1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
The Alchemist is a book about a boy named Santiago who dreams about a treasure, which is worth a shot! So goes on an aweinspiring quest of conquering his dreams! The alchemist is a book about dreams, Magic, Treasures, Excitement and what not? All clubbed under one roof, which we seek everywhere but to our bombshell we end up on our own doorsteps! This book is about chasing or running behind your dreams! No matter what they are, no matter how small or big! It is a book which enhearten every person to dream and not being afraid of it because all our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.
2. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
The davinci code by dan brown is the story of the historychanging secret that Jesus was not divine, was married to Mary Magdalene, had children, that the Christian church altered the Bible, that it invented Jesus’ divinity as it demonized the sacredfeminine in order to gain power and influence, and that the secret is held by a sect of the Catholic Church that goes to extreme lengths to preserve the secret lest it lose its power and influence.This masterpiece should be mandatory reading. Brown solidifies his reputation as one of the most skilled thriller writers on the planet with his best book yet, a compelling blend of history and pageturning suspense. So grab this book, sit back, and prepare to be entertained and educated. It’s wellwritten, it’s intelligent, and best of all, it’s fun.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Set in the fictional Maycomb County, Alabama, in the 1930s, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is simply about black and white. It is a gentle portrayal of the extremes of racism suffered by black people, and the way that white liberals like lawyer Atticus Finch negotiate the crisscross of fine lines through their society. Scout and Jem, the children of Finch, episodically live through three years during which their father takes on the case of his lifetime: defending Tom Robinson against a rape charge brought by Mayella Ewell. Lee’s writing style, the characters, the story all combine to create a true masterpiece. If you’ve never read it till now, then move this to the top of your list and dive in. Hopefully you’ll love it.
4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
In Afghanistan, young Amir’s earliest memories of life in Kabul are blessed with a cultural heritage that values tradition, blood ties and a deeply rooted cultural identity. Upper class Pashtuns, Amir enjoys the luxury of education, material comfort and a constant playmate, the son of his father’s longtime Hazara servant, Hassan. Khaled Hosseini’s quietly powerful debut novel The Kite Runner fulfills the promise of fiction, awakening curiosity about the world around us, speaking truth as the lessons of history echo down the years. The themes are universal: familial relationships, particularly father and son; the price of disloyalty; the inhumanity of a rigid class system; and the horrific realities of war. The kite runner is a book to look out for!
5. The Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Considered by many to be Charles Dickens’s finest novel, Great Expectations traces the growth of the book’s narrator, the orphan Philip Pirrip (Pip), from a boy of shallow dreams to a man with depth of character. As Pip unravels the truth behind his own “great expectations” in his quest to become a gentleman, the mysteries of the past and the convolutions of fate through a series of thrilling adventures serve to steer him toward maturity and his most important discovery of all the truth about himself. Great Expectations is creepy in places, which is probably why so many people like it, and the bittersweet ending (Dickens actually wrote two endings) is perfectly consistent with the story. This book is a good “starter” Dickens, and also perfectly satisfying for Dickens’ fans.
6. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank details approximately two years of the life of a Jewish teenager during World War II. During much of the time period covered by her journal, Anne and her family are in hiding in an attempt to escape Hitler’s antiJewish laws and genocidal desires. Anne’s diary ends abruptly in August, 1944. On that day, she and her family are taken into custody by the Germans and transported to concentration camps. She states several times in her journal, even when the family is in hiding from those who want to kill them, that she still believes that people are inherently good. Perhaps, it is the resiliency of Anne’s positive nature that is the most memorable theme in her writing.
7. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Time Traveler’s Wife is a lyrical love story between Henry and Clare, albeit an unusual one suffused with vivid images of the past and the future. Henry has a rare genetic condition: he timetravels within his own lifetime, into his own past and future, yet dwells in the present. Henry and Clare develop a bond that transcends time and logic, bound to memory and promise. Since Henry’s traveling is involuntary, they learn to deal with life’s ambiguity in a deeper sense than most couples. Within this strange constraint, Clare’s affection assumes a mystical tone and she accepts their situation unconditionally, year after year committing her heart into Henry’s keeping. This is an extraordinary novel with a unique premise, an exploration of the unknown in this expanding century, where the impossible becomes possible, if not routine.
8. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
On the morning of their fifth anniversary, Nick Dunne’s wife, Amy, disappears from their North Carthage, Missouri home. A few years before, they moved there from New York to take care of Nick’s mother, who was dying of cancer. Their marriage hasn’t exactly been an all American love story, but as tough as things have been, it’s about to get worse. Gone Girl does an excellent job at having us scrutinize the gender roles in the modern family, picking apart the aspects that make our society progressive.or not so progressive. Flynn does an excellent job at getting us into the heads of the quintessential dysfunctional family, one that slides down into ruin because the characters are never quite honest with each other.
9. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
A novel set in Nazi Germany and narrated by the grim reaper doesn’t sound particularly whimsical, but Markus Zusak makes the task seem natural, if not easy, in his novel The Book Thief. While not exactly light reading, the young adult story has proved its near universal appeal, spending over 230 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, causing some booksellers to reconsider the “young” label, reshelving it under “fiction.”
10. The Memories of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Memoirs of a Geisha is a work of fiction — a romance, really — which has been dressed in the kimono of an autobiography of sorts. Golden creates a fictional interviewer and translator at the beginning, and then offers us a work composed from ‘recorded interviews’ with his fictitious lead character, the geisha Sayuri. The book is fully of interesting titbits and details, elements of the culture and the times, and particularly the location within Japan wherein the book is set. And yet, were it purely a biography I would find it very hard to believe, for it’s wrapped around what is really a very mundane, very conventional ‘love at first sight is finally requited’ tale with Sayuri at its center.
Moksha Mathpal | Content Writer
DU Times
