By Gabriel Brogan

If you’re reading this article, you probably enjoy reading on some level. I sure do. So much so that I challenged myself, somewhat misguidedly, to read 30 books in the month of December. While my final tally was only 25, I still came away with some great recommendations for your next read. 

For the historical fiction fans, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart tells the story of Okonkwo, a warrior of Umuofia (now Nigeria) and his horror as his tribe is transformed subjugated by degrees by British colonial presence. Set in the late 19th century, as British missionaries and soldiers began to spread through West Africa, Things Fall Apart is by turns hopeful, heartbreaking, and chilling. What stands out about the book is the layers of nuance present. Our generation may be ruffled by the portrayal of Okonkwo’s all-consuming masculinity, but a closer look shows Achebe’s take on gender roles to be significantly more complex than “Man rule house.” Similarly, the presence of Christian missionaries on the continent is not shown as black and white. The book is around 250 pages and ranked #6 overall on my December leaderboard. It’s a classic that shows a perspective different from an old dead white man’s. Try it out. 

My next selection is for those who need to read and run—but still want a great book. I will be honest, some novellas featured in my 25 “books,” but the following is truly excellent. We The Animals by Justin Torres is a collection of stories about one poor, dysfunctional family’s fierce love for one another. The narrator is one of three brothers, whose aggression and wildness betrays a desperate need for stability meshed with the sheer energy of being young boys. The handful of stories, packed into a slim 120 pages, convey the entire spectrum of family dynamics and the infinite little injuries we can inflict on those we love. The stories, while often happy or at least hopeful, take a dark turn at the end. Consider yourself warned. 

Things Fall Apart and We The Animals are some heavy hitters. If you just want something lighthearted and fun, consider Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods. This true story of Bryson’s adventures on the Appalachian Trail is two parts hilarious, one part educational. The story follows Bryson and his overweight trail-buddy Steven Katz, as they brave hardships and encounter some truly absurd people on the trail. Woven into the narrative are various tidbits of information about the flora, fauna, and storied history of the trail. Bryson does an exceptional job of balancing depressing deforestation statistics with his humorous tale, leaving you with a whole lot of knowledge for none of the boredom. Despite its often sarcastic tone, A Walk in the Woods ends on an unexpectedly sweet note- lending it some much-needed emotional weight. If you’re interested in a feel-good tale of friendship and adventure in nature, check out A Walk in The Woods. 

We’ve had our funny one, now it’s back to the sad stuff. Dave Ferry’s sci-fi classic Flowers for Algernon tells the story of Charlie Gordon, a mentally challenged adult who becomes the subject of a 1960s-era psychological experiment to increase his intelligence. After successfully having tested the treatment on a mouse, Algernon, Gordon’s unflappably positive attitude leads a team of scientists to select him as the experiment’s first human subject. The story is told through a series of Gordon’s progress reports (journal entries to track the experiment’s progress), which narrate Gordon’s life as well as provide personal reflections as his intelligence skyrockets. Flowers for Algernon is a tragic meditation on what it really means to be “smart,” as well as a sobering allegory for aging. The novel packs this all in a manageable 240 pages, and achieved the prestigious #3 overall spot on my leaderboard. You don’t need to be a sci-fi fan to enjoy Flowers for Algernon, anyone who has ever wanted to be smarter should read it. 

As some of you may have caught on, I am saving the best for last. The #1 spot on my December leaderboard went to Cormac McCcarthy’s The Road, a bleak tale of post-apocalyptic America. The story’s only two characters are a father and son, whose love for each other keeps them alive as they scrounge through the desolate landscape on their way to the coast. The novel has a unique style, as most of the actual words describe the pair’s foraging- the father stripping a stove of leftover gas, or clearing a house for leftover canned goods, for example. In between these paragraphs are snippets of dialogue between the father and son, dubbed “The Man” and “The Boy.” These spare bits of conversation paint full-bodied characters that feel, above all else, human. The apocalypse setting lends the story constant danger—you’ll be kept on the edge of your seat, breath held until the ending comes out of nowhere and hits you like a semi-truck. The Road is 300 pages but feels like 50. It will make you sad without a doubt. And yet, even in the most total, destructive apocalypse setting imaginable, the story is permeated with hope. Read The Road, and cry. 

That’s all for my December book recommendations. If you want more recs, ask Mr. Wilson, Mr. Coonan, or Mr. White. They were invaluable resources to me throughout the month, providing the raw material to fuel my all-consuming book machine. This article was definitely angled towards readers—but If you aren’t much of a one, well, it’s a new year. Pick up one of these recommendations, or really any book, and see what you’ve been missing.