I needed one more TOP list of 2022, so I decided to look back at my posts from this year and highlight my five favorites.
Obituaries: I’m still reading the obituaries every day. I’m still always looking out for an old cemetery to wander around. And I love discovering articles like this one about etching recipes on gravestones (and the woman who went on a quest to make the recipes and revisit the graves).
Fifteen Years: I waxed poetic about my fifteens years in school librarianship.
She’s A Ten, But…: I took the meme and made it my own. Anyone else pack a pile of books to bring to a place that you wholeheartedly know you won’t be able to read ANYTHING but yet, you still need to be prepared?
Down the Rabbit Hole: When one book leads to another or a learning opportunity or a documentary to learn more. I did this with Chernobyl but I’ve also done it with fungi, medicine, and more.
Saga‘s Lesson: Patience: My ode to the best comic series because as much as I want Staples and Vaughan to hurry the heck up, I also never want the series to end.
The last week of the year is here! I spent last week looking over my reading from this year to pick the best of the best. As always, my lists are books published in 2022, not everything I’d read in 2022 that would make it to my top 10 lists, which makes it a true listicle of the best books of the year.
For 2022, I have four lists I’ll share each day this week, starting with my top 10 adult books. It’ll continue with children’s books, then middle grade, and end with YA.
In a few sentences, I will sum up my top 10 adult books– a mix of fiction and nonfiction in all of the formats that I love from audiobooks to graphic novels. They are books that are escape or slice-of-life, they are true stories that will make you cringe and others that will help to celebrate the good in life. Either way, I can’t help but look over the covers and remember a time, a place, a favorite part that I will take with me from 2022.
If there ever was a month to label as “mixed bag”, it would have to be October.
This is just a smattering of the books I read either in print, digitally, or audio and they range from a true crime audiobook of two women murdered in the Shenandoah National Park to the GOAT of horror manga, Juji Ito’s Uzumaki. Then there are middle grade fiction titles like Key Player by Kelly Yang and my continued obsession with Spy x Family. All told there were sixty-three books read for the month.
It was a result of several converging events, committees, and activities:
With a conference presentation a few weeks ago, at the beginning of the month I was trying to squeeze in some anticipated titles of 2023 while also reading a few 2022 titles to be ready to talk books.
Sitting on a “Best of” books selection committee for nonfiction so I had a few nonfiction titles that I didn’t know about to read to better argue which were the best!
A little countdown to Halloween on my Instagram, I read a spooky book a day for the last week that included the wacky spirals of Ito’s imagination to reliving the dramatic 1990 movie The Witches based on Roald Dahl’s The Witches which I had never read and decided to listen to the audiobook of today while traveling in the car. Plus I discovered the delightful Ghoulia.
And of course, fitting in the general love of certain series or titles that sit on my endless TBR that I pick up based on length, topic, and format.
November is my birthday month, so I’m planning a few personal reading challenges and organizing my own readathon. Any suggestions?
This post would have been done last Thursday, but the school’s homecoming weekend spirit celebrations shortened every class period last Friday, which meant that Ms. Donohue rescheduled classes for tomorrow. It was the right thing to do because talking nonfiction needs the whole 43 minutes. And even that is pushing it.
Here we are, the eve of my favorite booktalk of the school year. I’m really not exaggerating. I can get behind every booktalk done throughout the year, but there are ones that are special, such as this one. AP Language 11th graders do a project using a nonfiction text of their own choosing. No students in all of the classes can repeat the same book. It needs to be robust enough for the requirements of the project, engagingly narrative enough to hold their attention, pertinent to their interests. This means I hustle for my money presenting them with these such books through a whole-class booktalk before giving them time to browse, search, select, and check out. This last third of the class is for one on one readers advisory too. The challenge to find a book for a kid who wasn’t bowled over by anything I had to say in the first two thirds of class is one I’m willing to accept. And nonfiction is my jam.
Who are some of my favorite authors to recommend? I’m glad you asked! Mary Roach, Jon Krakauer, Erik Larson, James L. Swanson, and Candace Fleming.
