The 'Book Challenge' Thread

[axiomatic]

@TheoG

You've read a lot on my "to be read" list-Undocumented Americans, Vanishing Half, Sabrina & Corina. I'm about to start Ring Shout.

Would you recommend How To Make a Slave? You should read Caste by Isabel Wilkerson.

If you liked Men We Reaped, and haven't seen this essay by Jesmyn Ward, it's worth a read:

On Witness and Respair: A Personal Tragedy Followed by Pandemic

 

[TheoG]

@TheoG

You've read a lot on my "to be read" list-Undocumented Americans, Vanishing Half, Sabrina & Corina. I'm about to start Ring Shout.

Would you recommend How To Make a Slave? You should read Caste by Isabel Wilkerson.

If you liked Men We Reaped, and haven't seen this essay by Jesmyn Ward, it's worth a read:

On Witness and Respair: A Personal Tragedy Followed by Pandemic

This was the most I've ever read in my life. I almost purchased Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor, i'd love to read that one soon! Wish my library had an audiobook version

I would recommend it. The essay touch on a lot interesting subjects yet have an heir of humor in them. I've owned Caste for months I need to start for sure next year.

I did read that essay! it breaks your heart knowing about her life and the grief she's already gone through in her life.

 

[kissmesweet]

Thank you! I try to mix it up. I'm lucky that my library system has a wide range of new releases, small press, translated books, etc

That's great to hear! I'm going to add some of your books to my reading list.

 

[axiomatic]

My final lockdown-aided list for 2020.


1. The Yellow House by Sarah Broom
2. The Education of An Idealist by Samantha Power
3. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
4. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
5. Possible Side Effects by Agustin Burroughs
6. Free Men by Katy Simpson Smith
7. The Barefoot Woman by Scholastique Mukasonga
8. The Confessions of Noa Weber by Gail Hareven
9. The Good Works of Ayela Linde by Charlotte Forbes
10. Seinfeldia by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
11. The Emerald Light in the Air by Donald Antrim
12. The Innocents by Michael Crummey
13. Above the Waterfall by Ron Rash
14. The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard
15. Temporary by Hilary Leichter
16. The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
17. When the Emperor Was Devine by Julie Otsuka
18. The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey
19. The End of the World Running Club by Adrian Walker
20. The Hunger Angel by Herta Muller
21. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
22. Down the Nile by Rosemary Mahoney
23. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
24. Class A: Baseball in the Middle of Everywhere by Lucas Mann
25. Deep in the Green by Anne Raver
26. Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman
27. The Color Master by Aimee Bender
28. Cockroaches by Scholastique Mukasonga
29. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
30. The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh
31. Apples by Frank Browning
32. Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko
33. The Pre-War House and Other Stories by Alison Moore
34. We Went to the Woods by Caite Dolan-Leach
35. Marlena by Julie Buntin
36. The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
37. Chemistry and Other Stories by Ron Rash
38. Binstead's Safari by Rachel Ingalls
39. Weather by Jenny Offill
40. How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang
41. The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
42. Al Capone Throws Me a Curve by Gennifer Choldenko
43. Suncatcher by Romesh Gunesekera
44. The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
45. Human Acts by Han Kang
46. Buddhaland Brooklyn by Richard C. Morais
47. Things You Would Know if You Grew Up Around Here by Nancy Wayson Dinan
48. Drifts by Kate Zambreno
49. Sleepovers by Ashleigh Bryant Phillips
50. A Burning by Megha Majumdar
51. Red Dress in Black and White by Elliot Ackerman
52. Caste the Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
53. The Book of Atlantis Black by Betsy Bonner
54. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
55. Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
56. Theodore Roosevelt, Naturalist in the Arena by Char Miller, et al
57. Northernmost by Peter Geye
58. Nature's Best Hope by Doug Tallamy
59. Dead Doubles by Trevor Barnes
60. Daddy by Emma Cline
61. Adrianne Geffel: A Fiction by David Hajdu
62. The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr
63. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
64. Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
65. Cuyahoga by Pete Beatty
66. Igifu by Scholastique Mukasonga
67. Bright and Dangerous Objects by Anneliese Mackintosh
68. Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
69. The Story of a Goat by Perumal Murugan
70. Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
71. Afterland by Lauren Beukes
72. The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans
73. Gib Bodet, Major League Scout by Gib Bodet
74. Grandfather Mountain by Randy Johnson
75. Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
76. A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
77. Even As We Breathe by Annette Clapsaddle
78. The Reservoir Tapes by Jon McGregor
79. Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag
80. Midnight Sun by Ben Towle

Most I've ever read in a year by far!

 

[kissmesweet]

Congrats, @axiomatic. That's an incredible achievement!

I read 38 books in 2020, some of which are plays!

