Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

Recommended by my Brother's friend -while pulling off his aviator glasses and stepping out of his rusty Cadillac. This book was recommended to me because my brother's friend really liked the college dorm scene where the guys play Hearts. I'll admit, it's a good image, perhaps one that most want their college experience to be like.

I enjoy reading Stephen King, but I don't consider him "one of the best." This book was fun to read, but like many King novels, the movie was better. The movie didn't cover the whole book and sadly it didn't cover my favorite parts (most of the magic realism).

One story within the book is a little played out. It's a story of a guy who goes to work only to dress down and panhandle. No one knows about his dirty little secret, not even his wife. Come on. We've all seen that 60 minute report.

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

Recommended by a coworker who was studying English Lit. at BYU.

Like any Thomas Pynchon book I've tried to read, this book was hard to access at first. But because this book was so short I plowed through and was rewarded in the end. I have no clear memories of the plot in the book, but I remember the ending was very theoretical.

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

This book was not recommended to me by anyone, but I read it because I enjoyed "Catcher in the Rye" so much. I picked up the book at the book store and couldn't put it down for the next two days.

"Bananafish" is the first, most accessible, and my favorite. I'm a sucker for a good O. Henry ending -and this might just be the best of the best.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

This book was recommended by a coworker at Macey's (in Utah it's a grocery store). I didn't look up to him, but he had good taste in books and I knew I should read this book anyway.

My biggest memory from this book is thinking "why is he still lugging around all his fencing equipment?" Also, the scene where he sneaks into his sisters bedroom at night is so vivid.

The best part about this book is that the protagonist is crazy but not cheaply portrayed. Salinger does not write "can you believe how crazy this guy is?" His thoughts seem logical to himself and it would seem the narrator believes in the character.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

This book was recommended to me by a girl in a institute class in college. I usually read while in class -I realize this is rude, and I probably should have just dropped the class, but I had a strange case of guilt. I thought this girl was cute and smart so when she recommended this book I went out a bought it the next day.

This book reminded me of Star Wars because the author used strange sentence syntax to make the characters sound foreign (like Yoda). Also, there is a scene where the protagonist's family eats grass! This image is stuck in my head any time I think of the Chinese country side.

In the end, I liked the book despite the somewhat happy ending because it wasn't really happy. Sure, the protagonist was successful in business, but his sons were ass holes and he lost his daughter.