These are my favorites. Synopses aren't really my thing, but I'll tell you why I liked them.
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins: This is my very favorite book in the world, I think. It captures that exact moment when you decide to do something that you really shouldn't, but it'll make for grand stories and even better fun...so you do it. Of course you do it. Every good decision I've made in my adult life has been informed by this book. It's epic, it's sweeping, it's dirty. It's gorgeous. And it's fairly dripping with beets.
Still Life With Woodpecker also Tom Robbins: I might just believe in love because of this book. I also blush whenever I think of it. If you like princesses, red heads, cigarettes and outlaws, you'd do yourself well to get on this train, and quickly.
Villa Incognito by, again, Mr. Robbins: Read this book while quarantined on a cruise ship, after you've lost a nasty battle with a michelada in Mexico. I did, and I'm glad. It's obscure and complex and unbridled in an understated sort of way (something I hadn't seen Robbins do effectively until I read this). Reading it on a boat helped to contain the wanderlust that not so much crept up as punched me in the stomach as I turned the pages (but maybe it was the food poisoning).
Spaceman Blues (a love song) by Brian Francis Slattery: An adventure to end all others with a love story tied right in, on and around. This book helps me love New York even when I hate it. It brings out the die-hard romantic in me. It makes me wonder what is, actually, underneath all of those subway tunnels. And it has the most goddamn brilliant Byrds reference that I couldn't even believe.
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman: I don't care if you're an atheist (I really, really don't)...this is a beautiful story constructed with love and care and absolute insight. The three books in this series (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass) follow a lovely young lady who you'll probably want to emulate, no matter how old you are. This is children's fantasy written for grownups, with an ending that might break your heart. The series has come under fire several times, which is silly, and if you want to you can read it for that reason alone. Really, though, it's just darn fine writing.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee: I once had an acting teacher tell me that I might not get cast until I audition for the role of Martha in 30 years. Best compliment ever.
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie: All of this hullabaloo around Mr. Rushdie, and we ignore how very incredibly talented and subtle his writing is. This book is very, very good. India, magic realism, enough cultural/political/scientific references that you have to read the thing next to an encyclopedia, which is reason enough to read it in the first place.
