Lists for the list...

Amanda Panda here! 

Okay, so here’s my list – the 15 books I compiled for Hel to choose from! 

Just a reminder, at the end there will only be twelve books altogether – six from my list and six from Hel’s. And thank God for that, otherwise you lot would be hearing solely about these little monsters (my own tastes sometimes annoy me): 

1- Looking for Alaska by John Green – because this seems to be the most famous of his books. 

2- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace – because we need a f^cking magnum opus on the list. And it’s my favorite professor’s favorite book.  

3- Little, Big by John Crowley – because it’s got fairies in it but it’s for grownups or something.  

4- Redshirts by John Scalzi – because all my friends are raving about it and it has something to do with Star Trek.  

5- The Last Oracle by James Rollins– because it’s got an oracle in it or something. 

6- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – because it’s got good reviews and it’s about a girl with blue hair and despite its clichés it’s supposed to be good.  And, and, and. 

7- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – because it’s his latest book and all the vlogs I follow have deemed it as sacred. DFTBA! 

8- Treasure Island – because we need a classic on there. Plus, pirates and sh*t! 

9-The Gate to Women’s Country by Sheris Tepper – because we need some feminism in our novels! 

10- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – because we need some dystopia or whatever. 

11-Deerskin by Robin McKinley – because I started reading it but got distracted and I really loved its fairy tale ambiance. 

12- A Clockwork Orange – because I want to be able to see the movie and compare…*No other reasons* O.o 

13- Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by What’sherface – because it’s supposed to be for people looking for a replacement to fill the HP void.  

14- A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot – because it’s French and I saw the movie and loved it and started reading it back when I started college but it was due back at the library and I really loved the writing style. *Breathe* Audrey Tautou played the lead in the movie so you know it’s a good story, etc. (She does no bad films). 

15- The Reader by Bernhard Schlink – because I already have the book…somewhere. *Starts rummaging through crowded apartment*

-Panda 

Hel’s turn! I had goodreads.com advise me on my picks. I felt satisfied with them until I took a recent trip to Barnes and Noble and saw many pretty books calling my name. Now I feel a little sad. But, no worries, my list is still good! Okay, my picks were… (drumroll please)

1. “The Blackness of Spring” by Michael Nash. Nash is the husband of a very good friend of mine, so I’ve always wanted to read this. Plus, it’s supposed to be like Fight Club

2. “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed. This is a memoir, and I love memoirs. What makes it even better is that Cheryl is basically the female version of Alexander Supertramp from “Into The Wild”. And she doesn’t even die.

3. “Some Assembly Required” by Ann Lamott. She documents her the transformation her first son undergoes when he has his first son. I recently had my first son. Hence. Yeah.

4. “Deja Dead” by Kathy Reichs. This is the first book in the series that the TV show “Bones” was based on. From what I hear, only the characters were used. I am a huuuge Bones fan (and an even bigger Booth fan…ahem) so want to see how the books and show compare. I also want to see Panda’s opinion/reaction to this, since that silly Pands does not watch Bones.

5. “The Grapes of Wrath” by john Steinback. Because we should have read this by now; because my favorite song by “Mumford and Sons” is about the dustbowl’ and because one time, at church camp, I was in a bible study group that went by this name.

6. “Pope Joan” by Donna Cross. Historical fiction is my lover, and Pope Joan rocks my face off.

7. “The Paris Wife” by Paula McLain. So, this is about Hemingway, his wife, and their clique (including F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ezra Pound!). I hate Hemingway. “The Old Man in the Sea” ruined a good week of my life. But this sounds so…fabulous.

8. “The Help” by Katherine Stockett. Because I loved the movie.

9. “All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac Mccarthy. I should have married a cowboy. ‘Nuff said.

10. “A Reliable Wife” by Robert Goolrich. You can’t go wrong with quasi mail order brides. And because it’s some sort of thriller type book or SOMETHING.

11. “Year of Wonders” by Geraldine Brooks. Because who doesn’t love a good plague?.

12. “I Hunt Killers” by Barry Lyga. The main  characters father is a serial killer. I want to know what that feels like, without my dad actually having to murder anyone.

13. “The Marriage Plot” by Jeffrey Eugenides. Because I heard about this on NPR and because Sara from “Tegan and Sara” read this.  

14. “A Grown Up Kind of Pretty” by Joshilyn Jackson. This is supposed to be about three generation of strong women, and the closest I will get to feminism.

15. “Attachments” by Rainbow Rowell. To add some modern romance. And because the authors name is Rainbow.