March 2022 Recap
I know, we’re almost halfway through April and I’m only just getting around to posting this. I read eight books in March – if I keep this pace, 2022 is likely going to be my top reading year, at least since I was thirteen and finishing a book a day! Audiobooks are a real game-changer, though I tried it out with some fiction last month and really disliked it –I’ll be going back to nonfiction and memoirs for the time being.
Reading Recap
How the Other Half Eats: The Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America by Priya Fielding-Singh
The book kept me absolutely fascinated from beginning to end. Fielding-Singh did a really remarkable job weaving anecdotal storytelling with rigorous academic research, always both compassionate and intelligent. She digs into some myths, like food deserts, turning common assumptions about nutrition and income on their head.
What stood out the most for me while reading the book was the attention Fielding-Singh gave to the mothers she partnered with for her research, and their vastly different decision-making trade-offs for their children’s nutrition, as well as their happiness. Buying their kids junk food might be one of the few luxuries lower-income mothers can afford to give their children to make them happy. Wealthier mothers are more able to say no to junk food, because they can afford to give their children different luxuries, like a trip to Disneyworld. She also points out that we as a society might jump to judge low-income mothers who spend $20 on Starbucks for their kids when they have it around, instead of saving it for the future – but the mother knows that $20 isn’t going to get them out of poverty, but a special treat will make their kids happy.
The main criticism I have about this book is with its title – it claims to be about food and inequality In America, but really Fielding-Singh’s research focuses pretty much exclusively on the Bay Area. It also is really focused on families, with little to no mention of singles, couples, the elderly, etcetera. I didn’t actually mind this and don’t think it changes how interesting and impressive the content was, but did perhaps over-promise.
Rating: 4.2/5
All of the Marvels: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told by Douglas Wolk
I have a somewhat strange obsession with Marvel comics, given that I’ve never actually read one. I love the MCU, of course, but it’s more than that – I love diving deep into the characters and stories, hearing about their different iterations, and following how they evolve through the decades. I listen to a podcast that’s mostly about it, have spent hours on Wikipedia, and read this book. It’s not a hot-take, but I think of Marvel comics as modern-day myths, where you can learn a ton about a society and its values at the time. I also love their creativity, their complexity, the many universes they contain.
That being said – I don’t think this book is for you unless you’re a fan. Wolk reads every single Marvel comic ever published (half a million pages of them), and writes about his own observations and experiences while doing so. It’s very personal – he doesn’t claim to make any grand theory and assert which comics are objectively the best – instead, he just writes about which ones he himself enjoyed, and which he thought were the most impactful throughout the Marvel Universe as a whole. Along the way, he points out patterns and trends, connecting the dots, breaking down storylines and events that continue to affect the ongoing story.
The biggest surprise for me was that the book was really, really touching. Like a true nerd, Wolk writes lovingly about comics, treating the characters with a friendly affection, occasional reverence, and genuine care. Towards the end, Wolk also writes vulnerably about how reading comics connected him with his son, and I cried like a baby.
Rating: 4.1
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
It’s hard to come up with words for this book – it’s one that I should have read a long time ago, and that many people can write (and have written) about much better than I. Like Heavy (which I touched on in my January recap), it’s a book that should be taught in all American high schools.
The book is written as a letter to Coates’s fifteen-year-old son, passionate and personal. He is not trying to explain the experience of being a Black man to “people who believe that they are white,” though that’s not to say that such people (like me) do not benefit enormously from reading the book. In fact, that likely makes it more beneficial – there is no sugar-coating or diplomacy, just raw emotion, exacting experiences, and a focus on violence against Black bodies in this country.
I listened to this book as an audiobook, and am actually glad that I did – hearing Coates’s voice made his words even more impactful. It completely tore me up, but there was no way I could (metaphorically) put it down or look away. Very, very glad I finally read it.
Rating: 4.7
Creative Types and Other Stories by Tom Bissell
The first story in this collection was by far the best – after that, it went downhill quickly. Bissell’s strength lies in his humor, his vivid settings, and his distinct characters – but the story connecting those elements was mostly just disappointing and boring. I couldn’t really get myself to care about what was going to happen, and tuning out/skimming over some of the pages.
