What did you read on your Camino

[Frood]

This might shift the discussion a bit.

I am interested in what people were reading while they we walking. Reading books about the Camino is important before and after, but the books are heavy and once absorbed, provide a context for an experience.

I have walked twice - once ten years ago on the Camino Frances and most recently, this fall on the Le Puy route.

For my first walk, I brought along the Lliad - and didn't read a bit of it. I was thinking about a classic "journey" book but I realized I was being way too earnest and it simply did not resonate.

In the fall, I brought another book, which I cannot even remember and I think I shipped it home with my initial round of weight shedding.

During the walk, I picked up an Islandic dectective novel translated into french and read that. It was in fact the first book I have read "en francais" for pleasure and has been transformative, in a way since I am now much more likely to read other books in french - but nothing too earnest.

During my walk, I thought more about what would be a good book to read while walking the Camino. My proposal then and now is "Shamrock Tea" written by Irish author Ciarran Carson. The book is an imaginary journey that touches on colours, paintings, saints, Whittgenstein, Irish folklore and other fantastic references. It defies categorization - part memoire, part novel, part folktale and part sorcery. This swill of images fits since we are all engaging in an experience that is outside our comfort zone; hence it complements the reflection and transitions that occur during the walk.

While I was walking, I heard that an Irish pilgrim was talking about this book to others but, he was generally a a couple of days ahead of me. In fact, we met briefly at Conques but did not have much time to have an extended conversation.

What were you reading (or intend to read) on your Camino and why?

Merry Christmas

Frood

 

[sillydoll]

The first time I walked the Camino Frances I took a copy of the CSJ's translated 12th Century Guide for the Pilgrim to St James of Compostella. I took it again when I walked from Paris. Reading the parts that were relevant to where we were walking was an amazing experience. One really can feel the presence of past-pilgrims Next year I intend taking Linda Davidson's book with me. I know that it is heavy but I have read it so often that I now want to see the places we'll be walking through with new eyes!

 

[suekenney]

Hey Sil, I also took Linda Davidson's book but I left it at the Pilgrims Office and SJPP because my pack was too heavy to carry it. I got to read some of it on the airplane but never finished it. I must get another copy. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[sillydoll]

Linda's book is the Bible of the Camino Frances! If anyone wants to learn about the history, folk-lore, saints lives, geology, fauna and flora - and much more - that is the book to buy.
$16.47 at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Pilgrimage-Road-S ... 0312254164

 

[Caminando]

I've found that whatever I take for reading on most extended trips has always been the wrong choice and I end up reading stuff that people leave behind. Which is good for getting out of a literary rut, but you often end up with hellish books.

But last time (Camino Portugues) I took The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was so tired at night* that I couldnt read more than a page or two, and would have been unable to handle anything like a novel. But old Marcus filled the bill very nicely.It was a good book for grounding me. Didnt weigh much either.

*I'm getting older, unfortunately.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I read my Brierley guide to plan the next day's walk, then slept.

 

[vjpulver]

While I am usually an avid reader, I chose to make my Camino without books in my pack. I took no books...not even guide books. I wanted to travel light and to be unencumbered. I took little more than a change of clothing, a down sleeping bag, a toothbrush and one sheet of paper primitive map/guide).

Taking no reading material forced me to engage with people. I could not bury myself in a book, or escape to another place or avoid people. I could observe the world I walked through - no distractions.

It was a challenge. I am happy that I chose to walk without books.

In Leon, I hit a low point. I felt down and I was lonely. I ended up purchasing a novel. I devoured it in a matter of hours and left it behind when I resumed my walk the next day. Another time a well-meaning pilgrim pressed a book into my hands...I accepted it, but left it behind (unread) for another pilgrim to discover.

There were many times when I craved the companionship of a good book, but I weathered those hours. I am glad I had the experience.

It was a good exercise for me. The whole Camno experience was an opportunity to move outside my comfort zone...to make choices that were not part of my usual routine...to listen for that still small voice that often goes noticed in the course of my usual life choices.

