My beloved sister, Lerato texted me a few months ago: “It’s been so long since I’ve read a book. Can you recommend something for me to start with?” And I haven’t been able to give her a recommendation. I have had many people ask me for book recommendations and its so hard because every single person is looking for something different from a book. So this post is an attempt to recommend the best books to read, if you haven’t read in a long time. If you find yourself trying to read a book and getting bored—don’t worry. It’s what I call reading inertia. It’s the difficult shift away from not reading for a long time, toward reading at a steady pace. And trust: I still get reading inertia even as a literary scholar.
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Memories of My Melancholy Whores
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I remember seeing this book at a book store and asking my mom to buy it. She said no (which makes total sense) and I made a plan to go buy that book anyway. This novella is as sexy, provocative and enticing as its title. If you commit to reading 10 pages a day, you can finish this book in 13 days. With that being said, its poetic proses and subsuming plot might just keep you in the book for longer than 10 pages.
Reading Rate: at 10 pages a day, this book can be done in 13 days
Page count: 130
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Night
Elie Weisel
I could only read this book during the day precisely becase its title is Night. Something in me understood that this was a dark story, and the best way I could read it without getting scared was to read it during the day. it is the real life account of Eli Weisel who lived through the concentration camps of the holocaust. It is a sad, bleak story that is a chilling reminder of the worst of human cruelty. It also is a very good read if you are someone who wants to read about a real person, and a real life. Elie Wiesel went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Reading Rate: at 10 pages a day, this book can be done in 12 days.
Page Count: 120
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Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
This book is perfect if you want to read something quick, that will also give you they pay off of having read one of the world’s best works of the 20th century. For me, this is a timeless story about friendship and the persistent relationship between labor and migration. Despite its geographic and temporal specificity, I don’t know anyone who has not seen themselves in this book. It has also been turned into a film that does absolute justice to the book.
Reading rate: at 10 pages a day, this book can be done in 10 days
Page Count: 100
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Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe
I have a very complicated relationship with this book. It is often seen as the genesis of African literature, even though Mhudi was the first novel written in English to come out of the continent. When I first read it, it bored me. But then my dad mentioned that it was his favorite book. As I have re-read it, I have come to see its value as a work of fiction. While this story is often summarized as Okonkwo’s story before colonialism, I have come to read it as a beautiful story between Okonkwo and his daughter Eznima. She, is his clear favorite. By the end of the story, he seems to entrust her with keeping their family, and their legacy intact.
Page Count: 120
Reading Rate: At 10 pages per day, 12 pages.
Happy Reading!
I’ve been waiting so long for this. Funny enough before I am not sure where I saw you posted about Things fall apart for some reason the tittle kinda made me curious and I went to the library to read about Okonkwo did I not finish the book in a week cause what the hell a fascinating book. Yooh ever since I told myself I’ll ask again for a recommendation. Thank youuuu Sis