Speaking of books. . . here is my year, in books.
I enjoy keeping a running list of all the books I read (or listen to) not just so I am able to recommend certain titles, but also because the list inevitably ends up offering some commentary on my headspace. It’s a nice way to end a year, too, remembering reading say, Galchen with a newborn sleeping on my chest, or Orwell during so much talk of fake news, or Steinbeck in a tent in the rain, or Arden as the snow piled up outside.
For the most part I now only read things I know I will likely enjoy, so this whole list is a recommendation in itself, but my favorites are starred and/or double-highlighted in bold, and you can read a bit more about some of them here, here, here, and here.
*March, vols 1-3, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (GN)
Today Will Be Different, by Maria Semple (F)
Wishful Drinking, by Carrie Fisher (M)
*Little Labors, by Rivka Galchen (E)
*Persepolis, volumes 1-2, by Marjane Satrapi (GN)
The Wonder, by Emma Donahue (F)
You’ll Grow Out of It, by Jessi Klein (M)
Pyongyang, by Guy Delisle (GN)
*Maus, volumes 1-2, by Art Spiegelman (GN)
*Sheriff of Babylon, volumes 1-2, by Tom King (GN)
The Gunslinger, by Stephen King (F)
*When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi (M)
*Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaimin (SS)
*1984, by George Orwell (F)
Reading in Bed, by Brian Doyle (E)
*Children and Other Wild Animals, by Brian Doyle (E)
*Spirited Men, by Brian Doyle (E)
Grace Notes, by Brian Doyle (E)
*Leaping, by Brian Doyle (E)
The Grail, by Brian Doyle (E)
So Much the Very Best of Us, by Brian Doyle (E)
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson (F)
*River Teeth, by David James Duncan (E/SS)
*The Round House, by Louise Erdrich (F)
Coming Alive, by Taylor Broby (E/M)
I’m Just a Person, by Tig Notaro (M)
*Earth Again, by Chris Dombrowski (P)
*Gentleman of the Road, by Michael Chabon (F)
Here I Am, by Jonathan Safran Foer (F)
*You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, by Sherman Alexie (M)
*The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, by Sherman Alexie (F)
Theft By Finding, David Sedaris (M)
*East of Eden, by John Steinbeck (F)
*The Nix, by Nathan Hill (F)
*Zorba the Greek, by Nikos Kazanzakis (F)
*When We Were Birds, by Joe Wilkins (P)
*The Shell Collector, by Anthony Doerr (SS)
Eight Whopping Lies, by Brian Doyle (E)
*Hunger, by Roxanne Gay (E/M)
*Red Rising, by Pierce Brown (F)
*Golden Son, by Pierce Brown (F)
*Morning Star, by Pierce Brown (F)
*Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng (F)
*Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green (F)
*Sing, Unburied, Sing, by Jesmyn Ward (F)
Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto. . . , by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (NF)
*Tree of Smoke, Denis Johnson (F)
*Manhattan Beach, Jennifer Egan (F)
*Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay (E)
*The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy (F)
*The Bear and the Nightingale, by Katherine Arden (F)
Key
F – Fiction
SS – Short Stories
GN – Graphic Novel
E- Essays
M – Memoir
NF – Non-fiction
