february: 2, 3 & 4

razorblade tears, by s.a. cosby (this was a book of the month club pick, and one that i enjoyed - a thriller/mystery of two men trying to solve their sons' murders.  it was just different enough from the typical book in this genre to hold my attention and though it won't be my favorite book this year, i did enjoy it!)

two rainbow rowell short stories on kindle: the prince and the troll, and if the fates allow (i love rainbow rowell and she's put out a few short stories on kindle that i've gotten for cheap/free.  these are both very sweet and quick reads.  now i need a new novel from her, stat!)

a carnival of snackery, by david sedaris (i listened to this on audiobook and am so excited to be seeing him when he comes to pittsburgh in a few weeks!  this is the second book full of his journal entries, which entertained me.  he's a much better journal-er than i am!  not as polished as his books, but a great read if you're a fan already.)

january: 1

really?  i only read one book in january?  lord.  i mean, sounds right if i'm being honest...

the last thing he told me, by laura dave (this was my book club pick, and while we haven't gotten together to discuss it - and perhaps my mind will be changed! - for now this is a great beach read and that's about it.  would recommend if you are going on vacation and want something light and quick; didn't change my life.)

2021 in books

this year i read 40 books (a lot, certainly, but fewer than in recent years!).  10 of those books meet some sort of diversity standard (as in, the main character or author is not white).  i also set a goal this year to read some unread books that have been sitting on my bookshelf, and hoped to read one a month; i fell a little short with a total of 9.  still need to chip away at my bookshelves of unread books this year!

my favorite books of 2021:

hamnet, by maggie o'farrell  

hidden valley road, by robert kolker

smoketown, by mark whitaker

the book of longings, by sue monk kidd

migrations, by charlotte mcconaghy

shuggie bain, by douglas stuart

december: 38, 39 & 40

to finish out 2021, i read:

shuggie bain, by douglas stuart (loved this book and am going to hear the author talk (virtually) in a few weeks, which is how it got added to my list.  beautiful writing, heartbreaking, funny, sad - the semi-autobiographical story of a boy's relationship with his alcoholic mother in 1980s glasgow.  would highly recommend, but know that it's not an uplifting book!)

ariadne, by jennifer saint (this was fine, but not as good as circe, even though i was hoping it would be.  it's the greek myth of the minotaur, told from his sister's point of view - and goes far beyond his death.  i was intrigued and found it an accessible way to get into greek mythology, but i wasn't running home to read it.  a fine but not exceptional book.)

somebody's daughter, by ashley c. ford (i loved this memoir, which i read over three days around new year's eve.  i love getting to read in big chunks like that, during the day, between meals and games and hot tub time and hikes - it helps me really get into a story in a much different way than just reading for 10 or 15 minutes each night before bed.  this book is a page turner, the story of the author's relationship with her mother and her imprisoned father.  highly recommend!)

november: 37

only read one book in november, but it was a long one (does that redeem me somewhat?):

the lincoln highway, by amor towles (i really enjoyed this book, by the author of a gentleman in moscow.  the story of some boys on an adventure on the lincoln highway...if you read it, i really want to talk about the ending with someone, and i've passed it on to my mom, so perhaps she will be that person.  this won't be my favorite book of the year, but it was an enjoyable read.)

october: 35 & 36

my reading slowed down at the end of the year.  in october i read:

a darker shade of magic, by v.e. schwab (this was my suggestion for the book club i'm in, and it kind of disappointed.  it was 450-ish pages long, but if the story had been told in 250 pages, i think i would have liked it a lot more.  it just...it dragged for me.  and i don't really love magic, so not sure why i thought i would love this book?  anyway.  this book definitely has a following, and if magic is your thing, go for it.  i won't be reading any more from the author.)

migrations, by charlotte mcconaghy (from my bookshelf - this is one that mom bought me for christmas last year, and i finally read it and LOVED it.  the story of a woman in a future year where many animals have gone extinct, and she is following the last batch of arctic terns on their migration from greenland to antarctica.  there is biology and such, but it's mostly the story of the people she encounters and her own reckoning with her past.  beautifully written, i highly recommend it.)

september: 31, 32, 33 & 34

catching up on posting about my reading this fall!  september's books were:

caste: the origin of our discontents, by isabel wilkerson (i listened to the audiobook of this one, which was fantastic - this author is a beautiful writer and her research is fascinating and important.  put this on your list!)

the book of longings, by sue monk kidd (i kind of can't stop talking about this book, the author's imagining of the life of jesus, told from the perspective of his wife.  i found so appealing her vision of jesus without the miracles but with the incredible moral code that draws me to some of the things he taught.  highly recommend this one.)

the bomber mafia, by malcolm gladwell (another audiobook - five or six hours long, so totally manageable, and with excellent audio clips from the 1940s in it.  if you like gladwell, this will not disappoint.  i recommend listening to it.)

a fire in the night, by christopher swann (the third book by a former coworker of mine from atlanta. it's not as good as his first book, but i loved that it was set in the mountains of north carolina, and i did find the plot compelling.  don't rush out and buy this, but if you happen upon it it's worth a read.)

august: 28, 29 & 30

behold the dreamers, by imbolo mbue (this had been on my list for a long time and then my book club picked it; i really enjoyed this book for a look into a world different from my own.  this is the fictional story of a cameroonian family who are in the US illegally - what their lives are like, what the next generation's lives are like, and what the husband and wife's perspectives are about what they should do when the husband's immigration status becomes public.  it's beautifully written, the story line is well constructed, and the look at privileged white america through the main characters' eyes is fascinating.  definitely recommend!)

spying on the south, by tony horwitz (from my bookshelf, but i ended up listening to the audiobook.  this nonfiction book is the author's tale of following the path of frederick law olmsted through the south when he traveled and wrote about it for the new york times in the 1950s.  the author does it in 2016 - down the ohio and the mississippi, then through louisiana and texas, all as the 2016 primaries are in full force.  i really enjoy a travelogue (not as much as a memoir, but close!) and i would highly recommend this, particularly to anyone who lives in the areas he travels through.)

real life, by brandon taylor (from my bookshelf.  my friend nora lent this to me, and after i read it i texted her "okay, i read real life and...i don't know what to think.  the violent sex and how shitty miller treated wallace got to me.  he is never going to be your boyfriend!  you are only going to be hurt by letting him in!  it was like watching a depressed friend get walked all over.  ugh!  but man did i have a reaction to it, so that's something, right?"  nora wholeheartedly agreed with my hot take ("THIS IS MY REACTION TOO") so...this book was not for me, but it might be for you?)

july: 25, 26 & 27

this must be the place, by maggie o'farrell (i thoroughly enjoyed this book, as i did hamnet which i read a few months ago.  highly recommend her as an author with funny and gorgeous writing who weaves together multiple story lines with ease!)

we are the brennans, by tracey lange (you can go ahead and skip this one, a book of the month club selection that was fine but not life changing.  i'll amend that: if you need a book to read on an airplane, in a waiting room, or on a beach, this is a perfectly great pick, but i was not moved or inspired or changed by it.)

the gifts of imperfection, by brene brown (love me some brene brown, and i read this while listening to a six part podcast on it that she did with her sisters.  highly recommend you read a brene brown book (or consume her greatness in some way) if you haven't already!)

june: 21, 22, 23 & 24

in june i read:

how lucky, by will leitch (this was a book of the month club pick and i really liked it - the story of a disabled man who witnesses a crime and then works to solve it.  sweet, great plot, great voice for the narrator, loved the character development, and really appreciated learning more about this particular kind of disability.  i'd highly recommend it!)

the one, by john marrs (you can go right ahead and skip this one or read it only if you are literally on a beach in the sun.  it's fine and i definitely finished it and all, but not super memorable - the premise is a world where the "love" gene has been found in our DNA and people can take a DNA test to find the other person in the world who is their perfect match.)

broken horses, by brandi carlile (i listened to this audiobook of my favorite artist and it was really interesting and better written than i had feared it might be.  the audiobook version includes a ton of recordings of brandi singing songs after explaining the story of how they were written.  listen to the audiobook!  read by the author!  if you're a fan, definitely read this.)

the last policeman, by ben h. winters (another book you can go ahead and skip though i didn't totally dislike it...the story of a policeman trying to solve a homicide as the earth gets closer to the date much of humanity will be destroyed by an asteroid.  didn't hate it, didn't love it.  premise is almost better than the book...is that too harsh?)

may: 20

it's been a while*, but i think i only read one book in may:

detransition, baby, by torrey peters (from my bookshelf - my friend nora sent me this one, and i loved it.  a fictional story of a trans woman who detransitions back to living as a man.  he gets a cis woman pregnant, and then has to confront fatherhood.  i wouldn't recommend this to a teenage reader (there is some pretty explicit sex-y stuff), but i'd highly recommend this to others - it was a situation that happens but that i hadn't conceived of, and the complexities of it were super interesting and nuanced.  the story is so well written, too, and the author is trans herself.)

