Nonconformisto 2026 50-Book Challenge Progress Log

1. The River Reader (2010)

American, English Literature: essays, short stories, poetry, drama, anthology, textbook, critical analysis
My Library (Root)
Completed: January 8, 2026

2. Brilliant Orange by David Winner (2000)

20th Century English
Nonfiction: Dutch psyche, total football, Johann Cruyff, Ajax, Dutch football
My Library (Root)
Completed: January 9, 2026

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



20th Century English
Nonfiction: literary criticism, Salvador Dali, W.B. Yeats, war, fascism, socialism, essays, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling
My Library (Roots)
Completed: January 12, 2026

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

American: Literary criticism, short stories
My Library (Roots)
Completed: January 26, 2026

5. Afghan Tales by Oleg Yermakov (1991)

20th Century Russian
Fiction: combat, short stories, Afghanistan, war trauma
My Library (Roots)
Completed: January 29, 2026

6. Wilderness in the Mind, Trilogy of African Poetry: by Ben Eze Amushie (2004)

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

7. The Sweet Flypaper of Life by Roy DeCarava and Langston Hughes (1955)

20th Century American
Photographic Narrative: Harlem, family, urban life
Public Library
Completed: February 6, 2026

8. 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
My Library (Root)
Completed: February 12, 2026

9. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand



20th Century, American fiction: capitalism, social darwinism, objectivism, selfishness, libertarianism
My Library (Roots)
Completed: February 13, 2026

10. Nocturnes by Léopold Sédar Senghor



20th Century, Senegalese poetry: African literature, Senegal, Africa, nature, diaspora
Public Library
Completed: February 25, 2026

11. Blood Feast: The Short Stories of Malika Moustadraf by Malika Moustadraf



21st Century, Moroccan Fiction: gender, transgender, misogyny, short stories, Morocco, poverty, Realism
Public Library
Completed: February 25, 2026

12. How To Ruin Everything by George Watsky



21st Century American nonfiction: essays, family, mental health, friendship
My Library (Roots)
Completed: March 8, 2026

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



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

14. Basic Concepts of Mathematics by Charles G. Moore



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

15. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays by Albert Camus




20th Century
Algerian nonfiction
nihilism, art, Algeria, absurdism, philosophy, suicide
My Library
Completed: March 25, 2026

16. 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

17. Damn! A Book of Calumny by H. L. Mencken



20th Century
American Nonfiction
witticisms, social criticism, religion, American culture
My Library
Completed: April 3, 2026

18. Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre



20th Century
French Fiction
nothingness, anxiety, existentialism, philosophy
My Library (Root)
Completed: April 6, 2026

19. 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
My Library (Root)
Completed: April 8, 2026

20. Nightfall and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov



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

22. Experience & Education by John Dewey



20th Century
American Nonfiction
education, liberal education, American education, pedagogy, educational theory
Public Library
Completed: April 23, 2026

23. On Writing by Jorge Luis Borges



20th Century
Argentinian Nonfiction
metaphor, writing, words, literary criticism, Argentine literature, essays, literary theory
Public Library
Completed: April 24, 2026

24. The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson



20th Century
American Nonfiction
education, black history, racism, race, social science, USA
Public Library
Completed: April 28, 2026

25. 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

26. Calico Shoes and Other Stories by James T. Farrell



20th Century
American Fiction
short stories, Chicago, American literature, poverty, adolescence, urban life
My Library
Completed: May 4, 2026

27. The Sonnets: a dual-language edition with parallel text by Jorge Luis Borges



20th Century
Argentinian Poetry
poetry, Jorge Luis Borges, sonnets, Argentine literature
Public Library
Completed: May 15, 2026

28. Igifu by Scholastique Mukasonga



21st Century
Rwandan Fiction
Rwanda, short stories, genocide, refugee, autofiction, African literature, childhood, resilience
My Library
Completed: May 16, 2026

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. A Good Man Is Hard To Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor


20th Century
American Fiction
satire, southern gothic, short stories, Christian Realism, American literature
My Library
Completed: June 21, 2026

33. Poems on various subjects, religious and moral by Phillis Wheatley


18th Century
American Poetry
Pastorals/Odes/Elegies, poetry, black literature, Colonial America
My Library
Completed: June 22, 2026