Life On A B-I7

I had to really coax Polly to give me this recipe. This is a recipe that you can make in cast iron (my preferred method) and works well in the campground. It tastes even better in the wild than it does at home. There is an homage here for my Irish friend. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble picking it out. I’ve always had a bit of a beef with the Irish because they keep the good Guinness in the homeland and they send the shitty Guinness to America. I suppose in a lot of ways we deserve that.

Ingredients

These ingredients are for starters, once the beans come up to temperature in the cast iron, you can adjust the ingredients to suit the flavor profile you are shooting for.

• Pinto, Black, White and Kidney beans in the can, rinsed and drained.
• 3 or 4 Kosher Dogs cut in medallions
• 1/2 can of Guinness
• 1/4 C Molasses
• 1/2 C Ketchup
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 C Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 Yellow Onion cubed and sautéed with 4 cloves of chopped garlic
• Dash of olive oil
• 1 tsp smoked or sweet paprika
• 1/4 C of your favorite BBQ Sauce

Ya, that’s a lot of ingredients, but nothing good comes easily, even in the campground.

Directions

Mix and cook. It doesn’t take a bunch of charcoal, just a few cubes on the lid and a few underneath. If you want to add more protein, Sauté some nice sausage sliced in the diagonal and add to the pot wile simmering.

This recipe uses similar ingredients to the Baked Beans recipe but it does not use BBQ Sauce or Molasses, the result is surprisingly different. This recipe yields 5 or 6 Joes. Most people if they are hungry are going to want 2 of these babies!

Ingredients

• Butter and Olive Oil for sautéing the Onions and Green Pepper
• 1 lb Ground Beef
• 2 large Italian Sausages, casing removed
• 1 Green Pepper chopped
• Medium Yellow Onion chopped
• 4 cloves of Garlic
• 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 2/3 C Ketchup
• 1/2 Can Guinness
• 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Yellow Mustard
• 3/4 tsp Chili Powder
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Instructions

1. Sauté hamburger and sausage, drain.
2. Sauté onions and green pepper using butter and oil, add garlic at the end of the cooking time.
3. Light charcoal
4. Combine meats in Dutch Oven and add remaining ingredients.
5. Cook using 10 coals on top and 5 - 8 coals on the bottom

Cooking time is about 30 minutes, but could be longer to reach desired consistence. If mixture is too moist, add corn meal to thicken.

Serve over toasted Potato Buns.

This is the perfect accompaniment to the Dutch Oven Baked Beans. It is important to use a parchment lined Dutch Oven to prevent the bread from absorbing flavors from the previous oven use.

Ingredients

• 3/4 C corn meal
• 1-1/4 C flour
• 1/4 C sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 C buttermilk
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/4 C vegtable oil
• Honey butter for topping (optional)

Directions

Measure and mix dry ingredients at home to simplify preparation.

1. Preheat Dutch Oven to 350. 21 briquettes. 14 on top, 7 underneath.
2. Mix all ingredients in preheated, parchment lined Dutch Oven.
3. Cook 30 minutes (approximately) rotating the oven and lid 1/4 turn in opposite directions every few minutes.

A great camping desert. For deserts in a Dutch Oven, always line with parchment paper.

Ingredients

• 1/2 C butter
• 1 C brown sugar
• 1 (20 oz) can peach slices (enough to cover bottom of oven)
• 1/2 C vegetable oil
• juice from peach slices plus enough water to make 1-1/4 C
• 1 yellow cake mix
• 1 box cheesecake instant pudding mix
• 4 eggs beaten

Directions

Use 12” Dutch Oven. Melt butter in bottom of dutch oven. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of butter. Place pineapple slices on top of butter brown sugar mixture. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and spoon into dutch oven. Cook with 6 coals underneath and 18 coals on top. Place serving plate over dutch oven and invert onto plate.

This isn’t the type of thing you would normally associate with camp cooking, but why not? This is typically made in a 12” Dutch Oven.

Ingredients

Filling

• 1 (29 oz) can pumpkin
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 3 eggs
• 1 C brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 C evaporated milk

Topping

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1 C butter

Directions

1. Mix filling ingredients
2. Cut butter into cake mix
3. Pour filling into parchment lined Dutch Oven
4. Sprinkle topping over the filling
5. Bake for 1 hour (or more) 8 coals on the bottom, 16 on the top

Serve with Cool Whip, of course.

