What Dan Read

What Dan Read What Dan Read celebrates the life and legacy of Dan Pelzer through books, curiosity, and community.

Explore Dan's viral list of 3,599 titles, discover your next great read, and connect with fellow book lovers. 📚
🌐 NEW website is live ✨

06/15/2026

Bloomsday confession: Dan couldn't stand "Ulysses". 📚☘️
Did Joyce win you over-or are you firmly on Team Dan? Tell us in the comments. 💬

Whether you're a true-blue Joycean or, like Dan, prefer your novels with fewer stream-of-consciousness detours, here's to celebrating stories in all their forms.

Happy Bloomsday - however you choose to turn the page.


You’re going to want to save these titles! Conversations are heating up about a new wave of “rage-bait" books that spark...
06/10/2026

You’re going to want to save these titles! Conversations are heating up about a new wave of “rage-bait" books that spark intense reactions and make us rethink our values. While Dan had a mellow temperament, he appreciated books that ignited debate. Check out these 10 titles that explore rage, call out injustice, or just make your blood boil, for all kinds of reasons.

06/05/2026

Apparently, Gen Z is turning books into the latest must-have accessory.

It sounds a bit ridiculous- who has time to chase an aesthetic over a plot twist?
(Dan definitely wouldn't!)

📚 Q***r Authors Dan Read and Loved 🏳️‍🌈 We’re marking by celebrating stories that inspire, challenge, and connect us, ...
06/03/2026

📚 Q***r Authors Dan Read and Loved 🏳️‍🌈

We’re marking by celebrating stories that inspire, challenge, and connect us, written by LGBTQIA+ authors. The goal is to uplift voices that deserve to be heard, especially in times when those voices face obstacles.

Looking for your next read? Start with one of these that Dan read.
Let’s keep celebrating and sharing stories together. Happy Rainbow Book Month, and Happy Pride!

Drop your own favorites in the comments below. ⬇ 🌈 📚

I get asked often, "What would your Dad think of all the interest in his list?"Dan would be thrilled that the rest of th...
06/01/2026

I get asked often, "What would your Dad think of all the interest in his list?"

Dan would be thrilled that the rest of the world is catching on to what he already knew: that Columbus has a world-class library system. He’d love that people have been inspired to go to the library to check out more books. And he would want the people who find joy in his list to elect officials and support policies that protect library funding. 📚

🗞 FLASHBACK FRIDAY 📰I still smile when I think about the story Jim Higginswrote about for the MilwaukeeJournal Sentinel...
05/29/2026

🗞 FLASHBACK FRIDAY 📰

I still smile when I think about the story Jim Higgins
wrote about for the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel in December.

Our conversation brought back so many happy
memories and included comments from Jonathan Eig
and Carmen Maria Machado—authors my dad read
and loved.




📷 Hannah Schroeder / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
1) Dan’s daughter, Marci Pelzer, reads from the original
What Dan Read list.
2) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
3) Marci Pelzer highlights Dan’s grand total of 3,599
books read.
4) Marci Pelzer holding Dan’s Peace Corps service
card. Dan’s list began while serving in Nepal in the
Peace Corps.

Scott Turow isn’t just a bestselling author—he’s also leading a class action lawsuit against Meta and Mark Zuckerberg, f...
05/27/2026

Scott Turow isn’t just a bestselling author—he’s also leading a class action lawsuit against Meta and Mark Zuckerberg, fighting alongside five publishers to stop Meta from training its Llama IA models on millions of books without permission or compensation. Today, we’re tipping our hats (and maybe waving a well-worn paperback) to our new literary hero. Time to revisit his 2005 courtroom thriller “Ordinary Heroes” from Dan’s list. Because 20 years later, the hero we need is both on the page and in the courtroom.

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