Entertainment Weekly's "New Classics" List

I am happy to see a several of my all-time favorites on this list, namely Poisonwood Bible, The Giver, Prayer for Owen Meany, and The Kite Runner. The books I've read on this list have been crossed off. Actually all the ones I've read I have liked.

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (1996)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1999)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World’s Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (199
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1999)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators’ Ball, Connie Bruck (1989)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

Soup's On! A Culinary Reading Challenge

At last - a cookbook challenge. I love reading cookbooks and trying new recipes. ((Why didn't I think of this??))

This challenge has been issued by Ex Libris. The challenge will run from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009. All you have to do is select six cookbooks to read* and make at least one of the recipes. These can be any cookbooks of your choice - brand new ones, old stand-bys that you can't live (or cook) without, or even heirlooms. You do not have to decide on the cookbooks ahead of time (unless you want to, of course). Then post your reviews either here or on your own blog. If you want, you can even post pictures of your creations along with your reviews!

Food Network Favorites
My first born daughter gave me this one for Christmas. I had asked for one by Rachel Ray but when I saw this I was thrilled to pieces. I love watching the food network and this book has oodles of yummy looking recipes. I haven't made anything yet, but I'm going to now - with the help of this challenge urging me.

Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two
I love using my slow cooker and have found a few really yummy, easy and dependable recipes. I had this book on my wishlist for Christmas and my 2nd daughter gave it to me. I was tickled. But, alas, I haven't tried any of the recipes yet. I know I'm sounding like a broken record! I'll be letting you know what some of my favorites are.

Making Memories: A Collection of Recipes from the Family & Friends of the Dairy Keen in Heber, Utah
My birthday falls between Christmas and New Years. This year daughters 3 and 4 gave me a cookbook from my favorite drive-in - The Dairy Keen in Heber. We call it "the train drive-in" because there's an electric train on a track that goes all around the drive-in. It's up high enough that people can't play with it but we can watch it while ordering and eating. In recent years the Dairy Keen has been remodeled to look like a train depot. It's really very charming. If you ever go thru Heber City you should try their fresh raspberry shakes, or any of their shakes for that matter. The cookbook is actually a collection of recipes from family and friends, but it includes some fun history of the town and the people who run the Dairy Keen. I'm very excited to have it in my collection, but it's time I tried some of the recipes.

Marshal Field's Cookbook
Candleman & I visited Chicago last summer and, on the much appreciated recommendation of Dolce Bellezza, we visited Macy's which used to be Marshall Field's. We bought some delicious Frango Mints and a beautiful cookbook.

Light and Tasty Annual 2003
Before I retired as a science teacher I didn't cook much during the school year and when I did I always relied on the familiar. During the summer I would always go through my cookbooks for new and exciting recipes. And I would check out piles of cookbooks from the library. One of the favorites to check out were the annuals from Light and Tasty. I'm going to get the annual for 2003 because on page 86 is a recipe for Asparagus Tomato Stir Fry that I am dying to try. It was submitted by Raidergirl3. Yes, our very own book blogging, trivia buffing friend from PEI. Isn't that soooooo cool.

Make-A-Mix Cookery
I bought this cookbook back in 1980 when my 3 daughters were 5, 4 and 3 years old and daughter 4 hadn't been born yet. I made up several of the mixes and saved lots of money. I used it so much that the cover became ripped, pages smudged and eventually it dissolved (or was lost). Today my oldest daughter was over telling me about a cookbook she thought she would order. It reminded me of this one. I got on amazon.com and they had this one and several newer editions. I contemplated which I should order and finally went with the nostalgic first edition. It only cost $0.08 plust $3.99 s&h.

I have a million cookbooks on my shelves and I love checking out cookbooks from the library. My family loves it when I get into my cookbook-reading mood, because I always try out a few recipes, too. So a BIG THANKS to Ex Libris from me and my loved ones.