1. Lungs by Duncan Macmillan
2. Leadership in the Performing Arts by Tobie S. Stein
3. The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power
4. Constellations by Nick Payne
5. If There Is, I Haven’t Found It Yet by Nick Payne
6. Buzz, Sting, Bite: Why We Need Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson
7. Invisible Women: Data Biases in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
8. Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World edited by Zahra Hankir
9. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb
10. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
11. The Parisian by Isabella Hammad
12. First Confession: A Sort of Memoir by Chris Patten
13. A Private Life: Fragments, Memories, Friends by Michael Kirby
14. Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes by Virginia Nichols
15. My Short Century by Lorna Arnold
16. Boys and Girls by Dennis Kelly
17. Julia (after Strindberg) by Polly Stenham
18. Sour Heart: Stories by Jenny Zhang
19. Normal People by Sally Rooney
20. The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
21. The Invention of Love by Tom Stoppard
22. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
23. Brothers on Life by Matt and Mike Czuchry
24. Journalists in Action edited by Edward W. Barrett
25. The West Wing: The American Presidency as Television Drama edited by Peter C. Rollins and John E. O’Connor
26. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
27. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
28. Intimations by Zadie Smith
29. Passing by Nella Larsen
30. A Word for Love by Emily Robbins
31. I Have Something to Tell You by Chasten Buttigieg
32. Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
33. Educated by Tara Westover
34. The New Noise: The Extraordinary Birth and Troubled life of the BBC by Charlotte Higgins
35. The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl
36. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
37. Late: A Cowboy Song by Sarah Ruhl
38. Trust: America’s Best Chance by Pete Buttigieg

Looking forward to 2021!

 

[axiomatic]

Thanks kissmesweet!
We have a lot of books in common..I forgot about Educated, Intimations, and Buzz, Sting, Bite. Adding those to my list!

 

[kissmesweet]

@axiomatic All really fantastic books. I remember us talking about Buzz, Sting, Bite a while back actually!

I'm way behind on reading. I'm reading four books at the same time, but haven't finished a single book in 2021 just yet.

 

[axiomatic]

@axiomatic All really fantastic books. I remember us talking about Buzz, Sting, Bite a while back actually!

I'm way behind on reading. I'm reading four books at the same time, but haven't finished a single book in 2021 just yet.

I put Buzz, Sting, Bite on hold at the library; I look forward to reading it!

Reading multiple books at a time is a skill I do not have!

My list, so far:

1. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
2. Nights When Nothing Happened by Simon Han
3. TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
4. The Secret Life of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
5. Difficult Light by Tomas Gonzalez
6. The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah
7. Beheld by TaraShea Nesbit
8. The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada
9. Space Invaders by Nona Fernandez
10. The Archer by Paulo Coelho
11. A Crooked Tree by Una Mannion
12. The Belle Creole by Maryse Conde
13. Life Among the Terranauts by Caitlin Horrocks
14. No Heaven for Good Boys by Keisha Bush
15. Consent by Annabel Lyon
16. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez
17. The Man Who Didn't Fly by Margot Bennett
18. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
19. Fire in Paradise by Alastair Gee and Dani Anguiano
20. The Removed by Brandon Hobson

 

[kissmesweet]

@axiomatic You get through books so quickly though! It's really impressive. I'm also reading Barack Obama's A Promised Land - almost at the end! Hope to add it to my list before the end of the week.

Two books so far:

1. Jean Arthur: The Actress Nobody Knew by John Oller
2. First Love is the Revolution (a play) by Rita Kalnejais

 

[kissmesweet]

Enjoying chatting with @axiomatic about the books that we're reading.

In 2021, I've completed the following books so far:

1. Jean Arthur: The Actress Nobody Knew by John Oller
2. First Love is the Revolution by Rita Kalnejais
3. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
4. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
5. Where Stands A Winged Sentry by Margaret Kennedy
6. Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West by Benazir Bhutto
7. The Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China by Jonathan Kaufman
8. Mr Smith Goes to Washington by Charles Landery
9. The Road to Station X: From Debutante Ball to Fighter-Plane Factory to Bletchley Park, a Memoir of One Woman's Journey Through World War Two by Sarah Baring
10. Jean Arthur: A Biofilmography by Jerry Vermilye
11. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
12. Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
13. Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of my Father Cary Grant by Jennifer Grant
14. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

As always, happy to discuss!

 

[TheoG]

I thought I should update what I've read so far this year! Currently at 30 so far this year!

1. Finna by Nate Marshall*
2. Krik? Krat by Edwidge Danticat
3. Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
4. The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
5. Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
6. The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor
7. Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz
8. A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley
9. Beloved by Toni Morrison
10. A Different Drummber by William Melvin Kelley
11. Wild Hundreds by Nate Marshall*
12. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
13. Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
14. Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
15. Cane by Jean Toomer
16. Black Boy Out Of Time by Hari Zayad*
17. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner*
18. Brother I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat*
19. The Street by Ann Petry
20. Dark Matters by Simone Browne*
21. You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
22. Long Division by Kiese Laymon
23. Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez
24. Corregidora by Gayl Jones
25. Eva's Man by Gayl Jones
26. Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
27. Afropessimism by Frank Wilderson III*
28. In The Wake by Christina Sharpe*
29. The Long Emancipation by Rinaldo Walcott*
30. Border & Rule by Harsha Walia*

* - Nonfiction/Poetry reads

 

[axiomatic]

I thought I should update what I've read so far this year! Currently at 30 so far this year!

Did you like the Edwidge Danticat books? I haven't read any of hers since Claire of the Sea Light years ago