Is There A Writer You Plan To Read In 2022 That You've Never Read Before? (1/23/22)

[Marc]

Are there any writers you've never read before that you finally plan to read in 2022? If so, who?

[Nadine in California]

Not a 21st century author, but - Borges! I don't know how this happened, he is right up my alley - or so I think!

[Hugh]

I don't really do reading plans, but I have about five new to me writers on the physical to read shelf. Some of them may feature in my next mod pick poll...

[Kathleen]

Two 21st century writers I've been meaning to get to for some time that I plan to finally read soon are:
Claudia Rankine (Citizen: An American Lyric)
and
Denis Johnson (Train Dreams)

[Marc]

Nadine, he’s one of my favorites!

Having a physical to read shelf sounds like somewhat of a reading plan, Hugh—-looking forward to seeing who some of those authors are.

I’ll be reading Magda Szabó for the first time and will likely get around to Kasuo Ishiguro this year.

[Marc]

Great picks, Kathleen!

[Bretnie]

Kathleen, I'd love to read some Denis Johnson also. I recently finished The Sentence, which is set in a bookstore, and Erdrich has a ton of book and author recommendations, and Johnson is one of them. Maybe a good nomination for a future group pick!

[♑︎♑︎♑︎]

Gish Jen.

[Kathleen]

Thanks, Marc, and Bretnie, you're adding to my reasons to read The Sentence soon!

[Marc]

Haven't read any Erdrich, but The Sentence is definitely on my radar. As to whether I get to that this year, we'll see... If I make too many plans, I tend to rebel and abandon most of them.

Is there a particular Jen novel you plan to read, Lark? (I'm completely unfamiliar with this author, but I see she has quite a few books out.)

[♑︎♑︎♑︎]

Marc wrote: "Is there a particular Jen novel you plan to read, Lark? (I'm completely unfamiliar with this author, but I see she has quite a few books out.) ..."

Marc, I just read Thank You, Mr. Nixon: Stories and it was my first. It was so alive and a very appealing combination of intellectual and breezy. It made me want to read more.

[Marc]

What a title, Lark! Glad it left you wanting to read more of her work.

[Bretnie]

I just picked up 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak, which reminded me that she's an author I haven't read yet despite listing most of her books as "to read."

[Marcus]

Bretnie wrote: "I just picked up 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak, which reminded me that she's an author I haven't read yet despite listing most of her books as "to read.""
I found that was a wonderful read, but it was the first of her books that I picked up. I have since bought one more which is waiting for me.

[Marcus]

There are two female writers that I will read for the first time this year - Olivia Laing and Debora Levy. I already have a small pile of their books on my shelves which have taken me a while to get to. I have just started Levy's autobiographical trilogy but have done so with the final volume first because the other two are on order. Real Estate is turning out to be excellent. I really want to jump into Laing's To the River: A Journey Beneath the Surfaceabout a walk along the river into which Virginia Woolf waded with her coat pockets full of stones.

[Jenna]

I still have 52 nobel laureates that I've never read to go (started a pandemic project and I've now read from 2021-1973) but I mix those in with other reading. Just started Patrick White Riders in the Chariot, recently reissued by the NYRB and I'm intrigued, it's not what I was expecting. Not sure this counts but I'm also hoping to get my French up so I can read Pierre Michon in the original, his prose is so fabulous - Winter Mythologies and Abbots is a little known gem that I think most here would like - but in French quite challenging because of strange juxtapositions, so I doubt myself and get lost.

[Bretnie]

Ooh Jenna that's an interesting goal! Any authors that have stood out so far?

[Lily]

When my f2f book club brought up the topic of the impact of war on the common citizen (stability of the U.S.), my thoughts went to Mia Couto who I have wanted to try since he was named a Neustadt laureate in 2014. His Sleepwalking Land has been called one of the best African books of the 20th century.

[Jenna]

Bretnie wrote: "Ooh Jenna that's an interesting goal! Any authors that have stood out so far?"

So, its been fascinating because a fair number are out of print, and I think its sometimes because there seems to be a fair emphasis on experimental fiction, which has a smaller audience, and some I didn't love. On the other hand, for some I have been rectifying my woeful ignorance. Among those, I was thrilled by Vargas Llosa and plan eventually to read through his oeuvre (I read Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter and The Feast of the Goat). I really liked Mo Yan too (Life and Death are Wearing Me Out and Frog). I was surprised by how much I loved Dr Zhivago because I always thought of it as sappy. etc etc I could talk about this list all day :)

[Ginny]

I am very interested in The Physics of Sorrow. I tracked it down on Scribd, and plan to join in the group discussion. The title attracted me, the description sounds tempting, and I'm pretty sure I have never read anything by a Bulgarian author.

