DebiCates' Year of Reading 2026

GOALS 2026

After much to'ing and fro'ing, they are simple.

Read more.
Read more of what I own.
Read more of what I know I like.

LOG JANUARY 2026

Carnation, January's birth month flower from StockCake

Over on the 75 group at DebiCates' 2026 "Old Lady Reads What?" I glow all ga-ga for the top reads of my January log. 2 children's books, 4 short stories, and 1 poem.

Legend:
CH Children's =2
GW Graphic Work (novels, etc) =1
MG Middle Grade =1
NF NonFiction
NV Novel =2
PL Play =1
PO Poem =25
PC Poetry Collection
SS Short Story =48
SC Short Story Collection

(RWYO) Read what you own, my copy =19
(OD) online digital =23
(GRSSC) GR's The Short Story Club group =3
(GRBC) GR's The Brown County Reading Society group = 4
(GRBW2) GR's The Short Story Club Black Water 2 ad hoc group =3
(GRPC) GR's The Poetry Collective group =18
(LTPC) LT's The Poetry Collective group =5
(LTGT) LT's It's a GoodThing Reading group =1
(RR) Re-read=1

Now for the log:
MG Dec 26, 2025 Oranges in No Man's Land by Elizabeth Baird (RWYO)
SS Dec 26, 2025 Madame Rose Hanie by Khalil Gibran (OD)
PO Dec 27, 2025 Travel by Edna St Vincent Millay
PL Dec 27, 2025 Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas (OD)
SS Dec 27, 2025 The Shining Ones by Arthur C Clarke (OD)
SS Dec 29, 2025 Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius by Jorge Luis Borges (RWYO)
SS Dec 30, 2025 Gas by Dorothy K Haynes (RWYO)
SS Dec 30, 2025 Santa's Children by Italio Calvino (GRSSC)
SS Jan 02, 2026 Shah Guido G by Isaac Asimov (OD)
SS Jan 02, 2026 In the Abyss by H G Wells (OL)
PO Jan 03, 2026 The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost (LTPC)
PO Jan 03, 2026 This Enlightened Age by Ada Cambridge (GRPC)
SS Jan 03, 2026 The Man in the Wall by Dorothy K Haynes (RWYO)
CH Jan 03, 2026 Smon Smon by Sonja Danowski (RWYO)
CH Jan 03, 2026 Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Salley Mavor (RWYO)
SS Jan 04, 2026 The Blue Cross by G K Chesterton (OD)
NV Jan 07, 2026 The Haar, (horror) by David Sodergren (GRBC)
SS Jan 08, 2026 The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin (OD)
SS Jan 09, 2026 Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (GRBC)
PO Jan 10, 2026 A Noiseless Patient Spider by Walt Whitman (LTPC)
PO Jan 10, 2026 Hurt Hawks by Robinson Jeffers (GRPC)
SS Jan 10, 2026 Thank You, Ma'm by Langston Hughes (OD)
SS Jan 11, 2026 The Thoughtbox by Tlotlo Tsamaase (OD)
SS Jan 12, 2026 The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant (OD)
PO Jan 12, 2026 Indolence in Early Winter by Jane Kenyon (GRPC Winter)
SS Jan 12, 2026 The Aged Mother by Matsuo Basho (OD)
SS Jan 13, 2026 The Daughters of the Late Colonel by Katherine Mansfield (GRSSC)
PO Jan 13, 2026 Mount Kearsarge Shines by Donald Hall (GRPC Winter)
SS Jan 13, 2026 Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole by Isabel J Kim (OD)
PO Jan 14, 2026 Lines Composed in a Wood on a Windy Day by Anne Bronte (GRPC Jan)
SS Jan 15, 2026 Major Aranda's Hand by Alfonso Reyes (GRBW2)
PO Jan 15, 2026 A Kite for Aibhin by Seamus Heaney (GRPC Winter)
SS Jan 16, 2026 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss by Kij Johnson (OD)
