reading habit
Books Editor's Note
Happy new year, everyone! All I want this year is for everyone to be healthy and safe, and read as widely and lovingly as possible. To help you achieve the latter, I’ve created the Splainer Reading Challenge 2022! There are 24 suggestions in total so that we can comfortably average 2 books a month. The categories, as I began creating them, were proving to be too many, and I’ve had to cull them down to make your reading experience as diverse as can be within these constraints.
I am personally focusing this year on reading more books by women, and more translations from either India or around the world, although I’m an impulsive reader in many ways, a thing I like about myself, so let’s see how successful I am at the end of the year. Note: A great resource for anyone trying to make their way through books from around the world is Tabatha Leggett’s Bookmarked. Okay, let’s get started!
A book by a woman from India/Southeast Asia: I haven’t read much that’s come out of home and the neighbourhood recently, so this year I’m hoping to change that. I have my eye on ‘Milk Teeth’ by Amrita Mahale, ‘Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh’ by Shrayana Bhattacharya and ‘Name Place Animal Thing’ by Daribha Lyndem.
A retelling of a book that’s not Austen, Shakespeare, the Greek myths or a fairy tale: Each year, a number of books make their way into the public domain, opening themselves up to interpretations and reimaginations. So many of those retellings get overpowered by the usual suspects. Last year, ‘The Great Gatsby’ made its way into the public domain, which brought us ‘The Chosen and the Beautiful’ by Nghi Vo and ‘Nick’ by Michael Farris Smith; ‘Belzhar’ by Meg Wolitzer is an acclaimed retelling of Sylvia Plath’s ‘The Bell Jar’; and ‘Julia’ by Sandra Newman, a retelling of George Orwell’s ‘1984’, is forthcoming.
A book on sports which is not a biography or memoir: I usually spoil myself with memoirs so this time I’m going for books about sports in general. I have ‘Cricket Country’ by Prashant Kidambi and ‘The Spirit of the Game’ by Mihir Bose lined up for this.
A book by a woman written in the 19th century or before: Yes, go back as much as you like and find a forgotten classic, or maybe even something popular. I’ll be picking up ‘The Awakening’ by Kate Chopin and ‘Middlemarch’ by George Eliot.
A book from Africa: ‘The Perfect Nine’ by Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ was Thiong’o, translated from the Bantu language Gĩkũyũ by the author himself and Namwali Serpell’s debut novel, ‘The Old Drift’, from Zambia caught my attention.
A book that has been on your TBR for years: Each of us must look deep within ourselves—and our shelves—to root one of these out. For me, it’s going to be ‘The Once and Future King’ by TH White and ‘Women Talking’ by Miriam Toews.
A book from South America: ‘Tender is the Flesh’ by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses and set in Argentina, and ‘It Would be Night in Caracas’ by Karina Sainz Borgo, translated by Elizabeth Bryer and set in Venezuela, both originally in Spanish, would be my top picks if I get my way.
A crime novel where a woman isn’t the victim: A woman is usually, and distastefully, dead or brutalized in more crime novels than we think. Thankfully, there are still many fantastic novels in the genre that choose not to go down that route. For something light, ‘Iced in Paradise’ by Naomi Hirahara, and for something more serious, ‘The Other Americans’ by Laila Lalami.
A book translated from an Indian language: If you can read in the original, even better! If not, a couple of English translations for you: ‘Phoolsunghi’ by Pandey Kapil, tr. from Bhojpuri by Gautam Choubey, ‘Budhini’ by Sarah Joseph, tr. from Malayalam by Sangeetha Sreenivasan.
A book translated from another Indian language: And a couple more: ‘The Princess and the Political Agent’ by Binodini, tr. from Manipuri by L Somi Roy, ‘The Loneliness of Hira Barua’ by Arupa Patangia Kalita, tr. from Assamese by Ranjita Biswas.
A book you read for the cover: Shady picking method, but a gorgeous cover can simply be the gateway to equally brilliant prose. ‘The Bone Clocks’ by David Mitchell and ‘Mrs. March’ by Virginia Feito should do the trick.
A horror novel: Tor.com has an excellent repository of all-things-horror, although I’m personally going to go for ‘Chasing the Boogeyman’ by Richard Chizmar and ‘The Death of Jane Lawrence’ by Caitlin Starling.
A book published in 2022: We’ll be spoilt for choice in this category, but we can start off soon with ‘Violeta’ by Isabel Allende and ‘Tell Me How To Be’ by Neel Patel (also the first pick of the new book club by YouTube star Lilly Singh).
A graphic novel, memoir or nonfiction: So, so many good ones across time. I’m going to go with ‘Palestine’ by Joe Sacco and the Goldie Vance series by Hope Larson.
A book published in the year you were born: You guys go find your own. I’ll be reading ‘Jazz’ by Toni Morrison and something by Stephen King (I’m sure he’ll at least have two from my year).
A book about science: I’m so happy there have been such accessible books on science lately, gaining more and more readers. ‘Nine Pints’ by Rose George and ‘Science of the Magical’ by Matt Kaplan are both stellar.
A memoir: Once again, a million options. I’ll be reading ‘Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal?’ by Jeanette Winterson and ‘Where Am I Now?’ by Mara Wilson.
Non-fiction about something specific/A microhistory: Take one topic and do a deep, deep dive. My recommendations would be ‘The Secret History of Wonder Woman’ by Jill Lepore and ‘Sweat: A History of Exercise’ by Bill Hayes.
A book on nature or the environment: This has become, for me, one of the most important things I want to learn about, so I try to give myself a healthy mix of fiction and non-fiction. ‘The Overstory’ by Richard Powers and ‘The Great Derangement’ by Amitav Ghosh are both great places to start.
A YA or middle grade novel: Pick up one of the many, many popular ones, or pick up ‘The World's Greatest Detective’ by Caroline Carlson and ‘Liberty: The Spy Who (Kind of) Liked Me’ by Andrea Portes.
Speculative fiction: The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden is beloved and would be perfect for this, and so would ‘A Murder in Time’ by Julie McElwain.
A book about food: It could be a recipe book, a memoir, or just experiences with food, like ‘Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking’ by Anya von Bremzen or ‘What She’s Having’ edited by Abby Parsons and Bridie Wilkinson.
Poetry: Go for a classic collection, like ‘Devotions’ by Mary Oliver, or something more modern like ‘Night Sky With Exit Wounds’ by Ocean Vuong.
An experimental novel: Something that flouts convention, like ‘Multiple Choice’ by Alejandro Zambra tr. by Megan McDowell, or ‘Dept. of Speculation’ by Jenny Offill.
Note: Reading Habit is curated by our book editor Anushree Kaushal. Want to send along recommendations, feedback or just say hi? Email her at kaushalanushree@gmail.com.
