I've read just over 100 books so far this year - I may finish a couple of others, but the year's end is looking quite busy. One thing that has changed for me this year is that I've read quite a bit of poetry - thanks to Karen Swallow Prior's lessons. My top 10 favourite read this would also include Manzoni's The Betrothed and Schuyler's Black No More. I would add (in no particular order):
- Kindred by Octavia Butler,
- The Rape of the Lock (poetry, satire) by Alexander Pope
- The Wind's Twelve Quarters (short stories) by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling by Henry Fielding
- On Friendship and Old Age (essays) by Marcus Tullius Cicero
- Confessions of an English Opium Eater (memoir) by Thomas De Quincey
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (novel) & The Ladies of Grace Adieu (short stories) by Susanna Clarke
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Honorable Mentions: Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
Those were the new reads - my favourite rereads included the four Gospels, Eliot's Adam Bede & Silas Marner, Clarke's Piranesi, Bronte's The Professor, and Wells's The Invisible Man.
I did not read as many books aloud to my mother, partly due to my ill health, and partly because I read her Middlemarch, but she loved C. Bronte's Villette. We also read a very interesting YA series - The Ark & Rowan Farm - by Margot Benary-Isbert, written about rebuilding life in postwar Germany. Benary-Isbert was a writer and farmer, but she was unable to publish from 1933 to 1945 because she refused to join the mandatory writer's organization under the Nazis. Her first books published after the war were The Ark and Rowan Farm - they touch on postwar trauma, the sense of betrayal by the Nazis felt by returning soldiers, the challenges an economically shattered country had to absorb the flood of refugees fleeing from East Germany, acknowledge the atrocities done to ethnic and religious minorities, but also convevey hope that a defeated country can learn from the past and rebuild a better future.
I didn't come close to your number, but thanks to you, I read The Betrothed, Middlemarch, Nadya Williams' Christians Reading the Classics, and a couple of Willa Cather novels.
I was having trouble getting my 8-year-old interested in reading novels (he was into graphic novels -- good, but not as good) at the beginning of the school year. I spent some time thinking about it and decided to try luring him in using Dahl books. My son really enjoys dark humor and I thought he'd love them -- and it worked a treat! He read four of them in a row (including Danny, which he requested!) and then attacked the next, non-Dahl books with a new attitude of "I love reading!" He's zipping through books now, loving them all, and is currently deep into "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch." What a delight to see!
Your list made me think of my own, and of what Matthew McConaughey’s character says to Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street: “Gotta pump those numbers up. Those are rookie numbers in this racket.”
I've read many of these books, especially Roald Dahls as I once taught children with reading disabilities. As much as Rowling has done for reading, Dahl.was the pioneer. These kids WANTED to read his books. Not a fan of Willa Cather, but love Flannery . Last night I finished Theo of Golden by Levi and it is one of the best books I've ever read. Donna Tarte's."The Secret History" is also a wonderful.read.
Thanks for your great reviews this year which I stumbled across when I joined Substack in summertime. I get the impression you are a classics fan. I have read some of the books on your list. Loved the gripping The Underground Railroad and The Remains of the Day. Delighted to see Flann O'Brien included. Happy Christmas and best wishes to your daughter. This time last year I was spending weeks visiting a sibling in hospital. I know how worrying it can be.
My son got hooked on Roald Dahl this year as well. Started with reading the BFG together. The Twits and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are his favourites.
Great post. As always I have much I’d like to say but I don’t have time… so I’ll just mention that Charles Willeford is my husband’s uncle. We have all his books. Nice to see Cockfighter get a mention.
