John Green's Reading List

The Y.A. author, whose novel "Looking for Alaska" has just been adapted for a Hulu series, says "young people are thinking about so many important questions, about love and meaning and justice."

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By the Book: John Green (2019)

NYT By the Book column (2019-10-10).

Source: www.nytimes.com

The Nickel Boys

Colson Whitehead · Buy on Amazon

"Colson Whitehead's 'The Nickel Boys.'"

This Blinding Absence of Light

Tahar Ben Jelloun · Buy on Amazon

"I wish I knew more people who'd read Tahar Ben Jelloun's novel 'This Blinding Absence of Light,' which follows a group of political prisoners living in total darkness."

Parable of the Sower

Octavia E. Butler · Buy on Amazon

"Octavia E. Butler's 'Parable of the Sower.'"

Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson · Buy on Amazon

"I never thought about writing for teenagers until I was 22 and read 'Speak,' by Laurie Halse Anderson, and 'Monster,' by Walter Dean Myers. Both those novels are capital-g Great."

Monster

Walter Dean Myers · Buy on Amazon

"I never thought about writing for teenagers until I was 22 and read 'Speak,' by Laurie Halse Anderson, and 'Monster,' by Walter Dean Myers. Both those novels are capital-g Great."

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing

M. T. Anderson · Buy on Amazon

"I also often recommend to adults 'The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing,' by M. T. Anderson."

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

E. Lockhart · Buy on Amazon

"I also often recommend to adults 'The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks,' by E. Lockhart."

The Human Stain

Philip Roth · Buy on Amazon

"There's a line in 'The Human Stain' that we both underlined when we read it: 'The pleasure isn't owning the person. The pleasure is this. Having another contender in the room with you.'"

The Body in Pain

Elaine Scarry · Buy on Amazon

"After I had meningitis, my friend Mike Rugnetta gave me Elaine Scarry's extraordinary book 'The Body in Pain,' which I found extremely helpful."

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Mildred D. Taylor · Buy on Amazon

"I loved Mildred D. Taylor's 'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry' and Wilson Rawls's 'Where the Red Fern Grows.' As a kid, I loved books that made me cry."

Where the Red Fern Grows

Wilson Rawls · Buy on Amazon

"I loved Mildred D. Taylor's 'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry' and Wilson Rawls's 'Where the Red Fern Grows.' As a kid, I loved books that made me cry."

Sister Mine

Nalo Hopkinson · Buy on Amazon

"My favorite novels about conjoined twins (or formerly conjoined twins) are 'Sister Mine,' by Nalo Hopkinson, and 'God's Fool,' by Mark Slouka."

God's Fool

Mark Slouka · Buy on Amazon

"My favorite novels about conjoined twins (or formerly conjoined twins) are 'Sister Mine,' by Nalo Hopkinson, and 'God's Fool,' by Mark Slouka."

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