Collected Works of Other People

As with music discoveries, the best books seem to make their appearances in interconnected, interesting ways. You see a good documentary (Born Into This), that leads you to a great book (Ham on Rye), whose author turns you on to a remarkable writer you’ve never heard of (Knut Hamsun), who won a Nobel Prize for Literature (where have I been?).

On the burgeoning bookshelf here are some of the ones that were too good to sell back. Ones with sentences worth underlining, or that somehow left an impression—no small feat with INTJs, who forget whole chapters of their very own lives.

If you enjoy the works of hilarious lisping homosexuals, sexy vegan bitches, brilliant alcoholic womanizers, and so forth, peruse the list, then send me a recommendation—please. As with the house repairs list, I’ll never reach the end, but at least, in this case, it’s fun to try.

Heartbreaking
Selected Poems of Anne Sexton
Stephen Dunn New and Selected Poems 1974 – 1994
A Sweet Obscurity
Into the Wild
Angela’s Ashes
Anna Karenina
The Bell Jar

Hypnotic
Damage
The Solitude of Prime Numbers
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Oracle Night
Whip Smart

Hilarious
Baby Not on Board
You Are Here
Things I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me
Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
Naked
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Holidays on Ice
Me Talk Pretty One Day
When You Are Engulfed in Flames
Running With Scissors
Possible Side Effects
Magical Thinking
Dry
High Fidelity
Accidental Tourist

Humane
Skinny Bitch
Food for Life
Diet for a New America
You Can Save the Animals
Committed

Hedonistic
My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up
Sexus
Nexus
Plexus
Women
Bad Behavior

Haunting
Hunger
First, They Killed My Father
Wolf at the Table
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Dracula
The Yellow Wallpaper

Holistic
Eat, Pray, Love
Voices of Qi
Wood Becomes Water
Chi Gung: Chinese Healing, Energy and Natural Magick

Hot
Henry and June
Delta of Venus
The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1
Fire: From “A Journal of Love” The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1934-1937

Harrowing
Post Office: A Novel
Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black
A Life Without Consequences
Assuming the Position
Ham on Rye
White Oleander
In Cold Blood

Helpful
The Future of Freedom
Simplexity
Adoptable Dog
Sacred Cows and Golden Geese
Off to Sea: A Romance
Childfree and Loving It

Horizon-Expanding
A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present
No One Belongs Here More Than You
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night
Great Short Works of Leo Tolstoy
The Way Forward Is With a Broken Heart
The Buddha of Suburbia
The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
House of Incest
Outliers
How Starbucks Saved My Life

Hearty
First Comes Love (poorly named, great read)
Miracles, Inc.
Gastronomy of Marriage
Jitterbug Perfume
Women Who Run With Wolves
The 158-Pound Marriage
The Secret History
I, Elizabeth: The Word of a Queen
Financial Lives of Poets
The Belief Instinct

Hard to Categorize. Completely Unforgettable.
Still Life with Woodpecker
Another Roadside Attraction
Skinny Legs and All
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
A Spy in the House of Love
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Seduction of the Minotaur
Collages
Fight Club

Have to Admit, I Kinda Liked These
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Man & Boy
Man & Wife
One for My Baby
Bitter Is the New Black
Bright Lights, Big Ass
In the Woods