*both since may ended and since i only read one book in a month

april: 17, 18 & 19

catching up on my posting!  in april i read: 

gods of howl mountain, by taylor brown (from my bookshelf - i liked the setting (mountains of north carolina during prohibition - we follow a bootlegger), but this didn't blow my mind nor have i thought about it a lot since i read it.  i liked it but didn't love it!)

smoketown, by mark whitaker (ooh, i loved this one, a story of black pittsburgh in the first half or two-thirds of the 20th century - the pittsburgh courier newspaper, sports, music, how black pittsburghers lived in the city.  i have been talking about and recommending this a lot since i finished it, and if you have any interest in the subject area, i would HIGHLY recommend it.  i listened to the audiobook, which was well-narrated.)

dear edward, by ann napolitano (this was fine.  it had gotten a fair amount of hype when it came out but it didn't blow my mind.  a decent beach read, i'd imagine, but nothing special!)

march: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16

somehow i read a ton in march (spring break helped, i guess!), including two books from my bookshelf.  the challenge to read some books i already own has been helpful to guide me.  as i write this, most of my books have been moved to the new house, so i'll probably be relying on my kindle as we transition into our new space.

in march i read:

the mother of all questions, by rebecca solnit (from my bookshelf - this is a collection of feminist essays it was good but not great.  i liked her first collection, men explain things to me, to be better - or maybe i'd just gotten her point from the first book and didn't need this one?)

outlawed, by anna north (this was a book of the month club pick and it was pretty good - i won't be shouting its name from the hilltops, but it was an entertaining story of barren women becoming outlaws, and maybe we're supposed to think the sundance kid (of butch cassidy fame) could have been a woman and a lesbian?  colorful characters, beautifully described scenes, entertaining plot.  i give this one a B+.)

all things bright and beautiful, by james herriot (this is a book i've been reading in little snippets for a while and finally finished.  i love reading these books as an adult and seeing the interpersonal relationships more than the stories of animals.  i'm excited to watch the PBS series, which i haven't tried yet.  i will definitely continue reading these books, and i got the third one out of a free little library in my neighborhood.)

klara and the sun, by kazuo ishiguro (i really enjoy ishiguro's writing and this one didn't disappoint.  highly recommend!  intriguing, ethical questions, bizarro universe.  enough said.)

notes on "camp," by susan sontag (from my bookshelf - this is a tiny book that just contained two essays, but i loved reading sontag describe what "camp" is (as in, that movie was so campy) and thinking about pop culture, what's in style and what's not and what becomes in style because it purposefully rebelled against past styles.  this is not necessarily my genre or wheelhouse, but i really liked this.  definitely worth reading.)

a ladder to the sky, by john boyne (thank god john boyne redeemed himself from that last book of his that i read.  this is wonderful, the story of one man told mostly through the lives of those he affected (spoiler alert: negatively) over the course of his life.  really great writing, really interesting story, and it all comes together at the end in a satisfying way.  recommend!)

the midnight library, by matt haig (oh boy, did this one disappoint.  i guess when a book is super popular sometimes that's because it's not really very high brow?  this one felt like a beach read to me, and it seemed like a total rip off of a lot of elements of it's a wonderful life and i was annoyed by that.  i guess i don't recommend this?  i mean, i don't.  i suggested it for my book club and we haven't discussed it yet, so i will have to see if others saw redeeming qualities in this book that i didn't.)

february: 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9

this month it snowed a lot and there was nothing to do because: pandemic, and i read:

the office of historical corrections, by danielle evans (i heard about this from the book of the month club but didn't end up buying it - i got it from the library on kindle, which, honestly, is my preferred medium.  i don't tend to love short stories, but i really liked these - the author is a black woman and the stories touch on race in different ways.  the book ends with a novella that i liked the least of any of the stories, but i'd definitely recommend this book even if, like me, short stories aren't your thing.)

a traveler at the gates of wisdom, by john boyne (i have REALLY enjoyed the two john boyne books i've read before now and i heard about this one and my library didn't own it, which was surprising to me.  i requested it and they bought it, and you know what: there is a reason they didn't already have a copy.  you can go ahead and pass on this book.  it's long.  it has a shtick: each chapter continues the story that is begun in the first chapter, but in a different culture and different time in world history. AND THEN IT DOES NOT EVER TELL YOU WHY IT IS DOING THAT.  they never come together.  at like two places in the book there is some acknowledgement that it is happening.  and that is it.  so this is a book with a shtick instead of a book that is doing anything profound.  i'm not even sure it was published in print (i got it on kindle) in the US.) 

bone, by yrsa daley-ward (this is a re-read of a book of poetry.  i thought about giving it away after reading it now for the second time, but i can't.  some of the lines i need to have in my home to go back to.  highly recommend!)

on earth we're briefly gorgeous, by ocean vuong (this author is "coming" to pittsburgh in a few weeks as part of a lecture series (presumably he'll be at home and the lecture will be pre-recorded, like others in the series this year), so i wanted to read it in advance of the lecture.  i didn't hate it (my friend Q didn't even finish it), and there were some really interesting relationship in it: narrator with his grandmother, narrator with his mother (to whom the book is addressed, like a letter, but like many epistlary books i found myself being like "you would never put that in a letter to your mother - you are telling us this because the audience needs to know, not your mother"), narrator with his first lover.  there were some pretty graphic sexual parts, which i wasn't necessarily expecting (again: see "letter to mother problem," above).  i'll be interested in seeing what the lecture is like.  this is getting a lot of critical acclaim.)

what doesn't kill you makes you blacker, by damon young (i heard the author interview ta-nehisi coates in the same lecture series i referenced above; he is a pittsburgher and i decided to listen to the audiobook of his memoir.  it was really funny and also quite poignant and i always like listening to books read by the author.  he grew up in the part of pittsburgh where we live, but when it was a primarily black neighborhood.  it was really interesting to hear his take on east liberty and shadyside today (spoiler alert: "portlandia with pierogies"), and this was altogether a book i really enjoyed and would definitely recommend if you like memoir.)

january: 1, 2, 3 & 4

one thing i'm going to try to commit to this year is reading one book each month that i already own and that sits on my bookshelf waiting to be read.  i have...a lot of these.  20 or 25 books, maybe?  so i'm trying to chip away at that.  i'll indicate which books fit that category throughout the year!

everyone brave is forgiven, by chris cleave (from my bookshelf.  there are so many WWII in britain books that if i'm going to read a new one it needs to be really good.  this one was fine.  and had some excessive use of the n-word that seems unacceptable by a white author but maybe you could get away with five years ago when this book was written?  it really turned me off, though.  i read a blog post by the author where he talked about wanting his readers to understand that ordinary white brits at the time were racist and by using that word he was able to make his point.  okay...and that presupposes that you have to make that point to a white audience, and thus that all your readers are white.  what about the nonwhite readers, for whom seeing this word all over your pages is going to cause a lot of pain, and not, from my opinion, for your art because i think your art could have survived without the word.  i don't know.  not highly recommending this one, i guess, though i have liked chris cleave books in the past.)

the snow queen, by michael cunningham (from my bookshelf.  besides the fact that i don't think this is the right title for this book (i'd love to know if he picked this title or had it thrust upon him by the publisher), i really liked this book.  it didn't follow any overused tropes - it really felt unique in its plot and in how the characters developed.  new york city, friends, life and death, apartments that feel like another character in the book.  i'd recommend this one!)

hamnet, by maggie o'farrell (this one started off slow for me but i really came to enjoy it.  it's more the (fictionalized) story of shakespeare's wife than his son, hamnet, which is how it was advertised.  but a really interesting look into 16th century england, families, the plague, gender...and i like books that go back and forth in time to tell us some of the past to help us understand the plot in the present.  you don't have to care about shakespeare to like this book!)

hidden valley road, by robert kolker (i was captivated by this from the get go - the story of a family with 12 children, born between 1945 and 1965, of which 6 have schizophrenia.  it's both a story of the family and also the research around the disease and the debate about nature vs. nurture.  it's the very best kind of narrative nonfiction and i would highly recommend it!  i listened to the audiobook, with a great narrator.)

2020 in books

over the past 10 years, i have blogged about my reading here, and in the process of documenting it and being purposeful about prioritizing it, i have increased the amount that i read.  in 2011 when i started this with the goal of reading 25 books, i read 38.  i peaked in 2016 with 58 books, and this year i read 50, about a book a week.  i've tried to make note when i read a diverse book (as in, the main character or the author is not white), and this year i read 14 of those books.  (put another way, i read 36 books this year where the main character AND the author were white, so i've clearly still got a ways to go.)

my favorite books of 2020:

golden child, by claire adam

a woman is no man, by etaf rum

one day, by gene weingarten

disappearing earth, by julia phillips

how to be an antiracist, by ibram x. kendi

the vanishing half, by brit benett

leave the world behind, by rumaan alam

december: 48, 49 & 50

i finished out the year with these books:

the invisible life of addie larue, by v.e. schwab (this is from the book of the month club and it was getting a lot of press - the premise is that the main character makes a deal with the devil, and is cursed to live forever but have no one remember her.  and then, 300 years later, someone DOES remember her.  it was slow in places and definitely won't be my favorite book i read this year, but i liked this one and it kept me interested.)

dept. of speculation, by jenny offill (this is short, in a non-traditional format, with not a ton of plot. it was one of those books that got a lot of great critical acclaim and i liked it and all, but i wouldn't have said it was one of the 10 best books of 2014, but the new york times did.  and because they did, it seems like i should really love it because that makes me smart and nuanced and cultured?  i guess what i'm saying is: this book didn't make a huge impact on me, but i did enjoy it and i thought it was beautifully written, and take that as you will.)

