The David Book Club
Discover The David Book Club's curated list of must-read books. Join fellow book lovers and explore top recommendations for your next great read.
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Light in August
by William Faulkner
From the Nobel Prize winnerâone of the most highly acclaimed writers of the twentieth centuryâa novel set in the American South during Prohibition about hopeful perseverance in the face of mortality. Light in August features some of Faulknerâs most memorable characters: guileless, dauntless Lena Grove, in search of the father of her unborn child; Reverend Gail Hightower, who is plagued by visions of Confederate horsemen; and Joe Christmas, a desperate, enigmatic drifter consumed by his mixed ancestry. âRead, read, read. Read everythingâtrash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! Youâll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, youâll find out. If itâs not, throw it out the window.â âWilliam Faulkner
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In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote
NATIONAL BESTSELLER ⢠The most famous true crime novel of all time "chills the blood and exercises the intelligence" (The New York Review of Books)âand haunted its author long after he finished writing it. On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues. In one of the first non-fiction novels ever written, Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, generating both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.
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The Corrections
by Jonathan Franzen
A cloth bag containing ten copies of the title, that may also include a folder with miscellaneous notes, discussion questions, biographical information, and reading lists to assist book group discussion leaders.
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ID: 0140044469
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If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
by Italo Calvino
Italo Calvino's classic, multifaceted novel about writing and readers.
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Sophie's Choice
by William Styron
Three stories are told: a young Southerner wants to become a writer; a turbulent love-hate affair between a brilliant Jew and a beautiful Polish woman; and of an awful wound in that woman's past--one that impels both Sophie and Nathan toward destruction.
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Another Country
by James Baldwin
From one of the most important American novelists of the twentieth centuryâa novel of sexual, racial, political, artistic passions, set in Greenwich Village, Harlem, and France. âBrilliant and fiercely told.ââThe New York Times One of The Atlanticâs Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years Stunning for its emotional intensity and haunting sensuality, this book depicts men and women, blacks and whites, stripped of their masks of gender and race by love and hatred at the most elemental and sublime. Nominated as one of Americaâs best-loved novels by PBSâs The Great American Read.
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The Dispossessed
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Centuries ago, the moon Anarres was settled by utopian anarchists who left the Earthlike planet Urras in search of a better world, a new beginning. Now a brilliant physicist, Shevek, determines to reunite the two civilizations that have been separated by hatred since long before he was born. The Dispossessed is a penetrating examination of society and humanity -- and one man's brave undertaking to question the unquestionable and ignite the fires of change.
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The Magic Barrel
by Bernard Malamud
A collection of thirteen short fiction stories, set in New York and Italy, by twentieth-century American author Bernard Malamud.
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é垡çť
by Lao Tsu
For nearly two generations, Gia-fu Feng and Jane English's translation of theTao Te Chinghas been the standard for those seeking access to the wisdom of Taoist thought. Now Jane English and her long-time editor, Toinette Lippe, have revised and refreshed the translation so that it more faithfully reflects the Classical Chinese in which it was first written, taking into account changes in our own language and eliminating any lingering infelicities. They have retained the simple clarity of the original rendering of a sometimes seemingly obtuse spiritual text, a clarity that has made this version a classic in itself, selling over a million copies. Written most probably in the sixth century B.C. by Lao Tsu, this esoteric but infintely practical book has been translated into English more frequently than any other work except the Bible. Gia-fu Feng and Jane English's superb translationâthe most accessible and authoritative modern English translationâoffers the essence of each word and makes Lao Tsu's teaching immediate and alive. This edition includes an introduction and notes by the well-known writer and scholar of philosophy and comparative religion, Jacob Needleman.
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One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
One of the 20th century's enduring works, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world, and the ultimate achievement in a Nobel Prizeâwinning career. The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the BuendĂa family. It is a rich and brilliant chronicle of life and death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the noble, ridiculous, beautiful, and tawdry story of the BuendĂa family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America. Love and lust, war and revolution, riches and poverty, youth and senility -- the variety of life, the endlessness of death, the search for peace and truth -- these universal themes dominate the novel. Whether he is describing an affair of passion or the voracity of capitalism and the corruption of government, Gabriel GarcĂa MĂĄrquez always writes with the simplicity, ease, and purity that are the mark of a master. Alternately reverential and comical, One Hundred Years of Solitude weaves the political, personal, and spiritual to bring a new consciousness to storytelling. Translated into dozens of languages, this stunning work is no less than an accounting of the history of the human race.
