lord of the rings trilogy-- tolkien
the hours-- michael cunningham
the curious incident of the dog in night-time-- mark haddon
everything is illuminated-- jonathan safran foer
the singing neanderthal-- steven mitchen
death and the kings horseman-- wole soyinka
the tunnel: selected poems of russell edson-- russell edson

i wasn't a huge fan of everything is illuminated but i'm gonna read the rest of foers stuff. i liked the novel, but by the time i got to the end of it, i dunno. i felt like i'd read the book before. half way through, it started to feel like the kind of book that writers from my generation insist on cranking out. i blame dave eggers for opening the flood gates.

disclaimer: it's a matter of taste but i'm not all that crazy about eggers. i began to suspect an eggers influence pretty soon into foers novel. i thought that maybe foers liked eggers or knew him. well, come to find out foers is part of the mcsweeney crew and my suspicions weren't without merit:

http://www.amazon.com/Future-Dictionary-America-Jonathan-Safran/dp/1932416420

the funny thing is, it's the generational factor that makes me recommend everything is illuminated. i think it's pretty incredible to read the creative out-put of the talented twenty-somethings. i didn't have a clear sense of "a voice from our generation" in the book world until i read everything is illuminated. foer is just one voice but i think that generational quality is a distinct achievement of the novel. it's also creative, has some incredibly nice spots, and it's funny (ofcourse it has to be...especially the language games and mix-ups).