#+ a condensed version of my thoughts bc i can't shut up

[amosnaomi]

my rankings for all the books i read this yr + my thoughts

RE-READS

The Thief (Megan Whalen Turner) - No lie, every year I choose one book (if not more) from this series to reread. It's just so rewarding to reread. God bless good fantasy.

Fire and also Graceling (Kirsten Cashore) - For WOMEN.

BEST

Go Tell It on the Mountain (James Baldwin) - One of the best novels ever written in English and it's not even a lie. Everything he did with his characters to contextualize one coming of age is just breathtaking.

The Color Purple (Alice Walker) - What Walker does with the epistolary novel is incredible. Moved me to tears many times over.

The Nickel Boys (Colson Whitehead) - PLEASE read this before the movie comes out. On every fundamental level this book is amazing.

Open Veins of Latin America (Eduardo Galeano) - So well-written I was shocked to discover it was translated. Also made me sick to my stomach.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (himself) - As a memoir it's amazing, as a persuasive essay it's amazing, as the art of writing - you guessed it.

Cannery Row (John Steinbeck) - Sorry I am a Steinbeck guy. And he does an incredible "place-as-character" novella here. And his character work is great.

The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison) - To write a story this heartbreaking and also this compelling . . .

A Raisin in the Sun (Lorraine Hansberry) - I need to see this live.

GOOD BUT NOT GREAT

A Room with a View (E. M. Forster) - Sorry I am a Forster guy. It's not his best, but man I had fun. His Forsterisms are so charming to me.

Everything Now: Lessons from the City-State of Los Angeles (Rosecrans Baldwin) - I like the structure of his chapters and the manner he weaves information. I've just read too many books on L.A. for this to be great.

The Pearl (John Steinbeck) - He's a good writer, so this still hit, but it's a straightforward novella. Not his best.

Severance (Ling Ma) - As I read it, I thought it was fine; the longer I think about this book after the fact, the more I like it lmao.

Fingersmith (Sarah Waters) - For me, this felt like the perfect mix of Dickensian and gothic genres. However the ending drags on way too long. (The Handmaiden truly is one of the best movies ever made.)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant (Seth Dickinson) - The first 200 pages are so compelling and the last 200 pages were much harder for me. The story clogged too many characters and nations without enough room to breath . . . but oh my god the ending is crazyyyyy.

Watchmen (Alan Moore) - The ending of this is so dogshit I can't believe we let Alan Moore get away with this. It's compelling until then tho. The visuals alone are amazing.

Martyr! (Kaveh Akbar) - The ending to this really sucks and depletes my enjoyment of the whole book. We need to bring back sitting on a book for a decade until it's refined. Made me excited to read his poetry though.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Best American Short Stories of 2023 (multiple authors) - Favorite stories: "Peking Duck" by Ling Ma, "Bebo" by Jared Jackson, and "Treasure Island Alley" by Da-Lin

As You Like It (Shakespeare) - Not his best fr. But man his gender shenanigans will always be fun.

Mediating Gender in Post-Authoritarian South Korea (multiple authors) - Favorite chapters: "Gendered Violence, Crisis of Masculinity, and Regressive Transgression in Postmillennial South Korean Crime Thrillers" and "A Spunky Girl Meets a Queer Boy: Neoliberal Remediation of the Post-Authoritarian Period in the Korean Reply TV Series." The second one has actually changed me fundamentally lmao, I can't watch kdramas the same anymore.

"The Composite Nation" by Frederick Douglass - One of my favorite essays ever written, and so ahead of its time that it's painful.

MID-OFF

Tom Lake (Ann Patchett) - The issue with making two-timeline stories is that one timeline may be more interesting than the other. Such is the case with this. However, this was the first book I read in one of my book clubs, where every book after was awful, and my running joke after every new book was, "Wow, isn't Tom Lake amazing?"

The Wren, The Wren (Anne Enright) - The issue with making two-narrator stories is one may be more interesting than the other. Such is the case with this.

The Guest (Emma Cline) - Amongst many problems this book has, priority #1, can we PLEASE LEARN HOW TO END NOVELS?!

First Lie Wins (Ashley Elston) - Has enough twists to be a page-turner, but it should be sexier by 100. Also better written.

Remarkably Bright Creatures (Shelby Van Pelt) - Remarkably boring novel.

I LEGIT CAN'T REMEMBER THESE

I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home (Lorrie Moore) - I had to look this up to remember it. All I know is the writing isn't my style.

Ghosts (Dolly Alderton) - You could tell she transitioned from nonfiction to fiction. Boring.

GOD-AWFUL

Hench (Natalie Zina Walschots) - I understand what this author is trying to do re: disability, but it can't convince me of its basic argument that the novel rests upon. Also, boring.

Idlewild (James Frankie Thomas) - I truly hate this book. It should be a sin to be this boring in both writing style and plot. Worst of all I could FEEL the insecurity of the author as an AUTHOR in the backtracking style of writing, either stand on your characters being pieces of shit or write something else! I actually apologized to my friend for suggesting this book for book club because I was so embarrassed by how bad it was.