The NY Times listed the top 100 books of 21st century. This reader shares his journey to read them

John Hetrick spent his career working at Salt River Project, or SRP, a utility company here in the Valley.

In his down time, Hetrick loves to read. For years, when it came to books, he had a type: long novels by American authors.

Recently, with some gentle pressure from his wife, Hetrick decided to expand his horizons. That’s when he discovered the New York Times’ list of the top 100 books of the 21st century.

Hetrick decided he was going to make it through the entire list.

Full conversation

JOHN HETRICK: I was looking for new inspiration and I came upon the list and I was like, “Oh, this has a much broader spectrum of topics and genres than I normally read.” And so I said, “Oh, this could be kind of a,” I counted what I had already read up to the 25, and I was like, “Oh, I should probably read all of these.”

SAM DINGMAN: OK, OK. But that must have been very affirming to find out, having been reading for as long as you had been, that there were a good number. You said it was about 25?

HETRICK: That’s pretty close. Yes.

DINGMAN: I mean, that’s a quarter of the list.

HETRICK: Yeah. It’s a good start.

DINGMAN: You were already, you know, it’s kind of affirming of your taste.

HETRICK: Yes. And I would again refer back to my wife, who taught at ASU, she’s a poet. And so I have a great fondness for literary fiction.

DINGMAN: So you did decide to formalize this as a mission, right?

HETRICK: Absolutely.

DINGMAN: Like, I’m going to make it through all 100.

HETRICK: Yes.

DINGMAN: OK. And so how did you start? Are you going in order?

HETRICK: I’m not. I decided to start at the bottom of the list.

DINGMAN: OK.

HETRICK: And the book at the bottom of the list is Dennis Johnson’s "Tree of Smoke," which I had already read and knew that I liked. But my thought was, if I already know that I like something at the bottom of the list, then as I progress upwards, then I would probably enjoy them more and more as I went along.

DINGMAN: You’re like, “If the floor is a book I already love, I can’t wait to see what’s on the ceiling.”

HETRICK: Exactly. And I always, eating food, I usually save the best bite for last. Or that kind of thing.

DINGMAN: A man after my own heart. OK, so you mentioned this tendency towards literary fiction, but there are some very notable works of literary nonfiction on this list in particular. What is that book about Lyndon Johnson?

HETRICK: Oh, “The Passage of Power” by Robert Caro.

DINGMAN: Yes, “The Passage of Power” and “Emperor of Maladies” —

HETRICK: It’s a biography of cancer.

DINGMAN: OK, tell me about what you connected with.

HETRICK: Well, they are two very different books. The one, “The Passage of Power” with Lyndon B. Johnson. And this is just the years from when he is contemplating running for presidency, doesn’t get the nomination, becomes the vice presidential candidate for John F. Kennedy, and then eventually becomes president. And so it’s those kind of five years there.

It’s a deep dive into it, just how politics took place back then. It’s how I think a lot of people view it now. But it was so much more corrupt and just those sorts of things. Like, he was put on the ticket with Kennedy pretty much to get Texas and the South.

And I think there was a lot of voter fraud involved with getting him Texas, even though he’s from Texas. And we’ve heard those stories a lot.

DINGMAN: Well, tell me about what you resonated with in “The Emperor of All Maladies,” which I should say is by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

Patricia Murphy

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HETRICK: That book is much more personal to me. I’m currently a Stage 3 cancer patient. So learning about cancer, I was a little nervous about approaching that book. Things are going very well for me. I’m in remission for 3 1/2 years. But it’s a little bit of a tender subject for me, of course.

And the one that just opened my eye in the book was breast cancer. And just, I had no idea, like, the progression of treatment for it and how, up until, like, 30-40 years ago, a radical mistake was — I would almost say it was torture to do to people.

And so learning that and following it, it was just nothing that I would have ever approached if it had not been for this list of books.

DINGMAN: Wow. I mean, that, to me, is such a testament to the value of a project like the one you’re undertaking, where you have this hesitancy towards particular subject matter because it has very real personal stakes. But if I’m hearing you right, undertaking the project pushes you a little bit out of your comfort zone, and then it ends up being a rewarding experience.

HETRICK: Oh, absolutely. And it’s done that in so many different areas.

DINGMAN: So, John, I would love to go ahead and anoint you as a tastemaker, because, as we were talking about at the beginning, you had actually already of your own accord, in consultation with your wife, read a bunch of the books that the Gray Lady has decided we should all be reading.

So I’m curious to know, are there any favorite books of yours that don’t appear on the Times list that you would put forward as significant books, books that, if we were making the John Hetrick list, you would recommend?

HETRICK: Well, yes, definitely. One that comes to mind right away is Leif Enger, a book called “I Cheerfully Refuse.” And I started reading him because we like to travel a lot, my wife and I. And I like to read books from the places we’re going. And so we spent maybe two or three months in Minnesota over the last couple of years.

And he is a Minnesota writer, and so that’s what introduced me to him. And the book is a kind of a postapocalyptic future of America. And there are books on the list that do that, “Station 11,” “The Road.” I’ve read both of those, really enjoyed them.

This book, though, kind of had, I would say, almost a brighter, more buoyant take on it.

It’s based on a classic story, somebody helping a child find the parent in the future, but it was so positive.

DINGMAN: A positive spin on dystopia.

HETRICK: Yes.

DINGMAN: Anything else from the John Hetrick readerly archives?

HETRICK: Another one that comes to mind is the “The Eighth Life: (for Brilka)” that takes place in Georgia. And it basically covers eight generations of a family. And when I say Georgia, it’s not Georgia the United States; it’s Georgia the country.

And so we a few years ago were going to Georgia. And so I looked up who are well known authors from Georgia and found this book.

DINGMAN: And I should say we did look this up. The author’s name is Nino Haratischwili. Nino, if you’re listening, I apologize if I got it wrong.

HETRICK: So the book is a grand tale that takes place pre-Soviet Union — before Georgia becomes a member of the Soviet Union — and post. And part of the premise is a little — again, I probably wouldn’t have approached it — is this family, but they have a secret hot chocolate recipe. And so that underlies these eight generations.

But it went through so much of the history of Georgia, so that’s kind of the grand story that will hopefully attract a lot of other people.

DINGMAN: Well, I think you have probably attracted a lot of people to a number of the books on this list in this conversation.

I have been speaking with John Hetrick, who is a big reader and also for 26 years worked at Salt River Project on water and sustainability projects, variety of other things. John, thank you for this conversation.

HETRICK: Well, thank you, Sam. This was a pleasure.