On January 1st, 2018, I read a book. When I finished (also on January 1st, 2018), I wrote the title of the book and the date at the top of an index card. Over the next few months, I kept it up. Young Adult, Science Fiction, Poetry, Essays, Classics, Nonfiction: all kinds of titles made it onto the growing pile of index cards by my bed. The only requirement? The books had to teach me something about myself, the world around me, or the people in it. Around June, I realized I was on track to read 52 books in 52 weeks. I kept the requirements loose, but started trying to reach that goal. I crunched seven books into the last five days of 2018, but I’m proud to say I made it. Here are ten of my favorites from the year:
The Devil in the White City– Erik Larson
The Devil in the White City is one of those pieces of nonfiction written as if it were a crime thriller. I found myself positively glued to the drama surrounding the Chicago World’s Fair: who would design it, who would build it, what would be on display. Even more gripping was the tale of the murderer who would use the fair as his hunting ground. I left this book marveling at the heights and depths of the human spirit—and the way the two extremes have of showing up at the same parties.
Feast: True Love in and out of the Kitchen– Hannah Howard
Feast is a firsthand account of an eating disorder inextricably tied to a memoir of life in the restaurant industry. Hannah Howard is detailed, honest, and very funny. To be honest, I finished this book on March 25th, 2018, and a lot of the details have been washed away by all the books I’ve read since. What I do remember, though, is that I loved it.
Where the Past Begins: A Writer’s Memoir– Amy Tan
Anyone has ever taken a high school English class in the US likely knows Amy Tan’s name. I confess that the snippets of her work I read when I was 14 remain my only experience of her outside of this memoir. That said, though, one of my goals for this year is to change that, and my primary motivation was how much I adored this book. A peek into the mind of a brilliant writer plagued by the same self-doubt that threatens to limit all of us.
For some reason, I found myself gravitating over and over this year toward books set in New York. This debut novel was a story of gentrification, immigration, and coming home again. I took comfort in how some parts of her story reflected my own, but I loved Halsey Street for immersing me in the parts that didn’t.
No Matter the Wreckage– Sarah Kay
You might know Sarah Kay from her fabulous TED Talk or viral YouTube Video. Toward the beginning of last year, a friend of mine invited me to see her and three other Write Bloody poets perform at PhilaMOCA. After, he let me borrow his copy of this stunning collection of poetry. Sarah Kay is incredible live, but her poems make me feel emotions whose shape I hadn’t seen head-on before no matter how the words make their way into my brain. Sarah Kay is profound and relatable all at once.
My Absolute Darling– Gabriel Tallent
Not since Lolita have I felt the unique draw of characters living outside societal norms. My Absolute Darling tells a terrifying tale of abuse with vivid prose, but it’s Tallent’s characters who make you wrench the book back open after you slam it shut. I’m still thinking months later about the scenes in this book. An intense read, but one for which I am truly grateful
All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation– Rebecca Traister
In September, my best friend from high school got married. I was lucky enough to be her Maid of Honor. I used a quote from this book in my toast. All the Single Ladies is about singledom and all the trials associated with it, yes, but it’s also about friendship between women. I wish I had read this book in hard copy instead of on my kindle so I could hug it and give it, highlights and all, to my little sisters. Traister makes a point of highlighting narratives different from her own and recognizing her position within the intersectional struggle for equality. The result is nothing short of empowering.
The Wicked Pavilion- Dawn Powell
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love bars. They’re the hubs of social circles. They buzz with the energy I’ve always craved. Also, bars are where the cocktails are. I read three novels by Dawn Powell last year (the others were Angels on Toast and The Golden Spur). All of them had what I love about her writing: women portrayed as something more than cardboard cutouts to be toted about, portraits of people as the sum of their experiences, realistic relationships, biting humor, and more than their fair share of artists. What makes The Wicked Pavilion extra-special is the way her characters crisscross through my favorite kind of bar as they do their dance.
When Breath Becomes Air- Paul Kalanithi
This one’s more widely celebrated than most of the titles on my little list, but it more than deserves a mention. Read When Breath Becomes Air if you’ve ever felt the mounting pressure of striving for years toward some image of a complete, adult life. Read it if you’ve lost a loved one to disease, or if literature and science tug at your soul with equal ferocity. Read it.
The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet– Nina Teicholz
More than any other book, The Big Fat Surprise changed the way I live my life this past year. My coworker (and dear friend) at the food justice nonprofit where I work lent it to me and it’s not a stretch to say I’ve been evangelizing about fat ever since. I’m still mostly a vegetarian (I’ve added venison to my diet), but I’m making an effort to eat a lot more fat on a daily basis. If you find Michael Pollan engaging, and perhaps even more so if his books leave you wanting more depth, let Nina Teicholz take you behind the curtain of food policy in the US. Out of all the books I read last year, this is perhaps the one I think everyone should read.
Would anyone like to see the full list? I’m hesitant to post it for two reasons:
- There were some real dry spells where I stopped reading for weeks at a time.
- Sometimes, the only way to break those dry spells was to read one or two fluffy sci-fi trilogies
I know, neither of those things really ought to induce shame, but here we are. If y’all want my warts-and-all list, I’ll post it. Lemme know.
Looking Ahead
So, what’s the plan for 2019? I’ve already started another bedside list, but I made a few changes to last year’s goals. First, I started a blog (you’re reading it, so thanks for that). I’m not going to review every book I read. That would be boring for all of us, I think. Instead, I’m going to write at least one piece a month that has something to do with one or more of the last few books I read. It could be a review, yes, but it could also be a poem, an essay, a piece of short fiction—I’m keeping my options open.
Second, I’m aiming to read every fifth book in a language other than English. Realistically, this means they’ll either be in Spanish or in French, since those are the only other two I read with enough fluency to make it worth my time. I have a backlog of books in both languages and a horrible habit of always choosing the easy comfort of native language reading in my spare time, so I’m hoping to break that habit.
Finally, I’m going to be a bit more intentional about the variety of books I read. I still want to keep it somewhat loose, but I’m looking for a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds. If the goal is truly to understand more about the world, the people in it, and my place among them, not all the books can be set in New York.
To that end, I’d like to know: what’s a book that challenged your perspective? give me your recs in the comments or a private message, whatever works for you.
Fifty-Two Bookup 