Books of Adulthood

My copies of a few of the books on this list.

After I wrote about the books I love from childhood, a friend suggested I write about the books I love in adulthood.

Of course, I'm still reading. And I’m still an adult. (Well, sometimes I wonder. As do others.)

One of my favorite questions is about a person's favorite books. And recently, at a dinner gathering, I asked my table what they were reading. (Result: Awkward silence.) So my friend's recommendation is one I decided to take with one caveat: There might be a part two of this post somewhere down the line.

I missed many books in this compilation, I'm sure. And I culled a number off my original list, because it was just too long. (So this is a list of the favorites among the favorites.) Third, I am still voraciously reading. Who knows what I’ll encounter in coming years that I would add to the list below?

Much as with my childhood books post, I limited the list to books that socked me in the chest or the gut, that I learned from, that I still think about today, and that I'd recommend to anyone without hesitation. Juicy, meaty, books that I’m in love with—not just books I love.

Because I can't possibly order these books by value or importance, and I'm not sure of the date I read them, I've ordered them alphabetically by title:

• All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque

• Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner

• A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving

• The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein

• Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall

• Brick Lane, by Monica Ali

• East of Eden, by John Steinbeck

• Ficciones, by Jorge Luis Borges

• Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell

• Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, by David Simon

• Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice

• The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

• Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry

• The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco

• One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

• Private Life, by Jane Smiley

• Property, by Valerie Martin

• Sophie's Choice, by William Styron

• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach

• Winkie, by Clifford Chase

I'd planned to write a note with each book, explaining the reason for my love, but then I realized that I might project my opinions onto yours—and sometimes it's best to approach something with a clear mind. But after you've read any of these—if you do—I'd love to discuss it.

Or if you've already read one or more, what did you think?

And what are the seminal books of your adult reading life?