Obtained: 2023?
Status: In Progress
Notes: Favorites so far are "Bitter Song" by Julia de Burgos & "To make a Prarie' by Emily Dickinson.
Reading it real slowly to try and savor each poem.

Obtained: 2022?
Status: Just Started
Notes: My favorite poem of his is not in this collection ("r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r"). I love showing these poems to people who say poetry is boring.

Obtained: 2024/2025, Half Price Books, Austin
Status: Not Started
Notes: This was a blind book (The brown paper cover said something about crisp/watery poetry?)

Obtained: 2024? Somewhere in LA
Status: Not Started
Notes: Cosmic feminine poetry that sometimes takes the form of goddesses. Beautiful cover.

Obtained: 2024? Probably the Last Bookstore, LA
Status: In Progress
Notes: Love "Schezerade", "Wishbone", and "I Had a Dream About You".
Reading Crush feels like I'm taking a sip of mouthwash. It stings but it bites nice.

Obtained: 2024/2025, Half Price Books, Austin
Status: In Progress
Notes: I got a collection about Texas since Austin is like a second/third home to me. I enjoy "Austin Dreaming".

Obtained: 2022, gift from an ex
Status: Not Started
Notes: Light poems, like the goldenrod flower. Not the type I'm immediately drawn to, but should learn to read regardless.

Obtained: 2023, birthday gift from my boyfriend
Status: In Progress
Notes: I was eyeing this collection in the Last Bookstore the same day I got Whale Day and Pilgrim Bell, but decided against it.
I've marked favorite fragments with sticky notes. So far my favorite is:
"you came and i was crazy for you
and you cooled my mind that burned with longing"

Obtained: 2026, Barnes & Nobles, Bay Area
Status: In Progress
Notes: After getting 2001: a Space Odyssey for $10, I challenged myself to find another book under $10 at B&N, which is known for expensive books.
Current nightstand book.

Obtained: 2022, The Last Bookstore, LA
Status: Just Started
Notes: I keep re-reading "Reza's Restaurant, Chicago, 1997". It reminds me of my favorite restaurant. Delicious poem.

Obtained: 2024, probably LA Times Festival of Books
Status: Just Started
Notes: This collection doesn't have the fragment I like most, and from what I've seen, I prefer Carson's translation. Future project: compare the two translations.

Obtained: 2022, The Last Bookstore, LA
Status: Just Started
Notes: Great for when I'm craving clean and weighty. I will never forget my first read of "Introduction to Poetry".

Obtained: 2026, BookSmart, Bay Area
Status: Finished
Notes: Very gripping read (I haven't seen the movie yet). Finished it in 2 sittings. The $10 table at Booksmart had an assortment of these mass market paperbacks.

Obtained: 2025, gift from boyfriend
Status: Finished
Notes: I liked the concept of omens, but the prose got too heady by the end.
Every sentence felt like "the heart follows what the omens do, and the omens are your personal legend". Alright...

Obtained: 2025, LA times Festival of Books
Status: Just Started
Notes: Real obscure shrinkwrapped avant-garde mass market paperback. Can confirm the first story has no capitalization or punctuation.

Obtained: 2024, Soekarno Hatta International Airport
Status: Finished
Notes: Oh Sylvia and your figs...

Obtained: 2018?
Status: Finished
Notes: I remember finishing this book at the kitchen table and having to just sit for a while.

Obtained: 2024 - Somewhere in LA
Status: Finished
Notes: Makes me want to do a MFA and then create darlings.

Obtained: 2024, Book Soup at LA Times Festival of Books
Status: Just Started
Notes: Reading it twice-by entry number and by page number. Awesome cover.

Obtained: 2023, The Last Bookstore, LA
Status: Finished
Notes: Not my favorite Rushdie book but a light enough read.

Obtained: 2023, The Last Bookstore, LA
Status: Finished
Notes: Liked this more than the Enchantress of Florence but felt viscerally uncomfortable regarding the protagonist's affair.
Specifically how it felt like a self-insert for Rushdie.

Obtained: Pre-2020, Family Library
Status: Read 2x
Notes: Brought me out of my Covid funk and inspired me to start my personal library.
Beautiful language.

Obtained: 2024, Nooroonji, Vancouver
Status: Finished
Notes: Second person POV is very fascinating to pull off. You imagine how hard it is.

Obtained: 2025, B&N, Bay Area
Status: Finished
Notes: I think I like Kaveh Akbar's prose more than his poetry, and I like his poetry a lot.

Obtained: 2023, The Last Bookstore?
Status: Finished
Notes: First Rushdie book I read. Clearly it worked judging by the number of Rushdie books I have in this.

