Favorite Reads of 2022
Hello! Another year of reading and writing has come to a close. The week after Christmas and before New Years can be a little strange and fuzzy, so instead of scrolling through Instagram and watching Seinfeld reruns, I decided to take stock and share some beautiful book suggestions with you. I am still reeling after reading these magical gems. Here are my favorite reads of 2022!
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich, Novel
This was my absolute favorite book of the year. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this epic captures the intersecting lives of the native Chippewa people in 1950s rural North Dakota. The main character, Thomas Wazhashk, is based on Edrich’s grandfather, Patrick Gourneau, who was also a night watchman and fought against the termination of five tribes in 1953 by the U.S. government. The characters are rich and I fell in love with their wit, beauty and flaws.
The Empathy Effect by Helen Reiss, Non-Fiction
This relatable and readable nonfiction work proposes that empathy can be practiced and learned. Based on scientific studies and evidence, Reiss relays complex theories in terms that any reader can understand. These bite sized chapters are the perfect mix of hard data and anecdotes. I am assigning this book for an Honors course I created and am teaching at San Diego State called Radical Empathy and Revolutionary Poetics and can’t wait to discuss with the students.
So I Began by Lisa Lubasch, Poetry
Author of four previous poetry collections, Lubasch’s expansive and experimental work continues to explore the momentum of language and small moments of the sublime. Gestures, utterances, and fragile details combine and collide “over the line, and past,/over the sentence,/keeps you…”.
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo, Novel
This fantastical read reinvents the classic, The Great Gatsby with more (dare I say) magic and mystery. Vo revives the glamorous Jordan Baker as the narrator who still golfs, likes to party, and is also a queer Vietnamese adoptee. With hints of gothic elements and magic realism, Miss Baker is resurrected with a complex past and uncertain future, relaying familiar scenes with a twist that will spur your memories of high school English class.
[neurotic love baby] by Marie Conlan, Poetry
Conlan’s newest collection spans five intoxicating sections composed of entropic spaces, hues of wilderness, and piercing questions that are at once ephemeral and funny: “How many things do you own?” Jutting images and gritty testimony collide to embody intimate fields wherein “you are a sepia rinse & I keep seeing your face bloom from inside my mouth.” Conlan’s prose-like poems, in their varying incarnations, culminate into a landscape where bodies decompose and mix “with blood, dist with sweat” inside an urgent syntax that does not let up.
All’s Well by Mona Awad, Novel
After an accident, a theater professor living with chronic pain no one seems to believe or understand is obsessed with staging Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, to the great disgruntlement of everyone around her. This is a seering, funny novel and brings up serious questions about women in academia, the quest to be taken seriously, and the suspicion that surrounds chronic pain, especially of women. I could not put this down and I wanted to start it all over again as soon as I was finished.
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay, Poetry
Winner of the National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and Winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, Gay examines small moments of joy proclaiming what is beautiful, fresh, illuminating, and moving. The collection is about his life as a community orchardist and the lines are rich with the scent of soil and the sweetness of peaches. Gay tills painful memories that remind us of the finite nature of all living beings.
There There by Tommy Orange, Novel
In this Pulitzer Prize Finalist novel and one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year in 2018, Orange conveys the complexities and painful histories of urban Natives. The novel traces the lives of twelve vivid characters who are all traveling to the Oakland Powwow. Connections between characters are unveiled in unexpected and surprising ways. Heartbreaking, honest, and urgent, I was on the edge of my seat until the last page.
How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies by Amy Wallen, Nonfiction
This book is comforting and inspiring, much like a delectable pie with your favorite filling. Wallen offers practical advice and insider knowledge for aspiring novelists (such as myself!). My friend Patricia gifted this book to me and I am so glad she did! The personal stories, fun illustrations by Emil Wilson, and recipes will have you well on your way to literary stardom!
I am in the process of reading the following, which I highly recommend as well:
Reading Basquiat by Jordana Moore Saggese, Art Criticism/History
The Sorrow Festival by Erin Slaughter, Poetry
Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz, Poetry
Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel, Art Criticism/History
