Girl your brain! You always challenge me to think more critically about what I read and how I read. So many people talk about "reading diversely" but you're out here doing the damn thing and it's a joy to see !
Such greatness could not exist without your support and our WhatsApp chat!!!! Love you xxx I admire you everyday <3 we love to think critically and just do the damn thing.
My first Iris Murdoch was The Bell and it totally hooked me on her! I have A Fairly Honourable Defeat by her on my bookshelf too and have been meaning to get to it.
This is amazing Grace thank you for pointing me in the right direction! I will upon your word start w The Bell. I’d be interested to hear what you think of A Fairly Honourable Defeat too! 2025 can be the year of the (less evil) Murdoch for us! (I was going to write year of the Murdoch and immediately re corrected lol)
Loved seeing your favorites and your perspective on how you count those! I love the phrase "books with staying power" and think that's also how I define my "favorites" (because what does that mean, anyway). I definitely need escapist and fun reads, but I find myself thinking about those that challenge me and introduce me to new worlds the most.
Thank you Cassie! I'm glad you love the phrase 'books with staying power' - in many feels, it felt so obvious to phrase it that way? But everyones favourite definition is so different - like you said, what does it all really mean lol, so it is worthwhile to explain it anyway.
I would agree with you, I enjoy escapist or silly reads, but they are never the ones that stay with the most? They sometimes are the ones that just disappear into my reading ether, and I wonder if its because it don't feel 'challenged' by them? That newness - whether it be a new world, new concept, new way of thinking, is definitely something I value very highly in my reading life right now. Although you never know when it might change - hence the need for a favourite definition! I have come full circle in this comment 😉 I hope you're well!
Really love the way you approached your wrap-up this year! Identifying my personal goals & "reading in alignment" will have to be factored into my docket in 2025.
I'm attempting a "no-buy" book year, because too many of my books have gone unread for years!! So the book shopping itch will be satisfied by trips to the library and into the deep dusty corners of my personal shelves. Hoping this will clear out my bookshelf a bit and get me in the habit of passing books along if I don't expect to re-read them.
Thank you Natalie! I think it is always worthwhile to circle back on the personal goals and your own reading alignment when there is so much book noise on Substack, let alone the internet! I love it, but it is possible to get a bit lost in it all. I'd love to hear what yours are for 2025 when you've figured them out!
I deeply admire the no buy book year! It is something I myself am going to practice at least for the first few months of the year because rn I am feel very overwhelmed by the amount of books I have. The book shopping itch is so real. I think the act of passing books along is so worthwhile and something I would really love to crack. I am still in the 'if I loved it I want to own it forever' phase. Which, if I am lucky enough to live a long life, is not gonna work out well for me lol. Pls share any no-buy, passing along and general changing my relationship with owning books reflections you have as the year goes on - I'd love to hear them!
The day you read What Is Mine will be a great day for me!! I love that you're interested in Childhood, Youth, Dependency too - it was really good. Lots of themes of class, poverty and gender explored in a really compassionate but illuminating way. The author never once writes with the angle of sympathy for all the hardship she experiences, it is all very frank and matter-of-fact because it was just her life, which I admired and liked.
I am not sure I can take the credit for your interest in exploring writing about class/identity but I am honoured that our conversations might, in any way, make you think the tiniest bit differently!
What a great list! I also read and loved the Rooney and the Steinbeck last year. And you made me really curious to read the rest, especially Animalia and What Is Mine! Enter Ghost is also on my must-read list for 2025; now I'm feeling quite invigorated by your review.
Have you read any Mariana Leky? She is a German author I really like, and she has at least one book that's been translated into English (What You Can See From Here). Though I can't vouch for the translation, because I read it in German.
Thank you Charlotte! I love that you loved the same Rooney and Steinbeck last year, look how aligned we are! I'd love to hear what you think of Animalia because no one else I know has read it yet, thus I have had no one to talk about it with! I gave a copy of What Is Mine to a friend for her birthday last year and she adored it, so I hope you do too! I'm feeling very flattered my review has invigorated your desire to read Enter Ghost - it is truly brilliant. Please me know when you have read it!
I have no read any Mariana Leky - I will make a note of What You Can See From Here because I have not heard of it before. Is it at all similar to Tyll by Kehlmann? Because I read that in October and it really didn't work for me. I have been recommended The Wall by Marlen Haushofer a few times, have you read?
I will let you know about Animalia and What Is Mine once I get to them!
