Pulitzer Project

Several months ago I committed to reading all of the Pulitzer Prize winners in fiction. I was shocked when I printed off the list and realized I had read less than 15! It turns out my recent reading lists have been a little heavy on novels like The Hunger Games and Twilight trilogies and pretty light on anything that could be considered actual literature. I had a long way to go.

I'm now about 25% of the way through the list, and I am really enjoying this project. My husband keeps reminding me that I don't HAVE to read ALL of the books on the list. These comments are met with blank stares from me. Does he really think I would leave 2 or 3 unread? No way! There's definitely a disconnect between us when it comes to things like this. My husband can be totally engrossed in a book, and put it down with 20 pages left and forget about it. I won't go to bed or go to dinner with only 20 pages left in a book, and I would NEVER not read the last 20 pages of a book! I will finish this project, and now I've committed to it in writing.  

These are the ones I've read so far:
2011: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
2010: Tinkers by Paul Harding
2009: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
2008: The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
2006: March by Geraldine Brooks
2004: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
2003: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
2002: Empire Falls by Richard Russo
2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
1992: A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
1989: Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
1988: Beloved by Toni Morrison
1986: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1961: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
1937: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
1932: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
1928: The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
1921: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
1918: His Family by Ernest Poole  

21 down, 64 more to go. So far the prize winner that I really just don't get is Tinkers by Paul Harding. I found it really disjointed, and I couldn't wait to finish the book just to check it off my list. If I had to pick the top 5 so far I think it would be the following (in chronological order): Middlesex, Empire Falls, The Color Purple, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Ask me tomorrow, and you may get a different list.

I would love to know other people's favorite Pulitzer books. For a complete list of the prize winners follow this link: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Fiction