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
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