85 Comments

The 1929 novel “Passing” by Nella Larson, about a black woman passing as white in the 1920’s. There was a tv movie/series made about it recently too.

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Been on my list a long time!

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Oh YES to Passing!! I’ve reread it several times.

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Absolutely adore Passing

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The Good Earth! I absolutely treasure that book, re-read it every few years.

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It's sitting on my shelf! I actually once heard it described as someone's "most boring book ever," so I've avoided it... Glad to see this thread!

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Boring?!?! This book has everything! 😍 And unlike a lot of classic literature, it's not "work" to read. Pearl Buck's prose is simple yet engaging.

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Yess!!

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Yes!! I’ve read that probably 5 times in my life. Read Sons too and recently got A House Divided.

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How were they? I started Sons once and couldn't really get into it... and I feel like The Good Earth is so perfect, I don't really want the story to continue...

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I never finished Sons but it was pretty good. Never cracked A House Divided. I’ll have to start from the beginning again!

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I read it last year and enjoyed it very much. I had seen some comments that it was boring but I didn’t find it so. I’ve put together my personal list of 100 books to read in my lifetime, I try to read 5-6 each year, I had put The Good Earth on that list.

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I read My Antonia last year - amazing novel. Heartbreaking and beautiful.

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So. Good. "O Pioneers" is equally good!

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I am a shameless Stephen King fan. I think his best is "The Stand" amazing story. I also like Ernest Gaines "Of Love and Dust" Toni Morrison "The Bluest Eyes". Maya Angelou "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" poetry as well. So many books 📚 so little time. Lol

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Yes! Stephen King is definitely an all-time great. Just recently listened to Pet Sematary — my goodness is it well done.

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That one got to me. I usually read his books more than once. Once was enough for pet sematary!

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Of Human Bondage was my first Sommerset. I have read most of his books, but my fav is The Painted Veil

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I just recently got Human Bondage but haven't read it yet. Glad to hear his other stuff is good too!

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I love The Painted Veil and the movie adaptation was outstanding

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Oh, I love Razor's Edge. Adding Wallace Stegner's books here - I read Crossing Into Safety every few years and am about to read Big Rock Candy Mountain later this spring (in the stack next to my bed!).

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Oh nice, I haven't read any Stegner.

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Crossing Into Safety is really really good, but Angle of Repose is probably his best. If you don’t mind that he plagiarized some of the letters he used in the story.

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I am about to discover Stegner . Just ordered Crossing To Safely. Have you read that one Kara?

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Yes - my favorite Stegner book. Enjoy! Angle in Repose is good too.

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I don't know about underrated, but "Of Mice and Men," by John Steinbeck is a book I've always thought was incredible.

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Oof, that's one of the few Steinbeck works I don't like. The writing is brilliant, but the story is too much for me. That's the beauty of books, though, isn't it? We all see 'em differently.

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The Pearl by Steinbeck will leave the toughest person in tears. The story is fantastic but there are really sad parts

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Yes I've read it several times.

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Yes. I remember reading it with kid number one and thinking it was trite and then reading it again three years later with kid number two and thinking. “Hey, this is pretty darn good.”

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I want to go in record as a Willa Cather reader. She is amazing.

Years ago I read The Street by Ann Petry. It really stuck with me.

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Yay for Cather!

I haven't heard of Ann Petry — I'll check it out!

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I loved Willa Cather’s Shadows on the Rock.

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That one has been sitting on my shelf for a while. I need to read it!

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I also adore The Razor’s Edge and am thankful to a high school English teacher that assigned it. In that same vein I love Hesse’s Siddhartha and Beneath The Wheel and feel like neither of them get much play these days.

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I haven't read Siddhartha since college.. I should probably dive in again.

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I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read Siddhartha, and Beneath the Wheel blew my mind in High School!

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I would never call Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston underrated but it's still not widely read. Hurston is amazing.

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I've not read it!

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If/when you do read it, you'll find such an original use of language and imagery to tell a story that few would normally come across. It's got humor, sadness, a strong sense of place and people, and a story that will haunt.

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I read The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng, which features W. Somerset Maugham and now I'm doubly convinced I need to move him up on my TBR list.

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Although I wouldn't say it's a favorite, given the current Big Read I have to say "The Tennent of Wildfell Hall" is wonderful, and I think it's a shame that the other Bronte sisters' work gets so much more praise.

Herman Hesse's work in general has stuck with me, with "Steppenwolf" probably as my top choice.

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I have some other Brontes on my shelf, but I've only read Jane Eyre. I'll have to change that here soon.

And I've not read Steppenwolf.. I'll move it up my list.

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“Ask The Dust” by John Fante. You’re welcome.

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I've heard of Fante, but never read anything by him. Thanks for the rec.

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I'm going to stretch the definition of 'classic' a little bit and send some love to the Edward X Delaney detective novels by Lawrence Sanders. The first one — The First Deadly Sin — was published in 1973, so it makes the 50-year cutoff :-)

Jeremy, I think you will like these for the same reason you enjoy Louise Penny: There is a lot of character development alongside a compelling crime.

Edward X Delaney is someone I always wished I could run into in real life. He's an excellent detective, devoted to his wife, and loves sandwiches. These books introduced me to the idea of a 'sink sandwich,' a notion that has stayed with me for decades. Edward LOVES to make sandwiches with unusual fillings, and his favorites are so messy, they have to be eaten over the sink — hence the name, sink sandwiches. As a preteen whose family was big on cooking but also sticklers for manners, I fell hard for the idea of making and eating something so delicious you have to consume it in a rush while standing in the kitchen.

All of that goodness is contrasted with very grizzly murders and terrifically wily villains. The stories are a combination of procedural and psychological thriller — the murderers often toy directly with Delaney.

Online lists will tell you that the Deadly Sins series begins with The Anderson Tapes. Don't believe the lie! The Anderson Tapes is a fun read about a robbery in NYC, all told through tape transcripts. Delaney makes an appearance, but it's not *really* a Delaney book.

The first true installment is The First Deadly Sin, and they books are worth reading in order because of Delaney's character arc. (They're conveniently named Second Deadly Sin, Third, etc.) I recently re-read The First Deadly Sin, and I thought it held up well to my nostalgia and the fact that I've read decades' worth of crime novels since.

If you want to try a throwback detective series, this is a good one!

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Awesome, I'll need a new detective series once I finish the Gamache books! (I finished #14 last week.)

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Oooh, you're getting close to All the Devils Are Here. I was kind of running out of steam with the series, then I read that and loved it!

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My goal is one per month, which catches me up in time for the new one coming in October. :)

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My underrated book pairs with one I think is overrated. I think Jack Kerouac's THE DHARMA BUMS is a much better book than ON THE ROAD and it should be the Kerouac that is read first & taught in schools.

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I have Dharma Bums on my shelf.. I enjoyed On the Road well enough, so I'm excited to hear that Bums is even better.

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The Age of Innocence gets my vote, too. I also loved Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. I love Dickens, especially Bleak House—always timely. And as for Austen, my choice is Sense and Sensibility. I reread it at least every couple of years and I always laugh and cry.

Cather may be my favorite modern writer. I loved Death Comes for the Archbishop, My Antonia, and One of Ours. As for other modern classics, How about To Kill a Mockingbird?

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