Tuesday, December 10, 2019

2019 Favorite Books, Tuesday's Reflection

"I have Christmas shopping to do. Just when are you going to post
your list of favorite books?" 

Ok, friend, here it is. The list is long because I read over a hundred books this year, but perhaps that will mean you will find a title or two you might want to buy for someone on your Christmas list. More than that, I hope you will discover a title you want to read. 


My Top Favorite Fiction Titles of 2019
1. The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman. LOVED this book. Set in France towards the end of WWII. Realistic, but also mystical, involving the presence of a golem created to protect a young Jewish girl fleeing Germany. 
2.  The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. I have told people if you read this book and don't like it, don't tell me that. I could hardly bear to turn the last page. Siblings, a wicked stepmother, and a house. 
3.  The Nickel Boys by Colin Whitehead. Based on true story about a home for juvenile boys in Florida. Horrible things happen there, but this is not a book meant to just shock. Trauma becomes resilience. Lies become illuminated. 
4.  City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. Set in New York City in the 1940's theater world, I thought at first it might be a fluffy read, but Gilbert writes with such energy and honesty, and her characters are substantial and interesting. Well-done!
5.  Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel. This book has been on my list for a LONG time and finally, finally I read it. A flu wipes out most of the world's population, but a few, whom we get to know before and after the pandemic, survive. The survivors include The Symphony, a traveling group of actors and musicians, who perform Shakespeare. Did I read a rumor that this is a forthcoming movie? 
6.  The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. This book was on many "best books of 2018" and I concur. The plot moves back and forth between 1985 and 2015 and focuses on those touched by AIDS. Here's a quote that highlights the theme, I think.
          If we could just be on earth at the same place and
          same time as everyone we loved, if we could be born
          together and die together, it would be so simple. And it's
          not. But listen: you two are on the planet at the same
          time. You're in the same place now. That's a miracle.
                                                                     p. 401
7.  Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver. This was the second book I read this year, and it continues to live in me. The story moves back and forth between now and much earlier --during the time of Darwin's revelations. The setting for both times is a decrepit house and the lives of the people who live there. 

Other Favorite Fiction Titles of 2019
1.  The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
2.  This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
3.  The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
4.  Walking on the Ceiling by Aysegul Savas
5.  A Better Man by Louise Penney
6.  The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
7.  Rules for Visiting by Jessica Francis Kane
8.  Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

9.  The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin
10. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
11. The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
12. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
13. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (for the second time)
14. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah 
15. The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear
16. The Gravity of Birds by Tracy Guzman
17. They May Not Meant To But They Do by Catherine Schine
18. Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg
19. Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson
20. Laurentian Divide by Sarah Stonich

My Top Favorite Nonfiction Titles of 2019
1.  The Universal Christ, How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe by Richard Rohr. I am still digesting this book and will be for a long time, I suspect. The book explores what it means that Jesus was called "Christ" and how that can restore hope and meaning in our world. 




2.  The Creative Habit. Learn It and Use It For Life by Twyla Tharp. Tharp is a world-renowned choreographer, but this book is not limited to dancing. I underlined so much in this book! Here are a couple favorite quotes. 
             Remember this the next time you wonder if a 
             piece is finished. If you don't have the feeling
             that you've straightened out a messy room, keep
             working. p. 208

             I'm often asked, "Where do you get your ideas?'...
             The short answer is: everywhere. It's like asking
             "Where do you find the air you breathe?" Ideas are
             around you. p. 95
3.  White Fragility, Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo. An Important Book. Don't miss the chapter on white women's tears. 
4.  Holy Envy, Finding God in the Faith of Others by Barbara Brown Taylor. Taylor's reflections on teaching a college course on religions of the world and how she found something to love in each tradition. Her usual personal, clear style.
5.  Inheritance, A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity and Love by Dani Shapiro. Shapiro has a DNA test done and discovered her biological father. 
6.  The Warmth of Other Suns, The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson. A must read book. The history of migration of African-Americans from the U.S. South to other parts of the country. Wilkerson profiles specific people, following them through the years. 

Other Favorite Nonfiction Titles of 2019
1. Faithful Farewell, LivingYour Last Chapter with Love by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre
2.  Evicted, Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
3.  Onigamiesing, Seasons of an Ojibwe Year by Linda LeGarde Grover
4.  Spillville by Patricia Hampl (second reading)
5.  Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, A Therapist, Her Therapist and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
6.  Emmett Till, The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement by Devery S. Anderson
7.  The Time is Now, A Call to Uncommon Change by Joan Chittister
8.  How To Forget, A Daughter's Memoir by Kate Mulgrew
9.  Two Lives by Reeve Lindbergh
10. Into The Silent Land, The Practice of Contemplation by Martin Laird
11. Let Evening Come, Reflections on Aging by Mary C. Morris
12. Women Rowing North, Navigating Life's Currents and Flourishing as We Age by Mary Pipher
13. The Soul's Slow Ripening, 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred by Christine Valters Painter
14. Forward from Here, Leaving Middle Age--and Other Unexpected Adventures by Reeve Lindbergh
15. My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem
16. Why Religion? A Personal Story by Elaine Pagels
17. Kitchen Yarns, Notes on Life, Love and Food by Ann Hood

That's it!!! I am currently reading a wonderful novel called The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay,  Drinking from the River of Light, The Life of Expression by Mark Nepo, and Light of the World, A Beginner's Guide to Advent by Amy-Jill Levine. Plus, I just got a notice that a copy of Elizabeth Strout's new book Olive, Again is waiting for me at the library. Happy reading. 

              Reading is your first line of defense
              against an empty head. Twyla Tharp


               
An Invitation
What are you reading and what do you recommend? I would love to know.

             


2 comments:

  1. Wow, that's quite a lot of books you've read this year! I've read 52 this year, so far. I've read some on your list; others have titles that intrigue me, so I'll be looking them up.

    My favorite fiction books for 2019 have been:
    Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life (Amy Krouse Rosenthal)
    Olive Kitteridge (Elizabeth Strout)
    On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (Ocean Vuong)
    The Island of Sea Women (Lisa See)

    Non-fiction:
    The Invitation (Oriah Mountain Dreamer)
    Something More (Sarah Ban Breathnach)
    The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook (Natalie Eve Garrett)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your favorites. I loved Something More—maybe it’s time to pull it off the shelf again.

      Delete

All respectful and relevant comments are welcome. Potential spam and offensive comments will be deleted