Book #59 – A Time to Kill by John Grisham

Welcome back to the Library, post-quarantine edition. The lack of updates is due to an inability to focus on reading for any length of time. I decided that I’m going to -once again- halt my travels across the US. This will be the last book for Reading Across America before I transition into my summer reading list which will be dedicated to the Black Lives Matter movement. This is my pick for Mississippi, and while it does take place in a fictional town, the racial tensions it details are based on incidents that Grisham saw during his time as a lawyer in the Southeast.

Originally published in 1989, A Time to Kill was not initially a success, and was in fact rejected by many publishers before a modest 5000 book release by Wynwood Press. It was not until later novels by Grisham began cycling in the 1990s that A Time to Kill became a best seller. It was adapted into a movie in 1996, starring Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey and Samuel L. Jackson. The movie has nominations for a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor and the Razzie for worst written film grossing over $100 million. The book was also adapted into a stage play that ran on Broadway for 2 months in 2013. There is also a sequel, Sycamore Row, that features the attorney Jake Brigance taking on a different case in Clanton.

Book #156 – The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

I’m jumping back to the Midwestern US for my Illinois pick. Set in Chicago during the rush to build the 1893 Columbian Exposition, aka the 1893 World’s Fair, the book flips back and forth between the architects of what became known as the White City, and the methods of the United States’ first documented serial killer, H.H. Holmes. As a note, I swear I’m not trying to pick something so dark for so many of these states. It’s been nothing but murder and mayhem for weeks now, and I’m sure, eventually, I’ll strike a book with a more positive note. Maybe that will be the next section: Books with Good Vibes Only.

Originally published in 2003, the Devil in the White City was Erik Larson’s 4th published work, and has been by-and-large, his most popular. Although that may change if the United Kingdom rallies behind his latest book, The Splendid and the Vile, which tells about Churchill during the London Air Raids. But on the subject of Larson’s coverage of the Columbian Exposition and H.H. Holmes, the book itself was met with nearly a dozen literary awards, and despite the fact that Leonard DiCaprio bought the film rights in 2010, after a decade, I’m not sure if we’ll be seeing his promised mini series any time soon. However, there are plenty of things in the book that probably affect the average reader’s day-to-day life.

Book #148 – Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Since I’ve already read Gone Girl as part of the Great American Read, and Tom Sawyer as part of my classic literature challenge, there weren’t many books left set in Missouri. I was tempted to read Gillian Flynn’s other novel, Dark Places, which has settings in Kansas City, but given the recent Super Bowl win and my sister living there, I didn’t want to tarnish my idea of the place with how twisted Flynn makes her characters. So, I instead went to the “boot heel” of the state with Flynn’s Sharp Objects. So, sorry, little-sis, I’m still terrified by your new state.

Sharp Objects was Gillian Flynn’s first published novel in 2006, during her career as a television critic for Entertainment Weekly. This debut novel has been met with praise, and while it may not have reached the fame of Gone Girl, it was the winner of the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger from the Crime Writer’s Association in 2007. This award is given to a thriller where one “just has to turn the next page”. The book also received a recent miniseries adaptation on HBO in 2018, with Amy Adams starring as Camille and Patricia Clarkson as Adora Crellin.

Book #146 – Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

For Delaware, I chose a book that never specifically states it was set in Delaware. It mentions other cities, dozens of airports, but never where the narrator’s apartment, job, or the building on Paper Street actually are. However, it’s universally accepted that Fight Club takes place in Wilmington, Delaware, and there were no other books on the List that were set in Delaware (at least according to the rather spotting “setting” setting on GoodReads – try saying that 5 times fast.) So, I chose the author to whom I was introduced with Invisible Monsters many years ago.

Fight Club was originally published as a 7-page short story in 1995 for a compilation called “The Pursuit of Happiness”, and that particular publisher went out of business shortly thereafter. However, Fight Club lived on and was published in 1996 as a full novel, and received 2 awards for Best Novel in the Pacific Northwest. It was not until the cult from the DVD sales of the 1999 movie that the book itself gained national attention. Aside from the film, the book has inspired several stage plays, a slew of underground wrestling/boxing clubs, and more bruised headshots than Palahniuk likes to think about. Also, Palahniuk has been apparently collaborating on a musical since the mid 2000s, so I’m looking forward to that eventually.

Book #157 – Misery by Stephen King

Welcome to 2020! I’m back on my road trip around the United States, and my first stop is Colorado. “But wait!” I hear you say, “Didn’t you have Stephen King for Maine, too?” I did, and normally, I wouldn’t have the same author twice for this type of challenge, but when the 3 most popular books set partially in Colorado are all by King? I sort of had to go with it. Since The Shining was used for this past year’s Halloween Reads, I decided to go with a book that actually references The Shining and is set in the mountains nearby.

Misery was originally published in 1987, and King attributes the start of the novel to a dream he had while in flight to London. Misery was originally set to be released under King’s pseudonym, Richard Bachman, but shortly before printing started, Bachman was outed as King. (But more on that in a bit!) The book was met with general praise upon release and won the Bram Stoker Award in 1987. The book has inspired at least one film, an appearance in the King-centric show Castle Rock, and several plays. 

