Mountains of Reading Piling Up
Which mountain range has existed for longer, the Appalachian or the Himalayas? The latter cut violently sharp lines into the underbelly of the stratosphere, while the former slumber, less notable on tactile globes.
Although taller, the Himalayas are much younger than the Appalachians. Perhaps this makes perfect sense: the Himalayas are still rising, while the Appalachians are on the descent. Some geologists propose they once towered as tall as the Himalayas.1
The Himalayas are rising, Everest by as much as 1.5 cm per year, because the geological uplift of its two underlying tectonic plates colliding outweighs the erosion happening up top. The opposite has historically been true of the Appalachians, which have lost height to weathering and erosion more than uplift has elevated them in recent millennia.
In 2023, despite reading lots, my reading habits resembled the Himalayas more than the Appalachians. What follows is a short bibliography of the uplift, the books I added to my collection this year without reading. In another post, I’ll go through the bibliography of weathering, the books I chipped away at in 2023.
The Bibliography of Uplift
(Asterisks denote books I’ve read part of.)
Craft Books
The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell
This book marks the start of my quest this year to deepen my skills as a writer. I’ve known of ‘the hero’s journey’ for a long time, but wanted to dig more into it. I didn't get to this one yet because soon after I bought it, I started my first class at Stanford. That’s my excuse, at least.
The Forest for the Trees - Betsy Lerner
A friend in a book group recommended this one. It’s come up in a hundred places since as a phenomenal resource.
Bird by Bird* - Anne Lamott
Here’s another one recommended by a writing friend. The copy I bought on Thriftbooks is magical—full of underlinings, highlights, and scribbles in the margins all about someone named “Daniel.” I live for spooky things like this.
Deepening Fiction - Stone & Nyren
A book my writing teacher this year, the wonderful Thomas McNeely, mentioned. I’m particularly flattered because the subtitle is “A Practical Guide for Intermediate and Advanced Writers,” implying I’m intermediate.
Short Stories — by the Masters and the Contemporaries
I spent a lot of writing energy this year on short stories — even creating a couple that I think are pretty good. Several of these are books I started, or have read some of the short stories within, just not all of them yet, so they count as uplift.
A Good Man is Hard to Find* - Flannery O’Connor
The first two short stories in this collection, A Good Man is Hard to Find and The River, are equally riveting. O’Connor swiftly created worlds with motivated characters and powerful, biblical stakes.
Selected Stories* - Alice Munro
“Meneseteung” is the only story in this collection I’ve read so far, but has held me in awe. Munro’s writing is elegant, poised, and novelistic in her short stories. She creates worlds rich with detail and people and history all without a single superfluous word.
The Bishop - Chekov
The Darling* - Chekov
What’s there to say about Chekov? He wrote more than 5,000 short stories. I’m eager to get into them more. Why? Because of a brilliant chapter in Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer.
Let Me Tell You - Shirley Jackson*
In addition to “The Lottery”, I love We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which has been a driving prop in a book of mine (in progress) called This Phone Can Call the Wind. This interesting collection showcases not only Jackson’s horror writing, but highlights her comic writing, and work focused on parenting. Together, these expose the real nature of her work, the brand of horror she dealt with: that our children are the monsters we’ve created.
Pictures of the Shark - Thomas McNeely
I had to buy my writing teacher’s collection of short stories. He’s a phenomenal writer and a brilliant teacher. If you get a chance to take a writing class with him, you will come out of it better.
The Best American Short Stories of the Century - ed. Updike
I bought this book for $4 on eBay to get free shipping on a purchase. That doesn’t mean I didn't want it, however when I opened it the lack of names I recognized did surprise me, just: Faulkner, Elizabeth Bishop, Cheever, O’Connor, Roth, Carver and Houston. Many of those I wouldn’t have recognized without my writing classes.
You’ve Got to Read This* - ed. Ron Hansen & Jim Shepard
I’ve read at least 40% of this book for homework, and it has been well worth it. I need motivation to go back to it, to chip away at some more of the great work inside.
Never Whistle at Night - ed. Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Asti Jr.
This Native American anthology of short stories reminds me of Love After the End, one of my favorite collections of short stories. I’m excited to get into it.
Get in Trouble - Kelly Link
Sometimes, we buy books because of their alluring covers. That doesn’t mean I’m not eager to get cracking on this collection of speculative fiction.
Novels
Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel
Sea of Tranquility was one of my most favorite contemporary novels because it’s the kind of book I want to write. The common threads that Mandel puts in her books — themes such as plague, apocalypse and community, as well as characters — fascinates me. I want desperately to get coffee with her some day. For now, I’ll get to know her through her books.
Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro
Neither The Buried Giant nor Never Let Me Go were what I expected them to be. In the short, by both, I felt robbed of a promised experience. In the long, I’ve felt awed, humbled and inspired. I hope the same from this book.
The Hours - Michael Cunningham
One of the best short stories I read this year was White Angel by Cunningham. This would appear to be his most famous book, and I should probably know it as it won a Pulitzer and is about, loosely, Virginia Woolf. I first read about this book in How to Read a Novelist by John Freeman.
The Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson
One of my fastest friends is an offensively prolific reader, in addition to being a wonderful human being. He hoisted a boxful of Sanderson books into my arms the last time I visited; he’s transforming his office into a nursery.
Dept. of Speculation - Jenny Offill
The best kind of friend someone like me can make is a writing friend. It’s even more special when that friend is whip-smart, talented, and kind. Meg bought me this book because “we can’t be friends if I don’t like it.” No pressure, I guess.
Nonfiction
Cities of Tomorrow - Peter Hall
What will the denizens of Atlanta gaze upon in a hundred years? Will Paris seem unchanged to the children of 2323?
The Demon Haunted World - Carl Sagan
This book is a wonderful rage against Americans’ idolatry of ignorance. I had to stop reading it because I was running out of highlighter ink.
Nicest way to start the new year. A look back at books read and a look forward at what’s to come! ❤️