These are finger licking good. A 12” Dutch Oven is recommended for this recipe.

Ingredients

• 3/4 C sugar
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1/3 C butter
• 1/2 C peanut butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 C flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 12 oz milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Cream butter and peanut butter with sugars.
2. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well
3. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt
4. Stir into wet mixture
5. Spread into 12” Dutch Oven
6. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top
7. Bake at 350, swirl chips after 5 minutes of baking, bake 20 minutes more

Cool thoroughly before serving. See cast iron baking temperature chart.

It’s hard to beat a good beef stroganoff in the wild.

Ingredients

• 1 medium yellow onion chopped
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1 C water
• 3 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 C sour cream
• 1 (12 oz) bag egg noodles
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Brown meat, onion and spices in Dutch Oven
2. Mix water, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and sour cream
3. Combing meat and sauce mixture
4. Pour half into Dutch Oven
5. Spread noodles evenly on top
6. Pour remaining mixture over top, moistening all the noodles
7. If additional moisture is needed, add beer
8. Cover and cook 30-45 minutes, 10 coals on bottom, 15 coals on top

Note: My assistant (who knows more about cooking than I do) tells me this recipe could use celery salt, more garlic salt and some Everyday Seasoning.

Nothing better than crispy little baked potatoes to go along with your casserole. These guys are sure to please.

Ingredients

• 24 oz bag small red potatoes cut in half
• 1/2 stick butter (or less)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp Lawyer’s Seasoning Salt

Directions

1. Melt butter (or slightly less than called for)
2. Add spices and herbs
3. Coat potatoes with butter, spice, herb mixture
4. Put potatoes into preheated Dutch Oven
5. Cook at 450 until crispy

If doubling the recipe, it’s better to use two 10” Dutch Ovens than it is to overfill a 12” Dutch Oven.

Use either 10” or 12” Dutch Oven. This recipe bakes up very nicely but it should be allowed to cool before serving.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Melt butter in melting pot add sugar to incorporate
2. Mix dry ingredients
3. Best eggs
4. Fold butter/sugar mixture and eggs into dry mixture
5. Spread into parchment lined Dutch Oven
6. Dab bits of peanut butter here and there on the top
7. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top (optional)

Bake 15 to 25 minutes. For 10” oven use 7 coals on the bottom, 14 coals on the top. For 12” oven use 8 on the bottom, 17 on the top. Cool before cutting.

Queso in the afternoon with chips is a real treat in the campground. You don’t just open a package and throw it into a pot. This one takes a fair amount of skill and care in the preparation. This is a real treat. Dip the chips directly in the Dutch Oven.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup finely diced white onion
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 4 oz can fire roasted diced green chilis drained
• 1/4 cup canned diced tomatoes (drained)
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/3 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ancho chili powder
• 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
• Dash of cayenne pepper for a spicier queso, optional
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/3 tsp table salt plus additional to taste as needed
• 12 oz can full-fat evaporated milk
• 8 oz freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese see note
• Corn chips for serving

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large pot or skillet
2. Add onion and cook until softened and translucent
3. Add garlic and cook until fragrant then add tomatoes and chilis and cook until well-combined
4. Add minced garlic, diced Roma tomato (or canned), fire roasted diced green chilis
5. Sprinkle cornstarch over the ingredients and use a spatula to stir and cook until absorbed and no lumps remain
6. Add cumin, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, pepper, and salt
7. Gradually drizzle evaporated milk into the pot while whisking. Cook, stirring or whisking, until milk is completely combined, warmed, and slightly thickened
8. Turn heat to low (remove most of the coals) and add shredded cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and completely combined. Taste-test and add additional spices as needed.

I copied this right from the website Every Day Dutch Oven Cooking. I think this is going to be a good one.

Forget the grill this weekend, for your Memorial Day cook out why not try these Baked Hot Dogs in your dutch oven? I was so intrigued by this recipe when I saw it, one of my favorite ways to eat a hot dog is with a soft, steamed roll. By baking the hot dogs with all the toppings together, everything is wonderfully heated through and piping hot at the same time. I thought maybe the rolls would burn in spots but they were perfectly baked, warm inside and a little crispy on the outside.

