Ohhh boy…

What books do you want to read?

I have never responded to a prompt, but I can’t resist this one. I want to read all the books! I should probably start with my TBR bookcases. I currently have two.

A problem I have is that when I am reading a book,  I go down rabbit holes of events and people mentioned in that book.  For example,  I recently finished one of the early diaries of Anais Nin. She mentioned dozens of authors that were influences or peers, and I would stop and read a bit about them and some of their pieces, so it actually took me six months to read one of her journals. Being an avid reader who has ADHD, this is something that happens to me continuously. Rabbit holes abound and must be followed!

I have a folder of 61 screenshots saved as TBR taken while browsing online, some of which contain numerous titles per image. There are hundreds of titles in there, many of which are “The ten favorite books of ____________ ” because I love to see what sort of literature or nonfiction is recommended by people I admire. It’s like a window into the secret machinations of their mind. 

I can’t give a top ten favourite book list,  but I am going to list some of the books that are both favourites and that I feel have “made” me.

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

Huck Finn

All of Tom Robbins but especially Another Roadside Attraction and Skinny Legs and All

All of Vonnegut but especially Slaughterhouse Five

All of Oliver Sacks

All of Joan Didion

The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr

Great Expectations by Dickens

Normal People by Sally Rooney

All of Sherlock Holmes

Hamlet and Macbeth, among other Shakespeare

Revolution From Within by Gloria Steinem

The Glass Hotel by  Emily St. John Mandel

Wind Up Bird Chronicles, After Dark,  Norwegian Wood, and others by Murakami

The Idiot by Elif Batuman

The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings by Tolkien

The Great Gatsby

I once read 70 books in a few months in an attempt to cope with life. I wrote about it here:

https://interrobangmehardbaby.blog/2024/04/12/the-summer-of-70-books/ 

I really love to read book response posts about the effect of literature on people’s lives. I had intended to write more of those, but life never seems to slow down, and I keep blogging about personal issues. It’s time to refocus on my love of reading.  I haven’t yet chosen my next read, but I think I need to go peruse my shelves and crack one open.

I will stop there for now, but I look forward to reading the response to this prompt in the blogs I follow. I am always looking for more TBR recommendations, despite the mountain of books waiting patiently on my shelves.