2016: The Year in Review

It's pretty depressing reading my 2015 year in review.  I said that 2015 was a tough year and hoped very much that 2016 would be better.

2016 was not better.  It's a true fact (not a false news story) that 2016 was a spectacularly horrible year.  This is not only because of the travesty of Brexit and the US election, but also because of Aleppo and Russia and Prince and David Bowie and Carrie Fisher and Alan Rickman, etc.

Progress comes in waves, which means it moves backward just as often as it moves forward.  We can only hope that, over time, we gain more ground than we concede.  I spent much of 2016 arming myself with information, through books, news articles, podcasts, reporters and movies and all of you.  I anticipate that the number of books I read each year will continue to decline.  Or if not decline, it is unlikely to go up into the triple digits again.  This is not because reading books is becoming less important to me; it is still one of my favorite activities ever.  But I want to become more of an activist, too.  I want to affect change in my community, and to do that, I think I need to be more aware of what is happening around me.  So more news, more work, and maybe fewer books.

So, how did 2016 shape up for me in the booksphere?  Let's take a look!

Total books read:  62, 12 down from 2015's 74.

% books by female authors:  58%
I've been at exactly 58% for 3 years in a row now!  I have started skewing more towards women in my reading.  I don't apologize for this.  Clearly, people should read more women and understand their points of view vs. only thinking of them as baby-making machines.

% audiobooks:  26%
I rarely listen to audiobooks on my commute now; I've mostly switched to music and podcasts.  So the only audiobooks I listen to usually have to catch my interest very, very quickly.

% books by diverse authors:  45%
This is consistent with last year, too.  My general goal is about 50%, so I'm pretty close.

% non-fiction books:  37%
This is the highest percentage and the highest actual number (23) of non-fiction books I have ever read.  I am reading more and more non-fiction as I get older, mostly to try and make sense of the world we live in.  Some of the best books I read this year were non-fiction.  More on those to come.

# of books taken off the TBR list (books read that I owned on 12/31/15):  4
Yikes.  That's a really bad number.  I can't even defend it.  I did read books that I own, but those were books that I purchased during the year so technically they were not on my TBR list. 
My excuse remains what it was before - my tastes are changing, I am reading more diversely, and my shelves don't necessarily reflect that.  Also, I don't purchase many books any more.  I did significantly decrease my TBR list this year because I donated many books.  So progress is being made, just not by actual reading.

# of books checked out from the library:  48
I love the Chicago Public Library so much!  In fact, I am joining the library junior board's leadership team for 2017 and 2018!  I'm very excited.  Obviously, I have a great deal of passion for the library and the work it does for my city; I so look forward to working hard to help it grow even stronger.

Favorite new-to-me author:  

This one is hard, mostly because I read books by entirely new authors to me, and I didn't get a ton of depth from those authors.  But I think I am most excited to read the next volume in the Monstress comic book series by Marjorie Liu and more by Ann Leckie.  I read her science fiction novel Ancillary Justice and really enjoyed it and never reviewed it.

On the non-fiction front, I really enjoyed reading Rebecca Traister's All the Single Ladies and look forward to more from her.


Best female characters:
I'm going to go all-out on amazing young adult heroines here because they rocked my world this year.  Gabi from Gabi, A Girl in Pieces and Agnieska from Uprooted.  I also still love Hitomi from Intisar Khanani's Sunbolt series in her newest outing, Memories of Ash (review forthcoming).

Best narrative voice:
This is probably cheating a bit since it's a collection of short stories, all with different narrators.  Also, I did not review this book, either (which is a travesty; I should have).  But whatever, I MAKE THE RULES HERE. 

Lucia Berlin in A Manual for Cleaning Women was really fantastic.  I heard about her from no one less than Colson Whitehead while he spoke about his book The Underground Railroad (another book I neglected to review).  While I think the collection is possibly a little too long and not all the stories are stellar, most of them are really beautiful, and I highly recommend it.

Biggest sleeper hit:
There were many books I enjoyed more than I expected this year.  But one that I really enjoyed was Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, a science fiction novel that was just unexpectedly lovely, all about different species working together for a common cause and just really enjoying it.  This is another book that I never bothered to review, which is unfortunate.