I didn’t really love Tyll either to be honest, and I think Mariana Leky is very different in pretty much every way. She has a bit of a quirky style (it feels very cheeky, but in a warm, empathetic way and she has a way of describing things that feels a bit unusual but always apt). And What You Can See From Here is contemporary fiction with a bit of a surrealist twist (although that surrealist element is not super strong).
I have actually DNF‘d Haushofer‘s The Wall🥲 the style was just not for me, I felt that it lacked the very warmth and empathy that I so admire in Leky‘s books. But it does seem to work for many readers, so maybe I should have pushed myself to finish it, who knows
Ah I am pleased to have your company in disliking Tyll! Interesting you DNF'd The Wall - it definitely makes me more intrigued. Sometimes I get on really well with books with no warmth (lol) so I will have to see. Thank you for sharing your experience with me tho! I value it x
I admire your dedication to expanding your worldview. I give myself grace since work burns me out sometimes and I can't read anything harder than a detective novel, but I strive to be half as thoughtful in my reading as you are when it comes to diversity and perspective.
I bless the day I took you up on your recommendation for Hjorth. I can't wait to read more of her this year. 🖤
TOVE MADE THE TOP TEN! If that is not a case for me to read that book sitting on my shelf I don't know what is.
East of Eden love that too, it was so close to my top but I think I let myself feel bad for being so behind on the buddy read... UGH lesson learned do not try to keep up with Martha lol
I am 100% reading a Bolano this year, but will prob be Savage Detectives. I am also 100% reading a Knausgård, I just bought The Morning Star as part of my Nordic writer's obsession currently underway. I am going to start it after I finish my current two reads, and then I can report back.
I've been feeling like I really need to shake things up. There are so many people writing about reading, and I am starting to lose myself in it. I appreciate your strong sense of self in all this noise, and I hope to follow in your footsteps this year. Cheers to new book adventures in 2025!
Natalie this comment made me smile AND feel a little sad at your negative self talk. Firstly, thank you for all the showering of compliments - you know how much it means to me, especially coming from you!
Right, thoughtfulness in reading and a desire to seek out diverse perspectives can look so many different ways!!! Everyone's lives are very different and the act of it looks different to everyone. When I am (god willing) lucky enough to work again, maybe I'll take one look at the challenging books I read now and think omg I can't do that give me escapism in made up lands only. Reading taste, capacity and interest changes all the time! Mine rn is very intense and seeking out diversity and perspective is a passion, its how I bring a lot of structure and curiosity into my life when I am lacking in ability to get it anywhere else! All that to say - there is nothing NOT thoughtful about a detective novel. There are alternative perspectives in that, even if on the surface you don't feel like there is! This marginally passionate comment is me saying give yourself more grace girl! Life is long, there are so many books, burnout ends (eventually) and different phases come and go. Love u - don't be so hard on yourself about your reading choices/tastes. Everyone is very different - it isn't a bad thing!
I bless the day you took up the Hjorth rec too - I have recently got a copy of Is Mother Dead so that is gonna be my next from her! If you want to read together, just lmk xx
Tove DID make the top 10!!!! You really do have to read that book sitting on your shelf - I am giving you a sign!
I feel so bad that East of Eden didn't make your top 10 because you felt like you fell behind in the buddy read lol - you were on holiday for a lot of it! Another forceful instruction to give yourself more grace. I wish you didn't let yourself feel bad - again, I have more free time than you so in many ways it makes a lot of sense I read it quicker! If you want any future buddy reads to be evenly paced, just give me the word and I'll do it with you!
Oh I can't WAIT for your first Knausgård thoughts - I would love to know if I should start w Morning Star too. Eagerly awaiting that - thank you for your service of reading it first.
I appreciate the feeling lost in all the writing about reading - there are a lot of people doing it! For what its worth, I think you have a strong self of self in your reading taste, even if you feel its hidden under an avalanche of noise rn. You'll find your way back to it. Cheers to more book adventures in 2025 - I can't wait to do them all alongside you! <3
If you ever consider a new career, you would make a GREAT therapist just saying. I am going through it like many Americans (and Californians) right now can you tell 😂🖤I guess I've learned there is such thing as book overload!!
loved this immensely! also laughed at your comment about german translations because i have felt this way about Japanese translations (or rather i can appreciate them but i find the content to be a bit boring). i find it so fascinating how there are cultural differences in writing and some click and some don’t! how lucky we are to be able to read different languages through translation. now i’m intrigued to try a german one 😂.
