To-Read List Tour

[latespring]

A little tour of my to-read list (in lieu of actually reading them), in hopes that this will get me a little more organized about it!

Addendum after writing this: oh my god this is so long. My top priorities on this list are the stuff assigned for class.


Dream/Arteries by Phinder Dulai

• Where/Why: This was assigned for class.
• Thoughts: Poetry collection! It's been a really interesting read so far! I really like the way Dulai embodies things in his poetry, and the docupoetics sensibility that works throughout it is really well crafted.

The Boat People by Sharon Bala

• Where/Why: Also assigned for class.
• Thoughts: I've only read like 20 pages of this, so I can't say much, but I am interested! Bala's writing is very easy to read.

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

• Where/Why: Also assigned for class!
• Thoughts: I've been wanting to read something of Ozeki's since Charlotte posted her top books of 2021, so this was a nice coincidence! I skimmed the first few pages of this when I got it, and it seemed really engaging.

Notes From No Man's Land: American Essays by Eula Biss

• Where/Why: This was also assigned for a class and I keep meaning to finish it.
• Thoughts: The opening is offputting in the callousness Biss talks about lynchings with (though it feels deliberate, to put a mirror up to history?). It doesn't make it easier to read. I haven't gotten very far in the book at all, but I mean to finish it at some point.

OBIT by Victoria Chag

• Where/Why: Got this in conjunction with a reading series I helped with!
• Thoughts: I had the honor of attending a reading Victoria Chang was at, it was such a good experience. I mean to read this sometime this year.

Human Acts by Han Kang, trans. Deborah Smith

• Where/Why: Rec from Pb (and also kind of Hwa), for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

Soft Science by Franny Choi

• Where/Why: Rec from Pb, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

• Where/Why: Rec from Rye, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

• Where/Why: Rec from Pop, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

• Where/Why: Rec from Rye, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

The Plotters by Un-Su Kim, trans. Sora Kim-Russell

• Where/Why: Rec from Jacks, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

Be Gay Do Comics by Matt Bors (Editor)

• Where/Why: Rec from Rye, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper Jones

• Where/Why: Rec from Cody, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

Guild of the Cowry Catchers by Abigail Hilton

• Where/Why: Rec from Nikki, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

I Hope We Choose Love by Kai Cheng Thom

• Where/Why: Rec from Xia, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott

• Where/Why: Rec from Xia, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief by Victoria Chang

• Where/Why: Rec from Xia, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

Pleasure Activism by Adrienne Maree Brown

• Where/Why: Rec from Twig, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

In Waves by A.J. Dungo

• Where/Why: Rec from Kewpie, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

Chaorus of Mushrooms by Hiromi Goto

• Where/Why: Rec from Kewpie, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

I'm Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya

• Where/Why: Rec from Appia, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

• Where/Why: Rec from Abigail, for "12 recs from 12 friends" for 2022!

Tales from the cafe by Toshikazu Kawagushi, trans. Geoffrey Trousselot

• Where/Why: This was a gift from my roommate, so I'd like to read it some time this year!

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

• Where/Why: I read the first book in this series so I'm excited for the sequel!

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• Where/Why: This has been recced by so many friends I don't think I can pin it on any one person anymore.

How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee

• Where/Why: Picked this up on sale, and Charlotte said it was good, so I'm excited to read it!

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

• Where/Why: Recced by Almay!

She Who Became the Sun by Shelly P. Chan

• Where/Why: Also recced by Almay!
• Thoughts: I'm like 1/4 through this and really enjoying it

The Devourers by Indra Das

• Thoughts: I have been trying to read this book for AGES (like 4+ years at this point). It never feels like the right time? But I'm hoping that time is soon.

The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang

• Thoughts: Another on the "I've been trying to read this for ages" list.

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

• Where/Why: A rec off of Charlotte's 2021 book wrap up!

The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison

• Thoughts: I'm about a third the way through this! It's enjoyable, I just always seem to misplace it.

The Secret Life of Books by Tom Mole

• Where/Why: A gift from Almay, I'm super excited to read this!!

Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin, trans. Bonnie Huie

• Where/Why: Also a gift from Almay, I hadn't heard about it before but it seems so cool! Also really excited for it.

Diamond Grill by Fred Wah

• Where/Why: Read this for a class! I need to finish it to revise an essay I wrote about it.

Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

• Where/Why: Picked this up for my internship!

World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

• Where/Why: Still for my internship!
• Thoughts: I'm like a quarter into this, it's fun! Very peaceful as a book.

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

• Thoughts: I'm a chapter or two into this, and I think it's going to be about the same as Gailey's other novel I read. So solidly entertaining and middle of the road. I don't feel any pressing need to finish this soon.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

• Where/Why: Also a rec from Almay!
• Thoughts: I can't wait to figure out if I really am like the main character??

Honey Girl by Morgan Rodgers

• Where/Why: Rec from Kita and Rye!
• Thoughts: I'm a third the way through this, it's cute!

A Madness of Angels by Kat Griffin

• Where/Why: This is the favorite book of a friend, so I'd like to read it so I can talk to them about it!

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

• Where/Why: Picked this up ages ago!
• Thoughts: Last time I was reading this I was under so much stress there are like weeks I don't remember, so I need to do a reread.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

• Where/Why: Becky Chambers does really fun scifi, so I think I'll enjoy this whever I get to it.

An Arrangement of Skin by Anna Journey

Eartheater by Dolores Reyes

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

An Indigenous People's History by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Memory by Anne Whitehead

Chromophobia by David Batchelor

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

Citizen by Claudia Rankine

Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong

A is for Arsenic by Kathryn Harkup

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

Eat a Peach by David Chang

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo, trans. Jamie Chang

The Source of Self Regard by Toni Morrison