The new classic novels

I liked EW's list. Mine is actually not different sans a couple of books and the ranking.

1. Harry Potter Series (Because I spent a decade of my life obsessing over these books! That's more than half my life)

2. Twilight Series (Vampires... nuff said)

3. Who Moved My Cheese (because beyond being a self-help book, it's pretty darn entertaining)

4.Watchmen (It transforms the graphic medium; nothing short of brilliant)

5.The Giver (A real mind-frak, especially when you read it in the third grade)

"The quick to think are never sure"

--Tiresias, Oedipus Rex

Woohoo, my love of lists is unmatched, so here goes:

1. Harry Potter Series: Has managed to transcend genre, reading age group, the recent age's disinterest in reading in general. This books will stand anymore tests that are thrown at them.

2. The Giver: My first introduction into how deep books could get, and how they could reallly mess you up.

3. Posession: Masterful writing, minute detail, literature, mystery, lesbians, a classic.

4. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: Amazing use of character and plot development.

5. Tipping the Velvet: A classic of lesbian fiction, for sure. Hopefully in the future, it'll transcend that genre to become an all around classic.

Alison Bechdel did the four page spread for the story. Unfortunately it's only available in the print edition:

http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/my-entertainment-weekly-piece

I'll have to spend some time thinking about my list but I think I would include her memoir Fun Home. It is the only graphic novel that I have ever read and it left an indelible impression.

I gotta agree with several of the already mentioned books: Harry Potter, Beloved, The Giver, Holes, and pretty much all David Sedaris.

Here's my two cents:

The DaVinci Code: Cry and scream about how cliche or overrated it is as much as you want--this book is not going anywhere.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower: This might be a little too much of a niche book to become a 'classic,' but it should be.

Running with Scissors: The book; not the movie.

Poisonwood Bible: One of the few books read during my high school days that I actually enjoyed, it's incredibly well written, engaging and interesting. Pick it up if you haven't!

Your new classic book list kicks EW's ass. 

Except I haven't read Holes. I'll have go to the library tonight and get it. I'll substitue Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon - or is that book an old classic?

Here's a few that I think should be included:

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami - It was on the list and it's place is well-deserved.  Murakami is a genius and wonderfully unique.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera - Okay, this was first published in '84, am I wrong?  So, why the hell is it not on the list?!

The Remains of the Day, or The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro - It baffles me that Remains of the Day is so low on the list; when I think of modern classics, it's one of the first that comes to mind.

The Safety of Objects by A.M. Homes -  A short story collection that I personally found to be superior to Interpreter of Maladies; Homes has an unmistakable voice.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt - Donna Tartt is a modern writer whose prose has a beauty and elegance that I find lacking in many contemporary novels.  The Secret History is one of those books that you just want to...devour.

I know I'm going over the five book imit, but I just wanted to add one more:

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - A lot of young adut books are being mentioned in these lists, and out of all the books I read when I was youger, this one was by far my favorite.

Oh, and of course Maus and Persepolis both definitley deserved their spots, I would also add Ghost World by Daniel Clowes.

I don't know if I can rattle off a top five of my favorites. I know that To Kill a Mockingbird will be on it. I know that any of Jane Rule's novels, her books of short stories or essays, will also be included.

www.bettnorris.com

www.bywaterbooks.com

My list would look something like this...

1) Brooklyn Follies, by Paul Auster

2) Bridget Jone's Diary, by Helen Fielding

3) White Teeth, by Zadie Smith

4) Tipping The Velvet by Sarah Waters

5) Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel

I've not put Harry Potter in there because I haven't read any of them, but I do think the series will be seen as a classic in a few years. But hey, I cannot put a book I haven't read in my list, that'd be wrong!

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Taking off - the novel, coming soon. Starring Katie, a lesbian in London...

In the meanwhile, you can read reviews of films and books with lesbian/bi characters and/or taking place in London at www.takingoff.org

I haven't read EW's Classic Lists yet. I probably will. Since we're talking about classics, it really shouldn't matter what style right?

My lists of Old School Classics (Not all are on this list) 

1)Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

2)Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston

3)Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

4) Not Without Laughter  by Langston Huges

5) I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

6)The Color Purple by Alice Walker

7) A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway

New School Classics:

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

I wish I could remember some more  new classic books. However, I got to add Authors that were overlooked Neil Gaiman, China Meliville, Ursula Le Guin, and many more. Ok I am bias here. There so many classics in Science Fiction,which is a genre that is always missed, I had to add that in. Classics come in many styles not just what's deemed as "popular" according to mainstream press.

