New Project: 15 Books

I need to read more this summer. I’ve decided that I’ve given too many nights to Netflix and my ability to finish books has suffered because of that. Saying that you finished a book seems so much more brag-worthy than saying you finished a Netflix series.

And these past few months, I’ve also learned the importance of doing things for yourself. I’ve tried making book lists before, but they’ve inevitably fallen by the wayside because it always felt like I was doing it for someone else. This is 100 percent for me. I decided on 15 because it’s a good number, and it seems doable in three months. I’ve also decided to divide it into three categories: books I want to read, books I need to read, and books I should have read.

The books I want to read are ones that have been on my list, but I just haven’t pulled the trigger on purchasing or getting from the library. The books I need to read are ones that I’ve already bought or gotten, but I just haven’t gotten from the library. And books I should have read are ones I missed in high school/college. The only common thread between them is that these are all ones I want to read. (I thought about putting Pride and Prejudice on my list, but, no offense to Jane Austen, I don’t really want to read Pride and Prejudice.)

Here are the fifteen books:

Books I want to read:

Common Ground - J. Anthony Lukas

Master of the Senate - Robert Caro

The Bight and the Brightest - David Halberstam

Exit West - Moshin Hamad

The Boys in the Boat - Daniel James Brown

Books I Need to Read:

The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe

Between Heaven and Mirth - Father James Martin

Hallelujah Anyway - Anne Lamott

The Good Fight - Walter Mondale

Ghosts of Spain - Giles Tremlett

Books I Should Have Read:

The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

My only rule for this is that I get one mulligan on a book. I’ll post updates and keep track of my progress over the summer.