Ingredients

• 8 hot dogs
• 8 hot dog buns
• 1 14 oz can chili with beans
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1-2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• Mayonnaise
• Mustard
• Sweet Relish

Directions

1. Lightly oil or spray Dutch Oven
2. Spread the inside of each hot dog bun with mayo, mustard, and sweet relish
3. Fill the hot dogs and place side by side in the oven
4. Top each dog with chili, cheese and onion
5. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes
6. Remove with large spoon or and spatula

This recipe is best made in a cast iron skillet on a Camp Chief stove. No need for charcoal or a Dutch Oven (although that is always an option). I like making this on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Ingredients

• 3 - 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth
• 1 - 26 ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 - 10.75 ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 2 chicken breasts diced and grilled
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 bell pepper chopped
• 1 tsp seasoning salt
• 18 ounces egg noodles

Directions

1. Saute onions, garlic, and peppers
2. Grill chopped chicken breast
3. Add liquid ingredients and seasoning
4. Simmer to let flavors develop
5. Add noodles and cook until tender
6. Enjoy

10” Dutch Oven

12” Dutch Oven

I love this recipe not just for the classic taste, but also for the slight savoriness that the rosemary brings to the recipe.

Filling

• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup water
• 2 large sprigs fresh rosemary plus 1 tsp. finely snipped fresh rosemary
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 cups cored, peeled and sliced Granny Smith apples
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ cup butter
• 1 recipe Rosemary Pastry, see recipe
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Directions

• Step 1 For rosemary syrup, in small microwave-safe bowl combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the water, and 2 sprigs rosemary. Microwave, uncovered, on 100% power (high) for 2 minutes. Let stand 30 minutes; remove rosemary sprigs and discard.
• Step 2 In small bowl combine brown sugar, flour, salt and 1 teaspoon finely snipped rosemary; set aside. In very large bowl toss apples with lemon juice. Add brown sugar mixture; toss to coat. Add whipping cream, vanilla, and rosemary syrup.
• Step 3 In large skillet melt butter over medium heat; add apple mixture. Cook over medium heat for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Step 4 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On lightly floured surface, slightly flatten one Rosemary Pastry ball. Roll it from center to edges into a circle 12 inches in diameter. Wrap pastry circle around the rolling pin. Unroll pastry into a 9-inch pie pan or plate. Trim pastry even with rim of pie pan; spoon in apple mixture.
• Step 5 Roll remaining ball of pastry into a circle 12 inches in diameter. Cut large slits in pastry. Place pastry circle on apple filling; trim to 1/2 inch beyond edge of pan. Fold top pastry under bottom pastry. Crimp edge as desired. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar. To prevent over-browning, cover edge of pie with foil. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake 35 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 20 to 25 minutes more or until fruit is tender and filling is bubbly. Cool on wire rack; serve slightly warm. Makes 10 servings.

Pastry

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon finely snipped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 cup shortening, chilled
• ⅓ cup ice water
• 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

Directions

• Step 1 In a food processor combine all-purpose flour, salt, sugar and fresh rosemary leaves. Add shortening. Pulse until mixture resembles cornmeal. In a small bowl combine ice water, egg yolk, and vinegar. Add liquid mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, to flour mixture and pulse until a soft dough forms. Divide in half; form into balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes.

This is a yummy recipe that you can make in a campground and it tastes terrific. It satisfies the urge for a salad when camping.

Ingredients

Slaw

• 3 C grated cabbage
• 2 C grated apple (Granny Smith or Rainier or 1 of each)
• 1 C grated carrot
• 1 or 2 chopped green onions

Dressing

• 1/3 C mayo
• 1/4 C brown sugar (or slightly less)
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• dash of salt and pepper

Directions

1. Grate and combine slaw ingredients
2. Squeeze out excess moisture with paper towel
3. Mix dressing
4. Add dressing (not all of it)

Don’t mis all the dressing into the slaw to start with. Reserve the remainder for those that want a bit wetter salad.

Using a Kitchen Aid stand mixer is the quickest, easiest, and most foolproof way to make pie crust.

