Hi Mari - Waving from the War & Peace substack here! I, too, could never finish "100 Years of Solitude", so you have company. I am tackling another of my mountains next year, "Pride and Prejudice". Wish me luck!
Oh I’m so glad you enjoyed this challenge! I have read a lot this year but failed to adhere to the challenge, but for a good reason: I was enjoying other books so much I didn’t feel motivated to try to check the boxes. I’d like to give it another shot next year.
“Schafskrimi” is my favorite German word I’ve learned in recent memory 😂
So many great books. I ploughed through 100 years but wouldn’t say it’s a favourite. I’ve just seen it’s showing here in Australia on Netflix! I might give it a whirl and see if it’s easier to take in. Who knows! It might even inspire me to read the book again 😁
So first another memory popped up as I was reading your list. I read Jane Ayre at about 16 or 17 because this girl I had tons of respect for was in a group of friends (I was not in that group 😅) but had heard her mention other books and I had read some of them and thought she had great taste before so I read the entire thing, while going to Ms Richards and Mrs O after classes to discuss Scarlett Letter and would discuss Jane as well. I struggled with it for a long time, after getting insight from them I actually started to enjoy it. Thank you for mentioning it. I love reading, so I'm always "Challenging" myself often I decide I am going to read the next 5 books I hear or see mentioned somewhere. That has really challenged me to expand my horizons, for twenty years I travelling to well, every where. Filled several passports. Started this challenge - every country I had to find 3 books brought up in conversation when I was there. I still have a small shelf of books to finish from that challenge. The last 20 or so years I spent 3 months each summer on road trips with my kids in the US while we saw every ( I do mean every) kid appropriate museum, I also challenged my kids to find at least 5 used bookstores each summer, I started them on a similar challenge, both of my sons enjoy reading. So much so all three of us provide Christmas book lists for each other. We also buy each other books we have enjoyed through the year. Both my kids are in book clubs. I have yet to get into a book club that clicked with me. Probably about me. I read a lot and I tend to read a book way ahead. Not a popular thing in the clubs I've participated in. Along with other things that are perfectly normal that rub me wrong (again not them, me) really love your blog. I look forward to it. Mari you definitely keep me thinking each week stretching to learn and challenge myself in new ways. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your kind words--and for the walk down memory lane! You are such a good dad, and I love the idea of connecting books and reading with your travels. I will have to try that!
Tender is the Night is my “never will finish”. I tried four or five times out of stubbornness. Was Fitzgerald a great writer or did he catch lightning in a bottle with Gatsby? I guess I’ll never know.
I seem to remember that Fitzgerald died before he could finish Tender Is the Night, and so it's a bit of a mess? I do think Fitzgerald was a great writer, based on Gatsby and his short stories--but I, like you, am not a fan of Tender. :-)
Hi Marie, Another one who really enjoys your comments on W&P - what a marvellous experience it has been. I'm still chuckling that I came to the end of your list and their was "100 years of Solitude" as the failed book - me too. So strange because I have loved his other books. I am going to randomly read a few books from your reading list. I love reading authors from other cultures. Can I recommend another Australian author to you - Richard Flanaghan, especially "The Sound of One Hand Clapping" and "Question 7". The first is a very dark tale, though. I gave it to my daughter and she hated it. I hope to keep seeing you on F&T. Best wishes for Christmas and New Year to you and your family. 😊♥️
Oh, thank you so much for your kind words about my comments on War and Peace--I love your comments too! And thank you for the recommendation. I need a gripping book for an upcoming flight back to the US and will check out Flanaghan.
Showing up here from the W&P chat also (where I am primarily a very appreciative lurker). Thanks for such a thoughtful and thought-provoking post. I agree with so much! You nailed it about the New Yorker "briefly noted" books! 🙂 I read 100 Years of Solitude *in one day* towards the end of college and absolutely loved it, but weirdly, as much as I've wanted to, I've never been able to reread it. Hermione Lee's bio of Fitzgerald is on my giant TBR pile. Did you enjoy it?
