Elizabeth Aquino

Share this post

Bookworm 2022

elizabethaquino.substack.com

Bookworm 2022

taught, read, re-read and devoured

Elizabeth Aquino
Dec 28, 2022
12
14
Share
Share this post

Bookworm 2022

elizabethaquino.substack.com

I wasn’t so good at keeping a tally this year, and I’m certain I’ve left off a few, but here’s a list of the books that I taught, read, re-read and, for the most part, enjoyed in 2022. I read a whole slew of poetry this year as well — and countless New Yorker stories, and if I had to pick the book I enjoyed the most, I guess it’d be Lauren Groff’s Matrix, followed by Alejandro Varela’s The Town of Babylon. I have stacks and stacks of unread tomes piled throughout the house and am making a half-hearted vow (is there such a thing) to not buy any more books! until I’ve finished the ones I’ve already collected. Who am I kidding — I’m a new member of Alexander Chee’s curated books at Boxwalla and have no intention of canceling that subscription. He turned me on to the Varela, and I’m into Brother Alive now. I’ll be reading Bleak House with Annie from Conquer a Classic 2023 and adorable Hunter McClendon at @shelfbyshelf. They inspired me to crack The Count of Monte Cristo this past year, and while it surprised me, I have to admit to doing a good skimming here and there. Next up, it’s The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser and The Book of Goose by Yiyun Lee.

What are you reading, good people? Tell me in the comments!

Bookworm 2022

Matrix by Lauren Groff

Hamlet by Shakespeare

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Real Estate by Deborah Levy

A Shower of Summer Days by May Sarton

Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Catherine Wheel by Jean Stafford

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

The Last Confessions of Sylvia P by Lee Kravetz

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

Dominicana by Angie Cruz

Jackie & Me by Louis Bayard

The Familia Grande by Camille Kouchner

Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor

Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl

Getting Lost by Annie Ernaux

A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank

Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary by Marina Warner

Also a Poet by Ada Calhoun

Trust by Hernan Diaz

Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici

The Town of Babylon: A Novel by Alejandro Varela

Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling

Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph by Lucasta Miller

This Here Flesh by Cole Arthur Riley

Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick

Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us by Rachel Aviv

Brother Alive by Zain Khalid

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

12
14
Share
Share this post

Bookworm 2022

elizabethaquino.substack.com
Previous
Next
14 Comments
Elisabeth
Writes Elisabeth’s Substack
Dec 28, 2022

Today, Tara Westover's 'Educated' holds me in its grip. Last month Janet Frame, one of New Zealand's best from years gone by enthralled me with her 'Owls do Cry' and then there was Donna's Tartt's 'The secret History', as well as several from Murakami, including 'Kafka by the shore' and last on my recent list, George Saunders wonderful 'Lincoln in the Bardo'. So many wonderful books to read. How will we ever get through them all?

Expand full comment
Reply
1 reply
Francia McCormack
Writes Harlem Mama
Dec 31, 2022

I’m currently reading Perma Red. Alice Walker’s Temple of My Familiar and Braiding Sweetgrass were my favorite reads of the year. Had a blast with little known writer CT Rwizi’s Scarlet Odyssey trilogy.

Expand full comment
Reply
3 replies
12 more comments…
Top
New
Community

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Elizabeth Aquino
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing