Book #5 of 2025: “Stardoc” by SL Viehl

This book is one of my oldest possessions. I‘ve had it since 1999 or 2000. The first in a series that saved my life. I haven‘t read it in over a decade but it stood the test of time. I love rereading an old favorite ❤️

Book #4 of 2025: “Scary Stories 3”

Natalie moved out a couple weeks ago and left behind some absolute treasures so I took a short trip down Scholastic memory lane ❤️ What classics.

Book #3 of 2025: “Bunnicula”

Natalie moved out a couple weeks ago and left behind some absolute treasures so I took a short trip down Scholastic memory lane ❤️ What classics.

Book #2 of 2025: “Hard Times” by Charles Dickens

Oh, Dickens. I liked this one less than “A Tale of Two Cities” and more than “Great Expectations”. After 15 hours of travel that‘s all the review you get 😅

Book #1 of 2025: “Bodega Dreams” by Ernesto Quiñonez

Set in Spanish Harlem, this novel centers on a fictional radical named Willy Bodega and his plans to improve the quality of life for his fellow Puerto Ricans. It‘s told from the perspective of a young man in the neighborhood who gets caught up in Bodega‘s work. It‘s a fast read and I enjoyed it.

Book #23 of 2024: “The Book of Bird Poems” by Ryuto Miyake & Ana Sampson

I bought this one at A Book For All Seasons, Leavenworth WA because an anthology dedicated to poems about birds? Obviously necessary in my life. The poetry is lovely and the art is incredible. Give it a read ❤️

Book #22 of 2024: “Flowers from the Moon” by L.J. Hughes

I picked this up from the Florence Regional Arts Alliance on a whim. I love reading the work of local poets and Hughes did not disappoint. She and I come from different generations and backgrounds but I found her poetry to be relatable, especially “Perspectives and Tack Shed Dreams” and “Dad and I”. I recommend checking her out!

Book #21 of 2024: “Psychlone” by Greg Bear

A decent atomic-era sci-fi novel from the 70s. It kept me engaged and wanting to see what would happen next. It‘s not light but it won‘t make you cry or ruin your mood.

One of those post 9/11 anti-Muslim books. The number of slurs this guy uses…yikes.

So boring. Don‘t bother.

Book #18 of 2024: “Nebula Awards Showcase: 2007”

Picked this one up at a bar in Mexico 😂 It‘s a collection of sci fi/fantasy poetry and short stories that were chosen as the year‘s best (17 years ago). It was interesting—a wide variety of styles and themes. Most were good. The last one I found unbearably boring.

Book #17 of 2024: “Plotting Women” by Jean Franco

This was a challenge. I lack a lot of the background needed to understand many of the references made to other texts and authors, but the topic (women who, in their own ways, subverted gender norms/expectations in Mexican culture) was engrossing. I wouldn‘t recommend this book unless this has been a field of study for you already. It‘s dense.

Book #16 of 2024: “The Celtic Twilight” by WB Yeats

This had a few poems but was mostly stories about the Sidhe collected from Irish people across the country. I‘ll come back to it again later when I have time to do some more research into the people, places, and legends referenced. And, maybe, take a trip to all the places Yeats identifies as doors to the dim world.

Book #15 of 2024: “Death is a Lonely Business” by Ray Bradbury

I enjoyed this one. It‘s got a strong sense of melancholy with a whisper of hope. A good mystery that kept me engaged.

Book #14 of 2024: “Snow in April” by Rosamunde Pilcher

I fell in love with Pilcher‘s writing in high school and this short little fiction was a reminder of why. Wholesome and old-fashioned, full of evocative imagery and sweet sentiments, I recommend this author to everyone ❤️

Book #14 of 2024: “Snow in April” by Rosamunde Pilcher

I fell in love with Pilcher‘s writing in high school and this short little fiction was a reminder of why. Wholesome and old-fashioned, full of evocative imagery and sweet sentiments, I recommend this author to everyone ❤️

Book #13 of 2024: “Good Bones” by Maggie Smith

You‘ve probably read the poem “Good Bones”. This is its eponymous book. It wasn‘t my favorite collection of poetry but I enjoyed the imagery of a remote life in the mountains.

