I dig the tsundoku shtick. It’s part of nest-building for me, a creative and nurturing space at home. It’s a bit like having a well stocked larder with all the things I need to cook with.
I think sometimes one falls into the trap of seeing the TBR pile as more of a problem (although the problem is with our finitude) than a gift, so I’m quite into moving myself out of the TBR pile as problem whenever it looks that way.
Oliver Burkeman talks about reading being like a stream one can dip into.
So, as part of my own tsundoku I’ll aim to have a look at North Woods by Daniel Mason, Lore Segal’s Ladies Lunch, and - as ever - some Henry James.
Hi Nicolas! I like that analogy— stocking the house with books is just like stocking the cupboards. May we never go hungry. North Woods is my pile too— let me know if decide to read it now. I have not picked up any James in awhile. Which is your favorite?
Hey Abra, my favourite James? Now, there’s a question! I think it depends on what mood I’m in…early or late? Certainly, Portrait of a Lady, Bostonians…Golden Bowl…and certainly Aspern and Turn of the Screw. But, really, everything.
But, he’s a constant. He’s kind of like my literary analyst, and significantly less expensive (in fact, after the initial outlay bringing him into the house and on to the shelves, completely free!). His layers and thinking are always intriguing, and his requirements of one as his reader always repay one’s effort when he gets difficult and exacting, it’s sometimes not comfortable but it is always, I think, rewarding (just like a good analyst).
Interestingly, he is as important to me as a reader and when I write. By which don’t mean I write like Henry James (obvs), but his task, his intention is a bit of a guide, a reminder of the purpose and the world of story. I don’t think it’s like that with many authors - or not with such an immediacy. I just find him a great helpmate in thinking and writing and in keeping the two on the same frequency (I have no idea what he would say in return about my writing! but I hold fondly to the idea that he would be encouraging - and that is all I can hope as there’s, like, zero chance he’ll read a word of it! My analyst might interpret that as me being able to hold on to it as a fantasy because it can never be dashed by the reality…).
And you, do you have a James favourite(s). Or maybe, he’s not for you?
I love that. I only read him as assigned and I only loved Turn of the Screw. But you are making me want to put in a little more effort. Thank you, this is so smart.
I love the concept of tsundoku, the big lists don't do much beyond rile me up these days. I don't feel FOMO but rather annoyance that they leave off books I think deserve to be there haha currently in my piles: finishing Parable of the Sower and James, read My Friends, maybe starting Promise, read 1-3 holiday reads to give my brain a break.
Oh yes, we are both still on this POTS thing. I may try to finish it… maybe. And now I have to know: what do you think should have been on the lists that’s not there? I want to read that!
Maybe my first post will actually be a best of 2024 list but I would say: Blue Light Hours, Skin & Bones, Ghostroots, Neighbors, We Refuse and Tidal Waters (a Charco press title!)
Janet! Hi and thanks for commenting. Sounds like I understood your intention then! I had a dream last night that you were upset I had stolen your work (my subconscious is an IP lawyer apparently) so I am relieved to see you don’t mind. It’s perfect.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I think such lists cannot be more than an inspiration, be it longlists and shortlists of book awards, be it best book lists of all sort. A lot of these are sales oriented and do not necessarily reflect a good and true reader's experience. Therefore, theme oriented lists that are curated by individual readers are much more interesting and might bring books to one's attention that would otherwise remain undiscovered.
That’s right. I do enjoy the lists for inspiration. Getting overwhelmed by the volume of them at end of year is a bit of a schtick. I’ll right myself this month and be back to my personal list making soon I expect. What are you reading now, Norman and how did you discover it?
As far as the Time Magazine list of 100 best books of 2024 goes, I’ve read none. Am I worried? No. Although there are several which have already caught my eye and/or are on hold at the library.
As far as the NYTimes 100 Best of 2024 goes, I’ve read 2. However I have 5 or 6 on the list on hold at the library. The waiting lists are long for popular new books. That said it’s all coincidence because “I read what I want.” 🤓📖📚🔖
A stack? I have an entire bookshelf of unread books. I never catch up because I am always finding new books through social media. I’m going to try to buy less next year, because I am so behind. I generally like having stacks around, but I started to think about moving in the next couple of years and wondering if I want to take all these with me!
I try to get books from the library if I see something on a list I want. But now my holds list is also a mile long.