What are some of my favorite titles to recommend this year? I’m glad you asked! In no particular order (and because my battery is running low): A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman, Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster by Sarah Krasnostein, You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe, Sigh, Gone: A Misfit’s Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell, and Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives by Gary Younge.
I’ll get a good night’s rest tonight because tomorrow you’ll find me fangirling nonfiction in the library.
If you would have told me five years ago that I would be listening to audiobooks while running or that I’d be running a half marathon and I would have told you you were lying. But here I am, running while listening to an audiobook and training for a half marathon.
This past weekend, I ran the longest I’ve ever run (well let’s not kid here, there were long pauses of fast walking) and I finished Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah and the End of Time before sliding into Dina Nayeri’s The Ungrateful Refugee.
I can’t tell you why I made the switch from listening to music to listening to audiobooks but I can tell you that a good audiobook keeps me running farther than music might. I’ve had that distinct feeling twice: Christina Tosi’s Dessert Can Save the World and Liz Nugent’s Little Cruelties.
If you haven’t tried walking or running with an audiobook, try it!
I did not grow up reading comics and definitely didn’t know where the local comic book store was. I am now an adult and read comics and definitely know where the local comic book store is. All of this was firmly solidified over Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga series.
Now, I had been reading graphic novels for some time, but almost exclusively as original novels or trade paperbacks. I didn’t know the world of serialized issues and a weekly or monthly stop to the store to pick them up. Heck, I came to Saga dozens of issues in because my first experience (thankfully, because I couldn’t get enough) was the trade paperback volumes 1-7 or 8. Then though I still waited for volume 9 and that’s when I realized I knew better and needed the stories issue by issue. Well, a hiatus and pandemic sure didn’t help.
Joyously, issue 55 came out in January to return me to the monthly pickup. The endorphin hit of knowing what will unfold mini-story by mini-story is the best kind of reading and the most painful. The lesson? Patience. For all the comic fans, especially the ones who were living this life way before I now do, what a lesson to learn.
Yesterday, I walked into the store to pick up issue 60 with my son– leaving with a big smile and the delayed gratification of sitting on the couch with a cup of tea to indulge in the next story that evening. I settled in for which I was rewarded with a phenomenal story and the next “please be patient” author’s note that issue 61 will hit stores in January 2023. Deep breath in, deep breath out. I can be patient. I do have the entire collection to re-read for the fourth time.
In fact, the best defense is a good offense. So as I count down to the release of volume 10 in October, I’ll backwards plan a re-read of the series. Then maybe in between October and January I’ll finally start working on cosplaying Alana or Izabel to stay connected to what is one of the most epic series of all time. Now, coming from a bookish gal like myself, a statement like that might seem devalued because I love all books, but no really, Saga is truly one of the most epic series of all time. As in, each of these cliches is true:
If I were trapped on a desert island and had to choose only a few books to bring, the Saga series would be one.
Every re-read of the series offers new insight. I would know, since I rarely re-read anything and I’ve re-read this series three times so far.
Authors and illustrators are my rock stars and thus, I look forward to the day where I can meet Staples and Vaughan.
The best things come to those who wait. I’ll be over here patiently waiting for the issues… and that meet-up.
The creativity, artwork, writing, story arcs, characters, social commentary, and allusions to name a few elements are the building blocks of great reading. Heck, the fandom seeped it’s way into a Taco Bell commercial. People have tattoos of characters. Hats-off to this winning team. I’ll be over here in your cheerleading section… patiently waiting.
Yesterday, Friday, June 24th was the last day of school which ended with a few last booktalks to my colleagues to set them up for the professional reading groups I run over the summer for staff, moving the last few items over to the new library (where we’re still waiting for the furniture), and a picnic lunch.
Today, Saturday, June 25th was the first day of official summer vacation. There will be plenty of time for work this summer that’s generally bookish in nature. But today had to be a *little* special.
The breakfast of champions after a morning training run and sauna session included water, bagel and lox, rose cider, and tea while reading the paper. The runs usually include an audiobook (who am I? I thought I would never be the person listening to an audiobook while running- only motivating music please- but I am now that person). I was actually able to finish Nugent’s Little Cruelties this morning what a twisted piece of literary fiction.
