Reading Challenges
My Read Shelf:
2015
I have just finished my library degree (woohoo!) and I am back into reading! Mostly I read whatever I want to read at the moment.
However, because I can’t live without a little structure, and because I am never going to do that PhD in American lit that I once envisioned, I am working methodically through every decade in American history back to the year 1600, reading at least one primary text. (Primary text = novels or poetic works when they are available; works of nonfiction when they are not. The early settlers, it happens, did not produce much in the way of novels. Lots of sermons, though! This will be interesting.) I will not be working chronologically; I will be checking off decades as they happen and following my fancy as I go.
I started with the a collection of Washington Irving’s works that has been a shelf-sitter of mine for a few years. I’ll fill this table in as I go!
| Read | |
| 1600-1610 | |
| 1611-1620 | |
| 1621-1630 | |
| 1631-1640 | |
| 1641-1650 | |
| 1651-1660 | |
| 1661-1670 | |
| 1671-1680 | |
| 1681-1690 | Mary Rowlandson: A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson |
| 1691-1700 | |
| 1701-1710 | |
| 1711-1720 | |
| 1721-1730 | Elizabeth Hanson: God’s Mercy Surmounting Man’s Cruelty, Exemplified in the Captivity and Redemption of Elizabeth Hanson |
| 1731-1740 | |
| 1741-1750 | |
| 1751-1760 | |
| 1761-1770 | |
| 1771-1780 | |
| 1781-1790 | Abraham Panther: A Surprising Account of the Discovery of a Lady Who Was Taken by the Indians |
| 1791-1800 | Charles Brockden Brown: Wieland
Bunker Gay: A Genuine and Correct Account of the Captivity, Sufferings, and Deliverance of Mrs. Jemima Howe Shepard Kollock: A True Narrative of the Sufferings of Mary Kinnan Ben Franklin: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Hannah Webster Foster: The Coquette |
| 1801-1810 | Washington Irving: A History of New York |
| 1811-1820 | Washington Irving: The Sketch Book |
| 1821-1830 | Washington Irving: Bracebridge Hall / Tales of a Traveller
James Seaver: A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison |
| 1831-1840 | Mary Godfrey: An Authentic Narrative of the Seminole War; and of the Miraculous Escape of Mrs. Mary Godfrey and Her Four Female Children |
| 1841-1850 | Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter |
| 1851-1860 | |
| 1861-1870 | Sarah Wakefield: Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees: A Narrative of Indian Captivity |
| 1871-1880 | Henry James: Daisy Miller, Washington Square |
| 1881-1890 | Mark Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn |
| 1891-1900 | Emmeline Fuller: Left by the Indians: Story of My Life |
| 1901-1910 | Edith Wharton: “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell,” “The Eyes,” “Afterward” |
| 1911-1920 | Edith Wharton: The Age of Innocence, “The Triumph of Night,” “Kerfol” |
| 1921-1930 | Sinclair Lewis: Babbitt
Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon Nella Larsen: Passing F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Beautiful and Damned Edith Wharton: “Miss Mary Pask,” “Bewitched,” “Mr. Jones” |
| 1931-1940 | Edith Wharton: “Pomegranate Seed,” “The Looking Glass,” “All Souls'”
Katherine Anne Porter: “Old Mortality,” “Noon Wine,” “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” |
| 1941-1950 | Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire
James M. Cain: Mildred Pierce Flannery O’Connor: The Cartoons |
| 1951-1960 | Flannery O’Connor: The Violent Bear It Away
Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea James Agee: A Death in the Family Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House |
| 1961-1970 | Shirley Jackson: We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Ira Levin: Rosemary’s Baby Joan Didion: Play It As It Lays John Steinbeck: Travels With Charley: In Search of America |
| 1971-1980 | Marilynne Robinson: Housekeeping
Stephen King (Richard Bachman): The Long Walk |
| 1981-1990 | Lorrie Moore: Self-Help
Barbara Kingsolver: The Bean Trees |
| 1991-2000 | Allan Gurganus: White People
Lorrie Moore: Birds of America Toni Morrison: Paradise Tracy Chevalier: Girl With a Pearl Earring Lucy Grealy: Autobiography of a Face Stephen King: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon |
| 2001-2010 | Lauren Groff: The Monsters of Templeton
Jean Kwok: Girl in Translation Laura Moriarty: While I’m Falling Pamela Ribon: Going in Circles Dan Chaon: You Remind Me of Me Suzanne Collins: Catching Fire Dan Chaon: Among the Missing Jonathan Tropper: This is Where I Leave You Suzanne Collins: Mockingjay Brad Gooch: Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor Jennifer McMahon: Promise Not to Tell Rebecca Skloot: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Lisa Genova: Still Alice Gillian Flynn: Dark Places Alison Bechdel: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Jon Krakauer: Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith Sarah Vowell: Assassination Vacation Gillian Flynn: Sharp Objects Gail Collins: Scorpion Tongues (New and Updated Edition): Gossip, Celebrity, and American Politics |
