This year has been rough, and even though I’ve been reading, I haven’t had the energy or desire to post. I do want to acknowledge that I completed my goal of reading at least one book on each of my fiction/memoir bookshelves. It only took two years, which is depressing considering that I’ve read over 400 books in those two years and I only have 38 shelves. I figured this would go quickly. Why is it so hard to read books I already own?
Here’s the stack representing the final shelves. It’s a little blurry, but I feel like that’s appropriate considering how messy my life has been lately. (More on that later. It’s not bad.)
This project completely derailed, and I didn’t start Who Fears Death until January 1st. Like I wrote earlier, 2024 never gave me a break, and I’ll own that I didn’t manage the stress well. I’m working on setting things right, because 2025 has been giving me signs that I need to make major changes. It’s scary, but exciting.
Who Fears Death is brutal and brilliant. There’s so much going on in this novel, and since I treat my bookshelf exploration as reading for fun, I didn’t take notes to do a true review. Nnedi Okorafor’s worldbuilding is brilliant, and I appreciate how she distinguishes her work as Africanfuturism. I learn so much from reading her writing.
Now for shelf #27!
I’ll probably read something by Chaim Potok or The Shipping News depending on my mood and when I have time. I went a little overboard with requesting ARCs, and I have some book club deadlines. I’m definitely more motivated to read when I have due dates or reviews to write in advance of a book’s publication. The downside is that it cuts into my goal of reading the books I already own. I need to figure out how to stop time!
Books I’ve read:
George Orwell 1984
Amos Oz To Know a Woman
Sheena Patel I’m a Fan
Alan Paton Cry, the Beloved Country
Alan Paton Tales from a Troubled Land
David Payne Ruin Creek
Iain Pears The Dream of Scipio
Nichole Perkins Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be
Inspired by a conversation among brilliant educators I follow on BlueSky, I decided to use a “chapter a day” strategy to read books that are long, challenging, or intimidating to me. I went through my bookshelves and selected books and authors that I want to read, but haven’t for the above reasons.
Here are my current choices (in no particular order).
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: My only experience reading Dickens was the abridged version of Great Expectations in my 8th grade literature book. A friend loves teaching this, so I’ll give it a try.
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner: Aside from some short stories, I’ve never read Faulkner. I have friends who love Faulkner, so I feel compelled to finally read one of his novels.
The Odyssey by Homer and Ulysses by James Joyce: When I was in college, The Modern Library published its list of 100 Best Novels, and Ulysses was number one. My fellow English majors were trying to figure out why, since we knew no one who had read it. The list generated so much discussion. My plan is to read The Odyssey first and then attempt Ulysses. I’m going to time this so it happens over the summer.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez: My favorite professor was always telling me to read this. I tried but it was too complex, and I decided that my junior year of college, when I was overloaded with English courses, was not the right time. I’ve been meaning to come back to it.
Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre: I’ve read Existentialism Is a Humanism, and for some reason, I feel the need to tackle this beast. There’s more behind my reason, but I’ll save it for a later post.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: I love Steinbeck, but I haven’t read this because it’s very long.
These books have a total of 253 chapters, so I’ll need to add more. I’m not worried about having exactly 365 chapters since I’m sure there will be days where I just don’t have time to read.
I started with One Hundred Years of Solitude, and I’ve found that the most difficult part of this is limiting myself to one chapter a day. I see why my professor kept telling me to read it.
I’ll be posting occasional updates on my progress and my thoughts on each book as I finish.
I decided to read The Origin of Others by Toni Morrison because I needed wisdom to ground me in this time of chaos. Morrison’s nonfiction is always relevant and it pushes me into deeper understandings of the world around me. Playing in the Dark is one of the most important books I’ve read, and The Origin of Others, which is based on her Norton Lectures, builds on some of the ideas in Playing in the Dark. As an English teacher, I love reading literary analysis, especially when that analysis challenges interpretations of the canon. Morrison helps me view texts through the lens of race, and in this text, the broader concept of othering. My goal is to teach more works by Morrison this year, especially “Recatitif.”
