I spent more time reading in 2021 than I have in years (I think. I don’t know. This was the first year I’ve ever tracked my reading and I was going to write a few sentences about that here, but that writing got me thinking about something bigger that I hope to articulate and post separately if I can figure it out.) Let’s keep this post simple. Reading helps me. Here are eleven books I feel richer for having read in 2021, categorized and unranked. They range widely, but if I have to pick one word to describe them all, I’ll go with “unflinching.” Yes, even (and maybe especially) the YA graphic memoir.
Five Novels
Landslide, Susan Conley, 2021
Finished on March 30
Provenance: Special ordered from The Book Rack
A family story set in a struggling Maine fishing village. The portrayal of mothering teenage boys and loving taciturn Mainers broke my heart. I found the narrative voice to be funny and self aware, which might not be clear from the rest of this description.
Damnation Spring, Ash Davidson, 2021
Finished on May 10
Provenance: Galley sent to me by the author! But I bought a hardcover later… from the Book Rack
A novel set in California logging country in the year of my birth (coincidence). The protagonist cuts down redwoods, and yet somehow I’m rooting for him to be allowed to keep going. The details of logging are fascinating, but I was in it for the family at the center of the story. Davidson has an unflinching eye and a sly wit. And yes, the rumors are true! She was my student in Fiction 210 at the University of Arizona nearly twenty years ago. Her stories blew me away then, and she got even better.
The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen, 2015
Finished on June 18
Provenance: Picked up a used copy at the Book Rack and then it languished on my shelf for a few years
I was slow to start this one because I knew it would be a demanding read. And it was, but I found the narrative voice — which comes in the form of a confession — irresistible. I’m generally drawn to quiet realism, and this is more like a combination of existentialism and satire, but the voice is bristling with intelligence and pathos and there is a great deal of plot. The form and style feel perfect for the story. It’s not clear whether the narrator’s sacrifices in having lived a double life have made much difference for the cause. I like that.
Transcription, Kate Atkinson, 2018
Finished on September 27
Provenance: Fox Library
A slippery, atmospheric novel that gives proper attention to the bureaucracy and absurdity of spying, told with mordant wit. Set in London during World War II and in 1950. It’s thematically similar to The Sympathizer, and equally ambiguous, but the style is masquerading as quiet realism.
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens, 1850
Finished on December 9
Provenance: Inherited from my Uncle Chuck (more on Chuck and his books in “My Uncle’s Books,” an essay I wrote for the Ploughshares blog)
Reading this book was one of the highlights of my year. I read Chuck’s Modern Library copy, with burgundy cloth cover, gold details (which I scuffed), ribbon bookmark, original illustrations, and Bible paper pages. It felt right. I love how if you read through the chapter titles, you can surmise the whole plot of the book. No one can paint a character as efficiently or as cuttingly as Dickens. I was afraid this book would take me forever to read, and it did take a while, but mostly because I slowed myself down so I had the comfort of returning to good, cosy company. I haven’t read much Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities is up next.
Two Memoirs
Heavy: An American Memoir, Kiese Laymon, 2019
Finished May 31
Provenance: Robbins Library request
This memoir of growing up Black in Mississippi is arresting in its honesty. I felt I was getting the truth of Laymon’s experience in every sentence, and as I read, I found myself pausing more than once to reflect on what a generous and rare act that is. The book is written as a letter to his complicated mother, and Laymon sent me to read James Baldwin’s essay “Faulkner and Desegregation,” published in 1956, which led me to read more Baldwin essays — some for the first time and others again. This was a good idea, of course, and it came with the bonus of allowing me to pull another one of my uncle’s books off the shelf.
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May, 2020
Finished October 25
Provenance: Fox Library
I have the good fortune to live a few blocks from a little branch library. This title called to me from the speed read shelf while I was in the middle of reading David Copperfield. Much of the book takes place in Dickens’ part of England, so the landscape was familiar, and I paused to devour it in a couple of days. The title flirts with self help, and the book is very much about May helping herself, but it’s really an honest, searching memoir of a difficult year, brimming with acts of careful attention. It’s not the book she set out to write, which only makes it better. I immediately procured a copy of her earlier memoir, The Electricity of Every Living Thing, and read it next. I’ve recommended Wintering to a lot of people, and I bought my own copy after I surrendered it to the library because I knew I would return to it, and I have. Here’s something to return to as we find ourselves in the middle of another winter:
“When I started feeling the drag of winter, I began to treat myself like a favoured child: with kindness and love. I assumed my needs were reasonable and that my feelings were signals of something important. I kept myself well fed and made sure I was getting enough sleep. I took myself for walks in the fresh air and spent time doing things that soothed me. I asked myself: What is this winter all about? I asked myself: What change is coming?”
A Reread
The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton, 1920
Finished February 4
Provenance: Inherited from my uncle Chuck
This was my only reread of the year, and what a reread it was! So little is spoken and yet so much is understood. House of Mirth is still my favorite, and one of my most frequently reread books, but this one is a pleasure and a page turner, too. Edith Wharton gets it!
A Shared Read
Guts, Raina Telgemeier, 2019
Finished October 15
Provenance: School Book Fair, 2019
My son has been dealing with Irritable Bowel Syndrome for the past year. One morning, after a string of absences and early dismissals due to stomach symptoms, we snuggled on the couch and read this book straight through together. He’d read it many times, but I hadn’t. We read silently, turning the pages when it was time for both of us to move along. I asked him questions and he used the narrator’s experience to help me understand his experiences. It was a hard morning, and it was the best thing we could have done. I’m happy to report that he’s been improving steadily during the past couple of months.
A Book About Writing
If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence, and Spirit, Brenda Ueland, 1938
Finished November 19
Provenance: Gift from my Mom, at least twenty years ago
My mom has always been a great supporter of my writing, and she’s given me many writing books over the years. This one has been on my shelf for a long time and has survived several moves without ever having been read. It was always in danger when I culled books, but I remember, more than once, opening it ready to admit I was never going to read it, and then reading a few pages and realizing I should give it a chance. I reached for it during a dry spell in my writing life, and it was that feeling of finding just the friend you need when you need a friend very badly. I wish I could have been in Brenda’s class at the Minneapolis YMCA in the 1930s. She’s astute, she’s funny, and most of all, she’s encouraging. A few ideas I’ve taken aboard from her: microscopic truthfulness, moodling, and this:
“Know that it is good to work. Work with love and think of liking it when you do it. It is easy and interesting. It is a privilege. There is nothing hard about it but your anxious vanity and fear of failure.”
It’s amazing how much space anxious vanity and fear of failure can take up, but I’m trying to move them to smaller containers and store them in the way back of a cabinet — behind the things I actually need.
A Book I’m In the Middle of Reading
The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay
Provenance: Book Rack special order
I started this right before Thanksgiving, and I’ve been reluctant to finish it. These brief essays are mostly about savoring something small, and in that spirit, I want to savor them, too, and to let them form a bridge from 2021 to 2022 for me. Although the pieces are about finding delight, they also contain difficult truths. Gay talks about the book as being about “the virtues and the labor of delight.” Here’s a short video of him reading a story about flying with a tomato seedling. Guaranteed smiles.