Hi from another W&P reader. I'm similar Ann. I absolutely adored 100 Years when I first read it in my 20s and gobbled up all his other novels. But I tried to reread it a few years ago and couldn't get through it at all. It's odd - I couldn't even figure out why I liked it so much.
I'm mostly impressed by how *much * you managed to read this year, Mari. I'm definitely going to take some notes for my 2025 pile.
I love Colson Whitehead. Both The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys made me actually gasp at points while I was reading.
Oh, thanks for the kind words, but it is easy to read lots of books when you have chronic insomnia like me! My favorite times to read are between 2 and 6am!
I am eager to read The Nickel Boys and then see the film, which is showing up on many critics' ten-best lists.
I LOVED Herminone Lee's bio! The only reason I didn't put an asterisk next to it is that I didn't think I could recommend it to a general audience, who might not like literary biographies. But for fans of Fitzgerald it is an extraordinary work--one of the best books I read this year.
And I am so impressed that you read Solitude in one day! Wow!
Hi Mari. This post brought up so many thoughts. I read War and Peace after I partially dislocated my kneecap and had to spend a couple of weeks lying on the couch. I would read about 100 pages a day, in between doses of oxycodone, at that sweet spot when I was cogent enough to understand the book, but not yet in pain again so I could enjoy reading it. I loved it and it's what I remember most about my rehab (Well, that and my very cute PT whose last name was "Friend"--can you believe it?). I LOVE what you said about the New Yorker book suggestions. Yes, they all sound like Ugh--Please get that misery away from me.
One comment on the "Freaks and Geeks" scene. What I'm about to say may be unpopular, but along the lines of maybe high school students shouldn't read Jane Eyre or The Scarlet Letter, I think Between the World and Me and Beloved are also not appropriate for high school students. Teaching those books in high schools has become a touchstone in the culture wars and there are great books with similar lessons. It's my view that every American should read Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying would also be a great choice for a high school class wanting to talk about American racism.
Also, I struggled through One Hundred Years of Solitude, and remember finishing it and finally, finally understanding it. I wanted to go back and restart it, but never have. I similarly struggled through The Brothers Karamazov. Ugh. That was a real slog for me and I do not want to ever pick it up again.
Oh, I completely agree with you about Beloved (not sure about Between the World and Me--I don't remember it as being brutal and devastating, in the way Beloved is). I think Beloved is so dark that many teenagers won't appreciate it or experience its full impact. When I was a high school teacher, we taught Sula, which is still challenging, but the writing is more straightforward, and my students got more from it than they would have from Beloved. For the same reason, our former grad school compatriot Tom Balazs has convinced me that Tennessee was right to remove Maus from the middle-school curriculum. I don't think preteens are ready for that book; The Diary of Anne Frank is a better choice for that age, and students can read Maus, Beloved, and similar works when they're more mature.
And I love your suggestion that all US high school students should read Douglass and A Lesson Before Dying. One year when I was a teacher, the whole high school read A Lesson Before Dying, and then Ernest J. Gaines came to speak with the students. It was a great privilege to meet him and talk with him. He autographed my copy of the book, which, sadly, we lost when we moved overseas.
And while I'm dreaming up high school English syllabuses, I also think it would be wonderful for American literature classes to read Huck Finn and James together.
Hi Mari, I’m also here from Footnotes and Tangents - I loved your contributions to the chat (you write so well!) and appreciate your suggestions here - I’ll be bookmarking this to refer back to this year, anytime I need a recommendation. Are you going to do Wolf Hall with Simon?
Thank you so much for the compliment! I hope you find a book you really love from my list.
I am not doing Wolf Hall next year, but I'll be participating in Simon's other slow reads--The Siege of Krishnapur, Things Fall Apart, and the others. I'm so much looking forward to it!