transcendent kingdom, by yaa gyasi (i was highly anticipating this book because i loved her first book (homegoing), and this one was really different - a more narrow story of a scientist, her relationship with her immigrant mother, their relationship to her father, and the reckoning with her brother's death.  i think this author is a beautiful writer and i really liked the way the story was told - going back and forth between the present, as she works in the lab and deals with her mother's depression, and the past, where you see the difficulties arise for her family.  in some ways this is a black immigrant story and in others it's a really universal story of families, and liked that.  i'd highly recommend it!)

november: 44, 45, 46 & 47

this month i read: 

wonder boys, by michael chabon (arron had recommended this to me when i moved to pittsburgh - it's set here, and it was fun to read the book and know a lot of the locations.  this book was very MALE, is maybe the best way to describe it.  and very IRRESPONSIBLE.  men making bad life decisions, one on top of the other.  so i got frustrated with the book, but i was talking about it a lot while i read it and then i did really want to watch the movie to see how they depicted it...so i guess i'm saying there was a lot in this book, but i didn't necessarily like it, mostly because the main character was a mess and i really wanted him to get his life together.  i have liked other chabon books better.  read kavalier and clay instead.)

memorial, by bryan washington (oooh i liked this one a lot.  the author is from houston and i'd heard good things about his work, so when this showed up as a book of the month club choice, i knew i wanted to read it.  modern love story - or maybe falling out of love story? - the first half told from one person's perspective and the second from his boyfriend's perspective.  some really interesting cultural stuff here - they are an interracial couple and we watch them navigate that, plus a lot of the book is set in japan.  it's a little nontraditional in terms of format - no quotation marks for dialogue, for example - but i really enjoyed it.  i was having trouble sleeping for part of the time i read this book, so it was with me by book light in some early mornings and i want to thank it for that!)

writers & lovers, by lily king (i really liked her book euphoria and picked this one up because she did a virtual lecture in pittsburgh this fall that i would have gone to in person in a different version of 2020.  this book is about lovers (bad and good - who you think you want and who you really want) and writing and the jobs you work while trying to get a book published.  there are some great scenes in this restaurant where the main character works that were so vivid and hilarious and sad.  i liked this book a lot, and after two books that were very male, this book with a 30-something female protagonist was welcomed and felt more relevant to me.  her lecture was great, too.)

leave the world behind, by rumaan alam (oooh this is a good book to read right about now.  a white family rents an airbnb with bad cell phone reception in the area and on the second night the black couple that owns the airbnb shows up at the door and asks to stay with them - there has been a blackout in new york city.  then weird stuff starts to happen.  there's some cool stuff where the narrator changes and you get these omniscient narrator scenes and then it pops back into the airbnb where they don't know much...it's creepy without being a full on thriller and it was a book i really wanted to talk about while i was reading it.  highly recommend!)

october: 40, 41, 42, & 43

in october i read:

anxious people, by fredrik backman (i like backman's writing, and this had some good twists and turns, with that same great balance of tender moments and hilarity that i find in all his writing.  he isn't my favorite author, but he's in the top 20 of reliably enjoyable writing.  i'd recommend!)

girl, woman, other, by bernardine evaristo (this author is coming to pittsburgh for a lecture in april (well, it will be online now), and i wanted to read her book before i heard her speak.  this is a really well done collection of fictional stories of women's experiences that often cross each other or come together in really cool ways.  this is a book that i wish i'd had an english teacher to walk me through - or i need to read it a second time or something - because the writing is SO good and i know there was more going on here than a first reading would let me take in.  i'd definitely recommend!)

never turn back, by christopher swann (a former coworker of mine's second book, this is a great thriller set in atlanta.  take it with you on a weekend away in a cabin, or on a beach trip.  if we do those sort of things any more.)

the heart goes last, by margaret atwood (creepy post-apocalyptic writing: classic margaret atwood.  in this version of the future, people voluntarily go to jail for a month in order to have a safe home to live in for the next month.  during the month in jail, another family comes out of jail and lives in your house - so it's a time share relationship.  and then nefarious things happen to our main characters.  i love atwood's world creation and her ideas about a future that is maybe not too far from what people would sign up for...)

september: 37, 38, and 39

the vigilante, by john steinbeck (this was a little set of three short stories, none of which i'd read before, that i bought a year or so ago.  honestly, i forgot how dire things are in steinbeck's stories, and how devastating his clear and simple writing can be.  these stories were tough to get through and i'm not sure i'd recommend steinbeck in this already depressing year, but i was glad to read this book that had been on my shelf.)

still life, by louise penny (people who love mysteries love this author, and this is the first in a series.  i thought it was fine?  it really didn't do much for me (oops, sorry, to all you mystery lovers) but i think that reflects more on my genre interests and not on the author.  mystery just isn't my jam and i was happy to have that confirmed.)

the water dancer, by ta-nehisi coates (a beautifully written book with a really interesting story line, that was another depressing read (and which i should have seen coming, given the subject matter - slavery and the underground railroad).  i'd highly recommend this book, but it was a bit of a slog for me because life in september 2020 was a bit of a slog.  that said, i love coates and this book is fantastic.)

august: 36

august was a crazy month, as we finalized everything to go back to school in person.  honestly, it feels like it was years ago.  apparently i only read one book! 

 

just mercy, by bryan stevenson (this is a re-read - i originally read it in december 2016 after seeing the author speak.  my initial write up is here.  i re-read it this summer with some coworkers after the police shootings and black lives matter protests brought the book back to the forefront of my mind.  i highly recommend it if you haven't read it!)

july: 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, & 35

this month i read:

white fragility, by robin diangelo (i listened to the audiobook of this, along with the rest of white liberal america, i'm sure.  she's doing a digital speaking event in pittsburgh in september, which i have a ticket to, and i'm eager to hear her speak.  this was helpful and reinforcing of other DEI work that i've done, and parts were "aha" moments for me, but others just reinforced what i already thought or was trying to do.  i'd definitely recommend it for people interested in the work!)

the ballad of songbirds and snakes, by suzanne collins (a prequel to the hunger games trilogy, and worth reading even if the only character they share is president snow - in this book, an 18 year old, in the hunger games, in his 80s.  if you're a fan of the series, i would recommend this!)

year of wonders, by geraldine brooks (this is a re-read - i first read it in july 2011, when i wrote this: fictional portrayal of a real life event - in 1665 in rural england, the plague came to a small town and the local pastor convinced everyone in the town to quarantine themselves by staying in the town - thus not spreading the plague, but killing more than half of the town's inhabitants.  the story is told from the viewpoint of the pastor's maid.  some of the fictional plot lines within this larger story were a little improbable, i thought, but overall i really enjoyed it! - i will say that re-reading it during the pandemic gave me a slightly different appreciation for it, which is why i picked it back up.  i'd definitely still recommend it to you all!)

the vanishing half, by brit benett (i loved this book, about passing in the black community, about truth vs. lies, about how much the past impacts the present, about families.  so nuanced and so good.  i talked about it a lot while i was reading it, which is always a good sign!)

the boy, the mole, the fox and the horse, by charlie mackery (such a sweet book that my mom got me for christmas and i finally read, in one sitting.  would be a great read-aloud book for an elementary school aged kid, but equally great for an adult!)

the happy ever after playlist, by abby jimenez (this book is cheesy and ridiculous and also i kind of loved it, which i will deny if ever asked in smart-people company.)

june: 27, 28 & 29

my mom reminded me that we're at the halfway point of the year - 26 weeks in, and i've read 29 books this year.  this puts me on track to have a great year of reading - 58 books if the pace continues.  who knows what the second half of the year will bring, honestly, so we'll see!

the happiness hypothesis, by jonathan haidt (i went to a conference where this author spoke, and i was drawn to this book of his on what makes people happy.  i definitely folded down several pages as i was reading, and the philosophy of happiness is pretty interesting stuff.  if the topic sounds interesting to you, this book is worth a read!)