Obtained: 2022, The Last Bookstore
Status: In Progress
Notes: I think I need to restart this one. Got right up to the end but got hung up somewhere in the final few chapters.

Obtained: 2024, Soekarno Hatta International Airport
Status: Read 2x
Notes: One of my all time favorites. Devastates yet comforts me.

Obtained: 2023, LA Times Festival of Books
Status: Finished
Notes: I think my ex stole my original copy. Nihilistic and is probably sisters with The Stranger.

Obtained: 2025, LA Times Festival of Books
Status: Finished
Notes: First Murakami. Maybe I should've read Kafka on the Shore or 1Q84 first.

Obtained: 2025, LA Times Festival of Books
Status: In Progress
Notes: Harder to get through than Midnight's Children for me. Probably because I don't understand any of the religious references.

Obtained: 2024, LA Times Festival of Books
Status: Finished
Notes: How absurd that the absurdism mainly comes in the last ten pages.

Obtained: 2000s, Family Library
Status: In Progress
Notes: Great tactics for negotiation in professional and personal settings.

Obtained: 2026, Unnamed Thrift Store, SF
Status: Not Started
Notes: I feel like I embraced the inner insufferable startup man within me when I got this.

Obtained: 2021, Gift from my mom
Status: Not Started
Notes: I appreciate the gift. Seems like a good gift for a daughter going to business school.

Obtained: 2026, Unnamed Thrift Store near Fillmore, SF
Status: Just Started
Notes: Love to hear people dismantling Silicon Valley from within.

Obtained: 2022, LA
Status: Not Started
Notes: Recieved a copy from the author after entering a writing competition. She signed it!

Obtained: 2022, LA
Status: Not Started
Notes: Recieved a copy from Indira Nooyi after attending a speaker event. She also signed it!

Obtained: 2021, Gift from Mom
Status: Not Started
Notes: Not signed unfortunately but looks to be an interesting read.

Obtained: 2026, SF
Status: Not Started
Notes: Free book from coworker. Seems interesting.

Obtained: 2024, LA
Status: Finished
Notes: Written by one of my favorite professors at USC. Fascinating stories of prominent people and their connection to books.

Obtained: 2025, Somewhere in California?
Status: Not Started
Notes: Bought when I was optimistic about my calligraphy era.

Obtained: 2021, San Diego
Status: In Progress
Notes: Effort can feel good sometimes. Burnout does not. This is to combat the burnout.

Obtained: 2026, Family Library
Status: Just Started
Notes: I need to work my muscle of talking to strangers. Small talk is a precursor to real conversations.

Obtained: 2025, Russian Hill Bookstore, SF
Status: Not Started
Notes: Matching cookbook with my boyfriend. We've yet to make anything from here.

Obtained: 2023, Bay Area?
Status: In Progress
Notes: Bought this pre-anxious generation. Ideas seem interesting but sometimes strike me as flat.

Obtained: 2021, Bay Area
Status: In Progress
Notes: I swear I'm almost done with this. Only has taken me 5 or so years.

Obtained: 2026, Bay Area
Status: Just Started
Notes: I have a weird fascination with survival tip books. This one is very no-nonsense.

Obtained: 2010s, Bay Area
Status: Finished
Notes: Engaging writing style and actually practical tips for most situations you will find yourself in.
What other book teaches you how to take a shit in the woods with dignity AND has recipes for camping potatoes?

Obtained: 2024, LA
Status: Finished
Notes: Clean and light guide to various forms of workplace written communciation. Some of my coworkers could use this.

Obtained: 2021, Gift from Mom
Status: Just Started
Notes: I need to be in a good mental space to read this because the last time I tried, I got sad.

Obtained: 2026, Therapy Store, Bay Area
Status: Just Started
Notes: The first section so far is about breathing. Breathing is hard.

Obtained: 2024, Gift from Boyfriend
Status: In Progress
Notes: Great advice and truly speaks to the gripping desires of a writer/devoting yourself to your craft.

Obtained: 2020, Gift from Childhood Friend
Status: Finished
Notes: Due for a re-read. I have adopted the idea of "soul groups" in my own mishmash philosophy.

Obtained: 2025, Barnes & Nobles, Bay Area
Status: In Progress
Notes: Refreshing advice. Better than the Artist's Way I'd think.

Written: 2019
Notes: My first full length solo book. Even if I cringe at the writing, it's still my proudest achievement.

Written: 2020
Notes: Contributed pieces on the seven stages of grief to this compilation a friend of AIP created.

Written: 2019
Notes: My first published written words. Quite literally changed my life.