If you’re looking for something good to read, here’s a list of my favorite books that I read this year.
Realistic Fiction
The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade—Amadeo Padilla is a thirty-three year old layabout who is hoping to turn his life around by taking on the role of Jesus in the Good Friday procession. But when his fifteen year old pregnant daughter turns up on his doorstep, his imaginary redemption story turns into a real one as he helps his daughter adjust to parenthood, and he helps his mother deal with a terminal illness. While the premise of this book sounds like a downer, there were so many bright moments of insight and humor and resilience that I thought this was one of the best books I read last year.
The Risk of Us by Rachel Howard—When a middle-aged couple adopts an eight year old foster girl, they find themselves tested in unexpected ways.
Motherhood by Sheila Heti—In this autobiographical novel, Sheila Heti examines what is lost when women chose motherhood over their artistic pursuits.
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray—This is a multi-generational story of siblings raising each other, and the power of family in overcoming personal suffering.
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson—This haunting young adult novel is about Lia and Cassie, two friends bound by a twisted and competitive friendship to be the skinniest girls in school. But when Cassie dies, Lia is haunted by her friend’s ghost as she, too, must decide whether to join her dead friend, or choose life and recovery.
Vessels by L. L. Rose—When retiree Olivero Russo buys some clay pots from a yard sale and bakes bread in them, the taste of the bread awakens a sensual pleasure in life he hadn’t experienced since he was a boy. This is a delightful story written by a friend of mine. It’s available for free for people who sign up for her newsletter.
Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson—A fatal heat wave sweeps across the globe, killing many in a wet-bulb effect. A political agency based in Switzerland, called “The Ministry of the Future,” takes it upon itself to shift economic engines that have caused global warming toward a new economic system based on environmental restoration, economic equality, and sustainability.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia—The Yellow Wallpaper meets Wuthering Heights in Mexico. This spooky story of a haunted house in the Mexican highlands will satisfy anyone who loves gothic haunted houses, feisty heroines, intergenerational insanity, and masterful writing.
How Long ‘Till Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin—I’ve been a fan of N. K. Jemisin’s work ever since I heard her short story “Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints in the City Beneath the Still Waters” on Podcastle back in 2011. This short story collection gathers some of the early work of one of the best minds working in sci-fi/fantasy today.
Minecraft: The Island by Max Brooks—This is a tie-in horror novel based in the Minecraft video game world. I’m not a Minecraft player, but I thought this book was an excellent and entertaining introduction to what this whole Minecraft universe is all about. In case you missed it, the author is MAX BROOKS! The guy who wrote World War Z. I highly recommend the audiobook, which is narrated by Jack Black.
Mystery
A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult—Jodi Picoult is a fantastic issues writer. In A Spark of Light she takes on the issue of abortion and women’s reproductive rights with compassion, humanity, and nuance.
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty—When the matriarch of a tennis family disappears, the siblings take sides on whether or not they think their father has something to do with her disappearance.
Historical Fiction
Restraint by Anne Hawley—The passionate and forbidden M/M romance between a Viscount and a painter, set in Victorian England.
Warrior and Weaver by K. S. Barton—Astrid and Bjorn come from rival Viking tribes whose hatred runs deep. When these star-crossed lovers are forced into an arranged marriage in order to bring peace to their two tribes, they must each decide whether their desires to protect the living is stronger than their desires to avenge their dead.
Memoir
Theft by Finding: Diaries, Volume One by David Sedaris—Humor writer David Sedaris collects his edited diaries from 1977 (before he was famous) to 2002. I highly recommend the audiobook version, as David Sedaris reads his own work.
All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung—Nicole Chung is a Korean American, raised by white adopted parents in an isolated, and mostly white, area in Oregon. As she grows to adulthood and is on the cusp of motherhood herself, she goes on a quest to reconnect with her biological family and re-examine her identity as an adoptee and as a Korean American.
And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready by Meaghan O’Connell—In this humorous and heartbreaking memoir, Meaghan O’Connell unpacks her and her fiancé’s experiences of becoming parents in their late twenties, when most of their NYC peers were still single and fancy-free. This wonderful book is great for new parents, and for anyone who enjoyed the parenting podcast “The Longest Shortest Time.”
Women’s Work: A Reckoning with Work and Home by Megan K. Stack—Megan K. Stack is an award-winning journalist who managed her “work-life-balance” by living the colonial ex-pat life in Beijing and India. In this memoir, Stack turns her sharp and unflinching journalistic eye towards the ethics of white entitlement feminism…starting with her own conflicted relationship with the housekeepers, cooks, and nannies she employed (all of whom were also working mothers) in order to keep her own career afloat.
Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America by Nefertiti Austin—Say the words “mother” and “adoption” and what mostly comes to mind in America is the image of a married white woman. In this memoir, Nefertiti Austin discusses her experience as a single, adoptive, black mother living in a society that mostly behaves as if she didn’t exist. She also describes the love and overwhelmingly positive experience she had as the adoptive mother of two foster children. A wonderful book. Highly recommend.
The Natural Mother of the Child: A Memoir of Non-Binary Parenthood by Krys Malcolm Belc—Krys Belc discusses his experience as a man going through pregnancy and childbirth.
Empty by Susan Burton—Susan Burton’s memoir about her anorexia reads like a passionate Dear John letter to her conflicted relationship with food and her body.
The Puppy Diaries: Raising a Dog Named Scout by Jill Abramson—I’m a sucker for dog stories.
Poetry
Reserve the Right by Yume Kim—I’m not normally into poetry, but I absolutely loved this collection by my friend Yume Kim because each one feels like a powerful story.
Non-Fiction
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell—Malcolm Gladwell discusses the mistakes we make in our assumptions about others. I recommend the audio version of this as it was put together like a really good podcast.
Older, Faster, Stronger: What Women Runners Can Teach Us All About Living Younger, Longer by Margaret Webb—Margaret Webb is a writer and marathon-runner who sets out on a quest to get in the best shape of her life, as a woman in her sixties. This book was an incredible resource on female athleticism, and on what it takes to age well.
Strong Like Her: A Celebration of Rule Breakers, History Makers, and Unstoppable Athletes by Haley Shapley—This is a historical survey of female athletes throughout time. From the first woman to swim the English Channel to the Great Sandwina to Babe Didrikson Zaharias, one of the greatest all-around athletes of all time. This book was inspiring and totally enlightening because I’d never heard of most of these women. Strong Like Her is a hidden history of female athletes, and the role they play in securing physical agency for all women. I highly recommend the hardback or paperback versions because of all the incredible photographs by Sophy Holland of modern female athletes.
Women Warriors: An Unexpected History by Pamela D. Toler—A hidden history of warrior women throughout time. I’d never heard of most of these warriors.
Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition by T. Colin Campbell, PhD with Howard Jacobson, PhD—In this follow-up to The China Study, T. Colin Campbell writes about how most of the discussion of nutrition with it’s obsession with micronutrients, ignores the big picture importance of whole foods and the whole diet…much to our physical peril.
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate by Peter Wohlleben—Before reading this book, I looked at trees like they were all the same. After reading this book, I started seeing the trees as individuals, who sleep and communicate and live in family groups on a timescale much longer than my lifetime. This books has totally changed the way I see nature. I also recommend the children’s book version, as it’s very engaging for kids and adults alike: Can You Hear the Trees Talking?: Discover the Hidden Life of the Forest.
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