2025 Reading Challenge discussion

I'm committing to reading 16 books this year! I often get stuck reading books I don't really like, which take longer for me to finish and feel less fulfilling. I'm going to try and fix that by reading books that I can't put down, and putting down books that I can't read.

I like literary fiction with a bit of magic, mythology, or the supernatural in it. I also like science fiction and speculative fiction in general. My favorite books are surreal and fever dream-like. I just started The Bone Fire by György Dragomán and I love it so far :)

Reading the description of books you like, I immediately thought of Erin Morgenstern's books. Have you read them?

Best of luck with your reading challenge!

Ilona wrote: "Reading the description of books you like, I immediately thought of Erin Morgenstern's books. Have you read them?

Best of luck with your reading challenge!"

I haven't but I will be sure to take a look at them! Thank you!

Finished:

1. The Bone Fire by György Dragomán

2. Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Rating for both: 4 of 5 stars

I thought The Bone Fire was beautifully written; it was a solid book that I enjoyed reading. I appreciated how it dealt with the nuances of authoritarianism and conflict within a state.

I read Nothing Ever Dies to help inform my understanding of The Sympathizer. I was happy to find that it was accessible and thorough. I'm excited to analyze it in conversation with The Sympathizer-- I have to write about 30 pages of scholarly work about the two books, so wish me luck!

Finished:

3. Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So

5 of 5 stars

Lowkey, getting all of the Cambodian American cultural references validated my identity. The community is tight-knit as well, so I would be able to talk to a bunch of other people who've read it and knew the author. This is a great book, full of heart.

Finished:

4. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

5 of 5 stars

I feel like I didn't get everything I could've gotten out of this book because it was so full of concepts to think about. I loved how this was written; it was sparse enough to be un-flowery and to-the-point, but complex enough to fully provoke the creation of the reader's own ideas.

5. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

5 of 5 stars

I'm not sure whether this book was fulfilling because of the story, the writing, or the messages. It seemed to be a combination of all three. The ending punched me in the gut.

Finished:

6. To Live by Yu Hua

5 of 5 stars

After having watched the movie all the way back in high school, I forgot how much the story impacted me. It is a beautiful tale of the sanctity of an ordinary life. It made me feel a deep sonder as well as an awe toward the passage of time.

Finished:

7. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

5 of 5 stars

I think this book came at a perfect time during my life (existential crisis mode). It provoked so many thoughts about humanity, serendipity, and our social landscape and climate. It asked me: what does it mean to be real? What is the significance of our lives and the connections we have with others? I enjoyed this book thoroughly, as I love it when things get weird... which it did. It was also a fast read that kept me hooked.

Finished:

8. Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley

3 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book so bad knowing the premise, which was absolutely up my alley. It was a smooth read, but otherwise not for my tastes. The writing was funny and enhanced the storyline, but also awkward in that there was little room for the reader to think, which is my favorite thing to do when I'm reading. In fact, it would be a good audiobook because the simple, to-the-point writing has its moments of reflection, but there is no need to linger on any ideas because you just want to get to the next part of the story. In other words, it would have been better in an auditory medium. Even a movie or TV show; just not a book.

Janice wrote: "Finished:

7. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

5 of 5 stars

I think this book came at a perfect time during my life (existential crisis mode). It provo..."

This is one of the books my local library recommended to me and I'm not quite sure how I feel. I loved your review and I might actually read it based on your opinions.

Courtney wrote: "Janice wrote: "Finished:

7. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

5 of 5 stars

I think this book came at a perfect time during my life (existential crisis ..."

Ahh! If you do end up reading it, I hope you like it as much as I did!

Finished:

9. Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee

4 of 5 stars

This was a very solid four stars. I enjoyed Lee's writing style. The book motivated me to think more about the role of Asian Americans in the public sphere (and representation, privacy, assimilation, translation...) to the point where I'm starting a paper about it.

I definitely recommend reading Invisible Man before reading this and I wish I had read The Sympathizer last out of the three. Finding connections among these books highlighted the historical/social/cultural nuances of not only storytelling, but also personhood, identity, interconnectedness, and hybridity.

Finished:

11. Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

4 of 5 stars

I loved the atmosphere of Lapvona, but I was never fully immersed in its world. The storyline wasn't very satisfying either. That being said, this showcases that Moshfegh's tone and style--obsessive, dark, and strange--stays keeping readers in awe (especially the disgusted, horrible, terrifying kind of awe). I found Lapvona to be inspiring in that way.

Skipped an entry:

10. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

5 of 5 stars

I've read criticisms that this book is a lazy mishmash of several stories that the author started and never finished, but that's what I liked about it. I felt like it was wholly transparent in its weaknesses and humble, yet unwavering, in its strengths. Its execution was reflective and made me consider the process of writing and reading in different ways. It was easy to enjoy the book for what it was.

Finished:

12. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver

4 of 5 stars

There was so much hidden between the lines here that can't be deciphered separate from your own epistemologies of love, humanity, and relationships. Carver's sparse, yet dramatic writing style enhanced the feeling that, while you are receiving information, that information has a mind of its own. Moreover, all of the stories in the collection felt so real in their subtle anguish and things left unsaid. These little vignettes encompass life everlasting.

Finished:

13. Hunger: A Novella and Stories by Lan Samantha Chang

4 of 5 stars

This was a smooth, flowy read that left me thinking about temporality, forgetting, and holding on in Asian diasporic literature. While some books make me feel a sense of sonder in which every individual has their own story to tell, Hunger made me feel that there is a certain depth within myself that cannot be described by a few words alone. To narrate this feeling would be to write an entire other story. I will attempt to summarize it, knowing that what I write will not suffice: What is lost within ourselves? And what remains?

Finished:

14. The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino

5 of 5 stars

Never before have I read a story I wanted to believe in that was so much like a fairy tale or a legend, so fantastic. But how can you believe in something so much without necessitating a want for its reality?— I believed in Cosimo, our titular Baron, who is authentic of self and uncomplicated without being simple. I hadn’t felt so invested in a fictional person’s adventures in a long time, and Calvino writes with such tenderness and sympathy for his Cosimo that it would be impossible to not be enamored with the character’s charm and strangeness. This novel was a respite from the rapidly-changing world that imagined a feeling that could only be described in its own 300-ish pages— a feeling of wonder and acceptance, an appreciation for eccentricity and the natural, a tendency towards rebellion while not risking being interconnected. This is the freedom that I desire.

Finished:

15. Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

4 of 5 stars

This was gently raucous, wistfully ecstatic, a work of magic pushed onto on a world that needs a little more confidence, extravagance, and love. It was assertively dazzling without being blinding— Carter’s intentional and descriptive style of writing exercises control without restraint. I loved reading it for Carter’s writing, and the storyline was a channel for her to showcase her ability. This was a tall tale woven in the finest linens!

Finished:

16. Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

4 of 5 stars

I devoured this book, and it inspired me with ideas of my own. Moshfegh's written works tend to meditate on morality and immorality, often with characters who are morally gray. They are psychologically motivated (more specific than just character-driven); for example, Eileen, to me, focuses in on an ethical code in a way that is ambiguous and detached, enabling the reader to decide on their own whether to allow that ethical code to have a deeper meaning, keeping in mind that meaninglessness is a key aspect to the feeling of existential dread that Moshfegh carries in her fiction, a phenomena which is carefully crafted by the book being like a series of questions rather than answers.

Congrats on reaching your goal!