Thank you Mal!! Hahaha I am glad you laughed, it is so funny how there are cultural differences in writing too and some just don't land the same! Interesting you feel the same about Japanese translations - they do have a very distinct straight forward style and content. The prose is very different to most of the prose I come across in the West. Have you ever read The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe? That is a Japanese translation that I have found very different to most of the others I have read!
We are so lucky to be able to read different languages through translation though! Even the ones that don't really click... I'd love for you to read a German one and lmk how you found it! There is a chance I've just read two bad books, we shall see!
I love that you're counting the number of independent presses you read from in your year-end list! Crossing my fingers that you've started a long and worthy trend.
I haven't heard of many of the books you listed. Requesting "The Time of Cherries" from my library right now!
Thank you Elizabeth! I would be honoured to have the random luck of starting a trend - but fingers crossed! It is definitely a habit that is very easy to do and more useful than you'd expect in giving insight into your press reading habits! I also did it in one intense session a few weeks ago - going forward I'll just be keeping a running tally!
I'd love to hear what you think of The Time of Cherries ! I unexpectedly loved it a lot.
I actually got sent it by the publisher (lucky me), but if that were not the case, I would have bought it from Daunt Books directly yes or Waterstones probably! I am in the UK, and if you aren't, I have heard in this comment section that DB books are hard to acquire elsewhere in the world?
A favorite writer of mine is Iulian Ciocan from Moldova and one of his books is available in English: Before Brezhnev Died! To help with Eastern Europe!
Thank you for the rec Alicia! I read Too Great A Sky by Liliana Corobca (Moldovan) in November and loved it, and I am excited to read more. I have never come across this trans, so I appreciate it!
My sister and I did a read around Latin America project a couple of years ago and we read The Distance Between Us by Renato Cisneros (published by Charco Press) for our book from Peru. FANTASTIC. It ended up being one of my favorites the year I read it and I think of it fondly. Can’t recommend enough and it might be in your alley if you enjoy the blurred lines of fiction/biography/memoir, Peruvian politics, complicated family relationships, and a slower luxurious pacing.
I read Poso Wells by Gabriela Aleman for Ecuador and while it wasn’t my favorite of the project, I still enjoyed it enough to pick up her short story collection (Family Album). Short and thought-provoking.
I don't know if this is a question for me or Portia but yes I have! I read Our Share of Night a few weeks ago, and thought it was ok. In many ways enjoyed it, in many ways I didn't. I thought it was a bit too long so I am very eager to read Enríquez short story collections, because I did think she was an excellent and interesting writer!
I have not although I’ve seen her books around! I’ve heard mixed reviews about some of the translations so her work hasn’t been top of my list but definitely interested in reading at some point.
I love the sound of the project you did with your sister! Thank you for The Distance Between Us rec - I have seen the book on CP before but never really considered it? But I definitely will now with your endorsement! Those sound like all the themes I love in a novel.
I am interested in the Poso Wells rec too, even if it wasn't a fav! I often find with a desire to read around the world in translation, you come across many books that you are glad you read but don't consist of a favourite. For Ecuador I am considering Cockfight by María Fernanda Ampuero - have you read?
I’m really excited about Charco Press because I’ve grown to love Latin American literature. Was thrilled to see some Brazilian recommendations from you in your top list because I’ve only read Machado de Assis so far.
Haven’t heard of Cockfight although I’m now intrigued. My other option for Ecuador (which I didn’t read but still want to) was Bruna and Her Sisters in the Sleeping City by Alicia Yanez Cossio.
I read SO many good translated books from Brazil last year - if I had to pick a country with the 'best' translations I read from in 2024 it would 100% be there - every book on my map under Brazil I really loved. I'd really recommend ‘The Simple Art Of Killing A Woman’ by Patrícia Melo (alongside the ones in this post) if you're interested.
I haven't heard of that Cossio either! Lmk what you think of it once you do read - I am intrigued.
I loved the reflection at the beginning especially the part about your reading tastes changing! It doesn't happen every time, but I am pleasantly surprised when I push myself to read a book that is not my usual pick. I've found that our preferences are ever changing and can expand if we lead with some curiosity! You're also inspiring me to seek out more translated works this year!
Thank you Mercedes! I think it is often easy to think your reading taste will never change. But that is not true! As we change, our tastes do too, it is all a bit more fluid than people give acknowledgement too I think. I agree with everything you said! Lead with curiosity and you never know what might happen - I also love when I push myself to read a book that isn't my typical!
