I read some phenomenal books over the last six months.  Many of them were thematically connected to libraries and books in general.  That thematic link happened by chance, but it was a wonderful reminder of why I love teaching English so much: reading is powerful!

If you have started or will start your summer break soon, you might pick up a book or two for your summer reading.  If you are a Southern Hemisphere school, and if you get a break in July, you might find a book that piques your interest.  Most of all, I hope to share my love of reading with you because I think sharing our reading lives – and creating and cultivating a community of readers – matters!

Best,

Tim

Best Books - January

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

I loved All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and his new novel didn’t disappoint!  The plot revolves around five interlocking sets of stories from different times periods (past, present, future) that are connected in unexpected ways.  I especially loved how Zeno’s storyline ends – it’s an incredible testament to reading, libraries, and the power of books. 

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

This book of nonfiction is stunning!  Stunning!  There are so many incredible parts that move you in visceral ways.  It's a book of nonfiction about the 1986 fire that ravaged the Los Angeles Central Public Library.  Over 400,000 books were destroyed and over 700,000 badly damaged in the largest library fire ever in the United States.  But the book is about so much more than the fire.  It's about books and libraries and reading and communities.  It's simply beautiful and a must read.

Stolen Focus - Why You Can't Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again by Johan Hari

This is an excellent book of nonfiction.  It reminded me a lot of Nicholas Carr's The Shallows.  In it, Hari discusses the various reasons why we can't pay attention - biological, technological, and psychological - but most of all, it's just a great reminder of the need to slow down, take a walk in nature, and talk to people face-to-face.  The ending gets a bit political and apocalyptic and there's nothing earth shattering in terms of new information.  Still, it's great to read because it's a good reminder to consider what's happening to our attention and for us to make intentional and deliberate decisions about where we focus.

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

She is an incredible writer for teens and if you haven’t read her novels before, I encourage you to pick up Between Shades of Gray.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say she is the best YA writer and definitely the best YA writer of historical fiction.  She's poetic and writes beautiful sentences, but she also understands pacing and how to make a story engaging.  The Fountains of Silence follows Ana, a 20 year old Spanish maid in the 1950s in Madrid under Franco's dictatorship.  She works at a major American hotel when Spain has just opened up to the rest of the world.  The other story line follows Daniel, an 18 year old from Dallas, Texas who is the heir to an oil conglomerate.  He prefers taking photographs and hearing people's stories rather than being a part of the oil business.  What's so incredible about the book is the ways in which Sepetys interweaves and intertwines the two storylines all while detailing the atrocities of living in Spain under Franco's brutal regime. 

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

Her first novel, Homegoing, was just blew me away.  This one is really good as well.  The novel centers around Gifty, a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford Medical School.  She's involved in research, using mice, to understand neurotransmitters and how they relate to addiction and depression.  So on the one hand you have this really technical and scientific book, but on the other hand, it's so much more than that.  The story is personal too – Gifty’s mom has barely moved from her bed in weeks.  She is determined to figure out how to help her mom, but in doing so, she has to understand her past, including the role of religion in her life.  The weaving of religion, depression, science, and more makes this an incredible read.

This is What Inequality Looks Like by Teo You Yenn. 

Teo writes nonfiction essays about low income people in Singapore and details their struggles, often with the State.  Her essay "Dignity is Like Clean Air" was particularly powerful.  The writing is personal, yet academic, with sentences - especially at the ends of chapters/essays - that just shine. While readers will come away with a greater understanding of Singapore and Singaporeans, I think readers also come away with a greater sense of how to think about inequality, poverty, and our role in it all.   

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Normal People is an adult novel about love and friendship and relationships, but the characters are in high school/college.  It reads so fast, the dialogue pops, but most of all, you find yourself caring about the main characters, Marianne and Connell.  Set in Ireland in 2011-2015, it follows the two very different characters as they find themselves in and out of love with each other.  But it's also more than a story about their relationship.  It was completely unexpected and for that I found it an amazing read. 

Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian

What a fantastic book!  The story follows Neeraj (Neil) Narayan's journey in the suburbs of Atlanta as a second generation Indian-American.  He's an adrift teenager while his sister is a high-achiever.  But most interesting of all is his neighbor Anita.  She's different and you don't know how until a big reveal about 70 pages into the book.  It seems so far-fetched at first, but it really isn't.  I won't reveal what it is, but I will say the novel centers on that moment. 

Good Talk by Mira Jacob

Good Talk is a graphic novel (memoir) I picked up in our school library.  It's a good read on what one mother goes through as a parent of a bi-racial child.  I love the representation of her 6 year old, his questions about his identity and her struggles in wanting to both answer him honestly and shut him up at the same time!  She also deals with her in-laws and their love for Donald Trump while she is a fierce feminist who rejects all things Trump.  How they navigate that space as a family makes it worth reading (and it's a fast read). 

Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart 

I'm a huge fan of his writing - it tends to be witty, sarcastic, and pokes the best fun at American culture!  Set in upstate NY during the pandemic, the novel follows a bunch of characters as they gather to wait out the pandemic in an idyllic setting.  Of course, what could go wrong?  Everything!  And it's a lot of fun to watch it happen.  As a side note, if you haven’t read Super Sad True Love Story, I think it’s his best!