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoons (3 ounces or 85 grams) very cold water
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup ice
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces or 227 grams) very cold unsalted butter
• 2 ½ cups (11.25 ounces or 319 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

It’s best to use ingredients straight from the refrigerator. Slice the cold butter and freeze it for 5 minutes is recommended. Mix the water, vinegar, and ice mixture and keep it refrigerated while you measure out the dry ingredients.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter all at once and beat on low until the mixture has the texture of a coarse meal for about 3 minutes. Add 6 tablespoons of water from the water-vinegar-ice mixture and beat until the dough clumps around the paddle.

If the dough seems too dry, add more liquid from the ice water mixture 1 teaspoon at a time.

Quickly knead the dough into a rough ball then divide the dough into two even halves, forming them into a flat disc. Wrap each portion tightly in plastic wrap and flatten into a small disc. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Helen Adkins’ Orange Rolls. This is a very special treat that Mom would make. As a kid, this was one of my favorite things that she made.

Dough

• 2 packages dry yeast
• 1/2 C warm water
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1-1/4 C milk
• 1/2 C butter
• 2 eggs beater
• 5 C flour (or a little more)
• 1 tsp salt

Filling

• 1/2 C butter softened (or a little more)
• 3/4 C sugar (or a little more)
• grated peel of two oranges (orange part only)

Directions

• Dissolve yeast in warm water (105 to 115 degrees). Add 1/2 cup sugar. Set aside.
• Scald milk (180 degrees) add butter and stir to melt. Pour into a large mixing bowl and cool to lukewarm (105 to 115 degrees).
• Stir eggs and yeast mixture into the large mixing bowl. Combine flour and salt and slowly add to egg, milk, yeast mixture, add flour until it becomes too stiff to stir.
• Turn out onto a floured surface and kneed any remaining flour in by hand. (It may take slightly more then 5 cups of flour to being the dough to the correct consistency.)
• Form the dough into a ball and place into a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let rise at room temperature for about one hour.
• Punch dough down and refrigerate covered for another hour.
• Place dough onto a floured surface and roll out into a thin rectangle. Spread filling mixture evenly over dough. Roll up and cut crosswise into 3/4” slices. Place in muffin pans.
• Let rise until double. Bake in 375-425 oven for 10-15 minutes.

I handed out this recipe card to all the guests at Mom’s Memorial.

This is not your mother’s rice pudding. I find it especially delicious. Don’t be tempted to prepare the rice first in a rice cooker, that is best done over the stove like mom used to do.

Ingredients

• 3/4 C white rice
• 1-1/2 C water
• 2 C coconut milk (Unsweetened)
• 1/3 C (or less) Muscovado brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg beaten
• 2/3 C golden raisins
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Cook rice until tender. Add 1-1/2 C coconut milk, brown sugar, and salt. Continue cooking over medium heat until thick and creamy. Remove from stove. Stir in remaining coconut milk. Temper egg and add to pudding mixture stirring constantly. Stir in butter and vanilla until combined.

The secret to this recipe is the coconut milk and the Muscovado brown sugar. Muscovado brown sugar is less refined than normal brown sugar and has more molasses in it. Along with the coconut milk, It adds a unique flavor to the pudding. These two ingredients arguably make this recipe healthier than your mother’s rice pudding.

Try not to eat it all in one sitting…

Robert Mueller

Trump posted on social media after the announcement of Mueller’s death:

“Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead.”

Robert Mueller’s contribution to American national security is undisputed. He led the FBI for 12 years after 9/11 and transformed the agency from one focused on domestic crime to one whose primary role was preventing foreign terrorism here at home. He worked for presidents of both parties and his loyalty to America was never questioned, until Trump.

Trump’s statement is not only not Presidential, a departure from all norms of Presidential decorum. It is insensitive, profane and irresponsible. It’s the sort of comment you would expect from a criminal.

Stoic Thought of the Day — Day 163

If you are inclined to look at someone’s failings and hold that against them, look at your own failings first. Be as forgiving of those people as you are of yourself. That is the only way you can grow to understand them better — and understand yourself better.

