I don’t know about you, but my to-read pile of books is absurdly out of hand. Every year, I manage to knock a hundred or so books from the stack. This makes no dent in that ever-growing behemoth. It does, however, mean that I discover a few gems each year. (A few duds, too, but I’m here to give love, not to disparage. Sorry.)
Anyway, this isn’t a goddamn recipe blog, so let’s skip the boring story leading up to the reason why you’re here and get to the goods.
Please note that these are not necessarily books published in 2021, just books I read this year that made such an impact on me that I want other people to read them, too.
Books by Authors Not New to Me, Who Still Managed to Surprise the Hell Out of Me:
Look, this book was published in 1997 and takes place during peak AIDS crisis in San Francisco. Yet, it feels current and chillingly relevant. Nearly a quarter of a century old, the story’s gay protagonist reckoning with death, forgiveness, and the extinction of various species manages to be disturbing and life-affirming at the same time. And since it’s Clive Barker, every sentence is a work of art. Get it here.
One of the best books I’ve read in quite some time. I couldn’t get it out of my head when I had to put it down to do regular daily life things. I can’t get it totally out of my head now that I’ve finished it. It’s horror. It’s literary. It’s a character study. It’s a portrait of the culture on a Blackfeet reservation in Montana. On top of all that, SGJ is masterfully breaking rules like switching from 3rd to 2nd person POV like it’s nothing, making it work for his story perfectly when the rest of us could never pull it off. He’s created something really special here and I’m glad this book exists. Get it here.
The New to Me Author Who Has Me Fangirling So Hard:
Y’all, I never heard of S.G. Redling before this year and to be honest, I still haven’t heard any noise about her, which is a shame. I happened upon Flowertown while browsing online and… holy shit. What a strange and compelling story. I read a few more of her books over the course of 2021 and while each novel is a completely different setting and genre, there is one constant that I love: a complicated, flawed, and interesting female protagonist that actually feels real. Redling is fantastic. Read her books. Get Flowertown here.
The Books That Totally Changed How I Use Social Media:
If you watched the documentary The Social Dilemma on Netflix, you’ve already heard Lanier talking about this; he’s one of the Silicon Valley dudes trying to stop the collapse of civilization. This book unpacks the problems discussed in The Social Dilemma, painting a more detailed portrait of the insidious business models of tech companies like Facebook and Google. They are manipulating you and changing your personality in small undetectable ways that we should all be concerned about. (Spoiler alert: they’re turning everyone into assholes.) Maybe you won’t delete your accounts after reading this, but you will be more aware and mindful as you use them, and that’s a great place to start. Get it here.
I almost didn’t read this one after reading Newport’s book, Deep Work, because I found it to be privileged white dude babble. But, I’m glad I spent time on this one. It compelled me to make big changes in how I use social media and view it more as a tool to be used rather than something to be used by. These days, I have more time, less aggravation, as well as more patience and optimism. Being in a better head space has been fueling the creativity engine in my brain. Having more one-on-one chats with friends instead of fleeting comments in front of an audience has been a joy to return to. And this book helped to make all that happen. Get it here.
A Book About Yet Another Woman Everyone Should Know Even Though Most People Don’t:
My husband gave me this book as a birthday present after hearing about it on a podcast, knowing that stories from old pulp fiction magazines and radical bohemian women who fight for the little guy are totally my jam. You’ve probably seen Margaret Brundage’s many paintings, illustrating stories from the likes of Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft for the depression-era Weird Tales magazines. While the book does go on at some length about her husband Slim Brundage, former hobo and friend of the Beats, he’s not as interesting as Margaret, who was a central figure in Chicago’s Wobbly/anarchist scene and was an activist for racial, gender, and class equality before it was cool. Get it here.
Books by Women Who Rock Harder Than Most Dudes:
Lita doesn’t hold anything back. Not her opinions, her regrets and bad decisions, or her resentment and love for the people in her life. Another thing she doesn’t hold back on is her sex life and the fact that she liked dressing in sexy tight leather outfits while shredding on her guitar. I’ve read rock memoirs from male musicians much more graphic than this one. I guess the main difference is that with those books, there weren’t as many reviews about them complaining about how much sex the author had, or any comments using the word “slut,” or “groupie with a guitar.” As long as there are people complaining about a woman doing things it’s okay for men to do, we need more Litas telling their stories. Get it here.
My fellow GenXers already know The Go-Go’s were a pretty big deal. But, maybe you didn’t know about their punk roots or their original line-up. Again, these are legit musicians who had to cut a path through all the misogyny that held so many others back and Valentine makes it clear throughout the book that The Go-Go’s weren’t a “girl band,” but a fucking band. Part of me has a soft spot for her story as well because of how forthright she is about her unconventional childhood and how she coped with books and music. I mean, I get it. I just… do. Follow this one up with The Go-Go’s documentary. It’s a fascinating crash course on the band and a nice trip back to the early 80s. Get it here.
