#95 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The richly-formed cast of characters in this book gives the reader new insight into the personalities of people in their own life, despite many changes in manners and mores. Elizabeth, thoughtful and opinionated, never speaks without thinking, but also never hesitates to tell people the truth. Mr. Darcy, handsome and brooding, disdains common courtesy, until Elizabeth knocks him from his high horse. Mrs. Bennett, Elizabeth’s mother, is the opposite of her reflective daughter, unashamed that her only concern is marrying off her five daughters to any bachelor who comes along. Beautiful Jane, boy-crazy Lydia, sycophantic Collins, spoiled Lady Catherine, and affable Bingley all help to make this book an enlightening read.

#94 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

Adventures…nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things that make you late for dinner. So says Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who lives a comfortable life in his deluxe hole in the ground. But adventure comes knocking when Gandalf the wizard thrusts a perilous quest onto the reluctant homebody. Bilbo journeys to the Lonely Mountain with thirteen dwarves, to retrieve their dragon-stolen treasure. He soon finds himself dodging trolls and captured by goblins, rescued by eagles and battling spiders as big as Volkswagen Bugs. Will he ever see his cozy hobbit hole again? Either way, this adventure has made Bilbo a better hobbit than he ever could have been, warming his well-combed toes by the fire.

#93 Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor

Luxury cars, swimming pools and caviar. The people of Linden Hills have “made it”, but at what price? Willie Mason finds out. Willie, a thoughtful, observant young man, lives in Putney Wayne, a poor neighborhood nearby. For him, Linden Hills is a dream with its palatial homes all owned by black people. But soon the dream becomes his nightmare. The residents of Linden Hills care only about “making it,” and the further down the hill they move, towards the most desirable sections, the further they sink into corruption and depravity. Luther Nedeed, the perpetual landlord of Linden Hills, relishes each devastating fall, and holds the key to the neighborhood’s terrible secrets.

#92 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Orphaned and condemned to a life of poverty and misery before drawing his first breath, Oliver Twist makes his way into our hearts. Brutally beaten by those assigned to care for him, Oliver miraculously survives to see his ninth birthday, when he flees to London. There he falls in with a gang of thieves, and soon the innocent Oliver learns the art of pickpocketing. Throughout the book, Dickens protests against the horrific conditions of the poor and critiques England’s system of “helping” poor people with workhouses and prisons. But it isn’t called Oliver Twist for nothing. There are more cases of mistaken identity, underhanded evil-doing and secret love than a soap-opera.

#91 The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino

Pre-teen rebellion reaches new heights in this whimsical novel. One evening when Cosimo, a young Italian baron, finds snails as dinner’s main course, he says “no” to the escargot and takes to the trees, resolving to never come down. His family thinks at first that his escape will end when he gets cold or hungry or lonely, but the determined Cosimo soon adapts to life above ground. He learns to hunt, bathe and even answer nature’s call from the trees. He grows into a man respected by all and his arboreal world is almost heaven. Suddenly, Cosimo falls. Not from a tree, but in love, and is brought swiftly, harshly back to earth.

#90 The Best of Simple by Langston Hughes

1950s Harlem. Two men walk into a bar.

1^st Man: How are things?

2^nd Man: Terrible. Wife won’t pay for divorce, my main-girl actin’ cold, side-girl drinks up my money, landlady wants rent, my bunions hurt, and me bein’ a Negro, white people won’t let me get ahead.

1^st Man: What are you going to do?

2^nd Man: Get you to buy me a glass of beer. At least there will be a head on that.

Jesse B. Semple, the affable Simple character of Hughes’ stories, would be that second man. Uneducated, but not simple-minded, Simple muses on everything from the A-bomb to the A-Train— simply, humorously, talkin’ the blues.

#89 The Stranger by Albert Camus

“The sun was in my eyes,” is an excuse one gives for not catching a ball in the outfield. In this novel, however, it amounts to Monsieur Meursault’s defense for committing murder. It was hot and bright the day Meursault, a Frenchman living in Algeria, shot a young Arab five times on the beach. Perhaps Meursault was suffering from heatstroke. The strange thing is not only this flimsy defense; it is Meursault himself. His mother’s death, a proposal of marriage, the fact that he has killed a man, it’s all the same to him, for he feels no emotion. Meursault’s indifference ultimately saves him, though not from the hand of justice.

.