I can't keep things at all in my inbox anymore

So I'll put them here. Time means nothing.



1. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Hands-down probably the best book I've read. Presumably it's just because I can identify so much with both Nick and Gatsby; I can really identify with both of them. Read it. It's not called "The American Novel" for no reason.

2. Dracula, by Bram Stoker.

This one is also here because it's so sheer awesome. I love the way it's written, it really manages to keep suspense. Be sure to read it unabridged, though - I should re-read it, last time I read it I was just thirteen. It's also one of the purest Gothic books in existance, needless to say.

3. Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Not here because it's particularily awesome, but I recently read it. It *is* good though, and well worth reading, especially if you have an interest in Soviet. The moral ambiguity it carries is also interesting contrasting religious "good" with empathic "good". Is it worth selling your soul to the Devil in exchange for love?

4. Perfume, by Patrick Süskind.

Yeah, you know this one. Beautiful work of art about a beautiful but inhuman artist. I also love the underlying symbolics - what is love? What does it require? Can you be loved if you cannot love yourself? The language is also awesome, but I think it might lose some if translated to English.

5. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons.

This is a massive piece to recommend, consisting of four books - Hyperion, Fall of Hyperion, Endymion and Rise of Endymion. I've even yet to read the fourth book, but I have to say this is *the* sci-fi epic. It marvellously treats all the philosophical conundrums popular in science fiction, and it has a lot to say about the human condition. Besides this, it contains time-travelling assassins, temporal shift combat, the coolest ideas ever about space travel, and lance ships capable of blowing up entire solar systems.

6.Song of Kali, also Dan Simmons.

While it's not as awesome as many other books I've read, it's here because it has such a great sense of setting. The depiction of Calcutta is marvellous, and how it illustrates a culture crash is another good reason to read it.

7.The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan.

No, it's not just here because it's got awesome Chinese stuff in it. It's also a marvellous book when it comes to parent-child relationships, and illustrating stories from more than one perspective. Switching the narrative between mothers and daughters, and the beautiful structure mimicking a mah-jong table, it unfolds into one of the most multifaceted books I've read.


8.The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde.

Perhaps the ultimate satire of Romanticism and Realism rolled into one. Wilde questions ideals and contrasts them to the real world – and most importantly, questions which of our ideals are worthwhile and which are just hypocrisy. The aristocratic society it mocks exists no more, but the relentless chase for beauty still is.

9.The Witches Trilogy, by Terry Pratchett.

Really, I'd just recommend everything he's written, but that'd be a little pointless. The Witches Trilogy is my personal favourite here, mainly because of the witches' pragmaticism and their lovely way of genuinely caring for people by insulting them. It's a very warm set of novels. (There are more books about the witches, but the Trilogy consists of Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, and Lords and Ladies).

10.The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Addams.

Duh.