Happy New Year! Join me in welcoming a bounty of books to read, re-read, savor & share!
Is there a better gift than a book?
Sure — wine, sweets, and thrift store gems will always make me swoon, but give me a book and you’ve worked your way into my heart. This season, I’m feeling a swell of gratitude for good friends & good books.
Let’s look back to the best of the bunch (umm, books, not friends).
I don’t track the number of books read, though I typically complete at least one to two books a week. Of those, here are the ones that have stuck with me (these are books read, not necessarily published, in 2024):
FICTION
Novels I keep urging everyone to read:
• Long Bright River by Liz Moore
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
• Commitment by Mona Simpson
• The Wedding People by Alison Espach
A good but disturbing novel that I couldn’t put down:
• History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund. This family drama thrums with creepy yet fascinating tension.
Novels that left me entertained but conflicted:
Months after reading these novels, I can't stop thinking about the topics they raise: writing, race, access, appropriation.
• Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
• Victim by Andrew Boryga
Mystery series I gobbled up:
• Vera Stanhope novels by Ann Cleeves. Until recently, I was not a big fan of crime thrillers. But lately, I can’t get enough of the genre. In a series that spans nearly a dozen books, Cleeves is an expert at unwinding story and character with masterful restraint.
NON-FICTION
Most unexpected transformation of a punk rocker:
• Faith, Hope, and Carnage by Nick Cave
Delightful tales with a side of sad:
• Still Life with Remorse by Maira Kalman. An artist/writer turns family grief inside-out with quirky irreverence that soothes and surprises.
• A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. In this slim book containing three stories about his childhood, Capote offers brilliant writing that reveals the tender oddity of an unusual friendship.
POETRY
Poet whose books I can’t stop buying: Jane Mead
Though she died in 2019, I only recently discovered the work of poet Jane Mead. At every turn I find another book I didn’t know I needed.
Poet whose work I wish to inhabit: Mary Ruefle
A Little White Shadow, a small thin book published in 2006, kicked off a world of erasure poems. Yes, there were others before her (and a great many since) but Ruefle really amped the form.
Poetry books I keep close and return to often:
Given by Wendell Berry
The Trees Witness Everything by Victoria Chang
Hush by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
The Way It Is by William Stafford
Words Under The Words by Naomi Shihab Nye
QUESTIONS:
• Where do you get your books?
I am committed to supporting the work of writers by buying their books — but I read a lot and gotta pay my electric bill too. To that end, I obtain books in a variety of ways, namely at independent bookstores (Powell’s City of Books, Klindt’s Booksellers, and Bart’s Books are my favorites); at used bookstores (Artifacts: Good Books & Bad Art and Thrift Books are my top picks); and for poetry I purchase directly from the publisher because these are often small presses without the resources to get product placement at mainstream outlets.
And, firstly and lastly and always, I borrow books from my local library — where anyone can read books for absolutely free! Isn’t that a wonder?!
• What’s your best book of 2024?
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