"Whenever I was encouraged by my elders to pick up a book, I was often told, `Read so as to know the world.' And it is true; books have invited me into different countries, states of mind, social conditions and historical epochs; they have offered me a place at the most unusual gatherings.

I have had access to private rooms, overheard exquisite conversations and been able to observe subtle changes in another person’s inner life. Books have shown me horror and beauty. All this is true.

But the most magical moments in reading occur not when I encounter something unknown but when I happen upon myself, when I read a sentence that perfectly describes something I have known or felt all along. I am reminded then that I am really no different from anyone else.

Perhaps that is the secret motive behind every library: to stumble upon ourselves in the lives and lands and tongues of others. And the more foreign the setting, the more poignant the event seems. For a strange thing occurs then: A distance widens and then it is crossed."

- Hisham Matar

In grad school, I started keeping track of the books I read:  

Currently reading: This Is What American Looks Like, by Ilhan Omar

- reverse chronological order -
The Third Chimpanzee, by Jared Diamond
Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
Upheaval, by Jared Diamond
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, by Charles C. Mann
The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, Michael D. Watkins
Don't Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body, by Savala Nolan
21 Lessons for the 21st Century, by Yuval Noah Harari
Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow, by Yuval Noah Harari
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, by Charles C. Mann
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, by James Nestor
How Women Rise, by Sally Helgesen
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, by Mark Manson
You Are a Badass, by Jen Sincero
Who Moved My Cheese?, by Spencer Johnson
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries, by Safi Bahcall
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, by Jenny Odell
Love & Trouble, by Claire Dederer
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, by Tony Hsieh
How Should A Person Be? by Sheila Heti
Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker
Attached, by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller
Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House, by Meghan Daum
The Quality of Life Report, by Meghan Daum
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Cat’s Eye, by Margaret Atwood
The Unspeakable, by Meghan Daum
Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed, by Meghan Daum
My Misspent Youth, by Meghan Daum
Crazy Rich Asians, by Kevin Kwan
The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage, by Philip Pullman
Spark Joy, by Marie Kondo
The Power, by Naomi Alderman
Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond
Spinster, by Kate Bolick
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up, by Marie Kondo
Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating, by Moira Weigel
Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, by Chip & Dan Heath
Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior, by Jonah Berger
Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakeable Love for New York, edited by Sari Botton
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007, edited by Dave Eggers
The Little Paris Bookshop, by Nina George
Nora Webster, by Colm Tóibín
The Life You Can Save, by Peter Singer
The Boston Girl, by Anita Diamant
The Master, by Colm Tóibín
Brooklyn, by Colm Tóibín
Changing Places, by David Lodge
On the Nature of Human Romantic Interaction, by Karl Iagnemma
Messenger of Truth, by Jacqueline Winspear
Pardonable Lies, by Jacqueline Winspear
Birds of a Feather, by Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie Dobbs, by Jacqueline Winspear
Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
The Circle, by Dave Eggers
Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
Absurdistan, by Gary Shteyngart
The Russian Debutante's Handbook, by Gary Shteyngart
The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
Gourmet Rhapsody, by Muriel Barbery
The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde
Salome, by Oscar Wilde
Lady Windermere's Fan, by Oscar Wilde
You Shall Know Our Velocity!, by Dave Eggers
The Last Tycoon, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, by Victor Hugo
Breakfast at Tiffany's, by Truman Capote
The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, by Mindy Kaling
For the Love of Cities: The Love Affair Between People and Their Places, by Peter Kageyama
Galapagos, by Kurt Vonnegut
Tender is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Beautiful and Damned, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This Side of Paradise, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Bossypants, by Tiny Fey
Super Sad True Love Story, by Gary Shteyngart
Juliet, by Anne Fortier
Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery
The Well-Dressed Ape: A Natural History of Myself, by Hannah Holmes
The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British, by Sarah Lyall
The Google Way: How One Company is Revolutionizing Management as We Know It, by Bernard Girard