The Lighthouse Writers Top-Secret Blog
All the latest news, ideas, and opinions from Denver's Independent Literary Center: lighthousewriters.org
Making Some Lists, Checking Them Occasionally
Tis the season for lists. Already we’ve seen numerous lists touting the best books of the year in all categories: fiction, nonfiction, children’s picture books, YA, and on and on. There is value in these lists. They let us collectively compare our reading habits, see how our own taste in literature matches up with the paid literary taste makers du jour, remind us which books we meant to read but haven’t yet. It’s good to reflect on the past year, but I’m feeling bullish on the future. In that spirit, I offer you a list of must-read books for 2012.
- The one you can’t put down
- The one that surprises you and teaches you something new about yourself
- The one that makes you laugh out loud
- The one you won’t read on a plane or the light rail because it makes you cry
- The one you wrote and need to revise before sending it out into the world (read this one a few times)
- The ones your fellow workshoppers submit (read these carefully, thoughtfully)
- Anything published by members or faculty at Lighthouse
- The one you first read in high school (or college or elementary school) that made you realize that writing was maybe the most important thing a person could do in the world.
And here is a totally subjective list of the books that I won’t be reading in 2012.
- The ones that bore me
- Anything written by a denizen of the Jersey Shore or “real” housewife
- Anything written by a dog or a cat or a gerbil (Disclaimer: If my animals write anything, I’m definitely reading it. I have so many questions…)
- Books about women who discover themselves at middle age by practicing yoga, drinking herbal tea, sleeping with men in exotic countries, etc. (Please note, I am not in any way opposed to the actual practice of yoga, tea-drinking or sleeping with men in this country or any other.)
- Anything by Donald Trump
What’s on your list?
alison barker
Aray
andreadupree
Catherine Wallace Hope
danmanzan
Jason Heller
jdiegofrey
Karen Palmer
lauriesleeper
megnix
mjhenry
Nick Arvin
Lynn Wagner
William Haywood Henderson
susannadonato
tqtyson
I’ve seen so many things I want to read and have forgotten them all. But I’ve got to do some real work on books for my family for Christmas. You could remind me of books I’ve said I want to read. Thanks for the good humor, Tiffany.
Thanks for this, TQ! I’ve read so many good books lately. One is WILD by Cheryl Strayed, but it’s not available until March 2012. The other is my friend (and former Lighthouse distance instructor) Wendy Wunder’s YA novel, PROBABILITY OF MIRACLES (if you have any teenagers on your list–14 or older). Mary Karr’s LIT is great for writers on your list. Nick Arvin’s THE RECONSTRUCTIONIST will be available in March, too, and I’m waiting for Harrison Fletcher’s DESCANSOS OF MY FATHER.
Great post as always, Tiffany … Here’s my list: read every book that’s been sitting on my bookshelf untouched for the last decade. P.S. to myself–quit buying books until the list is checked off.
What if a Lighthouser writes a book about middle-aged yoga, sex abroad, tea? Will you read it?
Ilona, I’ll read it grudgingly. There are just some things better experienced first-hand. Yoga, tea, sex — all in that category.
Fair enough!
Great list. I think that pretty much covers it. Though I also won’t be reading any books that Sarah Palin “writes” either, should she threaten to do so again.
Will definitely get the LWW folks’ books read–and signed! I’ll try to read some more books in Spanish too-gotta keep practicing!