Perhaps one day I will walk the Camino again and perhaps I will arrange to take some well-chosen novels. And perhaps I will make reservations for my accomodations and engage in more dining experiences. But on my first Camino, I was striving to be in the moment, trying to engage fully, and learning about trusting in Divine Providence in a very real way. It was also an opportunity to expand my awareness of the abundance around me and to express my gratitude for the good in the world. (Cultivating gratitude is a full time job! He he!)

Life is good...and so full of amazing choices.

"Ginn"
In Sunny SC
Camino Apr/May 2009

 

[andy.d]

Cultivating gratitude is a full time job! He he!

That's a lovely quote Ginn - thank you.

On the Camino de Levante last year, I had a guidebook (necessary on that route) and a small New Testament and Psalms so I could say Morning and Evening Prayer. It took me seven weeks to work through Luke and 2 Corinthians. My pace of reading slowed down so much.

Bars always had newspapers, so there was a chance to read these,

Andy

 

[daesdaemar]

The only thing I read was my Camino Ingles guidebook by Johnnie Walker

 

[Frood]

Interesting approaches to reading and suggestions.

The book I could not remember in my original post was The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon It is a novel about Aristotle teaching the young Alexander. I have since read the book and enjoyed it but am glad that I sent it home.

For me, reading on the walk was a few moments of quiet time before going to bed and often lasted only a couple of pages. An overarching joy during these types of walks is the fellowship and dialogue with other pilgrims as well as the chance encounters with folks from the communities through which we pass.

I will get the Linda Davidson book. It looks interesting but for me, this type of book is most appropriate before of after the pilgrimage. The reading list is expanding.

Frood

 

[Kitsambler]

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (available at Amazon and on Kindle) which is just the most remarkable piece of work.

 

[Debinq]

hi
I think Ginn hit the nail on the head - yep I agree, the camino is there to provide good opportunities and choices to engage with all sorts of people ... to talk (about books even!) and exchange views .... Altho' I did take along an old beat-up copy of 'the Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy' for light-reading before bedtime...finding out what THE answer is to 'life, the universe and EVERYTHING' was brillant and funny too 8)

best rgds to all - buen camino too

Peter

 

[renegadepilgrim]

I didn't take a book with me, except my Brierley guide which I had a love/hate relationship with! I did crave reading at certain times, though, once I had to slow my walking down and had more time on my hands, I really did crave English reading material. Rebekah saved me by giving me a copy of the New Yorker when I was at her place in Moratinos, which I read nice and slow so it would last!!! I would consider taking my Nook, but only because I can put my Bible, the Divine Office and so many other things (including guidebooks!) on it and it weighs next to nothing and the battery lasts FOREVER! Next time, I will probably bring a small book just to keep my sanity when I need to read English.

 

[AJ]

The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin by Idries Shah is a small volume of short "jokes" which provides a laugh and also something to contemplate whilst walking.

 

[vinotinto]

I spent a lot of time poring over my Brierley guidebook, but I also picked up books on the trail or hung out in the rare albergue library/reading room (like the one at Rabanal). I love to read, so I always had something on hand to go through.

But I also made an effort to spend time just thinking about the things that drove me to do my pilgrimage, journaling, writing emails, or simply living in the moment, usually over vino and a stogie.

As for specific books, I got about halfway through a battered copy of Moby Dick I found in one albergue (I had to repair it with duct tape), and finished a nonfiction book on India that I picked up and dropped off. I skimmed through some other books, but I can't remember what they were off the top of my head.

If I return someday, I think I'll bring a Kindle... :arrow:

 

[oursonpolaire]

Anthony Trollope's The Warden, in the Oxford Pocket Classics edition. This was very good on two counts; first, the weight, as they were printed on bible paper, and could tuck quite nicely into a pocket. What was more important was that Trollope wrote his novels to be published serially, chapter by chapter. Much like a TV serial providing clues to the back stroy, there were enough clues that a reader could be satisfied with one 10-20 page chapter without getting lost, or needing to read 70-100pp to stay with the story.

As well, I took a few New Yorkers and was quite happy when I finished each one and could leave it behind. They were valuable in that they could stay open when I was having dinner (I was on one of the lesser-travelled Caminos and there were no other pilgrims to chat with).

