What do I mean by an “ambitious” book? I think of it as an assessment made by a reader seeking to expand their horizons in terms of form, content, subject, or style. It can also serve as an effort to master greater depth, critical understanding, or sustained attention. Since every reader brings unique life experiences, what is considered challenging is highly subjective.

For this month, I am looking at modern fiction rather than the usual canon of Western classics. I feel that those have already been concretized in school curricula, and a few have arguably waned in accessibility and relevance over time. It may be time for the following to gain a wider audience.

	On the Calculation of Volume I - Solvej Balle "Hypnotic and masterful in remixing Tara's endless recursive day, creating curious little folds of time and foreshadowing with flashbacks that light up inside the text like old flash bulbs."
	The Master & Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov "An audacious revision of the stories of Faust and Pontius Pilate-a vision of Soviet life in the 1930s and a novel of inexhaustible energy, humor, and philosophical depth."
	The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon "The epic, beloved novel of two boy geniuses dreaming up superheroes in New York’s Golden Age of comics. Spanning continents and eras, it remains one of the defining novels of our modern American age."
	Parade - Rachel Cusk "Demolishes the conventions of storytelling, surging past the limits of identity, character, and plot to tell a true story—about art, family, morality, gender, and how we compose ourselves."
	House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski "A young family moves into a small home where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside."
	Underworld - Don DeLillo "A stunning document of the twin forces of the Cold War and American culture. A fragile web of connected experience, a communal Zeitgeist that encompasses the messy whole of five decades of American life."
	Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr "Brings together an unforgettable cast of dreamers and outsiders from past, present and future to offer a vision of survival against all odds."
	Geek Love - Katherine Dunn "Is the story of a self-created carny family that throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene."
	The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco "Set in 1327 at a Benedictine monastery, where a Franciscan friar investigates a series of mysterious deaths. A mystery combined with intellectual exploration including semiotics, biblical analysis, medieval studies, and literary theory."
	The Candy House - Jennifer Egan "An electrifying, deeply moving novel about the quest for authenticity, privacy, and meaning in a world where our memories are no longer our own."
	I Who Have Never Known Men - Jacqueline Harpman "A haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation."
	The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera "Tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing. Juxtaposes geographically distant places, brilliant and playful reflections, using a variety of styles."
	Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez "Set at the turn of the 20th century, an intricate story interweaving past and present to portray its three main characters at various stages of their lives and to highlight the complexity of love."
	The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami "A heroically imaginative novel, which is at once a detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets of World War II."
	The Third Policeman - Flann O'Brien "The perpetrator of a botched robbery and brutal murder grapples with the riddles and contradictions of three eccentric policemen."
	Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Marisha Pessl "After the shocking death of one of Blue's friends, she is left to make sense of it all with only her gimlet-eyed instincts and cultural references to guide—or misguide—her."
	Vineland - Thomas Pynchon "A group of Americans in Northern California in 1984 struggling with the consequences of their lives in the sixties. A strange evocation of a twentieth-century America headed for a less than harmonic future."
	Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie "Saleem Sinai is born at the very moment of India's independence whose every act is mirrored and magnified in events that sway the course of national affairs."
	Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders "An unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a thrilling, supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying."
	Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace "Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, bending every rule of fiction, an exuberant and uniquely American exploration of the passions that make us human."

Summaries sourced from publisher materials.

My 2 Cents - Tackling Tough Tomes

Know thyself: When selecting a challenging read, pick one that actually interests you-not one that you think you “should” read. If you don’t care a whit about whaling, maybe Moby Dick is not the one for you.

Be realistic: If you haven’t recently read anything written in the last century or longer than 200 pages, don’t torture yourself by starting with War and Peace or Proust.

Phone a friend: Don’t go it alone-set goals with a competitive pal or book group. Hold each other accountable by setting a regular time for a discussion. GPL has many book groups that are reconvening this Fall, but you can jump in any time - great books and great company!

Inch by inch: Set yourself an “at least” goal that is fairly easy, gradually increasing as you get deeper into the book. Picking a set amount of time to read or a number of pages is better than measuring by chapters, since chapter length can vary.

Make it stick: Set aside a time and place where you can read without interruptions. Make it a nice ritual (with a beverage, comfy seating, etc.) so the time spent reading will be something you look forward to, not a chore.

There’s no test- take a rest: There are going to be days (or weeks) that you aren’t able or willing to continue. If a passage is too confusing or boring, skip ahead or take a break.

It’s the journey: Give it 50 pages or so. If you are not enjoying yourself, shelve the book and pick up another. Your time is precious and there are many more books waiting to be discovered!

DVDs in Our Collection:

Please note: By their very nature the titles included in this month's list are very complex and don't lend themselves easily to visual media. As usual, the books are better, but films can act as a litmus test for those who would otherwise steer clear.

Love in the Time of Cholera

Naked Lunch

The Name of the Rose

Unbearable Lightness of Being

Hop on the Holds List

The Family Cross – James Patterson

Split Second: Thirty-Two Switcheroo – Janet Evanovich

Switzy – Emma Cline

American Hagwon – Min Jin Lee

Peck & Peck – Bonnie Garmus

Quote of the Month:

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” - A.A. Milne

Bookish News and Links:

Want personalized recommendations? Fill out a questionnaire to get a customized list sent directly to your email: https://gpl.org/services/reade...

Love Lists? Here are some more links to visit:

A list of lists? Yes, please! The Modern Novel is a site that provides links to a number of sites that approach the topic in a variety of ways.

Culture.org lists their 10 hardest books to read, explains why they are considered challenging and why they are worth giving a try.

Collider takes a different tack, listing books that are intense in theme or content, rather than technically complex.

Adaptation News: Upcoming movies and shows based on books:

The Book of Magic (Practical Magic 2) based on the book by Alice Hoffman in theaters 9/18.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood will premiere on Prime Video on 9/23,

Recent Reads

I have recently finished reading Awake Awake by Fiona Mozley and Queen Mab by Emily McBride. I also just finished listening to A Good Person by Kirsten King.

I am currently reading Little Scratch by Rebecca Watson and I'm Sorry You Feel This Way by Rebecca Wait, and I am also listening to the audiobook of Furious Violet by Sarai Walker.

What is your "Great White Whale"- a book that you cannot seem to conquer? - Drop me a line: [email protected].

Until next time: Be safe, be well, and be well-read!

Joelle

---

So, who am I, anyway? I am a resident of West Groton, with a husband, four mostly-grown children, a fluffy Samoyed, and a kitten - all of which keep my vacuum well-employed. I am currently working part-time at the Groton Public Library and writing monthly reviews for Booklist Magazine. In a former life, I was a Director of PR/Marketing at a high-tech consulting firm. My BA is in Psychology, but most of my time was spent in college earning a Concentration in the Novel. That is all to say that I make no claims at being an expert of any kind, and my thoughts, opinions. and mistakes are solely my own. I am just a person whose passion for books has continued to grow from the moment I was first able to clutch and gnaw on them. I have been devouring them ever since.