2022 Reading Challenge

Ericj32 said:
I think I only read like 4 books last year, so maybe my goal should be like 7?

Does anyone have suggestions on how to put together a reading list?

I want to do a mix of classics and newer fiction and 1 or 2 essay or historical books.

I’m thinking right now:

  • Frank Herbert, Dune
  • Karl Ove Knausgaard, My Struggle: Book 1
  • Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
  • Marlon James, The Book of Night Women
  • Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
  • Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera
  • Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
I’m also curious about the huge list of other authors that I’ve never read, like Susanna Clarke, John Le Carré, Lauren Groff, Salman Rushdie, and Ursula K Le Guin.
Click to expand...

For Le Carré, I'd go with The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. It's a classic for a reason, it's stand-alone (although George Smiley makes an appearance) and it's not too long.
 
Ericj32 said:
I think I only read like 4 books last year, so maybe my goal should be like 7?

Does anyone have suggestions on how to put together a reading list?

I want to do a mix of classics and newer fiction and 1 or 2 essay or historical books.

I’m thinking right now:

  • Frank Herbert, Dune
  • Karl Ove Knausgaard, My Struggle: Book 1
  • Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
  • Marlon James, The Book of Night Women
  • Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
  • Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera
  • Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
I’m also curious about the huge list of other authors that I’ve never read, like Susanna Clarke, John Le Carré, Lauren Groff, Salman Rushdie, and Ursula K Le Guin.
Click to expand...
I've read A Little Life, I personally loved it but it's very polarizing. I also read Susanna Clarke and Lauren Groff for the first time last year, Piranesi was one of my favorites of the year!
 
I like to read longer books once in a while that take up a lot of time, so I don't normally set a real goal of number of books per year. I have a "read 20 pages" task in my habit tracker app that I've used for the last two years which helps keep me motivated. I passed 10,000 pages for the first time in 2020, and came up just shy last year, so I think that will be my goal again. That, and clearing a bunch of books out of my to-read list that have been there for ages, including:
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • Greenwood
  • The Master and Margarita
  • Pachinko
  • In Cold Blood
  • Station Eleven
  • The Luminaries
  • A Little Life
  • Herzog
 
I tell myself every year I'm not going to pressure myself to meet a numerical goal reading-wise. That said, between pandemic and wfh last year, I was able to reach 41 books. I finished 42 on Jan 1st, but I'm just calling it book 1 of 2022.

I'd like to try and do more rereads this year (maybe revisit 2666 a decade later), as well as a couple longer reads (Ducks, Newburyport, you and I will dance one day). I'd also like to pour myself into a series, but I'm not sure which; I tried Wheel of Time and The Expanse's first books, and found both really generic.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
I like to read longer books once in a while that take up a lot of time, so I don't normally set a real goal of number of books per year. I have a "read 20 pages" task in my habit tracker app that I've used for the last two years which helps keep me motivated. I passed 10,000 pages for the first time in 2020, and came up just shy last year, so I think that will be my goal again. That, and clearing a bunch of books out of my to-read list that have been there for ages, including:
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • Greenwood
  • The Master and Margarita
  • Pachinko
  • In Cold Blood
  • Station Eleven
  • The Luminaries
  • A Little Life
  • Herzog
Click to expand...
One Hundred... Is my favorite book of all time. Your wording is a bit weird. Are you saying these are your to read list, or you've read them? If it's the former, I hope you enjoy One Hundred.
 
sarcasticfairyprincess said:
One Hundred... Is my favorite book of all time. Your wording is a bit weird. Are you saying these are your to read list, or you've read them? If it's the former, I hope you enjoy One Hundred.
Click to expand...
I read it as those all being on his to-read list and planning to read them this year to help reach his 10k page goal.
 
sarcasticfairyprincess said:
One Hundred... Is my favorite book of all time. Your wording is a bit weird. Are you saying these are your to read list, or you've read them? If it's the former, I hope you enjoy One Hundred.
Click to expand...
I haven't read them yet but have been meaning to for a long time. Unfortunately my to-read list gets longer faster than I can read.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
I read Love in the Time of Cholera last year and really loved it, so I'm quite looking forward to it. Am a big fan of a few Rushdie novels, as well, and dig being in the world of magical realist novels.

And then this video prompted me to push it up the list:

Click to expand...

Whoops, thought the post @Thackeraye was
quoting was about Marquez, but misremembered. Kinda relevant anyway, I suppose.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
Whoops, thought the post @Thackeraye was
quoting was about Marquez, but misremembered. Kinda relevant anyway, I suppose.
Click to expand...
I think I have a copy of Cholera kicking about! I’m an ex-bookseller married to a book nut, so we have a library full of unread books. I have unread books probably older than members of this forum!
 
I'm also going to join this thread. I've read lots of literature each year in my 20s and early 30s (I actually have studied German Literature), but it has become less the last ten years, usually only 10 to 15 novels a year.
I set a goal to read at least 2 fictional books a month, so that would be 24. If I can get done more, even better. It'll also depend on the length of books.

This is a great thread and I'm looking forward to your recommendations and presentations of the books you've read. 🙂
 
Book 1:

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

I started this on the 28th so I suppose it was a bit of 2021 and 2022. I'm surprised I have never read it before now as I'm a big fan of the films. I really enjoyed this book as there was enough additional material when compared to the films that it never became boring or unsurprising. In fact, there is plenty of emphasis and whole chapters focusing on characters who were actually minor side-characters in the films (Johnny Fontane, Nino Valenti, Al Neri, etc). It's interesting to read the backstories of the characters which isn't highlighted in the films, it makes their actions all the more believable and important. I will likely read The Sicilian at some point but for now, I have moved on to The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami.

IMG_2798.JPG
 
I'm not much for resolutions, but last year I set out to read 18 books, and I actually did 21. This year I'm going for two per month (that works out to 24).

Yesterday I finished Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart, and really enjoyed it. I started it in 2020, but I'm going to cheat and count it for this year! Before that I (unintentionally) read two post-apocalyptic books (Station Eleven and The Dog Stars), so I need a real change of pace.

Next up is Dave Grohl's memoir, The Storyteller.
 
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