 

[oursonpolaire]

Anthony Trollope's The Warden, in the Oxford Pocket Classics edition. This was very good on two counts; first, the weight, as they were printed on bible paper, and could tuck quite nicely into a pocket. What was more important was that Trollope wrote his novels to be published serially, chapter by chapter. Much like a TV serial providing clues to the back stroy, there were enough clues that a reader could be satisfied with one 10-20 page chapter without getting lost, or needing to read 70-100pp to stay with the story.

As well, I took a few New Yorkers and was quite happy when I finished each one and could leave it behind. They were valuable in that they could stay open when I was having dinner (I was on one of the lesser-travelled Caminos and there were no other pilgrims to chat with).

 

[JohnnieWalker]

If I return someday, I think I'll bring a Kindle... :arrow:

Yes Vinotinto, the Kindle is the answer imho. 10oz, free internet access to do e mails if you wish, load up your MP3's and listen to them if you wish, upload your guidebood so you aren't carrying that and have access to 1000's of free books to donwload in a moment. And of course you can but them too! The Kindle - I love it

 

[wawpdx]

Taking no reading material forced me to engage with people. I could not bury myself in a book, or escape to another place or avoid people. I could observe the world I walked through - no distractions.

I weighed every single item in my backpack, following the sage advice of Colin Fletcher to "take care of the ounces and the pounds will take care of themselves". The only reading material I took with me was the CSJ guidebook and the Lonely Planet Spanish phrasebook -- with all of the "I'll never use this" pages removed. Walking the Camino Frances in the middle summer, I was in awe of pilgrims who had a book that they were willing to carry. I never regretted not having a book in my own pack.

At home, I am a compulsive reader. For awhile, I did try to figure out what to else to bring to read but I could not phantom what would still seem right after days of walking. Something breezy because there would already be enough to figure out? Something meaningful because there would be time to reflect on it? Something I had already read because I knew it would be worth carrying? Something new? Something I would not usually read? Something I would like to know more about? There is of course no right answer but I am happy with the minimalist option that I choose.

And, no , I wouldn't avoid the question by bringing a Kindle the next time. Since I have found much to reflect on in KiwiNomad's wonderful collection of words of inspiration I would probably bring carefully chosen, weighty words. For sure I would bring the poem "Ithaka" -- thank you Steve of Belfast.

 

[daesdaemar]

My guidebook

 

[Arn]

I took my guidebook and set out.

I had an abbreviated copy of St. Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises and, following my injury...I was in an albergue where a very nice soul handed me a copy of Pope Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth. Each was useful at the right time and the right place. Total weight 4 oz.

But, I'm with Vinotinto and agree with JW...the way to go it the Kindle...or whatever new gadget is on tap for my next Camino.

Arn

 

[ksam]

Hmmm, you've got me thinking. :shock: Perhaps I should hint, hint at a Kindle for a "farewell" gift before I leave...Hmmm have to give this some serious thought! Remind 'em all this way they can keep tabs on me a little easier! HA! fat chance

 

[Kialoa3]

I had the Brierley guide and a Kindle but as I was walking with my wife I found that we always had something to talk about after walking and I never got a chance to read anything other than the guidebook for the next stage. I shipped the Kindle ahead to Santiago from Moratinos. I loved it but in the end it was 8 ounces that I did not have to carry. If I was walking alone I think the Kindle would still be with me. I keep hoping that the Brierley guide makes it to e book format.

John

 

[Frood]

Breirley is available in e book format. I have a KOBO and saw it will cruising the KOBO site.

I think e devices will be part of the future, particularly for travel books. I look forward to seeing MMDD in e format.

I pleased to see the conversation has started again and I find it fascinating to see the range of books that folks have referenced. This makes an eclectic reading list.

Frood

 

[Arn]

Frood,

Topics come and topics go. Some take on a life of there own. Each has a born on date.

I know I enjoy seeing a topic I've started continue into the ...

This has a certain shelf life...did we read on the Camino? Did we take a bound friend for company on the days or nights we were alone or sought a moment apart? Did we take an offered tome or piece of another to retain a connection to those at home?

Or did we just take each step...one after another...accepting what came next? Making what we read after the Camino the read of a life time!