PO Jan 16, 2026 Once in the 40s by William Stafford (GRPC Jan)
PO Jan 17, 2026 Ballad of the Moon Moon by Federico García Lorca (GRPC)
PO Jan 17, 2026 Forgiven by A A Milne (GRPC Jan)
SS Jan 18, 2026 The Smallest Woman in the World by Clarice Lispector (OD)
NV Jan 18, 2026 Maurice by E M Forster (LTGT)
PO Jan 18, 2026 Stars Go over the Lonely Ocean by Robinson Jeffers (LTPC)
PO Jan 18, 2026 Winter Poem by Nikki Giovanni (GRPC Winter)
SS Jan 19, 2026 Black Chain by Dorothy K Haynes (RWYO)
SS Jan 19, 2026 The Swim Team by Miranda July (GRBC)
PO Jan 20, 2026 Snowman by Wallace Stevens (GRPC Winter)
PO Jan 20, 2026 Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens (GRPC Oct)
SS Jan 22, 2026 Green Hills of Earth by Robert A Heinlein (OD)
SS Jan 23, 2026 Krambambuli by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (OD)
SS Jan 24, 2026 The Prospect of Flowers by Ruskin Bond (RWYO)
SS Jan 24, 2026 The Toys of Peace by H H Munro/Saki (GRSSC)
PO Jan 24, 2026 House On A Cliff by Louis MacNeice (LTPC)
PO Jan 24, 2026 The force that through the green fuse drives the flower by Dylan Thomas (GRPC)
SS Jan 25, 2026 The Miller's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer (RWYO)
SS Jan 25, 2026 Grandfather’s Story by Catherine Lim (OD)
SS Jan 25, 2026 The Beautymark by Nathaniel Hawthorne (OD)
PO Jan 25, 2026 Inscription for a Gravestone by Robison Jeffers (RWYO & OD)
SS Jan 26, 2026 Midnight Mass by Machado de Assis(OD)
SS Jan 26, 2026 Good-By, Jack by Jack London (OD)
SS Jan 26, 2026 Day of Wrath by Dorothy K Haynes (RWYO)
SS Jan 26, 2026 The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame (OD)
SS Jan 27, 2026 Giving Birth by Margaret Atwood (GRBW2)
PO Jan 27, 2026 Tanka by Richard Wilbur (GRPC Winter)
PO Jan 27, 2026 First they Came by Pastor Martin Niemöller (GRPC Winter)
PO Jan 27, 2026 When Earth Becomes an "It" by Marilou Awiakta (GRPC Jan)
SS Jan 28, 2026 Clair de Lune by by Guy de Maupassant (OD)
SS Jan 29, 2026 The Jewbird by Bernard Malamud (GRBW2)
PO Jan 29, 2026 Dust of Snow by Robert Frost (GRPC Winter)
SS Jan 29, 2026 Call of Cthulu by H P Lovecraft (OD)
SS Jan 29, 2026 Day of Wrath by Dorothy K Haynes (RR)
GW Jan 30,2026 Stone Fruit by Lee Lai (OD)
SS Jan 30, 2026 The Animal Mummies Wish to Thank the Following by Ramona Ausubel (RWYO)
SS Jan 31, 2026 The Moonbow by Dorothy K Haynes (RWYO)
SS Jan 31, 2026 Vocation by Dorothy K Haynes (RWYO)
PO Jan 31, 2026 The Apple Trees at Olema by Robert Hass (LTPC)
PO Jan 31, 2026 Sabbaths, 1979, I by Wendell Berry (GRPC)
SS Jan 31, 2026 The Story of the Good Little Boy by Mark Twain (GRBC)

(I forgot to note down when I read these)
SS Jan ??, 2026 The Waltz by Dorothy Parker (RWYO)
SS Jan ??, 2026 Sentiment by Dorothy Parker (RWYO)
SS Jan ??, 2026 Boorees by Dorothy K Haynes (RWYO)
SS Jan ??, 2026 Don't Look in my Window by Dorothy K Haynes (RWYO)
SS Jan ??, 2026 Dorothy Dean by Dorothy K Haynes (RWYO)
SS Jan ??, 2026 Monkey by Clarice Lispector (OD)

At the end of the end of the year I will collate all my statistic into a 2026 Grand Finale where I will also attempt, with great dreading, to include my top 10 reads.

