2020 | Reading List
Like many, books are my escape. A ritual to unwind, soak in perspective and shake off the day. By the middle of March, I couldn’t read a page. The library closed, my appetite for stories squashed by news and ability to properly record titles melted away. But after the initial blow, I got back in a groove.
There are titles missing here. Some beautiful poetry collections, books about bodies and some my attention couldn’t grasp. I learned how to ditch books pages in (any tiny rebellion felt good). Some titles my worn out brain couldn’t handle and I’ll be back for (looking at you Real Life by Brandon Taylor). When I look at this list and squint to see a story emerge it’s someone who is curious and angry about the world, desperate to name the swollen elements that make life so exhausting. Someone ready for fiction to take her away, or make her laugh about how bad Garden State really was.
Especially in a fucked up year, reading is all about connection. To my beloved Book Club, Ideas Club, Friend Public Library and other readers in my life. Shout out to the Vancouver Public Library who took their time to make sure we were safe (I missed my holds!). To Massey Books, Book Warehouse, Pulp Fiction, Libro.fm and my new fav newsletter Book Person. I’ve bolded titles of books that stuck with me (not necessarily favs!). Enjoy!
A History of My Brief Body — Billy Ray Belcourt
All Adults Here- Emma Straub
Amazons, Abolitionist and Activists- Mikki Kendall
American Utopia- Maria Kalman, David Byrne
Astrology for Real Relationships- Jessica Lanyadoo and T. Greenaway
Attention: A Love Story- Casey Scwartz
Biet- Eryn Green
Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close — Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants- Robin Wall Kimmerer
Can’t Even — Anne Helen Peterson
Counterproductive- Melissa Gregg
Crystal Healing for Women — Mariah K. Lyons
Disability Visability- Alice Wong
Drunk Mom- Jowita Bydlowska
Earth Keeper- N Scott Momaday
Eloquent Rage- Brittney Cooper
Empty: A Memoir- Susan Burton
Excuse Me: Cartoons, complaints and notes to self- Liana Finick
Fairest — Meredith Talusan
Fleishman Is In Trouble — Taffy Brodesser Akenar
Girl Woman Other- Bernardine Evaristo
Glass Hotel- Emily St. John Mandel
Greenwood- Michael Christine
Having and Being Had — Eula Biss
Heart Minded- Sarah Blondin
Healing Restiance: A Radically Different Response to Harm- Kazu Haga
Heavy- Kiese Laymon
Homie- Danez Smith
Hood Feminism- Mikki Kendall
How to Do Nothing- Jenny Odell
How to Lose Everything- Christa Coture
How to Write One Song — Jeff Tweedy
How We Show up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship and Community — Mia Birdsong
I Like to Watch — Emily Nussbaum
I’m Still Here — Austin Channing Brown
In The Dream House- Carmen Maria Machado
It’s About Damn Time — Arlan Hamilton
Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity and Change: Maggie Smith
Leave the World Behind- Rumaan Alam
Like a Mother — Angela Garbes
Love and Rage — Lama Rod Owens
Misconceptions- Naomi Wolf
Movies and Other Things — Shea Serrano
New Waves- Kevin Nguygen
Nurture — Erica Chidi
Real Change- Sharon Saltzberg
Resist Much, Obey Little: Some Notes on Edward Abbey
Sabrina- Nick Drnaso
Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema- Lindy West
Sister Outsider — Audre Lorde
Sitting Pretty — Rebekah Taussig
Slouching Towards Los Angeles: Living and Writing by Joan Didion’s Light
Steffie Nelson (editor)
Such a Fun Age — Kiley Reid
The Crying Book — Heather Christie
The Likeability Trap — Alicia Menendez
The Meaning of Soul, Black Music and Resilience Since the 1960s — Emily J. Lordi
The Mind Has Cliffs of Fall — Robert Pinsky
The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni- Nikki Giovanni
The Stonewall Reader- New York Public Lirbrary
The Undocumented Americans- Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
The Vanishing Half — Brit Bennett
This is What I Know About Art — Kimberly Drew
Topics of Conversation — Miranda Popkey
Uncanney Valley — Anna Wiener
Unfuck your Boundaries — Dr Faith G. Harper
Weather — Jenny Offil
Where the Crawdads Sing — Delia Owens
White Negros: When Cornrows Were in Vogue — Lauren Michelle Jackson
Why We Can’t Sleep — Ada Calhoun
Wow, No Thank You — Samana Irby
You Belong — Sebane Selase
You Were Born For This — Chani Nicholas