'round midnight, by laura mcbride (man, sometimes the second book you read by an author isn't as good as you wanted it to be - and this book falls into that category.  i think that's a theme of my reading this year!  i loved we are called to rise, and this book was good and kept me interested, but i won't be rushing out to recommend it to everyone.  it's the story of four women and how their stories intersect (you know i love that in a book! but perhaps because i love that in a book i'm critical of books that don't do it as well as some others do).  i also discovered that they changed the title of this book when it was published in paperback - in the midnight room is the other title.  honestly, neither title is great.  the midnight room isn't crucial to the plot.  anyway: this book was fine and will keep you entertained if you pick it up.)

how to be an antiracist, by ibram x. kendi (like all good white liberals, i picked up this book in june - i listened to the audiobook over the past few weeks.  the author reads it (which i always like), and this did a lot to further me on my journey.  i have the physical book coming in the mail, but it's backordered, and i do expect to read it again when it arrives - probably more carefully, with annotations.  the audiobook got me through the important concepts, but a lot of what he says requires some more thought.  i'll also say: if someone had told me in advance that this is part memoir, i would have read it sooner.  i love a memoir, and i found kendi's story very powerful.  if you read this, the interview he does on brene brown's podcast is also worth a listen.  definitely recommend!)

may: 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 & 26

in may i read:

the glass hotel, by emily st. john mandel (i loved this author's previous book (station eleven) and had been eagerly anticipating this book.  it didn't hit me with quite the same force as the previous one BUT i did enjoy reading it and the world that was created was vivid in my imagination as i was reading.  a solid read, and i'd recommend it, but it didn't blow my mind.)

revolver, by marcus sedgwick (this is a YA book by an author i really enjoy, and this book - set in alaska during the gold rush - kept me on edge and eager to find out what was going to happen next.  it would be perfect to read on a snowy weekend in the winter, and you could read it in a weekend - it's not long.  i definitely like this author and would recommend him!)

southern lady code, by helen ellis (this book disappointed.  i'd had it on my list for a long time but didn't remember what it was about, and this non-fiction set of essays by a southern woman living in NYC and attempting to be both hilarious and sweet just didn't do it for me.  pass on this one.)

wow, no thank you, by samantha irby (i listened to the audiobook of this and was very entertained.  good if you like irreverent female comedy.)

long way down, by jason reynolds (this is a YA book by an author i'm hearing a lot about right now.  this book is written almost as a series of poems.  it's powerful and relevant (the protagonist sets out to kill the kid who just killed his brother), and a little magical realism-esque, which isn't always my jam but i liked this a lot.  would definitely recommend it to people who like YA)

disappearing earth, by julia phillips (hoo boy, this book was good.  highly recommend!  go read this book!  a set of interconnecting stories of women in kamchatka.  i learned a ton about life in kamchatka, got a snippet of native-white russian relations, got some love stories, got some SAD stories, didn't always know where a story was going (but it always got there), and LOVED the ending.  this book has gotten a ton of great press and several national awards, all of it justified.)

april: 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20

on to april...though posting in june (oops):

every day, by david levithan (this is a YA book that had been recommended to me a few years ago - a teenager wakes up every day in a different body and has to navigate that life.  some days he's male, others female, gay, straight, popular, isolated, etc.  i liked this book but it didn't change my life!  high quality YA, though.)

warlight, by michael ondaatje (i read this because ondaatje did an online lecture in this pittsburgh lecture series that i really like (and am planning to subscribe to in some capacity next year).  i really like listening to authors talk about their craft, and going to these lectures is just one more way in which i've become a contented 75 year old lady.  i also loved the english patient, so this one had been on my list for a little while.  i really liked it - he's such a beautiful writer - and this mysterious story of siblings and the odd family around them really held my attention, and then it was rewarding to hear the author talk about different aspects of the book.  i'd definitely recommend this one!, though it isn't super plot driven and you'd have to be okay with a lot of character building.)

the splendid and the vile, by erik larson (i listened to the audiobook of this, which i had been eagerly anticipating.  i wasn't let down - i really like larson's narrative nonfiction writing style, and enjoyed a deeper dive into winston churchill's first year as prime minister.)

untamed, by glennon doyle (did i love this book or did i hate this book?  i can't tell.  parts of it really spoke to me and parts i had a hard time connecting with - especially when she talked about the struggles of balancing yourself and your obligation to your children, as i'm not a parent.  do i hate her as she goes through this self examination that i've done much of already...or do i love her for her vulnerability and wise words?  not sure, but i've had a lot of conversations about this book with friends since i read it, so i'm definitely glad that i did.  she's no brene brown, but she reminds me of her.)

one day, by gene weingarten (oh, i loved this book - please read it!  it's nonfiction - the author is a journalist, who picks a date out of a hat and then follows some of the stories of what happened on that day in 1986 through to the present.  i loved the way he told these stories, many of which were quite ordinary and he found the interesting twist within it.  a great concept, and a well-fleshed out book.  parts of it - the two house fires that he follows up on, for example, and the woman who had the first heart transplant at a hospital in DC - i'm still thinking about.)

valentine, by elizabeth wetmore (oh, i loved this one, too.  the story of a bunch of women in a west texas town who are tangentially connected to each other and tangentially connected to a girl who is raped (the book begins with her escaping her rapist the morning after the crime).  i loved how vividly constructed the time and place were, and i always love books where characters are connected in interesting ways that unfold over the course of the story.  it's not a light read, but i really liked it - this was my book of the month pick in april.)

march: 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14

march's reading was higher than normal, i think because social distancing gave me more time at home and thus more opportunities to open up a book.  i have heard from others that they actually haven't read as much as usual because it's hard to focus on a book with so many other things banging around in their head.  i feel lucky to still be able to focus on this past time that i love.  this month i read:


things in jars, by jess kidd (this was a book of the month pick and it was fine but i wouldn't recommend it.  ultimately, i wasn't sure how much i cared about the characters.  i found the ending unsatisfying.  but there was an air of magical realism in it, which is definitely not my jam, and i'm not obsessed with literature set in the victorian era, either.  i know there's an audience for this book, but i don't think it's me.)

evvie drake starts over, by linda holmes (this was cute and light, but didn't change my life.)

say nothing, by patrick radden keefe (this was a book club pick and i'm really glad my friend veronica pushed us to pick it.  it's the story of the provisional IRA in belfast, told through the lens of the kidnapping and murder of a housewife.  i learned a ton.  it was narrative enough to be something i could read before bed [i can't do that with all nonfiction], and the storyline was fascinating.  definitely recommend this one if you like history and nonfiction writing.)

kindred spirits, by rainbow rowell (this was a cute little kindle short story by a YA author i love.  if you have a kindle and like rowell's writing and haven't read this, it's worth the couple bucks it costs.)

fleishman is in trouble, by taffy brodesser-akner (some books about the depths of marriage or parenthood are really hard for me to relate to, as i'm neither married nor a parent, and this book fell into that camp at times for me.  [and also, sometimes i don't care about rich people problems, and this book has a lot of rich people problems.]  but it does a really interesting thing, which is to show the relationship and the crisis situation that the book centers on from the perspective of first the father and then the mother.  and then the narrator is actually the father's friend from college?  so there is definitely stuff going on here that is different and worth puzzling over and you should ponder for yourself whether you want to check this book out.)

february: 6, 7, 8 & 9

oh, to look back at a different time, where i read books in restaurants and drove around enough to listen to audiobooks in large chunks...

in february i read:


this book is anti-racist, by tiffany jewell (this is the book i read in a restaurant, as i took myself out to a fancy dinner before going back to work for an evening event.  the director of equity and inclusion at my school gave it to me to preview because she's considering asking the whole faculty to read it this summer.  it's aimed at a high school audience, but is a great primer for talking about diversity work; i ultimately highly encouraged her to go forward with her plan.  two phrases i particularly liked: instead of "minority" or "people of color," she prefers "people of the global majority."  i was into that.  and instead of "allies," she calls people like me "co-conspirators," which i also loved.  if you work in education, this would be a valuable book to investigate!)

leaders eat last, by simon sinek (this took me a long time to read, as many professional development books do, but i finally finished it in february.  a lot of valuable ideas in this and it's definitely worth familiarizing yourself with sinek's work if you do leadership work in your organization.)

there there, by tommy orange (i re-read this because tommy orange came to pittsburgh and i had tickets to see him!  guys, in february we gathered together in large numbers.  it was a thing we did.  i loved his lecture, which was thoughtful and intimate.  and this book is really incredible, so i continue to recommend it to you!)

the dutch house, by ann patchett (i listened to the first half of this on audiobook (tom hanks narrates - it's amazing) and then when it got auto-returned to the library because my time was up i read a hard copy of the remaining 2/3 of the book.  i would highly recommend this book - the story of a family and a house that is just as much a character as the family is.  it goes back and forth in time and thus unfolds in a really interesting way.  read this book!  it's just as good as all the hype says it is.)

january: 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

new year, new reading list!  i started off strong in january:

a woman is no man, by etaf rum (oh, i loved this book, the story of a palestinian woman who moves to america to get married, and also the story of her american-born daughter.  this is one of those books that opened up my eyes to a world i hadn't encountered before and the story is SO well told.  highly highly recommend!)

city of girls, by elizabeth gilbert (you just go ahead and skip this one, unless you're on a beach and need a really light read between sips of fruity drinks.  it was too light and not terribly interesting, honestly...and also a horrible book to read following the super intense and really enlightening read of a woman is no man - it just couldn't compare to how much i loved that book.)

out of this furnace, by thomas bell (guys, my now-boyfriend bought me this book when he was just my friend and i had just moved to pittsburgh.  it's his favorite book, and tells the story of three generations of immigrant mill workers in pittsburgh in the late 19th and early 20th century.  it's beautifully written in places and a really compelling story of how my new city was built!  he re-read it while i read it for the first time (all told, it took me about six months to finish this book as i kept putting it down while i waited for him to catch back up to where i was) and the act of read it alongside him was just as sweet to do as you're imagining it would be.  i would highly recommend that pittsburghers read this!)

letters to a young poet, by rainer maria rilke (this is a tiny book that piqued my interested when it was referenced in the friend and i'm glad i picked it up and dived into it.  i don't think it changed my life, but it does include the best line about love that i've maybe ever read: “Love consists of this: two solitudes that meet, protect and greet each other.”)

golden child, by claire adam (guys, this is another one of sarah jessica parker's recommendations through the publishing house that she's working with and i loved it.  SJP can recommend books for me any day!  this is the story of twin brothers in trinidad - one is the brilliant gifted student and the other appears to have some misunderstood learning difference.  it's about family and tough choices and parental sacrifices and i found it an incredibly compelling story line.  this would make a great book club read - so much to talk about!  highly recommend.)