LOG FEBRUARY 2026

Violet, February's birth month flower from StockCake

Over on the 75 group at DebiCates' 2026 "Old Lady Reads What?" is where I go ga-ga for the top reads of my February log.

Legend:
CH Children's =
FM Film (exceptional, literary) = 1
GW Graphic Work (novels, etc) =
MG Middle Grade =
NF NonFiction = 12 (all Cookbooks)
NV Novel = 2
PL Play =
PO Poem = 16
_PC Poetry Book completed = 1
SS Short Story = 15
_SC Short Story Collection completed = 1

(RWYO) Read what you own, my copy = 16
(OD) online digital = 9
(GRSSC) GR's The Short Story Club group = 2
(GRBC) GR's The Brown County Reading Society group = 3
(GRBR) GR Buddy Read =
(GRBW2) GR's The Short Story Club Black Water 2 ad hoc group = 1
(GRPC) GR's The Poetry Collective group = 5
(LTPC) LT's The Poetry Collective group = 5
(LTGT) LT's It's a GoodThing Reading group = 1
(rr) Re-reads = notational

Now for the log:
SS Feb 01 Su, The Story of the Bad Little Boy by Mark Twain (GRBC)
PO Feb 01 Su, Sun Song by Langston Hughes (OD)
SS Feb 01 Su, The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle (GRSSC)
PO Feb 02 Mo, The Apple Trees at Olema by Robert Hass (rr) (LTPC)
PO Feb 02 Mo, Sabbaths, 1979, I by Wendell Berry (rr) (GRPC)
SS Feb 03 Tu, The Memory (rr) by Dorothy K Haynes
NV Feb 04 We, Being There by Jerzy Kosiński (RWYO)
SS Feb 04 We, Up Like a Good Girl (rr) by Dorothy K Haynes
SS Feb 06 Fr, Changeling (rr)by Dorothy K Haynes
SS Feb 06 Fr, Those Lights and Violins by Dorothy K Haynes
SS Feb 06 Fr, The Misanthrope by J. D. Beresford (GRBW2)
SS Feb 06 Fr, Truckstop by Garrison Keillor (GRBC)
PO Feb 07 Sa, Audacity of the Lower Gods by Yusef Komunyakaa (GRPC)
FM Feb 07 Sa, Paterson 2016
PO Feb 08 Su, Poem by Frank O'Hara (LTPC)
SS Feb 08 Su, Suspended Sentence by Dorothy K Haynes
PO Feb 09 Mo, Inscription For A Gravestone by Robinson Jeffers (rr)(OD)
SS Feb 09 Mo, The Curator by Dorothy K Haynes
PO Feb 10 Tu, On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs by Renée Nicole Macklin (OD)
SS Feb 10 Tu, Thou Shall Not Suffer A Witch... by Dorothy K Haynes