Most unexpected reading themes from 2016:
I read many more short stories and essay collections this year than in years past.  I mentioned A Manual for Cleaning Women above.  I also really enjoyed Painted Cities and The Martian Chronicles.  Sayed Kashua's essay collection Native was also great perspective on life as a Muslim in Israel (though I did not review it).

I am also getting more and more into science fiction!  Not only did I thoroughly enjoy Bradbury's Martian Chronicles, but I mentioned Ancillary Justice and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet above.  Then there was John Scalzi's Old Man's War.  I am excited to have this exciting new genre to check out, especially with the amazing way that feminists and POC are making it their own.

Best commentary on American race relations:
This continues to be a theme that interests me, and I learned this year just how embedded into the culture and the way we go about our lives race is.  Particularly in relation to housing decisions. Books that taught me about this in 2016, all of which I highly recommend to anyone and everyone.

 
The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin
The South Side, by Natalie Y. Moore
Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
We Gon' Be Alright, by Jeff Chang

Best commentary on how the slave trade has impacted people all over the world, and over multiple generations:
I realize this is a very specific one, but I just had to find a way to mention Homegoing here.  It was one of my favorites this year and I didn't mention it anywhere else!

Best commentary about trends and changes that have impacted America:
The Unwinding, by George Packer.  It opened my eyes to a lot, and made me very sad and angry, and now I plan to see what I can do to make this country better and stronger.  This book hands down had the most impact on me this year, though it's hard to parse out a book's impact vs world events.  Maybe it is better to say that this book best represented to me what is happening in the world now and made it clear to me that I should fight for what is important to me.

Most obscure topic that I can now speak about with some knowledge:
Carnivorous horses 

Most hyped and lived up to the hype:
Citizen:  An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine
The Sun is Also a Star, by Nicola Yoon

Most hyped and did not live up to the hype:
Strangers in Their Own Land, by Arlie Russell Hochschild.  I much preferred George Packer's The Unwinding. 
However, Strangers in Their Own Land did jolt me to come back to blogging post-election, so there is that.

Best cover art:
Claudia Rankine's Citizen is pretty amazing.

Most beautiful illustrations:
Hands down, Monstress.  It is gorgeous.

Best audiobook:
I didn't do that many of these this year, but definitely The Sun is Also a Star.  
Also The Scorpio Races.


Best memoir:
In the Darkroom, by Susan Faludi.  I truly loved this book and I know it's on a very difficult topic for some people, but it's so beautifully written and I hope more people read it.  It's important to read books about experiences that are different than yours.  This is one of those books.
  

 
Last year, I switched it up and did not provide a list of my favorite reads for 2015.  Mostly because I didn't feel like it but also because I'm not sure I trust my opinions on rankings to stand for very long after reading a book or finishing a year.  What should I base my rankings on?  Enjoyment in the moment?  Sticking with me for a long time after?  Changing the way I view the world?  I'm not sure.  And I think I judge differently for fiction and non-fiction and for different genres of fiction and non-fiction, too.  So I think I am done with top books lists because I don't really know how to do them any more.

There are many books that I didn't love in a squeeze-the-book-to-me-and-never-let-go kind of way but that challenged me and my assumptions and made me into a more critical reader and a more active citizen of the world.  Those books will probably have more of an impact on me and who I become than the books that I devoured and enjoyed in one or two sittings.  That's not to say that pure, unadulterated joy for a book is not valuable in and of itself.  It is.  But it's hard for me to compare books like that with books that are about vastly different topics.  So I hope you'll take some time to look through the categories above and see what stands out to you.  And let me know if there is anything you read that fits one of the above categories that you would recommend to me.
  
Many things happened this year that made me sad and disheartened about the world.  It is hard to separate that context from the books I chose to read and how they spoke to me.  I will continue to read books about topics that are relevant and important to the world, that challenge me to expand my worldview.  But I hope I don't lose that joy and exuberance of finding a book that is just pure fun and escapism and happiness.  Because I love that about reading, too.  And I think that's why I came back to blogging after many hiatuses this year.  Because I love the joy it brings me, and I love all of you and the way we can discuss books that we loved and disliked and recommend and just continue being a warm and welcoming and wonderful community.  Thanks to all of you for helping make 2016 bearable.  I admit I don't have very high hopes for 2017, but I know that there will always be books, and all of you.  Thanks for everything!

love,
Aarti

2015: The Year in Review

In looking over my 2014 year in review, the introduction to my post is still pretty true for 2015.  Thus, I am just going to copy and paste it here:

Well, 2014 2015, you were quite a year, and not always a very positive one.  But in the midst of all the chaos and horrors that you presented to us, you also gave us beautiful and amazing stories, and I thank you for that, and hope that 2015 2016 gives us a break on the heartache front.

