It feels like I just started this project, tracking my
books one-by-one in my new notebook as something I thought might be fun. But,
looking at those crinkly pages covered in scribbles and scrawls shows that I’ve
definitely come a long way since Jan. 6 (my first entry).
I did go back and count – I’ve read 108 books this
year, of varying lengths and genres, and via different mediums. I’ve read books
that have been on my list for years, as well as ones I’d never heard of and more
I certainly thought I’d never pick up. I discovered my love for memoirs, and
even found a decent amount of YA that I actually like. I read because of class,
because I wanted to meet the author, because a friend or family member
recommended it, because I chanced upon it at the library, or because of book
club. But mostly, I read because I wanted to read. This was my first full year
of not being an English major, and you know that whole concept about how choice
and agency directly impacts children’s literacy and desire for reading for the
better? I’m pretty sure it’s true for adults, too.
I’ve tried to provide a brief recommendation of my top
15 books for 2016 down below! They’re my “Top” books because they all had the
highest ratings – I know the system is flawed, but I had to choose somehow!
Anyway, I gave the following 12 titles 4.5 stars –
Yes
Please: Amy Poehler is hilarious and fantastic, as is her book.
She has more of a life than just being Leslie Knope, apparently.
Brown
Girl Dreaming: Jacqueline Woodson recounts her
childhood in free verse, and it will change your life.
Feathers:
I’m tempted to say this is Woodson’s best work. It’s a beautiful portrayal of
love, resilience and hope.
Counting
by 7’s: Holly Goldberg Sloan wrote a book about a
middle-school genius who suffers an immense tragedy but somehow pieces together
a family, and it almost made me cry.
The
Violent Bear It Away: Flannery O’Connor blew my mind with her
brilliant, engaging novel about family, prophecy, and baptism.
We
Should All Be Feminists: This is an essay published as a
small book similar to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TEDTalk of the same name.
Every single person must read this. It will take you about thirty minutes.
Reading
Picture Books To With Children: Megan Dowd Lambert explains
her “Whole Book Approach” to open-ended exploration of picture books with
children, which I found quite inspiring.
Crazy
Busy:
Kevin DeYoung points past our busyness to the state of our restless souls,
urging us toward balanced lives.
The
Supper of the Lamb: Fr. Robert Capon made me fall even more
in love with food all while dishing out wise, hard-hitting insights on our
bodies and souls in light of the eternal feast.
Another
Brooklyn: Woodson’s most recent book – an ode to friendship,
childhood, memory, and Brooklyn.
The
Voyage Out: Virginia Woolf’s seminal novel and coming-of-age
story that nevertheless contains layered characters, beautiful prose, and a
solid dose of tragedy.
Fierce
Convictions: Karen Swallow Prior has written an
intricately detailed and incredibly comprehensive biography of Hannah More, who
most people have never heard of but who was actually a total badass – as much
as one could be in 17th/18th century England. Did I
mention it’s also wonderfully cohesive and super inspiring? Because it’s that
too.
You may have picked up on this over the past year, but
I’m kind of a tough critic. Or I’m just really opinionated. I’m fine with
either, honestly. The point is, I only gave three books a solid 5 stars, so if
you wanted to start small, I’d start with these.
A
Woman’s Place: Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In showed us how women
work, and it changed my life. But Katelyn Beaty’s book shows us why women work, along with how and why
it looks different for each of us, and I love her for it with my whole heart.
Liturgy
of the Ordinary: If you are a human with a body who does
things like brush your teeth, sit in traffic, send emails or eat food, you need
to read Tish Harrison Warren’s book about our daily liturgies and how they
reflect worship on Sundays and God with us. Read it. As soon as possible.
A
Room of One’s Own: I finally read this from beginning to
end, and the bottom line is that Virginia Woolf just makes my heart happy, with
her lyrical, quotable, writing and incisive insights. It’s Story and Argument
all in one, a compelling must-read.
I’m glad to have my progress documented over the past
year, and I’m looking forward to continuing my reading in 2017. I started four
books this year that I never finished – two of which I’d like to go back to. I
also started listening to all of the Harry
Potter books on audio, so I’d like to finish that (books 4-7) this year. I’m
also probably going to re-read all of the Series
of Unfortunate Events books because I can’t go into the Netflix series
unprepared. Plus my reading list, plus my two recommendations from friends,
plus a tall stack of borrowed books.
Now I just need a new notebook…
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