SS Feb 10 Tu, A Horizon of Obelisks by Dorothy K Haynes
SC Feb 10 Tu, The Weird Tales of Dorothy K Haynes edited by Craig Lamont (RWYO)
NF Feb 12 Th, Making Vegan Meat by Mark Thompson (RWYO)
NF Feb 13 Fr, The Lemon Cookbook by Eleanor Freemark (RWYO)
NF Feb 13 Fr, Sweet Potato Soul by Jenne Claiborne (RWYO)
NF Feb 13 Fr, Quick & Easy Thai: 70 Everyday Recipes by Nancie McDermott (RWYO)
PO Feb 14 Sa, Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare (GRPC)
PO Feb 14 Sa, Superbly Situated by Robert Myles Hershon (LTPC)
NF Feb 15 Su, Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day by Celine Steen (RWYO)
NF Feb 15 Su, Vegan Finger Foods by Celine Steen (RWYO)
NF Feb 16 Mo, Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry (RWYO)
NF Feb 17 Tu, Vegan Indian Cooking by Anupy Singla (RWYO)
NF Feb 18 We, Cookin' Crunk by Bianca Phillips (RWYO)
NF Feb 20 Fr, Vegan Bowl Attack! by Jackie Sobon (RWYO)
PO Feb 21 Sa, Don't Ask Me by R.S. Thomas (LTPC)
PO Feb 21 Sa, The Goodnight Skirt by Raoul Fernandes (GRPC)
SS Feb 23 Mo, The Nightingale and the Rose by Oscar Wilde (OD)
NF Feb 23, Mo, Southern Pies: A Gracious Plenty of Pie Recipes by Nancie McDermott (RWYO)
PO Feb 24 Tu, Lake Isle of Innisfree by W B Yeats (OD)
NF Feb 24 Tu, 15 Minute Vegan by Katy Beskow (RWYO)
SS Feb 25 We, The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington
by Phenderson Djèlí Clark (GRSSC)
PO Feb 26 Th, Paysage Moralisé by W H Auden (OD)
PO Feb 26 Th, Sestina by Elizabeth Bishop (OD)
NF Feb 27 Fr, Vegans Go Nuts by Celine Steen & Joni Marie Newman (RWYO)
PO Feb 28 Sa Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Simon Armitage (OD)(LTGT)
PO Feb 28 Sa Clancy of the Overflow by A.B. (Banjo) Paterson (LTPC)
PO Feb 28 Sa Retired Ballerinas, Central Park West by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (GRPC)
PO Feb 28 Sa Love Song (Liebes-Lied) by Rainer Maria Rilke, several translations (OD)
SS Feb 28 Sa The Loudest Voice by Grace Paley (GRBC)
NV Feb 28 Sa Thrush Green by Miss Read (RWYO)