Now for shelf #26!
I will be reading all the books by Nnedi Okorafor that I haven’t read yet. I’m proud to say that the only reason some of her books are unread is because I turned one of my students into a fan, and I let her borrow all of them! She read through all the books in my classroom library, and then the ones on my personal shelf.
Books I’ve read:
Haruki Murakami Kafka on the Shore
Haruki Murakami Men Without Women
Vladimir Nabokov Lolita
Sequoia Nagamatsu How High We Go in the Dark
Solomon Northrup 12 Years a Slave
Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions: A Novel in Interlocking Stories
I was a little disappointed in Trapeze. Maybe I should hold off judgment and just read the sequel, since the ending is what I had a problem with, and the reviews for that are better. While I enjoy Mawer’s writing, I thought the main character, Marian, was a little flat and I found myself asking what Mawer was getting at with some of her decisions. Considering that Mawer wrote one of my favorite books ever (The Fall), I may be holding him to a ridiculously high standard.
Moving on to shelf #25!
Arthur Miller. I had him up on a pedestal until I learned more about his personal life and how he treated his son Daniel. I used to teach The Crucible, and I used Miller as an example to discuss the idea of separating the art from the artist, which I have a hard time doing. When I find out an author has done reprehensible things or made dehumanizing comments, I’m unable to put that out of mind as I’m reading, and I’ll often remove the books from my shelves so I’m not forced to think about how disappointed and/or angry I am. I’m faced with this again since one of my favorite authors has been accused of sexual assault. I take comfort in that there are so many other authors out there, and if I have to move on, I have options. It’s a lot to process.
That said, I’ll probably read The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe or something by Toni Morrison, even though that will put me closer to reading everything she’s written.
I’m reading faster than I can post, and I’m not going to complain about that. The Association of Small Bombs was good, and I see why it was nominated for and won so many awards. The writing was brilliant and the content was thought provoking. I probably should have spent more time with it, but June was a bit chaotic.
When I got to shelf #23, I decided to read The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios by Yann Martel. I include “We Ate the Children Last” as an option for students to read for the literary analysis essay, so I had an idea of what I might be getting myself into with this collection of early short stories. I felt like I was reading art. Martel is a brilliant writer, and now I want to read Life of Pi again.
Books I’ve read:
David Mamet Jafsie and John Henry: Essays
Yann Martel Life of Pi
George R. R. Martin A Game of Thrones
George R. R. Martin A Feast for Crows
George R. R. Martin A Storm of Swords
George R. R. Martin A Clash of Kings
George R. R. Martin A Dance of Dragons
Now for shelf #24!
The Fall by Simon Mawer is one of my favorite books of all time, so choosing a book from this shelf was easy. I started reading Trapeze today.
I ended up being disappointed in The Tattooist of Auschwitz. As I was reading, I kept feeling that something wasn’t right, and because it was based on a person’s life, I felt wrong for not liking it and questioning its veracity. I did some research, read some reviews, and found that I wasn’t alone.
The factual mistakes made by the author of "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" as well as all misinterpretations resulted in creating a distorted version of Auschwitz. This is dangerous and disrespectful to history. The story deserves better. #FactCheck review: https://t.co/hioNswY2nT
It’s disappointing to me when authors take on topics like this and miss the mark. Diving into the critical reviews did give me a deeper understanding of life in the concentration camps and various roles prisoners played to ensure their survival, so it wasn’t a total loss.
Now for shelf #21!
I’ve read all these. Multiple times. Since I needed a brain break (it was the last week of school), I decided to read the Crescent City series. I bought the ebooks as a bundle because there was crossover to ACOTAR in the last book. Otherwise, I probably would have skipped them. I read the first book when it came out, and didn’t love it enough to invest the time. Plus, there’s the fact that they are ridiculously long. Somehow I read all three (2,443 pages) in 23 days. The third book was slow at times, but I enjoyed the series overall.
