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In 2011, I started keeping a spreadsheet of books I want to read someday. A few times a year, I scroll through the spreadsheet and delete the books I've read and the books that no longer interest me.
The last time I scrolled through the sheet, I decided to sort it by the date I added the books to the list. Which ones have I neglected the longest?
I was shocked to discover that these books have been on the spreadsheet since 2015/2016. Oops. Why haven't I read them? Some of them are difficult to find. Some of them are expensive. Some are super depressing. I want to learn the information in the books, but I rarely have the mental capacity to handle it.
Convince me to read these. It's beyond time to read them!
Oldest Books On My To-Be-Read List
(Convince Me To Read Them)
The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman
Adult Historical Graphic Novel
Maus is a haunting tale within a tale. Vladek’s harrowing story of survival is woven into the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. Against the backdrop of guilt brought by survival, they stage a normal life of small arguments and unhappy visits. This astonishing retelling of our century’s grisliest news is a story of survival, not only of Vladek but of the children who survive even the survivors. Maus studies the bloody pawprints of history and tracks its meaning for all of us.
Why I want to read it: Every time I look at a list of banned or challenged books, this one is on it. If somebody tells me not to read a book, I'm going to read it. Eventually.
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At The Mouth Of The River Of Bees: Stories by Kij Johnson
Adult Speculative Short Stories
A sparkling debut collection from one of the hottest writers in science fiction: her stories have received the Nebula Award the last two years running. These stories feature cats, bees, wolves, dogs, and even that most capricious of animals, humans, and have been reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, and The Secret History of Fantasy.
Why I want to read it: I read a few of Kij Johnson's short stories when I was in college and thought they were extremely imaginative. I want to read more.
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The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Fantasy Graphic Novel
In a heartbreaking parting, a man gives his wife and daughter a last kiss and boards a steamship to cross the ocean. He's embarking on the most painful yet important journey of his life—he's leaving home to build a better future for his family.
Why I want to read it: "Read" might be the wrong word because I don't think this book has words. From what I remember, it's all artwork. I flipped through the book at a bookstore when I was in college and loved the art. I couldn't afford to buy the book, though, because I was in college.
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The Birds And Other Stories by Daphne Du Maurier
Adult Horror Short Stories
A classic of alienation and horror, The Birds was immortalized by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of 'Monte Verità' promises immortality, but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject's life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three's a crowd.
Why I want to read it: I'm a Daphne Du Maurier fan who thoroughly enjoyed Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel. I'm looking forward to reading more.
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Epileptic by David B.
Adult Memoir Graphic Novel
David B. was born Pierre-François Beauchard in a small town near Orléans, France. He spent an idyllic early childhood playing with the neighborhood kids and, along with his older brother, Jean-Christophe, ganging up on his little sister, Florence. But their lives changed abruptly when Jean-Christophe was struck with epilepsy at age eleven. In search of a cure, their parents dragged the family to acupuncturists and magnetic therapists, to mediums and macrobiotic communes. But every new cure ended in disappointment as Jean-Christophe, after brief periods of remission, would only get worse.
Angry at his brother for abandoning him and at all the quacks who offered them false hope, Pierre-François learned to cope by drawing fantastically elaborate battle scenes, creating images that provide a fascinating window into his interior life. An honest and horrifying portrait of the disease and of the pain and fear it sowed in the family, Epileptic is also a moving depiction of one family’s intricate history.
Why I want to read it: The author/artist is extremely popular in Europe. I want to see what the hype is about.
This Way Madness Lies by Mike Jay
Adult History Nonfiction
This Way Madness Lies is a thought-provoking exploration of the history of madness and its treatment as seen through the lens of its proverbial home: Bethlem Royal Hospital, London, popularly known as Bedlam. The book charts the evolution of the asylum through four incarnations: the eighteenth-century madhouse, the nineteenth century asylum, the twentieth-century mental hospital, and the post-asylum modern day, when mental health has become the concern of the wider community. The book reveals the role that the history of madness and its treatment has played in creating the landscape of the asylum, in all its iterations.
Why I want to read it: I like niche history books that focus on one topic. This is a whole book about a hospital.
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The Morning They Came For Us: Dispatches From Syria by Janine di Giovanni
Adult Journalism
In May of 2012, Janine di Giovanni travelled to Syria. It would mark the beginning of a long relationship with the country, starting with her coverage of the peaceful uprising and continuing as the situation quickly turned into one of the most brutal, internecine conflicts in recent history. Drawn to the stories of the ordinary people caught up in the conflict, Syria came to consume her every moment, her every emotion.
Speaking to those directly involved in the war, di Giovanni relays here the personal stories of rebel fighters thrown in jail at the least provocation; of children and families forced to watch loved ones taken and killed by regime forces with dubious justifications; and the stories of the elite, holding pool parties in Damascus hotels, trying to deny the human consequences of the nearby shelling.
Why I want to read it: I've read a few books about Syria, and I'm still confused about the conflict there. I want to learn more, but it's all very depressing.
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The Buried Soul: How Humans Invented Death by Timothy Taylor
Adult History Nonfiction
Do cannibals exist? Is there evidence for contemporary human sacrifice? What are vampires? The Buried Soul charts the story of the human response to death from prehistory to the present day. At some moment in human history, our ancestors invented "death." Retracing four million years, this book investigates the many ways that humans, in facing death, first understood what it was to be alive. Their dramatic confrontation with mortality survives in early accounts of sacrifices, in blindfolded bodies preserved in peat bogs, and in the elaborate burials of disabled or deformed individuals among Neanderthals and the people of the Ice Age.
Why I want to read it: Another niche history book. This one is about death. History + Morbid stuff = Possibly my favorite book ever.
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Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories From History Without The Fairy-Tale Endings by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie
Adult History Nonfiction
You think you know her story. You've read the Brothers Grimm, you've watched the Disney cartoons, and you cheered as these virtuous women lived happily ever after. But real princesses didn't always get happy endings. Sure, plenty were graceful and benevolent leaders, but just as many were ruthless in their quest for power and all of them had skeletons rattling in their royal closets. Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe was a Nazi spy. Empress Elisabeth of the Austro-Hungarian empire slept wearing a mask of raw veal. Princess Olga of Kiev slaughtered her way to sainthood while Princess Lakshmibai waged war on the battlefield, charging into combat with her toddler son strapped to her back.
Why I want to read it: Can you imagine fighting a war with a toddler strapped to your back? Seems like irresponsible parenting. Anyway, the premise of this book sounds amazing. I only know about the Disney brand of princess. I want to know about the not-safe-for-Disney ladies.
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Don't Tell The Grown-Ups: The Subversive Power Of Children's Literature by Alison Lurie
Adult Literary Criticism Essays
In sixteen spirited essays, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Alison Lurie, who is also one of our wittiest and most astute cultural commentators, explores the world of children's literature—from Lewis Carroll to Dr. Seuss, Mark Twain to Beatrix Potter—and shows that the best-loved children's books tend to challenge rather than uphold respectable adult values.
Why I want to read it: I was supposed to read this book in graduate school, but that didn't happen for reasons I don't remember. I have a master's degree in children's literature and never outgrew kids' books.
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Which book has been on your to-be-read list the longest?
The only one I've read is Princesses Behaving Badly and I remember it being pretty good!
ReplyDeleteI've only read Maus, but it is really well done. Yes, you've probably read a ton of Holocaust books, but this is the story of the author's grandfather (if I remember correctly). It's a quick read since it's a graphic novel, and I think he does a good job of capturing the time and a single experience.
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