I moved to doing some grading and prep work for the summer grad classes and picked up a flat of strawberries from our CSA which promptly turned into me making biscuits and homemade whip for strawberry shortcake after dinner.
Some more reading.
A dinner of grilled pizzas courtesy of my grill-master husband and sitting out on the patio where I started another book that I’m loving so far, an arc of All Signs Point to Yes: A Love Story for Every Star Sign short story anthology edited by Davis, Montgomery, and White. Then, the strawberry shortcake.
And last, a blog post while also plotting a personal readathon for this summer.
… and by vacation I mean staycation,. I have no picture of a book sitting on my sunkissed thighs with a drink to my left. This past week was our spring break from school that’s typically associated with the Easter holiday however it also coincided with Passover and is the monthlong celebration of Ramadan. For me that did include a handful of religious and family obligations plus a visit from my mother-in-law, but she was going to be flying out by early in the week and I would be able to tackle some to-do items like cleaning and organizing certain parts of the house but also hang with my kids also on break, and of course, read.
I had amassed quite a few galleys via Edelweiss and Netgalley, plus I have an upcoming author panel I’m moderating, and then other print books on my shelf and from the library that I wanted to dive in to. I certainly got my reading time in with several gems in my favorite subcategories. Here were some highlights:
What in particular do I like about vacation reading? I think it’s the relaxed reading atmosphere, the deft movement between audiobooks and print or ebooks when I take a quick break to walk the dog in the middle of the day or decide it’s time to tackle that downstairs closet. The choice is all mine. And it feels extra special because it’s vacation time and it’s my choice and that’s what I choose to do. After all, Jung got it right– “you are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” I am a reader.
To try to keep up with reading everything you want to read is the same analogy as trying to find information on the internet which is that it’s like trying to take a drink from a fire hydrant- more will keep coming at you. So the task is always to enjoy it. Yes there are times when I have to read certain things like for a committee or a book review for a magazine that has a deadline, but this year I’ve found I have a lot more flexibility and I’m enjoying myself.
The Only Good Indians I already posted about here. That was a highlight from this month that warranted its own post. And a few others for various reasons which I’ll share now, going backwards from audience since The Only Good Indians‘ target audience is adult.
Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz was a perfect Gothic tale to a YA audience. As I’ve shared in the conversations I’ve had since reading it is that while I knew that the subtitle was “a love story”, I think Schwartz could have kept it solely about Hazel’s pursuit of being a physician and it been solidly fabulous. I know why Schwartz included the romance and the ending relied, in part, on it’s existence, but Hazel’s strength of character was memorable all by itself.
I have a good friend who is a high school art teacher. As soon as I closed the book, I sent her a few texts asking if she knew much about Savage. Then I told her she needed to read Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor’s Life by Marilyn Nelson pronto and that I was just as taken with Nelson’s choice to write in verse but that there was historical context in addition to the biographical content and that I loved a quote that was included by Savage: “I have created nothing really beautiful, really lasting, but if I can inspire one of these youngsters to develop the talent I know they possess, then my monument will be in their work.” Immensely powerful.
And last, a picture book by Phung Nguyen Quang and illustrated by Huynh Kim Lien called My First Day. I will end up owning this book soon because the captivating artwork unlocks a reader’s imagination as much as it connects to every experience we’ve had with a “first”. Yes, the boy is on his way to his first day of school through a maze of obstacles, but perseveres. The writing matches the tone of the design and creates an all-encompassing experience. A feast for the eyes.
Many years ago I had a habit of eschewing the popular book titles for the singular reason that I didn’t want to read what everyone else was reading. And at the time, I was exclusively reading for my target YA audience and not reading as widely as I do now. But I realized the downside was that when I eventually read those titles, I didn’t have as many people to talk to about them because those people were on to the next best read and vaguely remembered the book enough for any meaningful discussion.
Yet, I arrive here at 7:30pm on a Wednesday night, asking who out there has read The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones because I need someone to talk to.
The skillful writing, the paranormal happenings, the past merging with the present and future, the horror, traditions, the mood… I could go on. I know it’s been a year and a half. You’d think I’d learn my lesson. But I haven’t.
Readers Be Advised 