Favorite Books of 2020 & Going Forward

Hello, and Happy 2021! I hope 2020 treated you as well as it could. This post is long overdue and I've been thinking for some time about the future of this space. 

I hope to eventually get back into some travel writing here and beyond as I continue to love photography, writing, and travel, but the last 12 months has not brought  too much adventure. I hope to still use this space for book reviews too, but I wanted to share some other creative areas I'm more active on that might interest you. On Global Plate, my partner and I attempt a food and cooking blog of sorts. It's been fun to bake, cook, share, and photograph over there. And on Etsy at WordsbyWomen, I sell paintings, bookmarks, and other pieces with inspirational words written or spoken by women on them. Both areas were created within the last three years. 

I also love using Instagram for capturing images and moments. I'm lizzzkendall on Instagram. Lastly, the GoodReads community is amazing! I'm there as Liz Kendall if you would like to connect! I love seeing what others are reading and finding new books to read there. 

This space is so special to me as I started it just after turning 20 years old when I spent a college junior year abroad in Scotland. My thoughts from that year are contained here and while I still see so much of myself in that writing and love this area, writing has been less of a priority in my life during the last several years. I still read as much as I did then though and I love the thought of embarking on a future creative writing journey as time and space allows. 

Summer 2020, Boston & Providence

This past year has been one filled with reflection for many of us and I expect to still be back here for future posts, but don't know what that looks like beyond book reviews right now. 

For 2020 reading, I read more than usual, but many of the books were middle grade and YA historical fiction and fun mysteries. While I loved reading them, they don’t quite feel right to recommend — they were fast-moving and enjoyable books for me, but I don’t know if the books are for everyone. With the amount of change, sadness, and fear during the year, I know the books were a strong comfort to me and brought positive memories too. As 2021 progresses and each day feels more hopeful than the last, I'm turning to them less and less. 

Fall 2020, Boston

Below are other books I read that I would seriously recommend for any year and any person. While I am excited about where we are now as a nation, 2020 was a tough year to witness politically on top of the pandemic. Movements for and conversations around racial justice were overdue and the election was a long and drawn out journey. I split the books below into categories, with some overlap. 

Non-Fiction 

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln: A historical epic! It was lengthy but meticulously researched and fascinating. Highly recommended. The political divisions and disagreements of the 1850s and1860s felt similar to 2020. 

Kept: An American Househusband in India: This book is truly a memoir and I may have put it in the wrong section? Regardless, it is so fun, hilarious, and a great read. My partner is from India and this book made me look forward to visiting the country someday. 

Tightrope: I love Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn and Tightrope about rural Americans left out and left behind of national progress was an excellent non-fiction piece. Profiling how the economy, education, criminal justice system, healthcare, and beyond can work better for all, I enjoyed the recommendations to make a more just and inclusive society. Much of the stories in the book I felt close to home as I’ve seen my hometown and home state experience an opioid crisis and lost opportunity. Admittedly, much of this has been witnessed from afar as along with many others, I left for greater opportunity. I saw Kristof and WuDunn on their book tour in late January 2020 in Boston and it was awesome. I miss those kinds of in-person events greatly as I recall striking up conversations with those sitting nearby and jumping on and off public transportation on a pretty winter night before the pandemic. 

Racial Justice & History

Hood Feminism: Eye-opening and real. An account of being a black woman in America and how and why feminism needs to include all women and center basic needs in American society. The author, Mikki Kendall, offers so much insight here. I look forward to hearing more from her in the future.

The Warmth of Other Suns: Historical, fascinating, and so well researched about the Great Migration of African Americans out of the American south and into major cities in the Twentieth Century. The individual families followed for a generation or more made the book come to life. The book is lengthy and filled with moving passages. One of the most moving ones for me was reading about the extremely long drive from the southeast to California with segregation and discrimination occurring all along the route. I think this book might have been the best book I read last year.

Confederates in the Attic: I finally finished this book after a couple of years of reading. A collection of non-fiction stories about the continuation of Civil War and Antebellum culture, the stories within the book contained equal-parts of unbelief, comedy, and sadness. It was writen in the late 90s but it felt like it could be representing present-day. It was particularly fascinating to read in 2020 as debates about Confederate monuments continued. The author, Tony Horwitz, was an amazing journalist, author, and historian who sadly passed away in 2019.

Such a Fun Age: This book is a page turner. It's modern and thought-provoking and excellently written. It would be great for book groups or discussions. It raised a lot of necessary questions about privilege, race, and how we present ourselves. 

Fiction

Paperquake: A fun read that made me miss the San Francisco Bay Area! A YA novel, but fun and interesting and jumps between time periods. I love Kathryn Reiss’ books.

