Ms.

Walker’s “TBR” List

Over the next five years, my goal is to read the following:
1. Solito, Javier Zamora: This is a memoir, telling the story of Zamora’s migration from El
Salvador to the U.S. I saw Zamora speak at a conference and was absolutely captivated
by his story of traveling as a nine-year-old, without his parents and with total strangers
and how they took care of him along his journey.
2. The Four Winds, Kristin Hannah: This is one that has bene recommended. It takes place
in 1934 in Texas as farmers are trying to stay alive during the Dust Bowl
3. Longbourn, Jo Baker: This is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice through the perspective
of the servants. I’m a Downton Abbey fan, which jumps perspectives between the
working and upper class, and as a fan of the Austen classic, I feel like I’m obliged to read
this book.
4. The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Stuart Turton: At least once a year I get an itch to
read a good mystery novel. In this novel, we are told that Evelyn Hardcastle will be
murdered at 11:00pm and we as readers have to solve her murder or we will not be safe.
5. Book Lovers, Emily Henry: Romantic fiction, she’s a literary agent, he’s an editor, and
it’s a hate to love book. I’m always up for a fun romance.
6. The Door of No Return, Kwame Alexander: I respect Alexander as an author and am
interested in this series that explores an African family: “tells the story of a boy, a village,
and the epic odyssey of an African family” (Goodreads).
7. Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell: I’ve owned this book for a while but have yet to read it. It
tells a fictional story of Hamnet, Shakespeare’s son who dies at age 11. As a lover of
Shakespeare and one who also imagines Shakespeare’s life, because we know very little,
I’m intrigued by what O’Farrell has envisioned.
8. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens: It’s one of those books that I believe most people
read when they’re early on in education (at least at one point they did) and I never did, so
I’d like to read it. I love A Tale of Two Cities, also by Dickens.
9. Red Rising, Pierce Brown: This is a dystopian YA book that’s been recommended to me.
It is about a caste, color-coded system, red being the lowest caste.
10. Thunderhead, The Toll, Gleanings, Neal Shusterman: I’ve read the first in the series,
Scythe, and absolutely loved it and now need to catch up by reading the next three books!