The Books I Want to Finish the Year With (And Why)
Copied below is something I wrote a few months ago (in December) for the blog. Enjoy!
I know that the end of the year is still a few months away, but for book-a-week readers like me that does mean that I have only around 20 books left to read in all of 2019. With the limited amount of time I have to read, even though I get through between 50-60 books a year, it does take quite a bit of curation to figure out which books to set aside time for in the year.
(It might also be interesting to note that I choose books to read both in bulk, so I’ll map out 5 books to read in the next month, but I also typically go book-by-book just depending on how I feel. I tend to read many, many books at one time so the majority of the books on the list are books that I have a 100-page start on or so, and that I plan on finishing by the end of the year.)
Here are some of the books that I have already decided to read or re-read and why:
“Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad - One of my favorite books of all time and a re-read from a couple of years ago. I cannot wait to dive back into the impressionistic, colonial work of Joseph Conrad.
“The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood - Last year I read “The Handmaid’s Tale” three times between essay competitions and class assignments, so it’s only natural that I would read the sequel immediately following it’s release this month in September. This book is a doozey, almost 200 pages longer than its predecessor, but I’ve heard and read interesting things about it thus far, so I’ll let y’all know how it goes.
“Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell” by David Yaffe - This one was recommended to me by an old friend of mine, and I have to say that I don’t regret picking it up (via my lovely kindle). It’s quite long, as many of the books I have decided to read towards the end of this year are, but worth it if you want to get a good picture of what the folk/classic/jazz music scenes were like in the 1970s—my era of choice.
“The Mist” and “Pet Cemetery” by Stephen King - These two are easy—they’re for #HorrifyingClassics. I ended up going with “The Mist” instead of “Christine” because reading 6 long books this season didn’t quite appeal to me, especially since we did short novels and poems last year. You’re welcome in advance, listeners who keep up with the reading list.
“Lord Jim” by Joseph Conrad - This book is a must for anyone into Joseph Conrad, and as I’ve decided to go back down the rabbit hole with “HoD” this fall, I figured I should just add “LJ” to my list as well. I’ve read a few of his other works, and I honestly cannot stop marvelling at his ability to create with the English language.
“Richard Nixon: The Life” by John A. Farrell - a little-known fact about me is that I am obsessed with Richard Nixon. I thought for years that I was going to go to college with the intention of becoming a Nixon scholar—no seriously, I wanted to be a Nixon scholar. I found this book a few months ago, and it has become the leading biography of Nixon. I’ve started reading it and it’s wonderfully crafted and incredibly comprehensive.