This post was submitted by Rocky

Hey hey, everybody. So… it looks like I’m in charge of this for the time being. What do you say? Let’s get silly!

Quick story. My sophomore year of college, my roommate Adam and I got the worst housing lottery number in the history of the world and, after being told that there literally were no more rooms in any of Columbia’s dorms, ended up getting placed in an (admittedly gorgeous) suite over at Barnard with four other total strangers. It actually ended up working out (especially after Adam and I had a fight in like November, he moved out, and baseball pitcher/walking, talking Abercrombie bag Terrence moved in. Loved. Him.), but at first it was a little dicey, so one night we all got wasted in our room and I made up a little get to know you game. Since it doesn’t have a name, I’m going to simply call it “Top Three,” and the idea is somebody throws out a question like “In order, what are your top three favorite [blanks] and why?” but the trick is you only get one precious sentence to sum up your undoubtedly complicated relationship with each of the items on your list. It’s actually much harder than it sounds, but the idea to is spark a conversation. And wouldn’t you know it, by the end of the evening we were all wasted on tequila, singing Christina Aguilera at the top of our lungs, and totally in love.

Wanna play?

Oh, good!

So for your survey this week, riddle me this: In order, what are your top three favorite books and why? But remember you only get one sentence for each one! (And run-ons don’t count, but semi-colons definitely do!)

Got a book suggestion? Feel free to leave it in the comments. Oh, and each of our suggestions comes equipped with a handy link on over to Lambda Rising. Should you feel so inclined why not head on over and pick something up. In the meantime, here’s what your humble TNG staff had to say. Do it to it!

Zack, Editor-in-Chief:

1) Great Gatsby: I feel like everyone has one of two obligatory favorite books, and since I don’t like Catcher in the Rye, I’ll go with this one.

2) Paul Auster, City of Glass. Reading this book kicked off two years of compulsively reading Paul Auster and I can say certainly that nothing else he wrote is as good as these three interlocking, abstract mysteries.

3) Larry Kramer, Faggots. I’d be remiss not to include a gay book here, and this satire of gay sex culture in the 70s should be required reading for anyone whose ever put a dick in their ass, or vice versa.

Michael, Co-founder and primary contributor:

1) Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein: Helped me find compromise between science and God.

2) Franny and Zooey – JD Salinger: Helped me realize it was okay to stay in bed crying for 48 hours.

3) Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut: Helped me realize I wasn’t crazy.

Rocky, Managing Editor:

I read mostly non-fiction, yet my three faves are really sad novels. I never really thought about that. Anyway…

1. Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Somewhere in there it contains the meaning of life, which is, of course, that there is no meaning of life, so you might as well get on with it and do the best you can.

2. James Baldwin, Another Country – Writing that’s absolutely breathtaking in its incisiveness, brutality and complete, utter, earth-shattering beauty, plus a lot of gay shit and Manhattan porn, which both get me every time.

3. John Updike, Rabbit, Run – I grow older, yet my emotional age stays the same, and often I find myself tripping over my inferiority complex and falling face first into my superiority complex, which is kind of funny, but no good; I hate to admit it, but I’m glad someone smarter than me reached into my brain and put those constants into words.

Jolly, Events Editor:

A Separate Peace by John Knowles – Because it taught me not to hate coming-of-age tales and I basically lived the plot of the book with a male classmate while reading it in high school.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac – Because I am a cliche and I like that in real life Kerouac actually hated driving.

Yoga for People Who Can’t Bothered to Do It by Geoff Dyer – Because I desperately want to travel the world with a hot British man whose life is infinitely more interesting than mine.

Hans, Photo Editor:

1) Truman Capote, In Cold Blood

2) Voltaire, Candide

3) Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

Shit happens (1, 2, 3), but life could always be worse (2), so love what you’ve got and enjoy the ride (2, 3).

Andrew, Marketing Director:

1. Catcher in the Rye- My desire for a something less than ‘normal’ upbringing left me dreaming in the shadows of this colorfully jaded novel. (I know it’s cliche, but i don’t care!)

2. Me Talk Pretty Someday (Sedaris) – It makes me laugh until no end and the stories of his crazy life make want to be less reserved about trying new things.

3. The Scarlet Letter – Because something about a dirty harlot in a puritan society flaunting her nasty just gets me slightly aroused.