"The infinite scope of reading makes me excited for all the stories I will have the privilege of knowing". What a fabulous way of describing reading fiction!
it's like you timed posting this JUST as i was finally getting caught up with my library holds! as always, so many luminous-sounding books - including some that are tragically hard to track down here (the curse of copyright/publishing territories).
for german literature, one of my goals this year (vaguely) is to finally read sebald, as well as to return to 'the sorrows of young werther', which i started in 2024 but didn't finish .... BUT if you want something contemporary, short-ish that's sentimental without being sweet, i quite liked "my grandmother's braid" by alina bronsky.
'season of migration to the north' is also a very intense, memorable sudanese book, a true classic post-colonial book (IIRC hisham matar's my friends references it twice?) if you haven't read it yet.
Haha I am, deeply, sorry Laurel. The hard nature of tracking some of these books down, particularly for those who don't live in the UK and mostly use the library, is never lost on me! Sending magic tracking down dust over to you.
Ok love the rec of 'My Grandmothers Braid' by Bronsky - I will check out, thank you! I enjoy sentimental without being too sweet now and then.
Yes! I have never read Season of Migration to the North but have always intended too because it sounds like my type of read. I am going to do a big second hand book order soon and I think it will be one of the books! Matar does reference it twice - your memory has served you well!
sending my thoughts to celia dale, because daunt books does not distribute outside the UK and as you may know, i love an "actually good" domestic thriller
omg I did not know daunts books publishing did not distribute outside the uk?? That’s devastating. Sorry for reading so many of their prints haha. They are VERY small though so I would guess it might be a financing issue. Maybe I need to send you some in the post!?! You do absolutely love an ‘actually good’ domestic thriller. A not actually good domestic thriller? Not interested.
Since you asked, here are some German/German language writers in translation that I’ve enjoyed. Most of these are well-known writers, meaning they generally get the best translators.
Christa Wolf, Cassandra. In the tradition of Mary Renault, I suppose, a retelling of a familiar epic story (Trojan War) from a different point of view. A short novel, with several fascinating essays appended about the trip to Greece that was genesis for the novel.
Traudl Junge, Until the Final Hour. Junge was Hitler’s private secretary right up until the end. My understanding is that this memoir was written down in the late Forties, when her memories were still fresh; not published until many years later.
Günter Grass, Local Anaesthetic. Like Thomas Mann before him, Grass was a novelist of ideas. Here the narrator recalls his life in a dreamy state while undergoing massive dental work. One idea that intrigued me: that people largely see the world through their occupations. So the narrator, who was a construction engineer during the war, thinks the world’s problems just need proper construction; his dentist thinks the world just needs proper hygiene; etc. Grass’s best-known book is probably The Tin Drum, which was made into a successful film (Oscar winner), but I like this little novel.
W. G. Sebald, The Emigrants. Somewhere between fiction and non-fiction and impossible to determine where the line is. The first story is something to go back to regularly, a perfect story.
Joseph Roth, The Radetzky March. Not German, but he wrote in German and worked in Germany for years. Part of the generation of writers after Kafka, here Roth writes about the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A classic.
Max Frisch, I’m Not Stiller. Again, not German (Swiss). A man returns to Switzerland and is recognized as Stiller, but he insists he’s not Stiller.
Peter Handke, A Sorrow Beyond Dreams. Again, not German (Austrian). This memoir is about his mother’s experience during the war and eventual suicide. Careful, this one might break your heart.
Walter Abish, How German Is It. Not German (American) and not translated (in English), it’s the author’s novelistic meditation on what it’s like to be German in the late 20th century. Has one of the best book covers of all time, a photo taken by Abish’s wife:
Thank you for this incredibly thoughtful and considered comment Frank - what a treasure trove of recs! You're right - I absolutely asked for them! I can't wait for when I have the time in the coming days to comb through this and choose what I like the sound of the most. I hope you're well!
Girl your brain! You always challenge me to think more critically about what I read and how I read. So many people talk about "reading diversely" but you're out here doing the damn thing and it's a joy to see !
Such greatness could not exist without your support and our WhatsApp chat!!!! Love you xxx I admire you everyday <3 we love to think critically and just do the damn thing.
love you!!
Move over Kiran!!!!
damn she went there haha!
