bath, and then burying myself under the covers, to sleep away the uglies.   I sigh beneath that comforter, just as I am about to "go under", content that I've successfully exorcised the worry demons.  It's a short-lived victory as more often than not, I end up bolting up wide awake  in the  middle of the night,  after just a few hours of  sleep.  This can never be good for many reasons the least of which is that it is in the wee hours of the night when I invariably conjure up even more problems over which I then obsess.  From one challenge comes many, and then more and more and more until I feel BURIED.    Sound familiar?  Anyone?


I've learned to talk myself through the panic and force myself to focus on just one problem at a time.  Running helps me accomplish this.  Step by step, mile after mile I work to  come up with a  game plan to tackle my woes and by the time I hit the shower, my sense of nervous nausea is at bay.   Success!  That is, until a bump or two experienced in the course of the day drives me to end it, just like the previous one, sipping wine, in a bath, huddled up in bed before 9 pm.....and the scary cycle continues.  

This is why Anne Lamott's advice in her Bird by Bird was so compelling to me.  A colleague/friend gave it to me  for my birthday and I devoured it in one sitting.  Won't go into all the attributes of the book, but will share what's on its cover -- as the advice spoke to me and has been very helpful in taming my anxiety beasts!   

"Thirty years ago, my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he had three months to write.  It was due the next day.  He was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead.  Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder and said, "Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird."

I'm embracing the Bird by Bird philosophy.  While it was presented to help writers gain confidence in the task of crafting a moving tale, building believable characters, and finessing complex story lines, it has helped this non-writer tackle the complexities and mundane elements of life.   I've applied her thinking this  holiday season, year-end frenzy and tackling some crazy, crazy work to-do's going into January and I'm of all things....SLEEPING!  To me, that's all the proof I need. 

BBC's Top 100 Book List: Numbers. Pages. Film.

The BBC's top 100 Book List which was compiled  in 2003 is enjoying a surge of visibility thanks to Facebook and the blogosphere.  In the last few weeks, a number of friends have posted the list, prefaced with the annotation that the BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books, and so for me, the roster served  as a blatant challenge to assert my reading chops.  


I powered through the list and madly clicked off the titles I read.   Kudos to my high school and college comparative literature teachers.  Without their syllabi, my grand total would have been cut in half, but sadly, of the many I read, there are several I simply blew through on assignment.  So, I need to  re-read numerous classics not because I have a paper to write or a grade to nab, but to savor the talents of some incredible writers.   Thank you   BBC for creating the list, and Facebook for making it so easy to share.  The timely viral push has inspired some great additions to my Cinquenta Tales List.


While going through the BBC list I confess the enormous impact Hollywood has had on my interpretation of literature.  Truth be told, for many of the reads below, several of  the characters or story lines are immortalized in my mind through the film's interpretation of the novels instead of the novels themselves.     "To Kill a Mockingbird" will always be one of my all-time favorite books and yet whenever I read the book, Gregory Peck is and always will be the only suitable personification of Atticus.  To be clear,  the man is Atticus!   Can I ever read a Jane Austin or Emily Bronte book again and not imagine Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson,  Kate Winslet, or Colin Firth as one of their main characters?    I've never read "Gone with the Wind", though now thanks to the BBC, it's on my Cinquenta Tales list.   How will I be able to force the theme song from the film out of my head when I open the book or imagine anyone other than Clark Gable and Vivienne Leigh as Rhett and Scarlet when I turn each page? 


While I love, love, love to read, I also love, love, love the power of film.  Stunning cinematography, powerful music, and moving performances are just as lasting as beautifully constructed words in a book.  For example,  I read "Precious" before I saw the film and loved the book, but Monique's "who is going to love me?" scene with Mariah Carey  will haunt me forever.   Of course, there are far more instances when Hollywood blows it in a huge way and absolutely destroys a good read (Rebecca, Time Traveler's Wife, Lovely Bones, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corelli's Mandolin, Memoirs of a Geisha,  DaVinci Code to name a few!), but you have to admit when a director gets it right, there's nothing like watching one of your favorite stories come to life in full glory, on the big screen....


So check out the list.  Don't do what I did and focus on a number.  Focus on the content you've devoured....And let me know what you think was better for each title, Book or Film? 
100 Books

The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. Instructions: Copy this into your NOTES. Bold those books you've read in their entirety. Italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or read only an excerpt. (Tag other book nerds....

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte 

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling   

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman (

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma -Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Inferno - Dante

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo