i need a new book to read. what's good?
Without knowing exactly what you're in the mood for here's what I think are the best books from my Goodreads list over the past year:
Fiction:
Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo is the third Novella in the Singing Hills cycle, if you haven't read any of these the first one is so dang good. I'm waiting to see if there's a boxed set or anything of these at some point and will absolutely buy it if there is.
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao: Sci-fi retelling of Empress Wu Zetian's rise to power with mechas fighting and just great. I have a copy but have lent it out to so many friends since I bought it I think it's spent more time with other people than with me at this point and everyone's loved it.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker: I found out about this due to the
TT book club reading the second book. The first is just fantastic.
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka: A wonderful short story collection about a group of people who share the same public swimming pool.
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz: Read this as part of my Classics book club, set in Cairo during the World War I and the Egyptian Revolution which I admit I knew nothing about before this. I loved this so much I bought the second and third in the trilogy. I will note that a couple people in the club didn't finish the book because the treatment of women disturbed them.
Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada: A book that I saw described as "cheerfully dystopian" which I think is accurate! Japan has vanished in the future and a woman who is possibly the last Japanese speaker in the world is trying to find other speakers.
Nonfiction:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer: This is probably my book of the year. Essays from a Citizen Potawatomi Nation botanist looking at the intersection and clashing of her scientific training and the beliefs she was raised in. Beautifully written.
Disability Visibility compiled by Alice Wong: An anthology of essays about being disabled, a hard read but an important one.
Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now: This is maybe more encyclopedia-like than book-like but I loved it
Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball by Jon Chad: Exactly what it says it is and quite fun.
Vagina Obscura by Rachel E. Gross a history of research (or lack of) and sexism in science and medicine. Not a cheerful read at all but incredibly glad I read it.