I was feeling bold x won’t happen again
My first Iris Murdoch was The Bell and it totally hooked me on her! I have A Fairly Honourable Defeat by her on my bookshelf too and have been meaning to get to it.
This is amazing Grace thank you for pointing me in the right direction! I will upon your word start w The Bell. I’d be interested to hear what you think of A Fairly Honourable Defeat too! 2025 can be the year of the (less evil) Murdoch for us! (I was going to write year of the Murdoch and immediately re corrected lol)
Lolllll yes the year of the less evil Murdoch!
love love! thank you for inspiring my africa challenge! 🦁
thank you for feeling inspired by it Nicole!! 🧡 I look forward to hearing about whatever you read & love this year xx
Loved seeing your favorites and your perspective on how you count those! I love the phrase "books with staying power" and think that's also how I define my "favorites" (because what does that mean, anyway). I definitely need escapist and fun reads, but I find myself thinking about those that challenge me and introduce me to new worlds the most.
Thank you Cassie! I'm glad you love the phrase 'books with staying power' - in many feels, it felt so obvious to phrase it that way? But everyones favourite definition is so different - like you said, what does it all really mean lol, so it is worthwhile to explain it anyway.
I would agree with you, I enjoy escapist or silly reads, but they are never the ones that stay with the most? They sometimes are the ones that just disappear into my reading ether, and I wonder if its because it don't feel 'challenged' by them? That newness - whether it be a new world, new concept, new way of thinking, is definitely something I value very highly in my reading life right now. Although you never know when it might change - hence the need for a favourite definition! I have come full circle in this comment 😉 I hope you're well!
Really love the way you approached your wrap-up this year! Identifying my personal goals & "reading in alignment" will have to be factored into my docket in 2025.
I'm attempting a "no-buy" book year, because too many of my books have gone unread for years!! So the book shopping itch will be satisfied by trips to the library and into the deep dusty corners of my personal shelves. Hoping this will clear out my bookshelf a bit and get me in the habit of passing books along if I don't expect to re-read them.
Thank you Natalie! I think it is always worthwhile to circle back on the personal goals and your own reading alignment when there is so much book noise on Substack, let alone the internet! I love it, but it is possible to get a bit lost in it all. I'd love to hear what yours are for 2025 when you've figured them out!
I deeply admire the no buy book year! It is something I myself am going to practice at least for the first few months of the year because rn I am feel very overwhelmed by the amount of books I have. The book shopping itch is so real. I think the act of passing books along is so worthwhile and something I would really love to crack. I am still in the 'if I loved it I want to own it forever' phase. Which, if I am lucky enough to live a long life, is not gonna work out well for me lol. Pls share any no-buy, passing along and general changing my relationship with owning books reflections you have as the year goes on - I'd love to hear them!
What is Mine is still top on my TBR, but Child Youth and Dependency looks really good too!
The day you read What Is Mine will be a great day for me!! I love that you're interested in Childhood, Youth, Dependency too - it was really good. Lots of themes of class, poverty and gender explored in a really compassionate but illuminating way. The author never once writes with the angle of sympathy for all the hardship she experiences, it is all very frank and matter-of-fact because it was just her life, which I admired and liked.
The more we talk the more I’m interested in exploring writing about class and my identity around Haiti.
Appreciate you
I am not sure I can take the credit for your interest in exploring writing about class/identity but I am honoured that our conversations might, in any way, make you think the tiniest bit differently!
Appreciate you too fam
What a great list! I also read and loved the Rooney and the Steinbeck last year. And you made me really curious to read the rest, especially Animalia and What Is Mine! Enter Ghost is also on my must-read list for 2025; now I'm feeling quite invigorated by your review.
Have you read any Mariana Leky? She is a German author I really like, and she has at least one book that's been translated into English (What You Can See From Here). Though I can't vouch for the translation, because I read it in German.
Thank you Charlotte! I love that you loved the same Rooney and Steinbeck last year, look how aligned we are! I'd love to hear what you think of Animalia because no one else I know has read it yet, thus I have had no one to talk about it with! I gave a copy of What Is Mine to a friend for her birthday last year and she adored it, so I hope you do too! I'm feeling very flattered my review has invigorated your desire to read Enter Ghost - it is truly brilliant. Please me know when you have read it!
I have no read any Mariana Leky - I will make a note of What You Can See From Here because I have not heard of it before. Is it at all similar to Tyll by Kehlmann? Because I read that in October and it really didn't work for me. I have been recommended The Wall by Marlen Haushofer a few times, have you read?
