Hello Reading Friends!
It's time once again for my annual book review - I know you have been eagerly anticipating it.
Oh, you forgot that it existed?
You forgot we were even Facebook friends?
That's okay!
2021 was a good reading year. I had a hard time narrowing down my favorites - expect a lot of honorable mentions!
Here's some of my good - and bad - reads of 2021:
Let's start with the bad and the meh.
Absolutely abhorred:
The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers
I hated this book. Why did I read it? Well, it was a book club pick - which we pick in a very democratic fashion. Usually, if I don't like a book club book, I just don't read it. This book started out okay - and then took a terrible turn for the worse so much so that reading it made me feel so righteously angry that I reveled in the hatred and needed to keep reading it so I could talk about how much I hated it. It involves demonic circuses and celebrating, well, demons. Not my cup of tea. Guys, come on - you know me: this shouldn't come as a surprise. And if you don't, let me just say: demonic circuses and romantic demons...are not for me. Also, it was SO POORLY WRITTEN. I'm not just saying that because I disliked the story. This was bad bad bad. I have ninth graders that can write better than that.
Don't read it.
Disliked:
The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
The President Snow tell-all I didn't need to read.
Basically, imagine reading a YA novel about how Hitler became Hitler (and making you feel a little sorry for him) and you have The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes.
Does a villain deserve a whole book to himself?
I'm not talking a Wicked-esque retelling of The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins made the risky choice to humanize President Snow, and for me, it didn't work. Okay, okay, even bad guys have backstories and origin stories. But I didn't need to read it.
The Over-hyped Books:
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| (This category always reminds me of this Farside cartoon, which is funny because...I've never even seen Dances With Wolves! Maybe I should get around to that.) |
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
The initial premise sounded really fascinating but the execution just didn't work for me. I'm not sure what this book wanted to be: a woke treatise on the Black experience of working in corporate America? Or a thriller? It tried too hard to be both. I'm fine with one or the other - but at least for this author, the both/and of social justice and Stepford-wives-esque thriller just didn't get lift off.
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
This book was everywhere when it came out - the author was even interviewed on NPR (the pinnacle of respectability!). But it...wasn't that good (sorry, Terry Gross!). I'm not sure why it was so, so celebrated. It was fine. But amazing? Inventive? Twisty? Unpredictable? Nope. It was fine. A decent read, but not ground-breaking. If it hadn't been so hyped up, I probably would have liked it better. If you like a bit of a thriller and a twist - read The Plot. Just don't expect the most inventive plot ever (the premise of the book).
Food for Thought - A book that stuck with me even if I didn't love or like it:
| Educated by Tara Westover |
First of all, I realize I'm late to the party - everyone everywhere has read Educated. It's a good book, but I did not find it redemptive. Does every book need redemption? Nope. But given that it's a real person's life, and talks about very real people who are still living that life, I felt hopeless at the end of reading it. I felt like - I still feel - that there seems very little that can be done for people raised in that environment. Westover is clearly exceptional, and her own intelligence and stubbornness helped her to pull out that environment. But think of all the young women - and young men - who are not as bright and exceptional as Tara Westover. I think of them, when I read this book - who will help them get out? Do they even know they are living an oppressive life? I don't know - it left me feeling like there wasn't much hope. I've thought a lot about Educated since reading it, and will continue to think about it. But I didn't like it.
Favorite Reads of 2021 - in order of reading (does not include re-reads - I'll get to those in a moment)
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
I don't know why I only got around to reading this book this year - I think it's the kind of book I assumed I had read because it's so well-known. I'm sure we had three or four dusty* copies on our bookshelves when I was growing up!
It was absolutely unexpectedly lovely - I laughed, I cried. About...calving cows and infected sows and hurt puppies and sick chickens. It was so good. I picked it up for my "bedtime" reading - a book I can read slowly, before bed, and not feel compelled to keep reading. I ended up reading it in four days. I then went on to read the next two books in the series, almost immediately after the first book. The first book is the best, but the others were lovely, as well. It was just an unexpected balm in turbulent times.
*Every book on our bookshelves were dusty in Mali...
Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel
This book captured real people - it's funny, quirky, bittersweet. The main character is a middle-aged woman trying to figure out her life, her musical ensemble, her adult children. It's uplifting and laugh-out-loud funny without being cloyingly sweet. It was a book that just felt right and real.
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
The premise of this book is so unusual - a Korean immigrant family in Virginia running a hyperbaric chamber company has a terrible accident with the hyperbaric chamber, and the implications of the accident on all the people involved. It's a book about the immigrant experience, about autism, about the families of children with autism, about family. It's a book that, on paper, I would not think successful given all these disparate topics - but it works so well. It's a book I've thought about long past the reading.
Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson
This was my favorite book of the year, if a book that is so troubling and heartbreaking can be a favorite. I read this on a trip this summer, and found myself weeping while reading it on the plane - I had to stop because I didn't want the person sitting next to me to be concerned. I think every American should read this book, but really, every human, even if you aren't American. It is the story of heartbreak and injustice - but also grace and hope and mercy and redemption and a call to action. I can't stop thinking about it.
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Almost my favorite book of the year - this is, in a way, a quiet book but personally, tremendously powerful. It's the story of two white boys (their race is important) who are placed in an Indian boarding school in Minnesota. When something terrible happens, they escape down the river with a little girl and one of their classmates, an Indian boy. This story is part The Odyssey, part Grapes of Wrath, part Huckleberry Finn. I resisted reading this book for a while - I'm not sure why - but I'm glad I gave it a chance. (Krueger's Cork O'Connor's series is also really good, by the way.)
Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China by Peter Hessler
I know that I really liked this book in large part because I live in China - there is so much I don't know about this place and culture and so much I wish to know but constrained by language (completely my fault). Hessler has the gift of getting people to talk to him - not just because he speaks fluent Mandarin. This book is hard to describe - it's different than Country Driving, which was three distinct parts. It's tied together by discussing the history of and discovery of the Oracle Bones of the Shang Dynasty, and somehow he weaves the stories of ordinary Chinese people together into one compelling story. I don't know if it would be as compelling if you don't live here but for me, it felt like a gift of insight into Chinese culture and people. If you want to understand China - and I think everyone should probably try to because I think China is going to continue to be a prominent entity in the world - Hessler's books show the people so well.
Honorable Mentions
Old Man's War by John Scalzi - old people are recruited to fight in an interstellar war. Kind of like Ender's Game....but with eighty-year olds. Lots of unexpected fun.
Followers by Megan Angelo - The main character lives in a Truman-show type of world (except she's aware of the watchers). It's a really compelling commentary on social media and the influence of phones and technology in our lives - without being preachy.
Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel - a fun book about the intricacies of the New York prep school scene.
Writers and Lovers by Lily King - beautiful, evocative, sad story about grief and finding yourself and growing up long past time to grow up.
Good Eggs by Rebecca Hardiman - a grandmother and granddaughter story. Quirky and fun and bittersweet.
Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny - a funny, found family story.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - a middle school science teacher saves humanity.
The Poet X and Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo - two books in verse, each about young women navigating secrets and family and culture.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - a book about police brutality that shows the impact on the family and community. Unlike The Other Black Girl it didn't feel...like homework. It was a good story, well told that helps the reader empathize with these families and these communities.
Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy - just some twisty suspenseful fun. Fans of Misery will appreciate it.
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson - a slow - but good book about the aftermath of a family tragedy. Fans of Marilynn Robinson and William Kent Krueger will like it, I think.
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner - A couple comes to visit their dying friend, and reflects on the impact that that they've had on each other's lives. A story of friendship.
What was the best book you read in 2021?
Happy Reading, dear friends!
BUT WAIT - There's more!
Re-reads: For some reason, this was the year of re-reads for me - I re-read twelve books, some of them hefty tomes. And a few were also some of my a favorite reads but I didn't think I should include them in my main list. So here is a short list of best-and-or-notable-re-reads!
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - I share this only to tell a funny story. I re-read this book...without realizing I re-read it...until I went to enter it into Goodreads. I READ THE WHOLE BOOK WITHOUT REALIZING I HAD READ IT. So...either I'm approaching early onset dementia (entirely possible) or it wasn't terribly memorable. I did read it thinking "Geez, this assassin premise is used in YA lit a lot" but that still didn't tip me off that I had read it already....
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - I read this in high school, and a few times since. It is one of the most thought-provoking stories I've ever read. I will read it again - and again. It's not an easy read, but explores Christian faith in a way I have not encountered before. Caution - there is some sexual brutality that may be hard for some to read.
The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak - If you haven't read The Book Thief well, I don't know where you've been the past fifteen years. It's an amazing, poetic, beautiful heart-wrenching book. I taught it this past year, and it was one of my favorite books I've taught, and at this point, I've taught a lot of books. I'm actually quite sad that I don't get to teach it this year, because I'm not teaching 8th grade this year.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - it's been 12 years since the 2nd book came out, but even unfinished, this is still one of the best fantasy series of all time (in my humble opinion). Book 2 is not as strong (I also re-read that one) but Name of the Wind...so good.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - this book has a (big) piece of my heart. I can't believe I taught it for 5 years - it's so long! But I love it, and treasured the discussions and conversations that came out of it. I'll probably never teach it again, but I love it . Revisiting it felt like picking up with an old friend that I haven't seen for a long time but resuming a conversation like we never stopped talking.
Past Years' book reviews - in case this wasn't long enough already!
2011 - post 1, post 2, post 3 (good grief!)
Goodness! I've been sort of-ish doing these book reviews for 10 years! (What happened to 2015, 2016, and 2018?...I have no idea.)