I've read just over 100 books so far this year - I may finish a couple of others, but the year's end is looking quite busy. One thing that has changed for me this year is that I've read quite a bit of poetry - thanks to Karen Swallow Prior's lessons. My top 10 favourite read this would also include Manzoni's The Betrothed and Schuyler's Black No More. I would add (in no particular order):
- Kindred by Octavia Butler,
- The Rape of the Lock (poetry, satire) by Alexander Pope
- The Wind's Twelve Quarters (short stories) by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling by Henry Fielding
- On Friendship and Old Age (essays) by Marcus Tullius Cicero
- Confessions of an English Opium Eater (memoir) by Thomas De Quincey
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (novel) & The Ladies of Grace Adieu (short stories) by Susanna Clarke
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Honorable Mentions: Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
Those were the new reads - my favourite rereads included the four Gospels, Eliot's Adam Bede & Silas Marner, Clarke's Piranesi, Bronte's The Professor, and Wells's The Invisible Man.
I did not read as many books aloud to my mother, partly due to my ill health, and partly because I read her Middlemarch, but she loved C. Bronte's Villette. We also read a very interesting YA series - The Ark & Rowan Farm - by Margot Benary-Isbert, written about rebuilding life in postwar Germany. Benary-Isbert was a writer and farmer, but she was unable to publish from 1933 to 1945 because she refused to join the mandatory writer's organization under the Nazis. Her first books published after the war were The Ark and Rowan Farm - they touch on postwar trauma, the sense of betrayal by the Nazis felt by returning soldiers, the challenges an economically shattered country had to absorb the flood of refugees fleeing from East Germany, acknowledge the atrocities done to ethnic and religious minorities, but also convevey hope that a defeated country can learn from the past and rebuild a better future.
This post is from the future
Haha. Sorry, I’ve been a little out of it. I fixed it!
Well now my comment isn’t funny anymore :/
I live to deprive people of humor.
Haha well in that case, Happy birthday!
Quite the skill, is it not? To have cataloged one's future readings already!
I didn't come close to your number, but thanks to you, I read The Betrothed, Middlemarch, Nadya Williams' Christians Reading the Classics, and a couple of Willa Cather novels.
I was having trouble getting my 8-year-old interested in reading novels (he was into graphic novels -- good, but not as good) at the beginning of the school year. I spent some time thinking about it and decided to try luring him in using Dahl books. My son really enjoys dark humor and I thought he'd love them -- and it worked a treat! He read four of them in a row (including Danny, which he requested!) and then attacked the next, non-Dahl books with a new attitude of "I love reading!" He's zipping through books now, loving them all, and is currently deep into "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch." What a delight to see!
Your list made me think of my own, and of what Matthew McConaughey’s character says to Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street: “Gotta pump those numbers up. Those are rookie numbers in this racket.”
I've read many of these books, especially Roald Dahls as I once taught children with reading disabilities. As much as Rowling has done for reading, Dahl.was the pioneer. These kids WANTED to read his books. Not a fan of Willa Cather, but love Flannery . Last night I finished Theo of Golden by Levi and it is one of the best books I've ever read. Donna Tarte's."The Secret History" is also a wonderful.read.
And as a retired minister I just picked up Kingdom of God. Thank you
I am about to start my 175th. Goal was 200 but I revised it down to 180 because of life. Some of the books I read were very long as well
I loved reading thru this, and I've put Naomi on my prayer list. Hope she's doing much better. 🙏
Thanks for your great reviews this year which I stumbled across when I joined Substack in summertime. I get the impression you are a classics fan. I have read some of the books on your list. Loved the gripping The Underground Railroad and The Remains of the Day. Delighted to see Flann O'Brien included. Happy Christmas and best wishes to your daughter. This time last year I was spending weeks visiting a sibling in hospital. I know how worrying it can be.
Glad to see Manzoni and Cather in the top spots! 🏆
I also agree with your assessment of Kingsnorth’s wide-ranging book.
Thank you! Wish I had more time, fewer distractions and could speed read! But you’re an inspiration!!
"Brooding Upon the Waters" is at the top of my list.
My son got hooked on Roald Dahl this year as well. Started with reading the BFG together. The Twits and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are his favourites.
I wonder how you decide what to read. The choices seem more than the sands of the sea.
Great post. As always I have much I’d like to say but I don’t have time… so I’ll just mention that Charles Willeford is my husband’s uncle. We have all his books. Nice to see Cockfighter get a mention.