I will let you know about Animalia and What Is Mine once I get to them!
I didn’t really love Tyll either to be honest, and I think Mariana Leky is very different in pretty much every way. She has a bit of a quirky style (it feels very cheeky, but in a warm, empathetic way and she has a way of describing things that feels a bit unusual but always apt). And What You Can See From Here is contemporary fiction with a bit of a surrealist twist (although that surrealist element is not super strong).
I have actually DNF‘d Haushofer‘s The Wall🥲 the style was just not for me, I felt that it lacked the very warmth and empathy that I so admire in Leky‘s books. But it does seem to work for many readers, so maybe I should have pushed myself to finish it, who knows
Ah I am pleased to have your company in disliking Tyll! Interesting you DNF'd The Wall - it definitely makes me more intrigued. Sometimes I get on really well with books with no warmth (lol) so I will have to see. Thank you for sharing your experience with me tho! I value it x
I admire your dedication to expanding your worldview. I give myself grace since work burns me out sometimes and I can't read anything harder than a detective novel, but I strive to be half as thoughtful in my reading as you are when it comes to diversity and perspective.
I bless the day I took you up on your recommendation for Hjorth. I can't wait to read more of her this year. 🖤
TOVE MADE THE TOP TEN! If that is not a case for me to read that book sitting on my shelf I don't know what is.
East of Eden love that too, it was so close to my top but I think I let myself feel bad for being so behind on the buddy read... UGH lesson learned do not try to keep up with Martha lol
I am 100% reading a Bolano this year, but will prob be Savage Detectives. I am also 100% reading a Knausgård, I just bought The Morning Star as part of my Nordic writer's obsession currently underway. I am going to start it after I finish my current two reads, and then I can report back.
I've been feeling like I really need to shake things up. There are so many people writing about reading, and I am starting to lose myself in it. I appreciate your strong sense of self in all this noise, and I hope to follow in your footsteps this year. Cheers to new book adventures in 2025!
Natalie this comment made me smile AND feel a little sad at your negative self talk. Firstly, thank you for all the showering of compliments - you know how much it means to me, especially coming from you!
Right, thoughtfulness in reading and a desire to seek out diverse perspectives can look so many different ways!!! Everyone's lives are very different and the act of it looks different to everyone. When I am (god willing) lucky enough to work again, maybe I'll take one look at the challenging books I read now and think omg I can't do that give me escapism in made up lands only. Reading taste, capacity and interest changes all the time! Mine rn is very intense and seeking out diversity and perspective is a passion, its how I bring a lot of structure and curiosity into my life when I am lacking in ability to get it anywhere else! All that to say - there is nothing NOT thoughtful about a detective novel. There are alternative perspectives in that, even if on the surface you don't feel like there is! This marginally passionate comment is me saying give yourself more grace girl! Life is long, there are so many books, burnout ends (eventually) and different phases come and go. Love u - don't be so hard on yourself about your reading choices/tastes. Everyone is very different - it isn't a bad thing!
I bless the day you took up the Hjorth rec too - I have recently got a copy of Is Mother Dead so that is gonna be my next from her! If you want to read together, just lmk xx
Tove DID make the top 10!!!! You really do have to read that book sitting on your shelf - I am giving you a sign!
I feel so bad that East of Eden didn't make your top 10 because you felt like you fell behind in the buddy read lol - you were on holiday for a lot of it! Another forceful instruction to give yourself more grace. I wish you didn't let yourself feel bad - again, I have more free time than you so in many ways it makes a lot of sense I read it quicker! If you want any future buddy reads to be evenly paced, just give me the word and I'll do it with you!
Oh I can't WAIT for your first Knausgård thoughts - I would love to know if I should start w Morning Star too. Eagerly awaiting that - thank you for your service of reading it first.
I appreciate the feeling lost in all the writing about reading - there are a lot of people doing it! For what its worth, I think you have a strong self of self in your reading taste, even if you feel its hidden under an avalanche of noise rn. You'll find your way back to it. Cheers to more book adventures in 2025 - I can't wait to do them all alongside you! <3
If you ever consider a new career, you would make a GREAT therapist just saying. I am going through it like many Americans (and Californians) right now can you tell 😂🖤I guess I've learned there is such thing as book overload!!
loved this immensely! also laughed at your comment about german translations because i have felt this way about Japanese translations (or rather i can appreciate them but i find the content to be a bit boring). i find it so fascinating how there are cultural differences in writing and some click and some don’t! how lucky we are to be able to read different languages through translation. now i’m intrigued to try a german one 😂.