I haven't read EW's Classic Lists yet. I probably will. Since we're talking about classics, it really shouldn't matter what style right?

My lists of Old School Classics (Not all are on this list) 

1)Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

2)Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston

3)Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

4) Not Without Laughter  by Langston Huges

5) I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

6)The Color Purple by Alice Walker

7) A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway

New School Classics:

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

I wish I could remember some more  new classic books. However, I got to add Authors that were overlooked Neil Gaiman, China Meliville, Ursula Le Guin, and many more. Ok I am bias here. There so many classics in Science Fiction,which is a genre that is always missed, I had to add that in. Classics come in many styles not just what's deemed as "popular" according to mainstream press.

The elementary particles by Michel Houellebecq

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

I think The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a classic as well, but it was written 26 years ago and the list limited itself to 25 years ago. I think it would otherwise be included, at least, I hope so!

1. Harry Potter Series-I still love them! Defnitely a modern classic!

2. The Da Vinci Code- Not only was the book an entertaining read, but it opened up  the dialogue on the history of religion.

3. Anna Pigeon Series by Nevada Barr- Ok, so this is a guilty pleasure. It combines some of my favorite reading topics, mysteries and nature, with a kick ass NPS ranger.

4. Tales of the City (and all the rest)- Armistad Maupin is truely a classic author.

5. Becoming Bobbie- One of the greatest coming-out, growing-up, falling-in-love stories ever! It was 3AM (hawaii time) when I finished the book. I was crying so hard that I called my G/F who was on the east coast and blubbered on the phone for the next 20 minutes.

There are so many other books that I would love to put on this list, but I am limited to 5. Thank you everybody for your top 5. More books for me to check out. ;-)

I'm sure I'd have a whole different list tomorrow, but today mine are (in no particular order):

1. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

2. Art and Lies by Jeanette Winterson

3. The Gathering by Anne Enright

4. The History of Love: A Novel by Nicole Krauss

5. The Hours by Michael Cunningham

I love books. I mostly read Fantasy though, but here's my list:

1) Harry Potter - love the books even if I can't stand Harry a lot of the time.

2) The Hours - amazingly written IMO

3) The Five People You Meet in Heaven - One of the few books I had to read in school that I really got the hang of...

4) His Dark Materials - great triology and it's partly based on real since!

5) Inkheart - Every (bookloving) child's dream.

6) The Remains of the Day - had to slip in another truely great book

-- Ultimate Lurker & Procrastinator --

I'm not that good at (short)lists but I'll give it a go

1) His Dark Materials - it engages at so many levels which I think is a must when it comes to future classics

2) I am David by Anna Holm. Great book about a young boy's journey after his escape from, what is in essence, a concentration camp. It is young adutl's book that I was first exposed to at school but I don't know how well known it is.

3)Cat's eye by Margaret Atwood (in fact anything by her)

4)Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond in the non-fiction category. Fascinating book about why colonisation of the New World happened and not the other way around.

5)Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. All kinds/genres of storytelling wr apped up in one great book

There are many more I would add, especially books by Ursula LeGuin, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett andPaul Auster but I'd be here all night.

I always wonder what it is that makes books "classics" . I'm not the greatest fan of Dickens but you feel that as he is a "classic" author you should read him (I quite like many of his books but I happen to think he is slightly overrated). Also someone like James Joyce - how many people read him purely for pleasure/enjoyment unlless you are an English student?

I do remember reading a quote somewhere which was along the lines of "some books are undeservedly forgot but none are undeservedly remembered" so I suppose when compiling a list such as this we should purposefully go after the obscure ones that haven't yet had the column inches and media exposure to ensure that they are not undeservedly forgot.

Classics, that should be read by everyone!!

1) Tamora Pierce - Her whole collection of books (I have 22 of them, so far)
She really writes beautifully and captivating. The (fantasy) world that she creates are awesome, and filled with very strong female characters, the main characters are female knights and magicians and whatnot.

2) J. K. Rowling. Do I need to say why?? ;P

3) The Dragon Lance books, also fantasy, but they are really great.

4) Lars-Henrik Olsen (a danish writer) He have written some of the best danish books I've read. One of the 3 book series is about the Nordish Mytholigy (Odin and Thor and the rest) and the other 3 book serie is about a boy/man who lives in Denmark in the beginning of the 1200, and traveling to Estonia to go to war, and what he does after. It gives an insight into how people in that time would live. Really worth spending time on!

5)Amelie-Atwalker Rhodes. Her two, kinda short, books about vampires. LOVE THEM!

