I really do not enjoy writing top ten lists — ranking art just runs against my nature, and people tend to misunderstand the point of lists anyhow, as if they’re designed to tell everyone else they’re wrong rather than give a window into one person’s taste, thoughts, and experiences.
Thanks for this! I've only read I Have Some Questions For You, The Nickel Boys, and The Plot. The first two made my favorites of the year last year, and the third was very entertaining. (But I forgot the plot of The Plot so will have to read it again in order to read The Sequel.)
Despite being an English Major, I tend to read more nonfiction--specifically, history--than fiction. I know, I know! Will actively create more of a balance in 2025.
Some years I read more nonfiction and some years more fiction -- and I think that's fine! Not teaching and not writing a book this year really curtailed my nonfiction, but I'm pretty sure that's about to change. But fiction is so important to read. And you'll note: no poetry. I need to find a good way to rectify that.
"But fiction is so important to read."--Absolutely agree. I feel guilty when I read more nonfiction than fiction. I probably shouldn't--history, as we just recently and savagely learned last month, is incredibly important to know.
Might as well: Here are a few favorite novels read this year.
My number one was Ann Patchett's Tom Lake. A beautiful, lovely rumination on love and time. She's an incredibly warm writer and I was smitten with the family depicted.
I loved Lev Grossman's Arthurian fantasy, A Bright Sword. It's an exciting epic that has modern political resonance and great characters that both fulfills and deconstructs the King Arthur legends.
Just read Virginia Woolf's Orlando for the first time, for a book club. What a blast. Having seen Sally Potter's great film and remembering the somberness of Mrs. Dalloway, I wasn't expecting a hilarious comedy that both satirizes writers and is deeply in love with them. The novel is a rhapsodic ode to literature and life; it feels like all the values Woolf and her Bloomsbury Group championed are in this book.
Jenny Odell hive rise UP
thank you for this! Gonna pick up a few of these titles :)
Thanks for sharing! Is your research on attention in preparation for another book? I really need to read Jenny Odell’s book… this is another reminder.
Partly, but I am also teaching a related graduate course in the spring :)
Thanks for this! I've only read I Have Some Questions For You, The Nickel Boys, and The Plot. The first two made my favorites of the year last year, and the third was very entertaining. (But I forgot the plot of The Plot so will have to read it again in order to read The Sequel.)
Despite being an English Major, I tend to read more nonfiction--specifically, history--than fiction. I know, I know! Will actively create more of a balance in 2025.
Some years I read more nonfiction and some years more fiction -- and I think that's fine! Not teaching and not writing a book this year really curtailed my nonfiction, but I'm pretty sure that's about to change. But fiction is so important to read. And you'll note: no poetry. I need to find a good way to rectify that.
"But fiction is so important to read."--Absolutely agree. I feel guilty when I read more nonfiction than fiction. I probably shouldn't--history, as we just recently and savagely learned last month, is incredibly important to know.
Might as well: Here are a few favorite novels read this year.
My number one was Ann Patchett's Tom Lake. A beautiful, lovely rumination on love and time. She's an incredibly warm writer and I was smitten with the family depicted.
I loved Lev Grossman's Arthurian fantasy, A Bright Sword. It's an exciting epic that has modern political resonance and great characters that both fulfills and deconstructs the King Arthur legends.
Just read Virginia Woolf's Orlando for the first time, for a book club. What a blast. Having seen Sally Potter's great film and remembering the somberness of Mrs. Dalloway, I wasn't expecting a hilarious comedy that both satirizes writers and is deeply in love with them. The novel is a rhapsodic ode to literature and life; it feels like all the values Woolf and her Bloomsbury Group championed are in this book.