This year I’m challenging myself to read at least one book a month and I invite you to challenge yourself, too! Here is our book list for July through December!

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me explain.

If there’s anything I love as much as I love art it is reading, but by the end of 2021 I felt like I was slacking off on my reading life in these distracted times. So I thought about what would get me to read more books?

First, a book list would help so I wouldn’t have to think about what to read next.

Second, I’m more like to do the reading with a public commitment. One book a month seemed very do-able, a minimum target I knew I could hit. (in good months I read two or three more).

Finally, I wanted to share reading with others because not only do I love to read, but I love to talk about good books with others who have read them.

Thus and therefore, my 2022 personal reading project was born

In January I announced the project on social media and here on the blog, and now the first six books are behind us. (Well, almost behind us. I’m madly reading the last pages of the last book to finish before July 1st).

I do not write formal book reviews, but I do write my thoughts about each book after reading them, and invite others to comment. Those posts are also linked on the project page as well (May and June books coming soon). If you’ve read any of the titles or want good recommendations, be sure to check my “thoughts-not-reviews” for each book.

Back to the book list for the next six months

I have to say, I really looked into the books on this list and they each have every chance of being fantastic!

Now, can I guarantee them? Of course not. I haven’t read them yet!

But while you never can know which books you’ll enjoy, I do skew the odds in our favor because I choose wisely (if you want to know more about my general taste in books, check out that project page). I either know the author’s work or I did a deep dive into book recommendations and reviews. Oh, and learning from the last six months, this this time I paid more attention to balance of both page length and subject matter from month to month.

A very brief overview of the upcoming books on our list:

Below you’ll also find links to purchase either digital or print versions of each of our books, Kobo E-Reader and Bookshop.org respectively. You can also borrow books from the library or buy audio books from either of these vendors. If you want to know about book format options and why I’m not linking to Amazon books, I give you the full low-down here.

For July, We’re all Adults Here by Emily Straub promises to be a good summer read about family relationships. One reviewer said it’s “warm, funny and keenly perceptive” and it’s on a lot of “best books” lists.

Kobo e-reader Bookshop paperback

Then in August, it’s Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven (which was an excellent book!). This one’s fantasy/time travel about “art, time, love and plague.”

Kobo e-reader Bookshop hardcover

September brings us The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, a “laugh out loud who dun it” that Steven Spielberg picked up for a movie.

Kobo e-reader Bookshop paperback

Then in October it’s Nobel Prize winner Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguru—a mystery and love story.

Kobo e-reader Bookshop paperback

November should be fun. Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley is a story about falling in love repeatedly that is supposed to be both literary and funny.

Kobo e-reader Bookshop paperback

Finally, we’ll end the year with Spook Country by William Gibson, which is a little different for me, but I loved another book by him, Pattern Recognition, which was also spy/crime novel set in the present, High Tech world. Kobo e-reader Bookshop paperback

So—I challenge you to read each book each month!

There are no obligations beyond that. Look for my book (non)reviews, let me know you’re doing this with me and/or comment if you’d like—but mostly, just read!

And let’s enjoy an enriched and imaginative life, together.