What I read: January -March 2022

Here’s what I’ve read so far this year. My reading really went off the rails sloppy and nearly non-existent at the end of March. I am reading a couple books right now but have struggled to make any progress with any work in any format. The one I am working on is with the delightful edition of a book group on Instagram and our chat is such a good time that I’ve managed to keep up with the audiobook. It’s okay, my reading will return, but it’s taking it’s sweet time. Hopefully the next three months will be more prosperous.

January:

How to Be Perfect, by Michael Schur - I reviewed this on Instagram here, but enjoyed this very much for both it’s fun audiobook narration and for it’s interesting look at philosophy, how to be a good person, and what it even means to live a meaningful life. Schur approaches these topics genuinely and while it’s not a thorough examination of different schools of thought it is a pretty great entry point to philosophy and written in a highly entertaining way.

I Came All This Way to Meet You, by Jami Attenburg - I listened to this and enjoyed it but think I would’ve liked it more as a physical book. I am a fan of Jami’s work and the community she has grown through her newsletters. In this memoir, she details parts of her growing up, her experiences as a writer, becoming one, and what it is like to live a little differently from what many expect. I appreciated her voice and enjoyed how she phrased the telling of her own stories.

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir - I liked this a lot more than The Martian, but I still think it was a little overhyped. There are a few space books that I think do better, some of the things Weir tries to do here, but it’s tough to talk about that without spoiling anything. I highly recommend the audiobook as it’s very well done and adds some depth to one of the characters in a way I enjoyed. An entertaining space adventure book to be sure.

One Punch Man, vol 21-23 - My first manga series! One punch man is hella fun. I enjoy his snark and dry humor and the art of this series is great. I think it’s interesting to see how these later books flesh out the rest of Saitama’s world, and while that does seem to mean less of him on the page, it is fun to see what everyone else is doing, all the side characters getting more time, and the fights are still really cool.

Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke - To me, this isn’t worth the hype. If you take some of the lines out of the context of the letters there are some really nice ideas and well phrased sentences. But as a whole it didn’t do much for me. Perhaps I’m getting cynical or my expectations were too high going in since this is such a revered word, but so much of this is Rilke saying “sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner” to the poet who wrote to him. It’s also one sided, we only get to read Rilke’s responses. How much more valuable would it be in context with the questions being asked to Rilke, and to see the responses the young poet takes from Rilke’s advice. I noticed Rilke often dismisses the young poet’s concern or quandry or desire for feedback and then just launched into something else entirely. That felt lazy to me in terms of connection even if it was written in a pretty way. So anyway. For miss this missed the spot. I think you’d be better reading The Book of Delights by Ross Gay.

What White People Can Do Next, by Emma Dabiri - A helpful, succinct, and relatively short addition to the literature of how white folks (like myself) can be part of creating lasting change. I appreciate the contribution that Dabiri makes with this book and am glad to have read it.

Crushing, by Sophie Burrows - An adorable graphic novel about the chance coincidences of life, having a crush, forming a crush, while also managing to be about the contemplative vibe of life right now. The art is lovely.

The Maid, by Nita Prose - This was fun to listen to and I enjoyed both the characters and the mystery. A solidly entertaining but not blow me out of the water book. A maid in a hotel, who is a bit unusual to the people around her, finds a dead body and has to make a lot of decisions from there about what to do, who to trust, and how far to dive into the mysteries going on around her in the hotel she thought she knew so well. Will be a great pick to take on vacation as part of your summer reading if you haven’t yet gotten to it.

February -

Honor, by Thrity Umrigar - I reviewed this on my blog here in detail.

The Golden Couple, by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkenan - This is another one I would give you if you’re looking for a thriller or domestic suspense to sink into while on a plane of headed to the beach for vacation. It’s twisty and full of secrets, has a maybe unethical therapist, a couple that looks perfect from the outside but is clearly unhinged in a few ways, and is written in a way where you start reading and sink into it. The audiobook is well done if that’s the route you want to go.

The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire #1), by Tui T. Southerland - I listened to this because it’s my daughter’s favorite series. It’s compelling and clever and very dramatically intense in the way middle grade fiction can be. I can see why she and her friends love the books so much and it’s been fun to have this to discuss together. On to the next!

The Roughest Draft, by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegmund-Broka - This is a fun rom com for people who like books about books. It is about two people, two writers who had a massively successful co-written first book, then never talked again for some reason. Circumstances have aligned for them both so that they need to write a second book together. When they do old history is reviewed and rehashed, a phenomenal story is written that readers get to see part of, and the two of them figure out what is going on between them. I appreciated the ways this book takes on what could’ve been a predictable trope and made it fresh. The extra dramatics of the side characters are satisfyingly wrapped up by the end, and I felt like the book earned the feels it got from me.

Ramon and Julieta, by Alana Albertson - I reviewed this one here if you want to see a cute romance with hispanic representation, amazing food descriptions, and a thoughtful examination of culture and finding one’s place in the world.

Seoulmates, by Jen Frederick - This is another contemporary romance that deals with fitting into a culture and balancing expectations. Reviewed here.

House of Earth and Blood, by Sarah J. Mass - This was. a buddy read, and while the ground chat was awesome and I can see why people enjoy these books so much, I don’t think it quite worked for me at this time in my reading life. I wrote more about it here. Still think it’s cool that so many folks are into it, it just wasn’t as solid of a hit for me and that’s ok.