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Nine Stories
by J.D. Salinger
The "original, first-rate, serious, and beautiful" short fiction (New York Times Book Review) that introduced J. D. Salinger to American readers in the years after World War II, including "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and the first appearance of Salinger's fictional Glass family. Nine exceptional stories from one of the great literary voices of the twentieth century. Witty, urbane, and frequently affecting, Nine Stories sits alongside Salinger's very best work--a treasure that will passed down for many generations to come. The stories: A Perfect Day for Bananafish Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut Just Before the War with the Eskimos The Laughing Man Down at the Dinghy For Esm --with Love and Squalor Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period Teddy
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by Mark Haddon
NATIONAL BESTSELLER ⢠A modern classicâboth poignant and funnyâabout a boy with autism who sets out to solve the murder of a neighbor's dog and discovers unexpected truths about himself and the world. âDisorienting and reorienting the reader to devastating effect.... Suspenseful and harrowing.â âThe New York Times Book Review Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.
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The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A mysterious American millionaire tries to recapture the sweetheart of his youth, which results in tragedy.
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Revolutionary Road
by Richard Yates
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST ⢠Frank and April Wheeler are a bright, beautiful, talented couple in the 1950s whose perfect suburban life is about to crumble in this "moving and absorbing storyâ (The Atlantic Monthly) from one of the most acclaimed writers of the twentieth century. "The Great Gatsby of my time...one of the best books by a member of my generation." âKurt Vonnegut, acclaimed author of Slaughterhouse-Five Perhaps Frank and April Wheeler married too young and started a family too early. Maybe Frank's job is dull. And April never saw herself as a housewife. Yet they have always lived on the assumption that greatness is only just around the corner. But now that certainty is about to unravel. With heartbreaking compassion and remorseless clarity, Richard Yates shows how Frank and April mortgage their spiritual birthright, betraying not only each other, but their best selves. In his introduction to this edition, novelist Richard Ford pays homage to the lasting influence and enduring power of Revolutionary Road.
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The End of the Affair
by Graham Greene
An adulterous love affair turns into a relationship filled with hate and jealousy
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The Complete Stories
by Flannery O'Connor
Winner of the National Book Award The publication of this extraordinary volume firmly established Flannery O'Connor's monumental contribution to American fiction. There are thirty-one stories here in all, including twelve that do not appear in the only two story collections O'Connor put together in her short lifetime--Everything That Rises Must Converge and A Good Man Is Hard to Find. O'Connor published her first story, "The Geranium," in 1946, while she was working on her master's degree at the University of Iowa. Arranged chronologically, this collection shows that her last story, "Judgement Day"--sent to her publisher shortly before her deathâis a brilliantly rewritten and transfigured version of "The Geranium." Taken together, these stories reveal a lively, penetrating talent that has given us some of the most powerful and disturbing fiction of the twentieth century. Also included is an introduction by O'Connor's longtime editor and friend, Robert Giroux.
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Empire Falls
by Richard Russo
NATIONAL BESTSELLER ⢠PULITZER PRIZE WINNER ⢠The bestselling author of Nobody's Fool and Straight Man delves deep into the blue-collar heart of America in a work that overflows with hilarity, heartache, and grace. âRich, humorous ... Mr. Russoâs most seductive book thus far.â âThe New York Times Welcome to Empire Falls, a blue-collar town full of abandoned mills whose citizens surround themselves with the comforts and feuds provided by lifelong friends and neighbors and who find humor and hope in the most unlikely places, in this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Richard Russo. Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years, a job that cost him his college education and much of his self-respect. What keeps him there? It could be his bright, sensitive daughter Tick, who needs all his help surviving the local high school. Or maybe itâs Janine, Milesâ soon-to-be ex-wife, whoâs taken up with a noxiously vain health-club proprietor. Or perhaps itâs the imperious Francine Whiting, who owns everything in townâand seems to believe that âeverythingâ includes Miles himself. Look for Richard Russo's new book, Somebody's Fool, coming soon.
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A Personal Matter
by KenzaburĹ Ĺe
First pub. 1964. Author's most dramatic work, won him the prestigious Shincho Literary Prize. In the novel the narrator tells how he responds to the birth and problems posed by his handicapped child. Recipient of the 1994 Nobel prize.
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Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust
by Nathanael West
Two classic short stories, one about a male reporter who writes an advice column, and the other, about people who have migrated to California in expectation of health and ease.
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Cathedral
by Raymond Carver
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST ⢠Twelve short stories that mark a turning point in the work of âone of the true American masters" (The New York Review of Books). âA writer of astonishing compassion and honesty ⌠His eye is so clear, it almost breaks your heart.â âThe Washington Post Book World A remarkable collection that includes the canonical titular story about blindness and learning to enter the very different world of another. These twelve stories âoverflow with the danger, excitement, mystery and possibility of life.â âThe Washington Post Book World
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The Clown
by Heinrich BĂśll
Through the eyes of a despairing artist, Hans Schneir, who recreates in his pantomimes incidents in people's lives with honesty and compassion, Boll draws a revealing portrait of German society under Hitler and in the postwar years.