52 Books

Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.

…Groucho Marx

I was one of those little girls who consumed books like air.  I once decided I wanted to read every book in my elementary school library; I didn’t finish, but I made a sizable dent.  I used to spend my birthdays at Changing Hands…this amazing indie bookstore in Tempe…back when it was on Mill and you really could get lost in the stacks. 

I used to literally walk around with my nose in a book and, given that we’re now afraid to let kids leave the house for fear of UV rays, strangers with vans and candy, and death by lack-of-elbow -pads, I was probably one of the last kids every told to go outside and play, goddammit!  (Okay, maybe my mom didn’t say the last part, but I bet she wanted to). 

I put inappropriate books in different jackets.  I’d find where my parents hid my books so I could sneak them back when I was finished reading them. 

Books were such a huge part of my life, but I haven’t read as much lately and I hate that.  Because I’m about to turn 30 and I haven’t yet turned into the person I want to be when I grow up, and because I still have an irrational and quite possibly unhealthy love for deadlines and homework, I’m giving myself an assignment.

One year.  52 new books. 

I want to read them, then discuss them.  And by discuss, I mean say something that may or may not be at all related to the book.  I’m fairly associative and tangential when writing in my own voice.  Non-linear, even.  I’ve decided that, while writing This Sucks in crayon on a napkin does not constitute a book review, writing it and publishing it in my own little corner of the digital ‘verse does. 

If I had a list of 52 books in mind that I wanted to read, I’m hoping I would’ve read them already.  I don’t, so I’m asking my well-educated and literate friends to help.  (If I have any undereducated, illiterate friends, they’re are probably not reading this anyway.  I have faith in my friend group…we’re all smart-as-hell-type people).  So…please give me suggestions!  I’ll add to my list along the way, but I’d really love help filling out my list. 

My rules and requests:

*The list is more of a suggestion, kind of the way I used to think about syllabi for classes I didn’t really want to take.  They’re not numbered in anything resembling a relevant order.

*I want to read new books I’ve never read before.  Books I pretended to read in college but didn’t actually read…like Moby Dick…count as new.

*I’m not reading Moby Dick.    

*I prefer fiction to non, although I’m also partial to biography.

*I love old school, Bradbury-style sci-fi, but have found that most modern sci-fi writers spend more time defining their worlds than playing in them.

*I love magical realism.  Love love love it.  Neil Gaiman, Francesca Lia Block, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

*I prefer my fantasy in the J.K. Rowling, modern magic vein, not so much with the swords and the dragons.

*Did I mention I love Neil Gaiman?  I also love John Steinbeck, but I’ve read almost everything from both of them.

And here’s the list…

1. The Volcano, Norman Dubie
2. Some Nights No Cars At All, Josh Rathkamp
3. Smoke and Mirrors, Neil Gaiman
4. Love and the Eye, Laura Newbern
5. A Caress of Twilight, Laurell K. Hamilton
6. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
7. Seduced by Moonlight, Laurell K. Hamilton
8. Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman
9. The Prophet, Kalil Gibran
10. I Heard God Laughing, Hafiz
11. Norse Code
12. The Doomsday Book
13. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, Tucker Max
14. Fault Lines, Nancy Huston
15. The Confession, John Grisham
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