I am very happy that you now like Jane Eyre, which has always been my favorite book. I first read it when I was 13 and fell in love with it. I have read it several times - something I rarely do with books. In addition, when my significant other and I first started seeing each other we each had the other read our favorite book. I read Tom Jones for the first time, and loved it, and he read Jane Eyre.
I think that you should recommend that people start with the first Jackson Brodie book by Kate Atkinson before they read Death at the Sign of the Rook (the 6th in the series). They are all wonderful and it is nice to learn about his life as it progresses.
I am also very happy that you enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club!
I was intimidated by the idea of reading "100 Years of Solitude" for years (not sure why now),but I finally read it a few years ago and really liked it. I agree though that if a book is not of interest one should not feel obligated to finish it - there are so many books and a limited time to read them!
I love the idea of couples reading each other’s favorite books (and I completely endorse Tom Jones!). I have loved Jane Eyre not quite as long as you have—I fell in love with the book when I read it for a college class. Those extra couple of years were enough to make me able to appreciate Brontë’s courageous heroine in a way that totally passed me by when I was younger.
And yes, I LOVED Thursday Murder Club! (And now I’m reading The Emergency, which is so moving and powerful.) Thank you!
Hi Mari - Waving from the War & Peace substack here! I, too, could never finish "100 Years of Solitude", so you have company. I am tackling another of my mountains next year, "Pride and Prejudice". Wish me luck!
Hello Susan! I am such a fan of your comments in Footnotes and Tangents. 😊 I hope you will like Pride and Prejudice—it is my very favorite book!
Thank you, and right back at you!
Greetings, Susan, Me too for failing "Hundred Years of Solitude". At least I can now feel I have quite erudite company with you and Marie. 😊
Solidarity!
Oh I’m so glad you enjoyed this challenge! I have read a lot this year but failed to adhere to the challenge, but for a good reason: I was enjoying other books so much I didn’t feel motivated to try to check the boxes. I’d like to give it another shot next year.
“Schafskrimi” is my favorite German word I’ve learned in recent memory 😂
Thank you so much for letting me know about it! It was a great experience for me, as I hope cane through in the post.
Btw, I haven’t read the “Schafskrimi” yet, but Gray was terrific. Highly recommended!
Hi Mari,
So many great books. I ploughed through 100 years but wouldn’t say it’s a favourite. I’ve just seen it’s showing here in Australia on Netflix! I might give it a whirl and see if it’s easier to take in. Who knows! It might even inspire me to read the book again 😁
Oh wow--thank you for letting me know about the show! Maybe watching it will inspire me to give the book another try too!
So first another memory popped up as I was reading your list. I read Jane Ayre at about 16 or 17 because this girl I had tons of respect for was in a group of friends (I was not in that group 😅) but had heard her mention other books and I had read some of them and thought she had great taste before so I read the entire thing, while going to Ms Richards and Mrs O after classes to discuss Scarlett Letter and would discuss Jane as well. I struggled with it for a long time, after getting insight from them I actually started to enjoy it. Thank you for mentioning it. I love reading, so I'm always "Challenging" myself often I decide I am going to read the next 5 books I hear or see mentioned somewhere. That has really challenged me to expand my horizons, for twenty years I travelling to well, every where. Filled several passports. Started this challenge - every country I had to find 3 books brought up in conversation when I was there. I still have a small shelf of books to finish from that challenge. The last 20 or so years I spent 3 months each summer on road trips with my kids in the US while we saw every ( I do mean every) kid appropriate museum, I also challenged my kids to find at least 5 used bookstores each summer, I started them on a similar challenge, both of my sons enjoy reading. So much so all three of us provide Christmas book lists for each other. We also buy each other books we have enjoyed through the year. Both my kids are in book clubs. I have yet to get into a book club that clicked with me. Probably about me. I read a lot and I tend to read a book way ahead. Not a popular thing in the clubs I've participated in. Along with other things that are perfectly normal that rub me wrong (again not them, me) really love your blog. I look forward to it. Mari you definitely keep me thinking each week stretching to learn and challenge myself in new ways. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your kind words--and for the walk down memory lane! You are such a good dad, and I love the idea of connecting books and reading with your travels. I will have to try that!
