I’M AGHAST AT ALL THE BOOKS I HAVEN’T READ
Me when people ask "What are you reading?"
I have just one answer to the question, “Have you read ___?”
NO.
I haven’t read your favorite childhood novel, the New York Times best sellers, or the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, OK?! When a movie based off a book comes out, you bet I absolutely did not read the book before seeing the movie. The point is, I’m under read and I know it. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t have reading goals or want to regularly attend a feminist book club one day…
The truth is, even I'm aghast at all the books I haven't read. You would think with a degree in English Lit and an MFA in Creative Writing, I would be a the raptor of reading. Yet, here I am, the bum of all English Majors and creative writers alike who just can't seem to finish her growing reading list. This means I buy, check out, or read the first chapter of all the books, but then I never quite get to know the pages inside. It's an annoying trap I fall into at every library book sale. Those poor $1 books have no clue their existence is going to continue being a sad, unread one.
So, what else is a procrastinating bibliophile to do but make a list for all the world to see that she'll finish at the ripe age of eighty? That’s not anxiety inducing at all...
What follows is a different kind of summer reading list. Since I’m a restless reader, a lot of these books are years old because they’ve been on my to-read list for a quite awhile. Some are new because I like to pretend I’ll read them within an appropriate amount of time. And to keep this series going, I'll keep making these book listicles with updates on my thoughts on the books and some writing prompts! But listen, if you follow my reading advice but don’t quite follow through, you won't be shamed by me. Sometimes finishing a great book is just not in the cards. I get it. As an added bonus, if you want to dance around reading these books, my links offer little activities and information around the work. You can check out the section where the Austin Public Library holds the book (even if you'll never visit it), you can do a writing prompt for a book before you read it (we will!!...eventually) or just order that .99 cent Kindle edition because #<3DEAL$.
I present, with full knowledge of the shame it carries, my 2018 summer reading list:
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
This book fell into my oblivious lap literally because there was a sign outside my graduate office: Reading Thursday with Karen Russell. The book made me want to own it though because it has a young narrator and a fun premise: How a young girl deals with the death of her mother and the demise of her family’s amusement park called Swamplandia!, a Florida Alligator Wrestling Park. OK, “fun” might be the wrong word, but when you’re a snoozing reader like me, the one book I read a year has to pull out all the stops. Just in case I start reading it and pick it up months later, I’m going to be using this Knopf reading guide!
Bodily Memory by Leticia Urieta
Leticia Urieta is an Austin native. Her zines make me feel like anyone can come to her work and get whatever they need from it. Bodily Memory employs poetry, testimonio, and collage to tell the story of the ways women have been made to feel in their bodies. It’s uplifting as much as it is honest. And as you can tell, I’m cheating a little on this because I’ve actually read this zine before. But I have this dream of being one of those readers who’s “read it like 5 times.” I’ve never had the patience to do such a thing, and I know with Urieta’s zine, it’ll be as rewarding as the first time. You can order Urieta’s zine on her website or check it out at Austin Public Library’s Zine Collection.
Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón
I was lucky enough to hear Ada Limón read poems from Bright Dead Things last spring. In a way, it’s kind of like I’ve already started reading her work, right?? I know this beautiful orange book is going to have so many treasures waiting for me whenever I get the time to open it. The poems I have heard paint natural scenes without being your typical nature poem. She’s also hilarious in her poems and in person. If you don’t have time to read the complete collection, I’ve linked her reading here.
Great, right? Now we can chime in on our poet friends’ conversations with quips like, “I heard she wrote that after the election!” We’re gonna look so well read 😎
Chasing the Sun *and* Everyone Knows You Go Home by Natalia Sylvester
Natalia Sylvester is another Austin resident via Miami and Peru. Chasing the Sun was her first novel and I’ve heard it’s stellar. I had met Sylvester at a reading and immediately wanted to read her work! Well, a year later I was ashamed to still see her book on my to-read list. Lucky for me, I’m also frugal to a point of embarrassment, so when I saw this novel on sale via Kindle I bought it right away. I’m currently reading it as fast as snail right now. I love how Sylvester describes the emotional life of her main character as he tries to get his wife back from kidnappers. Now, Everyone Knows You Go Home is one of the few new books on this list because I heard it was a banger! I’ve read countless reviews and interviews with Sylvester about her work (I managed to interview Sylvester for Front Porch Journal this past May). Roxanne Gay added this book to her reading list, and with that recommendation, we should all follow suit! Right now both books are half-off on Kindle, and it’s free if you have Kindle unlimited. So now you can actually stop putting it off and join me in reading this book in no less than two months, or until the fall reading list comes out 😜
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Binti is another award-winning book that I’m aghast I haven't read. I have no excuse, but I will say I now own Book One of this trilogy, and it’s so short that I just might strap myself into a chair and finish it in one sitting (might being the prime word there.) Because I don’t get out and read much, I heard about Binti from a friend who does and recommended it to me because I love science fiction that takes place on spaceships. Unfortunately, I also know how Book One ends because I got to hear Okorafor read a portion of the work. This is why I need to read things more promptly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If you’re not sure you can handle another book on your reading list, here is a link to The Verge’s Review of Okorafor’s work, or you can watch her amazing Ted Talk in which she reads an excerpt of Binti, or like me, you can find a reading to go to and feel just as satisfied as if you had read the book.
Just want to write something inspired by Binti? Here's a writing prompt by yours truly.
Like the protagonist, Binti, one day every person may have to make a choice that will clash with either their family's values, their personal beliefs, or their nation's laws, etc. Using the five senses, write a scene in your character's point of view wherein they describe how they have come to a decision that will change everything.
Deer Resistant Landscaping: Proven Advice and Strategies for Outwitting Deer and 20 Other Pesky Mammals by Neil Soderstrom
As some of you know, I recently moved to the Writing Barn in Austin, Texas where I am the Artist-in-Residence. I’m living in a camper trailer on 7.5 wooded acres. And yes, there are deer! I love these long-necked does, but I have to tell you–they’re pissing me the frack off. They’ve eaten my mint and now the buds of my marigolds! So I’m taking my power back, and yeah, I’m going to repel the crap outta them. Do you have pesky mammal problems or advice on outwitting deer (who I call George, which I argue is genderless)? Send a note my way because there is no way in frosty hell that I can finish this book 😭
On my next reading list: I dream about being one of those people who has read Clarice Lispector, and remind you of how woefully under read I am. Oh yes, and how the deer are all named GEORGE, and you cannot change my mind.
And before you start your next reading list, don't forget to take the pledge,
"I solemnly swear I'm up to no reading."
P.S. Please comment with books you think I should have read by now. I probably won't read them, but I'll totally tell you how excited I am to learn they exist. (Snide remarks will be liked, judgmental posts will be deleted ಠ_ಥ)
Marilyse V. Figueroa is a proud queer femme Xicana-Puerto Riqueña writer living in Austin, Texas. If you want to ask her what books she's reading, you must first buy her a drink. Contact her at [email protected].
And here's George:
