1. Room by Emma Donohue
2. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
5. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
6. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
7. A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
8. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
9. The Shack by William Young
10.The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
11. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
12. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
13. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
"Skippy and Ruprecht are having a doughnut-eating race one evening when Skippy turns purple and falls off his chair."
Opening sentence. Skippy is dead by page 5.
But how? How did he choke on a doughnut when all his doughnuts are still in their box, unbitten? And if he wasn't choking on a doughnut, what killed him?
Why did he write "TELL LORI" in jelly on the shop floor? Tell Lori what?
Far from the story being spoiled, the details get more and more cryptic as the story goes on. Each page brings more and more questions.
With Skippy Dies Murray creates a cast of characters that are both relatable and memorable. He creates a story with just enough mystery- causing just the slightest bit of frustration for the reader and making you turn the pages all the more quickly.
It's easy to fall in love with fourteen-year-old Irish schoolboy Daniel "Skippy" Juster, making it all the more devastating to know that he will be dead by the end of the book. It's just as easy to believe that Skippy's roommate, the overweight genius Ruprecht Van Doren, may actually discover a bridge to another universe with his science experiments. It's easy to sympathize with Skippy's teacher "Howard the Coward," who will forever be branded by a mistake he made when he was a teenager.
Skippy Dies, in the end, is about finding out who you are in a world that constantly wants to define you. It's about finding a connection- a bridge- between the hand life has dealt you and the life you actually want to lead. It's about finding truth when all everyone wants to tell you are lies.
Of course there is also going to be some humor along the way. I mean, the boy dies in a doughnut shop and writes his final words in raspberry syrup. So I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have a bit of a warped sense of humor.
Otherwise I say go for it.
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