Tender is the Night is my “never will finish”. I tried four or five times out of stubbornness. Was Fitzgerald a great writer or did he catch lightning in a bottle with Gatsby? I guess I’ll never know.
I seem to remember that Fitzgerald died before he could finish Tender Is the Night, and so it's a bit of a mess? I do think Fitzgerald was a great writer, based on Gatsby and his short stories--but I, like you, am not a fan of Tender. :-)
Hi Marie, Another one who really enjoys your comments on W&P - what a marvellous experience it has been. I'm still chuckling that I came to the end of your list and their was "100 years of Solitude" as the failed book - me too. So strange because I have loved his other books. I am going to randomly read a few books from your reading list. I love reading authors from other cultures. Can I recommend another Australian author to you - Richard Flanaghan, especially "The Sound of One Hand Clapping" and "Question 7". The first is a very dark tale, though. I gave it to my daughter and she hated it. I hope to keep seeing you on F&T. Best wishes for Christmas and New Year to you and your family. 😊♥️
Oh, thank you so much for your kind words about my comments on War and Peace--I love your comments too! And thank you for the recommendation. I need a gripping book for an upcoming flight back to the US and will check out Flanaghan.
Showing up here from the W&P chat also (where I am primarily a very appreciative lurker). Thanks for such a thoughtful and thought-provoking post. I agree with so much! You nailed it about the New Yorker "briefly noted" books! 🙂 I read 100 Years of Solitude *in one day* towards the end of college and absolutely loved it, but weirdly, as much as I've wanted to, I've never been able to reread it. Hermione Lee's bio of Fitzgerald is on my giant TBR pile. Did you enjoy it?
Hi from another W&P reader. I'm similar Ann. I absolutely adored 100 Years when I first read it in my 20s and gobbled up all his other novels. But I tried to reread it a few years ago and couldn't get through it at all. It's odd - I couldn't even figure out why I liked it so much.
I'm mostly impressed by how *much * you managed to read this year, Mari. I'm definitely going to take some notes for my 2025 pile.
I love Colson Whitehead. Both The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys made me actually gasp at points while I was reading.
Oh, thanks for the kind words, but it is easy to read lots of books when you have chronic insomnia like me! My favorite times to read are between 2 and 6am!
I am eager to read The Nickel Boys and then see the film, which is showing up on many critics' ten-best lists.
I keep thinking about buying one of those little reading lights for the sleepless nights, so perhaps I need to get on that.
And I'm curious to see how they'll film The Nickel Boys, for reasons which will become obvious if you read the book.
Interesting. I have read that it is filmed in an unusual way--all from first-person point-of-view shots.
Oh that does sound interesting and I can see how that would work
I LOVED Herminone Lee's bio! The only reason I didn't put an asterisk next to it is that I didn't think I could recommend it to a general audience, who might not like literary biographies. But for fans of Fitzgerald it is an extraordinary work--one of the best books I read this year.
And I am so impressed that you read Solitude in one day! Wow!
I just opened up Lee's biography and am thrilled to find that today (Dec 17) was Penelope's birthday!
I'm only a few pages into it and can already tell I will love it! Thanks for the nudge to unearth if from the huge pile of other books!
Hooray!
Hi Mari. This post brought up so many thoughts. I read War and Peace after I partially dislocated my kneecap and had to spend a couple of weeks lying on the couch. I would read about 100 pages a day, in between doses of oxycodone, at that sweet spot when I was cogent enough to understand the book, but not yet in pain again so I could enjoy reading it. I loved it and it's what I remember most about my rehab (Well, that and my very cute PT whose last name was "Friend"--can you believe it?). I LOVE what you said about the New Yorker book suggestions. Yes, they all sound like Ugh--Please get that misery away from me.