Matt’, Staff Contributor:

Because reading has long been a favorite pastime of mine, I find it difficult to narrow down to three my most beloved books, yet undoubtedly at the top of the pile is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows because it represents the struggle between good and evil, between selfishness and selflessness, a story of hope and love, a book which I can’t stop re-reading, and the capstone of a saga I wish would never end.

In second place, I would position just about anything written by Vonnegut, but naming my most cherished is again a difficult proposition; however, I think that Slaughterhouse Five is Vonnegut’s crowning achievement because of its criticisms and satire of so much that we take for granted – the best books are those that make one rethink his or her situation, and this is certainly one.

Rounding out the top three is The Hobbit, the book that started off Tolkien’s saga of adventure and perhaps the first “adult” book I ever read; this book opened up new worlds for my young mind and set me on the path to having a book with me at all times.

Chris, Theatre Editor:

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I’m the last person to love a war novel, but not only is this biting satire of human nature and government a hysterical and chilling story, it’s a dazzling look into a book’s narrative structure and potential.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. While much of this classic can be downright difficult to slog through, reading this philosophical beauty was an incredibly fulfilling experience which truly changed the way I behave and think.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. In my experience, you’ll cry for the last 20 pages of this touching epic and if you happen to finish this book on an airplane, one person sitting next to you will think you’re a little nuts while the other person next to you will pat you on the shoulder, hand you a tissue, cry a little as well and say “Oh, I know. Believe me, I know!”

Jean, Staff Contributor:

1. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli – This book helps me remember that when you are young anything is possible, and that the same can be true as we age.

2. Young Men and Fire by Norman MacClean – Simply one of the most well crafted and multilayered pieces of nonfiction I have ever read.

3. The Hours by Michael Cunningham — A reflection of Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway, the book is a unique adaptation of an incredible novel.

Jack, Staff Contributor:

My first would definitely be Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, a great work of contemporary literature tackling race politics in Great Britain and featuring a quirky and delicious writing style that melts my heart every time despite a mediocre ending. The second is Tom Boellstorff’s The Gay Archipelago: Sexuality and Nation in Indonesia, which I read while working in Southeast Asia and introduced me to the academic study of sexuality and LGBT people in combination with my love for Asian and Postcolonial Studies. And finally, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth and my favorite installment in the fantasy series that defined my particular brand of geekery for this generation and which I love in particular for developing several of the supporting characters and for making me weep at the conclusion.

Kareem, Staff Contributor:

1. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. The characters are so gut-wrenchingly tragic, the scene on top of the Empire State Building still gives me chills, and it introduced me to my first gay literary hero.

2. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. I wanted to live inside the story, if only for the absurd dialogue (“We all ought to make sacrifices for literature. Look at me. I’m going to England without a protest. All for literature.”) and the copious amount of Spanish wine consumed from bota bags.

3. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer taught me that beauty can emerge from even the most destructive situations and that hope knows no age limit.

Rohan, Staff Contributor:

Due to the fact that I am functioning illiterate and cannot finish a book, here are 3 books that I want to read because they look awesome.

1. From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens – 50 Cent. A field guide I can use so I never get shot.

2. Confessions of a Video Vixen – Karrine “Superhead” Steffans. l always wanted to be a video hoe, so this would help me realize my dreams.

3. A Night Without Armor: Poems – Jewel. These are real “Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl” that speak to my soul; she could be my chicken soup.

Ben K., Staff Contributor:

1) One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez- Marquez’s artful way of storytelling combined with his gift for the written word to illustrate the history of his native Columbia is a monument of great fiction.

2) Music for Chameleons, Truman Capote- While nearly impossible for me to pick any of his works above the others, I am drawn to Capote’s gift of florid writing in the punch of a short story or essay, illustrated so well in this collection.

3) A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway- Hemingway’s deceivingly simple writing style is on beautiful display in this retelling of his life in 1920s Paris.

Adam, Chicago Editor:

1. A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice. It helped me realize you can rise above and become better than the events that happened in your life that could have destroyed you.

2. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Hilarious book that shows intelligence has various categories and mostly depends on how you use it to further yourself.

3. How I Paid For College by Marc Acito. A book that truly illustrates the phrase that I live by: “Friends are fate’s apology for family.”