reading priorities for the new year
TBRs no longer make me feel guilty, they just make me excited! Let's talk about the books I have on my radar for my 100-book challenge!
Picture this: it’s 2014, you pull up YouTube. There aren’t three minutes of ads before videos. Shorts don’t exist. Your attention span hasn’t shrunk to the length of a TikTok. You pull up your favorite booktuber in the hopes of find a new book to add to your wishlist. You click on a TBR video.
I think it says a lot about a person if they make (and stick with) TBRs. When Booktube and book-influencing got its start, we went in hot and heavy with TBRs and book hauls and tag videos, and there was a certain thrill in telling the internet the books you wanted to read. For a lot of people, I think TBRs are daunting and exhausting and they just lead to a lot of suffering. I rarely make TBRs anymore because (well, for starters, I don’t read) I’m such a mood reader that it really depends on too many factors to commit to a list of books I hope to read at any given time.
But since I’ve decided that 2024 is going to be a one-hundred book year, I decided the best way to get inspired and excited is to set some goals and do some research to see what books I’m hoping to get to in the next twelve months. More often than not when I do this, I do not read all the books on my list, but it gives me somewhere to start. I have a long table in my Notion with a list of TBR books organized by fifty different things (I’m only slightly exaggerating), but I wanted to put up a list of my highest priority reads so I have something to look back on in twelve months.
My biggest priorities for this reading year are as follows. I hope to read at least one non-fiction book every month - the topics I want to learn more about are Palestine, transgender identities, neurodivergence and autism, communication and relationship skills, LGBTQIA+ history (specifically the AIDs epidemic), and books about the BIPOC experience in relation to policing, racism, and America. I also hope to read a lot more translated books, specifically I have a lot of Russian lit on my list, but I hope to get some other languages in there too. Some first-time authors I want to read this year are Haruki Murakami, Samantha Schweblin, and Mona Awad. I’m also hoping to not reread anything I read in the last twelve months (except All for the Game and the Bromance Book Club, sorry).
fiction novels
🐉 A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons (books 3-5)
I started this series in 2022 and had to take a break after the second book, but I am determined to get through the rest of this high fantasy series in 2024. It’s so unique and unlike any high fantasy I’ve read before - it has footnotes, weird narration, body/soul-swapping, and lots of queer characters. It’s also written by a woman which immediately elevates the story.
👾 XX by Rian Hughes
I’ve been in the middle of this weird book since 2021 and it’s time for me to roll up my sleeves and finish this. It’s a meta/ergodic literature book that uses weird typography and graphic design to tell a story about…aliens? It feels very much like if Prometheus and House of Leaves had a baby, and I enjoyed the beginning so much, so I’m sure it will become one of my all-time faves by the end.
🍉 Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa
This novel about Palestine has been on my list for a few years now, and since my biggest goal this new year is to learn more about the Palestinian experience, I’m so excited to get to pick this up. I’ve heard great things!
🇯🇵 Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Listen, I’ve been curious about Murakami for years, and even though I really hope to get to read some of his more challenging books (I’m looking at you 1Q84), I think this may be the best place to start. I don’t know much about it other than it’s the book that made him famous in Japan, but I’m hoping it sparks something in me. I feel like I could be a Murakami girl!
◼️ Blackouts by Justin Torres
I saw this book at a shop a few months back, and I cannot stop thinking about it. I’m always looking for meta books, and this one looks just up my ally. It’s also queer which is a huge win! Don’t ask me what it’s about because I have no idea!
🐇 Bunny by Mona Awad
My friend Michelle is obsessed with this book and this author, and it’s been on my TBR for years now. I know almost nothing about this book, and I have no idea if I’ll enjoy it or absolutely hate it, but I’m excited to try it out!
🇷🇺 War and Peace (Briggs Translation) by Leo Tolstoy
Okay look. I have had this on my list since I saw Great Comet, and for a while it felt like a pipe dream. Like surely I wouldn’t have the capacity to read this massive classic. But the truth is, ever since I picked up Les Mis (and I figured out that translations have a massive impact on story), I felt this nudge that maybe I can read this book. It feels like it’s already a piece of my soul, so I’m choosing to be optimistic and believe that I will pick this up this year.
📻 All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
I'm a huge fan of Doerr’s book Cloud Cuckoo Land and after I read it I told myself I’d pick up All the Light because it was his first real hit. And now that there’s a Netflix series, I’m even more encouraged to read this. I’m a sucker for WWII stories, and I just know that if I gave this book a chance it could change my life. Here’s to hoping!
🇦🇷 Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin
I’ve wanted to pick up Samantha’s books for years now ever since my writer friend recommended them, and I’m very curious to see if I enjoy her or not. Apparently her stuff is sufficiently weird, so I’m hoping for something meta and strange. And it’s translated from the Spanish so that’s kind of cool!