Book #264 – Othello by William Shakespeare

I, like many American teenagers, read or listened or saw plenty of Shakespeare during my stint as a high school student. In class, we read Romeo and Juliet, Juliet Ceasar, Hamlet, the Scottish Play, and my school had productions of Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Taming of the Shrew (done by Cincinnati’s Shakespeare in the Park). However, as much I liked Shakespeare, and would go on to read The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing on my own, the tragedies were a little overly dramatic for my taste. Why? Well, you try keeping a straight face when the Danish prince’s best plan of action is “I’m going to act insane!”.

Othello was believed to have been published in 1603, which puts it at about the middle of Shakespeare’s theatrical chronology. Like many movies today, it wasn’t an original tale, however. It was based on Un Capitano Moro, a novella written by Cinthio (Giovanni Battista Giraldi) in 1565, which may in turn have been based on one of the tales in 1001 Arabian Nights. However, the play has certainly stood the test of time, and has been made into operas, ballets, film, television series, songs, and even a cake. Yes, there is a Danish pastry called the Othello Cake with white cream and dark chocolate swirled to represent Othello and Desdemona.

Book #437 – Candide by Voltaire

Have you ever wanted to ridicule someone else’s statement so badly you wrote a several thousand word satire about why their viewpoint is wrong? No? Well, neither have I, but apparently, the French has nothing better to do in the 1750s. I missed out on this book (and a couple others on this list) by not taking any philosophy classes in college. Did I miss out? Probably, but engineering didn’t rely much on the social sciences. Still, I think it would have been beneficial to have a guide for this fast paced satirical and philosophical work.

Originally published in 1759, Candide was written by Francois-Marie Arouet (aka Voltaire). Upon release, the book was actually banned in several places because of the rather sharp jabs that Voltaire made while masking everything in the main character’s naive personality. Since then, the book has become wildly popular and is likely one of the most taught novels ever originating from France. It’s been made into film, television series, and numerous plays. The philosophy in the book also generated plenty of derivative novels from those that agreed with Voltaire.

Book #905 – The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

It’s hard to discuss modern science fiction without making some reference to H.G. Wells. Whether its the time paradox that prevents action taken in the past, or if our current weaponry would be effective if aliens invaded, Wells set ground work for the generations that followed. Along with Jules Verne, H.G. Wells is considered one of the fathers of the science fiction genre. Unlike Verne, Wells kept his novels mostly rooted in the mundane, only adding one either supernatural or scientifically advanced element. H.G. Wells had education in several physical sciences, with his earliest being biology, which certainly helped with this particular novel.

The Invisible Man was originally published serially in the magazine Pearson’s Weekly, and was published as a novel in 1897. This puts it between the Island of Doctor Moreau and War of the Worlds in the bibliography timeline, and one of Wells’ earliest works (even including the nonfiction he also wrote). Like several other early science fiction novels, The Invisible Man was recirculated in magazines for decades after its initial publication. It was also made into numerous films and tv series, or influenced characters and ideas. (For example, this was probably one of the few times League of Extraordinary Gentlemen got it right. Never thought you’d hear me say that, did you?) There was also a English stage play in the 1990s/2010s and like War of the Worlds, it was adapted for a radio broadcast.

Honorable Mention: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

I’ll start by saying Happy Halloween! Then, I will point out that this book is not on the 1000 List, nor is on the 2000 list (yes, there is a secondary, much longer list that I refer to as List Beta). The fact that this book is on neither list is actually pretty sad because it reminded me of why I fell in love with Black’s writing when I was in high school. The Modern Tales of Faerie series takes all of the elements of your typical Young Adult Fantasy novel but makes the fae as they are in the old myths. Which, if you’ve read enough Celtic or Germanic mythology, you probably know that the fae are just as likely to trick you and cause you harm as they are to help you. Similarly, Coldtown takes all that pomp and glitter away from vampires to show them as they would have been perceived in the 1800s.

The book was originally published in 2013, and I think I ran across it for the first time while I was a list for last Halloween. You may recognize the author from her collaborative works, like the Spiderwick Chronicles or the Magisterium Series, the former of which had a rather unfortunately directed movie made in its likeness. Coldtown was originally a short story, published in an anthology called The Eternal Kiss, but followed a different girl in the same universe. Black apparently decided to expand the idea while in the South of France with some other writers.

Book #725 – In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

I’m beginning to think the Halloween reading lists I consulted were made by British people because we have another “murder and mayhem in the English countryside”. This is the debut thriller novel for Ruth Ware, who apparently wrote a series of young adult novels under a pseudonym Ruth Warburton. Surprisingly, the YA series, called the Winter Trilogy, would also work for my Halloween reads because it’s about witches. Maybe next year because I think the rest of this month’s line up is more or less set. Only a few more days to go for Halloween!

In A Dark, Dark Wood was originally published in 2015. As I said, it was Ware’s debut into the thriller, mystery genre. Her second novel “The Woman in Cabin 10” is also on the list (#385), so expect to see that reviewed sometime in the future. On the subject of Dark Wood though, New Line cinema acquired the rights to make it into a film and apparently it will be produced by Reese Witherspoon, though there’s been no news on that front since March of 2018. The book also received NPR’s best book in 2015, which I didn’t know was even an award until now. The writing style is pretty similar to another author from this months’ reads, but more on that under the cut!