Here's to 2016 being just a little better and brighter than the years that came before.

And now, for my annual reading round-up!

Total Books Read:  74, a significant decrease from my 108 in 2014, but, well, life.  This is actually the fewest number of books I have read in a year since 2008, when LibraryThing tells me I read a grand total of 17 books.

% Books by Female Authors:  58%
This is exactly the same percentage as it was last year.  I am usually pretty even on reading books by men and women, though I have started to skew slightly more towards women in recent years.  I still don't worry much about this statistic, except that most professional review sites focus much more on reviewing books by men, so I like that bloggers tend to be the opposite.

# of Audiobooks:  26 
This stat really tells the story of why my reading is down so much vs prior years.  I now walk to work (though it's still about a 40-minute walk) rather than driving, and for whatever reason, it's hard for me to focus on audiobooks when I'm walking.  I read less than half the number of audiobooks I did last year, which is unfortunate because I really like audiobooks.  I hope I find a way to fit them back into my life.

% of Books by Diverse Authors:  45%
Not quite at my goal of 50%, but pretty darn close!  You can do it, too! 

# of Non-Fiction Books:  21
This is slightly higher than the absolute number of non-fiction books I read last year, and considering I read more than 30 fewer books, that's not bad!  A lot of these were somewhat "lighter" books, memoirs and biographies, but they still count as non-fiction to me, and are just as important to read because, now more than ever, it is important for us to have the empathy to understand lives lived that are not the same as ours.

# of Books Checked off the TBR List (books read that I owned prior to 12/31/14 and that were not rereads): 8
Oh, no!  This is the lowest this stat has ever been (this is a direct quote from last year, when the number was 13).  This year, I also only really read from my shelves at the very beginning of the year, and then completely ignored those shelves and focused on the siren call of the library.  My excuse is the same as it was last year - my reading tastes have changed drastically, my shelves are not very diverse, and well, there are a lot of good books out there that I don't own.

# of Books read that were checked out from the Library (not including audiobook versions of books I already own):  54
My unabated love for the library continues.  I have purchased very few books this year, and the library is why.  So, even if I am not reading too many books from my TBR pile, at least I am not adding to my TBR pile, right?  Glass half full!

Favorite New Author:  Zen Cho
I am so excited to see what else she has in store for us, with all her feminism and diverse casts and Asian folklore and all the rest!!
Best Female Characters:
Prunella, from Sorcerer to the Crown.  She admittedly wasn't super well-developed, but I have high hopes for her.

Ada Lovelace from The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace & Babbage.  Oh, if only those adventures had been real!

Best Narrative Voice:
I struggled in every possible way with A Brief History of Seven Killings and had a ton of trouble keeping all the characters straight in my mind.  But my goodness, Marlon James, every character had a very distinct voice, and I applaud your ability to do that with so many characters.

Biggest Sleeper Hit:

This one is tough because I don't really read books with the expectation that they won't impress me.  But The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (review forthcoming) was an even more wonderful read than I thought it would be.

Best Adventure Story:
The Magician's Land, by Lev Grossman.  Thisseries ended really strong. 

Best commentary on American race relations:
Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  If I could send one book to every presidential candidate, it would be this one.  Particularly Donald Trump.  But I get the impression Donald Trump doesn't do a lot of reading.

Best reminder that institutionalized racism can be demolished:

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.  (Review forthcoming)  Good things can happen.  It's important to remember that.

Book that had me bawling for reasons pretty unrelated to the plot of the book itself:

The Shepherd's Crown, by Terry Pratchett.  For obvious reasons.