2019 in books

a recap:
2010: i read 15 books.
2011: i started my book challenge with the goal of reading 25 books; i read 38.
2012: 34 books
2013: 34 books again
2014: 32 books
2015: 35 books
2016: 58 books (fluke/who have i become?)
2017: 57 books (the new normal?)
2018: 42 books (which somehow feels like a failure even though i know it's not.)
2019: 54 books (i'm back, baby!)

17 of those were diverse books (as in, the main character or the author is not white) - this is my highest total in a year yet and i'm really proud of this!

my favorite books of 2019:
bone, by yrsa daley-ward
the heart’s invisible furies, by john boyne
a place for us, by fatima farheen mirza
all the ugly and wonderful things, by bryn greenwood
heavy, by kiese laymon
no one tells you this: a memoir, by glynnis macnicol
the testaments, by margaret atwood

december: 52, 53 & 54

here's how i finished up 2019!

political tribes, by amy chua (i listened to this on audiobook and it was interesting and ultimately good but could have been a longform essay instead of a book, which is how i feel about a fair amount of nonfiction.  so don't rush out to get this, but i did learn some interesting stuff in this book about human desire to belong to a group and thus to create "out group members" and the problems that can create.)

this is my body, by cameron dezen hammon (i read this at the recommendation of a friend and it was fine and all but i think a more religious person was the target audience here.  if you are that more religious 30-something woman, look into this book.  otherwise, please skip.)

salt to the sea, by ruta sepetys (arron's aunt lent me this and i really enjoyed it.  there are four narrators and each chapter is only a few pages long, so it was perfect to read in little snippets during winter break.  a super easy and rewarding read and i learned a lot about an aspect of WWII history that i knew nothing about - the fleeing of refugees and wealthy germans by boat in 1945 as it became clear germany was going to lose the war.  if you like historical fiction, i highly recommend!)

november: 50 & 51

the testaments, by margaret atwood (this is atwood's sequel-of-sorts to the handmaid's tale and i put my name on the list at the library super early for this and was lucky enough to get it at the end of october - woo hoo!  i'm actually a card-carrying member of two libraries - houston and pittsburgh - which was been a real boon to my reading.  the pittsburgh carnegie library system is amazing and has much more extensive holdings than houston, btw, which you might not be surprised to hear given their namesake's endowment.  but that's neither here nor there.  i loved this book, which does not take us back to offred's story but instead gives us a few other women and their stories both inside and outside gilead.  the book is set 15 or so years after the handmaid's tale ends.  highly recommend!)

the great believers, by rebecca makkai (my friend kenley recommended this to me and i'm so glad she did.  a really great story told in two time frames - 1980s chicago, through the eyes of a gay man facing the AIDS crisis in his friend group, and 2010s paris, as the sister of a man in that friend group searches for her daughter.  this was a quick and satisfying read, though obviously pretty tough to read at points.)

october: 45, 46, 47, 48 & 49

and here i am catching up on posting what i read this fall.  sheesh - i should have posted this months ago!  but here we go.  in october i read:

educated, by tara westover (i listened to the audiobook of this one and loved it.  it's just as incredible as everyone says it is and memoirs are one of my favorite genres.  highly recommend!)

american spy, by lauren wilkinson (this book had such a great premise - black female CIA agent does lots of spying - but i found the book to be a bit ponderous and i kind of had to make myself finish it.  even though obama liked it, don't run out to grab this one.)

the woman in the window, by a.j. finn (super creepy thriller that i read for a work book club - it's not my normal genre, but i did like gone girl and the girl on the train so i guess i read these kind of books when they get a ton of press.  it gave me a nightmare so i guess it did its job.  i was definitely intrigued and was trying to guess who was the bad guy through the book.  this would be a great beach read or (what's the winter equivalent?)...a ski weekend read.  definitely google the author after you read the book.  he's got some weird stuff going on in his world, too...)

talking to strangers, by malcolm gladwell (i listened to the audiobook of this, too, which was worth it.  i always like gladwell's books and this was no exception, but this book tackles some really tough themes - rape, police shootings, and waterboarding among others - so be warned that parts of this book are hard to get through ESPECIALLY if you listen to the audiobook, as gladwell includes some real audio clips from sandra bland's police stop, for example.  i'm glad i read this and would recommend it!)

the handmaid's tale, by margaret atwood (i re-read this in preparation for reading her most recent book.  i've watched the tv show and really enjoyed it, but i loved going back to the story the show is based on and seeing how atwood crafted this world before hollywood got involved.  i pulled out several quotes from the book about love that really spoke to me.  all in all, very glad i went back to this.)

september: 42, 43 & 44

dreamland, by sam quinones (oh guys, i was fascinated by this book.  it's the (nonfiction) story of how the opioid epidemic got started, mixed with the story of heroin trafficking from mexico.  it's narrative and focuses on some particular cities and people.  i learned a ton and even though this book is a few years old the is obviously still news headlines and i feel a lot more able to understand the conversation.  i'd highly recommend it!)

the friend, by sigrid nunez (my school's librarian has started a book club for faculty which is obviously totally my jam.  this was the september pick - an author i'd never heard of, but this book won the national book award last year so i'm surprised i didn't know about her.  i really loved this book.  the story of a relationship and a dog and meditations on death and grieving.  the author spoke in pittsburgh and i went to the event with three people from work (look - i'm making friends!) and it was really cool to hear her speak.  this book is literary and really accessible all in one and i loved it.  highly recommend!)

this tender land, by william kent krueger (this was my book of the month club pick and it was fine and all but didn't blow me away.  it's a huck finn story set during the depression in minnesota, and the main characters are runaways from an indian boarding school.  great premise, but the book dragged a bit.  i didn't dislike it, i just am not running out to recommend it to others.)

august: 39, 40 & 41

in august i read:

transcription, by kate atkinson (i didn't love this book, and i really did love the few other kate atkinson books i've read.  read life after life instead of this one!  i just didn't find this story line compelling enough for me, and life after life is fantastic.)

how not to die alone, by richard roper (a super sweet and compelling story about a man who works for a government agency in england that tries to find the next of kin for people who die alone.  while he also works in his personal life on not being that person who does alone.  an easy read - would be perfect for the beach or another vacation, even given the somewhat grim subject matter - it's not a depressing book to read at all.  i recommend it!)

the reckless oath we made, by bryn greenwood (this is the second book by this author that i've read this year and i really love her writing.  this one, like all the ugly and wonderful things, is profoundly sad at times, but there's also a spirit to her characters that tells you they can overcome the bad things in their life.  i think that's why i like her writing so much!  i'd highly recommend you check out one of her books.)

july: 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 & 38

back into my bad habit of not updating this frequently enough!  here we go...here's what i read in july:

a very large expanse of sea, by tahereh mafi (a decent but not exceptional YA book about a muslim-american girl right after 9/11.  my new school actually picked it as the all-freshman read, but as an adult who likes YA i wasn't blown away.)

no one tells you this: a memoir, by glynnis macnicol (now this i was blown away by.  a memoir of a woman around her 40th birthday, confronting being single / does she want children and also struggling with her mother's chronic illness.  that sounds super depressing, but the writing was gorgeous and i could relate so much to the situation the author was in (minus the ill mother).  i was recommending this left and right to women around my age!)

me and earl and the dying girl, by jesse andrews (another decent but not exceptional YA book.  this one is set in pittsburgh, which is why i read it.  i think i read the whole thing on the flight from london to pittsburgh on my way back from my european trip.  i'd recommend it for a similar situation!)

thirteen ways of looking, by colum mccann (i loved this - short stories from an author i really enjoy.  i got this at a used bookstore and was so pleased to finally read it.)

the sun also rises, by ernest hemingway (uh, guys?  this didn't do it for me.  i know other people adore it and i have loved other hemingway works - and really enjoyed some autobiographical stuff he wrote - but this felt very dated.  pro-bullriding, pro-alcoholism, problematic language and discussions about people of other races.  this is not hemingway at his best in terms of character.  which is maybe me asking too much of him?)

heavy, by kiese laymon (adored this memoir.  a must-read for you all.  it's a memoir of growing up black in the south and also of growing up overweight.  i found a lot that spoke to my own experience with the voices in my head about my weight, but a lot that was a window into a totally different world and experience.  he's a GORGEOUS writer, and he read the audiobook.  so if you have an opportunity to read the book that way i'd highly recommend it!)

june: 29, 30, 31 & 32

finally catching up on telling you what i read in june!


american pop, by snowden wright (this is a fun quick read about a fictional family creating a fictional soda company to compete with coke and pepsi.  it moves around in time through different members of the same family and i found it easy to follow and an enjoyable story line.  not changing my life or anything, but i'd recommend!)



march, by geraldine brooks (oh, i loved this book - the retelling of little women from the absent father's perspective.  i really like geraldine brooks' writing and this book did not disappoint.  if you have read little women i would highly recommend this!  if you haven't, i think you can skip...much of the appeal is that i already "knew" the family.)



