Top eight of 2021

Ten is too many, five isn't enough. I didn't do a top ten post last year, and if I remember correctly in 2019 I only did top five. This year, I exceeded my reading goal and I had some absolutely incredible reading experiences. Let's talk about a few of them...

Beartown, by Frederick Bachman

Beartown hit me in the emotions. I have been a fan of Bachman since I read A Man Called Ove, but Beartown hit different. I loved the characters and I found myself getting very emotionally attached to them. Here is what I wrote in a previous blog post, and every word still rings true:

"Beartown is a small town in the middle of the forest; they have a hockey team. Hockey is what breathes life into the people of Beartown. But when the rose colored glasses of talent and success are ripped away, the citizens' reactions are what tell us the real secrets of this town. When a young girl is assaulted, we watch as the town splits in two and watch how the word of a young woman is buried beneath the lies of men. The simplicity and complexities of life are laid bare for us to witness the downfall and the rise of others...This was the kind of book that ripped the veil of politeness away from what is an all too common occurrence, and it was refreshing."

Be warned, though - Beartown is very triggering. Do not read this if you have not checked it out first.

11/22/63, by Stephen King

I don't think I really need to say much about this one, honestly. This book is widely known, and is even an HBO series now (though I haven't watched it yet). I will say that this book is a doorstop, but I read it in what felt like a week. It was so incredibly drawing, fascinating, and well written. Stephen King is my favorite author, we know this...but 11/22/63 was absolutely fantastic. A highschool teacher gets brought into the fold of timetravel by a small town diner owner, and is tasked with stopping the Kennedy Assassination. As Jake navigates history and tries desperately not to leave much trace, he falls into skethcy situations, as well as falls in love. Ultimately, will Jake complete his task? What will happen if he does? How will history be changed? You'll have to read it to find out!

The Secret Place, by Tana French

This was my first Tana French. I'd heard about her through friends and podcasts, but she always seemed...not my vibe. I used to say that I didn't care for the mystery genre, but I think maybe I just wasn't reading the right novels. I picked up this book by the recommendation of a good friend, and though it took me a little while to get used to her style and the Irish vernacular, I am hooked. I have since ordered all of the Dublin Murder Squad (The Secret Place is part of this). This book follows two police detectives along alternate timelines that unfold over one day, to solve the year old murder of a teenage boy who was found on the grounds of an all girl's school. We are caught up in the world of glitter and lies as we follow Stephen Moran on his journey to untangling the web woven by loyalty and fear.

Circe, by Madeline Miller

Circe is the second book I read by Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles being the other. I'd once again heard rave reviews about Circe and was excited to finally pick it up myself, and boy it did not disappoint. I've mentioned before that I love a good mythology retelling, as the classical stuff is dry and convoluted to me. I didn't know much about the witch Circe at all before picking this up, and though there was certainly some artistic license taken here, it inspired me to do some googling and learn things I hadn't known before. We follow Circe's journey from lowly daughter of Helios, to exiled witch, to lover of the god Hermes. She is protected by her magic, but ultimately this magic comes at a cost. This book is beautifully written and I cannot wait to see what Miller comes up with next.

Ariadne, by Jennifer Saint

I picked this up on the heels of Circe. I'd briefly gotten a taste of Princess Ariadne in Miller's novel, and was thrilled to see this in my Book of the Month box options. I took this book on my honeymoon and read it on the beach, sipping rum drinks and soaking in the sun, but that environment is not cohesive to the novel. We follow Princess Ariadne, sister of the Minotaur and traitor of Crete, as she falls down the spiral of love that will lead to her ultimate fate. I loved the story here, and once again went down quite the google hole in search of knowledge. Ariadne was exciting and compelling, and before I knew it I was flying through pages. I very much appreciated the story here, as I didn't know anything about Ariadne's story before, and though there was some artistic license taken here, as with Circe, that didn't matter to me. Saint made the characters real. That is what mattered to me.

Shaking the Gates of Hell: A Search for Family and Truth in the Wake of the Civil Rights Revolution, by John Archibald

This was one of my book club's picks for 2022, and it was so good! One thing I love about my book club is that we try to make sure there's a wide variety of books for us to read - we use it as the leverage and motivation we need in order to read things that might be hard. This one wasn't hard, though. Compulsively readable, and TRUE. This is the journey of a man who follows his father's life during the civil rights movement through his sermons. John Archibald comes from a long line of preachers. This book allows us to follow in a memoir-like fashion, the development of his father's outlook on life and civility during a tumultuous time in our history. Archibald struggles to reconcile the father he knew, with the father of his sermons. Why didn't he speak out louder? Why didn't he act more boldly? Was the safety and security of his family the only factor? What is actually lurking within the political confines of the Christian Church? This was a wonderful and raw look at the life of a family man, and his actions. It was a happy bonus that we got to sit down and speak with John Archibald himself about his process, his feelings and his concerns along the way.

When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt, by Kara Cooney

One of my small goals for 2021 was to read more non-fiction, as I tend to gravitate toward the unreal. This was a wonderful book that gives you a broad over-view of the lives of the most impactful and historically significant Queens of Egypt. I'd never really thought anything about Egyptian history or culture outside of The Mummy franchise, which, well... It was wonderful and bizarre to fall headlong into a culture that I knew nothing about. I learned about the way Egypt's dynasties were formed, how succession worked, how daily life looked every day to both the royals and the commoners. I was riveted every step of the way, and this launched me into a temporary Egyptian obsession. I consumed multiple books afterward about other queens of the time and location. I highly recommend the audio book for this one, as it is read by Kara Cooney herself. This adds more depth to me, because she very evidently cares intensely for the subject matter. Her biography of Hatshepsut is an excellent second round, and I couldn't have loved it more.

Cosmology of Monsters, by Shaun Hamill

This was literally my last book of 2021. I finished it on December 31st. I'd heard about this book where I've heard about most books - on a podcast. It'd been sitting on my TBR for a few years and one day I was browsing my local indie book store and there it was, staring out at me from the shelves. So I bought it and took it home where it stared at me from my own shelves for an indeterminate amount of time, until the winter came. Winter is a time for dark reading in my opinion, so I'd announced to the internet that I'd finally read it. Boy, what I had been missing...this story is, at it's core, a multigenerational love story that bends what we think of as normal. What if the ability to see and interact with monsters was hereditary? What if monsters weren't actually all that monsterous? Noah Turner shows us what it's like to let monsters into our life without fear, and honestly...without recognition of consquences. Because what happens when the little boy grows up, and the monster is still there? This book is spooky and creepy in all the right ways, and personally I loved the beginning of the book where we learn about Noah's parents and their time together. It added a beautiful layer of empathy later on, which you might need in order to remember that humans have so many facets that we can never truly know anyone.

I know that this post is a long one and if you've made it through the whole thing, congratulations! I am so glad you're here and appreciate you greatly! I hope that you are able to pick something up from this list, whether that be something you want to read or something you know you don't want to read. I hope that you find something lovely and spooky to read this winter, and I hope that you have someone fun to talk about it with. If you don't, I'm here and I want to talk to you about your favorite books.

xoxo

Is.