Nonconformisto's RootFest 2026

Just finished my first root of the new year. The River Reader is an anthology, a textbook actually, of poems, short stories, essays and plays.

Hi Will, welcome too the ROOTers and 1 down!

Happy ROOTing!

#2. Brilliant Orange by David Winner

20th Century
American Nonfiction
Dutch psyche, total football, Johann Cruyff, Ajax, Dutch football

Completed: January 9, 2026

#3. Dickens, Dali & Others by George Orwell (1946)




Essays: Many of the topics are awfully dated (the postcard artwork of Donald McGill?) and the references all point to a different time and place but the book serves as a guidebook for writers honing the craft of essay writing. Orwell is a superb essayist and his measured takedown of Rudyard Kipling and his dutifully reverent yet skeptical analysis of Charles Dickens stand out from the other offerings. This Root has sat on my shelf far longer than I care to admit!

Completed: January 12, 2026

#4 Handbook for the Study of Fiction by Lynn Altenbernd and Leslie L. Lewis (1966)



Essays: Using the texts of Poe's The Cask of Amontillado and Crane's The Open Boat, the authors give a skeletal instruction on how to best analyze a piece of fictional text. It looks at the nature of fiction and breaks down the elements of theme, setting, character et cetera, and elaborates on them and their usage in these two short stories. A micro-Masterclass of sorts.

#5. Afghan Tales by Oleg Yermakov (1991)



20th Century,Russian Fiction: short stories, combat, Afghanistan, war trauma
Completed: January 29, 2026

6. Wilderness in the Mind, Trilogy of African Poetry: by Ben Eze Amushie



20th Century Italian/Nigerian/American Poetry: family, diaspora, Nigeria, Los Angeles, poetry, Bologna
Completed: February 6, 2026

7. Uncle Tom's Children by Richard Wright



20th Century, American fiction: short stories, historical fiction, American racism, Jim Crow, violence, fear, black literature, southern fiction, betrayal
Completed: February 12, 2026

8. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand



20th Century, American fiction: capitalism, social darwinism, objectivism, selfishness, libertarianism
Completed: February 13, 2026

9. How To Ruin Everything by George Watsky



21st Century American nonfiction: essays, family, mental health, friendship
Completed: March 8, 2026

You are almost at the half way point, Will. Excellent job!

>12 connie53: Thanks Connie. I probably underestimated a bit.

10. The Mind's I by Douglas R. Hofstadter



20th Century, American anthology: short stories, speculative fiction, essays, artificial intelligence, consciousness, self
Completed: March 17, 2026

11. Basic Concepts of Mathematics by Charles G. Moore



20th Century, American: textbook, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, logarithms, numbers
My Library (Roots)
Completed: March 25, 2026

12. Johnny Appleseed and Other Poems by Vachel Lindsay



20th Century
American Poetry
fantasy, children, American poetry, Americana, song
My Library (Roots)
Completed: March 30, 2026

13. Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre



20th Century
French Fiction
nothingness, anxiety, existentialism, philosophy
Completed: April 6, 2026

14. There Will Be War: Day of The Tyrant IV edited by Jerry Pournelle


20th Century
American Science Fiction
anthology, artificial intelligence, fantasy, poetry, correspondence, tyranny, autocracy, cold war, essays, short stories, speculative fiction
Completed: April 8, 2026

15. Nightfall and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov



20th Century
American Science Fiction
short stories, artificial intelligence, speculative fiction, outer space
Completed: April 18, 2026

16. Politics and Vision by Sheldon S. Wolin



20th Century
American Nonfiction
Nietzsche, Marx, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Plato, Calvin, Luther, political theory, political philosophy, democracy, Dewey, liberalism
My Library (Roots)
Completed: May 1, 2026

You are very close to your goal, well done!

17. Another Country by James Baldwin



20th Century
American Fiction
black literature, sexuality, race, New York City, American literature
My Library (Roots)
Completed: May 16, 2026

Almost there. Keep it up, Will!

18. The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 edited by N. K. Jemisin



21st Century
American Fiction
fantasy, horror, short stories, speculative fiction, science fiction, anthologies
My Library (Roots)
Completed: May 27, 2026

19. Eight Modern Essayists edited by William Smart



20th Century
Nonfiction Anthology
liberalism, protest, essays, 20th century, writing, literature, literary criticism, style
My Library (Roots)
Completed: June 1, 2026

Hi Will, just one more ROOT to go, great job!!