#121. "The Punch" by Noah Hawley

For most people, Noah Hawley is best known for his work on TV. Shows like Fargo and Legion find him exploring the limitless potential of what serialization can provide. With a colorful cast of characters, he's continually pushing boundaries and discovering something more sublime buried underneath. However, there's something more curious to be found in his fiction, notably the stripped-down gimmicks that focus instead on dysfunctional families. "The Punch" is a book that sounds like a very tired tale of a family coming to terms with devastating events. Even if that's true, Hawley has proven himself to be a great writer no matter where his page lies, and here he brings a colorful personality to characters each emotionally devoid of something inside. It's a series of character studies that are at times delightful and at others tragic. As a whole, "The Punch" lives up to its title by having the moments that resonate be painful, like a punch to the gut. It's a familiar story, but one so personal that it's difficult to not appreciate.

#120. "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire

Even in a world that's indebted to origin stories and recontextualizing classics, Gregory Maguire has a very unique perspective in mind. "Wicked" sounds like it would be a bit too novelty, giving The Wicked Witch/Elphaba from L. Frank Baum's masterpiece "The Wizard of Oz" a sympathetic backstory that turns her from villain to hero. The results have lead to a successful Broadway show adored by millions and an upcoming film. With that said, fans of the more mainstream takes may find a lot of difficulty in grappling with this version of the story. While it does plenty to add a dark, disturbing tone to the carefree world they once knew, the back half gets buried in a complicated mess of ideas that aren't nearly as successful, often removed or changed for later adaptations. As far as a concept goes, Maguire has released an impressive work. In terms of execution, it's much more difficult to praise.

#119. "Vineland" by Thomas Pynchon

In the pantheon of post-modernist literature, there are few authors as beguiling as Thomas Pynchon. With his World War II novel "Gravity's Rainbow," he defied the potential of what constituted literary prose. It was at times brilliant and other times juvenile, creating a world where intellects butted heads with idiots with some frequency. What was it all for? Nobody is entirely sure, and that's part of the fun for the anomaly of a reclusive author. If there's any fault with "Vineland," it's that it had to follow up such a behemoth of a novel. For those who lobbed tons of criticism against his previous work, there's a good chance that they will come away appreciating what he achieves here so much more. With that said, it's become considered a minor work by Pynchon and for good reason. It plays all the hits, finding the hippie movement growing old as a new conservative age comes. There's a lot of head-butting and music motifs. It's entertaining even if it doens't quite have the home run appeal fans would like.

#118. "The Body Artist" by Don Delillo

 

As a writer, there's a lot to like about Don Delillo. Over his career, he's done an excellent job of capturing the human condition with insight and humor, often forcing the reader to recontextualize the world around them. While he's better known for his bigger novels like "White Noise," there is something to be said for his shorter writing, such as the novella "The Body Artist." The idea of trying to boil down everything that matters to the author in such a short space means that every page is economic, forcing only the important details to emerge. The results are a bit muddled and don't fully meet their potential, but it's a decent exercise from an author who is known for always taking surprising turns and creating worlds that are much more complex than they initially appear.

#117. "Alice Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll

 

In the world of children's literature, there have been few characters who are curious and curiouser than Alice. With endless adaptations over the past century on stage and screen, Lewis Carroll's defining creation has inspired audiences to find the absurd in everyday life. With zippy prose and playful language, Wonderland is a world that comes to life all too easily. What's more impressive is that even with an inventive original story, credit should be given to "Alice Through the Looking Glass" for being more than a retread of what's come before. Sure, it's another visit through the crazy world of characters, but like the best of sequels, it builds on what came before and creates a strong companion to the original. In fact, one could argue that this features some of the greatest moments Carroll ever wrote.

#116. "Inferno" by Dante Alighieri

Few texts have been as influential as Dante Alighieri's epic poem "The Divine Comedy." For centuries, it has inspired a variety of artists and writers to imitate and pay homage. The idea is so simple and yet every new verse presents something immersive and full of thought-provoking commentary. With the first entry "Inferno," Dante finds himself traveling through hell in order to get to heaven. The story of needing to live through sin in order to become worthy of purity is a premise that plays out rather vividly throughout the text, presenting a narrative that may not have the most complicated of structure, but finds endless moments that stick with the reader. Rarely has a text been so alive with ideas and imagery that inspires the imagination. Every new ring of hell presents a conflict that ties into the human condition, forcing one to wonder not only who Alighieri's reference points are, but what this means for the individual reading. This is the start to one of the first undeniable trilogies, and one that is difficult to forget upon completion.