Most obscure topic that I can now speak on with some knowledge:
Why it is so hard to live on Mars

Most hyped, and lived up to the hype:
Very few books let me down this year, actually.  But here's where I'll give Azar Nafisi's The Republic of Imagination a shout-out.  Such a passionate voice on the importance of fiction in our lives, and a thoroughly engrossing read.  It's way more fun to read essays about books than you might think.

Best Cover Art:

A Darker Shade of Magic, by V.E. Schwab.  It is so attention-grabbing and so evocative of the story, too!

Most hyped, and did not live up to the hype:
Shadow Scale, by Rachel Hartman.  I tried this one on audiobook first and it completely failed for me, but then I tried it in print, too, and it still didn't work.  I just got very bored, which disappoints me because I think Hartman covers a lot of important topics in her books.


Most beautiful illustrations:
The Encyclopedia of Early Earth, by Isabel Greenberg.  Seriously, this book was absolutely stunning.  

  
Best book that waited patiently on the shelf for me to finally read it:
Admittedly, there were only 8 that I got to on my shelf, but The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins, really delivered.  Excellent story!

I usually do a list of the best books I've read in the year to end this wrap-up post.  I am not sure why, but I just don't feel like doing that this year.  In going back over the books I've read over the past twelve months, I feel like there are many that I don't remember well at all, or that I remember more for the emotional impact vs for the writing or the plot.  This is probably true every year, but it feels more true now than before.  

I have read some truly wonderful books, ones that made me laugh, cry, and view the world just a little bit differently (or a lot differently).  I hope to continue reading books that challenge me and my assumptions.  If you have any recommendations that you think would fit the bill, please let me know!  I would love to seek those out.  And, of course, because it's important to keep a sense of humor and fun, let me know about the books that just helped you escape when you really needed that, too.

Wishing all of you a wonderful 2016!  See you soon.

2014: The Year in Review

Well, 2014, you were quite a year, and not always a very positive one.  But in the midst of all the chaos and horrors that you presented to us, you also gave us beautiful and amazing stories, and I thank you for that, and hope that 2015 gives us a break on the heartache front.

I wish you all a wonderful start to 2015, and here's hoping that it is a year with more good news than bad, and more laughter than tears.  And, in case you need some inspiration, here is my reading year in review:

Total Books Read:  108

% Books by Female Authors:  58%
I'm on a general upward tick on reviewing books by women (last year I was at 55%).  I don't actually care that much about this statistic, not because I don't think it's important to read books by both men and women, but because I seem to naturally be fairly even no matter what I read.  I track the number of books I read by diverse authors, but not nearly so much the number of books I read by women authors.

# of Audiobooks:  53 
If I did not drive 2 hours a day, my reading stats would just plummet.  This number is actually up from last year, even though I still listen to quite a few podcasts as well.  Definitely am a fan of audiobooks now, though it took me some time.  Still, would prefer to have the 2 hours of my day back.

% of Books by Diverse Authors:  50%
50%!  And I promise you I didn't read any books that did not interest me.  As I have said several times, reading diversely does NOT require you to change up the genres you read, it just requires you to spend a little more time looking for books within those genres.

# of Non-Fiction Books:  19
Every year, this is far below what I expect it to be.  And this year, many of those books are memoirs.  I think maybe I just need to come to terms with the fact that I don't read as much non-fiction as I think I do!  Also, non-fiction doesn't always work well via audiobook, which limits my ability to read a ton.

# of Books Checked off the TBR List (books read that I owned prior to 12/31/13 and that were not rereads):  13  
Oh, no!  This is the lowest this stat has ever been.  Not to mention that I totally cheated and read many books that I own via audiobook rather than actually taking them down from my shelf.  This stat always stresses me out, but again - my shelves are not very diverse, not a ton of the books I own are on audiobook, and many other books just interest me more.  I can NOT feel guilty about this stat and also be proud of the other ones.  RIGHT?

# of Books read that were checked out from the Library: 82
This explains a lot of the prior statistic.  Chicago Public Library, I adore you.

Favorite New Author:  Malla Nunn
I discovered her in January and am so in love with her mysery series starring a man of uncertain race in South Africa just as Apartheid begins to take hold.  If you like mysteries and haven't read her yet, check her out!

Also, Maggie Stiefvater.