| 2011-present | Paula McClain: The Paris Wife
Amy Waldman: The Submission Gillian Flynn: Gone Girl Michael Chabon: Telegraph Avenue Ellen Meister: Farewell, Dorothy Parker Cheryl Strayed: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail Dan Chaon: Stay Awake Justin Torres: We the Animals Ann Patchett: State of Wonder Marisha Pessl: Night Film Will Allison: Long Drive Home Susannah Cahalan: Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness Karen Russell: Vampires in the Lemon Grove Megan Abbott: The Fever Julie Schumacher: Dear Committee Members M.O. Walsh: My Sunshine Away Lauren Groff: Arcadia Amy Poehler: Yes Please Cheryl Strayed: Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life From Dear Sugar Patton Oswalt: Silver Screen Fiend: Claire Messud: The Woman Upstairs Miranda Beverly-Whittemore: Bittersweet Maria Semple: Where’d You Go, Bernadette Donna Tartt: The Goldfinch Lorrie Moore: Bark Connie Willis: The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories Leah Remini: Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology Bonnie Jo Campbell: Mothers, Tell Your Daughters Elizabeth Brundage: All Things Cease to Appear Jennifer McMahon: The Winter People Yaa Gyasi: Homegoing Cathleen Schine: They May Not Mean To, But They Do Lynn Steger Strong: Hold Still Emma Cline: The Girls Amy Schumer: The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo Mindy Kaling: Why Not Me? Jenny Lawson: Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things Mara Wilson: Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame Robert Kolker: Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery Jennifer McMahon: The One I Left Behind Roxane Gay: Difficult Women |
2011 Genre Fiction Challenge
Each month in 2011, I’m going to read at least one book in a genre or medium that I have historically ignored in favor of literary fiction. I’ve decided to go by instinct, deciding every month which new genre I’ll look into. I am broadening my horizons in a completely different way than last year.
One Good Turn, Kate Atkinson
When Will There Be Good News, Kate Atkinson
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard
The Call of the Wild, Jack London
Teacher Man, Frank McCourt
Night, Elie Wiesel
Lucky, Alice Sebold
April: Short story collections
One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories, eds. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Jhumpa Lahiri
American Salvage, Bonnie Jo Campbell
Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall, Kazuo Ishiguro
A Visit From the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, Wells Tower
Too Much Happiness, Alice Munro
May: Graphic novels
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
Breakfast After Noon, Andi Watson
Concrete, Vol. 1: Depths, Paul Chadwick
June: Chick lit / romance
Girls in Trucks, Katie Crouch
Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman
Bet Me, Jennifer Crusie
When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present, Gail Collins
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
July: Gothic / horror
Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier
The Shining, Stephen King
American Gods, Neil Gaiman
August: YA
The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
September: Popular nonfiction
Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, Barbara Ehrenreich
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things, Randy O. Frost & Gail Steketee
Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time, Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way, Jon Krakauer
October: Sci-fi / fantasy
Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
The Illumination, Kevin Brockmeier
November: Poetry/verse
The Wasteland, T.S. Eliot
The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
December: Oral history
Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller
I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum
“The Good War”: An Oral History of World War II, Studs Terkel
(updated 1/11/12)
And in the past…
I have completed the Expert Challenge!
North America (2 books) – DONE (The Devil in the White City and The Women)
South America (2 books) – DONE (Daughter of Fortune and Collected Novellas of Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Europe (2 books) – DONE (Dracula and Never Let Me Go)
Africa (2 books) – DONE (Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight and Purple Hibiscus)
Asia (2 books) – DONE (Life of Pi and An Artist of the Floating World)
Australasia (2 books) – DONE (Theft: A Love Story and Cloudstreet)
Antarctica (2 books) – DONE (White-Out and The Brief History of the Dead)
(updated 12/26/10)
Cultural Civilian 