Buen "the last chapter is yet to be written or read" Camino

Arn

 

[Deleted member 3000]

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" -- someone left it; I read it; I left it.

 

[pelusito]

I take along a small notebook and write. Its not the time for reading, at least for me. Nothing seems good enough to miss talking to other pilgrims or just enjoying the sightseeing, or closing my eyes and feeling the smells, the noise or the silence.

 

[RochelleArellano]

Before leaving I am reading Seek God Everywhere-by Anthony De Mello; The Life of St. Theresa of Avila by Herself, Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.....and time permitting will read Don Quixote (in Spanish), as well as St. Theresa's The Interior Castle and The Way of Perfection. I'd also like to reread Dogen's Shobogenzo, but don't have any plans to take a book on the Camino. I hope to take a journal. Well, maybe a volume of poetry by Rumi!!

 

[MoniRose]

I'm planning on taking a Paulo Coelho book or two but will probably finish it before reaching SJPP. Otherwise, only my guidebook, daily devotional......and, of course, my journal, to write my own.
- M :arrow:

 

[docpam]

I have bought a Kindle to take on my 2nd Camino. Last time I became injured and had to spend long hours moving very slowly. I could not join others in my walk as I was so slow. I needed to speak/hear/think in English. I could not find English books to read along the Camino Frances, so a Kindle is my solution. Hopefully this time I will not get injured.

 

[Oceanroc7]

I wrote some poetry.
I read some poetry.
I read some menus.

 

[orlandospace5]

I have yet to make my first camino (almost exactly a year away), but The Way of a Pilgrim is inspiring. It is by an unnamed Russian pilgrim and is translated. I will probably bring one book besides the guide, but it'll have to be one I can read again and again--Thoreau or Pirsig.

 

[Abbeydore]

I sketched, doodled, & fell asleep

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

I really missed ANYTHING in English. I couldn't buy an English newspaper, paperback, or watch any UK TV. I didn't meet another Brit anywhere on the camino. The only book I had with me was my father's tiny New Testament [with Christ's words printed in red]. So I read it for the first time in years, and found it very, very moving!
Buen camino!

Stephen.

 

[Heloise]

I only read one verse from Bible every morning. I didn´t bring whole Bible with me, but some sheets from a book which has a verse for every day. I really didn´t have time to read anything else, I even stopped writing my journal after two weeks (which is a pity, but I wrote down everything I remembered when I got back home.)

 

[k-fun]

I brought along a Kindle and finished reading Marjorie Kemp, the first female autobiography (dictated). She talks about her various pilgrimages, including one to Santiago. Though she traveled extensively for a woman in the Middle Ages, the story is more about her conversations with God than the physical journey.

I also read started the Canterbury Tales and found those very amusing. After a few weeks on my Camino, I found the interaction with other pilgrims more comforting that the books and did very little reading.

Once the Camino was over, though, I was glad to have the Kindle with me as I waited for trains, planes, etc.

 

[Tia Valeria]

We took a stripped out version of the CSJ's 'Forty Days; Bible readings for the Camino'. We printed it out without the pictures for the Camino and left the full version at home. Just 4 sheets of A4 paper to carry. I wrote in a mini notebook (homemade) so we had a record of our Camino.
At home we read both books and Kindle books, but on the Camino there were always things to do - washing, sightseeing etc when not actually walking.

 

[scruffy1]

I am numbered among the very rare and few Jewish pilgrims to Saint James. Not a practicising Jew butr I do clutch on to tradition. My book for the Camino? The Book of Psalms, 5 ot 6 every day according to the Jewish order and after a month, one has read them all. My favorite?
91:They(the angels) shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Or perhaps:
121: The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore
King David was such a poet!!
S

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I always take a little pocket edition of Lao Tsu´s "Tao te Ching," translated by Stephen Mitchell. It is short, pithy, episodic, and beautiful. It gives my mind something solid to gnaw throughout the day. It never grows old.

Other than that, I bring an abbreviated Book of Common Prayer. It´s got all the Psalms, and the Morning and Evening prayers in it too -- a daily personal guide and a real resource for when Christian worship breaks out along the Way.

