Library
Books and other pieces I enjoyed — from worth checking out to completely changed how I view the world. Particularly impactful titles are marked with a star.
- book The Aleph and Other Stories ★ · Borges, Jorge Luis ↗ goodreads.com
- book Ficciones ★ · Borges, Jorge Luis ↗ goodreads.com
Be aware that if you read two volumes of his short stories in short succession, you will probably get a bit tired of how clever Borges gets with things.
- book Invisible Cities ★ · Calvino, Italo ↗ goodreads.com
I don’t really have a “favorite” book, but this is probably the one that most absorbed me and tickled my brain just right. It is also the only one I happen to have a perfect music pairing for.
- book Exhalation ★ · Chiang, Ted ↗ goodreads.com
- book Stories of Your Life and Others ★ · Chiang, Ted ↗ goodreads.com
The titular “Story of Your Life” was the basis of the 2016 movie “Arrival”. Chiang’s short stories are probably the closest contemporary thing I’ve read to Borges and Calvino, highly recommended.
- book Anna Karenina ★ · Tolstoy, Leo ↗ goodreads.com
- book Americanah · Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi ↗ goodreads.com
- book My Brilliant Friend · Ferrante, Elena ↗ goodreads.com
- book The Machine Stops · Forster, E.M. ↗ goodreads.com
- book The Trial · Kafka, Franz ↗ goodreads.com
I had been warned about the absurdity of Kafka as something to be wary of, like it would be a huge slog to get through. Turns out it’s actually hilarious.
- book The Left Hand of Darkness · Le Guin, Ursula K. ↗ goodreads.com
- book The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas · Le Guin, Ursula K. ↗ goodreads.com
On second read, I kind of agree with the contrarian interpretation.
- book The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia · Le Guin, Ursula K. ↗ goodreads.com
I once read Asimov’s “Foundation” and felt transported into the mind of a very smart and somewhat autistic twelve year-old. Le Guin’s humanity and nuance are the antithesis to that. The love story is great too!
- book Pnin · Nabokov, Vladimir ↗ goodreads.com
- book Breakfast of Champions · Vonnegut, Kurt ↗ goodreads.com