Just in time for the Fourth of July, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite American writers, of past and present. This list is by no mean exhaustive, but just a starting off point. Who are your favorites?

The Classics
Sure, these may be the books students have to read in school but they are also the ones we love to re-read as adults! Rafting with Huck Finn down the Mississippi, crying when Beth dies in Little Women and getting goosebumps when Edgar Allan Poe’s Raven comes knocking.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Little Women by Louise May Alcott

Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

The 20th Century
The beginning of the 20th Century saw the US sending troops to WWI, dance away in the roaring Twenties and then struggle through the Great Depression. For some reason, everyone was also always moving to Paris. Luckily, they all also wrote some of our most beloved books.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Falkner’s brilliant take on modernism and stream-of-consciousness takes us through the lives of four intersecting characters in the Deep South.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Taking its title from the Robert Burn’s poem To A Mouse (“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley.”) is the heartbreaking tale of George and Lennie, of desperate migrant workers in the Great Depression, and a tortured friendship. Why did you do it George!?

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Heminway
A dashing, injured lieutenant falls in love with his British nurse in this, Papa Hemingway’s bleakest novel. For this novel, Hemingway drew on his own experiences in war (as well as his notorious relationships with the ladies) and solidified his reputation to many as THE American writer of his generation.

The New Heavy Weights

Some of our favorite contemporary authors explore the depths of the human condition with lyrical beauty and grace. With impressive back catalogues, each book is better than the last and we can’t wait to see what they do next!

Mudwoman by Joyce Carol Oates
The latest novel from the prolific Joyce Carol Oates explores the high price of success in the life of one woman – the first female president of a lauded ivy league institution—and her hold upon her self-identity in the face of personal and professional demons.

The New Republic by Lionel Shriver
Having already written about violence in teenagers (We Need to Talk about Kevin) and the failures of the health care system (So Much for That), Lionel Shriver’s latest novel, The New Republic, tackles terrorism.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Joan Didion’s extremely personal memoir of love and loss, The Year of Magical Thinking is heartbreaking and illuminating both at once.

Children’s Books

Some of the books we read as kids…and still read to wee worms today!

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
The book that made a generation of kids (including director Wes Anderson) want to run away and live at the Museum of Natural History.

Nancy Drew Series
Forget CSI, Law & Order and all the other modern gumshoes. Nancy Drew is the detective we would call.

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
If your child suddenly stops eating bacon, it’s probably because of this amazing tale of Charlotte the spider and her crafty plan to save Wilbur the pig from slaughter.

Who We’re Reading this Summer
Our summer reading lists have quite a few Americans we’re looking forard

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
After a ‘Rapture-like’ event, an American down comes to terms with how to deal with life after the end of the world.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
“Marriage can be a real killer.” Told in chapters alternating between the perspective of a husband and wife, Gillian Flynn’s latest is a thrilling and terrifying story of a marriage gone very, very wrong.

The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger
“A story of love and marriage, secrets and betrayals, that takes us from the backyards of America to the back alleys and villages of Bangladesh.” Nell Freudenberger’s latest novel is a bitingly funny and powerful take on arranged marriage and the hiccups that ensue when East meets West.