Book #12 of 2024: “Prisons Make Us Safer and 20 Other Myths About Mass Incarceration” by Victoria Law

If you‘re at all curious about abolition, read this book. Law presents and then counters each argument with impeccable research. She includes interviews with incarcerated people, studies from across the world, and case examples to show how prisons and other forms of mass incarceration fail to keep us safe while perpetuating systems of oppression.

Book #11 of 2024: “All the Right Pieces” by Nakeia Homer

Also gifted to me by @valerie.valerie20 ❤️ A collection of inspirational thoughts and messages focused on self love, self acceptance, and embracing the entirety of life.

Book #10 of 2024: “Ceremony” by Brianna West

A wedding gift from a friend, this book is a collection of loving, positive, encouraging reflections by the author. Thanks for seeing the best in me always, Valerie ❤️

Book #9 of 2024: “Unseen Companion” by Denise Gosliner Orenstein

This is a YA novel but it‘s not an easy one. Set in a rural Alaska town, the book follows several youth in 1969. It focuses heavily on anti-Indigenous racism, from murder to residential schools to foster homes, particularly against Yup‘ik people. As is too often the case in real life, there was no happy ending here.

Book #8 of 2024: “Palestine +100: Stories from a Century After the Nakba” edited by Basma Ghalayini

Anthology of science fiction stories by Palestinian authors imagining what their world will look like in 2048. Common themes of being trapped by the dream of returning “home” as it‘s passed from generation to generation, further oppression and erasure by Israel, families forced apart by new bordered, and the trauma of losing loved ones to genocide.

Book #7 of 2024: Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler

This review deserves more energy than I‘ve got right now, but it‘s a really good book. It was emotionally harder to read than the first, though that could just be me. The ending was bittersweet and captured the price of the sacrifices Olamina made.

A very good, eerily prophetic duology.

Book #6 of 2024: “The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary” by James Simon Kunen

Eh. It‘s Kunen‘s diary from a couple of years at Columbia. I didn‘t find it relatable but there were a couple good quotes.

Book #5 of the year: “The Earth Moved” by Amy Stewart

Absolutely amazing book about earthworms, mostly in the US but with a few looks around the world. If you‘re interested in worms, composting, or agriculture, definitely a book for you. I loved every page.

Book #4 of 2024: “Black Lives in Alaska” by Ian C. Hartman and David Reamer

I had never considered that the whaling industry and Alaska in general were (relatively) safe havens for people escaping slavery. Thousands of enslaved people found freedom from slave hunters in Russia-occupied land or on the ocean.

An interesting book, worth reading if you‘re a history buff!

So good. So hard. The book starts in 2024 and looks at a world ravaged by climate change, poverty, and corruption. It‘s a tale of survival and adaptation, change and consistency. This is the kind of book that stays with you. It‘s a gentle but persistent haunting.

Book #2 of 2024: “Choke” by Chuck Palahniuk

This is the first book I‘ve read by Palahnuik and boy was it intense. Sex addiction, mental illness, scams, and a look at the prisons we put ourselves in. I liked it and can tell it‘ll be the kind of book I‘ll have to sit with for a while.

Book #1 of 2024: a collection of 3 books of Robert Frost poetry

I enjoyed it but it didn‘t speak to me the way it probably would have if I‘d read it decades ago. My favorite was “The Wood Pile”

Book #30 of 2023: “Wedding Blessings” collected by June Cotner

I mean, I‘m getting married and it was free so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Book #29 of 2023: “The Cloud Roads” by Martha Wells

I really enjoyed this. A fiction about a shapeshifter trying to find his place, there‘s lots of adventure and suspense. I‘m going to find more of her works to read.

Book #28 of the year: “A History of Women in America” by Carol Hymowitz and Michaele Weissman

This is an older one, published in 1977, so it‘s missing a few decades. Having been published in the 70s, by Jewish women, about women, it‘s fantastically researched and studded with primary sources. There are undoubtedly more updated versions but the topic is one worth reading more about.

Book #27 of the year: “Paper Towns” by John Green

Very similar to “Looking for Alaska” with the mysterious, curvy dream girl who loves pranks and disappears, leaving a lovestruck boy to unravel the strings. Green did a better job of humanizing her and challenging the “manic pixie dream girl” stereotype.