[Marc]

Have heard only good things about the Shafak book.

Just read Levy for the first time myself last year.

You've got your hands full, Jenna. Out of curiosity, I just looked at the list and without seeking them out specifically because of the Nobel, I think I've read 22, which leaves a whole lot of unread authors!

Only Mia Cuoto I've read was Under the Frangipani---didn't really impress me, but didn't turn me away from potential future reads.

Glad to hear you'll be joining us, Ginny!

[Whitney]

Ginny wrote: "I am very interested in The Physics of Sorrow. I tracked it down on Scribd, and plan to join in the group discussion. The title attracted me, the description sounds tempting, and I'..."

I'm joining in this one as well, Ginny. And, now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure I've never read anything by a Bulgarian writer, either. Based on the first few pages, which I read last night, I will not be disappointed.

While I always read a few new-to-me authors every year, some that I definitely plan to get to this year (besides Georgi Gospodinov ) are Ali Smith, Giorgio de Maria, and Cristina Rivera Garza.

[Emmeline]

I'm a bit ashamed not to have read him yet but... Dostoevsky. For the third year in a row he tops my list of people to read this year. ;-P

Jenna, I have Winter Abbeys on my list, and your recommendation has just pushed it up some notches!

[Sean]

I’ve been wanting to read Haruki Murakami.

Thinking of starting with Kafka on the Shore.

[James]

Sean wrote: "I’ve been wanting to read Haruki Murakami.

Thinking of starting with Kafka on the Shore."

Reminds me that I should get back to Murakami - only having read The Wind-up Bird Chronicles - very strange but amazing

However, this year I want to have an introduction to Frantzen, But I'm not sure where best to start.

[Lily]

Emily wrote: "I'm a bit ashamed not to have read him yet but... Dostoevsky. For the third year in a row he tops my list of people to read this year. ;-P ..."

Emily -- I am not a Dostoevsky fan (having read, or at least considerable parts of, several of his novels), but I do hope to try Notes from the Underground. I am told that this short 136 page novel (in the P&V translation) can be considered an essence of D w/o the pages and pages of ...... (My copy sits in my "hope to get to this sooner rather than later" TBR pile.)

[Jenna]

Emily wrote: Jenna, I have Winter Abbeys on my list, and your recommen..."

Emily, I'm so glad this is on your list. I keep buying copies to give away. I discovered Michon in an essay in the NYRB that was by someone who was originally hired to translate Michon, and whose work Michon thought was fine but not beautiful, on how great Ann Jefferson's translation is.

[Jenna]

Marc wrote: You've got your hands full, Jenna. Out of curiosity, I just looked at the list and without ..."

yes, Marc, I was a bit surprised myself at how few I had read - the variable longevity of authors selected for prizes is definitely on display since this goes back 120 years now.

[Wendy]

I've been meaning to read Proust's 'In Search of Lost Tine for so long. Maybe this will be the year.

[Marc]

Emily, Do you find it more challenging to get a writer like Dostoevsky due to the length of most of his works? While he does have some shorter books, it's not like you can just squeeze in Crime & Punishment or The Brother Karamazov in between other reads easily. Unlike Lily, I am a fan.

Kathleen and Wendy, I'm sure I must have shared this anecdote at some point, but my grocery store actually carried Citizen: An American Lyric when it came out. I hadn't heard of it, nor of Rankine, but the cover caught my eye. Picked it up while shopping, started reading it, wheeled my cart over to the pharmacy so I could sit in their little waiting area, and read the whole thing right there. Then bought it, took it home, and read it again!

Jenna, I'll be watching your reviews to see which ones are the true gems. ; )

[Kathleen]

Emily, it's funny you should mention Dostoevsky. I read his novella The Gambler last month and now I'm on to reading The Brothers Karamazov. When I was just starting to read classics, my brother recommended The Idiot as a good one to start with. In another group, I heard from a couple people who never got on with him before that they're enjoying that one, just FYI.

And Marc--such a readerly anecdote! I love it. Hoping to start that one soon. :-)