books I read you might want to read
This is less inspired than the list of podcasts I posted in this journal mostly because I don't have super strong opinions about the quality of these books. I just know that I enjoyed them.
This year, for the first time, I found myself a) reading more fiction than non-fiction and b) enjoying fiction more than I enjoy non-fiction.
Anyway, here's some stuff I read that you might want to read:
The Song of Achilles (Madeline Miller) - Brilliant. Beautiful. Romantic. Historic. Extremely educational. Extremely emotional. My favourite novel of the year.
East of Eden (John Steinbeck) - The first book I read this year. Epic in the literal sense of the word. Never been into "the classics" but this was great.
The Overstory (Richard Powers) - Insanely powerful. Made me think about trees long and hard for a long time. The kind of book that completely absorbs you and changes the way you look at the world while you're reading it.
The People in the Trees (Hanya Yanagihara) - I was absolutely absorbed by this. Recently learned that it is, in lot of ways, an ode to Lolita.
Exhalation: Stories (Ted Chiang) - Read this on planes when that was still a thing earlier this year. Used to absolutely devour short story collections. This is an entertaining one by the guy who wrote the story "Arrival" was based on.