Shelf #22 (Finally)!
I’m trying to remember why I felt the need to own every book by Bernard Malamud. Maybe I should have picked one to read, but I grabbed The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan instead.
Books I’ve read:
Gregory Maguire Wicked
Bernard Malamud The Fixer
I need to finish my bookshelf challenge by the end of the summer!
I read the majority of the stories in Sinking Bell in one night. They were excellent, but I probably should have taken more time to think and process them, especially since the endings of the stories were ambiguous. I was too immersed in Bojan Louis’s writing, and I didn’t feel like slowing down. What stood out to me was how distinct each story and character was. Yes, the style of writing in each story was similarly captivating, and there were common threads running through the collection, but each character had a clear persona and voice. I’ve read a couple books recently where the authors didn’t do the best job of making characters not seem like nearly the same person, which is why this stood out to me the most. It didn’t surprise me to learn that Louis teaches creative writing.
Now for shelf #20!
Ah, Cormac McCarthy. A student just finished reading Blood Meridian, and I told her to read No Country for Old Men so we can discuss The Judge, Anton Chigurh, and what it means to be evil. She thought that was a great idea. Yes, you should probably worry about us. That said, the only book by McCarthy I have not read is Cities of the Plain, the third book in the Border Trilogy, and since I didn’t love the first two, I will not be reading that now. Instead, I have decided to read The Tattooist of Auschwitz. I’m halfway through, and it’s good, so far. I’ll save my thoughts for when I finish the book, because I’m sure I’ll have plenty.
Babel was amazing, but it took forever to read. Have I mentioned that this school year has been extra chaotic? My brain is barely functioning, so I won’t be able to give Babel the review it deserves. I’m looking forward to summer, because I plan to give myself a break. No book clubs. No PD. I’m going to do whatever I feel like doing and try not to feel pressure to sign up for ALL THE THINGS.
Now for shelf #19:
It may be a while until I get to the next book on this adventure because I have a pile of books friends lent me and three for book clubs this month. When I have time, I’ll probably read either Lost Children Archive by Valeria Lusielli or Sinking Bell by Bojan Louis.
Books I’ve read:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
I read some of The Essential Tales of H. P. Lovecraft because a student was creating an activity for a presentation he was giving on Lovecraft. His game was called “Ms. Kraft or Lovecraft.” Apparently, I did too good of a job of emulating Lovecraft’s style because no one could tell any of the pairings apart. I win!
I wrote this on April 6th, but never published it. Go me!
This is probably not going to be a great year for reading. I’ve been in a funk, and it’s probably because I’m being pulled in too many directions. This has also been a very difficult school year, and burnout started much earlier than usual. I absolutely loved The City We Became and The World We Make, but it took me a long time to read them. I think I started The City We Became three times before I had time to keep going. Once I get the fourth marking period mapped out and organized, I will be able to focus on reading again.
As for a review . . . I have to say that I was surprised at how different these books seemed from The Broken Earth trilogy. They weren’t what I expected, but that’s not a bad thing. The novels center around the avatars of New York City, which has just been awakened, and the battle that ensues with an entity trying to destroy it. I’d say more about the general plot, but I don’t want to spoil anything. The avatars are the embodiments of each of New York City’s boroughs, Jersey City (in an interesting twist), and the city as a whole. What I loved most was the character development of each avatar and the dynamics between them. I read the bulk of each novel in one sitting because I was so invested in the world building and the characters. I’m sad that it ended up being a duology instead of a trilogy because I’d love more (but I totally understand why the trilogy didn’t happen). Highly recommend these!
Now for shelf #18!
This decision is easy. I will be reading Babel by R. F. Kuang.
Books I’ve read:
The Stand by Stephen King
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
Lightning by Dean Koontz
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