Thank you Mal!! Hahaha I am glad you laughed, it is so funny how there are cultural differences in writing too and some just don't land the same! Interesting you feel the same about Japanese translations - they do have a very distinct straight forward style and content. The prose is very different to most of the prose I come across in the West. Have you ever read The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe? That is a Japanese translation that I have found very different to most of the others I have read!
We are so lucky to be able to read different languages through translation though! Even the ones that don't really click... I'd love for you to read a German one and lmk how you found it! There is a chance I've just read two bad books, we shall see!
I love that you're counting the number of independent presses you read from in your year-end list! Crossing my fingers that you've started a long and worthy trend.
I haven't heard of many of the books you listed. Requesting "The Time of Cherries" from my library right now!
Thank you Elizabeth! I would be honoured to have the random luck of starting a trend - but fingers crossed! It is definitely a habit that is very easy to do and more useful than you'd expect in giving insight into your press reading habits! I also did it in one intense session a few weeks ago - going forward I'll just be keeping a running tally!
I'd love to hear what you think of The Time of Cherries ! I unexpectedly loved it a lot.
Martha, did you get The Time of Cherries from Daunt Books directly, or were you able to find a copy elsewhere?
I actually got sent it by the publisher (lucky me), but if that were not the case, I would have bought it from Daunt Books directly yes or Waterstones probably! I am in the UK, and if you aren't, I have heard in this comment section that DB books are hard to acquire elsewhere in the world?
I'm in NYC, which explains it. But I found a used copy online!
Hooray!
A favorite writer of mine is Iulian Ciocan from Moldova and one of his books is available in English: Before Brezhnev Died! To help with Eastern Europe!
Thank you for the rec Alicia! I read Too Great A Sky by Liliana Corobca (Moldovan) in November and loved it, and I am excited to read more. I have never come across this trans, so I appreciate it!
My sister and I did a read around Latin America project a couple of years ago and we read The Distance Between Us by Renato Cisneros (published by Charco Press) for our book from Peru. FANTASTIC. It ended up being one of my favorites the year I read it and I think of it fondly. Can’t recommend enough and it might be in your alley if you enjoy the blurred lines of fiction/biography/memoir, Peruvian politics, complicated family relationships, and a slower luxurious pacing.
I read Poso Wells by Gabriela Aleman for Ecuador and while it wasn’t my favorite of the project, I still enjoyed it enough to pick up her short story collection (Family Album). Short and thought-provoking.
Hace you read Mariana Enríquez? A contemporary (impressive) Argentine author.
I don't know if this is a question for me or Portia but yes I have! I read Our Share of Night a few weeks ago, and thought it was ok. In many ways enjoyed it, in many ways I didn't. I thought it was a bit too long so I am very eager to read Enríquez short story collections, because I did think she was an excellent and interesting writer!
I have not although I’ve seen her books around! I’ve heard mixed reviews about some of the translations so her work hasn’t been top of my list but definitely interested in reading at some point.
I love the sound of the project you did with your sister! Thank you for The Distance Between Us rec - I have seen the book on CP before but never really considered it? But I definitely will now with your endorsement! Those sound like all the themes I love in a novel.
I am interested in the Poso Wells rec too, even if it wasn't a fav! I often find with a desire to read around the world in translation, you come across many books that you are glad you read but don't consist of a favourite. For Ecuador I am considering Cockfight by María Fernanda Ampuero - have you read?
I’m really excited about Charco Press because I’ve grown to love Latin American literature. Was thrilled to see some Brazilian recommendations from you in your top list because I’ve only read Machado de Assis so far.
Haven’t heard of Cockfight although I’m now intrigued. My other option for Ecuador (which I didn’t read but still want to) was Bruna and Her Sisters in the Sleeping City by Alicia Yanez Cossio.
I read SO many good translated books from Brazil last year - if I had to pick a country with the 'best' translations I read from in 2024 it would 100% be there - every book on my map under Brazil I really loved. I'd really recommend ‘The Simple Art Of Killing A Woman’ by Patrícia Melo (alongside the ones in this post) if you're interested.
I haven't heard of that Cossio either! Lmk what you think of it once you do read - I am intrigued.