Best Female Characters:
Marjane Satrapi's grandmother.  Not even fictional, which makes her more awesome.

Kamala Khan - Muslim-American superhero.  NBD.

Lisa, from Monkey Beach.  This girl broke my heart time and time again, but in my mind's continuation of the story, she is happy.


Best Narrative Voice:
The unnamed narrator from The Reluctant Fundamentalist.  He was just mesmerizing.

And, of course, the inestimable Flavia de Luce.

Biggest Sleeper Hit:
A Taste of Honey, by Jabari Asim.  Found this slim collection of inter-connected short stories on the library shelf and picked it up on a whim.  Reminded me just how good short stories can be.


Best Adventure Story:
The Raven Cycle, by Maggie Stiefvater.  It's not done yet, but my goodness.





Best Magic Story(ies):
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, by Susanna Clarke.  It has been a VERY long time since I read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but within minutes, I remembered why I loved that book so much.  I hope and hope and hope that Clarke has more books up her sleeve.

Best commentary on American race relations:
Who We Be:  The Colorization of America, by Jeff Chang.  This book was so fascinating.  And it obviously proves that even if I don't read THAT much non-fiction, I still read AWESOME non-fiction.

Best reminder that institutionalized racism can be demolished:
Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, by Jeanne Theoharis

Best book about women's lives in the past:
Good Wives, by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.  I love everything that I've ever read by Ulrich.  She takes seemingly static topics and adds so much nuance to them.


Most obscure topic that I can now speak on with some knowledge:
Invisibility Cloaks

Most hyped, and lived up to the hype:
Blue Lily, Lily Blue, by Maggie Stiefvater


Most hyped, and did not live up to the hype:
The Golem and the (D)Jinni, by Helene Wecker.  It was good, but so slow!  Review forthcoming.


Most informative yet readable:
Wild Ones, by Jon Mooallem


Most evocative of its setting:
Aya:  Life in Yop City.  The artwork in this book was really great - the colors, the clothing, the buildings, the furniture - all of it brought life in the boom economy of Ivory Coast alive to me.

Creepiest:
Through the Woods, by Emily Carroll.  Review forthcoming.  BUT OHMIGOSH, IT IS SO SCARY.

  
Best books that waited patiently on the shelf for me to finally read them:
Well, there were only 13, so this doesn't say a lot.  But Family Matters, by Rohinton Mistry, was magnificent.  It truly brought to life just how difficult life can be for the elderly and infirm.


Unexpected Trends of 2014:
Diverse science fiction!  I have never considered myself a sci fi reader, but Aliette de Bodard and Nalo Hopkinson are changing my tune.

Excellent short stories.  I particularly enjoy short stories on audiobook.  Clarke, Asim, de Bodard, and Murakami were all great successes for me.

Best reads of the year (in no particular order):

Who We Be

Jeff Chang's mind is a wonderful thing, and he uses it to draw connections between cultural movements, political campaigns, public art and more.  A truly fascinating read.

Brown Girl Dreaming

Jacqueline Woodson's memoir-in-verse of her childhood is also my hands-down winner for the most beautiful cover of 2014.

The Complete Persepolis

My review of Marjane Satrapi's comic about growing up under an increasingly totalitarian regime in Iran is forthcoming.  Spoiler alert:  I loved it.

Monkey Beach

A beautiful novel about a girl growing up in rural Canada, this book hurts so good.

Wild Ones

Seriously, people, even if I don't read a ton of non-fiction, I did love pretty much every non-fiction book I read this year.  This one was the one I most looked forward to reading, and I loved every page of it.  If you haven't heard the 99% Invisible podcast that sets some of this book to music, you should.  I think this is my third or fourth time linking to it now, so JUST DO IT.

The Ladies of Grace Adieu

I definitely need to get myself a copy of the above edition, with illustrations by Charles Vess!  If you like faerie stories, you will like this collection.  It's great.

Long Walk to Freedom

Nelson Mandela was such an inspiring person.  Getting to know him better through his book was such a gift.

Family Matters

I read several depressing books by Indian authors over the past year and am not sure I want to try them again.  But Mistry's novel was so beautiful and brought the whole extended family interplay to life so well that I may just have to take the leap.