Ok, so I didn't really mention one book, but it's SOOO hard to chose, so I went with writes instead :D

I liked Goblet of Fire but I think it's not up to par with Prisoner, which I think is the strongest one in the Harry Potter series.

Included in my list would be anything by Haruki Murakami. My personal favorite is Sputnik Sweetheart, probably because of the lesbian subtext.

Wow, didn't realize I'm missing out on a lot of interesting read. I will go and look up these books that some of you listed as soon as possible. Thanks!

"it's a space thing"

-anything by jodi picoult :]

-running with scissors

-speak

-invisible monsters

<3

1.  THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES by Anne Rice (the first 3)

2. HARRY POTTER (all7) by J.K. Rowling

3. THE SANDMAN (is a very long graphic novel--10 books worth, but brilliant) by Neil Gaiman

4. THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Joyce Carol Oates

5.  AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman

all fantasy books, all brilliant!

I've now a new reading list thanks to all of your choices.

Hmm, off the top of my head I'd go with

1. Harry Potter series-JK Rowling

2. Naked-David Sedaris(and most things by him)

3. The Dreyfus Affair-Peter Lefcourt

4. Almost anything by Christopher Moore-particularly Coyote Blue, A Dirty Job, and The Stupidest Angel

5. The Princess Bride-William Goldman

 Additionally

6. Most anything by Gordan Korman(I sadly only discovered these as an adult and find his work laugh out loud funny, with charmingly quirky characters).

7.Good Omens-Terry Prachett 

8.Hero-Perry Moore

9.Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe-Fannie Flagg

10.I Know This Much Is True-Wally Lamb

i'm not that much of a reader nowadays, i have shelves full of books, most of which are unread.

i do start off with good intentions, i buy the books because i do think i'll enjoy them, but i just never get around to reading them.

the last time i got books, well buffy graphic novels, from the library, i had them for around 3 months before i actually read them! stupid thing is, it took me all of an hour or so to read each one.

the books i will ALWAYS read are Harry Potter of course, and anything by James Patterson.

i wouldn't say i'm that fast a reader, but i got through the first 4 harry potter books in nearly as many days.

i got into harry potter when the first film was going to be released. i wondered what the hell all the fuss was about, so i thought i'd give the first book a go instead of seeing the film first (good move that was!). so i went to the library, 15 copies of the 1st, all on loan, i thought 'must be popular'...

so when i was shopping with my mum, i saw the first book in the supermarket, half price, so bought it. started reading it that night and did not put it down until i finished it!

i then went back and bought the next 3 books and read them over the next couple of days, non stop until i finished the 4th, around 3.30 in the morning!!

then i went to see the film and have been a fan ever since. i have the books in paperback, hardback, adult paperback, adult hardback and deluxe covers. plus some other stuff harry potter related, like the trading cards and panini sticker albums... obsessed much?!

JK Rowling is a genius, the imagination that woman had is unbelievable. i mean, quidditch? come on!! one, to think up that game, and two, to give it a name that is completely made up, the woman is amazing and gifted. and lives not far from me!!!

i look forward to her future work, but of course, there will always be the stigma of 'will it live up to harry potter standards'. we can only wait and see.

Although I adore Harry Potter as much as the next person, and I do believe it'll be a classic (since a book has to be acclaimed by the majority to be a classic...though I know few literary scholars who would call it a great work of fiction), it doesn't really rank in my top books. I really do love the stories, characters, extremely detailed settings, etc., but what had always bothered me was that, at the heart of it, JKR isn't really a *great* writer in technique or style. Yes, she is excellent at the craft of creation; but there's a difference between creating worlds/characters and executing them with good literary style (in my opinion anyway). Which is why I suppose all my former english teachers always got pinched looks on their faces when someone brought up harry potter...

Anyway, I know for sure I'd put The Earthsea Series by Ursula K. Le Guin on my list. It's somewhat similar to Harry Potter, following a young magician who ends up going to a school, but far more moving in far less words, and not set in 'our' world. (It was also written many years before Harry Potter, and the 'school' setting, though recurring, is not the main focus.) The setting and magic are detailed and original, as Le Guin's work tends to be, woven together by a style of writing that makes my spine tingle at how good it is. And the series just got better and more significant in thematic ideas as it continued.

I also know I'd stick Ray Bradbury somewhere in there, though I guess his work is already considered classic (though he continues to write today).

Beloved definitely belongs on my list. Toni Morrison is an amazing writer, her themes and characters subtly growing into something huge and moving, linked by recurring symbols and motifs that make my english-major heart go pitter-patter.