The Revisioners: Moving, intense, and historical. The Revisioners centers around black women, intergenerational trauma, and is thoughtfully presented and explored. It moves through multiple stories across a few generations. 

The Witch of Blackbird Pond: I had never heard about this book but a podcast I love covered it. I enjoyed learning more about witchcraft accusations in New England in the 1600s, not far from the area I now live. Published in the 1950s (and winning the Newbery Medal in 1959), this book was written at a time of another witch-hunt in the U.S. and it was fascinating to keep that in mind while reading.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse: Sweet message, a story to treasure!

Fiction

One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow: I read this book during some of the darkest days of the pandemic in March and April of 2020. While I loved it and love many books set in the American West in the 1800s, it was a book that was quite sad and lonely at times due to the subject matter and possibly the time I was reading it, but it was very good regardless.

Caleb’s Crossing: Centers around the first Native American graduate of Harvard, an interesting period of history that I knew very little about -- the seventeenth century! I had just begun working at Harvard when I read this book, it was great to learn more.

Delicious!: Sweet with a wonderful setting in the NYC food and restaurant scene. It's a well written, fun novel about history, time, place, food, cooking, healing, and resilience. 

The Poisonwood Bible: Really great. I had been wanting to read this book for a little while and it was as well written, fascinating, and deep as I had heard. The relationships within the family seemed to be the counterpoint of the book for me, but the description of the Congo in the 1960s was just as fascinating to me. The symbolism is heavy throughout and I sort of wish I could discuss and hear more about this book via a book club or podcast. Thankfully, a quick Google search now is pointing me toward the discussion I'm seeking. :) 

Other 

A Girl’s Guide to Joining the Resistance: A Feminist Handbook for Fighting for Good: A great guide/resource about ways to take action, stories of women and girls making a difference, media, books and shows making a difference, and how to work for change.

Maisie Dobbs: A sweet book, I haven’t yet continued with the series, but a fun read. I love a female detective protagonist!

Hunger:  An intense but real and important memoir by Roxane Gay about body image and how we see ourselves and others. 

Silence in the Snowy Fields: A book of poetry by Robert Bly. I really loved reading it as quarantine began. It's deep and thoughtful about winter in all different regions. Nature poetry always sticks with me. One favorite stanza -- 'It is a joy to walk in the bare woods. The moonlight is not broken by the heavy leaves. The leaves are down, and touching the soaked earth, Giving off the odor that partridges love.' 

Favorite Books of 2019

Another year, more books to review! As we get settled in Boston, it's been so fun to look back at the books I read this year, and recall the favorites. Posts like these on blogs, social media, and book sites often help me think about what I plan to read in the coming year and I hope some of these titles excite you! As in past years, the books below are a mixture of fiction and non-fiction.

Where The Crawdads Sing: This book was quite popular this last year, and I'd say it lives up to the hype. I love a great setting and this book really made me feel as if I was in the North Carolina marsh it's set in. With a murder trial and a fair amount of biology and nature too, it was a compelling read!

Playful Mindfulness: It's always fun to read a book by someone you know! This book with its cute cover was written by the instructor of a mindfulness course by the same name I took in 2018. The book offers helpful strategies for achieving calm and avoiding mind frenzy with funny stories and anecdotes thrown in. 

Atonement: I'd been meaning to read Atonement for far too long, and had even started in 2013, but hadn't finished it. It's a powerful British novel on family and choices set before, during, and after World War II. It's full of depth and sadness and stuck with me after reading. 

When They Call You a Terrorist: A powerful memoir by one of the Founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. Compelling, tragic, and so enlightening. Highly recommended. 

The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter: I love a great historical fiction novel with a female lead. This one didn't disappoint. I had never heard of Grace Darling before, but the novel set in England and Rhode Island 100 years apart in the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries is a fast-moving, detailed, and highly enjoyable read.

Bibliophile: This book is a fun illustrated anthology in celebration of books and reading. Great illustrations demonstrate famous bookstores, libraries, and books around the world, and books of every genre are recommended. It felt a bit like being in a book museum. 

Girl Rising: This was a really inspirational and informative coffee table-like book about girls education around the world. It inspired the documentary by the same name and goes into the stories of several girls around the world and the barriers in the way for them to receive an education. Often I donate books after reading them, but I couldn't part with this one. 

Homegoing: This novel weaved from Eighteenth century west Africa to modern day America, stopping at every generation along the way. It was a powerful and moving novel about race, class, the slave trade, and family and human relations. 

