notable books I read last year

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Here are my favorites:

Asymmetry – This was probably my favorite of the year. Knowing that the author dated Phillip Roth in her 20’s (while he was in his 70’s) makes the fictional relationship so much more interesting. The structure is also unique and effective.

I Wrote This Book Because I Love You – I preferred Kreider’s previous collection, We Learn Nothing, but these are pretty good too.

The Sun Does Shine – Memoir by a man who spent a majority of his life on death row for a crime he clearly didn’t commit. Absolutely infuriating, but important read.

Such a Long Journey – Rohinton Mistry probably resonates more with me because he’s a Parsi from the same area of Bombay as my mom. I don’t often get to read Parsi Gujarati slang.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Definitely unique, funny, and well written. If this were a page longer, it would have been too long. 

Americanah – Novel about a Nigerian woman coming to America and going back. More of a vehicle for commentary and observations about race, relationships, status, and immigration through a collection of shorter pieces, but the writing is great and it all works together.

Not quite with the favorites:

There There – This was really hyped. And the urban Native-American perspective is unique. And the book is good, and it’s short, and it’s searing, so I’d recommend it just to get the perspective, but it didn’t quite live up to the hype for me. 

These were all very good: 

Everything I Never Told You – Novel about a mixed-race (Chinese/white) family in suburban Ohio.

The Nest – Novel about a white adult family in New York City.

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry – A nice little novel for book lovers.

Where the Crawdads Sing – Memorable. It’ll get you where you need to be.

If you're in the mood for something different:

The Windup Bird Chronicle – I just finished this, and it’s weird, but surprisingly readable for how weird it was. I need to think about it some more before recommending strongly. But it’s definitely very interesting.

On the fence about recommending:

Happy City – On one hand, I found myself talking about this more than anything I read last year; but like most non-fiction of this type, it is in desperate need of an editor. Maybe repetition is the point for some of this stuff, but man, it really needed a proper editor. Maybe just read a review of it. 

Killers of the FlowerMoon – David Grann wrote my favorite from last year, and this was good, but not sure I recommend it. 

Ok, I'm cutting it off here.