#115. "Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose" by Dav Pilkey

Credit should be given to Dav Pilkey. For a writer once considered so profane that his popular Captain Underpants was once on a banned book list, he sure has cornered the market for children's books that actually foster imagination and creativity. With the third entry in his Cat Kid Comic Club series, he finds characters continuing to find their voices as storytellers, doing so with vivid examples that embrace the endless potential inside every child. It isn't so much telling a story that will revolutionize the medium, but present something authentic to the creator. With "On Purpose," the story continues to reflect the value of the workshop process and even comments on the struggles with getting work published. Good luck finding a series as entertainingly frank about the writing process as Pilkey's story about a cat teaching tadpoles how to craft narrative. It's really difficult to write something this accessible yet informative in equal measure.

#114. "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz

There is something a bit frustrating about Juno Diaz's novel. From the first chapter, there is a clear and distinct understanding of voice. Few novels at the time had been written with such humor and insight quite like "The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," where a bilingual narrative detailed the concept of bad luck (or "fuku") over generations and across the immigration experience. Alongside dictatorship is studies of comic book nerdery and the struggles for teen boys to have sex. This is a novel that should feel alive with purpose and, at times, reaches something that could be considered brilliant and even revolutionary. The issue is that Diaz has decided to use this technique to tell the story of a fairly uninteresting plot that never settles on anything brilliant. While that could be the point of its "brief and wondrous" title, it definitely holds it back from being this 21st century masterpiece, reflecting a perspective rarely seen in literary circles. It's unlike anything that's been seen, but it's also fairly uninspired outside of its style.

#113. "Petals on the Wind" by V.C. Andrews

With "Flowers in the Attic," V.C. Andrews created one of the best firecrackers in trashy, pulpy novel history. The Dollangangers were a family whose trust issues are slowly revealed in ways that are increasingly bizarre but somehow rationalized thanks to how Andrews wrote the prose in very manipulative and compelling ways. Some may argue that its themes are at times too uncomfortable or exist solely for shock value, but from a prose standpoint, it was riveting and relied on what the audience needs in a good book. It needs to stay hooked, and she found a way to keep the plot moving even as the characters remained trapped in an attic, constantly struggling with sanity. They felt real and vulnerable, where even their slow dive into a controversial legacy felt warranted. This was the epitome of a true crime tale crossed with the most delicious of soap opera scenery chewing.

It included a cliffhanger where "Petals on the Wind" immediately picks up. With an undeniable hook going in, the reader has to wonder what will happen next. What is amazing is not so much that Andrews has continued to churn out surprise after surprise, but how her second outing is not structurally the same as what came before. From beginning to end, decades play out and characters experience twists and turns that are even soapier and may be less satisfying. It's at times too self-aware of the legacy it must live up to, but even then leaves questions as to how Andrews thought to continue this journey for several more books. It feels like she burns through the plot so quickly that there's nothing left to say. Even then, "Petals on the Wind" is a novel that gives a fist pump of an ending, playing into the reader's worst tendencies and rewarding their desire for moments driven by big, irrational emotion. It may not be the pristine follow-up Andrews could've written, but it's far from a boring continuation.

#112. "Ulysses" by James Joyce

"Ulysses" is often considered one of the greatest novels of the English language not only in terms of quality, but potential. James Joyce sought to chronicle life over a single day in Ireland while playing with every potential literary form. Taking years to craft and full of symbolism that would take longer to unpack, the novel is a challenging bugger that blends fantasies and reality in such a way that the reader is often struggling to figure out where one is in the text. As a scholarly work, it reflects Joyce's greatest contributions to the novel and presents something that even a century later remains memorable in its absurdity and deeply felt emotion. This may not be like any other book written, even by Joyce, but it symbolizes so much of what would come after in the Modernist and even Post-Modern movements, capturing a way of conveying emotion and intellect in ways that are immersive and interactive. It's a book that may be a chore to get through at times, but it's ultimately one of the most rewarding experiences ever put to the page.