Hi Kate! I am impressed with your organization— shelving unread books! And yes, nothing like a move to make you wonder about each thing you own. I hope it goes well. Which hold will you pick up and read next?
I love your thoughts here. While I enjoy browsing the best-of lists, I’m tired of the pressure I put on myself to read the big books of the moment. I want to take your approach in 2025 and focus more on backlist titles.
I also have massive stacks of unread books. I think probably a couple hundred sitting around that need to read at some point. I finished my 2024 reading plan in November so this month I am doing the same as you, reading what I want.
I am not a huge fan of the Book Lists and don't pay much attention to them. They have their place I am sure but similar to some of the awards lists I think they often have a bias. Just my opinion though.
Hello fellow voracious reader and lover of literature! I feel your spiritual pain. We share a lot in common. Books have changed my life. Ditto writing them.
Recently, I had an epiphany that I read best when I have a pile of maybe 5 titles I am working through or plan to start or just read & need to write about, and that's it. Nothing else comes into my consciousness, goes on a list, or into another pile shuffling towards me when I look away. When I outlined my 8 weeks of spooky season with a list of reads, I raced through them and burnt out badly. Lesson #1
My husband recently lost his job (we're ok!), but there is not a lot of extra cash for books, so now, instead of seeing my tsundoku as a burden, it is a GIFT that I will literally never run out of books before he starts a new career. like stock piling before winter - lesson #2
re: the book lists. I read James and Martyr!, which are both on every list. I loved James, and I liked Martyr!, so to see it everywhere I realized that these lists are generic in the way that they try to encapsulate many tastes, but that doesn't mean every good book is for me. With this mind shift I can appreciate the lists more. lesson #3
thanks for being my therapist today I really needed to get some thoughts off my chest clearly 😂
Hi Natalie. As usual I must be a great therapist because you are talking so much sense here. Most most successful lists are 5 books. Enough to have variety and choice and a plan, but not too undiscerning or ambitious. And while I hope your husband finds an even better job as soon as you are both damn well ready (I currently have an entrepreneurial house husband too and this is not to be trifled with), this is an opportunity to realize that tsundoku (not piles— that sounds like a disease) is a TREASURE and a STRATEGY. And finally I am now deciding between my tombstone reading “not every good book was for me” and “she always said the weirdest thing that felt right” and I have you to thank for it!
My tsundoku (sic) includes When Breath Becomes Air; Did I Ever Tell You?; What Happened To You?; Fast Girls; One, Two, Three; The Meditations; Feeding My Mother; and finish One Long River of Song. I’ll stop there. 😊
Hi Angela! I had to look a couple of those up and now I will keep my eye out for copies of Did I Ever Tell You? And Fast Girls. Those sound like they need to be in my pile too!
It’s such a feeling of anticipation to have a book (or ten) full of unread words waiting to be consumed and experienced. Glad a couple from my pile piqued your interest. 😊
March, Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, and Small Things Like These are also high on my list!
I really appreciate your themes, and actually choose one book per month from your lists to add to my own. I don’t read them in order, and haven’t read all of them I intend to yet, so I’ll be that PITA circling back to old posts to comment when I do…
Those three are a whole mood together! Add in End of Drum Time and it could be a cozy month.
I love how you take the long view with your reading life, Cori.
And I won’t be coy: I also get a little thrill when someone (you, mostly) comments on something I wrote months ago. Each post takes me hours and so it’s nice if they can have a life beyond the 24-48 hour email cycle. Happy winter reading, Cori.
I dig the tsundoku shtick. It’s part of nest-building for me, a creative and nurturing space at home. It’s a bit like having a well stocked larder with all the things I need to cook with.
I think sometimes one falls into the trap of seeing the TBR pile as more of a problem (although the problem is with our finitude) than a gift, so I’m quite into moving myself out of the TBR pile as problem whenever it looks that way.
Oliver Burkeman talks about reading being like a stream one can dip into.
So, as part of my own tsundoku I’ll aim to have a look at North Woods by Daniel Mason, Lore Segal’s Ladies Lunch, and - as ever - some Henry James.
Hi Nicolas! I like that analogy— stocking the house with books is just like stocking the cupboards. May we never go hungry. North Woods is my pile too— let me know if decide to read it now. I have not picked up any James in awhile. Which is your favorite?
