The election results tonight is a nail-biter, and I have been trying to distract myself by looking for book lists. A list of favorite books by a favorite author – Ann Patchett – caught my eye.  Patchett, author of Commonwealth, also owns an independent bookstore in Tennessee – Parnassus Books.  Parade magazine asked her to pick seventy-five of her favorite books from each decade for the past seventy-five years. You can see the complete list at Ann Patchett’s Seventy Five Books.

I picked one book from each decade from her list:

• 1940’s – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
• 1950’s – Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
• 1960’s – Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
• 1970’s – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• 1990’s – The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• 2000’s – Old Filth by Jane Gardam
• 2010s – The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St. Aubyn

I did not forget the 1980’s; none of the books listed were among my favorites. I would have picked Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively.

Need more lists?

Real Simple Magazine has 31 authors pick their favorites:  Authors Pick Their Favorites

The Strand Bookstore has The Author’s Bookshelf: The Author’s Bookshelf 

   Right now I am reading Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton, the book that inspired the Broadway musical.  Hopefully, its 731 pages will get me through this night.