Books I Enjoyed in 2025

Joy Ride by Kristen Jokinen
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Stuck by Yoni Appelbaum
How Emotionally Mature Are You? by The School of Life
Turning to Stone by Marcia Bjornerud
Greek Philosophy by Helen Gagatsu
Merlins Tour of the Universe by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
The Cat Who Taught Zen by James Norbury
My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday
The Hollow Crown by Eliot A. Cohen
Walking in Wonder by Adam Segel-Moss (Cliff Dancer)
Raising Hare A Memoir by Chloe Dalton
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
On Quality by Robert M. Pirsig
How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One by Stanley Fish
Abbey in America Edited by John A. Murray
Shadows on the Koyukuk by Sidney Huntington
Flaubert A Life by Geoffrey Wall

Great American Novels

Here is a collection of great American novels. What constitutes a great novel is largely a matter for the reader to decide. I hope that after I have worked my way through this list (ambitious) I will have found most or all to have been worth the effort. I have no idea how long it will take to accomplish this task. All I can do is try my best. I know there will be distractions and side-trips along the way. There are too many good books out there to stick exclusively to a single list. Inspiration always plays a role in selecting the next read.I will do my best to work my way through these. I’m looking forward to the journey.

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

1925

An American Tragedy

Theodore Dreiser

1925

The Making of Americans

Gertrude Stein

1925

Death Comes for the Archbishop

Willa Cather

1927

A Farewell to Arms

Ernest Hemingway

1929

Passing

Nella Larsen

1929

The Sound and the Fury

William Faulkner

1929

Absalom, Absalom!

William Faulkner

1936

Nightwood

Djuna Barnes

1936

East Goes West

Younghill Kang

1937

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston

1937

U.S.A.

