I (have) read

An exhaustive list of books I have read for leisure since 2021, with occasional thoughts (*: currently reading, bold: favourites).

Currently reading primarily Haruki Murakami, Kurt Vonnegut, Kazuo Ishiguro.

2026.

  1. The Ax, Donald E. Westlake: had to read this after watching Park Chan-Wook’s ‘No Other Choice’, my recommended order would be the movie, the book, and the movie again.
  2. The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco*

2025.

  1. Dance Dance Dance, Haruki Murakami: (to be read after the Rat trilogy: ‘Hear the Wind Sing’, ‘Pinball, 1973’, ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’) perfect, the most Twin-Peaks-esque Murakami story?
  2. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
  3. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Haruki Murakami
  4. A Wild Sheep Chase, Haruki Murakami
  5. The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut: everything comes together at the end so beautifully.
  6. Pinball, 1973, Haruki Murakami
  7. Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut: visionary.
  8. Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky
  9. The Dubliners, James Joyce

2024.

  1. Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro
  2. South of the Border, West of the Sun, Haruki Murakami
  3. Hear the Wind Sing, Haruki Murakami
  4. Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut
  5. I Want to Be a Mathematician, Paul Halmos
  6. The Unconsoled, Kazuo Ishiguro: a complete nightmare, eats at you from within.
  7. After Dark, Haruki Murakami: gripping from the first page to the last, while always seeming a heartfelt, leisurely stroll.

2023.

  1. If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, Italo Calvino: an incredible premise, a beautiful book.
  2. Mother Night, Kurt Vonnegut
  3. Blackshirts and Reds, Michael Parenti*
  4. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine, Kurt Vonnegut
  5. Sputnik Sweetheart, Haruki Murakami
  6. Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (en français, bien sûr!)
  7. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami: took me forever to get through the initial chapters, but was rewarded with classic Murakami elements in fine form.
  8. Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut: cannot put it any better than Theodore Sturgeon—”This is an annoying book and you must read it. And you better take it lightly, because if you don’t you’ll go off weeping and shoot yourself.”
  9. Poor Folk, Fyodor Dostoevsky

2022.

  1. Short stories (A Novel in Nine Letters, A Honest Thief, The Crocodile), Fyodor Dostoevsky
  2. A Pale View of Hills, Kazuo Ishiguro: hauntingly, distressingly good; do not attempt until you have read a few of Ishiguro’s books—the reader has to do a lot of heavy lifting to take anything away and this is impossible in a first reading (of Ishiguro certainly, but of this book as well).
  3. 1Q84, Haruki Murakami: an epic spanning three volumes, all you need to enjoy this is a little faith in Murakami and a little suspension of disbelief—let the story reel you in and take over you without resistance—you will be the better for it.
  4. The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker*
  5. Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall, Kazuo Ishiguro
  6. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari: poses as a scientific, objective account of our history but is incredibly partisan, deluded, and sometimes just wrong; if you did read this, it’s also worth taking time to read some criticism, there’s plenty available online from different perspectives.
  7. Criminal Capital: Violence, Corruption and Class in Industrial India, Andrew Sanchez
  8. Animal Farm, George Orwell
  9. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami

2021.

  1. The Solitude of Prime Numbers, Paolo Giordano
  2. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami
  3. The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro
  4. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Sallinger
  5. When We Were Orphans, Kazuo Ishiguro
  6. An Artist of the Floating World, Kazuo Ishiguro
  7. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami: the perfect entry to the magical style of Murakami; the lack of fantastic elements in this one means that the pure beauty in his descriptions of absolutely everything stands out—this may not be so obvious in his other (equally breathtaking) works where centre-stage goes to the insane plots.
  8. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
  9. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro: the best place to start with Ishiguro, his themes and style are most clearly explored and developed here, making it easiest to understand and appreciate.