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kfeltz · 7 years

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Kelsi Reads ‘16

Hey friends. Still noodling on this past year. For now, peruse this list of Kelsi Reads from 2016. I think I captured them all. Favorites are bolded. Read on!

Fiction

All Our Worldly Goods: A Novel Between the Wars by Irène Némirovsky - a novel of two young lovers who marry against their parents’ wishes and their story across generations set in France during the war years. I’m a mush for this kind of thing; Némirovsky has a real talent for poignant, frank observations of daily life during this period.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - a novel set in occupied France during WWII tracing the paths of a blind French girl and a German boy turned soldier as their lives dovetail. Great storytelling and I’m a big fan of the weaving together of disparate stories. Rich with detail.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi - the novel tells the story of a young, Nigerian woman who emigrates to the U.S., alternating between life in the U.S. and her past in Nigeria. I can see why Ngozi has won such critical acclaim. Her characters have a real voice and personality. This is a great current novel reflecting on the realities of globalization / emigration.

At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier - a family epic detailing one pioneer family's attempt to settle the Ohio frontier and subsequent generation’s own pioneering journeys.

Beast of No Nation: A Novel by Uzodinmalweala - if you’ve seen the movie, it follows the book pretty accurately. I thought it was well-told and moving but at the same time it was interesting to learn that it’s not a first-hand account and while I haven’t teased out exactly why, the fact that it’s an author writing as if it is a first-hand experience kind of made me uncomfortable. Still noodling through it, but definitely worth a read. The movie again is excellent.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling - meh. A play about the famed Harry Potter and friends’ children and their misadventures. Don’t waste your time unless you’re a diehard HP fan.

The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante - a 4-part bildungsroman (I wanted to use that word so badly!) set in 60s/70s Italy of an enduring, real female friendship and the external forces that shape the two women’s lives. Take Austen, make her darker and change the focus to female relationships, drop her in Italy. Recommended by my boss. This was my favorite fiction read of the year.

My Brilliant Friend

The Story of a New Name

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay

The Story of the Lost Child

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - fun. Again I love historical fiction and this retelling of the famous epic was fantastic and unexpected. Read for something fun.

The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese - I picked this up because I enjoyed Cutting for Stone so much. Verghese recounts a story of a friendship between two men - one a physician with a crumbling marriage and the other a medical student with a drug addiction.

Non-fiction

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay (in progress) - short essays and stories covering a range of topics. Humorous. A lot of these kinds of texts really turn me off because they can be overly prescriptive or limiting to a particular point of view. I think Gay’s is an approachable feminism that really picks up on the shades of gray, while not getting bogged down in them.

Between the World & Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates - this book ought to be required reading. Coates writes a series of essays / letters to his son exploring personal, historical and larger societal events concerning race and how it has shaped and continues to shape America. I’d like to think if white people read this and were forced to truly grapple with the text, there’d be less cognitive dissonance and more understanding of the black experience in America.

Bossypants by Tina Fey - I like Tina Fey. I like books. I really don’t think these celeb books I read this year were worth my time. They didn’t make an impact and I didn’t think they had much to say.

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson - Larson picks an event from history and unveils the mystery behind it. Like listening to my favorite social studies teachers from middle and high school.

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink - a reconstruction in the vein of investigative journalism, the novel dives into the events through the eyes of emergency workers, investigators, patients and families, and more breaking down the systematic failure that occurred. Excellent, excellent and hugely time intensive undertaking thanks to the meticulous background research.

Gratitude by Oliver Sachs - too short to leave much of an impression but the man has a way with words. If I take away anything, it’s that I can only hope to face death with such calm acceptance and grace.

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by JD Vance - the author recounts his experience growing up poor in Appalachia. The book goes beyond memoir to offer some social commentary. A really interesting look at how class and culture can combine to form a unique identity particular to the area. Especially meaningful given the recent election.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling - of all the celeb books I read, this was probably my least favorite.

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari - see above re: Fey. Ansari gets stuck between the scientific and more of the opinion/memoir/essay style replicated by other celebs. The actual science and research is interesting. He didn’t need to mire it in the little jokes and distractions (felt like pandering).

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America - in this book, the author goes ‘undercover’ to work several different minimum wage jobs. I finally got around to reading this and I have to say I was unimpressed. My reaction was “so what?”. I guess I see why it was more revolutionary when it was originally published (2002) but now I find it a bit depressing when I read it and find that so little has changed. Also I’m left wondering why we need to send authors, etc. undercover instead of just talking to people who live in these realities.

Unfinished Business: Women, Men, Work, Family by Anne Marie Slaughter - I’ve read a couple of these women-boss books and I’ve found this one the most helpful / real. Still has its faults, but worth a read.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanthi - I don’t have the words for this book. I kept reading late into the night to finish it and bawled. Moving. Dr. Kalanthi contemplates what makes a life worth living as he faces down stage IV lung cancer at the age of 36 shortly before he would have completed his training as a neurosurgeon.

Yes Please by Amy Poehler - same thing as what I said for Tina’s book. It had a bit more of a voice.

Other

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur - a book of poetry split into four chapters: the hurting, the loving, the breaking, and the healing. I normally have a hard time with poetry, but the rhythm and the topic matter really resonated. I found this book at a time during a time of need.

The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories by Marina Keegan - Keegan famously wrote an essay on loneliness shortly after graduating from Yale. She died in a car crash shortly thereafter and her family posthumously published this work of essays and short stories.

#reads

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