My Wishlist of 100 Books (2018 Update)

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time to celebrate the start of the Christmas season. For those who are looking to this blog and wondering "Thomas, what can we get you?" It only makes sense that Willett Reads would be dedicated to sharing all things that interest me in literature. Well, if you're one of those kind people who want to send me a book, here is a recommendation list of 100 books ranging from different genres and centuries. I am not too picky on quality of the book, save for my desire that the book not be filled with personal annotations. Beyond that, I hope that this list will help you prepare gifts that I not only want, but can often be found at a reasonable price. Click on to discover the list and where to send any comments regarding this list.

#49. "Savages" by Don Winslow

The prose of Don Winslow's "Savages" is a beast that unfurls like the anarchic characters that inhabit it. The first "chapter," a mere two words of neglect, set up the impression that not only are these characters rude, but they're working on a different level. As the pages unfold, it is discovered that these Southern California residents are a couple of small time drug dealers who get mixed up with the Mexican Drug Cartel. Winslow doesn't so much capture the ensuing conflict that resonates over 2008 and 2009, but finds a way to add intensity by playing with the structure of language, mixing poetry with immature philosophy, entire chapters written like screenplays, and a stream of consciousness approach that shows just how manic everything is. For all of the books' fault of being rooted in a time and place, it does so with such efficiency that it becomes astounding to witness the brief period between when the Bush era ended and the Obama one started. These are one of a kind characters, and Winslow knows how to get them under our skin.

#48. "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold

In an average story, choosing to start the first chapter with a major death is a gimmick. Even if it's a crime novel, the lack of pathos allowed for a character is an effective way to keep the brutality from stinging as much. It makes it almost clinical to what follows. However, Alice Sebold's debut novel is easily the exception that proves the rule. "The Lovely Bones" is a story about murder and rape, but mostly uses it as an establishing of something deeper. The book posits that there's more to a character's life than one traumatic event, and it paints it through a clever narration of a dead teenage girl. Despite its morbid start, it's surprisingly uplifting; depicting the challenges of grief and revenge through the lens of someone who can't. It's a provocative story that will at times wallop the reader with emotion and most of all present a more honest view of how humanity can better itself.

#47. "Elevation" by Stephen King

Stephen King's latest book "Elevation" is arguably one of the biggest troll moments in the author's entire career. With the book released on All Hallows Eve, it did seem like the master of horror writing was giving us a great story to read after a fun night of trick or treating. Well, don't expect to see Cujo, Carrie White, Jack Torrance, or anything remotely scary (though Pennywise does get a clever shout-out). No, King has admitted that this is a more humane story. It's one indicative of life in 2018, specifically in his iconic hometown of Castle Rock, Maine. While there's a supernatural presence, there's not going to be a jump scare in any of the story's very few pages. What is present is a story so subdued and innocent that it feels almost revolutionary for an author like him. This is a soft story, and one meant to be more of a feel good morality tale about how society comes together to help each other. It does work, provided you can get over how little this resembles the horror classics we know from him.

#46. "Gerald's Game" by Stephen King

There's a lot of easy jokes to be made from describing Stephen King's "Gerald's Game" premise in one sentence. It could be seen as a bedtime story, or even a brutal feminist satire of the erotic novel. It's a lot of concepts that the writer hasn't normally been known for, at least not without mincing words. In this story, he creates what is arguably among the grossest and most uncomfortable stories he's ever written - and it's not because of any supernatural elements. No, it owes a lot of credit to what happens when a little round of S&M goes south and it sends Jessie into an existential crisis that includes a peak into her child molestation. These are all dicey subjects that would require deep nuance to not come across as icky. While King applies them to a quasi-supernatural premise that undoes certain elements of the book, it's effective enough as an exercise but will probably scar those squeamish to certain bodily injuries. It's what King is good at, though sometimes not in a good way.

#45. "The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla" by Stephen King

In a lot of ways, the final three books in "The Dark Tower" series are arguably the most urgent in Stephen King's magnum opus. Following a car accident that almost killed him, the fate of his future seemed unknown, especially when it came to his much beloved series. Would gunslinger Roland and the ka-tet ever get to see The Dark Tower, or is it all one of the biggest unfinished mysteries? Thankfully, King was of the mindset that the story needed to be told, and done before he met his inevitable fate (which as of 2018, has yet to happen thankfully). With "Wolves of the Calla," he returns the readers to Midworld, and specifically a group of people who are doomed to be attacked by wolves. It's another entry in the ribald and weird King that is delightfully desired. However, it may also have some signs that King's urgency comes with some errors. 

#44. "1984" by George Orwell

As a genre, sci-fi has gotten credit for presenting outlandish worlds that often serve as metaphors for our own. Of the millions penned to paper, the one whose had the most lasting of impacts is George Orwell's "1984." What is it about this book of a dystopian society that has kept audiences returning to the book, finding contemporary allusions almost 70 years later? In some ways, it's a bit obvious on the surface: Winston Smith lives in a society where the individual is frowned upon in favor of a "slavery," or uniformed love for Big Brother. While this would be enough to keep the book relevant to any form of dictatorship throughout the world, what makes the book more timeless and influential is what is done within those limitations. This isn't just a world where everyone has to love a higher power. It's also one where the tactics to get there are barbaric propaganda, but also maybe relevant in subliminal ways.