I loved the reflection at the beginning especially the part about your reading tastes changing! It doesn't happen every time, but I am pleasantly surprised when I push myself to read a book that is not my usual pick. I've found that our preferences are ever changing and can expand if we lead with some curiosity! You're also inspiring me to seek out more translated works this year!
Thank you Mercedes! I think it is often easy to think your reading taste will never change. But that is not true! As we change, our tastes do too, it is all a bit more fluid than people give acknowledgement too I think. I agree with everything you said! Lead with curiosity and you never know what might happen - I also love when I push myself to read a book that isn't my typical!
"The infinite scope of reading makes me excited for all the stories I will have the privilege of knowing". What a fabulous way of describing reading fiction!
Thank you!!! Fiction is fabulous
it's like you timed posting this JUST as i was finally getting caught up with my library holds! as always, so many luminous-sounding books - including some that are tragically hard to track down here (the curse of copyright/publishing territories).
for german literature, one of my goals this year (vaguely) is to finally read sebald, as well as to return to 'the sorrows of young werther', which i started in 2024 but didn't finish .... BUT if you want something contemporary, short-ish that's sentimental without being sweet, i quite liked "my grandmother's braid" by alina bronsky.
'season of migration to the north' is also a very intense, memorable sudanese book, a true classic post-colonial book (IIRC hisham matar's my friends references it twice?) if you haven't read it yet.
Haha I am, deeply, sorry Laurel. The hard nature of tracking some of these books down, particularly for those who don't live in the UK and mostly use the library, is never lost on me! Sending magic tracking down dust over to you.
Ok love the rec of 'My Grandmothers Braid' by Bronsky - I will check out, thank you! I enjoy sentimental without being too sweet now and then.
Yes! I have never read Season of Migration to the North but have always intended too because it sounds like my type of read. I am going to do a big second hand book order soon and I think it will be one of the books! Matar does reference it twice - your memory has served you well!
sending my thoughts to celia dale, because daunt books does not distribute outside the UK and as you may know, i love an "actually good" domestic thriller
omg I did not know daunts books publishing did not distribute outside the uk?? That’s devastating. Sorry for reading so many of their prints haha. They are VERY small though so I would guess it might be a financing issue. Maybe I need to send you some in the post!?! You do absolutely love an ‘actually good’ domestic thriller. A not actually good domestic thriller? Not interested.
Since you asked, here are some German/German language writers in translation that I’ve enjoyed. Most of these are well-known writers, meaning they generally get the best translators.
Christa Wolf, Cassandra. In the tradition of Mary Renault, I suppose, a retelling of a familiar epic story (Trojan War) from a different point of view. A short novel, with several fascinating essays appended about the trip to Greece that was genesis for the novel.
Traudl Junge, Until the Final Hour. Junge was Hitler’s private secretary right up until the end. My understanding is that this memoir was written down in the late Forties, when her memories were still fresh; not published until many years later.
Günter Grass, Local Anaesthetic. Like Thomas Mann before him, Grass was a novelist of ideas. Here the narrator recalls his life in a dreamy state while undergoing massive dental work. One idea that intrigued me: that people largely see the world through their occupations. So the narrator, who was a construction engineer during the war, thinks the world’s problems just need proper construction; his dentist thinks the world just needs proper hygiene; etc. Grass’s best-known book is probably The Tin Drum, which was made into a successful film (Oscar winner), but I like this little novel.
W. G. Sebald, The Emigrants. Somewhere between fiction and non-fiction and impossible to determine where the line is. The first story is something to go back to regularly, a perfect story.
Joseph Roth, The Radetzky March. Not German, but he wrote in German and worked in Germany for years. Part of the generation of writers after Kafka, here Roth writes about the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A classic.
Max Frisch, I’m Not Stiller. Again, not German (Swiss). A man returns to Switzerland and is recognized as Stiller, but he insists he’s not Stiller.
Peter Handke, A Sorrow Beyond Dreams. Again, not German (Austrian). This memoir is about his mother’s experience during the war and eventual suicide. Careful, this one might break your heart.
Walter Abish, How German Is It. Not German (American) and not translated (in English), it’s the author’s novelistic meditation on what it’s like to be German in the late 20th century. Has one of the best book covers of all time, a photo taken by Abish’s wife:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/19/HowGermanIsIt.jpg
Thank you for this incredibly thoughtful and considered comment Frank - what a treasure trove of recs! You're right - I absolutely asked for them! I can't wait for when I have the time in the coming days to comb through this and choose what I like the sound of the most. I hope you're well!