Waking Up White: If you're new to thinking about white privilege and present-day racial injustice in the United States, this book is a great place to start and can jumpstart a conversation with yourself and those around you on how we can all fight racism.

They Called Us Enemy: George Takei's graphic novel on his experience in the Japanese-American prison camps as a child during World War II was so sad, yet beautifully presented. This book is particularly timely today as we see the same internment camps used during World War II being used again. The more we can all educate ourselves about injustices of the past, the more we can avoid history repeating itself. 

The Collected Schizophrenias: I came to this book with a basic understanding of mental illness, but the personal essays by the author contained within were so detailed and revealing into how society, one's peers and family, and the medical community view mental illnesses. It was both sad and hopeful.

Sing, Unburied, Sing: Jesmyn Ward is an incredible writer and I always look forward to her books. Sing, Unburied, Sing explores family dynamics, drug abuse, race relations, and memory in rural Mississippi. Ward's detailed writing style brings the reader into every setting. The novel is intense and raw and deserves the immense praise it has received.

The Birth of Venus: Ahead of visiting Italy this summer, I was seeking a novel about the Italian Renaissance. The Birth of Venus was perfect! I loved the art history, character dynamics, setting, and mystery.

Nasty Women: This book of essays was an encouragement in these upsetting times. If you need a boost in knowing you're not alone or imagining the latest injustices and discrimination, read this book, and stay hopeful. Oh, and vote. 

My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward: Another book that dived deeper into mental illness and powerfully portrayed its affects in one relationship and family, along with how to work through it.

Drowning Ruth: I loved the setting of this book in Wisconsin around the time of the first World War. The story jumps between characters and memories and is mysterious, fascinating, and a little bit dark.

The Invention of Wings: One of my favorite books I read in 2019. Based on a true story and set in the decades before the American Civil War in the Antebellum South, the novel is well written, moving, and filled with strong female characters. It's a deep exploration of female friendship, slavery, and early nineteenth century America.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: I had hoped to read this memoir for the last several years and was happy to finally read it. It was moving, sad, and fascinating to learn of the lives of young women in Iran gathering together for a book club. The memoir traces the author's many years in Iran and the United States and while the book club gathered 25 year ago in Tehran, it seems as if it could be present-day.

Murder in the Rue Dumas: Set at a University in France, this murder mystery is told by two Detectives and was a fun read full of memorable characters. The genre was new for me and I enjoyed the setting.

City of Girls: A page turner for most of the book, though a little bit fluffy and sensational. Its setting in New York City in the 1930s and 1940s was fun and visual, a nice summer or beach read. 

Favorite Books of 2018

Happy 2019! As a lover of reading, I look forward to writing this post each year. Finishing a book, thinking about how to describe it in a few words, and putting together these colorful collages of the covers, is a true joy of mine. The books below make up the majority of the books I read this past year and are all ones I would recommend. I hope some of these books interest you!

Where I Was From: Joan Didion is a fantastic essayist with a distinct style. I read a couple of her books while living in New Hampshire, but reading this one about her life in California while living in the state was very fun as many of the places she describes in detail are familiar to me. I wrote a bit about this book previously here. 

The Night Diary: Before picking up this book, I didn't know too much about the Partition of India and ensuing forced migration of tens of millions between Pakistan and India in 1947. The tragic migration was the largest in human history. This book is excellent and tells the story of one family from the point of view of a young teenager. While designed for middle grades, it's a fantastic book about a time of relatively recent history we don't know too much about in the United States. 

The Fire This Time: Jesmyn Ward is an incredible writer and voice on present-day racism and the black experience in America. I never tire of her non-fiction and fiction books. This book of essays from multiple writers brings the voices of the Black Lives Matter movement to the page and is especially timely today.

Factfulness: Excellent! The author makes the case for accurate facts in reporting and perception, particularly related to global health. He brings forth the facts that poverty and disease are being eradicated globally and the health and wealth of the world is often better than we think it is. Fascinating facts, charts, and an encouragement to look at the world and a myriad of issues with slightly more optimism. 

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: One of my very favorite books from this year. A heartfelt and touching story. While reading it, I wished I had learned more about the specific experience of Japanese Americans during World War II even sooner. Living in California and being interested in the topic allowed me to seek out additional sources of information and museums in the Bay area bringing light to the forced incarceration of American citizens during World War II.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: I've long wanted to read this book but the print version was so overwhelmingly long and I started and stopped it a few times over the last several years. It was the audiobook that allowed me to finish it, mostly while moving a couple of hours away and taking several driving trips in the process. It is an overarching and somber account of the political experience of Native Americans in 19th century America. It is sad and important and I hope continues to be read in the future.

