#183. "The Moviegoer" by Walker Percy

There ain't no city quite like New Orleans. Few authors knew that as well as Walker Percy. In his novel "The Moviegoer," he turns acts as simple as walking down the street into a colorful collage of figures who are trying to make the most of their own eccentric situations. Compared to most novels, the plot is sparse and at times meandering. However, the slice of life nature allows for a deeper introspection that allows for humor to clash with dread in a way that subverts expectations. In the Big Easy, it's fun to see someone who looks to be having a good time but somewhere deep inside is missing an element that could make him more satisfied. 

#182. "American Pastoral" by Philip Roth

Even decades later, it's difficult for America to fully escape the image of its former glory. The protagonist of Philip Roth's "American Pastoral" is the ideal citizen. He did everything right. He was a renowned high school athlete who married the prom queen. Everything was working in his favor, down to his career focusing on assembling gloves. If this were the 1950s, there's a good chance that this would be the picture-perfect vision of a happy life. However, there is one caveat to his image. His daughter is an anarchist who defies the definition of patriotism. Over the couse of a taught little novel, Roth finds the deeper meaning of the American dream and how the image of post-war suburbia isn't what it seems. Somewhere in the happy faces is a reality that's hard to fully explain. By the 1960s, America was at a crossroads, and the youth were ready to fight back. Who will win? Who is right?

#181. "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson

Few authors knew how to write tension as well as Shirley Jackson. There is a level of trust she forms with her readers that causes them to lean forward and read with morbid curiosity the exploits of her characters suffering from their own strange ailments. They are tragic, but more importantly, they are familiar. The motivations are those of everyday dysfunction, and in he case of "The Haunting of Hill House," she outdoes herself by finding the perfect balance between interior and external dread. A visit to a house with an ever-changing layout results in moments of hallucination and fear that escape the melodramatic texture it suggests. By the end, the reader feels as connected to the characters as they are to the building they inhabit, maybe even causing them to question their own floor plan and experience their own optical shenanigans.

#180. "Holly" by Stephen King

For half a century, Stephen King has been considered the master of horror. His novels delve into the darkest recesses of the human imagination to find amusement. But what happens when reality far exceeds the potential for fiction? In "Holly," King finds himself digging into an era of American history that feels stranger than any character he's created. With the pandemic fresh in people's minds, the story follows a murder mystery full of the hallmarks that many readers will know well. There's social distancing, people rebelling against mandates, and just a sense of humanity turning on itself. While it's a story that was met with immediate controversy, there's still plenty of spark left in the old master to present a narrative that may not be among his best, but has a liveliness worthy of his legacy.

#179. "Loon Lake" by E.L. Doctorow

Over the course of his career, E.L. Doctorow did an impeccable job of turning history into fodder for great drama. In the case of "Loon Lake," he takes a collage approach that features him jump through literary styles in the hopes of understanding the lives of chaacters defined by their criminality. With everyone centered around a lakeside cabin on "Loon Lake," they try to survive the moral panic without things spiraling out of control. The results are an entertaining look into early 20th century Americana and a deconstruction of nostalgia that finds the dark truths floating to the surface, creating an understanding of innocence lost that can only be achieved when one learns to let go.

#178. "Paradiso" by Dante Alighieri

The concluding chapter of Dante Aligheiri's "The Divine Comedy" is both the most practical but also the most impenetrable. Following the journeys through the "Inferno" and "Purgatorio," his final stop finds him taking a leap into the heavens. In this case, it's a journey through space as he sees celestial bodies that force him to use his most creative descriptions. Whereas the prior entries can be chalked up to recognizable iconography, this is a chance to exist among the stars, citing religious figures and virtues. This is his most optimistic and passionate, but it's also the most ellusive. For those more attracted to a spiritual realm, this poem may resonate more. For everybody else, there is this odd sense of detail and cryptic meaning that is compelling to read, but ultimately ends with the strangest happy ending of ancient literature. 

#177. "Purgatorio" by Dante Alighieri

When readers last saw Dante Alighieri, he had written the fictitious masterpiece "Inferno." Having traveled through hell, he now finds himself at the middle chapter of his acclaimed "The Divine Comedy." On his journey to paradise, he must first stop over in purgatory and resist an endless array of temptations. Much like his previous entry, there is an emphasis on circular designs and the number nine. A lot of the stanzas favor this structure, allowing a journey that feels rigid and purposeful as Dante travels upwards towards the skies while discovering the familiar row of conflicts that he had met throughout "Inferno." The major difference this time is that there's more temptations less defined by sins and more earthly passions. While "Inferno" has garnered its reputation as the most popular poem, "Purgatorio" deserves consideration for pushing the boundaries even further, creating an experience that is more speculative and, most of all, optimistic. It's a story about the grand beauty of life, and this is secretly the most exciting chapter.

#176. "Heaven" by V.C. Andrews

Among the young heroines of V.C. Andrews' novels, few are as curious as Heaven Casteel. She starts the story an outcast in her society for no other reason than her financial status. Living on the dirty edges of town, she does her best to keep her family afloat without losing the respect of her peers. The issue is that as a young girl, she's unable to have a larger influence over her own trajectory in life. The results feature the patented run of twists, finding the reader leaning forward and wondering what will happen next. While the latter half fails to capture the intensity of the early run, there's still enough here for fans of the morbid, desperately searching for the moment when Heaven's life will break free of its torment and give her a sigh of relief. If the best that can be said about "Heaven" is that the reader will have no plausible way of predicting where the story ends after a few pages, then this ranks as another success.

#175. "Ducks, Newburyport" by Lucy Ellmann

Nobody has captured the direction that modern America has headed in quite like Lucy Ellmann. While many would  argue there is this need for a grandiose political allegory of power corrupting, her approach is something a lot more in tune with the moment "Duck, Newburyport" is a firecracker of a novel that transcends the need for conventional narrative structure and instead uses a freeform look into the mind of a midwest housewife in an effort to understand the distracted nature by which many live their lives. With an endless array of information being thrown at us on any given day, it' hard to make a novel that perfectly encapsulates the madness of living in America in the late 2010s. For its many flaws, Ellmann has done the next best thing. She has created a perfect exploration of anxiety and self-actualization existing alongside each other, often within the same thought, as she removes the rigidity of language and replaces it with a breakneck speed. Can a life be perfectly embodied in a single sentence? In truth, it's near impossible. However, she achieves the next best thing.

#174. "On Chesil Beach" by Ian McEwan

The average married couple tends to spend their early days in bliss. However, the protagonists of Ian McEwan's "On Chesil Beach" find themselves in quite the bind. Every effort to become intimate backfires, eventually leading to a question as to whether they love each other on a deeper level. With a fast-paced story that takes place over a matter of days, McEwan captures the small moments of being lost in doubt and disconnect from the life that one envisions. It's a compelling if slight reading experience that finds audiences not only coming to understand the complexities of an individual's personal drives, but also how love shows itself sometimes in unpredictable ways.