It shouldn’t shock you to know that I have planned my last book of 2021 and my first book of 2022. Last year I finished the year with Fathoms: The World in the Whale by Rebecca Giggs and started it with In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner. While I was disappointed because Fathoms wasn’t what I expected, Zentner is always a good choice and proved a worthy first book of the year.
I will end the year knowing that the final book will be spectacular because I’ve made sure to pace myself to finish it before midnight. It is John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed. Once I realized I was firmly on the side of loving everything about it with its chapters written as essays using the theme of reviewing items of the Anthropocene through Green’s eyes, I stopped and counted the days until the 31st and read up to the point where I could then read one chapter per day to finish on the 31st. Not only will it be the last book of year, but it will certainly also be the outstanding book of the month and help me usher in the year reviewed in a brief listicle:
- Pilates
- I thought Pilates was a thin person’s fitness regime, so I didn’t have the courage to begin Pilates until I had lost some weight many years ago. However, I realize now after a handful of years attending weekly Pilates classes that it’s about strength and flexibility regardless of age or body type and kick myself for not beginning sooner. Either way, the weekly connection to my body at the studio I attend reminds me of the power of our bodies and how maintenance of them is important. Pilates whether at home or at a studio with equipment, I give 4 stars.
- High school
- My memories of high school are probably skewed. I was a grumpy teen who had a few good friends, worked rather than played sports, and never attended my prom. I don’t regret those choices actually and in retrospect should have been happier than I was. Fast forward and now I work in a high school. I’m sure that probably also changes my memories too. And working at a high school during a pandemic in a district that chose to be virtual because of budgetary concerns was a sad proposition to bear not only because I lost my coworker to budget cuts (and had her return in the spring of 2021 when things became more stable) but that students were left to connect with school through the computer. Staff did their best, but morale was low. It’s a changeable time. Some teens are self-aware and confident in who they are and where they want to go while others still have a lot of maturing to do and whether that happens before they graduate or not is anyone’s guess. I was not self-aware and confident, but can appreciate where I am and who I am now. High school is 3 stars.
- Minnesota
- This summer despite having a flight cancelled and needing to rent a car one-way to drive eighteen hours to get to a family reunion and spend some time with my in-laws, we were able to travel within an hour or so to see a beautiful gorge, walk through the largest candy store in the state, see some buffalo, and meet friends who live lakeside. Yes, there’s a lot of corn and bean fields, but that’s also where family was. I give Minnesota 3.5 stars.
- Cemeteries
- In addition to the mysterious stories etched (and now invisible) on the stones, there are messages in the choices of other features of graves that are endlessly fascinated. It’s both the architecture and atmosphere that get me every time. Cemeteries are 4 stars.
- Berry picking
- Depending on the season, you could be baking in the heat or bundled up in the cold. Your feet might get wet or your fingers stained. Yes it might be easier to go to the store and buy them, but the farm-to-table connection is lost. Both of my parents grew up on farms and I grew up next to my aunt and uncle’s. so I know the dedication it takes to farm. I also know that there’s a different between a strawberry picked from a vine by your own hands and grabbing a plastic container in the store. You can bide the seasons by the fruit and veggies available. Seasonal eating is the best kind of eating. So yes, it might be a bit more expensive (what with driving out to the farm and usually paying a little more) but then you’ve got the fresh stuff to eat and freeze as you please. The memories past and present make berry picking 4 stars.
Thank you, John Green for inspiring this post as well as future thinking on reviewing life in the Anthropocene. Hats off to a year that was spent with family and books, celebrating where and when we could as I raise my glass to 2022 where I want to do much of the same.
Stay tuned for my first book of 2022 (I know what it is of course, do you?)
Readers Be Advised 