You may have seen that this last week the New York Times released its list of the Top 100 Books of the last 25 years. They polled over 500 writers, poets and intellectuals and asked for their top 10 list of books from this century. The lists were organized and conglomerated, and they became the top 100 books of this Century.
Here is the list: NYT Top 100 Books
Let’s just say, it’s just a list. It is not a law, and it does not mean that you have to read all of these books, or you even need to care about the list. But it is fun to see what books are on the list. I do like reading Literary Fiction and I usually read 50-60 new books every year. I have been a reader my whole life and love it very much. The NY times list is full of Literary Fiction. I was actually surprised at how many memoirs and nonfiction books there were. I had heard of some of the books but, to be honest, I had not heard of most of them. I have read 2. I did add 45 to my ‘interested’ list but there really is no way that I will get to all of those in my life. But I do love adding to my To Be Read list.
Here is a list to the top 100 when they polled NYT Readers: Reader top 100
I have read 24 from this list and am in the process of reading 3 others. It’s a more user friendly list, if you will.
Here is my top 10. It could change from day to day depending on my mood. I want to add an additional 10 to get a top 20 too.
Sidenote: if you actually stop and think about how you will never be able to read all of the books that you want to read in your life, it can make you feel really sad. I started crying in a bookstore parking lot once when I realized this and it made me feel such genuine sadness and grief. That’s why I keep reading. I love it.
Reading incites our own imaginations and creative flow. It makes us more empathic human beings. My sister pointed out that in all studies it shows that Millenials are one of the most well-read generations on earth today. Why? We grew up with Reading Rainbow. We had Mr Rogers and Sesame Street. I guess one of the reasons they canceled Reading Rainbow was because they said they didn’t have stats to show that it was doing anything. Cut to us all now being adults and we just HAPPEN to be the generation with the highest percentage of readers?? I do not think that is a coincidence.
Reading is where I found friends. As an emotional young girl who sometimes felt out of place even around my most trusted people, I found a friend in Anne Shirley. The highly emotional and somewhat dramatic young girl who gets into scrapes and finds her imagination running wild so often. She also sees the romance and beauty in the world around her. And the people. She loves her family and is a loyal friend even if she is a bit long to hold a grudge. I saw parts of myself in her. I longed to see more of the world when I read about a little orphan girl on a small Island in Canada. I longed to be more of myself.
I am in 3 book clubs. My mom, sisters and I have been doing a book club for about 9 years. We meet over a group call every month. We go in age order on who brings the book choices. We choose 3 books and the group votes on the top choice. It is so much fun and for sure has brought me to a more diverse group of books than if I had been on my own this whole time.
I have 2 local book clubs. One is full of my closest group of friends right now and we take our time and even split discussions into 2 sessions so we don’t feel the need to rush especially since we all still have young kids. We can talk about the same book for hours and we also talk a lot about Life, Religion and Politics and being women of our generation and experience.
The other one is a wonderful group of women who are all very different but we love to read so we come together and talk about our books. We talk about our lives a little bit but it’s a lot about the book and we have a question each meeting that we answer. Once it was a list of 5 songs that represent who you are to others. Once it was a discussion about what success means to each of us. It is a great respite from my regular life and I love it.
These are my bookshelves. My husband built them for me for Christmas of 2020. I love them so much.
Reading brings us together. I can start a conversation with anyone about something they have read. Even if I haven’t read it I can ask them why they love it, what it’s about, how it affected them etc. If you read, we can chat.
There is, of course a way to keep yourself inside an echo chamber of your own beliefs with reading too. I am so glad that my mom read to us as kids. We were introduced to a lot of stories and authors at a young age. I have made sure as I have become an adult to seek out authors with different backgrounds than me. Different races, ethnicities, socioeconomic differences, nationalities, experience and expertise.
We can, all of us, always learn more about the world from listening to the stories of other people who are in it and experience it in a different way than we do.
Reading is also just so fun. I love a good Romance and Young Adult story. I love a coming-of-age or a Historical Fiction. There is a quote from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society about how we can be stuck in our homes, day after day, week after week as they were during the German Occupation of WWII, but you only need a candle and book to go on adventures and escape outside your own front door. I love it so much.
In You’ve Got Mail, Meg Ryan’s character also says that so many things that happen to her remind her of something she read in a book once and how she wishes it was the other way around. She is reminding herself that she needs to go out and seek real life experiences too. That it is important to love our books and to read but we also need to remember that we have our own stories too. Lives that we can fill with adventures and journeys that we also can learn from. It also is good to find the beauty in the everyday things too. Mundane can be magical.
I am basically Meg Ryan. This is actual footage of me writing my Substacks every week.
Life is too short to read a book you don’t like. I have stopped more books in recent years than ever before because there are SO MANY GOOD BOOKS! I cannot waste time reading one I don’t like.
I also read a lot for my job. As a coach and teacher, I read a lot so that I can be as educated as possible to help guide other people through their own tough times. If I can offer a story or quote or some knowledge that can help someone feel seen, heard and not alone, I will offer that immediately.
Stories and words are how we live. They are how wisdom is passed down to the next generation.
Back to the list, it is really fun to look at lists like this and see what people are thinking about how much they liked a book or how important it is to the world.
AND
Just read what you like! Read what brings you joy and makes you happy. Read things to expand your mind and enrich your life. Read to escape when you’re stressed. Read a book a friend recommended. It’s a love language all its own.
Just read. It is good for your brain, your life and your spirit.
What are you reading right now? Tell me and tell me what you think about it!
Sending love to you out there in the ether.
Stef