When I first saw the list of 52 books, I figured I could do it in a year. Averaging one book per week – pretty simple, right? As I began to work my way through the list, I began to see that I couldn’t just start at #1 and work my way through in numerical order. For starters, I wanted to save the book set during Christmas for, well, December. I read the books that were difficult to obtain or more specific first, and now I’m left with an interesting mix of literature to cross off my list: a book based entirely on its cover, a book with bad reviews… and that Christmas book I will end up reading sometime in August.
I am very nearly finished with the reading list I’ve adopted – I’m averaging 1.4 books per week! – only time will tell if and how I choose books will change forever. But I probably won’t write any more haiku reviews about them, so enjoy them while they last.
A book recommended by a friend: The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins.
I love books that have
A flawed, human narrator
Like alcoholics.
If you see something
But you’re not sure what it means,
How much of it’s real?
This thrilling new book
Will become a hot movie,
Predicting this now.
A book with nonhuman characters: Dinotopia, by James Gurney.
I adored this book;
Humans coexisting with
Dinosaurs in peace.
Formatted like an
Explorer’s journal with notes:
Flora and fauna.
A great adventure,
The gorgeous illustrations
Won that year’s Hugo.
A book you own but have never read: Daring Greatly, by Brené Brown.
Gifted by my mom,
It sat on my shelves for years
through two or three moves.
Based on Brown’s TED Talk:
Dare to be vulnerable,
It’s how we grow bold.
I should have read this
As soon as I received it!
You were right, mother.
A book at the bottom of your to-read list: Dancing At the Rascal Fair, by Ivan Doig.
This beige-covered book
Spans several decades of life,
Thought it would be dull.
The homesteading life
Of Scottish immigrant friends
In harsh Montana.
Symbol on page six
Comes back around at the end,
So satisfying!
Louisa Gaylord 