Towards the end of each year, I finalize a list of approximately a dozen works of imaginative literature that I want to spend some time with in the following year. This list doesn’t reflect everything that I’ll read next year. Each year I read between 70 and 110 books, but I don’t approach every book with the same rigor. Instead, I use a focused reading list to target certain books and extract as much from them as possible.
#1 – The Divine Comedy by Dante
We’ll begin the year with Dante’s journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. In 2024, I read Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey alongside Virgil’s The Aeneid. There is probably much more that I could read to prepare for Dante’s epic, but I’m ready to dive in already.
#2 – The Metamorphoses by Ovid
Following Dante, Ovid’s collection of myths should explore similar themes of fate, morality, and human nature. I’ll be focused on how the narrative style of Ovid contrasts with Dante and some of the earlier epics that I mentioned from Homer and Virgil. I’m also hoping to be swept away by the beauty and drama of the various stories within.
#3 – The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
The beginning of spring (if we’re on a one-book-per-month pace) seems like an apt time for this tale of love, politics, and court life in ancient Japan. After two works that have shaped Western culture, this one should offer a shift in perspective.
Here’s what I’m expecting from this work based on the (very) little that I know about it: (1) psychological depth; (2) an exploration of courtly life and other aesthetics of ancient Japan; (3) a different narrative structure than we’re used to with Western literature; and (4) a mix of poetry and prose. This will be a unique reading experience that I expect to require patience and active engagement in order to extract the most out of it.
#4 – The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Following our Eastern excursion, Chaucer’s tales should provide a bridge back to more familiar narrative themes and forms. I understand The Canterbury Tales to have been originally written in Middle English. Therefore, I’m looking forward to the myriad linguistic challenges that will come along with reading this one.
#5 – One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
I hear about this book all the time, so I’ve decided to finally read it. I’m hopeful that the magical realism in this one will echo some of the elements of prior works on the list while introducing a more modern and Latin American context to the year’s reading.
#6 – Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Assuming we’re still on a one-book-per-month pace, summer is now setting in. I get a sense that Thomas Hardy belongs in the summer season even though I’ve never read his works. I understand that he explores pastoral landscapes and rural life in this one that should provide a nice backdrop to the warm summer months. I’m looking forward to my first dive into Hardy’s Wessex and my first experience with his rich, descriptive prose that I’ve heard so much about.
#7 – Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I’ve read Anna Karenina before, but it’s been a long time and I don’t remember it well. Full disclosure, I placed it here on the list because the one scene that I do vividly remember involved one of the characters cutting grass, and grass-cutting belongs in the summer months along with Thomas Hardy.
#8 – Madam Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
I place this one after Anna Karenina as I imagine that the tale of Emma Bovary’s tragic story will serve as a nice counterpoint to Anna’s narrative. Based on the little I know about this novel, I’m expecting a few things: (1) precise literary realism; (2) a tragic narrative; (3) an intimate look at the main character’s internal struggle between ideals and reality; and (4) a slow and methodical build to a dramatic conclusion.
#9 – Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
This is the only other book on this list that I’ve read before. Similar to Anna Karenina, I read this one rather quickly and quite a while ago. This time I want to slow down and truly savor the experience. I plan to approach it as more than simply a horror story, but something deeply complex and philosophical. It’s a novel that invites reflection on our own times, something I neglected to do the last time that I read it.
#10 – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
After Shelley’s gothic science, Huxley’s critique of society should feel like a natural progression. I’ve read Orwell’s 1984, but I’ve never encountered Huxley’s dystopian vision. Now that we’re getting towards the end of the year, it feels right to read something like this (and Frankenstein before it) right around Spooky Season. I’m expecting satire and themes of psychological control.
#11 – The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
This is another one that’s been recommended to me many, many times. After looking into it briefly, I’m expecting further exploration of some of the themes that we’ve seen throughout the year, from Dante through Huxley; themes like good versus evil, love, freedom, and the importance of creative art. I’ve been told to embrace this book’s blend of humor, horror, and philosophical inquiry. It seems like a great all-around option for the penultimate book of the year.
#12 – Ulysses by James Joyce
Joyce is at the end of the list because his is the work that I’m most intimidated by. I know it’s a monumental task to read this book that encapsulates only a single day in Dublin. I’m hoping that the interconnectedness of characters and themes from all of the previous deep reads will find its zenith here.
by betterbooks_