2013: The Year in Review

The year is over!  I can't believe it flew by so quickly.  It seems like time speeds up more and more as I get older.  But one constant every year is reading - and below are my reading stats for the year.

Best wishes for a happy 2014, filled with adventure, knowledge, romance and humor - all of which can be found between the covers :-)

Total Books Read:  99

% Books by Female Authors:  55%
 Like last year, I expected this to skew more heavily towards women this year, but I seem to be pretty much around 50/50 no matter what I do.  I don't really care about this ratio myself, but I have reported it in the past and I am all about consistency!

# of Audiobooks:  45
God, I hate my commute.  God, I'm glad the Chicago Public Library has such an extensive collection of audiobook digital downloads.

# of Books by Diverse Authors:  40
This is about 40%.  Last year, it was about 10%.  My stated goal was 25% and my personal goal was 50%.  I am actually very happy with this number.  I was nervous about this goal because it just seems like a kind of horrible way to choose the next book to read.  But it introduced me to so many new authors I might never have found otherwise and has made me actively seek out books written by authors in so many different parts of the world.  It made me realize just how limited in scope my reading was before 2013, and I feel so lucky that my world has expanded by so much.

# of Non-Fiction Books:  18
This is much lower than I expected!  Gack!  So much non-fiction on my bookshelves - must get on that in 2014!

# of Classics Read:  13
Pretty low, but as most books that qualify as classics are written by dead white men, this doesn't really bother me so much.

# of Books Checked off the TBR List (books read that I owned prior to 12/31/12 and that were not rereads):  20!  
That's not too bad...  And I think this is because of my goal to read more diversely and because I read so many audiobooks.  This stat has been around 20 for the past few years, so maybe that's just what happens...

# of Books read that were checked out from the Library: 60
Most of these are audiobooks (see audiobook number above), but I've also been using the library to bring more diversity to my reading than can be found on my own bookshelves.  I fell in love with the library again this year!




Favorite New Author:  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Best Female Characters:
Groa from King Hereafter
Flavia de Luce from the Flavia de Luce mystery series
Aminata from Someone Knows My Name

 





Best Narrative Voice:
So many!  I loved Flavia and Nao in particular.


Biggest Sleeper Hit:
Thorn, by Intisar Khanani

This one is getting a new cover in 2014, which I'm quite excited about!  I hope you all read it.





Best Adventure Story:
The Long Ships, by Frans Bengtsson



Best Tragicomedy:
City of Thieves, by David Benioff

Best commentary on American race relations:
Wench, by Doren Perkins-Valdez
The Inconvenient Indian, by Thomas King

Best commentary on class relations:
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga

Best books about women's lives today:
Factory Girls, by Leslie Chang
Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 
Most bizarre topic that I can now speak on with some knowledge:
Parasites
 
Most hyped, and lived up to the hype:
Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell
The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galbraith

Most hyped, and did not live up to the hype:
The Republic of Thieves, by Scott Lynch





Most informative yet readable:
Salt Sugar Fat, by Michael Moss

Most evocative of its setting:
Tales from Outer Suburbia, by Shaun Tan
Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino

Creepiest:
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson 
 
Best books that waited patiently on the shelf for me to finally read them:
Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
Heat, by Bill Buford
King Hereafter, by Dorothy Dunnett



Series FINISHED:
Small Change trilogy by Jo Walton
Elizabeth Wein's WWII duology

Series STARTED:
Not even going to list those here 

Best reads of the year (in no particular order):

King Hereafter - An epic, beautiful retelling of Macbeth that took a lot of concentration and patience to get through but was so rewarding.

City of Thieves - A coming of age tale of friendship and overcoming the odds during WWII

Thorn - A strong female lead uses good sense and kindness in this outstanding retelling of The Goose Girl.

Americanah - !!!  Love.  Love, love, love.  So much here about everything, but particularly about race and gender and courage to be different.

Tales from Outer Suburbia - I didn't read many graphic novels this year, but this illustrated book of very short stories and their accompanying illustrations reminds me of what makes them great.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Oh, Neil Gaiman.  He can do no wrong.

A Tale for the Time Being - This book is so good. I have not reviewed it yet, but I will!

Salt Sugar Fat - A very important and telling book about America's food system.  Arm yourself with information!