Hey Abra, my favourite James? Now, there’s a question! I think it depends on what mood I’m in…early or late? Certainly, Portrait of a Lady, Bostonians…Golden Bowl…and certainly Aspern and Turn of the Screw. But, really, everything.
But, he’s a constant. He’s kind of like my literary analyst, and significantly less expensive (in fact, after the initial outlay bringing him into the house and on to the shelves, completely free!). His layers and thinking are always intriguing, and his requirements of one as his reader always repay one’s effort when he gets difficult and exacting, it’s sometimes not comfortable but it is always, I think, rewarding (just like a good analyst).
Interestingly, he is as important to me as a reader and when I write. By which don’t mean I write like Henry James (obvs), but his task, his intention is a bit of a guide, a reminder of the purpose and the world of story. I don’t think it’s like that with many authors - or not with such an immediacy. I just find him a great helpmate in thinking and writing and in keeping the two on the same frequency (I have no idea what he would say in return about my writing! but I hold fondly to the idea that he would be encouraging - and that is all I can hope as there’s, like, zero chance he’ll read a word of it! My analyst might interpret that as me being able to hold on to it as a fantasy because it can never be dashed by the reality…).
And you, do you have a James favourite(s). Or maybe, he’s not for you?
I love that. I only read him as assigned and I only loved Turn of the Screw. But you are making me want to put in a little more effort. Thank you, this is so smart.
I love the concept of tsundoku, the big lists don't do much beyond rile me up these days. I don't feel FOMO but rather annoyance that they leave off books I think deserve to be there haha currently in my piles: finishing Parable of the Sower and James, read My Friends, maybe starting Promise, read 1-3 holiday reads to give my brain a break.
Oh yes, we are both still on this POTS thing. I may try to finish it… maybe. And now I have to know: what do you think should have been on the lists that’s not there? I want to read that!
I'm glad it's not just me struggling although i hate to go into the new year with unfinished books. I think electric lit is going to have one of the best lists, i loved or have on my tbr most of these https://electricliterature.com/electric-lits-best-short-story-collections-of-2024/
Maybe my first post will actually be a best of 2024 list but I would say: Blue Light Hours, Skin & Bones, Ghostroots, Neighbors, We Refuse and Tidal Waters (a Charco press title!)
Loved the quirky names in the book Heaven and Earth Grocery! Thanks for sharing my art. It’s meant to give a pause.
Janet! Hi and thanks for commenting. Sounds like I understood your intention then! I had a dream last night that you were upset I had stolen your work (my subconscious is an IP lawyer apparently) so I am relieved to see you don’t mind. It’s perfect.
I don’t mind at all!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I think such lists cannot be more than an inspiration, be it longlists and shortlists of book awards, be it best book lists of all sort. A lot of these are sales oriented and do not necessarily reflect a good and true reader's experience. Therefore, theme oriented lists that are curated by individual readers are much more interesting and might bring books to one's attention that would otherwise remain undiscovered.
That’s right. I do enjoy the lists for inspiration. Getting overwhelmed by the volume of them at end of year is a bit of a schtick. I’ll right myself this month and be back to my personal list making soon I expect. What are you reading now, Norman and how did you discover it?
As far as the Time Magazine list of 100 best books of 2024 goes, I’ve read none. Am I worried? No. Although there are several which have already caught my eye and/or are on hold at the library.
Gratified to see “The Safekeep” is on both lists.
We have similar interests. This one sounds intriguing to me, too.
As far as the NYTimes 100 Best of 2024 goes, I’ve read 2. However I have 5 or 6 on the list on hold at the library. The waiting lists are long for popular new books. That said it’s all coincidence because “I read what I want.” 🤓📖📚🔖
FYI “The Empusium” & “The Hunter” are my two. “The Coin”, “The Anxious Generation”, “Shred Sisters” are among my holds.
I really want to read THE COIN and SHRED SISTERS, too.
A stack? I have an entire bookshelf of unread books. I never catch up because I am always finding new books through social media. I’m going to try to buy less next year, because I am so behind. I generally like having stacks around, but I started to think about moving in the next couple of years and wondering if I want to take all these with me!
I try to get books from the library if I see something on a list I want. But now my holds list is also a mile long.
Hi Kate! I am impressed with your organization— shelving unread books! And yes, nothing like a move to make you wonder about each thing you own. I hope it goes well. Which hold will you pick up and read next?
