When considering which books to read in 2022, I started thinking about all the books I’d loved from my English Literature degree. I realised that most of the ones that I’d really enjoyed are not necessarily considered ‘classics’ or part of the amorphous ‘canon’ of literature. The ones that I remember are not the ones that so often appear on the numerous lists of ‘Books to Read Before You Die’ which bully you via existential dread into reading books you would otherwise have no interest in.
So which books do I absolutely wish more people knew about? Here is my list is in no particular order, because each of these books brings a different perspective worth considering.
1. Dust- Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
2. War with the Newts- Karel Čapek
3. The Lonely Londoners- Sam Selvon
4. The Argonauts- Maggie Nelson
5. Ban En Banlieue- Bhanu Kapil
6. The Soul of an Octopus- Sy Montgomery
7. Mutability: Scripts for Infancy- Andrea Brady
8. Her Body and Other Parties- Carmen Maria Machado
9. The Transformation- Juliana Spahr
10. Why Don’t You Stop Talking- Jackie Kay
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