2022 is Russian Reading Envy

Announcing a theme with four quarters and multiple readalongs in 2022, with enough warning to get you into the spirit and maybe collect a few books. Please consider joining the Reading Envy Readers in Goodreads for the deepest dives and shared ideas for titles.

Quarter One - January-March - The Novels

In 2022, we will focus on Russia. The first quarter of the year, January-March, will focus on the novel. We will have two synchronous discussions (that will become episodes) - one will be a group read of The Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Them. Then everyone gets to pick their own Russian novel to read and we will have a low-key sharing episode.

I'm also hoping to do an episode with Kevin Birmingham who is putting out The Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece.

So if you picked one Russian novel that you haven't read to read, what would it be? (Or will you wait to read the Batuman to decide?)

It might be the time I finish War and Peace but...

Quarter Two - April-June - Non-Fiction

Lauren (@end.notes in Instagram) will be co-hosting this quarter. I haven't decided if we will have a shared read, but perhaps if that is desired I can pick one.

There are so many great books you could read for this quarter; one I'm hoping to finally get to is Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov in the bio/memoir category.

Another book I'm interested in is The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway and the Northeast Passage by Erika Fatland.

One memoir I'd recommend is Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea by the very entertaining Teffi.

We will have one synchronous discussion for this quarter!

Quarter Three - July-September - Short Stories

This will have a shared read - A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders.

Then everyone can choose a book of short stories by a single Russian author or some kind of compilation.

Quarter Four - October-December - Genre

This can be any genre, fiction or non-fiction (you could even go back to the non-fiction of quarter 2 if that is more your speed.)

Other ideas could be cookbooks or sci-fi or dystopia or poetry or whatever!!

Lauren will co-host this quarter and we will have recommendations closer to that time. 

 

Will you be participating? What are you excited to read?