.
At the end of the end of the year I will collate all my statistic into a 2026 Grand Finale where I will also attempt, with anguished debating, to include my top 10 reads.

LOG MARCH 2026

Daffodil, March's birth month flower from StockCake

Over on the 75 group at DebiCates' 2026 "Old Lady Reads What?" is where I go ga-ga for the top reads of my March log.

Legend:
CH Children's =
CB Cookbook =
FM Film (exceptional, literary) =
GW Graphic Work (novels, etc) =
MG Middle Grade =
NF NonFiction =
NV Novel =
PL Play =
PO Poem =
PC Poetry Collection completed =
SS Short Story =
SC Short Story Collection completed =

(RWYO) Read what you own, my copy =
(OD) online digital =
(GRSSC) GR's The Short Story Club group =
(GRBC) GR's The Brown County Reading Society group = (currently no short stories)
(GRBR) GR Buddy Read =
(GRBW2) GR's The Short Story Club Black Water 2 ad hoc group =
(GRPC) GR's The Poetry Collective group =
(LTPC) LT's The Poetry Collective group =
(LTGT) LT's It's a GoodThing Reading group =
(RR) Re-read (from previous years) =

*incomplete, ongoing.

Now for the log:
Yikes, I didn't get started right away and now I've forgotten what I read...oh well...
PO Mar 07 Sa, "Untitled poem" by Siegfried Sassoon (LTPC)
PO Mar 07 Sa, "A lyke wake for auntie" by Jo Haslam (GRPC)
PO Mar 14 Sa, Hope by Emily Brontë (LTPC)
PO Mar 14 Sa, 'Hope' is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson (LTPC)
PO Mar 14 Sa, "A Letter in October" by Ted Kooser (GRPC)
SS Mar 15 Su, Twilight by Marjorie Bowen (OD)
SS Mar 17 Tu, Dead Men's Path by Chinua Achebe (RWYO)
CB Mar 17 Tu, The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester (RWYO)
SS Mar 17 Tu, A View of the Woods by Flannery O'Connor (GRSSC)
SS Mar 18 We, Hands short story by Sherwood Anderson (RWYO)
PO Mar 18 We, I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast by Melissa Studdard (OD)
PO Mar 19 Th, "Forgetfulness" by Billy Collins (OD)
PO Mar 19 Th, "Imperative" by Scott Cairns
SS Mar 19 Th, Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood (RWYO)
CB Mar 19 Th, *Matilda by Roald Dahl (OD)
PO Mar 20 Fr, "Villanelle I." by Weldon Kees (OD)
PO Mar 20 Fri, "Questionnaire" by Wendell Berry (OD)
PO Mar 20 Fri, "A little bread — a crust — a crumb" by Emily Dickinson (LTPC)
PO Mar 21 Sa "59" by Harry Baker (LTPC)
PO Mar 21 Sa, "Fleas" by Ogden Nash (LTPC)
PO Mar 21 Sa, "SONG" by Stella Benson (LTPC)
PO Mar 21 Sa, "The Soul's Expression" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (LTPC)
PO Mar 21 Sa, "Poetry" by Pablo Neruda (GRPC)
PO Mar 21 Sa, "Death of a Naturalist" by Seamus Heaney (GRPC)
PO Mar 21 Sa, "Something I’ve Not Done" by W. S. Merwin (GRPC)
PO Mar 21 Sa, "Bonus" by A.R. Ammons (GRPC)

At the end of the end of the year I will collate all my statistic into a 2026 Grand Finale where I will also attempt, with anguished debating, to include my top 10 reads.

LOG APRIL 2026

Daisy, April's birth month flower from StockCake

Over on the 75 group at DebiCates' 2026 "Old Lady Reads What?" is where I go ga-ga for the top reads of my March log.

Oh no, almost a week into April and I'm not keeping up with my own reading log. The typical petering of New Year's Resolutions.

Not only am I still reading poetry regularly but I'm writing and finding something to post daily during April's National Poetry Month for the two Poetry Collective groups. I'm also trying to work my way through the 926 page The Art of the Short Story, a book of poetry A Swarm, A Flock, A Host, and the novella Cosmicomics. ALL ARE LOVELY TO READ.

Well, nothing to do except pick back up where I am now, and continue trying to keep a really detailed reading log for 2026 as I want to do.

Legend:
CH Children's =
CB Cookbook =
FM Film (exceptional, literary) =
GW Graphic Work (novels, etc) =
MG Middle Grade =
NF NonFiction =
NV Novel =
PL Play =
PO Poem =
PC Poetry Collection completed =
SS Short Story =
SC Short Story Collection completed =

(RWYO) Read what you own, my copy =
(OD) online digital =
(GRSSC) GR's The Short Story Club group =
(GRBC) GR's The Brown County Reading Society group = (currently no short stories)
(GRBR) GR Buddy Read =
(GRBW2) GR's The Short Story Club Black Water 2 ad hoc group =
(GRPC) GR's The Poetry Collective group =
(LTPC) LT's The Poetry Collective group =
(LTGT) LT's It's a GoodThing Reading group =
(RR) Re-read (from previous years) =

