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My 2020 Reads Ranked

1/3/2021

This year, I wanted to try something I've never done before: rank every book I read in the past year. I thought it would be a simple task, but it's really not. Although there were books that I enjoyed more than others, each had its own merit and place in my heart during such a tumultuous year. I started 2020 off strong, but I lost my stride when I took a vacation in February. We all know what March brought us, and it took me until the end of May to be able to concentrate and find joy in reading again. Then, during the summer, three friends and I sponsored a reading challenge to raise money for charity, and the excitement in trying to win the competition and discover new authors and read about more diverse topics spurred me on to meet and exceed my goal of reading 36 books. All in all I read 43, and although one book has to be last, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. I found something to appreciate in every book I read. To rank the entire list, I looked at what I rated each book after I read it and placed each book within my 5-star, 4-star, and finally 3-star ratings. Within those starred ratings, I thought about how each book made me feel as I experienced it, and that's how I came to the listing below. So, without further ado, here are all the books I read in 2020 ranked from 43 to number one.

And finally, here are my top ten books of 2020. It was really hard to rank these, as they all are so very different. I gave each of them a 5-star rating, so to order them from ten to one, I thought about how much I enjoyed reading each one and how it left me feeling after I finished. For the final ten, I also added a little context about what stood out for each book.

This was the second book of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's that I read this year, and I enjoyed it a little more than the first. It was a great choice for a spooky read in October. It had just the right amount of suspense and horror for me. And her writing was wonderful as always.

I haven't read very many graphic novels, but this one went instantly to one of my top favorites. It is such a fun science fiction story filled with plenty of relatable characters to grow with and love. I made myself move on to other reads when I finished this, but I will read volume two at some point very soon.

I feel like it's cheating to have this book on my list as it's been a favorite since I was a kid, but I turned to it when I couldn't find the energy or joy to read anything else, and it was like reconnecting with an old friend. I usually tell people it's my favorite book, and while it is, in a way, this year it has to settle for 6th place. There were just too many other books that were a joy to experience for the first time that beat this out.

This was the first Hmong memoir I ever read, and it was eye-opening to say the very least. Yang does a great job at retelling her family's story and weaving in tales and insight of the Hmong culture within the text. It made me realize I have much to learn about the Vietnam War, its aftermath, and Hmong history in general.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding America's criminal justice system and the systemic racism found within it. This is an educational yet moving story about a lawyer's journey to pursue justice for those who need it most.

I nearly read this book in one sitting. It isn't the fluffiest of reads, but I could not put it down. What I liked most was how this book made me feel towards something that in movies and literature usually puts me off. In a good way. I think?

Homegoing was a treat to read. Not necessarily an easy read, but Yaa Gyasi pulled off a magnificent feat in her ability to tell one cohesive story through so many mini stories. Her ability to develop rich characters so quickly and within so few pages is true talent.

I had never read Louise Erdrich until I picked up The Round House, and am I happy to finally have discovered her. Although I read the synopsis, the story took me by surprise and once it hooked me, it didn't let me go. I fully intend on reading more Erdrich in the future.

I found this book after reading The Latehomecomer in my quest to read more books about and by those affected by the Vietnam War. This is a novel about a Vietnamese family and is a beautifully woven tale about a family struggling through, not just the Vietnam War, but the aftermath and colonial period before it.

If you enjoy fantasy in any capacity, and this book isn't on your to-read list yet, add it. I wasn't even finished with this book when I knew that I wanted to re-read it. If I get into a reading funk this year, I may just have to pull this out and read it again. I could easily see myself reading this each year, especially as I wait for the next book in the series to come out.

It was refreshing to read a fantasy novel not set in medieval Europe. Rebecca Roanhorse created a world inspired by Pre-Columbian indigenous cultures, and the result is a masterpiece.

I honestly felt that 464 pages weren't enough as Black Sun is a fast-paced story with a cast of compelling characters with intriguing backstories. Roanhorse's worldbuilding is superb. It's clear that she has so much more to share of the world of the Meridian, and I can't wait to learn more.

Black Sun sucked me in from the first chapter and never let me go. My only complaint is that I felt like the end is too much of a cliffhanger, but as it's a series, that can be forgiven, and ultimately, it bothered me because I just wanted the whole story to be told at once.

And there you have it! This was a fun exercise to do to reflect on the books I read last year. I think this year I'll try to think of a more sophisticated ranking system as I read books in 2021 so that if and when I do this next year, there will be more thought put into the rankings that considers more about the various merits of each book. Afterall, it is quite difficult to compare so many different kinds of books to one another.

Indigenous Authors to Read this November

11/1/2020

November is Native American Heritage Month, and this year a friend asked me if I would join her in reading indigenous authors to celebrate. I readily agreed, and my to-read list for the month grew much too big too quickly. I don't think that I will be able to read all of the works listed below throughout November, but I am going to try my best. There is so much to explore, and I know that anything I don't finish this month, I will still plan on reading at some point, and my list will keep on growing. If you are wondering what to read next and would like to support indigenous authors, here are some of my top choices that I can't wait to delve into.

Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers by Jake Skeets

I would like to read more poetry, and after a couple friends read this book this summer and recommended it, I added it to the top of my small pile of poetry to be read.

Drunktown, New Mexico, is a place where men “only touch when they fuck in a backseat.” Its landscape is scarred by violence: done to it, done on it, done for it. Under the cover of deepest night, sleeping men are run over by trucks. Navajo bodies are deserted in fields. Resources are extracted. Lines are crossed. Men communicate through beatings, and football, and sex. In this place, “the closest men become is when they are covered in blood / or nothing at all.”

But if Jake Skeets’s collection is an unflinching portrait of the actual west, it is also a fierce reclamation of a living place―full of beauty as well as brutality, whose shadows are equally capable of protecting encounters between boys learning to become, and to love, men. Read more...

Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

It's been awhile since I read a young adult novel, and pretty much every Rick Riordan Presents book has been added to my reading list. I love learning about the myths and legends from around the world, and I love YA, so Race to the Sun seemed like a perfect fit for me.

Lately, seventh grader Nizhoni Begay has been able to detect monsters, like that man in the fancy suit who was in the bleachers at her basketball game. Turns out he's Mr. Charles, her dad's new boss at the oil and gas company, and he's alarmingly interested in Nizhoni and her brother, Mac, their Navajo heritage, and the legend of the Hero Twins. When Dad disappears the next day, leaving behind a message that says "Run!", the siblings and Nizhoni's best friend, Davery, are thrust into a rescue mission, which can only be done with the help of Navajo gods, all disguised as quirky "rez" personalities. After a series of dangerous--and mind-bending--trials, Nizhoni, Mac, and Davery finally reach the sun god, who outfits them with the weapons they need to take down Mr. Charles and the ancient monsters he has unleashed. But it will take more than weapons for Nizhoni to become the hero she was destined to be. . . .

Strangelands by Darcie Little Badger, Magdalene Visaggio, and Guillermo Sanna

Comics are not something I read a lot of, but I started Saga this summer and realized it's a form that I could really see myself reading more of. In my quest to find indigenous authors, I was looking for a wide variety, and when I came across Strangelands, it sounded like something that might interest me and gave me an excuse to try to read another comic. Bonus for me: the first six volumes are available digitally from my library.

Two strangers find themselves inextricably tied together by inexplicable superpowers. Fighting their connection could mean destroying the world.

Opposites attract? Elakshi and Adam Land aren’t married. In fact, a month ago, they were perfect strangers, dwelling in lands foreign to one another. But now, they’re forced to remain by one another’s side, for their separation could mean the planet’s demise. Their greatest challenge is to stay together — even if they have to tear the world apart to do so.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

A friend mentioned they were going to read this and after reading the synopsis (and seeing the GORGEOUS book cover), I told them I would join them in reading it. I haven't read a fantasy novel in awhile and I'm excited for Black Sun to bring me back into the genre. A couple other friends are going to read it this month too, so it is a future buddy read of mine.

A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

There There by Tommy Orange

I've had There There on my to read pile for about a year now. I started it in February and then became sidetracked. I'm determined to finally read it this November. I've read the prologue two times and will read it again for a third time. I think it is something that every American should read at some point.

One of The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year and winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award, Tommy Orange’s wondrous and shattering bestselling novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize. Among them is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, pulling his life together after his uncle’s death and working at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil, coming to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American—grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism. Hailed as an instant classic, There There is at once poignant and unflinching, utterly contemporary and truly unforgettable.

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

I've never read Louise Erdrich, and while perusing her titles, I thought they all sounded good. It was hard to settle on one to try out for this book challenge, but I finally decided on The Round House. If I like it (or even if I don't) I think I'm going to try Antelope Woman next.

One of the most revered novelists of our time—a brilliant chronicler of Native-American life—Louise Erdrich returns to the territory of her bestselling, Pulitzer Prize finalist The Plague of Doves, transporting readers to the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota. It is an exquisitely told story of a boy on the cusp of manhood who seeks justice and understanding in the wake of a terrible crime that upends and forever transforms his family. Riveting and suspenseful, arguably Erdrich's most accessible novel to date, The Round House is a page-turning masterpiece of literary fiction—at once a powerful coming-of-age story, a mystery, and a tender, moving novel of family, history, and culture.

Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land by Toni Jensen

Carry is a new memoir that came out in 2020. I think this will be a difficult read as memoirs go, but it sounded like an important book to read and very relevant.

