“But books, like people, die. They die in fires or floods or in the mouths of worms or at the whims of tyrants. If they are not safeguarded, they go out of the world. And when a book goes out of the world, the memory dies a second death.” —Anthony Doerr, Cloud Cuckoo Land
Was it really March when I promised my book bestie Barack next dance? I’d like to say this is the only area of my life running seven months behind. Actually, considering I recently sent a baby gift for my nephew’s now 2-year-old daughter, seven months feels super speedy. Never mind that in the time it’s taken me to finally write this post, our fearless former leader has already posted a new reading list. Looks like retiring from running the country has left him with a little free time.
Here are some of the reads I loved from last year’s list. He’s yet to disappoint. A couple of his selections (The Lincoln Highway and Beautiful Country) were also on my other book bestie’s list so I reviewed them in my original post. I also noticed Black Cake made this year’s favorites. Was it my influence or Jenna’s? We may never know.
Most Important Read of the Year
Some books entertain, some educate, and some make your blood boil. This one does all three in riveting, page-turning fashion. You’ll be gobsmacked (and sickened) by the immense damage done by one family wholly consumed with greed. And perhaps even worse, how governments, the FDA, and the philanthropic world—whose pockets they lined—stood by and watched it happen. Johnathon Cohn of the Washington Post writes: “The opioid epidemic has killed nearly half a million Americans over the past two decades. Many of their loved ones, along with public health advocates and experts, believe that one very rich, very famous family has never fully faced the consequences for its role in those deaths. Empire of Pain is an attempt to change that — to hold the family accountable in a way that nobody has quite done before, by telling its story as the saga of a dynasty driven by arrogance, avarice and indifference to mass suffering.”
My new imaginary BFF
Emma Thompson, Jennifer Garner, and Anna Quindlen. What do they have in common? They’re all my best friends—in my head. If we all lived next door to each other, I just know we’d get along swimmingly. Kindred spirits, if you will. And because I know they love all the same things and people I do, I’m confident they’d welcome Ann Patchett to the neighborhood with arms open wide and something freshly baked by Jennifer. While I’ve been an ardent fan of Ann’s fiction for years, this collection of essays is what cemented her BFIMH status. Hard to beat this summation on NPR: "A catalogue of all the unexpected ways love can look, if you're imaginative and brave enough to try it — even while knowing that love and grief are two sides of the same coin." Huge shoutout to Barack and his trusty list for putting this one on my radar. And another huge shoutout to Kristen, a bestie in real life, who said I should also pick up Ann’s other collection of essays: This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. And then there’s Ann, in her own words: “As every reader knows, the social contract between you and a book you love is not complete until you can hand that book to someone else and say, Here, you’re going to love this.” So all this to say, here, you’re going to love this.
Favorite Listen of 2022
I’m calling it now. Hands down. Ain’t no one else even in the running. If you’re still in the “read only” camp, I triple dog dare you to listen to this book and not be converted. Barack may have influenced me, but in truth, it was my real-life bestie, Tray, who convinced me to download this one sooner rather than later. You can read her better-than-chocolate review here. Team Ryland and Rocky forever.
Anthony Doerr, We Don’t Deserve You
While we’ve established I’m solidly in the audiobook camp, I’m the first to admit there are some books that demand to be read and this is definitely one of them. If you started listening and gave up, here’s my plea: pick up this heft of a book (both in the literal and figurative sense) and give it another go. You can thank me and Michelle (ours, not Barack’s) later. Click here to read her stunning review. When choosing a quote for this post it was a wrestle between the one above and this: “‘That’s what God’s do,’ he said, ‘they spin threads of ruin through the fabric of our lives, all to make a song for generations to come.’” And what a mesmerizing song it is.
A Masterpiece, Indeed
To quote Maureen Corrigan (because who wouldn’t?), “I know [the word masterpiece is] something of an old-fashioned conceit, nevertheless, I'll go for broke and call Klara and the Sun a masterpiece that will make you think about life, mortality, the saving grace of love: in short, the all of it.” And to also quote Tracy (because again, who wouldn’t?), “With the backdrop of a futuristic world where loneliness is underscored, the importance of a true friend is amplified. Maybe we all underestimate, to some degree, the impact of a devoted friend—the kind that love freely and wholly, without conditions. All this to say, I’m grateful for a profound novel that ultimately explores the question we all should: what does it mean to love?” Do yourself a favor and read Tray’s full review here and then read this book.