💛 Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
I still haven’t read this book!! For shame!!!
📚 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
People have been raving about this book for over a decade (at least since the early Booktube days in my circle), and I really do think it’s one of those books that is apart of my soul that I just haven’t read yet. I think it was waiting for the proper moment to reveal itself, and I’m hoping 2024 is the right time. We’ll see.
🐆 Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
I added this to my TBR years ago because it sounded super compelling and strange. It’s part of a fantasy series and that’s kind of all I know about it, but it’s by a Black author and I definitely need more Black fiction lit!
☀️ The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic
We all know I’m trash for the foxes, and I cannot wait to have new Nora content to read. And it’s about Jean?! Sign me up, I’m already obsessed.
🍳 The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
It’s been way too long since I read a new CMQ book (sorry Shara, I cannot do YA right now), and this one looks like it’s going to change my life because it’s all about cooking and food and travel. Is it August yet?!
(Every time I use ?! I feel like I out myself as a Millenial. Oops.)
✨ The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake
I’m kind of terrified for this series finale, but I have to trust that Miss Olivie has our best (worst?) interests at heart. I have no idea where this story is going, but I really hope it delivers!!
graphic novels
🐈 Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
I am currently three volumes behind on this series, and I have a tradition where I reread the first volumes anytime I read a new installment (mainly because the world-building is very challenging and I have no recollection of what happened before). But now we’re up to eight (!!) volumes and I’ve been following this series since 2017, and it’s just my favorite graphic novel series.
🏳️🌈 Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
The newest volume of HS just came out, but I definitely need to do a reread before I get to the new one! I haven’t read this since I binged it in the early days of the pandemic, and even though I’ve watched the show since then, I just really need to read it again. In print this time!
🩵 Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe
I’m way behind on this webtoon, and even though it’s being released in print, I mainly just hope to catch up online because I’m not waiting for the real books to come out!
non-fiction books
🇵🇸 On Palestine by Ilan Pappé and Noam Chomsky
This is included for obvious reasons, and I definitely have more books on Palestine on my TBR, but this seems like a great place to start. I truly have zero knowledge of this history, and I’m hoping this gives me some insight even if it’s kind of basic. Gotta start somewhere!
🏳️⚧️ Transgender History by Susan Stryker
I know this book may not be perfect, and I’m hoping to find more books on the trans experience for my non-fiction challenge, but I’ve read some amazing reviews and I really just need a place to start when it comes to trans history so…here goes nothing!
🧠 We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation by Eric Garcia
I’m trying to find more books on autism because so many of my friends are on the spectrum and I want to read more about neurodivergence because…it seems like that may be apart of my identity. More than anything, as with most of these books, I just needed something to get me started, and this was recommended to me by someone at work!
🥰 Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
Recently I realized that people write non-fiction books about friendship and I just think I’m really missing out on that. Friendship is so important to me and I’d love to learn more about it and see what other people have to say about the subject!
🫶🏻 Set Boundaries Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab
I’ve been following Nedra on Instagram for ages, and this book sounds so interesting and helpful. I’ve learned a lot on my own about boundaries, but based on her posts I think Nedra could teach me a lot!
🤔 Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall Rosenberg
In therapy this past year I’ve been focusing a lot on communication, and since this is a life-long process, I’m hoping this book teaches me some things.
If you have recommendations, I’d love to hear them!
I'm reading Blackouts by Justin Torres right now and *loving it*. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and does it so well. Its subject matter feels incredibly real, tangible, while the style itself is dreamy and timeless.
As for Norwegian Wood, I have the feeling you might not like it (judging from what I know of you from your videos only, of course. I might be completely wrong!!)
His approach to writing female characters and sex is... dubious to say the least (I don't wanna use the world problematic, but that's where I'm heading), and I feel like Norwegian Wood worked for a specific set of people at a specific time in their life, which is to say: I think it lacks that sort of timelessness or transcendence that would make it great despite the flaws or icky bits.
I would recommend starting directly with 1Q84, to be honest; it still has some of those problems (again, I think it's an issue of personal philosophies and writing approaches; that's Murakami), but they're a bit toned down by a dreamy, hazy, interesting plot that deals with paranormal or unexplainable stuff. Good stuff.
I do hope you read Norwegian Wood and absolutely love it, though!! I only know of people who really like it, and people who really don't. Not a lot of folks in between.
Also, since you enjoy ergodic/meta literature, may I recommend Maxwell's Demon by Steven Hall? It's not as crazy as House of Leaves, but it might scratch that itch. Also, it managed to make me BELIEVE in some of its fiction, not on a personal, philosophical level (as in, I don't actually believe in what it said), but in a "within-the-fiction" way, I completely believed in the plausibility of certain things. It revolves around demons, biblical imagery, angels and puzzles. I haven't finished the book, but I really want to, and I will probably do so this year.