The Angel's Lament: Local authors often interest me and when living in Meredith, New Hampshire a few years ago I read the pre-cursor to this book, Etched in Granite which was set in a nearby equally-small town in the 1870s. It was a fantastic historical fiction novel and it was fun to read this sequel taking place in Lowell, Massachusetts. I felt a definite connection to my New England ancestry. 
Wine. All the Time.: As someone who loves food, cooking, and hopes to learn more about wine, this book was truly useful and very funny. I checked it out from the library but have been considering purchasing it as there were so many helpful pieces of knowledge related to how wine is made, how to purchase it, and the very detailed differences between different types. 

Exit West: This book deserves all the praise its received. Telling a modern story of refugees attempting to reach safety and passing through multiple nameless places in search of a better life, it's vagueness makes it all the more powerful. 

Becoming: Just as amazing as I had imagined and hoped. If you like or are inspired by Michelle Obama, you'll enjoy it!

A Piece of the World: Just lovely. Set on the coast of Maine and told by Christina, the figure in Andrew Wyeth's painting Christina's World, the book is a fantastic dive into early twentieth century life in rural/coastal Maine and explores themes of family and disability. 

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry: I hoped this book would boost my science knowledge/awareness as I struggle to remember much about scientific news. The main piece of knowledge I took away/recall is that galaxies are carnivorous.

Spirits of the Earth: A Guide to Native American Nature Symbols, Stories, and Ceremonies: This book was a really wonderful immediate follow-up to Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. This was a celebration of Native American culture and I sought it out wanting to learn more about our connection to nature as humans. The stories, beliefs, and recommendations about connecting with nature in this book are really wonderful and a great reminder to live and communicate with nature as often as possible. 

The Nightingale: A hard-to-put down novel taking place in France during World War II. Both sad and inspiring. 

South and West: Another great book by Joan Didion. South and West came out in 2017 but is made up of her travel diaries from the 1970's chronicling California and the Deep South. The book reads very much like a travel diary and has a bit of stream of consciousness to it. 

The Secret Lives of Color: A really fun art history/color history book. Very cool to learn about how hundreds of shades of colors came about.

Born a Crime: Extremely funny, enlightening, and fun. I listened to the audiobook and the many short stories about Trevor Noah's childhood in South Africa are touching, powerful, and excellently told. 

Angela's Ashes: I had been wanting to read this popular book for awhile. It was just as sad as the reviews shared, but still provided an interesting light into Ireland before the second World War.

The Sun and Her Flowers: Rupi Kaur's poems are meditative and explore beautiful themes. She's a talented poet.

The Storyteller's Secret: A page-turning novel about India exploring past and present with themes of family, love, and opportunity.

Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness: I wrote a bit about this book here. If you like trees and nature, it's simply fantastic.

Dollbaby: I've long loved novels about the Civil Rights-era South, and Dollbaby doesn't disappoint. Set in New Orleans in 1964, the characters, setting and story come alive.

A Carnival of Losses: Notes Nearing Ninety: I wrote about Donald Hall here when he passed away last summer. I had never read any of his books and this series of essays was a fun read and also very connected to my native New Hampshire. His stories of family, growing old, rural life, community engagement, and grief were captivating. 

Educated: Just as powerful, intense, and unbelievable as many of the reviews made it out to be. A powerful memoir. 

Image credits go to Amazon for these fantastic book cover images!

Favorite Books of 2017

Happy 2018!

I hope your year is off to a great start. I've been more excited about this new year than recent ones. Something about a fresh start and goals and ideas and some more free time this month has been great to look forward to. I've loved having a reading goal the last several years and I didn't meet it (or closely follow it!) in 2017. I started several books that I hope to finish this year, but I also felt myself consuming plenty of news and not diving into books. My to-read list continued to grow though and I hope to read more this year. Below, I included the books I enjoyed most in 2017. Some were read, some were listened to. I've written brief descriptions but would recommend all of them. I hope you find one (or more!) you enjoy too.

Days Without End: I first heard of this book when I glanced at the Man Booker prize longlist in the late summer (studying English literature briefly in the U.K. tends to help with my to-read list as former English-students and I keep in touch on what we're reading and prizes like these tend to add some books to our lists) I'd loved Sebastian Barry's A Long Long Way and On Canaan's Side. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as those, but it was still a beautifully written novel taking place during the Indian American wars and Civil War. 

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A powerful and sad book. Learning about Rob and how he escaped poverty to attend Yale, the positive changes he made in his community after graduation, and his shift to drug dealing before he was murdered is tragic and outlined how hard the road out of poverty is, and how societal factors can stand in the way of pursuing the American dream.

