Enfnts Terribles

While ENFNTS TERRIBLES can’t promise to be your personal trainer or your nutritionist, we can promise you a reading list that will make one of your New Year’s resolutions stick. So check out which book we’ll be reading every month of the new year:

January — A Man’s Place by Annie Ernaux

It’s only correct that our first recommendation is 2022’s Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, Annie Ernaux. As the seventeenth woman to receive the prize since 1901, Ernaux’s ability to be clinically reflective about her past needs no further appraisal. In A Man’s Place, the French writer takes a dive into her father’s adulthood, confronting material comfort, and the shame of manners and language. With only one hundred pages to read, this novel is packed with cleverly crafted truths that breed overarching questions about how to experience life.

February — New and Selected Poems, Volume One by Mary Oliver

February is for lovers, and so is Mary Oliver. The American poet writes with cadence and utter devotion to every literary device used in New and Selected Poems, Volume One. Each poem is accessible and strays far from the obtuse. Her words pay tribute to the natural world, so once you open up her pages, you will encounter the fragrance of cinnamon and fulfillment.

March — A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

The contents of A Little Life by American writer Hanya Yanagihara are to be discussed before fully immersing yourself, as some elements can be draining. However, it is brimming with palpable human joy that easily harmonizes the literature. Its story follows the constant intersection of Jude, Willem, Malcolm, and JB in New York City. The depth of perception in which it is written pulls us into this study of male relationships and trauma that will have you pause your reading to collect your thoughts.

April — How To Be Both by Ali Smith

The plot of Scottish author Ali Smith’s famous tale of timelines, How To Be Both, follows George in contemporary England and Francesco del Cossa in renaissance Italy. Two versions of the novel were published simultaneously, where either George’s or Francesco’s story would come first. From both perspectives, the alternate orders have yielded satisfying reviews that are laden with compelling quotes about the transformative power of mourning.

August — The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

You may recognize the title The Glass Castle from the 2017 film adaptation, but it’s no secret that it will never outshine the remarkable literary skills of Jeannette Walls. In this stunning memoir, we follow Jeannette’s perception that breeds action when observing the unusual nature of her parents’ lifestyle. A tale about the diminishing effects of poverty entwined with the rejection of society, the American author will take you from her six-year-old fairytale to her current-day conflicts.

September — Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World was first published in 1932, and its futuristic society has since been revisited by Aldous Huxley in 1958. This series of essays is a timeless and prophetic compilation of brilliant sociological thinking that reminds us of how forward-thinking the British-American truly was. A great food-for-thought read that will keep anyone tuned in, even when not too fussed about the political or global issues mentioned.

October — The Coral Sea by Patti Smith

The Coral Sea is a collection of Patti Smith’s writing about her friend and former lover Robert Mapplethorpe, who passed in 1989. It is a fantastic piece of commitment that contains the most inspired images. Every word is intimate and offers a wonderful observation of complex grief that proves the mastery of the American singer-songwriter over and over again.