The Pulitzers Reading List

Update: Feb 11, 2025
Well, I am finished. All of the books are read and reviewed. There are some books on the list that I could not easily source, but I am calling this one done.

Update: Feb 25, 2019
Ha, just so you know, I didn't make it in a single year. It is 8 years later and I am finally updating the website. I will taking up this chore again in 2019. Stay tuned.....

The Goal

In a single year (2011) read the entire list of novels that have won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Why?

Why not? I read a lot anyway. I typically read 200-250 books a year, so this is really not a stretch. And I get to read some good books.

The List

Here is the official list of winners from the Pulitzer website.

The Best of the Best

For you folks out there who don't have the time to read all the books (And who would want to?), here is my top ten list.

1. The Old Man and the Sea (1953)
2. A Bell for Adano (1945)
3. Gone With the Wind (1937)
4. Laughing Boy (1930)
5. To Kill a Mockingbird (1961)
6. The Caine Mutiny (1952)
7. All the Kings Men (1947)
8. The Good Earth (1932)
9. Lonesome Dove (1986)
10. Killer Angels (1975)

(Editors Note (2024): Why isn't Steinbeck on the list?, well, because 'Of Mice and Men' was published in 1937 competeing with 'Gone With the Wind'. Steinbeck and Hemingway are fabulous writers with lousy timing on some their best books. Mark Twain? Well he dies in 1910 before the Pulitzers get started, but Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer would have made it into the top 5 of my list. Read them! Also of note, Irving Stone ('The Agony and the Ecstasy') loses against Harper Lee in 1961.

(Editors Note (2025): More biting criticism. Lonesome Dove and The Goldfinch are the only books after 1980 that would have made it into the top 20. There were some great books written after 1980 (I've read 'em), but they don't make it to the prize lists. Steven King is a hell of a writer, but you will never see him on this list. Barbara Kingsolver is another ignored by the 'liter-a-choor' crowd.

The Reviews

I read 'em so you don't have to. Below is a list of quick reviews of each book I read. If I didn't read the book, there is no link to a review (click on the year). Some books I just couldn't easily get ahold of. I may in the future do a library search for some of the missing ones.

The Hugos

How do the best fiction novels of the year stack up with the best science fiction novels of the year? Check it out here .

A Postscript

(Editors Note: this was originally written in in 2011, I left it in for historical amusement.)

You didn't really think that the list was all that I read this year? If nothing else, I am a voracious and onmivorous reader. I never keep track, but below is a sampling of other random things.

• Anathem by Neal Stephenson
• The Great Stink by Clair Clark
• Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman
• SD Specifications Part 1 Physical Layer Simplified Specification Version 2.00 by Technical Committee SD Card Association
• The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• KFD840 Software Design Requirements, Phase I by David English (I write too!)
• Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
• Murder at the ABA by Issac Asimov
• Startide Rising and the Uplift War by David Brin
• The first two John Rain books by Barry Eisler
• Building Embedded Linux Systems by Karim Yaghmour, etc.
• Drunkards Walk by Leonard Mlodinow
• At Play in the Fields of the Lord by Peter Matthiessen

2025 Postscript

The obvious question to ask is why didn't I get the books read in a single year. The answer is not what you would expect. I think that most poeple would be daunted with the prospect of reading 100+ books. But I read far more than that in any given year. What ended up causing a multi year effort were two causes: a) sourcing the books. Just going to the library and getting these books is a PITA. Around 3/4 of the books on this list had to have 'holds' put on them because the library didn't have them. When I started, I used 3 libraries in Beaverton, and in the later years, The Dalles library. I was continually surprised to find a library like the main Beaverton library would not stock Pulitzer prize books. b) My overwhelming laziness. Since it was difficult to get the books quick enough to keep me interested, I got bored and hence the 2 long breaks between bursts of reading.

What's next? After doing the Hugo comparison list, I realize I am missing some good SF books. I have a third or more of the Hugos on my shelf at home, but I should get reading the rest.

Happy reading!.

The Pulitzers Reading List