The GrownUp: A funny, brief, fast-paced ghost story. Fun for a rainy afternoon.

The Sound of Gravel: There are an endless amount of well-written coming-out-of-poverty stories illustrating resilience. In 2016, Hillbilly Elegy fell into this category for me. The Sound of Gravel was equally powerful in working oneself out of poverty and outlines the strength of the author leaving a polygamous sect. 

Dakota: A really beautiful book about South Dakota. I started it sometime in mid-2016 when I realized my Mom and I would be traveling through the state for a couple of days while driving to California. Despite dropping it in a river in Vermont before departing (and it growing slowly moldy) I somehow held onto it and finished it over a year later. It's a beautiful collection of thoughts and reflections on the state's history and people. If you like poetry or feel a strong connection to place (even places you've never visited!), I'd recommend it.

We Were Eight Years in Power: If the election of Trump or the history of racism in the United States even remotely interests you, this book is a great and deep book to digest. Fun tip: the title does not solely refer to Barack Obama's presidency but refers originally to Reconstruction. 

I Am Malala: I mistakenly figured I wouldn't learn more about Malala from this book after loving the film He Named Me Malala, but I was wrong! It was just as great as the film but longer.

American Boy: Larry Watson is great! I loved Montana 1948 and thought this novel taking place in Minnesota in the 1950's was just as great. It reminded me of some kind of symbolic novel that would be assigned (and I would love) in high school English class. He has such a simple and direct way of writing and storytelling. While I loved it, I think I'd recommend his books to men more than women. 

First They Killed My Father: So powerful. Luong Ung's name had come up a few times in my undergraduate career as she is an alumna of the school I attended. I knew of the Vietnam War, but nothing of Cambodia or the Khmer Rouge. Very sad, but a book that shines light on a very recent genocide and Luong's path to survival and being welcomed in the United States as a refugee.  

The Last Campaign: I think I'll always enjoy learning about Robert F. Kennedy and the 1960's in the United States. This book breaks down RFK's presidential campaign and what it meant at the time. A journalistic and detailed look at an interesting period of American history.

Circling the Sun: While novels taking place in the United States or western world tend to be extremely popular, I love learning about a different culture of part of the world via novels. While the main character is British and parts of the novel take place in Great Britain, the story centers on Kenya in the 1920's. A wonderful story of real life Beryl Markham as she pursues life as an independent woman. 

Disgraced: A powerful play focusing on stereotypes, Islam, and identity in America. 

The Midwife of Hope River: A sweet novel taking place in central Appalachia during the Great Depression. Focuses on the different clients a local midwife serves. Great characters.

When Breath Becomes Air: It deserves the hype! Very powerful as it explores what makes life worth living in the face of an imminent end. 

The Pecan Man: I love southern fiction, particularly books that explore themes of race. This book is a bit like To Kill a Mockingbird. A quick and meaningful read.

Just Mercy: The best book I read all year. So incredibly thought-provoking and well-written about the history of an unequal American justice system rooted in racial bias and one man's work fighting death penalty cases in southern states in the 1990s. Cannot recommend enough. 

The Sun is Also a Star: A fast-paced and addictive novel detailing a love story occurring in one day in Manhattan. 

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam: I took about four years to (very slowly) read this book as it's comprised of hundreds of letters American soldiers wrote home while stationed in Vietnam. Very powerful, sad, and timeless. 

Notorious RBG: A really lovely biography on Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Enjoyably humorous in parts, but mostly a wonderful look at a trailblazing Supreme court justice. 

About Alice: A sweet essay to the author's late wife, Alice. Full of beautiful and uplifting words about Alice as a woman, mother, and change-maker. 

The Ability to Work for Change

I think often of being in this new place, of the happiness in small moments, in smiles and jokes and the presence of those among us. As the employees of the school I work at sat in the school chapel yesterday for an end of year celebration marking retirements and employment milestones, I looked around and knew the names of the 75 people sitting all around. I thought of knowing and meeting and being aware of each of these people and just how quickly time moves, just how quickly we become acquainted and adjusted and a part of our surroundings.

I began learning Spanish a few weeks ago. It was a friend who recommended the free app which teaches and tests your language skills. We made plans to get together and continue learning through conversation with one another. The truth is we both hear it almost daily here and know it's spoken by so many who work in jobs we seldom see. It's similar enough to English, and while challenging, I'm looking forward to improving!

