2022 READING HIGHLIGHTS

2022 was a year of all-around change for me. First nine-to-five office job in years, plus living on my own, meaning adding chores, cooking, etc., on top of that. Plus, all the business of staying alive…working out, hanging out. During the first part of the year, when I was still adjusting to the whole divorce/move to the US thing, I also developed a parasocial relationship with my television set, which involved me spending a lot of time binge-watching Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, among other shows. As a result, I ended up reading less than in years past, seventy-two books, which for me is an only seventy-two books. This year…I might clock in at even less, because I have been writing more again, which is nice, but it also takes time.

A few highlights, though, the only order here being the order in which I read the books. More description on some entries than on others, which doesn’t mean much either. (Also, the next list of recommendations will be much shorter, but this list encompasses an entire year.)

Dublin Murder Squad Series by Tana French (Novels)

It’s hard for me not to think of any crime-writing as a wee bit escapist, but the truth is Tana French is a great writer, period. I put her right up there with Henning Mankell as a writer who transcends any genre and who I can get absolutely lost in, yes, in that escapist way, but still feel satisfied by amazing plotting, fantastic characterization, and all-around great writing. (There are six books in the series. I spaced these out throughout the year.)

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

One of the most fantastic things about living in the US again, and more specifically about living at my address, is that I am a mere two or so blocks from the local library. Pretty much anything I want to read is available through interlibrary loan, but I also (finally, after seven years) get to browse and find things I don’t necessarily go in looking for but end up delighted to have found. Lincoln in the Bardo was probably my first oh-I’ve-heard-that-novel’s-pretty-good random find on the library shelf right after getting my library card. And I was not disappointed. I love fiction that plays with form, is experimental in a way, but still adheres to the idea that what is happening here is first and foremost a story.

Book of the Other: Small in Comparison by Truong Tran

I actually ordered this book to be delivered to my parents’ house before I even left Germany, so it was waiting for me when I got there. Genuinely beautiful in form and language, this book details a discrimination case brought by the author against his employer, who (twice, if memory serves) passed him over for a promotion in favor of practicing some serious nepotism. The subtitle comes from something somebody said about the author (as in: the author is ‘small in comparison’ to this other person we are going to hire, based on nepotism). Nothing ‘small’ to see here, though.

Black Buck by Matteo Askeripur

A hilarious send-up of start-up culture. Enough said, I think.

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I really enjoy this author’s work. Lush and gothic, this is the second of her novels that I have read and I currently have a third on my to-read list.

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

One of my goals in life is to read more by both this author and Ursula K. LeGuin. This is only the second Butler novel I’ve read—the other being Kindred, her time-travel book where her protagonist keeps going back and forth between the present day and the pre-Civil War south, though not necessarily in a way she can control. Fledgling is a sci-fi vampire novel and I was not disappointed.

Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo

Another author I have come to more recently. I first read her Booker Prize-winning Girl, Woman, Other, which was amazing, then I read her verse novel, The Emperor’s Babe, and her alternative history, Blonde Roots. Manifesto is her memoir and a testament to indefatigability, which in my own lived experience, is a very useful quality to cultivate.

Fan Fiction by Brent Spiner

Brent Spiner is a gift. And this is a very funny novel, provided you are fluent in NextGen.

Nina Gladitz’s German-language biography of Leni Riefenstahl

I have no idea if/when this will be translated, but the beautiful thing about this book is that the author painstakingly lays out the case behind the truth of Leni Riefenstahl’s existence. That she was. A. Nazi. Punkt. Schluss. Not some feminist, glass-ceiling-breaking icon because idk she played with and made her way in the same arena as powerful (Nazi!) men (which disgustingly is apparently an argument that has been made) but just, again, you know. A Nazi. Who did Nazi crimes. But for some reason whom a lot of people went on to glamorize in extremely troubling ways.

Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughn and Tony Harris

A friend at work loaned me the entire trade paperback run of this comic series about a politician/superhero (who maybe is kind of a fuck-up as a superhero, if memory serves) and honestly, yes, kind of escapist reading, but sometimes that’s what I need. I read these in March and April, when the novelty of living alone was starting to wear off and the reality of having transplanted myself geographically (again) in middle age was settling on me and I didn’t even have a cat yet and was starting to feel pretty lonely. So, I have kind of a soft spot for these comics, even though I think they are probably pretty good on their own (if you like comics). They got me through a rough time.

The Every by Dave Eggers

Various readers I have met have had very extreme reactions to The Circle and The Every, both of which are send-ups of Facebook corporate culture. Personally, I loved both novels though. I appreciate satire in general and enjoy hyperbole (when done well, as it is in this case, in my opinion) and the one-piece, form-fitting bodysuits everyone wears in this novel were honestly chef’s kiss.

Black Hole by Charles Burns

A classic graphic novel that brutally summarizes the horror of being a teenager.

And Those Ashen Heaps That Cantilevered Vase of Moonlight by Lynn Xu

I loved this book not only for the poetry but for the feeling of the book itself as artifact. A lot of play with typography in a book-as-art kind of way.

Daughters of Harriet by Cynthia Parker-Ohene

A collection of poetry I enjoyed for the language, the range in form, and themes addressed. So, the whole thing.

Conflict Is Not Abuse: Overstating Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair by Sarah Schulman

A genuinely important book that I reread probably about once a year. There’s a lot here to admire, notably including Schulman’s commentary on good and bad friend groups. In my own words, a bad friend group would be a friend group who takes your side no matter what for the sake of loyalty alone, even if you are absolutely in the wrong, whereas a good friend group would encourage you to learn and grow while continuing to love you. One goal in my life is to at some point be part of a discussion group where we talk about this book. One criticism I would share would be that I think Shulman’s background as a lesbian and in queer theory has led her to make some statements that may be downright troubling when applied to some heterosexual relationships. For example, she sets a lot of store in listening to people, in hearing people out as a way to prevent escalation. And yet I can fairly accurately say that I have experienced cases and known other women to experience instances when allowing someone back in, in order to let them speak their mind, has backfired.

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nations by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

The subtitle says it all. Christian Nationalists being Christian Nationalists. Scary and sad.

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

In my opinion, Cathy Park Hong is one of the most original, interesting writers around. I’d already read her essay on the white avant-garde and her three collections of poetry (each with increasing interest) and was not disappointed by her essays.

Artful by Ali Smith

I celebrate Ali Smith’s entire oeuvre.

Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian

One of those books I never would have read if not for a book group. About a young woman accused of witchcraft in New England (but not during the Salem witch trials). A page-turner.

Tell Me I’m An Artist by Chelsea Martin

The protagonist is a low-income student in art school. There’s a lot here recognizable to anyone who has any kind of MFA whatsoever, including in writing, in my opinion. But most of all, a lot to unpack about privilege and who ‘gets’ to make art.

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

A fast read. A crime scene photographer who can commune with the ghosts of the victims (at great personal cost to herself), who point her to clues in the investigation.

Communion: The Female Search for Love by bell hooks

Hey! It’s okay to want love! A refreshing read in this age of infinite chill we find ourselves in.

The Braid by Lauren Levin

I’ve wanted to read this for years, but when I was in Germany this book was inaccessible to me. I’m not sure exactly how I would describe it. Maybe…the utter vulnerability brought on to the self by the condition of parenting (and therefore, loving) in a what is ever-more-becoming a police state.

Small Game by Blair Braverman

A good, short, quick read about a wilderness reality TV show gone horribly awry.