One comment on the "Freaks and Geeks" scene. What I'm about to say may be unpopular, but along the lines of maybe high school students shouldn't read Jane Eyre or The Scarlet Letter, I think Between the World and Me and Beloved are also not appropriate for high school students. Teaching those books in high schools has become a touchstone in the culture wars and there are great books with similar lessons. It's my view that every American should read Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Ernest J. Gaines's A Lesson Before Dying would also be a great choice for a high school class wanting to talk about American racism.
Also, I struggled through One Hundred Years of Solitude, and remember finishing it and finally, finally understanding it. I wanted to go back and restart it, but never have. I similarly struggled through The Brothers Karamazov. Ugh. That was a real slog for me and I do not want to ever pick it up again.
Oh, I completely agree with you about Beloved (not sure about Between the World and Me--I don't remember it as being brutal and devastating, in the way Beloved is). I think Beloved is so dark that many teenagers won't appreciate it or experience its full impact. When I was a high school teacher, we taught Sula, which is still challenging, but the writing is more straightforward, and my students got more from it than they would have from Beloved. For the same reason, our former grad school compatriot Tom Balazs has convinced me that Tennessee was right to remove Maus from the middle-school curriculum. I don't think preteens are ready for that book; The Diary of Anne Frank is a better choice for that age, and students can read Maus, Beloved, and similar works when they're more mature.
And I love your suggestion that all US high school students should read Douglass and A Lesson Before Dying. One year when I was a teacher, the whole high school read A Lesson Before Dying, and then Ernest J. Gaines came to speak with the students. It was a great privilege to meet him and talk with him. He autographed my copy of the book, which, sadly, we lost when we moved overseas.
And while I'm dreaming up high school English syllabuses, I also think it would be wonderful for American literature classes to read Huck Finn and James together.
Thanks for the wonderful comment, Theresa!
Hi Mari, I’m also here from Footnotes and Tangents - I loved your contributions to the chat (you write so well!) and appreciate your suggestions here - I’ll be bookmarking this to refer back to this year, anytime I need a recommendation. Are you going to do Wolf Hall with Simon?
Thank you so much for the compliment! I hope you find a book you really love from my list.
I am not doing Wolf Hall next year, but I'll be participating in Simon's other slow reads--The Siege of Krishnapur, Things Fall Apart, and the others. I'm so much looking forward to it!
Im doing those ones, too - I’m glad I’ll ‘see’ you there!
I am very happy that you now like Jane Eyre, which has always been my favorite book. I first read it when I was 13 and fell in love with it. I have read it several times - something I rarely do with books. In addition, when my significant other and I first started seeing each other we each had the other read our favorite book. I read Tom Jones for the first time, and loved it, and he read Jane Eyre.
I think that you should recommend that people start with the first Jackson Brodie book by Kate Atkinson before they read Death at the Sign of the Rook (the 6th in the series). They are all wonderful and it is nice to learn about his life as it progresses.
I am also very happy that you enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club!
I was intimidated by the idea of reading "100 Years of Solitude" for years (not sure why now),but I finally read it a few years ago and really liked it. I agree though that if a book is not of interest one should not feel obligated to finish it - there are so many books and a limited time to read them!
I love the idea of couples reading each other’s favorite books (and I completely endorse Tom Jones!). I have loved Jane Eyre not quite as long as you have—I fell in love with the book when I read it for a college class. Those extra couple of years were enough to make me able to appreciate Brontë’s courageous heroine in a way that totally passed me by when I was younger.
And yes, I LOVED Thursday Murder Club! (And now I’m reading The Emergency, which is so moving and powerful.) Thank you!
Anything by Thomas Mann worth a re-read.
He is definitely a challenging enough author that a single reading will miss too much.