A couple of weeks ago, a friend and I met up in San Luis Obispo. She was coming north from Los Angeles and I was heading south from Monterey. We walked through the town, caught up, told stories and laughed, and toured the San Luis Obispo Mission after a tasty taco brunch. The Mission system here is quite beautiful, with 21 Catholic Missions established by the Spanish in the 1790s along the coast of what was then Mexico. They stretch from San Diego to San Francisco. I have no photos of the San Luis Obispo mission, but on my drive north through the hot desert, I drove past the tiny town of San Miguel and loved the bell tower ruins I spotted. I pulled over and found another mission I didn't know existed. It was evening and 92 degrees. A train passed by as I began to walk around. A monk was watering the roses and a group of women recited the rosary in Spanish in the chapel. The light and color of the sky was beautiful. 

While in SLO, I purchased a small book, The World as 100 People. It's very visual with graphs and drawings and the facts listed below continue to stay with me.

If the 7 billion people in the world are represented through 100 people,

61 are from Asia and the Middle East, 4 are from the United States.
5 people speak English. 63 speak more than 6,000 other languages other than the 9 most spoken.
1 person owns 48% of the world's wealth.
50 people do not trust their government.
48 people do not have freedom of speech.
20 people live in fear.
48 people live on less than $2.50 USD a day.
40 people cook using solid fuels in open fires.
17 people are unable to read and write.
7 people have a university degree.
11 people own a car.
15 people are undernourished. 1 person is starving.

It is so easy to forget those who live among us, down the street or across the world. I think of the ability we all have to lobby for free press, speech, and governments and how we can all work to stop war and discrimination. The continuing vast inequality in access to food saddens me until I remember how unequal food and wealth distribution can be born of the inequalities we can work to change -- fairness, care, and governments that work for their citizens.

Books of 2016

We may be many weeks into the new year, but I love looking back on what I read the year before and as these lists from friends tend to help me in choosing what to read next, I though I'd share some of my favorite books from last year!
I didn't include every book I read and I may have read more than one book by Jimmy Carter (they're quick reads!), but included just one here. 13 of these 24 were listened to as audiobooks (plenty of driving last year!). I finally learned too, that non-fiction audiobooks tend to work well, fiction audiobooks, not as much. 

Bossypants: Funny and thoughtful. Interesting to learn more about Fey's journey and professional and personal outlook.
God Help the Child: Deep and beautiful. I had only ever read The Bluest Eye by Morrison in high school. This felt like a mixture of novel and poetry on modern-day race relations in the U.S.
The Lovers: Afghanistan's Romeo and Juliet: Moving and fascinating. Examining an Afghan couple from different backgrounds who fall in love and spend years running away from their families and government. Tragic to understand the society and laws that remain so discriminatory towards women.
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A tiny bit sleepy, but I found it pretty fascinating and would recommend. I'm happy to live in modern times.
How to Raise an Adult: A book read for work, but I really loved it! Explored how today's children and teenagers are over-parented, reaching the age of 18 with an inability to live their own life, make decisions and know what they desire, not what society and their parents desire.
A Man Called Ove: Funny and touching. A great novel with many important points.

Big Magic: Inspirational! About the creativity in each of us, how we must take time to explore it, not dismiss it, and how much good comes to our lives when we embrace our artistic interests.
Devil in the White City: A long-time bestseller I just picked up. Fascinating, historical, eerie, well-written.
Men We Reaped: I had wanted to read this book for a couple of years, I was particularly interested in Ward's childhood in rural Mississippi and her account of losing 5 young men close to her including her brother and cousin within a short period of time to accidents, drugs, and suicide. All were under the age of 25. Having lost a friend to suicide four years ago, I found so many parallels in Ward's story and was particularly touched by how she described her community failing its young men through poverty and few opportunities. 
Hillbilly Elegy: Another one with so much to say about. I loved it and have really enjoyed the conversations I've been able to have with my Mom after she read it recently. I've read the articles arguing that it does not provide a fair look, but if nothing else, it shows an American experience we rarely see.
Brown Girl Dreaming: Poetic and lyrical. For adolescents, explores several different layers and perspectives of the 20th century civil rights movement. 
My Life on the Road: Excellent. I loved learning more about Steinem's experience as a feminist leader, community organizer, and constant traveler. I felt such a connection to her in also loving travel and struggling to be in the same place for long. She's lived a remarkable life.