#111. "Dubliners" by James Joyce

Of the writers who kicked off the Modernist literary movement, few did it with such efficiency as James Joyce. While his later books would push the English language to its breaking point, his early anthology "Dubliners" presented an even more interesting proposition when it hypothesized that the Irish city of Dublin was in a state of paralysis, refusing to grow and evolve with the times. Even if these stories do not overlap often, they present a thorough and complete portrait of turn of the century culture in a country that was in need of some fresh perspective. From the opening story detailing the death of a priest to the ending focusing around a universal death, Joyce found an entertaining way to discuss heavy and controversial themes in entertaining ways that drop the reader into a time and place where, even a century later, feels so lived in. Don't be fooled by the brevity. It's so full of minor details that one can't help but feel like they're there witnessing these events in all of their entertaining, tragic detail.

#110. "The English Patient" by Michael Ondaatje

When thinking about World War II, the common image is one of death and carnage. There are soldiers lifting their rifles in defense against a terrible foe. These stories have been told ad nauseum and the idea of the hero has been etched into stone. However, Michael Ondaatje had a different idea of how to project WWII. In "The English Patient," he decides instead to focus on the human component of war, specifically that of a romance between four individuals trying to survive in a war-torn Africa. In a decaying landscape, a nurse takes care of the soldier known as the English patient, fragile from a plane crash. He slowly gains life and every day she patiently waits for him to get better, keeping him company in order to survive. As she does this, there is a greater sense of the world, creating something ethereal and spiritual. 

#109. "Unprotected" by Billy Porter

Like most artists, Billy Porter had big aspirations. From his youth watching Dreamgirls perform on The Tony Awards, he knew that he wanted to be up there singing and dancing. As someone from a lower-class family who had an inherent queerness in everything he did, the effort to stand out and get away fueled him, driving him to be the hard worker he is today. But the journey isn't that simple. While hard work paid off as evident by his work in Kinky Boots and Pose, it was decades in the making, where a fraught home life only added to personal issues of valuing himself. Throughout his memoir "Unprotected," Porter opens up as only he can, presenting every conflict in his life with raw honesty and hard truths that helped to shape him into a better person. It's as much a fascinating look into how a singular artist evolved through a society that sought to oppress him as it is a chance to psychoanalyze how that impacts him personally. It's witty, heartbreaking, and beautiful all in one. 

#108. "Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel" by Val Emmich

In this modern age, everything needs to be made into a franchise. By some luck, the Tony-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen has taken advantage of its popularity in some profound ways. From inescapable covers of the hit "You Will Be Found" to a divisive film, the story has been everywhere. In one of the stranger moves, they even have moved into the world of young adult fiction, having Val Emmich expand upon the original story by Steven Levenson. Given that Broadway shows cater to exclusivity, it's interesting to see them spread themselves this thin. Though the question comes back to is this any good? Was this even necessary? To be totally honest, it's one of the rare shows that feels catered to the Y.A. genre and thus its transition isn't totally egregious. It may not be a work that overshadows the original, but for hardcore fans, it's something worth considering.

#107. "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

There are few books in the 20th century American literary canon as mythic as "A Confederacy of Dunces." While the story itself is an entertaining romp through 1960s New Orleans, the journey of author John Kennedy Toole is a more curious affair, both reflective of the "never give up" mentality that authors continually face and the tragedy of never seeing your success come to fruition. Over a decade after committing suicide, the book was published, presenting the author with acclaim and recognition that had been rejected continually, possibly leading to several mental health problems. Thanks to a passionate mother, it finally got into the hands of Walker Percy ("The Moviegoer") and change was made. But still, one has to wonder what would've happened if this happened in Toole's lifetime, able to be recognized for his perceived brilliance.

Because it is easy to see both sides of the argument. On the one hand, his book has a deft control of prose that is compulsory and entertaining. It's also deceptively complex, requiring the audience to empathize with a physically repugnant protagonist named Ignatius Riley and tackle such unflattering stories as sex work and disgruntled hot dog vendors. So much of the book is challenging you to like it, and the irony is the greater commentary. This is a story about someone who lacks value socially trying to find it. At times it may seem like Ignatius is doomed to live in his mother's house, falling victim to her alcoholic tendencies. He's far from perfect but, in its own strange way, Toole makes you like him by the end. All it required was patience and faith that he wasn't given in his own life. It's the epitome of dramatic irony, of a success that could never be built upon.