Books 2022

Favorites:

1. Fuzz by Mary Roach. Fuzz is an entertaining primer in human-wildlife conflict. Hell, I'm in that field and learned a lot (mostly concerning wildlife outside of North America). Some of her claims needed more context, especially for nonlethal tools and methods. As a certified tree-hugger, I prefer nonlethal against all mitigation strategies, especially inhumane trapping and poisoning. However, Roach's claim that "lethal removal doesn't work" is, regrettably, not true in all cases (at least in the short term). Lethal removal can be an effective method in curtailing damage, but that's not an endorsement. We must continue to improve Best Management Practices and redefine humaneness, and Roach is certainly an advocate for both.
2. Diary of a Misfit by Casey Parks. Two biographies in one! On the day she comes out to her family, Casey's grandmother pulls her aside and says she knew "a woman who lived as a man" back in the 50s/60s. Casey navigates her sexuality through a strict, evangelical upbringing in rural Louisiana. At the same time, she investigates dairies, newspapers, and interviews friends who knew Roy--a man who never quite had the language to describe his identity. Props to this Portland-based author! 
3. Playing with Myself by Randy Rainbow. I laughed, I cried, I almost overcame my aversion to high heels.
4. Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton. Exactly the kind of book I want to write, but I'll settle for reading the works of far more capable authors. Perfection. The sequel is great too.
5. Shout Your Abortion by Amelia Bonow et al. SYA seeks to normalize abortion by letting women/people with uteruses tell their own stories. Effective and moving.
6. Watership Down by Richard Adams. I reread this old favorite on my trip to England. Holds up.
7. Art and Fear by David Bayles. I regret not having my own copy. There are many, many sections worth highlighting.
8. Rosewater by Tade Thompson. Aliens land in Nigeria, a select few humans are capable of heightened communication (sort of like internet installed in the brain), and the dead are mysteriously resurrected once a year. That’s just a dollop of this rich and ever-twisting world. Sequels are great too.
9. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. The was the first book I loved that didn’t star anthropomorphized animals. Still great 25 years later.
10. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I can’t remember the fine line between synopsis and spoiler. You’re just going to have to trust that it’s great. 
11. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. How did this classic escape me for so long??

Skip:

1. Dopamine by Anna Lembke. Lembke's thesis: Mental illness and/or neurodivergence can be "cured" with good ol' will power. Kids today; too many participation trophies made them soft and squishy. Now they can't handle an iota of mental or physical pain, turning to pills and weed for relief. SSRIs are bad. Stimulants for ADHD patients are bad. Just stop it, folks. You can do it. The takeaway: Yes, over prescription of medication exists, as does abuse of stimulants and alternative drugs. But only once does the author champion medication as necessary treatment for millions and millions of patients. Her attitude towards young people is condescending and some of her comments on sexuality and expression lean towards puritanical.
2. Red Notice by Bill Browder. Fascinating story, but I wish someone else had written it. Browder is self-aggrandizing and lauds his heroic motives from the start of his career. Dude, you were in it for the money when you got into this business. The conscience came later. Second, he describes women as either super sexy or dog-ugly/cold/wears-too-much-makeup, depending on where they fall on his moral spectrum.

Complete List
Rosewater (The Wormwood Trilogy, #1)
Tade Thompson

Homegoing
Yaa Gyasi

Death of a Showman (Jane Prescott #4)
Mariah Fredericks

My Policeman
Bethan Roberts

In the Garden of Spite
Camilla  Bruce

The Rosewater Insurrection (The Wormwood Trilogy, #2)
Tade Thompson

Rock Paper Scissors
Alice Feeney

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)
Becky  Chambers

Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, #9)
Agatha Christie

Wishful Drinking
Carrie Fisher

A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic, #3)
V.E. Schwab

The Princess Diarist
Carrie Fisher

The Rosewater Redemption (The Wormwood Trilogy, #3)
Tade Thompson

The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law
Mary Roach

Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas
Natasha Dow Schüll

Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
Anna Lembke

Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation
Anne Helen Petersen

I Could Have Sung All Night: My Story
Marni Nixon

The Push
Ashley Audrain

Truth of the Divine (Noumena, #2)
Lindsay  Ellis

Playing with Myself
Randy Rainbow

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1)
Maya Angelou

Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
Jon Krakauer

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Betty  Smith

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0)
Suzanne Collins

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Ibram X. Kendi

The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There
Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey

Hollow Kingdom (Hollow Kingdom, #1)
Kira Jane Buxton

Shout Your Abortion
Amelia Bonow

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror
Robert Louis Stevenson

Feral Creatures (Hollow Kingdom, #2)
Kira Jane Buxton

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle
Fiona Carnarvon

Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey
Fiona Carnarvon

Watership Down (Watership Down, #1)
Richard  Adams

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Avi

Once There Were Wolves
Charlotte McConaghy

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot
Mikki Kendall

I'm Glad My Mom Died
Jennette McCurdy

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
Carl Sagan

Iron Widow (Iron Widow, #1)
Xiran Jay Zhao

Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir

Women Talking
Miriam Toews

Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking
David Bayles

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question
Michael Schur

Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World
Barry  Lopez

Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
Bill Browder

Migrations
Charlotte McConaghy

My Heart Is a Chainsaw (The Lake Witch Trilogy, #1)
Stephen Graham Jones

Diary of a Misfit: A Memoir and a Mystery
Casey Parks

All Things Aside: Absolutely Correct Opinions
​Iliza Shlesinger