ask again, yes, by mary beth keane (this book is getting a ton of press right now and jimmy fallon just picked it to be his summer book club book and he's talking about it on his show on august 15th!  i really loved this book and would highly recommend it.  it's one of those books that doesn't fit a specific pattern and you don't totally know where it's going or how far into these characters' lives you will follow them, but you are super eager to find out more.  there are a few really good cliff hangers.  it's a perfect summer read - i'd highly recommend!)



daisy jones & the six, by taylor jenkins reid (everyone was talking about this book and it's a great vacation read.  it is set up in interview style, with a fictional band looking back on how they formed and their early years traveling the road together.  i legit would forget this wasn't a real band, and when they talked about specific songs or albums i'd almost get up to go listen to it on spotify.  ha!  this book didn't change my life but it was an enjoyable read.)

may: 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 & 28

this month i read:

american primitive, by mary oliver (when mary oliver died, i finally bought a book of her poetry after loving the few poems of hers that i had already read.  this book won the pulitzer prize, and was SO lovely.  highly recommend!)

the art of gathering, by priya parker (guys, i can't stop talking about this book.  brilliance about how to lead parties AND work meetings that are meaningful and purposeful.  i folded a ton of pages down and will be trying to implement some of the concepts at my new job.  HIGHLY recommend!)

beartown, by fredrik backman (i was really looking forward to this book, as i loved backman's other books.  this...didn't do it for me.  the book is about a sexual assault and the community's reactions to the aftermath.  processing it with some friends, i realized i didn't like it because it's TOO real and it was painful to spend like 60% of the book dwelling in how horrible the "after" was for the young woman and her family and the community.  so maybe that's actually a compliment for this book?  but it's the first of his books that i wouldn't recommend.  read something else of his instead!)

all the ugly and wonderful things, by bryn greenwood (uh guys this was incredible.  the [fictional] story of a girl called wavy who grows up the child of meth addicts.  i loved the characters and the relationships but it was heartbreaking at times.  HIGHLY recommend this one - the good stuff was so wonderful that it was worth the hard parts to read.)

the second mrs. hockaday, by susan rivers (a fine but not exceptional civil war epistolary novel about a woman and a man and a baby who dies.  i'm into that kind of book, but i know it's not everyone's cup of tea.)

how to raise an adult, by julie lythcott-haims (lythcott-haims came to the school where i work and spoke this fall; my book club read her memoir of growing up biracial in the 1980s, and then i finally read this education/parenting book this spring.  highly recommend, if you work in education or are a parent!  i folded down a lot of pages.)

goodbye days, by jeff zentner (young adult - another book by an author i loved but this wasn't the right book for me because it was too real and too sad.  in this one, a kid texts a friend who is driving a car.  in responding to the text, he gets into an accident and the three kids in the car die.  SO DEPRESSING OMG I CRIED A FAIR AMOUNT.  another one i can't recommend because, though it was super well written, it was too sad to foist upon another person.)

april: 18, 19, 20 & 21

evicted, by matthew desmond (this is a re-read of an incredibly powerful and important book - i re-read it because i led a faculty book club at school on the book this spring.  reading and talking about it with others was so rewarding - but also a reminder of how depressing it is to enter the world of people constantly facing eviction.  it's as if looking at that world alongside other people forces you to confront how truly horrible it is.  sigh.  READ THIS BOOK, even though parts of it will be hard to get through.)

normal people, by sally rooney (this was my book of the month club pick last month, and it's getting a ton of good press, but this book did not do it for me.  the relationship was messy and both main characters had some real flaws and self-destructive qualities that i was like YOU NEED TO SEEK THERAPY FOR THIS and it wasn't escapist - it was just messy and occasionally bad like real life is messy and occasionally bad.  so it didn't do it for me, and i was glad that others on goodreads agreed with me - with the articles in the major newspapers being so positive, i wanted to make sure i wasn't being too judge-y.  goodreads gave me permission to feel the way i feel about it.)

the library book, by susan orlean (i read this for my book club - what a lovely meditations on libraries and los angeles and (the main point of the book) the library fire from the 1980s.  this was an easy book to pop in and out of because a lot of the chapters could stand on their own - and weren't terribly long.  highly recommend!)

uncommon type, by tom hanks (on a friend's suggestion, i listened to the audiobook of this one, which hanks reads.  i liked this but didn't love it - it was well worth a listen while i drove around town, but i won't be running out to purchase it for anyone.  the common theme throughout all these short stories is typewriters, and seeing how the typewriter played a role in each story was fun.  there are also three or four stories that feature the same set of characters, which i really enjoyed.)

march: 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17

a place for us, by fatima farheen mirza (this book was fabulous - the story of a muslim-american family with three children, told from different points of view within the family over a 25-ish year span.  you revisit events and see them from different perspectives.  you see the impact of gender and expectations and birth order and the immigrant experience.  i LOVED this book and the characters in it, and it made me want to read other books that sarah jessica parker is promoting through her new imprint with hogarth press.)

year of yes, by shonda rhimes (i don't often buy "self help"-ish books, but this one seemed like a good one to bring into my 2019.  it was a super easy read and i loved her story.  not too much in terms of take aways (i had no huge "aha!" moments while reading it), but i enjoyed it.  it would be a perfect read for an airplane or on vacation.)

queenie, by candice carty-williams (my newest book of the month club selection, set in london with a main character who is jamaican-british.  she's going through a rough patch - both of her own making and of things outside her control - so parts of the book are hard to read because you are watching the main character be self-destructive.  but she was so vividly brought to life as a character that i enjoyed this story and the journey she went on.  don't rush out to buy it, but i give it a thumbs up.)

dead wake, by erik larson (i listened to the audiobook of this, which is about the sinking of lusitania.  you get the story in alternate chapters from onboard the boat, on board the u-boat that ended up sinking it, and in the british intelligence office that had cracked the german code and was monitoring u-boats in the english channel.  i was fascinated by all the details in this story.  erik larson is really great at his job as a writer of narrative nonfiction.  big thumbs up, and i would recommend this even if you don't think you care about the lusitania!)

the terrible, by yrsa daley-ward (i read this in one day, on the yoga retreat i went on at the end of march.  i loved daley-ward's book of poetry called bone, and this is a poetry-prose memoir of her childhood.  i LOVE memoirs and this one did not disappoint.  a fascinating look into a different word, and crazy to imagine that she has become as successful as she has with the obstacles she's had to overcome.  love her work, and i would LOVE to see her read or speak in person.)

february: 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12

lots of reading this month, too!

there there, by tommy orange (this got a lot of press - including being on obama's reading list for last year - and i had tickets to see orange and valeria luiselli - see below - speak in houston and i was eager to finish a book from each of them before going.  long story short: it POURED the night they were speaking and the streets were starting to flood and i stayed home.  sadness.  but!  there there is absolutely worth a read.  it's described as an "urban indian" story, in contrast to most indian stories we see in literature.  a lot of characters - write them down so you don't get confused! - who all come together at a pow wow near the end of the book.  it's also clear as the book goes on that something big is going to happen at the pow wow, so there's this thick creative tension as you read, which i loved.  highly recommend!)

the mars room, by rachel kushner (this is the story of a woman going to prison for killing a man.  "the mars room" is the name of the strip club where the woman works; the man is a customer.  this is not, as you might have gathered, a super uplifting book, but a really interesting story that goes back and forth before and after the murder.  this won't be my favorite book of the year, but i liked it just fine.)

the heart’s invisible furies, by john boyne (this will probably be my favorite book of the year.  oh, how i loved this book.  i won't say much so i don't spoil anything in case you read it, but it's the story of the life of a man born in ireland in 1945, told in 75-ish page chapters that are each 7 years apart.  so the first one is his birth, then you flash to when he's 7, then 14, etc.  i am a book of the month club members, and this was voted by readers as the best book they offered in 2017, which is why i picked it up.  so worth it!)

the story of my teeth, by valeria luiselli (this book was...weird.  latin american lit is not my favorite genre so perhaps i should have seen this coming, but this book is bizarre.  i think perhaps this woman is brilliant and was doing something with literature that an english major would get a ton out of, but i had a hard time connecting with the characters and making it through some weird lists and more tedious parts.  her newest book is getting a ton of great press, though, so try her writing if you're interested!)

different seasons, by stephen king (this is four novellas put together in one book - it includes the story that the shawshank redemption is based on.  i tend to like the less scary stories by king, and this fits the bill.  worth a read if this is your genre!)

january: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7

i kind of lost my mind in january and all i did was read haha.  7 books this month!  though one is a book of poetry and one is a tiny book that contains two essays only.  but hey.  i get to count what i want to count because THIS IS MY BLOG haha.  this month i read:

children of blood and bone, by tomi adeyemi (this is a YA book that reminded me of black panther - set in africa with main characters who have some magical powers.  it's pretty good YA but has characters with somewhat predictable characteristics...i liked it a lot, but if YA isn't your thing you have permission to skip it.)

perfect little world, by kevin wilson (liked this one a lot - a social experiment in the US to raise children collectively and how that works (i love world building like that!) and how it goes awry.  i enjoyed this one a lot, though it won't be my favorite book i read this year, i'm sure.)

i feel bad about my neck, by nora ephron (i laughed out loud, i clutched my chest in poignant moments, i thought i might appreciate the book more if i was older?, but i am determined to appreciate my neck now, since apparently it will start to get droopy promptly when i turn 42.  i've got 6 years of good neck left.  let me enjoy them!  this would be a fantastic present for any woman in your life.  this book.  not a new neck.)

ghosted, by rosie walsh (a great beach read book that i read quickly because the story makes you want to know what will happen next.  a nice twist / it wasn't totally predictable.  not great literature, but would be an excellent vacation read, and i wholeheartedly recommend it for that reason.)

bone, by yrsa daley-ward (THIS WOMAN IS BRILLIANT AND YOU SHOULD BUY THIS BOOK.  if you liked rupi kaur's books of poetry, this is just as good.  i folded many pages back and i know i will read this one again.  since finishing, i have purchased her memoir, the terrible, and can't wait to dive into it.)

golden state, by ben h. winters (i really enjoyed his book underground airlines and liked this one almost as much but not quite.  another post-apocalyptic book that imagines a present world very different from our own.  i like his writing style a lot and loved the details he put in to build this world.  highly recommend.)

why i am not going to buy a computer, by wendell berry (a lovely tiny book that contained one essay - the title of the book - and then a response to readers who critiqued that essay, calling him un-feminist.  thought provoking and worth reading, though i'm sure you can find both essays for free online.)

