I have been reading way, way less during covid, but writing more, so maybe I’ll write an indulgent post just about that. In the meantime, most of the books I am reading this year are “kids” books (middle grade if you’re into the specifics). I have always loved middle grade novels. Classic favourites are Lloyd Alexander’s Book of Three (Taran) series, A Series of Unfortunate Events (or anything by Daniel Handler), Harry Potter (because I’m human, though it’s too bad that it seems JK sucks as a human), The Sword in the Stone by TH White (about to re-read The Once and Future King), and very much the Hobbit (more so than the Lord of the Rings).
This year I wrote a book and as a bonus of trying to find an agent I have been reading so many of their favourite books. This means I am enjoying many of the best books out there as I judge the taste of potential agents. It also means that I would recommend reading pretty much every book on this list.
Pax by Sara Pennypacker | Fiction | Middle Grade
What a great, sad, heartwarming story. Makes you laugh and cry in the first few pages. Sara Pennypacker does a really cool thing (works best in the first few pages) of sharing the POV of the Fox about his boy in a way that is so specific it relates deeply. Love it.
Recommend
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairlyand in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherine M Valente | Fiction | Middle Grade
FUN! A lush read that rips you around Fairyland told by a charming narrator who wants the best for her characters, but understands that heartbreak is unavoidable. Just a really wonderful book.
Highly Recommend
The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Regan Barnhill | Fiction | Middle Grade
What a wonderful book! Did you know? I hope so. If you didn’t, pick it up. It was my first by Kelly Regan Barnhill and it seems I am late to quite a fantastic game. A fantasy story about a lovely witch and a horrible witch and a young witch and a dragon and a monster and a whole bunch more. Barnhill uses these characters, setting and magic to tell a beautiful coming of age story full of learning to lie, discovering a private self, making the jump into adulthood and how the best intentions even of adults sometimes go wrong.
Highly Recommend
What A City Is For by Matt Hern | Non- Fiction | boring adult
Ugh. I’m (still) reading this right now and not sure if I will finish it. Honestly based on the writing so far I didn’t finish this book so I’m not sure the author ever finishes it or just gives up. The author is super smart and I think probably right about everything he is writing about, even if I often have no idea what he is writing about.
Animal Farm by George Orwell | Fiction | high school and up
Did you read this in high school? I didn’t. We must have read Brave New World and/or 1984 instead I to get our fill on anti-utopian/anti-communist literature. I wish we had read this. As you probably know it is a super transparent allegory of communist Russia, staring Napoleon the Pig as Stalin. What you might not know or remember is that Animal Farm succeeds because it is a great read that is hard to put down. Oh the things these animals do! The things they fall for! And gosh Stalinist communism was (truly) terrible. Pick it up! It’s at the library or super cheap in a bin somewhere wishing you’d read it.
Recommend
Little Fires Everywhere by Celest Ng | Fiction for adults
It’s just as good as people say it is. You should read it if you haven’t. Recommend
The Pull of The Stars by Emma Donoghue | Fiction for adults
This was hard to get into for a few pages, not sure how many. There are no quotation marks which is weird, but super effectively pulls you into the first person perspective. There is a point early in, past those few pages, when the thing takes off like a rocket, or a giant Boulder down a hill. It’s a force of nature and you’re along for the ride. Worth your time. You’ll be glad you read it. Recommend
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe | Fiction for adults
Wow. What a fascinating read. The whole thing is so interesting. I am very late to this party. If you are too you should hop on. A ton of tiny sidebars about preparing a bit of food, or how a yam is planted. So many bits of colour to build a place, time, setting, culture, story and it all falls apart. This has been around for a long time. I wish I’d read it sooner. It doesn’t end well and that’s exactly right. So sad and good. Highly Recommend
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stand | Fiction | Middle Grade
You have to read this! Since it is 10 years old and an international best seller maybe you already have. I hadn’t, how I hadn’t who knows, but I am so glad that I did. The rest of Rebecca Stand’s books are absolutely going onto my reading list. Readers of all ages will love this mysterious book. Highly Recommend
The Tao of Wu by The RZA | Non-Fiction | High school and up
Rolling Stone calls this “Unusually compelling” and gives the book 4 starts out of a number of stars. Ignoring it is co-written by a rolling stone staff write that is a pretty good summation, maybe I would have said oddly compelling. I learned a lot reading this book. It gives fascinating insight into The RZA, including why the name, and what it was like growing up in the projects of New York. Worth picking up if you are in between things, reads as easily as a middle grade novel.