sweet december
dear reader,
i wanted to tell you about some books i read this year, and what i thought of them. and maybe hear from you on what you think i would like to read, or what you liked reading this year.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
this book made me think about the ‘optics’ that govern our life online — who gets to gain ‘points’ for not being the mainstream and is that truly power? written in a sharp, merciless way. suffered from end-of-book slog (where you lose track in the last 20%, and characters become Larger Points to Deliver a Message rather than people who behave like how they naturally would), but so much to think about even when the book ended.When I Hit You by Meena Kandaswamy
there is no escape. from the beauty of meena’s prose; from the realities of our gendered world; from the brutality and banality of violence that seeps through everything men do: the way they speak, the rights and personhood they afford women, the way family excuses everything in the name of love or - what’s worse - propriety. this book broke my heart with its matter-of-fact narration of meena’s abusive marriage and left me shocked, appalled, yet completely unsurprised all at the same time.Rouge by Mona Awad
in my humble opinion, mona awad can do no wrong. anyone who wrote bunny with that flawless character-immersive prose is basically perfect. so imagine my shock and joy when she wrote rouge which brings back gothic elements, the dark way we treat people closest to us, the inherent danger in femininity, and in this case, the self-care industry and its precarious, eerie relationship to our conception of ourselves, fairy tales, and age-old ideas of beauty that are so brittle, they crack. mona writes great protagonists; creates realistic and fantastical settings; and drives home her point with the subtleness of a rich red wine. this doesn’t have the perfect marriage of plot and prose that bunny does but it’s a close second. it left me thinking about it every time i apply lotion or cream (what is our relationship with what we see in the mirror?) and just for that, I love it.The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
chapterised = death. (there is always a section that feels forced in, and the quality does not stay even through chapters, whether in short stories or connected stories in a novel.) but this book began beautifully, with sharp and witty characters responding through love to the constraints of church + society, with a great interconnected web of characters, strong and relatable sense of inner thoughts and parents who are brittle because they don’t know how else to be. but it dips significantly, leading to end-of-book slog.Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
i felt like i knew matthew perry, though of course i didn’t. friends was on at so many points in my life, and the way matthew perry played chandler stood out in 3-D from the tiny tv screen. this felt like a loss, and reading his perspectives knowing he was not around anymore was heartbreaking but i’m glad i did it. i’ll always be upset he is not here, but i’m glad i heard from him to know whatever little i could. there is so much to say about addiction, of course, and the societal inevitabilities as well as personal histories that lead to it. but i’ll save that for later, because as of now i just want to say i’m happy to have read this book.Rumours of Spring by Farah Bashir
farah writes heartbreakingly about growing up in the 1990s in kashmir, putting a human face to the army attacks, curfews, and violence there. she did a beautiful job of both illuminating the larger societal impacts of her family’s story and zooming in on each member of her family and how baby-farah felt about them. it was a warm and sad read, but not an overly sentimental one. it’s also wonderful to read about kashmir from someone who has lived there., and is able to share that with others.The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga
a young-adult story that gripped me from page 1 - a little bit simple but never simplistic, and with beautiful character and overall story touches too. i love the aggressive empathy jasmine warga has and how she deals with difficult topics without screaming I’M DEALING WITH DIFFICULT TOPICS SO PLEASE LIKE MY BOOK! i loved this.Em and the Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto
i read this for a book club (hi, A!) and i cannot believe i hadn’t read it before - completely. i had read about half. but the time reading this passed easily, like soft butter. this is one of those cases when the hype is worth it. jerry’s writing is so warm and honest and easy, and it doesn’t suffer from the “indian writer writing in english” pretensions that plague so much writing. he’s an expert at both handling loved ones going through something, and the interpersonal dynamics that lend themselves to shaping our life, and writing that draws you in immediately (smart, curious, empathetic). this book gave me that feeling that i look for and is normally impossible to find: i forgot i was reading a book, and it felt like i was there in the world of the book, happening all around me.Sadness is a White Bird by Moriel Rothman-Zecher
oh man. this book killed me. and you should read it. it’s about the friendship between one israeli and two palestinian people, and how that changes over time, and factors including war and identity and subjugation. it takes you into the mind of both the israeli forced to fight - what that actually feels like - and the palestinian person scared to exist and trying to assert herself. it was tragic and brilliantly done and is forever the framework i use to think about israel and palestine - which, of course, we have had to do a lot of currently. the title comes from a beautiful mahmoud darwish poem - of which the book is full. do soldiers fighting feel sad? sadness is a white bird that is not allowed on the battlefield. i loved this book and it ripped me apart.Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
i read this on the recommendation of my friend n., and everything from the format to the story is incredibly gripping and inventive. i don’t particularly buy the tragic romance/push/pull at the heart of this - daisy and billy - but i loved the book for the way taylor took a gimmick - story told in the form of interview transcripts - and made it worth while. she is an incredibly talented writer both with pace and with character.
bonus: it only suffers minorly from end-of-book slog.Book Lovers by Emily Henry
i have a soft spot for this book because it was a gift and recommendation from my friend b. it was also a beautiful book, with a brittle protagonist i relate to much too much, and an almost economical usage of some of the tropes that define this genre: small-town, enemies to lovers, bookstore vs. big company. i thought the conflict between nora and charlie - their own selves - was brilliantly portrayed and in fact this wasn’t an easy book as you’d expect a romantic novel to be. but it was a seamless and very nice read.
bonus: no end-of-book slog, gripping and engaging the whole timeThe League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton
a gift from b. and a reminder that books are about joy! i don’t love some of the romance tropes here, but i loved the writing, the fantastical characters (witches and pirates in, i think, the early 20th century in britain) and the wise, note-to-reader notes and asides by india. it’s not a perfect book but just for the personal relationship the author creates with the reader, it’s worth reading everything india has written (of which there are many)
bonus: no end-of-book slog!
Some Sides
i loved this piece on r. f. kuang
of course mona awad dressed like a goth
Nothing More Than That by The Paper Kites
love,
shreya