I love to read, but I kinda lose capacity for it when I walk. I just don´t have the attention span required!

 

[Telluridewalker]

I started with two books in my pack beyond my guide (I can't remember their titles) imagining a lot of free time, but between walking, sleeping and eating (and asking locals where one walks, sleeps and eats), there just wasn't much time to kick back and read. Those books were jettisoned on my first "I packed what?" backpack purge.

 

[CaminoGen]

Read the land, its story through the wind, the earth and the Sun. Didn't read much but I listened a lot, to others and myself.

 

[tyrrek]

On my first Camino I just read El Pais, as I was still too attached to the world outside. However at least I knew that Bin Laden was dead, Prince William was married, and his sister-in-law has a nice bottom. Buen Camino!

 

[Abbeydore]

Nothing.......to busy walking or eating or asleep

 

[dmartin53]

I didn't bring my kindle which I didn't regret til about the last 10 days when I seemed to have more time on my hands. I was craving for something in English about that time. So I read the little pamphlet of the Gospels of St John's given to me by people running the Dutch albergue in Villamayor de Monjardin weeks before. I also stopped at Tracy Saunders place (House of Little Foxes) for 48 hours respite on my way to Muxia and Fisterra and relaxed, drinking tea and reading her novel, Pilgrimage to Heresy. Great read... just finishing it up now...downloaded it on my kindle when I got home.

I think if I do another camino or similar trip I will bring some reading material... My pack was only 6.5 kg... should have brought the kindle ( or the new iPad mini)

 

[ouroboros]

I knew from reading this forum that I would not have much time
or inclination for reading.

This was very true. My life was absorbed completely by the ways of the Way--
the routines, the peacefulness, the natural rhythms of life, sleeping, eating,
walking, some talking with others.

I did bring a tiny tome after much deliberation, which I dipped into a few times:

Always We Begin Again: The Benedictine Way of Living
by John McQuiston.
It was perfect.

 

[cecelia]

As I'm the kind of person who finds it too easy to lose myself in books, I chose not to read (except for my guidebook) or wire myself, but just to experience the camino and whatever it presented me. I wanted the camino experience to be the camino experience without me slipping off into unrelated worlds....There have always been such interesting people on my caminos that I never regretted not having a book. When I got to the airport I gravitated to a book about Isabella and Ferdinand's daughter who lived a troubled life all through the Burgos area and some of the other places we walked. It was a good transition piece because I was pretty blissed out by that time.
Buen camino to all - whether you choose to read or don't.

 

[Austin Val]

Where did you find your abbreviated Book of Common Prayer?

 

[majorspydr]

Just back. Brought my Kindle. Read Hape Kerlkings "I'm Off!"True classic. Highly recommend.Also a book recommend by two Pilgrims from Malta "Life of Pi". Some daily readings and prayers from Book of Common prayer. Re read part of "Pilgrim's Progress" Kindle was worth the weight.

 

[MontanaWendy]

I just returned from walking the Camino Frances, and then from Santiago to Finisterre.
I had my Brierley Guidebook (and was given his guidebook for the camino Finisterre) and I found it to be useful on many levels, despite its flaws.
I also took with me Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth. I bought it in Miami and started it on the way to Madrid. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to carry it with me. When I finished it, I started reading it again from the beginning. Like many here, I only read a page or two, sometimes only a paragraph or two, after writing in my journal each night before sleep.

 

[David]

"Of the Imitation of Christ " - my small leather-bound copy printed in 1899 (I prefer the older translations)

 

[camino07]

This year I took an Ebook for the first time while walking alone on the VDLP .There were very few English speakers so I managed to get through the Hunger Games Trilogy and a funny,informative book called Two Tortoises on the VDLP. On previous Caminos I have always carried a book and somehow managed to swap it with another on my way. Still had plenty of time to socialise and tour any interesting places I walked through.
Heather

 

[Labtails]

I really only read some local info about the variously towns or churches and such. After walking all day my brain felt fried. Reading a menu at dinner was all I could manage and then sleep was my priority.

 

[codecables]

Actually, I left the book I brought on the camino behind on the second day. To me, the time for exchanges and discussions with other pilgrims was more important than to read, and I barely had time to write.

