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The Great American Read: Our Editors’ Favorites
Here are our editors’ top picks from PBS’s list of America’s favorite books.
Published on May 23, 2018
The Color Purple
Alice Walker“A Pulitzer Prize winner, a film, and now a Broadway show that’s on its second tour, it’s no wonder that ‘The Color Purple’ made it onto the list of America’s favorite books. It follows the story of Celie, a poor black woman in rural Georgia, and her attempt to rise above the unlucky hand she’s been dealt.” — Karyne
The Sun Also Rises: The Hemingway Library Edition
Ernest Hemingway“Hemingway’s first novel is also considered his best, most beloved work. It combines everything that came to be known as classic Hemingway — a roman à clef about the expats of the Lost Generation living in Europe, watching bullfights, with wounds from World War I still sore. This special Hemingway Library Edition has extras that give new insight into a brilliant author’s writing process.” — Ashley
Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel
Zora Neale Hurston“This powerful, beloved classic has earned a passionate following (as well as intense reactions for its sexuality). An anthropologist, Hurston beautifully illuminates dialect in a moving tale rooted in the people and histories of the South. Read this stunner, then read her newly released, never-before-published story of the last known survivor of the Atlantic slave trade.” — Katie
Tales of the City: A Novel
Armistead Maupin“You don’t have to live in San Francisco to be blown away by this novel, which reads more like a love letter to the beloved city by the bay. Come for the wonderful cast of characters, stay for their thrilling adventures, and be entertained throughout.” — Karyne
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins“Equipped with only a bow and a heart of gold, Katniss Everdeen caught cultural fire, igniting the rebel in us all. A brilliant, action-packed social commentary on media manipulation that defines the dystopian YA genre.” — Ashley