To Read Pile for 2023
I haven’t posted on this blog since the end of 2020 because I’ve been busy with my Seeing Clearly project over at Substack. But this has been a big reading and listening year for me so I thought I’d share a few of my favourite books and podcasts.
At some point this year, there was an interesting thread from Austin Kleon about the randomness of book choices. I can’t find it now, but I could really relate. While I do have lists of books I’d like to read and a stack of books waiting to be read (see above), I don’t usually go through them one by one. Usually, the way it happens is that one book feels right to read now, and then that leads to something else, whether I learn about it from the book itself or find something on a related topic. Often, I hear about a book that’s related to a topic I’m interested or to something that currently going on in the world. Sometimes, a friend recommends or gives me a book but that’s only a small percentage of the books I read.
This year, I have been much more immersed in the podcast called Between the Covers, and many of the books I’ve read this year came from that listening. The excellent host, David Naimon, does long form interviews with some of the most interesting poets and writers. One such interview, with Sheila Heti, led to my reading three of her books.
Favourite Books of 2022
Most Enlightening – I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong is a fascinating look at the power of the microbes within each of us. Yong is a talented communicator of science. You can see above that his next book, An Immense World, is in my pile for next year.
Best History Books – Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer, The 1619 Project by N. Hannah-Jones. Both of these books have won major awards and both show the complicated history of the United States with its people and other countries.
Best Non-Fiction – How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo (about reading critically), The End of Bias by Jessica Nordell (about how to spot your own biases), Stolen Focus by Johann Hari (about why we can’t pay attention and how to think deeply). These books have all taught me to pause and consider before taking things at face value.
Fiction – I mostly read non-fiction and memoir, but this year I read more novels than I usually do. I loved:: Fight Night by Miriam Toews (most endearing characters), The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (most prescient), In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje (most historical), and Thrust by Lidia Yuknavitch (most unusual). My favourite novel (and book of the year) was a science fiction novel, something I rarely read but will probably do more of. Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson is a book that is both frightening and hopeful. Robinson imagines the world mid-twentieth century, one in which tragic events caused by climate change have occurred and prompted some people to finally take action.
Most Surprising – Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit. I loved the way Solnit created essays on important topics, all woven together with themes of George Orwell, roses, beauty and destruction.
Best Writing – We the Animals by Justin Torres. I’m no expert on wine or writing but I know the good stuff when I experience it. Torres’ writing is sparse (only 95 pages) but creates rich images of the highs and lows of family life.
Best Memoir – The Yellow House by Sarah Broom, Unreconciled by Jesse Wente. Broom shares one hundred years of family history in New Orleans and the devastating loss of her home and neighbourhood by Hurricane Katrina, including the lack of a sufficient follow up. Wente grew up in Toronto, assimilated into Canadian society, yet having Indigenous heritage, he still experienced the impacts of the Indigenous legacy and how reconciliation has not yet happened.
Best Anti-racism – South to America by Imani Perry, The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole. Racism is still embedded In systems in both the United States and Canada. Perry explores the history of the Southern states and Cole shows the current state of policing in Canada.
Most Empathetic – Care of by Ivan Coyote. This is an incredible book by a non-binary storyteller, which emerged from the pandemic. Coyote found themselves locked down at home and decided to take the time to respond carefully to letters they had received and filed. The result is a beautiful portrait of what trans and non-binary people experience regularly and what it looks like to truly see and listen to someone’s lived experience. This book has been named the one book everyone in my region should read in 2023.
** You can find all of these books on Amazon through this link (affiliate).
Favourite Podcasts
Conspirituality with Matthew Remski, Julian Walker, and Derek Beres remains one of my favourite podcasts, along with Between the Covers (a literary podcast) and The Ezra Klein Show (topical). I’ve also been newly enjoying Rob Hopkins podcast, From What If to What Next, which showcases people who are imagining and acting on different kinds of futures.
What was your favourite book and/or podcast this year?
P.S. This year I am winding down from writing weekly for two years on Substack. In 2021, I wrote about Seeing Clearly and in 2022, Seeing Your Place. You can visit the archives through the button below. Next year, I plan to do some travelling and also go through 12 years of writing and synthesize themes and connections. Stay tuned.