Night on Fire: Similar to Brown Girl Dreaming. For adolescents, lovely and thought-provoking.
Missoula: Very hard to listen to in many parts, but a necessary and very well researched book on how rape on college campuses can far too easily be swept under the rug. The backdrop is Montana's vast wilderness.
Life After Life: Quite mesmerizing. I listened to the audiobook of it and would have loved to have picked up on more details. It was excellent historical fiction as the main character is born again and again and again in 20th century England, living a different life intertwined with world history each time.
Alligator Lake: Possibly my favorite novel from last year. Very southern, exploring modern-day race relations and family relationships. A great story and I hope Lynne Bryant writes more books. 
The Book Thief: I had started it a few years ago and didn't finish it. There were moments it didn't completely hold my interest, but I can understand why it's viewed as such an extraordinary book. The ending and very last pages will stay with me for a long time.
The Glass Castle: Similar to Hillbilly Elegy but a little bit funnier and from a female perspective. A touching story of overcoming poverty.

Between the World and Me: I don't think I can write anything that would convey how excellent and necessary this book is. It deserves a re-read from me, is incredibly tender and thought-provoking on the ongoing racial division and what it means to be a black man in the U.S. today. 
Because We Are: A great story, set in modern-day Haiti, part mystery with complex and life-like characters.
A Full Life: Interesting and sweet. Carter tells his life story. I particularly loved his childhood in rural Georgia in the 1920s and 30s without technology or modern inventions and how he dissected many of his decisions as president.
Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter: Not as sensational as the title suggests. A thorough and tragic look at how intellectual disabilities were viewed in the mid-twentieth century. 
Etched in Granite: A very local book! It came on my radar when I visited my small town library's website early last year and saw that the author was coming for a visit. I began the book, attended her discussion, and finished it a week or two later. Local and historic, it's set on a "poor farm" in the nineteenth century in the White Mountains, less than an hour away from where I lived. The book was inspired by a small cemetery in the area with tombstones marked only by numbers representing residents of the workhouse. It was well written, haunting and recognizable, as forest cemeteries and country roads and farms all felt familiar. There were so many recognizable towns and scenes and just typing this now makes me long for those empty, winding dark roads in the middle of a New Hampshire winter with so much sky and hills and dense forests. I look forward to reading her second book.
At the Edge of the Orchard: I love Tracy Chevalier's books and while this didn't quite compare to Girl with a Pearl Earring or The Last Runaway, it was excellently written and the historical fiction I was looking for. 

Weekend Exploration in Central & Northern California Part II

So many quotes that I can vaguely recall have been coming to me recently. In this time where many are seeking answers, I've found comfort in researching history, political action, social justice movements and great pieces of writing. I particularly love the quote below by Robert F. Kennedy speaking to young South Africans in 1966. It's a speech I quote often, the entirety of it touches upon so many topics I feel strongly about and believe are still relevant. I like to think too, that 50 years ago, men referred to all of humanity. 

      

"Hand in hand with freedom of speech goes the power to be heard, to share in the decisions of government which shape men's lives. Everything that makes man's life worthwhile-family, work, education, a place to rear one's children and a place to rest one's head -all this depends on decisions of government; all can be swept away by a government which does not heed the demands of its people. Therefore, the essential humanity of men can be protected and preserved only where government must answer-not just to the wealthy, not just to those of a particular religion, or a particular race, but to all its people." 

Back to California. My friend Allison and I had four fantastic days here recently when she visited and the first two, we touristed hard. The second two had a slower, more relaxed feel. 

In Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach, we noticed the waves were enormous! The largest either of us had ever seen.

In Santa Cruz, we saw (and smelled) this large gathering of sea lions. They were loud in their barking and restless in their movement to find a comfortable spot. They seemed to seek sun and rest.

To be among redwoods, we visited Henry Cowell state park and as it was a bit damp there, we were thrilled to see banana slugs. I'd heard so many describe them as "not really that yellow," but I suspect they were referring to a different species of yellow slug or ones that don't exist in California as the ones we saw roaming the forest were as bright and purely yellow as the UC Santa Cruz mascot! I was fascinated by how they slid along and used their tentacles. I restrained myself from bringing a family of banana slugs home.

The redwoods are wide, but mostly just tall. It's tricky to see the tops of the trees but being among a small forest of them feels so peaceful and quiet.

On our way to San Jose for Allison's flight, we stopped by Los Gatos, a town with a lovely and walkable downtown and a name that translates from Spanish as The Cats.

An art gallery and succulents. Two very welcome sights!

Weekend Exploration in Central & Northern California Part I

Many days later, with time to process and understand, there's more peace. A weekend behind us to reflect, rest and energize to continue speaking up for what's right. Perhaps if we all worked together for our best neighborhood or community through listening to one another's concerns, ideas, fears and hopes, all of our actions could roll together into an extraordinary place to live and be free. We already are free, we already have access to some of the most basic and best human rights in the world, we already are so privileged to live in a democracy, let's make it even better. We could show each other that we care about others, that we accept and listen to one another in our own nation and around the world, that we're willing to work together no matter our differences. Before beginning the post below about a recent weekend, a quote I've long loved and have had on my mind this week:

"One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple by the relief office I saw my people. As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if this land was made for you and me." 