PO Apr 3, Fr "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou (GRPC) Apr bdays
CH Apr 6 Mo, Matilda by Roald Dahl (OD)
SS Apr 6 Mo, *"At Daybreak" from Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino (RWYO)
PO Apr 6 Mo, *"Screech owls tumble..." from A Swarm, A Flock, A Host by Doty/Waterston (RWYO)
SS Apr 6 Mo, *"Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin (RWYO)
SS Apr 7 Tu, *"A Sign in Space" from Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino (RWYO)
PO Apr 8 We, *"Midday snake hot..." from A Swarm, A Flock, A Host by Doty/Waterston (RWYO)
SS Apr 8 We, *"Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin (RWYO)
PO Apr 8 We, "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins (OD)
PO Apr 9 Th, *"The woodpecker wears..." from A Swarm, A Flock, A Host by Doty/Waterston (RWYO)
PO Apr 9 Th, "The First Line of a Poem" by Billy Collins (LTPC) NPM#8
PO Apr 9 Th, "The Trouble with Poetry" by Billy Collins (LTPC) NPM#8
PO Apr 9 Th, "Workshop" by Billy Collins (LTPC) NPM#8
PO Apr 9 Th, "Advice to Writers" by Billy Collins (LTPC) NPM#8
PO Apr 10 Fr, A Swarm, A Flock, A Host by Doty/Waterston (RWYO)
PO Apr 11 Sa, "Full Moon and Little Frieda" by Ted Hughes (GRPC) NPM#9
PO Apr 11 Sa, "Personal Helicon" by Seamus Heaney (GRPC) NPM#9
PO Apr 11 Sa, "Supple Cord" by Naomi Shihab Nye (GRPC) Spring
PO Apr 11 Sa, "The Clearing" by Jane Kenyon (GRPC) Spring
PO Apr 11 Sa, "Progress" by Frank Wilmot (GRPC) April bdays
PO Apr 11 Sa, "How to Drink Water When There is Wine" by Barbara Kingsolver (GRPC) April bdays

At the end of the end of the year I will collate all my statistic into a 2026 Grand Finale where I will also attempt, with anguished debating, to include my top 10 reads.

LOG JUNE 2026

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LITERARY TIBITS 2026

Dec 25, 2025 Impure Reality
When Saul Bellow was asked about the autobiographical nature in Herzog, he responded

"I don't know that that sort of thing is really relevant. I mean, it's a curiosity about reality, which is impure; let's put it that way.

The idea and the word "impure" is perfect to describe any perception of reality. The written word is certainly no exception and even had Herzog been written straight out as memoir.

Dec 27, 2025 Protagonists
This quote seemed especially apt today after reading Under Milk Wood where every villager is a dreaming star.

“That in real life, there are no protagonists. Or, rather, the reverse: It’s nothing but protagonists. It’s protagonists all the way down.”

― Andrew Sean Greer, Less Is Lost

Dec 29, 2025 Tlönion (?) and Toki Pona
In Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius the planet of Tlön is described in many mind-boggling ways but one that struck me is that they use no nouns. In order to say "The moon rose over the sea" could be said (translated from the original) "upward, behind the onstreaming it mooned."

That made me think of the (real) invented language of Toki Pona, "the language of good." With its restrictive vocabulary of less than 200 words, it too might require a creative approach to say "The moon rose over the sea." Perhaps, "mun tawa sewi telo suli" which literally is "moon goes high big water."

I have always wanted to learn Toki Pona and also have someone to speak it with. I like the idea that it restricts one to think with only "good" words.

And how cool is this, someone has invented a text to speech for Toki Pona web page! https://tilde.club/~wasolili/tokispeak/index.html

Jan 02, 2026 Pot boiler
It's crazy that I never looked up this term before. In fact, the more reviews I read, the more I come across phrases to describe a work that I don't know. Another one not long ago was "shaggy dog story." I would like to gather all these descriptive nicknames, with their definitions, and read one good example of each. Why? For the same reason I'm dying write short supplemental reviews in Toki Pona (first must learn it): because it sounds a hoot. It makes me feel like I have plenty of time to do all the unimportant fun things that I'd like to do (which I don't).