Whoever brought up Ender's Game deserves a gold medal...i read that book only a few years and enjoyed it immensely despite its targeting towards a younger audience. I also loved Ender's Shadow and the whole series that follows Bean's journey (there are 4 books which follow Ender, and 4 which follow Bean). Card is one of my favorite authors regardless, however, and I've read many of his other books (The Worthing Saga is worth a read for anyone who enjoyed Ender's Game).

Anything by Paulo Coelho is worth a mention, as well - particularly The Alchemist and The Witch of Portobello - or The Devil and Miss Prym. He's an internationally acclaimed author and his books have been translated into more than 60 languages in 150 countries.

"This is a tree on fire with love, but it's still scary since most people think love only looks like one thing instead of the whole world."

In addition to both J.K. Rowling’s and Phillip Pullman’s masterful collections (Harry Potter and His Dark Materials, respectively), these are my top 5 new classics:

1.  Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell – Susanna Clarke (this author created a whole and complete reality that actually had me looking up her “historical figures” because I believed in them)

2.  the Anita Blake series – Laurell K. Hamilton (vampires, lycanthropes, necromancers and the hottest sex I’ve ever read)

3.  Perdido Street Station and The Scar – China Mieville (I loved the idea of steampunk before, this author and these two loosely related books made it completely, obsessively absorbing and opened me up to Pullman's work)

4.  The Alienist – Caleb Carr (another innovator, this time creating an early 1900’s forensic investigator/profiler)

5.  the Necroscope series – Brian Lumley (his vampires are the most unabashedly, gleefully evil ever written and are in stark contrast to Anne Rice's conflicted undead.  Plus, his story continuity over so many books is flawless )

And honorable mention for anything by the remarkable author Tananarive Due - her African immortals series redirected the vamprire genre in whole a new direction.

 "Never explain, never complain." - Katherine Hepburn

Harry Potter is immensely worthy of its spot on these lists: ive been a massive fan for ages now^^

not considering myself an avid reader, i am a HUGE fan of most of Stephen King (It, Bag of Bones, Carrie, The Green Mile, etc.)- king's work is timeless, and i can read it numerous times and still be as eager and excited as i was the first time i read it.

Also worth noting is stephenie meyer's "Twilight" series: its absolutely fantastic, and you can bet i'll be at Borders to buy Breaking Dawn at 12:01 am august 2nd^-^

yay for midnight release parties! :D 

I chimed in on the She Made Me Watch This blog about my list of new classic TV series, but the subject I really love is books, so here's my top 5 list of new classic novels (not surprisingly, they're all of the Fantasy genre, since that's what I primarily read):
1) The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (won't go into details since the reasons should be pretty obvious)
2) The Talisman and Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub (I had this little duology recommended to me by one of my local librarians as a precursor to the Dark Tower series; strangely, I ended up enjoying them more than I did the first novel of the Dark Tower, The Gunslinger... a LOT more)
3) His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
4) Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke ('absolutely frakking brilliant' is all I can say about this novel)
5) The Time Quintet by Madeline L'Engle (when you get nominated for the Newberry Medal twice and win it once over the course of five novels, you definitely have hit upon something special)

I'm definitely a bookworm so this is hard for me.

1.) anything Laurell K. Hamilton writes

2.) Sherrilyn Kenyon's BAD series, and her Dark-Hunter series

3.) Yasmine Galenorn's Otherworld series

4.) Pride and Prejudice by Jany Austen

5.) Terry Pratchett's Discworld series

6.) (just because I can) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

What can I say, I'm a sucker for happily-ever-after, as long as its filled with dark and twisty points.

It would take too long for me to decide on 5 books, and anyway I'm not sure I've read any new classic-worthy material recently that aren't already classics.  IMHO, classics should leave you thinking and be timeless in that respect.  I'm glad to see Gaiman's name pop up a few times in the list because his work is just that good.  I liked best his collections of short stories, but if I had to pick one book of his to be a classic it would be American Gods, only because Sandman would be way too long.

In the interest of sharing, two noteworthy authors I've come across recently are Azar Nafisi and Khaled Hosseini.  Also, Pratchett/Gaiman fans should check out Jasper Fforde and Diana Wynne Jones.

I also have one comment (at the risk of getting stoned).  OMG.  I can't believe you put Rowling and Gaiman on the same list.  HP was so predictable.  Sometimes I think what is left unsaid is at least as important as what is explicit in the text and here is where I think Rowling misses.  I spent most of the series just wanting to get through to see where the plot goes.