A friend asked me recently how I decide what books to read. There is no one answer. I used to work in a used bookstore so I would find stuff there that looked interesting. I subscribe (or used to subscribe) to many publishers such as Haymarket, Transit, Archipelago, and Belt. I find out when publishers host big sales, like when New York Review Books does 40% off for four books. I read what people I know are reading. I read what I get as gifts. I read what looks interesting on Twitter. It’s a lot of different ways.
In 2021 I read 52 books. According to my Goodreads where I’ve logged all this, I’ve read 9,952 pages. The average length of each book being 190 pages. The shortest was all 64 pages of Herman Melville’s Bartleby The Scrivener. The longest was Remain in Love by Chris Frantz at 384 pages (which I didn’t even read the whole thing and donated to a Little Free Library almost immediately).
I like short books. Maybe I have a short attention span. Maybe the writers I enjoy have short attention spans. Maybe I want to read as many different authors as possible and short books are a good way to do that. I also read a decent amount of poetry which greatly reduces the page count.
I don’t want to make a best of 2021 list – I read 17 books that were released this year so it would be far from comprehensive. But I wanted to share some of the books that made the biggest impact on me – or at least continue to be the most memorable (listed chronologically).
Cheryl Boyce-Taylor – Mama Phife Represents
A mother poetically explores her grief after the loss of her son, the late rapper Phife Dawg from A Tribe Called Quest. A beautiful tribute, Boyce-Taylor writes about the complexity of grief with a strong gravitational pull.
Mariame Kaba – We Do This Til We Free Us
A fantastic book of essays and interviews that highlight the prison abolitionist’s work over the last few years. It’s a great introduction for anyone new to the idea. I bought ten copies of this book to give away to any friends and family that were interested. It’s that important.
Elizabeth Catte – Pure America: Eugenics and the Making of Modern Virginia
Before reading this book, I never considered the role eugenics played in the creation of a national parks system. Recently nominated for a PEN Literary Award and for good reason. Non-fiction with engaging writing and a story that has implications beyond its immediate subject.
Noemi Lefebvre – Poetics of Work
This is the kind of novel I want to write. It’s a little dreamy, a little spacey, a little dark, a little dry, a little funny. It’s full of fascinating conversations and sits on the edge of the rail overlooking the despair and chaos of the outside world. Perfect for our times.
Seema Yasmin – If God is a Virus
Not that virus. Ebola. Yasmin worked throughout West Africa as a doctor and journalist. There are fascinating poem-stories here and Yasmin writes from a unique point of view,
Ilija Trojanow – The Lamentations of Zeno (translated by Philip Boehm)
Don’t watch that climate change movie on Netflix – read this book instead. The Zeno in question is a scientist on a cruise in the Antarctic trying desperately to convince the patrons on the luxury liner to give a shit about melting icebergs. Satire done right with beautiful writing along the way.
Sam Greenlee – The Spook Who Sat by the Door
Speaking of satire – but this time about racial relations. Great descriptions of South Side Chicago in the 60s and especially poignant descriptions of interactions between the Black community and police/government. American publishers rejected it and was first published in the UK. Production for a television show is underway and it was also chosen to be part of Noname’s book club.
Jesse Ball – The Diver’s Game
Ball is one of my favorite writers and each new book I read of his confirms this. A parable about the haves and have nots in some semi-future society. I’m always intrigued by the formatting and perspective shifts of Ball’s novels too – if you need a story that wraps up nicely with a bow on the ending, steer clear.
Other great books I read this year that are worth your time (with category-ish):
Namwali Serpell – Stranger Faces (Essays)
Jesse Hagopian (ed.) – Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising For Educational Justice (Essays, Interviews, Poems)
Iliana Regan – Burn the Place: A Memoir
Eileen Myles – Inferno: A Poet’s Novel (Novel-ish)
Selina Mahmood – A Pandemic In Residence: Essays from a Detroit Hospital (Essays)
Magda Szabo – The Door (Novel) (translated by Len Rix)
Joss Lake – Future Feeling (Novel)
The Stanford Graphic Novel Project – Flying Kites: A Story of the 2013 California Prison Hunger Strike (Graphic Novel)
Meghan Lamb – Failure to Thrive (Novel)
Michelle Zauner – Crying in H Mart (Memoir)
Mahogany L. Browne – I Remember Death by Its Proximity to What I Love (Poetry)
H. Melt – There Are Trans People Here (Poetry)
Renata Adler – Pitch Dark (Novel)
Emmanuel Bove – Henri Duchemin and His Shadows (Short Stories) (translated by Alyson Waters)
My to-read shelf is packed, and stacks of books are taking over the coffee table and nearly any other surface that won’t bother the cat. But I’ll always take a recommendation for a book (especially if it’s short). Happy reading in 2022 – it’s the only thing we can control anymore it seems.