Jan 30,2026 Nihilism Warrior
Wow. I just watched a video titled "Ten Novels that Cure Nihilism" on YT channel Write Conscious, by a young man named Ian Cattanach who states "My goal for this channel is to create a literary renaissance by activating a billion new readers/writers." I say, "GO! Do it! Please!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiaRevRd3eo

In one hour, he pegs the current malaise that has infected our souls, our society, and why there are people that seem so unhuman-like that they could be from another planet: nihilists who can never be filled. They are the ones who can make billions without providing a decent working environment, who can open AI centers that will use more resources than most cities, and those even more soulless who crave a Nobel Peace prize without understanding the word "peace," who are consumed with the need to buy (or bomb) countries for their resources. These lives crave meaning (we all do, in spite of what they say) but they fill that black hole with more darkness.

This young man is fighting against that, attempting to appeal to other young men (and young women) who are struggling finding a place where they belong and that will give their lives meaning. He's doing it with great enthusiasm. And with books.

He's also doing that with lingo. ha. I picked up some new slang and their concepts that would have never normally entered my world. "Logic bros" and "NPC," and "sad boy."

Oh, his suggested ten books were a fascinating crazy mix:
1. The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Ageby Seraphim Rose
2. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M Pirsig
3. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
4. Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
5. The Movie-Goer by Walker Percy
6. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
7. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
8. Fathers and Sons by Ivan Sergueevich Turguenev
9. Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
and of course,
10.The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

I also went to a link he provided and downloaded his 500 best book list (!) am currently looking through that. https://writeconscious.kit.com/355619345e

Feb 25, 2026 Onomatopoeia
This is today's Webster's Word of the Day, which included this tidbit

In fact, the presence of so many imitative words in language spawned the linguistic bowwow theory, which hypothesizes that language originated in the imitating of natural sounds.

Bowwow theory is also listed in Webster's.

bowwow theory noun
: a theory that language originated in imitations of natural sounds (such as those of birds, dogs, or thunder)
compare dingdong theory, pooh-pooh theory

I envision orange cones around those links, warning of rabbit holes ahead.

>1 DebiCates: I like your goals, and I should also add the second one to my goals.

And I think the most important thing about reading is enjoying the journey, sometimes it's easy to lose site of this but I think this is the most important thing.

>17 AnishaInkspill: I agree. Though, it's hard to be sorry for reading those books I did not enjoy, as they are part of the canon of my reading life, helping me define what does and does not give me enjoyment.

Now I'm older time is clearly running out. I no longer feel compunction to finish a book because it is one of those "should reads" or simply because I bought the darn thing. Case in point, my most recent DNF was To Your Scattered Bodies Go, a book I was thrilled to find a copy of. It started off fascinating, then took a direction I had no interest following and now sits in the donate stack by my front door.

I love this statement from author John Williams (from Stoner and Butcher's Crossing fame)

Williams loved the study of literature. In a 1986 interview, he was asked, "And literature is written to be entertaining?" to which he replied emphatically, "Absolutely. My God, to read without joy is stupid."

In fact, just today I saw, as per Goodreads, my average rating for 2025 on 150+ books is a remarkable 4.2 stars. I'm getting seemingly easier to please because I am now selecting more of what will please me. 😊

>18 DebiCates: I'm not sure what my Goodreads average is, I know in the early years it was 5 because i wasn't a confident reader and so gave most things 5, in time I slowly worked things out. Ultimately, I think books and reading should be fun, it has to be otherwise why do it. I agree with you, time is precious and I think best spent doing things that makes the day wonderful, this isn't always possible but I say never stop trying to make the next moment that.

>19 AnishaInkspill: I did the same in my early reading years, rating things higher than they deserved because I had so little experience from which to all upon. Now, if a book is so bad early on it appears to be headed for below 3 stars for me, I simply won't finish it and don't rate it. I surely might miss some good books that get better later, but that's a price I'm willing to pay.

"doing things that makes the day wonderful"...I like your motto!