Toni Jensen grew up around guns: As a girl, she learned to shoot birds in rural Iowa with her father, a card-carrying member of the NRA. As an adult, she’s had guns waved in her face near Standing Rock, and felt their silent threat on the concealed-carry campus where she teaches. And she has always known that in this she is not alone. As a Métis woman, she is no stranger to the violence enacted on the bodies of Indigenous women, on Indigenous land, and the ways it is hidden, ignored, forgotten. Read more...

New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color edited by Nisi Shawl

There are a couple short stories in New Suns written by indigenous authors, which I hope to tackle this November, and I will finish the rest of the stories soon after.

"There’s nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns,” proclaimed Octavia E Butler.

New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color showcases emerging and seasoned writers of many races telling stories filled with shocking delights, powerful visions of the familiar made strange. Between this book’s covers burn tales of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and their indefinable overlappings. These are authors aware of our many possible pasts and futures, authors freed of stereotypes and clichés, ready to dazzle you with their daring genius.

Unexpected brilliance shines forth from every page.

5 Horror Books to Read in October

10/4/2020

I have never been one to read, or even watch, much horror. I enjoy a good psychological thriller or ghost story every now and then, but I am not impressed by gore or gratuitous violence. October is the month of spookiness and terror, so I thought I would challenge myself to try to read books that fall into the category of horror, at least in some way. A couple books I already had on my list to read this year fit this category, so I did a quick search and found a few others. In addition to looking for horror novels, I was also looking for them to be written by authors of color to fit my ongoing challenge to explore voices from different backgrounds and histories. The horror stories I am most interested in are steeped in folklore, so I am excited to read tales inspired by the traditions of other cultures and countries. I don't know if I'll make it through all five books this month, but I'm going to do my best. So, without further ado, I give you my sBOOKtober reading list:

I read Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Gods of Jade and Shadow this summer and fell in love with her prose. Soon after, her new book Mexican Gothic was a Book of the Month choice, and I have now had it sitting on my bookshelf for a few months. With Hispanic Heritage Month ending on October 15, I wanted to read a book by a Latinx author and this one checked both boxes.

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find — her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough, smart, and has an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom...

This book is really what piqued my interest in reading horror. The Only Good Indians kept popping up on lists and ads and other friends' posts since it was published in July. I was hesitant to read it, but when I found out that Stephen Graham Jones would be featured at my local book festival this October, it jumped to my definitely read pile. I am also trying to read more indigenous authors, so this book was perfect for my sBOOKtober list.

Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.

I thought that short stories might be easier to find (and easier to read) when it comes to horror, and when I saw this book on a list to read, it stood out to me immediately. I think this will be a good collection for me because it is considered science fiction and several stories include elements of horror.

Throughout the Caribbean are stories of people who aren't what they seem. Skin gives them their human shape, but when the skin comes off, their true selves emerge.

A new collection of short stories from Hopkinson, including "Greedy Choke Puppy," which Africana.com called "a cleverly crafted West Indian story featuring the appearance of both the soucouyant (vampire) & lagahoo (werewolf)," "Ganger (Ball Lightning)," praised by the Washington Post Book World as written in "prose [that] is vivid & immediate," this collection reveals Hopkinson's breadth & accomplishments as a storyteller.

A good ghost story is perfect for an October reading list. I don't know if this story will be more mystical than terrifying, but the brief description sounds eerie enough. This was on a Book Riot list of horror stories by authors of color, and I felt that it would add a little variety and a different sort of pacing to the other stories on my list.

Locke, California, 1928. Three bedraggled Chinese women appear out of the mist in a small Chinese farming town on the Sacramento River. Two are unknown to its residents, while the third is the long-lost wife of Richard Fong, the handsome manager of the local gambling parlor. As the lives of the townspeople become inextricably intertwined with the newly arrived women, their frightening power is finally revealed.

When I read Dracula in middle school, I absolutely loved it. It was also one of the few books that made me feel nervous and a little scared while reading. Dracula was a wonderful villain, and when looking for vampire stories, I look for ones similar to what Stoker created. To be honest though, I haven't tried very hard to find more vampire tales because it seems like the popular ones being written today do not have the traditional type of vampire that I am looking for, or are not as dark as Dracula. When I came across Certain Dark Things, I immediately added it to my list. Not just scary vampires, but ones from a different tradition? And the novel is written by an author I know I already love? Sign me up! I also think it will be good for me to - finally - read a contemporary vampire novel.

Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Domingo, a lonely garbage-collecting street kid, is just trying to survive its heavily policed streets when a jaded vampire on the run swoops into his life. Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers, is smart, beautiful, and dangerous. Domingo is mesmerized. Atl needs to quickly escape the city, far from the rival narco-vampire clan relentlessly pursuing her. Her plan doesn’t include Domingo, but little by little, Atl finds herself warming up to the scrappy young man and his undeniable charm. As the trail of corpses stretches behind her, local cops and crime bosses both start closing in. Vampires, humans, cops, and criminals collide in the dark streets of Mexico City. Do Atl and Domingo even stand a chance of making it out alive? Or will the city devour them all?

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