2018 in books

2018 in books

a recap:
2010: i read 15 books.
2011: i started my book challenge with the goal of reading 25 books; i read 38.
2012: 34 books
2013: 34 books again
2014: 32 books
2015: 35 books
2016: 58 books (fluke/who have i become?)
2017: 57 books (the new normal?)
2018: 42 books (which somehow feels like a failure even though i know it's not.  i look around my apartment at all these unread books and think, "i could have read 10 more of these this year."  but it's not about the number, of course.  the number helps keep me accountable, but it's about having an active reading life as part of my greater life.)


12 of those were diverse books (as in, the main character or the author is not white)

my favorite books of 2018:
unsheltered, by barbara kingsolver
varina, by charles frazier
less, by andrew sean greer
americanah, by chimamanda ngozi adichie
the sun and her flowers, by rupi kaur
the immortalists, by chloe benjamin

go get reading, friends.

december: 40, 41 & 42

finishing up 2018, a year in which i didn't read as much as the past few years...though other good things happened...and 42 is not a number to be disappointed in!  in december i read:


where the crawdads sing, by delia owens (i really liked this book, set on the coast of north carolina and vividly described.  interesting storyline about a woman who lives in the marsh alone and is accused of murder.  this was perhaps overhyped for me - the school librarian said it was the best book she read this year and i didn't quite agree with that - but i really liked it!)

unsheltered, by barbara kingsolver (now this book was glorious.  set in the same house in two time periods - the 1870s and the present.  a long book but beautifully told and i loved reading her gorgeous prose.  this was my november book of the month club book and i'd highly recommend it!)

varina, by charles frazier (okay, this book was fantastic, too.  varina howell davis was the wife of jefferson davis.  the main plot of this book is her at 80 looking back on her life, in particular when she and her children and some slaves fled richmond when it was burned, headed for florida and then cuba.  i did SO much wikipedia-ing of her when the book was done, and there's a lot of historical truth to this fictionalized story.  i found varina FASCINATING and this is another author who knows his way around his words.  loved this book!  read it!)

november: 38 & 39

in november i read:

the power, by naomi alderman (so the premise of this book is that women have discovered a power to cause pain (and kill) using their mind.  what happens to society once women have this power?  this was a book where i really liked the premise, but all the steps of the plot to get us to the ending weren't as interesting.  this needed to be a short story, not a novel.  but that said, it *was* really interesting and i'm glad i read it!)

less, by andrew sean greer (i LOVED this book and could totally see why it won the pulitzer prize.  it's that great novel that you/me, a common reader, can actually appreciate instead of being like "i bet there's another level i'm supposed to be understanding this book on, but i am not."  it's a book of travels, a book about relationships, a book about growing old, a book about being young.  i really really enjoyed it.  might be my favorite book this year - at least it's my favorite book of the last few months.)

october: 35, 36 & 37

this month i read:

the line that held us, by david joy (i joined the book of the month club (so fun!) with the caveat that i would not let it mean i accumulated books that i didn't read.  book of the month lets you skip months, so my rule for myself is that i have to finish the previous book before i can get another.  this has resulted in me getting books about every other month.  this was my first!  "appalachian noir" is the genre they listed for this, which is pretty spot on.  i love books set in the appalachian mountains, so this was a winner for me.  not the best book i've ever read, but a gripping murder/kidnapping mystery nonetheless!)

the great alone, by kristin hannah (so i had super high hopes for this one...that were kind of dashed.  i LOVED the nightingale, and this was her most recent release...and while this was a fine book i wanted it to be as amazing as the nightingale and it wasn't.  the school librarian said it well when we talked about it - i'm tired of reading books about domestic abuse.  so depressing!  and while there were some good relationships and love stories in it, it was a pretty depressing read.  it was...fine?  read the nightingale instead!)

an absolutely remarkable thing, by hank green (another book of the month selection...this is the first novel by the brother of the great YA author john green, and it was a great mystery around the appearance of a bunch of statues all around the world on the same night, how people react to them, and the role of the media in all of that.  just truly original as a story line, which i loved.  highly recommend!  i kept wanting to see what would happen next.)

september: 33 & 34

in september i read:

killers of the flower moon, by david grann (this is a nonfiction account of some nefarious activities and murders in the osage indian tribe in oklahoma in the early part of the 20th century, with some interesting history (did you know that native people who had oil rights had to have white guardians to manage their money?!) and the rise of the FBI.  it's not *incredibly* well written, but it's an interesting story and if this little blurb interests you, i'd recommend you check it out!)

real american, by julie lythcott-haims (this is a memoir of a biracial woman growing up in the 1980s and then struggling with her own identity as she parents her own biracial children in the 2000s.  an incredibly poignant and well-written book about race, identity, history, politics.  if you are parenting a multiracial child this is a MUST READ.  and honestly?  it's a must read for anyone who cares about race in this country at all.)

august: 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 & 32

in august i read:

erotic stories for punjabi widows, by bali kaur jaswal (this was a pick for my book club, and it was pretty, um, erotic.  it was also a super light read (i actually listened to the audiobook, with a great narrator) and would make a great vacation read!)

americanah, by chimamanda ngozi adichie (i loved this book.  i love adichie.  in this book we follow a boy and girl as they both leave nigeria - one for the us and one for the uk.  we see life in nigeria, the us, and the uk, and it's a great commentary on race in each of those locations as well as the complications inherent in relationships.  it's a long one but VERY worth it.  if you haven't read any adichie you should correct that ASAP.)

the line becomes a river, by francisco cantu (this is a memoir of a guy who graduated from college with an interest in immigration issues and became a border patrol agent who worked the us-mexico border for several years.  fascinating read and well worth your time, as someone living in america today!)

lean in, by sheryl sandberg (finally read this one.  nothing mind blowing (probably because we've come a long way with the conversations around gender in the work place since this book came out, probably thanks to this book, honestly), but i appreciated her incorporation of the social science research and i was glad to have read it.)

will grayson, will grayson, by john green and david levithan (the only john green book i hadn't read - two boys named will grayson, and the two authors alternated writing the chapters.  if you like YA books, add this to your list!)

an american marriage, by tayari jones (everyone is talking about this book, and i was glad to have read it.  a man is falsely accused of rape and imprisoned.  it follows him, his parents, his wife, her best friend in the years that follow.  the press it is getting is well-deserved!  parts of it were pretty depressing - by design - but she's a beautiful writer and i was glad to have read it.)

july: 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 & 26

as always (ugh), a very belated post!  i read a lot this summer!  bring back summer.

circe, by madeline miller (this was a book club pick, a telling of greek mythology from the point of view of circe.  it took me a while to get into it, but once i did i really liked it.  and i'm not even a person who knows a lot about or is necessarily into mythology.  i have heard from friends that her book song of achilles is also fantastic!)

the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house, by audre lorde (aww yeah, i'm doing some feminist reading whenever i can.  had never read any audre lorde, so i corrected that.)

simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda, by becky albertalli (pretty decent YA fiction - not life changing, but definitely worth reading if you're into YA)

anne of green gables, by l.m. montgomery (i re-read this childhood classic for my book club and i...didn't like it as much as when i was a kid.  which is perhaps to be expected?  some things stand the test of time, and this felt so simple and escapist - especially in contrast with, like, audre lorde - and it just didn't hold up for me.  but i LOVED these books as a kid and read many of them and would want young girls now to do the same.  it's just not for 35 year old ladies.)

girl in snow, by danya kukafka (this book was pitched as gillian flynn-like, and it was not that good or thrilling.  but perhaps it was just over-hyped for me?  it's an engaging story told by three narrators about a girl who is found dead in a playground as you try to figure out who did it.  it would be a perfect book to read curled up on a cold day!)

being peace, by thich nhat hanh (this was a book my mindfulness friend/teacher at school recommended to me, and i'm glad i read it, as i try to practice mindfulness and gratitude in my daily life.)

calypso, by david sedaris (always funny - over too quickly!)