The School for Good Mothers, by Jessamine Chan - Can’t stop thinking of the line that went something like “not a moment went by that her mind wasn’t on the child that was cut from her body” - This was not quite at all what I expected it to be. It is a brutal and futuristic look at motherhood, the consequences of mistakes, small and large, and felt like a Margaret Atwood fever dream focused on dissecting the worst moment in a mother’s life. If you’re newly pregnant, have younger babies or are trying to get pregnant, proceed with caution and care for your own needs. This is a force of a story. I’m glad I read it, I don’t think I’ll ever re-read it, but I also know for certain that I won’t ever forget it either. It packs a massive wallop right to the bottom of your warm beating heart.

March -

Upgrade, by Blake Crouch - This comes out in July and is one of my auto-buy favorite authors. I got an advanced review copy from Netgalley and tore through it. The story is about gene editing taken too far. When a man, who’s mother caused a massive famine accidentally when she was instead trying to eradicate a pest, is accidentally sabotagued and given a huge upgrade to his entire system, his life is never the same. His family thinks he is dead, the government told them he was, his reflexes and processing are super-human now, and there is a plot going on to unleash a version of the upgrade that he has in order to change the landscape of human thinking that will literally change the world. Blake Crouch is so good at entertaining science fiction that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. His books are both cinematic and have well drawn characters that earn the feels right out of you, who debate and learn and grow in compelling realistic ways. This is going to be a great summer read and I’d recommend it for anyone who has enjoyed his previous works, enjoys adventurous sci-fi, or just wants to escape into something thrilling for a while. Loved it, and opinions are my own:)

How High We Go in the Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu - I loved this, let me just start with that. It is not for the feint of heart either and is a real cathartic speculative fiction examining of the pandemic. In this book of connected stories, there is a pandemic that mirrors the one we have been enduring lately, only this fictional one targets the youngest first, so take care if children being sick or in that type of a situation is not for you, you might want to skip this. The stories progress over thousands of years as humanity goes through this tragedy. How we cope, how we process, learn, grow, explore for better, and come out of it in search of meaning and sense-making is all intricately examined here in a very saturated lense - it’s not a long book. The stories are almost like Black Mirror episodes in their obscure and sometimes shocking nature, but poignant in tone. In one, a scientist bonds with one of the talking pig subjects he cares for. In another a nurse forms a connection with a mother who’s child is going to be going through the amusement park that is designed to ease these sick children into the next step and take their pain away. They are intense. I sobbed and couldn’t stop listening to this one. It’s amazing and incredible and no joke, will gut you mercilessly. But, if you’re looking for that, especially in regards to some closure or catharsis regarding our own current situation in the world, this might be exactly what you’re looking to read. So excited to see what Nagamatsu writes next.

The Cabinet, by Un-Su Kim - This is another strange book that has some elements of body horror, speculative and science fiction, and is told with a weaving narrative. Not quite interconnected short stories, but almost. There is a cabinet in which files are kept on folks called “The Symptomers” - people who experience strange things happening to them. One feels so forlorn because the woman he loves only loves cats, so is there a way he can become one so she will love him and he will have purpose? Another has a tree grow out of his finger. Another experiences a strange sort of out of body experience, in which the out of body other self goes and lives and then also dies, requiring the original to have to dispose of her other self. Another person experiences time lapses so severe and upredictable they’re not sure how to keep living. The narrator of this book is the keeper of the cabinet and his own thinking of meaning and purpose as he stumbles on this group of people is quite interesting. I read Un-Su Kim’s other book that’s been translated to English, The Plotters, and absolutley loved it so I was excited to get my hands on this one. It’s super weird, but I loved it. There are some amazing sentences and for me it felt like it carved out a new space in my brain of thinking I hadn’t had before, and I always appreciate when a writer is able to do that.

Comedy, Comedy, Comedy, Drama, by Bob Odenkirk - This was great fun. I enjoy Odenkirk’s acting, especially his voice, and think the audiobook is the way to go here if you do too. He does a good job narrating and it’s fun to hear him tell his own stories. I appreciate the range of theme, professional work, internal examination, and the backstory about his life, how he got to his current situation, and the mistakes made along the way. He isn’t self-serving and I love how open and frank he is about saying, “yeah we should’ve done better” and recognizes those moments. I also appreciated his dedication, not to “the grind” or whatever, but to making things that he likes doing. His firm confidence that he’s doing what he wants to be doing and doing it well, and that those people who find his work meaningful are the ones he wants to have it - that’s where meaning is in his career, I liked that even though I phrased it terribly. But never is he chasing stardom or fame or compromising for a paycheck and he acknowledges the privilege that comes with being able to do that, but I felt like it was an inspiring thing, that making what you feel best about is how you will find people who will go with you, be part of your team, support you, and enjoy your work.

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman - I hated this. Productivity porn that just regurgitated all the inspiring and corporate jargon of the hustle culture that is shoved at you on social media and in podcasts by folks who just ugh make my eyes roll themselves right out of my head and down the street. The point of this extremely over hyped book is thia - you don’t live that long so none of it matters except what you decide matters, and you can’t do everything so make sure the things you do are the ones you want. Things I liked better: The Good Place tv show, The Sunny Nihilist, The Book of Delights, and literally anything else. The days I spend in existential dread laying on the couch are more insightful than this book was to me. I rarely loathe entirely (grinch voice) a book of any kind, but this read more like a lit review in an academic journal that I would give a content edit to the author of - ok so now that you’ve restated all the thoughts of these other people, what is your thesis? what’s your escape velocity from their work? what is the new thing you bring to the conversation?? Oh, there isn’t one. Ugh, this annoyed me. I’m gonna put together a list of things to read if spending your alive time more wisely is something you wanna do that are better than this one.