Books Read in 2016

I did not read nearly as many books in 2016 as I did in 2015. But I did read some! Here are my favorite reads from the last year:

• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

This was difficult to read because the subject matter was truly heartbreaking. The main character, Jude, has emerged into adulthood (somehow), despite a litany of horrible childhood abuses of every type you can imagine (and trigger warning! - many of which are described in detail). Even though the traumas of his past are actively over, the physical, emotional, sexual, spiritual pain remains, impacting his ability to forge strong, healthy relationships with anyone - including himself. 

• The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (5 stars)

This was a really cute YA novel. Jamaican-American immigrant Natasha meets-cute with Korean-American Daniel on the worst day of her life (the day her family is about to be deported). Adorableness and heartfelt conversations ensue.

• Sex Object by Jessica Valenti (4 stars)

Remember that blog post I wrote about grieving losses? That's what this book feels like. It doesn't necessarily have a coherent thesis or any concrete advice (and the introduction brings up this fact, so Jessica Valenti is well aware of it), but it was an interesting look into someone's life - especially the unwelcome, seedier parts of it, the mistakes, failures, and sources of shame and embarrassment (whether rightfully earned or not) that we often try to sweep under the rug. It's a memoir of growing up female in New York City, and its rife with examples of everyday sexism. Not always an easy thing to read, but I felt like it was an important read. Sometimes all we can do is offer to be a witness, you know? History needs witnesses.

• The Flight of the Silvers by Daniel Price (4 stars)

There were a few problematic things about this book - mainly that the characters were sort of one-dimensional/stereotypes, especially the women. But the plot was intriguing and solid enough to mostly make up for the mediocre handling of the characters.

• Moloka'i by Alan Brennert (3 stars)

This was an interesting historical novel about a leper colony in Hawaii at the turn of the (last) century. It covers a lot of important topics and was decent storytelling - but I did at times feel like it could be more. I think it was just the way it was written that I found lacking a little. It felt like literary subject matter but wasn't written in a literary sort of way - not necessarily a bad thing, but it didn't quite seem like a perfect fit for me.

• How to Be Secular: A Call to Arms for Religious Freedom by Jacques Berlinerblau (4 stars)

This was a great introduction to the role religion plays in politics (to the detriment of both). It outlined history I wasn't aware of and was eager to learn. My husband read this book first, and loved it so much he decided to buy it. Then I finally got around to reading it this year; I read it while on vacation, lounging on the beach, underlining nearly every paragraph in pencil.

• Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (4 stars)

The first book in the series (I read all three this year) was the best. My main complaint with the sequels was the way the female characters were treated - any empowering that happened in book one was minimized or completely taken away from them in books two and three. But that wasn't the only issue - I also found the plot less appealing in general. The first book however, was highly enjoyable. I loved the extended metaphor between the shadows and the WWII Nazis; the idea that children and other innocents could be targeted for a number of reasons (Jewish heritage, "peculiarities") and that such persecution could not and should not be tolerated.

• Uprooted by Naomi Novik (5 stars)

This book was recommended to me by a friend. (More than recommended actually - she bought me my own copy and shipped it to my house as a gift. I had to read it after that!) It twists the fairy tale genre by challenging stereotypical gender roles, and offers a nuanced, well-written, relatable female lead who I loved.

• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (4 stars)

This was a heartfelt memoir written by a neurosurgeon dying of lung cancer. If he had lived to see it finished, it would have been a better book - but his time was limited, and he got an impressive book written in the little time he did have.

• The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro (5 stars)

I'm a sucker for books about artists - especially historical artists written by authors who did detailed research into the time period. But this is more than just a strong book about an artist (and the Abstract Expressionist movement in New York City) - it's also an important book for the current political climate. It's all too easy to draw parallels between American attitudes toward Jewish refugees in the pre-World War II era and American attitudes toward refugees today.

• All of David Mitchell's books 

I also read all of David Mitchell's books this year (or re-read in the case of Cloud Atlas, The Bone Clocks, and Number9Dream, which I had read previously). I already talked at length about my opinions on these books in this blog post - so I won't bore you again. :)

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Here's to another year filled with good books! Bring on 2017. :)