All-time Top Five

So, getting ready for the launch of next book THE WHOLE OF THE MOON (https://www.rushleaming.com/) in early fall! Learned a lot on my first go round in 2016-17 with debut novel DON'T GO, RAMANYA. Working with PR firms to plan a campaign and that includes bio/interviews and the obligatory question: what are your literary influences?

I love making lists of my favorites of everything: books, music, movies, food, TV etc. They are ever-changing of course, but my all-time top five books are pretty set in stone. Here they are in no particular order:

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE Gabriel Garcia Marquez

--Mesmerizing, hypnotic blend of magical realism. Yes it's tricky keeping track of all the names, but worth it.

THE SUN ALSO RISES Ernest Hemingway

--The Lost Generation. Europe between the wars. Exotic. Part Travelogue. Part Cautionary tale. Big Doomed romance. The first real "grown-up" book that I read. 

1984 George Orwell

--The original dystopian tale. The grandaddy of them all and still searing, powerful, prophetic and relevant today.

THE QUIET AMERICAN Graham Greene

--Stunning, haunting political thriller. You can read it in a day and never forget it.

TROPIC OF CANCER Henry Miller

--The original anti-novel novel (before On The Road). More unbridled bounding across Europe. Hobo poets and bohemian philosophers. Salacious, scandalous, hilarious, poignant

What are yours? Email me back: leamingrush@gmail.com