 

[StuartM]

Reading helps me sleep but I didn't take any books. After a few nights insomnia I downloaded Treasure Island, The Man Who Would Be King and Travels in the Cevennes with a Donkey on to my phone when I found wifi.

I'd probably never have read them otherwise but because the Kindle versions were free I picked them and all three are brilliant. They are all tales of journeys so seemed appropriate.

 

[Green Tortuga]

I wound up reading a whopping 11 John Sandford books on my walk--most of those part of his Prey series. I just "discovered" that author shortly before I started and downloaded nearly all of his books to my Kindle before I left. And I'd start one, then I'd have a hard time putting it down! Most of the reading I did either during very long lunch breaks (2 to 4 hours) along the trail or late at night with a flashlight.

Occasionally I tried to read something other than John Sandford hoping I wouldn't find them quite as addictive (Sandford often interfered with my sleep!) including 1491, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (which I had NO problem putting down!), and a couple of unmemorable ones by Daniel Silva and Lawrence Block.

-- Ryan

 

[lindseh]

I read Albert Camus' "The Plague". It was one of those books that I had bought years ago and had started reading a few separate times but never made it past the second chapter. Maybe I'll bring 1984 this time... I'm sure I've read the first chapter at least 5 times by now...

In the first few days I had so many people to talk to and I was still on the learning curve with how to divide my time between napping and laundry and eating. But once I hit Logrono and was held up there for 3 days with tendonitis as other pilgrims came and went and my pilgrim family left me, I was very glad indeed to have an English novel to read.

This time I'm bringing my Kobo because there were quite a few days where I felt a little bored in the long afternoons after having finished walking so early. Also, I'll be in Europe for about 4 weeks off the Camino, so I'm sure I'll find time to fit in quite a bit of reading - particularly in planes, trains and automobiles.

Cheers,
Lindsey

 

[Susannafromsweden]

I read Albert Camus' "The Plague". It was one of those books that I had bought years ago and had started reading a few separate times but never made it past the second chapter.

Thank you, that was a good idea. I also got that book, and had to stop reading it as it bored me to death. It sure lived up to its name. If one takes a boring book, it will last all the camino.

 

[lindseh]

Thank you, that was a good idea. I also got that book, and had to stop reading it as it bored me to death. It sure lived up to its name. If one takes a boring book, it will last all the camino.

Ha! Right? I mean, I take one book with me and that's the one I pick?? Poor judgement indeed...

 

[jrosado1]

I'll be taking a pocket book of Pablo Neruda's love poems. I figure you can read poems over and over again, plus it's small and light.

And of course I also have my guidebook

 

[BenedicteOR]

I was planning on bringing Don Quixote as I thought it was very appropriate, but it is such large book I think it would be too much of a burden. I'm trying to think of an alternative now...

 

[Kanga]

I read lots on the Camino. Too many books to pick out a favourite, although I do recall first reading "The Life if Pi" on one camino. Also "Pillars of the Earth". Used to pick up and leave books at albergues and look for bookstores with stock in English. Then I discovered the joy of a Kindle. Much to my husbands delight, as he had to share carrying my books. Now I'm tempted to just use the Kindle app on an iPhone as I find it light and easy to read in bed. And I use it as my camera too. Downside is a bad screen in sunlight. If there is no time to read I'm going too fast. You can tell I'm a relaxed walker!

 

[Bouwmeester]

If there's some space left in my backpack, I intend to take my Joseph Campbell Companion with me (great subtitle: Reflections on the Art of Living). It's a selection of texts by the wonderful American mythologist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell) - useful and inspiring for many situations

 

[Anniesantiago]

This year I'm reading 'Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time' by Rick Hanson. I have it on my iPhone kindle. I like it because each chapter is short and he gives me things to think about all day. Once I switch up to the Frances I'm not sure about charging, but we will see.

 

[Phillypilgrim]

"The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" by Rachel Joyce,
"Little Bee" by Chris Cleave,
"The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski,
"Night Film" by Marisha Pessl
"The Long Walk" by Richard Bachman (AKA Stephen King).