The Books I Connected to Even Though We’re All From a Different Time and Place
A lot of writing that tells stories of sexism tend to focus on the violent aspects of it. There’s so much more to the experience of being a woman than that. Systemic misogyny starts at birth. Even sooner in some cases, as in South Korea where this novel takes place: “Abortion due to medical problems had been legal for ten years at that point, and checking the sex of the fetus and aborting females was common practice, as if ‘daughter’ was a medical problem.” What’s most stunning about this book is the mirror it holds up to remind us that the most insidious trait of systemic misogyny is the internalized sexism we’ve learned to carry around for our entire lives. Get it here.
The Poet X is a little different than the rest of these as it’s a story told completely in verse. Now, poetry isn’t really my thing, but I fell hard into this story. Like Kim Jiyoung, the narrator isn’t being taken seriously because she’s “just a girl,” but through her poetry, she pushes back against gender roles, rape culture, and the pressure of being suffocated under the weight of her devout mother’s religious beliefs. I read this book because it sounded like a character very different from my own life and I want books to take me into minds and places foreign to my own experience. Turns out reading books by women rarely takes me anywhere completely unknown. There’s a lot of comfort in that. Get it here.
The Books I Read Just Because I Wanted to Geek the Fuck Out and Have Fun
I spent a lot of time with Ash and Xena this year. And it was groovy. Get the first issue here.
The Other Comics I Read to Bask in the Fact that Pretty Much Every Woman is a Warrior Princess.
Femme Magnifique is a fun collection of short biographies written by different comic creators, among them Gerard Way and Kelly Sue DeConnick. The bios run the gamut from Bjork to Misty Copeland to Ada Lovelace. Activists, scientists, writers, athletes… a nice variety of inspiring women, many you’ve heard of and some you probably haven’t. Each bio is only 3 pages long, so there’s nothing in-depth here, but it’s still a good jumping off place to learn about some fascinating women and some of the art is just fantastic. Get it here.
You may have heard about FEMEN demonstrations in the news, particularly in Europe. Diary of a FEMEN is a graphic novel that takes the reader on a journey along with a young French woman as she makes the decision to join FEMEN and deals with the responsibility that comes from that decision. I wouldn’t say this book is more than just an introduction to the organization, and it’s a rather quick read, but a compelling one nonetheless. Get it here.
The Book that Was a Really Big Deal to Me and After I Ordered My Signed Copy I Sat on the Porch Watching Out for the Mail Carrier Like a Worried Puppy Waiting for its Human to Come Home
Like a lot of people, No One Here Gets Out Alive was my “starter book” on the Doors. It was the early 80s, my fascination with the band and the music already had a firm grip on my psyche and that book, for all its fiction and Lizard King mythology, took me far down a rabbit hole where I encountered the Beats, Rimbaud, Lord Byron, and Patti Smith.
Then I grew up. I stopped dropping acid and got a shitty job.
The Doors remained my all-time favorite band, my first love, and my constant. But that mythology, Lizard King mysticism, and the conspiracy theories became so goddamn annoying, overshadowing the art. Even mingling with other fans became a headache with all the stupid gatekeeping and magical thinking. I’d read so many books by and about the Doors… and after a while, I stopped, feeling fed up and exhausted by nonsense.
I still had all that great music and poetry. It was enough.
Then this book came along. After so many years of thinking Robby would remain silent all the way to the grave, he decided to say a few things and man… it was worth the wait. No conspiracy theories and no myths and magical thinking. On the contrary, the dude is grounded in reality. While his version of events isn’t as dramatic or spectacular as those other books, it does feel genuine and told in the way that can only come from several years of reflection on his life’s many triumphs and defeats.
This book gave me a renewed love for my favorite band and my first love. That’s the real magic.
Get it here.
So many more I couldn’t include, but here’s a few honorable mentions: Blacktop Wasteland, S.A. Cosby’s fast and furious southern noir. The Twilight Man, a graphic novel biography of Rod Serling by Koren Shadmi. Anthony Bourdain’s underrated crime novel, Bone in the Throat. Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature. Out of the Silence by Eduardo Strauch, one of the sixteen survivors of the 1972 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash in the Andes. Last Night at the Viper Room by Gavin Edwards because I’m gonna miss River Phoenix forever. This Life or the Next, Demian Vitanza’s novel of extremist recruitment in Norway, and Life, Lu Yao’s novel of class struggle in 1980’s China.
Happy reading and Happy New Year, book nerds.