june: 16, 17, 18 & 19

summer!  more time for reading!  this month i read:

my grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry, by fredrik backman (my mom gave me this for christmas and i really enjoyed it, as i have really enjoyed all of backman's books.  did i cry at the end of this?  like a blubbering idiot, yes.  the characters have emotions that are so real and so tender.  i had no choice.  if you haven't read any of his books, please give one a try!)

igen, by jean m. twenge (this was a book my boss asked us to read, and i did not hate it.  in fact, i was spewing a lot of facts about kidsthesedays but calling them igen like the author wanted me to (as in, internet generation) and my boyfriend kept saying STOP SAYING IGEN IT SOUNDS RIDICULOUS and i kept saying I HAVE DRUNK THE KOOLAID AND MUST SAY IT, and suffice it to say i had a lot of facts to share and annoyed those around me with them and that means it was a useful book.  if there are teens in your life, this is a good read with a TON of charts and graphs to back up the words.)

we were the lucky ones, by georgia hunter (um, i only read this a month ago and i don't remember what it was about THAT IS NOT A GOOD SIGN oh wait i remember: the holocaust.  in poland.  it was very depressing, but is semi-autobiographical - the main character is the author's grandfather and the stories in the book are based on stories she heard about her grandfather and his siblings and parents.  i actually didn't know much about how the war affected polish jews, and found this book illuminating though, you know, depressing.)

you don't have to say you love me, by sherman alexie (i listened to the audiobook of this one, which is a memoir of alexie's relationship with his mother, who had recently died.  i really like alexie's work and i found this memoir moving and quite well done.  my school is removing absolutely true diary of a part-time indian from its freshman english curriculum, though, as a result of the #metoo allegations against alexie, so i'm a bit torn about him and his work right now.  glad to have read this, whatever the situation.)

may 14 & 15

though my reading has picked up now that summer is officially here, i just read two books in may:

we have always lived in the castle, by shirley jackson (i listened to this audiobook, which was *fine* but not exceptional.  creepy and entertaining enough to keep me occupied while i drove to and from work, but i wouldn't rush right out and read this.)

exit west, by mohsin hamid (i really liked this book - the immigrant experience from the middle east to the united states, which several stops in between.  also the story of a romantic relationship, and touches on parent-child relationships and those between immigrants of different nationalities and those between immigrants and "natives."  a lot going on here, and i understand why it's getting so much press.  it's an easy and quick read but leaves you a lot to chew over.  i'd recommend it for sure!)

april: 11, 12 & 13

the belated recaps continue.  in april i read:

the light we lost, by jill santopolo (so this was a book club pick that i bought at an airport bookstore - which tells you something about the book - that it's appealing to a large enough audience that airports carry it.  i want to turn up my nose at this book, but i sped through it and was totally captivated by the plot.  it is not the best book i've read, but it would make an excellent beach read!)

elmet, by fiona mozley (this book was one i got from the local independent bookstore, and it was the exact opposite of the light we lost.  this was a book for literate people who are okay with weird characters and a plot set in the present but oddly reminiscent of the past (so kind of set in no time period and all time periods?)...i didn't love this one, but it made me think and some of the scenes have stayed with me since, so it clearly made an impression.)

graffiti palace, by a.g. lombardo (this book pissed me off.  it's set in LA during the watts riots of 1965, as a guy tries to get home to his pregnant girlfriend and keeps getting waylaid.  the odyssey-esque.  i kept yelling at the main character: "just get home already!  stop getting distracted!"  but he kept getting distracted.  would not recommend.)

march: 7, 8, 9 & 10

guys, apparently i am horrible about telling you what i've read.  but i *do* want to tell you, so i just need to get my act together and write my couple sentences and share this.  here we go!

in march i read:


turtles all the way down, by john green (i have other favorite john green books, but this one was good and worth reading - but if you've never read a book by him, start with something else.)

the sun and her flowers, by rupi kaur (this is her second book of poetry and i love her writing.  tore through this and i know it's the kind of book i will actually read again.)

the rules do not apply, by ariel levy (i underlined this line:
"One day you are very young and then suddenly you are thirty-five and it is Time.  You have to reproduce, or else.  By that point, many of my friends had already been working on their reproductive ambitions for quite a while."
so yeah.  35 over here.  i guess i share this line to tell you that the author was, for parts of the book, in a similar place as i am in the span of my life, so i related to a lot of what she was talking about.  i loved her voice.  the story of her trip to mongolia was horrific, and i would actively NOT recommend this book to anyone who has had a miscarriage.  but i'm really glad i read it - i sped through it on my spring break trip!)

braving the wilderness, by brene brown (this was another spring break read, in the claire-goes-outside-and-looks-inward spring break trip i took to dripping springs, tx.  a lot of it was really similar to what she said when i heard her talk this fall on her book tour, but i was glad to have the book in hand to organize her arguments and be a resource i can go back to.)

february: 4, 5 & 6

getting (sort of) caught up on blogging about my reading - in february i read:

the immortalists, by chloe benjamin (four siblings visit a psychic, who tells each of them the date they will die.  is the psychic right?  what effect does this visit have on their lives?  i really enjoyed this book, with four fully-formed characters who live very different lives.  thumbs up!  i'd recommend it.)

world war z, by max brooks (i listened to this audiobook, with tons of narrators so each new character had a unique voice.  that is the best thing about this book.  i did not find the story line particularly compelling, nor this post-apocalyptic world particularly interesting.  you can continue to pass on this one.)

men explain things to me, by rebecca solnit (my local independent bookstore recommended this to me when i bought a chimamanda adichie [spelled that correct on the first try - please be proud] book, and i really enjoyed it.  it's a book of essays on feminism from the woman who coined the term "mansplaining."  now that i've read this i see solnit's name around a fair amount - she seems like someone we should all read at some point, given her prominence in the feminist essay-writing field!)

january: 1, 2 & 3

a little behind in posting, but in january i read:

moxie, by jennifer mathieu (great young adult feminist fiction by a local author!  buy this for all the middle school girls in your life.  big thumbs up.)

american heiress, by jeffrey toobin (i listened to this audiobook, about the patty hearst kidnapping.  before i read the book i knew that patty hearst was somehow related to william randolph hearst, she was kidnapped by the symbionese liberation army, and then maybe she got stockholm syndrome because she robbed a bank with her kidnappers.  now i know a TON more, and i found the story fascinating.  right down to the fact that she hated being called patty (she preferred patricia) - the only person who called her patty was her father, but because he was the one who did the news conferences while she was kidnapped, that's what the public knows her as.  great audiobook!)

sing, unburied, sing, by jesmyn ward (i read this for a book club, and we picked it because the book (and the author) was getting SO much press that we literate ladies needed to know what the fuss was all about.  i liked this book a lot - lyrical, at times tough to read, and it painted a beautiful picture of the world in which it was set.  but i didn't lose my mind for it like the media attention had led me to believe i would.  so by all means, read it, if only so we can discuss our impressions of it.)

2017 in books

a recap (mandatory):
2010: i read 15 books.
2011: i started my book challenge with the goal of reading 25 books; i read 38.
2012: 34 books
2013: 34 books again
2014: 32 books
2015: 35 books
2016: 58 books (fluke/who have i become?)
2017: 57 books (the new normal?)


2017 broken down:

30 books written by women
27 by men

38 fiction books
19 nonfiction

11 diverse books (as in, the main character or the author is not white)

my favorite books of 2017?  milk and honey, by rupi kaur (nonfiction/memoir) and the hate u give, by angie thomas (fiction).  read this books immediately.

december: 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 and 57

so. far. behind. in. posting.  sorry, world.  here's what i read in december:

evicted, by matthew desmond (i listened to this book, which might be my favorite nonfiction book of the year.  it follows tenants and landlords in low income parts of milwaukee as a fascinating look into low income residents' lives and the real housing crisis that many face.  if you like audiobooks, the narrator of this one is fantastic.  highly highly recommend.  obama read it this year, too, so trust his recommendation if you don't trust mine. :) )

dear ijeawele, or a feminist manifesto in fifteen suggestions, by chimamanda ngozi adichie (i'm now buying this book for every new mom i know.  advice on how to raise your child to be a feminist in adichie's clear and thoughtful and compelling style.  love her.)

an abundance of katherines, by john green (i love john green and i enjoyed this, but there's a reason this isn't his most famous book.  i absolutely want you to read a john green book if you haven't already, but don't start with this one.)

the light in the ruins, by chris bohjalian (listened to this, which was fine but not great.  a light read where it wasn't hard to keep the characters straight in the audiobook (which is sometimes hard for me when i listen to fiction), but i hated the narrator's fake italian accent and that almost did me in.  read this one on a beach vacay.)

a piece of the world, by christina baker kline (loved this book - really love kline's historical fiction in general.  not a tough read, but for something relatively straight forward there was some real nuance there.  made me glad i didn't live in that time and place, given the strictures around dating and the opportunities for women - there was a lot of pain this book but it was beautifully written.)

what unites us, by dan rather & elliot kirschner (dan rather's facebook posts are one of my favorite things about trump's america, and i saw him speak in houston in december; the price of admission was buying a copy of his book. there's nothing revolutionary here, but this is a beautiful little book with some fold-down-the-corner-of-the-page bits.  a quick read - would be a great gift!)