The Confidante, about Anna Rosenberg, a senior advisor to FDR and Asst Secretary of Defense under Truman! An immigrant who never graduated high school, she kicked ass in a men's world, and it was a privilege to learn about her!
What made it great? 1. Nice plot with twists and some insight into the Vatican; 2. Bishop Robert Barron warned to stay away (the movie) because of it being “woke”. The best recommendation a book/movie can get.
I made a whole breakdown of Conclave, where I talk in great detail of all the filmmaking techniques used that i think make it great. I'd be curious what you think.
I offer it as an independent reading option in AP lit during our poetry unit!! I also want to create a Q2 study from it. Beautiful and intelligent language.
JAMES by Everett.
I learnt a useful concept from you, Chanea; "code switching", and in James found that come alive (on the page) effortlessly.
Reminded me of the retelling of Romeo & Juliet, in a show called "& Juliette", but much less merry.
Thank you for teaching me!
All the best to you for 2025.
The way he states to the children that code switching is a ploy to manipulate the colonizers into thinking Black folx are unintelligent really stuck with me.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Loved that an octopus was a main character and also his POV. I liked how it dealt with loss, grief, and growth.
Bonus: The Daughters of Madurai by Rajasree Variyar. Poignant, gritty, heart-wrenching. About female infanticide in small town India.
As soon as someone asks for the best book I’ve read, I forget every book I’ve ever read…but thanks to my Pinterest board I remembered how much I loved Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi! Such a cool story.
Invisible Rulers by Renee DiResta. Needs to be required reading for American citizens. It’s an amazing look at how social media is fueling misinformation
Just finished WEST WITH GIRAFFES by Lynda Rutledge. Although an historical fiction book, most is made up into a heartwarming story. Not sure it was my favorite book this year, but definitely up there.
Fiction: All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby. It's absolutely not my usual genre, but it was just amazing. I could almost feel the history of the town. I immediately read all the rest of his books.
Nonfiction: T-Rex & the Crater of Doom. I am a geek and this appealed to my super geek.
This is an awful question!!! How does one pick? But this is one book which immediately came to mind for me. Highly recommend this author and in particular this book.
To answer the second question, I really appreciate the multi voiced narrative from the perspective of both Vietnamese and American folks re: the American-Vietnamese war. I also didn't know about the Ameriasian (mixed race Vietnamese and white or Black kids abandoned by their American fathers)
AND efforts to reunite these fathers and their children. I truly appreciate Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai's perspective about how war impacts us all and dreaming about how we can move forward.
My hold came up and then disappeared for the digital copy. I was reading for Cybils, so I didn't have time anyway. 🤷♀️ I am excited to read it, though.
You Dreamed of Empires, by Alvaro Enrigue. A gorgeous, psychedelic, historical and counter-historical novel of first contact between the conquistadores and Aztecs.
Absolution by @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social came ten years after the series so I was pleasantly surprised when it popped up and it delivered. My daughter and I have read it a couple times now and its the subject of many conversations.
Have you seen the musical, Come From Away? It is supurb and based on the true narratives of the people of Gander and the passangers. Truly makes you believe in the best of humanity!
I read Son by Lois Lowry (spoiler alert) I had a formative reading moment when I was in 6th grade where I cried and cried at the end of The Giver because I thought it was all a metaphor for Jonas's death. And in Son, it's clear he lives. It was such a happy moment for me.
We are the land: a native history of California - a must-read for any Californian and is what made me wish I was still teaching English as the chapters are great writing examples of how an introduction and conclusion contain a lot of the same information, but are different.
Parable of the Sower because it predicted this year 2024 with scary accuracy. Community is crumbling and empathy is viewed as a disease. But the fact remains we need each other in this brutal world to survive.
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff. Seeing the North American continent thru the eyes of a young English girl who foresees what destruction her people will bring. Heartbreaking and beautiful.
Thanks for this thread of amazing books! Love seeing the variety of books people love and getting new titles to read!
Here are some of mine this year and there could be so many more on this list. Fun to even go back and look at all the amazing books I've read this year, but hard to choose favs!
I'm not "blaming" phones only though as the reason for all of the societal ills related to kids! I do think there are some good things in the book to discuss though and to create a wider conversation. Of course our phones are helpful. Appreciate the podcast suggestion and listening now.
The Hamilton Scheme by William Hogeland. The carefully referenced narrative of how our nation was born not just by guns, but also by the balance sheet. Intriguing introspection to the social and financial forces that forged our democratic system. The author’s story telling is captivating.
Fiction—Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano, Banyan Moon by Thao Thai
Memoir—Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang, This American Ex-Wife by Lyz Lenz
Non-Fiction—By The Fire We Carry by Rebecca Nagle, How The Word is Passed by Clint Smitb
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John LeCarre. It was masterful storytelling and well worth a read even if you have already seen the film or BBC series and know how the mystery is resolved. Anyone who loved the series The Americans may want to give it a try.
Wanting to understand why people do (did) what they do, I read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Clings to me like a ghost. History rhyming, indeed.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver because I loved the main character. It also gave me more understanding and empathy for people with opiate addictions
Not sure it if it is the best book I read this year (need more time to think about it) but Survive the Dome by @kosokojackson.bsky.social was excellent. It has stayed with me for weeks since I finished it. I needed a bit more time with those characters. Fingers crossed for a sequel.
James Brooks “Mesa of Sorrows: A History of the Awat’ovi massacre”
A trusted & meticulous historian surrenders the safety of the footnote to give a sensitive meditation that ultimately humanizes the Hopi ppl by seeking to understand a skeleton in their closet.
