Hannah Bomze's Favorite Books

A young girl grows up with an alcoholic father, brilliant, charismatic and destructive. Her mother, a free spirit, abhors domesticity and responsibility. It is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption within a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant.

Oscar Wilde's book that tells the story of a man's obsession with staying young and beautiful. If you ever wondered where people get all those Oscar Wilde quotes, this is a great place to start.

Notes From the Underground is short, hilarious, and classic. While people are often intimidated by it, the book can be read on two levels. The first is that it's just an enjoyable and quirky book. The second as a scathing reaction to the enlightenment and everything that proceeded it. If you are even slightly versed in history or literature, that will enhance the reading experience. The first time I read this book, I made the mistake of sitting in the library. I had to leave as my attempts to snicker and laugh silently failed. This is a wonderful and strange tale of a man who can't cope with the society he lives in.

On the Road is a classic. Jack takes us all around this country, and though the book is a standard of find yourself/travel writing, you''ll recognize the experience. This book is likely the most successful book by a "Beat" writer, though there is a whole literature by these authors. This book has traveled through countless suitcases, and more recently, backpacks, of those who seek themselves on the road. It's not romantic, not always easy, but if you want to get that ol' travelin' jones, On the Road is the one to beat.

The Soloist is a wonderful book, and, as always, infinitely superior to the movie that followed. A well-written tale of true talent that won't be buried beneath the devastating effects of mental illness; and of friendship and understanding. A beautiful memoir that doesn't gloss over ugliness or create a false sense of happily-ever-after.

The Sun Also Rises is one of my favorite books. I read it when I was a teenager and I cannot forget the characters; Jake Barnes will be in my head forever. The language is simple — perhaps overly simple — but very powerful. The characters are well drawn and the relationships are interesting. It will not take you long to read this book, but you will think about it for a long time... maybe forever.

There's some symmetry here, I admit, in opening and closing the list with books by women who found themselves falling off a cliff, so to speak, into a life more spiritual. It's never an easy, straightforward path, and Gilbert underscores the triad of her title with an explanation, in the introduction, of the number three as representing 'supreme balance'; within the threefold structure she has deliberately incorporated 108 tales (36 times 3), symbolic of the traditional Indian japa mala necklace, strung with 108 beads.

Gilbert's memoir, of course, became a runaway best seller and movie, which speaks to the appeal of stories that manage to incorporate romance and spirit. Those critical of the book want more, I daresay, of the kind of wisdom issuing from Miller's book. Those who admit to loving it clearly understand that the courage it takes to see things for what they, rather than what we'd like them to be. One clear message echoing through both books: when the student is ready, the teacher appears.