-- Woody Guthrie

Two weekends ago, one of my best friends, Allison, who I met while we were both studying in Scotland four years ago, visited me in California. She flew down from Portland, Oregon and we had a marvelous four days of exploration and fun. In visuals and substance, it was beautiful. There were a few too many words and images to include it all in just one post, I'll split the adventure into two posts.

We began at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a favorite of many visitors. With my membership and the ability to grab a guest pass through my work, I'm always eager to experience it again with friends! These jellyfish, appropriately called "egg yolk jellyfish" were incredibly tangled.

This Indian Ocean octopus was also on a definite exercise break when we stopped by. It was extraordinary to see all of his or her tentacles moving at different speeds and how it seemed to float through the water. The photobomb by a shrimp in this image makes me laugh.

Big Sur is a destination I could travel to everyday. The full experience of the gorgeous views and landscape includes driving only an hour and a half or so round trip along the coast and it typically feels like ten minutes.

Even the smallest amount of rain and sea mist made the region look a bit more like Ireland than drought-stricken California!

The next day, we explored San Francisco. I've only been to the city two or three times and it was great to accomplish a few more tourist-y things in that fun city. We began at the Flower Conservatory, a beautiful building dating to the 1890s that survived the devastating 1906 earthquake. It looks like an enormous Victorian greenhouse, a blend of glass panes and wood painted white. There were so many orchids and tropical plants and a giant lily pond, but unfortunately the lighting on the images I captured just weren't great. Here's one close-up of an orchid in the conservatory that isn't too dark.

Afterwards, we explored the Ferry building near the piers and the long Bay Bridge which stretches to the East Bay where Oakland and Berkeley lie (along with the rest of the state and country if you continue traveling east). The outdoor Saturday farmers market was extremely busy and the specialty food and home goods shops indoors were just as bustling. It was wonderful to see the mixture of every type of cuisine possible, local food and farms represented and tourists and locals shopping. Lines for every type of food were long, but in splitting up and weighing the differences in line length, we both found something tasty. I loved the steamed pork bun and Italian nutella doughnut I tried.

Free museums are always welcome. If engineering or transportation interests you, I'd recommend the free cable car museum! 

I can't say On the Road grabbed me like other literature has, and I can't say I know a ton about the Beatniks, but I do love Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poetry. I knew so little about him that I was quite surprised when I learned he was a beatnik a little while ago. Around that same time, I was thrilled to  learn that at 97, he still owns San Francisco's City Lights Bookstore, an independent book store that has an excellent selection of poetry, novels, and everything you'd find in a book store. It was so exciting to be there and I particularly liked this door in the basement. 

My favorite Ferlinghetti poem is below. This trip to be continued in the next post!

Wild Dreams of a New Beginning

There's a breathless hush on the freeway tonight

Beyond the ledges of concrete

restaurants fall into dreams

with candlelight couples

Lost Alexandria still burns

in a billion lightbulbs

Lives cross lives

idling at stoplights

Beyond the cloverleaf turnoffs

'Souls eat souls in the general emptiness'

A piano concerto comes out a kitchen window

A yogi speaks at Ojai

'It's all taking pace in one mind'

On the lawn among the trees

lovers are listening

for the master to tell them they are one

with the universe

Eyes smell flowers and become them

There's a deathless hush

on the freeway tonight

as a Pacific tidal wave a mile high

sweeps in

Los Angeles breathes its last gas

and sinks into the sea like the Titanic all lights lit

Nine minutes later Willa Cather's Nebraska

sinks with it

The sea comes over in Utah

Mormon tabernacles washed away like barnacles

Coyotes are confounded & swim nowhere

An orchestra onstage in Omaha

keeps on playing Handel's Water Music

Horns fill with water

ans bass players float away on their instruments

clutching them like lovers horizontal

Chicago's Loop becomes a rollercoaster

Skyscrapers filled like water glasses

Great Lakes mixed with Buddhist brine

Great Books watered down in Evanston

Milwaukee beer topped with sea foam

Beau Fleuve of Buffalo suddenly become salt

Manhatten Island swept clean in sixteen seconds

buried masts of Amsterdam arise

as the great wave sweeps on Eastward

to wash away over-age Camembert Europe

manhatta steaming in sea-vines

the washed land awakes again to wilderness

the only sound a vast thrumming of crickets

a cry of seabirds high over

in empty eternity

as the Hudson retakes its thickets

and Indians reclaim their canoes