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. What it had to say about male suffering and men’s relationship with masculinity hit a cord with me. I’m trying to resist my own Tyler Durden.
CRAP! Okay, I forgot the title but it was basically an essay about F Scott Fitzgerald and how his life influenced the way he wrote the Great Gatsby. I wished I kept the checkout receipt to say which one.
The Djinn Waits A Hundred Years. It was so beautifully written. It was a meditation on love and finding one’s voice as well as a great family tragedy. So good!
Immortal Dark, This Ravenous Fate, Where Sleeping Girls Lie, The Weight of Blood, & Society of Lies. Why? 1) novels w/Black women/girl protags; 2) blend of genres (romance, gothic, thriller, mystery, epistolary, speculative) 3) still thinking of them months after reading 4) beautiful storytelling
I loved Annie Bot! It was about the humanization of A.I. and the dehumanization of women. From POV of a very expensive, very intelligent, very beautiful A.I. girlfriend who begins to self actualize.
I think “84, Charing Cross Road” was my favorite because it was just such a cozy read-long-distance friendship that was related to books. I felt light after reading it.
Such a tough call! Was it War & Peace, which deserves its lofty spot in the canon (despite meh epilogues)? Or James, which elevates—and is elevated by its link to—Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? Maybe The Friends of Eddie Coyle, the pinnacle of crime fiction? Rules of Civility? Poisonwood Bible?
I read Society of the Snow in January and I still find myself thinking about it. It’s haunting and beautiful and vulnerable.
I also finally read Braiding Sweetgrass this year, and I wish I’d made time for it ages ago. It’s lovely and challenging and perspective-shifting all at once.
King by Jonathan Eig because in an age where Dr. King has been reduced to basically one part of one speech, Eig reminds people that Dr. King and Coretta were radical from the beginning. He shows King's flaws and makes sure that you know King wasn't a solitary figure in the movement.
It’s not a perfect book, but it has been missing for decades. It left me wanting to know more about Coretta, Abernathy, and others. The audio narration by Dion Graham deserves awards.
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott. It captures the resentment in relationships that festers when there's a newborn in the house, interspersed with a feminist telling of the Haudenasonee Sky Woman story. Also, beautiful cover by Jay Soule (Chippewar).
Babel! I'm a sucker for SF/F that's actually about colonialism. The characters are all fun to read about. There are a couple really great twists that change the entire course of the story. And the worldbuilding is immaculate.
Just read Ghost (and the rest of the Track series) by Jason Reynolds. What a complex book written so concisely! Cannot recommend enough. #latetotheparty #kidlit
Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson, nonfiction. Details the 5 mos. between Lincoln's election and his inauguration 5 months later. Reminder of just how fragile this nation is...
I would say @nqcliteracy.bsky.social ‘s Nourishing Caregiver Collaborations is one of mine. It felt like a conversation, it was warm and I love this genre of teaching practice and memoir woven together.
Been reading Braiding Sweetgrass. It is an unbelievable exploration of the overlap of indigenous knowledge and modern science. Also a powerful message of joy and hope in a tumultuous time.
Comments
It dismantles the Left Liberal obsession with identity and the consolidation of power to dismantle working class solidarity.
I learnt a useful concept from you, Chanea; "code switching", and in James found that come alive (on the page) effortlessly.
Reminded me of the retelling of Romeo & Juliet, in a show called "& Juliette", but much less merry.
Thank you for teaching me!
All the best to you for 2025.
Bonus: The Daughters of Madurai by Rajasree Variyar. Poignant, gritty, heart-wrenching. About female infanticide in small town India.
Nonfiction: T-Rex & the Crater of Doom. I am a geek and this appealed to my super geek.
I can’t eloquently articulate what made it great, but everything made it great.
For #mglit Not Nothing
Here are some of mine this year and there could be so many more on this list. Fun to even go back and look at all the amazing books I've read this year, but hard to choose favs!
title of their episode. The episode takes a very nuanced look at it (and other similar moral panics) 😀
Star Wars worldbuilding about how the regime worked
Memoir—Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang, This American Ex-Wife by Lyz Lenz
Non-Fiction—By The Fire We Carry by Rebecca Nagle, How The Word is Passed by Clint Smitb
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/7cc8ad08-5649-4ad4-8443-ce7ae610ea2c
A trusted & meticulous historian surrenders the safety of the footnote to give a sensitive meditation that ultimately humanizes the Hopi ppl by seeking to understand a skeleton in their closet.
Al Borde de la Esperanza.
It was great because I wrote it and it just felt good to finish it!!!! 😂
An engrossing history using fictional characters to illuminate a rich history that borders on magical.
I learned a tremendous piece of the American experiment and got engrossing character portraits along the way.
I was engaged on every page.
Amazing achievement.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195888819
I also finally read Braiding Sweetgrass this year, and I wish I’d made time for it ages ago. It’s lovely and challenging and perspective-shifting all at once.
by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
Middle Grade Fiction
It is written beautifully and it covers a topic I haven't seen covered before.
- Klein's analysis helps make sense of today's political climate and how not reckoning with neoliberalism is a weakness for Dems
- Key does a masterful job of covering the issues from every angle, including excerpts from families and young people
Non-fiction: Tie between Atomic Habits by James Clear & Talking to Strangers by Malcom Gladwell — both super interesting/practical
Memoir: From Scratch by Tembi Locke — love the writing—heartbreaking but still uplifting