Project Bookshelf: Hiba Syed

A close up of a single shelf of a black wooden book rack. There are enough books to cover the entire shelf and leave no space. A crocheted teal squid sits on top of some of the books towards the right.

My criteria for buy-worthy books has changed a lot over the years. Spending money on books I didn’t already know I liked used to feel wasteful, especially with my limited bookshelf space. I have a pretty large collection now, but I consider all additions carefully. Deciding which works I find memorable enough to want to have on hand is an investment to me. Not every book on my shelves is necessarily a favorite, but if I have it, it’s probably for the creativity of its contents and the context it was published in.

Mainly, unless I wish to support a living author and buy directly from a mainstream bookstore, I rely on thrifting, secondhand websites, book fairs, etc. to slowly build my collection. I make it a point to buy obscure works that are relevant to my interests as soon as I have the chance to ensure I’ll eventually be able to read them. After a lifetime of immersion in the classics of America and England, and growing boredom with the oversaturation of specific narratives for POC in English fiction, I’ve made it my mission to explore translated literature, especially from South Asia and MENA countries.

The ongoing incompleteness of this collection is what I love most about it. I am not one to despair over the impossibility of reading every book in the world. I enjoy always having something more to discover. I’m saving yet-to-be-read titles pictured above like The Mirror of My Heart, The Water Urn, and Satyajit Ray’s Detective Feluda stories for rainy days, to read when I have more time, and relish the anticipation that comes with their presence on my shelf. Similarly, I have a list of books that I would ideally already own, but know will be worth the wait to acquire when I finally locate them, like The Oxford Book of Urdu Short Stories and Umrao Jan Ada.

I also treasure older favorites, like Elantris, Phantom, and The Inheritance Cycle (not pictured) from when I used to mostly read fantasy and retellings, and still had the stamina for long sagas. My poetry collections and nonfiction are the works I like to take the most time with to ensure I absorb them, hence the bookmarks. If I had to choose any three titles from this particular shelf as my favorites, they would be Sonora Jha’s The Laughter, Anita Brookner’s Hotel du Lac, and Louise Glück’s Averno.

Hiba Syed is a Pakistani-American writer and reviewer with an appreciation for all genres. Having recently graduated with a BA in English, she fills her time traveling, experimenting in the kitchen, and reading anything she can get her hands on. Currently she resides in St. Louis, Missouri.