I love your thoughts here. While I enjoy browsing the best-of lists, I’m tired of the pressure I put on myself to read the big books of the moment. I want to take your approach in 2025 and focus more on backlist titles.
Yes, friend! Let me know if there are any backlist books you think would be fun to read together. In 2025 I want to read in more pairs or groups.
I also have massive stacks of unread books. I think probably a couple hundred sitting around that need to read at some point. I finished my 2024 reading plan in November so this month I am doing the same as you, reading what I want.
I am not a huge fan of the Book Lists and don't pay much attention to them. They have their place I am sure but similar to some of the awards lists I think they often have a bias. Just my opinion though.
Enjoy your winter reading!
Yes, I always perceive you as immune to the hype, Matthew. I love that you follow your own instincts. What’s up next for you?
At the moment I am reading a biography of William Henry Harrison. Not our most interesting president.
Also reading a collection of short stories by Borges. I am blown away by his writing. This is my first experience with him so it is a lot of fun.
I also just started The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel. She has an interesting writing style that forces me to read slower. I appreciate that.
So eclectic and so good. I LOVE Borges.
End of Drum Time! You'll want to wear a parka while reading 🥶
Since it is 82 degrees, this might be the only way I get to experience winter! Did you see her at the Festival, Lindy?
Hello fellow voracious reader and lover of literature! I feel your spiritual pain. We share a lot in common. Books have changed my life. Ditto writing them.
Would you consider reading/reviewing my coming-of-age literary punk novel? (I also have two other books): https://michaelmohr.substack.com/p/my-ya-novel-got-an-awesome-review
~
Michael Mohr
"Sincere American Writing"
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Recently, I had an epiphany that I read best when I have a pile of maybe 5 titles I am working through or plan to start or just read & need to write about, and that's it. Nothing else comes into my consciousness, goes on a list, or into another pile shuffling towards me when I look away. When I outlined my 8 weeks of spooky season with a list of reads, I raced through them and burnt out badly. Lesson #1
My husband recently lost his job (we're ok!), but there is not a lot of extra cash for books, so now, instead of seeing my tsundoku as a burden, it is a GIFT that I will literally never run out of books before he starts a new career. like stock piling before winter - lesson #2
re: the book lists. I read James and Martyr!, which are both on every list. I loved James, and I liked Martyr!, so to see it everywhere I realized that these lists are generic in the way that they try to encapsulate many tastes, but that doesn't mean every good book is for me. With this mind shift I can appreciate the lists more. lesson #3
thanks for being my therapist today I really needed to get some thoughts off my chest clearly 😂
Hi Natalie. As usual I must be a great therapist because you are talking so much sense here. Most most successful lists are 5 books. Enough to have variety and choice and a plan, but not too undiscerning or ambitious. And while I hope your husband finds an even better job as soon as you are both damn well ready (I currently have an entrepreneurial house husband too and this is not to be trifled with), this is an opportunity to realize that tsundoku (not piles— that sounds like a disease) is a TREASURE and a STRATEGY. And finally I am now deciding between my tombstone reading “not every good book was for me” and “she always said the weirdest thing that felt right” and I have you to thank for it!
Truly truly truly I am thankful for you Abra I am laughing a lot over here lol
My tsundoku (sic) includes When Breath Becomes Air; Did I Ever Tell You?; What Happened To You?; Fast Girls; One, Two, Three; The Meditations; Feeding My Mother; and finish One Long River of Song. I’ll stop there. 😊
Hi Angela! I had to look a couple of those up and now I will keep my eye out for copies of Did I Ever Tell You? And Fast Girls. Those sound like they need to be in my pile too!
It’s such a feeling of anticipation to have a book (or ten) full of unread words waiting to be consumed and experienced. Glad a couple from my pile piqued your interest. 😊
March, Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, and Small Things Like These are also high on my list!
I really appreciate your themes, and actually choose one book per month from your lists to add to my own. I don’t read them in order, and haven’t read all of them I intend to yet, so I’ll be that PITA circling back to old posts to comment when I do…
Those three are a whole mood together! Add in End of Drum Time and it could be a cozy month.
I love how you take the long view with your reading life, Cori.
And I won’t be coy: I also get a little thrill when someone (you, mostly) comments on something I wrote months ago. Each post takes me hours and so it’s nice if they can have a life beyond the 24-48 hour email cycle. Happy winter reading, Cori.
Oh, good! That makes me feel good to know, that it’s not annoying since you have likely long moved on!