Grandma Archives Every Book She’s Read Since 14

In 2023, a Twitter user posted something that really caught the attention of internet users across the world. We’re not quite talking a shockwave – more of a gentle ripple of approval, respect, and awe. He shared parts of an archive his grandmother had kept, detailing every book she’d read for the last eight decades.

The list featured a wealth of different texts covering all manner of different subject matter, along with journal entries and poems. It details a life lived, during some of the most tumultuous times the modern world has ever seen. And it is a shining record of a long-term love of literature.

Discovering the List

It was in March 2023, when Ben Myers found something remarkable. The theology and literature professor was carrying out the melancholy task of sorting through his grandmother Nada’s belongings after she passed away at age 94.

Among those belongings was a list of book titles and authors, and, in some cases, notes on the reading experience, journal entries, and poetry. As Myers examined the list, he found an unbroken chain stretching back eight decades to 1943, when Nada had been only 14 years old.

In total, there were 1,658 books. On average, Nada had finished a book every two weeks and noted it meticulously in her journal. Astonished by what he had found, Myers shared excerpts from the list on Twitter, connecting Nada’s passion with the world and creating a lasting legacy for his grandmother.

Life and Literature

Nada’s long life began in 1929, in Yugoslavia. As war tore Europe apart, Nada and her family found themselves living as refugees in Germany, and it was here that Nada began to record the books she was reading.

The list reflects Nada’s linguistic background and command of many different languages. As well as books in German, there are books in English too and in Serbian and Hungarian. Nada’s life would be disrupted yet again, as the Soviet Red Army advanced on Germany from the east, Nada’s family found themselves on the road yet again, fleeing the bloodshed of the battlefield for a new life in Australia. But Nada’s reading diary continued unabated.

There are literary classics like The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, but there are other books too, particularly non-fiction works on subjects like yoga and meditation. There is also some of Nada’s own work included in the journal that accompanied her archive – poetry that reflects the trauma of those early years.

In fact, trauma emerges again and again in the early pages of the archive. Myers notes how her grandmother was exposed to Nazi literature and propaganda. She recorded this in her reading journal and then returned later to excise the poison of what she had consumed – crossing out passages with stark lines when the true nature of the messaging became known to her.

An Overwhelming Response

Needless to say, Twitter users were enraptured with the pages and words Nada had left behind. “This is amazing,” said one user, “What a thing to get to know and see about your grandmother. Cherish her with all your heart.”

Another said: “This is just remarkable. I am so sorry for your loss – but what a legacy she has left you!”

Others wanted to know more about Nada’s broad and diverse reading habits. “That’s really impressive,” a responder said, “What genres did she prefer in her later years, if I may ask?”

Myers replied with “Poetry, Philosophy, Theosophy, Mysticism, Religion, and plenty of Novels.”

And, of course, some users shared stories about their own family members. “Reading about her, I was reminded of my own grandmother, gone for over 20 years but still very much missed,” one user posted. “My grandfather did this (less organized…), handwritten on tiny pieces of paper,” replied another.

An Inspirational Archive

Nada came from a poor family, and at a young age, she found herself embroiled in a horrific conflict that engulfed a continent, even the whole world. She was ripped from her home not once but several times, and forced into a journey first of hundreds of miles, and then of thousands, while she was still a teenager. And yet she still found the time to read, and to record her experiences as she did so.

Ben Myers’s academic career is, in some ways, a testament to the groundwork laid by his grandmother. Myers himself said that “in a different world,” Nada would have “studied philosophy at university.”

Nada’s archive is a sometimes heartwarming, sometimes humorous, often tragic, and often uplifting, look into a remarkable life – just like all lives are remarkable in their own way. It shows us the power of literature, both as a means of escape when things get tough, and as a way to better understand the world around us, and ourselves.