Going back through the year, reflecting on things I’ve consumed (whether it be music, books, movies & tv shows, or even just delicious food) has always been one of my favorite things to do. This year, however, I’ve been a little low on the brainpower. Books continued to be a constant companion for me, though. I read real paper version of books, relishing the different smells of paper and ink—as always saving poetry and graphic novels for the printed page. But I also listened to dozens and dozens of books via Audible. I’ve been using Audible since only 2018 but it has truly revolutionized how I read. I can now “read” while driving, cleaning, putting together a puzzle, or just staring at the sky from my seat on the back deck. There must be someone who argues that audiobooks are not really reading, but that person is NOT me. As I get older & my eyes get worse & my time becomes stuffed with too many to-dos, listening to books is my only way to read as much as I love.
So what did I read (in any form)?
If we do the math, I’ve read 60 total books. Forty were works of fiction (13 of those specifically the Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery Series) Non-fiction, mostly memoirs, totaled 8. Tied at 6 books each, we have poetry and comics/graphic novels.
If you’re a completist, you could go stalk me on GoodReads and see the gritty details. Instead, lets just cover some of my personal trends briefly.
At the beginning of the year, and then again about half-way through, I binged the Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery Series. These are 15 books, written by Colin Cotterill from 2004 to 2020, that follow the namesake, the national coroner for Laos, as he solves crimes & mysteries in the 1970’s. The books heavily feature the culture, history and politics of Laos, including American participation in the Vietnam War. Even the background scenery was educational, giving me new insight on the country, region, and so many other topics, like the illegal animal/pet trade. But the series isn’t heavy, if I’m making it seem that way. At its core, the books are each self-contained mysteries, just like episodes of a tv show. Beyond the serious topics, there is also magic, religion, love, and friendship. Oh, and communism.
I was just trying to think how on earth I ended up reading this series, out of all the possible mystery series on earth, and I realize now that it was suggested by Audible’s algorithm after I read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman, a 1998 non-fiction book about the Hmong people, their flight from oppression in Laos, and one family in particular’s journey through the American medical system.
Another series that I finished was the Hell’s Library Trilogy by AJ Hackwith. The series follows main character Claire (& several other central characters added along the way) as she care for books in “The Unwritten Wing” of the all-encompassing library, and then as she is expelled to “The Arcane Wing” where she curates all manner of magical/sinister objects. She also visits many other realms and their respective libraries, with repeat visits to Valhalla and also The Dust Library (where books go after they have been read and/or remembered for the very last time on Earth). There are muses, fallen angels, one conflicted Hero escaped from his book, a whole wing full of damsels who chose to leave their unwritten books and live in the library, and of course death, whose name is Walter.
As an interesting aside, I have found a distinct topic missing from Wikipedia. The author, the individual books, even the Hell’s Library trilogy itself, of the above-discussed series. I didn’t even realize this was possible!
Another trend I’ve discovered in my 2021 in books review is a new favorite author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia. She is a Mexican-Canadian author who has published a spectacular amount of great short stories and novels in her young career. Based on what I’ve read in various biographies, she’s definitely into weird & speculative fiction. I was turned onto her 2020 Nebula Award nominated book Mexican Gothic by The Fantastic Strangelings Bookclub. This oddly and aptly named club was founded by The Bloggess Jenny Lawson, who is herself a hilarious and moving author with this year’s book Broken winning a GoodReads Choice Award.
Let me just say that I am not an official member of The Fantastic Strangelings Bookclub, since I don’t have enough room in my house for MORE paper books. I consider myself an honorary member though, having been a devout reader of The Bloggess since the early 00’s and a bonafide weirdo since the early forever. Jenny Lawson chooses a wide variety of books, but she definitely has a penchant for slightly magical historical fiction. I was skeptical for a long time, but once I finally hopped on the bandwagon, I’m hooked. (Oh so many horrible metaphors/cliches in this paragraph.) After reading Mexican Gothic, I quickly moved on to 2019’s Gods of Jade and Shadows followed by The Beautiful Ones. If you’re in doubt about whether you’d like any of these books, just take a chance. You could find a new favorite author like me!
Well, its after midnight now. We’ve officially entered 2022. I crossed the threshold of the year here at my desk, watching Matrix Resurrections (for the third time). My neighborhood is filled with the sound of fireworks— people celebrating the end of 2021 or the beginning of a new year. It doesn’t really matter which, because the time on a clock, the date on the calendar, these things don’t matter in the course of a life. The Hell’s Library Trilogy posits that stories are what matter. That indeed stories are the key to unlocking the power of the soul. And Agent Smith from Matrix Resurrections would add “That’s the thing about stories. They never really end.”