John Dos Passos

1937

Ask the Dust
John Fante
1939

The Big Sleep
Raymond Chandler
1939

The Day of the Locust
Nathanael West
1939

The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck
1939

Native Son
Richard Wright
1940

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
Carson McCullers
1940

A Time to Be Born
Dawn Powell
1942

All the King’s Men
Robert Penn Warren
1946

The Street
Ann Petry
1946

In a Lonely Place
Dorothy B. Hughes
1947

The Mountain Lion
Jean Stafford
1947

The Catcher in the Rye
J. D. Salinger
1951

Charlotte’s Web
E. B. White
1952

Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison
1952

Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
1953

Maud Martha
Gwendolyn Brooks
1953

The Adventures of Augie March
Saul Bellow
1953

Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov
1955

Giovanni’s Room
James Baldwin
1956

Peyton Place
Grace Metalious
1956

Deep Water
Patricia Highsmith
1957

No-No Boy
John Okada
1957

On the Road
Jack Kerouac
1957

The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson
1959

Catch-22
Joseph Heller
1961

A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L’Engle
1962

Another Country
James Baldwin
1962

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Ken Kesey
1962

Pale Fire
Vladimir Nabokov
1962

The Zebra-Striped Hearse
Ross Macdonald
1962

The Bell Jar
Sylvia Plath
1963

The Group
Mary McCarthy
1963

The Crying of Lot 49
Thomas Pynchon
1966

A Sport and a Pastime
James Salter
1967

Couples
John Updike
1968

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K. Dick
1968

Divorcing
Susan Taubes
1969

Portnoy’s Complaint
Philip Roth
1969

Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut
1969

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Judy Blume
1970

Desperate Characters
Paula Fox
1970

Play It as It Lays
Joan Didion
1970

Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine
Stanley Crawford
1972

Mumbo Jumbo
Ishmael Reed
1972

Sula
Toni Morrison
1973

The Revolt of the Cockroach People
Oscar Zeta Acosta
1973

Oreo
Fran Ross
1974

The Dispossessed
Ursula K. Le Guin
1974

Winter in the Blood
James Welch
1974

Corregidora
Gayl Jones
1975

Speedboat
Renata Adler
1976

Ceremony
Leslie Marmon Silko
1977

Song of Solomon
Toni Morrison
1977

A Contract With God
Will Eisner
1978

Dancer From the Dance
Andrew Holleran
1978

The Stand
Stephen King
1978

Kindred
Octavia E. Butler
1979

The Dog of the South
Charles Portis
1979

Housekeeping
Marilynne Robinson
1980

The Salt Eaters
Toni Cade Bambara
1980

Little, Big: Or, the Fairies’ Parliament
John Crowley
1981

Oxherding Tale
Charles Johnson
1982

Machine Dreams
Jayne Anne Phillips
1984

Blood Meridian
Cormac McCarthy
1985

A Summons to Memphis
Peter Taylor
1986

Watchmen
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
1986

Beloved
Toni Morrison
1987

Dawn
Octavia E. Butler
1987

Geek Love
Katherine Dunn
1989

Tripmaster Monkey
Maxine Hong Kingston
1989

Dogeaters
Jessica Hagedorn
1990

American Psycho
Bret Easton Ellis
1991

How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
Julia Alvarez
1991

Mating
Norman Rush
1991

Bastard Out of Carolina
Dorothy Allison
1992

The Secret History
Donna Tartt
1992

So Far From God
Ana Castillo
1993

Stone Butch Blues
Leslie Feinberg
1993

The Shipping News
Annie Proulx
1993

Native Speaker
Chang-rae Lee
1995

Sabbath’s Theater
Philip Roth
1995

Under the Feet of Jesus
Helena María Viramontes
1995

Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace
1996

I Love Dick
Chris Kraus
1997

Underworld
Don DeLillo
1997

The Intuitionist
Colson Whitehead
1999

Blonde
Joyce Carol Oates
2000

House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski
2000

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Michael Chabon
2000

The Last Samurai
Helen DeWitt
2000

The Quick and the Dead
Joy Williams
2000

Erasure
Percival Everett
2001

I, the Divine
Rabih Alameddine
2001

The Corrections
Jonathan Franzen
2001

Caramelo
Sandra Cisneros
2002

Perma Red
Debra Magpie Earling
2002

The Russian Debutante’s Handbook
Gary Shteyngart
2002

The Namesake
Jhumpa Lahiri
2003

Veronica
Mary Gaitskill
2005

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Junot Díaz
2007

A Visit From the Goon Squad
Jennifer Egan
2010

I Hotel
Karen Tei Yamashita
2010

Open City
Teju Cole
2011

Salvage the Bones
Jesmyn Ward
2011

The Round House
Louise Erdrich
2012

Americanah
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2013

Nevada
Imogen Binnie
2013

A Brief History of Seven Killings
Marlon James
2014

Family Life
Akhil Sharma
2014

Fates and Furies
Lauren Groff
2015

The Fifth Season
N. K. Jemisin
2015

The Sellout
Paul Beatty
2015

The Sympathizer
Viet Thanh Nguyen
2015

Amiable With Big Teeth
Claude McKay
2017

Lincoln in the Bardo
George Saunders
2017

Sabrina
Nick Drnaso
2018

Severance
Ling Ma
2018

There There
Tommy Orange
2018

Lost Children Archive
Valeria Luiselli
2019

Nothing to See Here
Kevin Wilson
2019

The Old Drift
Namwali Serpell
2019

No One Is Talking About This
Patricia Lockwood
2021

The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
2021

Biography of X
Catherine Lacey
2023

Other Works Worth Reading

Here is a collection of other works and authors. I’m going to stop planning now because I think I may have exceeded my reading capacity, at least with the years I have remaining to accomplish this list. I have no idea how long it will take to accomplish this task. All I can do is try my best. I know there will be distractions and side-trips along the way. There are too many good books out there to stick exclusively to a single list (or a second list). Inspiration always plays a role in selecting the next read. I will do my best to work my way through these. I’m looking forward to the journey.

Titles

The Magic Mountain
Buddenbrooks
Les Miserables
The Return of the Native
Essays
The Third Policeman
Letters to Eckermann
Lord Jim
Hamlet
King Lear
Moby Dick
The Sun Also Rises

Authors

Whitman
Thoreau
Twain
Joseph Campbell
Gary Snyder
Annie Dillard
Basho
Cervantes
Homer
John Muir
Chekhov
Dostoyevsky
Camu
Beckett
Nietzsche

Masters

Zen, Muslim, Taoist, Hassidic, Hindu

Dealing With Change

One method for dealing with overwhelming change is feeling nostalgia for a time you have never known. One example is the way we glamorize Ancient Greece. Our society is changing too rapidly for our minds to grasp and adapt. This makes us long for the past. The feeling of being overwhelmed is one of the factors prompting this shift. The more anxiety we feel, the more we tend to retreat into the past.