Books That Make You Go Hmm by Gabriel Valjan

 

Q: Have there been recent novels which had you laughing, crying, clinging to the edge of your seat?

 

For reasons I can’t say publicly, I’ve not had free time to read recent novels, so the titles mentioned in this post are not new.

 

That said, I’d like to add another category: Thought-provoking.

 

Disclaimer. I love the scent of old books (bibliosmia) and I enjoy deckle pages, a pleasant sensation, against my fingertips. I find reading to be both a tactile and sensual experience. Reading is primarily a mental and physical act. Cinema and television are our other sources for visual adventures, but I daresay that they make us passive. With a book in hand, we are forced to consider what is on the page for ideas and themes.

 

We read for different reasons.

 

I am omnivorous across genres and cultures (thank you, translators). I also read as a writer, which is, to say, more like a musician. I want to see how others in the trade ‘do their thing,’ and how I might learn and riff on techniques. I am a word nerd and eternal student. I also read to step out of my Comfort Zone.

 

I don’t seek to see myself represented on the page. I neither need nor care for validation. I don’t seek out writers who reflect me as a person, and by that I mean ethnicity, culture, or other attributes. I am curious, however, to see how a character might’ve dealt with the same issues I’ve experienced in my personal life, if and when I find them.

 

Simply put, I gravitate toward different perspectives. I see one world, one human race, and multiple tribes we call cultures. Issues such as sexuality, justice, and politics are diverse, yes, but they are all social constructs [in my opinion] and, ultimately, tribal, specific and limited to time and place. History has shown repeatedly (and emphatically) that we are a violent species, but the Arts give us pause and time to reconsider the fact that we are all in this messy thing called Life together. The danger is not individual but collective because we can fail as a species. Across the millennia of progress and regression, violence and peace, we are the only life form that seems to gather around the metaphorical campfire to tell stories. 

 

Note 1: I highly recommend readers and writers to explore the We Are What We Read channel on YouTube, hosted by Kristopher A. Zgorski of Bolo Books and Shawn Reilly Simmons of the FCQ podcast.

 

Note 2: I listed series so readers can sample variety from the same author.

 

Laughing

Amistead Maupin. Tales of the City [10 novels].

Andrea Camilleri. Detective Montalbano [28 novels].

Giovanni Guareschi. Little World (Don Camillo short stories).

Lee Goldberg. Monk series [19 novels].

P.G. Wodehouse. Jeeves series [11 novels].

 

Crying

Alice Walker. The Color Purple.

André Aciman. Call Me by Your Name.

David Leavitt. Lost Languages of Cranes.

Pat Conroy. The Prince of Tides.

Richard Yates. Revolutionary Road.

Toni Morrison. Beloved.

Yukio Mishima. The Sea of Fertility Tetralogy.

 

Edge of your seat

Antonio Scurati. M: Son of the Century

Emmanuel Carrère. Class Trip / The Mustache.

Javier Sierra. The Secret Supper.

Nicola Lagioia. The Living City.

Pat Conroy. The Great Santini.

 

Thought provoking

Antonio Scurati. M: Son of the Century.

Fredrik Backman. A Man Called Ove.

Hermann Broch. The Sleepwalkers.

Horacio Quiroga. Jungle Tales. 

Paolo Cognetti. The Eight Mountains.