I think short story collections work best when there’s some sort of link between them – not necessarily in their contents, but at least in their theme. Some sort of point, something to be taken away from the work as a whole. I didn’t get that with this book. There was maybe supposed to be something there about the strangeness of everyday life and the complications of “regular” people, but it was too vague (and too obvious of a point) to be particularly compelling.
Overall, disappointing!
Rating: 3
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa
I was pleasantly surprised by this book, which was given to me by my roommate. I liked-not-loved one of Ogawa’s other books, The Memory Police, and wouldn’t really expect to be captivated by a story about, as the title suggests, a housekeeper and a math professor.
However, the book was just lovely. It’s a quick and gentle read, sort of a feel-good story reminding the reader that humans can be kind to each other. I think calling it feel-good implies some amount of shallowness, though, which isn’t accurate – the book was insightful, nuanced, smart – just in a nice kind of way, which isn’t something you come across often.
Even more surprising to me, is that the book made me see some sort of beauty in numbers and mathematics. The titular professor cannot retain memories for more than eighty minutes, but he uses math to build relationships, connect and share with others, in a way that’s really touching and just wonderful.
Rating: 4.3
Fable by Adrienne Young
Reading YA books can make me feel nervous – I loved them as a teenager, and really don’t want to spoil my fond memories of reading and re-reading books from authors like Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, John Green, Sarah Dessen, etc. When I come away from a YA book now feeling disappointed (like I did after reading Anatomy last month), I can’t help but cringe at those memories and wonder if it was all a lie. But when I love a YA book (like Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious series), I’m delighted and charmed, caught up again in the fun magic of reading.
Thankfully, this book fell into the latter category – it really had everything I love and could hope for from a YA book. There’s adventure, mystery, romance, a brave heroine, and a vivid setting. Of those elements, it was the setting that really stood out the most for me – it was unlike anything I had read before. Cliche as it sounds, it really made me feel like I was there on the ships, diving into the sea, exploring wild ports alongside the characters. It was also one of those stay-up-all-night-to-finish books, with a fast-paced and surprising plot.
When I finished, I felt relieved that there was a sequel – I wanted more time in the world of Fable.
Rating: 4.4
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
I really, really loved this book. Bennett writes in a way that I wish I could – beautiful, lyrical, entrancing. The book starts off seeming like a teenage love story, but quickly evolves to focus on the friendship between two Black, motherless girls named Nadia and Aubrey. They grow up, they make mistakes, they love and betray each other. Bennett also seamlessly weaves in themes touching on family, church, and community, in a way that’s impactful and nuanced.
It’s worth noting that I had a special connection to this book, given that it took place in Oceanside, California, which is a neighboring town to the one in which I grew up. Though my experience was quite different than Nadia’s, it’s always a particular delight to read about familiar places and learn more about them from another perspective.
I do think I ultimately prefer Bennett’s second book, The Vanishing Half – this one felt very much like a debut novel, not totally streamlined plot-wise and still working through some kinks. Still, very much worth the read! I hope Bennett writes many, many more books in the future.
Rating: 4.4
Intimations by Zadie Smith
Though very short and not entirely consistent, this is probably the best piece of pandemic-era writing I’ve read so far. Smith’s essays are a bit scattered, but it works because that was how things felt in 2020 – confused, lonely, desperate to make some kind of sense of the world turned upside down.
My favorite essays were the ones about solitude, womanhood, and artistry. The most powerful ones were those that touched on race and the Black Lives Matter movement of that year, especially the book’s epilogue – Smith writes about racism and contempt like a virus, really thoughtfully articulating many of the feelings I had at the time.
I actually haven’t been the biggest fan of Smith in the past – I remember feeling eh about the very-popular White Teeth. However, I thought these essays as a whole were really engaging, and it made me want to re-visit her work.
Rating: 4
What Else?
I’m actually going to skip this section this month – I’m already so late, and I don’t think I’ve consumed much beyond books that I’m really excited to share – it’s been a hectic few weeks. Will check in again at the end of April!