Book #26 of the year: “Everfair” by Nisi Shawl

I didn‘t like it 😕 I really wanted to, but it was hard to get into the story, the timeline was weird, and there wasn‘t much character development. I‘d say skip this one.

Book #25 of 2023: “Looking for Alaska” by John Green

I really enjoyed the first half of the book. I‘m trying to decide how I feel about the last half. It‘s a “high school boy meets manic pixie dream girl and is forever changed” story about love, lust, and loss.

Book #24 of the year: “The Druids” by Stuart Piggott

I was looking for a straightforward and fact-based look at the history of the Druids and Celtic culture in general. This was definitely it. Piggott looks carefully at oral tradition, primary sources from Romans, funereal customs, architecture, and early Christian writings to present a realistic picture of how little we actually know. Very dry so only read if you‘re a nerd 😂

Book #23 of 2023: “Soulmates” by Thomas Moore

If philosophy is your thing you might enjoy this one. It‘s longer than it needs to be and a little overrun with metaphors, but the core messages of being true to yourself, finding a balance that works for you, and caring for the emotional/creative parts of yourself are valid.

Book #22 of 2023: “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson

I can‘t remember if I read this in middle school or not but it seemed vaguely familiar. It‘s well written YA fiction.

Book #21 of 2023: “Sitka” by Louis L‘Amour

I‘ve always loved L‘Amour‘s writing and “Sitka” was no exception. Picked this one up in Ketchikan and really enjoyed reading it as we passed through the icy strait ❤️

Book #20 of the year: “The Book of Delights” by Ross Gay

I recommend this book for two main reasons: most importantly, it‘s about Black joy and Black joy matters so much. Second, it inspired me to be even more joyful and look for delight in new and unexpected places.

Book #20 of the year: “The Book of Delights” by Ross Gay

I recommend this book for two main reasons: most importantly, it‘s about Black joy and Black joy matters so much. Second, it inspired me to be even more joyful and look for delight in new and unexpected places.

Book #19 of the year: “Sky Songs North” by Elaine Shea

I picked this up today at Parnassus Books in Ketchikan. It‘s a lovely poetry collection by a woman whose work took her to many remote parts of Alaska only accessible by plane, weather permitting. Although not Indigenous, her writing highlights the beauty and wisdom of native communities. It‘s a fast and sweet read ❤️

Book #19 of the year: “Sky Songs North” by Elaine Shea

I picked this up today at Parnassus Books in Ketchikan. It‘s a lovely poetry collection by a woman whose work took her to many remote parts of Alaska only accessible by plane, weather permitting. Although not Indigenous, her writing highlights the beauty and wisdom of native communities. It‘s a fast and sweet read ❤️

“Migration is the most natural thing people do, the root of how civilizations, nation-states, and countries were established. The difference, however, is that when white people move, then and now, it‘s seen as courageous and necessary, celebrated in history books. Yet when people of color move, legally or illegally, the migration itself is subjected to question of legality. Is it a crime? When will they assimilate? When will they stop?”

Book #17 of 2023: “The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears” by Dinaw Mengetsu

A beautiful, sometimes melancholy, sometimes sad, sometimes hopeful story about a young man forced to flee his home in Ethiopia to build a new life in Washington, DC.

Book #16: “how to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you” by Matthew Inman

Short, quick, and silly.

Book #15 of 2023: “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf

Picked this up at @tridentbooks when we were in Boston this spring. It‘s a complicated book, not necessarily an easy one.

Book #14 of 2023: “An Indigenous Peoples‘ History of the United States” by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Really good, really important. It focuses on the actual origin story of the United States, the historical and ongoing genocide of indigenous people in the US, and how that translates into US militarism and anti-indigenous violence across the world.

“The story of the new world is a horror, the story of America is a crime.”

Book #13 of 2023: “Firestarter” by Stephen King

An oldie from 1980, complete with an afterword about Cold War experiments with psi-ops. It‘s not one of my favorite King books but still engaging and a pretty quick read.

Book #12 of 2023: “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng

Michael picked this one up in Boston and I‘m really glad. It‘s the kind of fiction that nourishes the spirit. Celeste writes about issues of racism, classism, transracial adoption, redlining, mental health, abortion, and more with beautifully evocative writing.

Five stars. Definitely read this.