Fave Reads of 2021 (#Bestof2021)

Hot dang! I’m actually getting this list out top of the year! [high five]

So, same as in 2020, I had a hard time reading steadily and regularly in 2021. That’s because (a) pandemic, (b) new job as an acquisitions editor, (c) working from home still, (d) finishing my own book, and (e) I left my role as contributing editor at Electric Lit (see b as the reason) and so I wasn’t reading as many galleys for new reads as per usual. Was I reading? Absolutely! But was I reading for funsies? Not as much. No daily commute means once again irregular reading time. I gotta say, as much as I dislike the MTA (I stand by those words) I got a good 2 hours or more of reading in Monday through Friday when I worked as a production editor in uptown Manhattan. That commute shortened with my new job in early 2020 and then all together went away once working from home became a, lucky, reality for many of us. It is a bit harder for me to read at home though I tried to rectify this in part with a new velvet reading chair! Here’s a link to it. (Thanks to Ebony Elizabeth Thomas for the inspiration!). And end of year I did actively take the week + off to just read and veg and write all for fun! Imagine that?!

As I say, to myself, every year I have no idea what 2022 will bring! If all bodes well my own book will be coming out in fall as will one of my first acquisitions as a new editor. So I expect busy times and maybe even less time for pleasure reading, but when I do get to read for pleasure it is indeed gratifying. Of the books I did get to read, I’d like to share some of my faves with you. Without further ado…

Circe by Madeline Miller (2018): Friends had been raving about this book all year. When folx hype stuff up I get a bit nervous because you’re going in with a lot of anticipation rather than as a blank slate. But, Circe did not disappoint! In fact I started it during Thanksgiving break thinking I would get in a chapter every few days. But I was unable to put it down, spending full evenings reading through. The prose is impeccable, the details luscious, the story fantastic. This is the book you should use as a teaching model for details and also character growth. It is SO good. Y’all read it. Just read it and re-read it now, for your own good. I now have Song of Achilles and cannot wait to savor that.

I’m Not Hungry But I Could Eat: Stories by Chris Gonzalez (2021): Gotta love friends debut years! This taut flash fiction collection from Gonzalez provides just the taste (pun intended) of stories to savor about so many facets of being. My favorite was “Here’s the Situation.” The stylings of this are absolutely something to learn from. Definitely get this collection and absorb these stories in one gulp or bit by bit—hey more food puns!

Born on the Water: The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson, & Nikkolas Smith (2021): The collaborative development of this picture book is gorgeous from the poetics and love within the text to the vibrant illustrations. The trio of Hannah-Jones, Watson, and Smith make sure to convey light and darkness in real ways both textually and visually. I hope ALL kids/families get this book on their shelves and read it over and over and over again.

Catrachos: Poems by Roy G. Guzmán (2020): The experimental stylings in format and style really do bring together so many elements and voices and perspectives throughout. These are poems to be savored and each piece builds so well into a satisfying whole of a collection.

Bastards of the Reagan Era: Poems by Reginald Dwayne Betts (2015): Y’all need to read this collection! I also requested folx in a criminal justice reading group read some of these poems because Betts really brings you into the heart and mind of a system and the people within it. From varying POVs the truth is never lost and what more can you ask for in great art but an inherent truth?

The Creature of Habit by Jennifer E. Smith & Leo Espinosa (2021): This was one of the last books I got to work on when I was part of the Random House Studio team and it’s adorable! Leo Espinosa’s artwork always makes me smile. It’s so bright and the fuzzy wuzzy Creature of Habit is adorable! Plus it has the sweetest lesson when he makes a new friend.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (2021) : The latest from McQuiston is so good! It’s funny, heartwarming, sensual, and all that good stuff! And McQuiston did their diligence when it came to NYC subway research, appreciate that. The building romance between Jane and August, plus the family dynamics of August’s roommates leaves you rooting for everyone.

Mean by Myriam Gurba (2017): One of my first reads of 2021, Gurba’s hybrid work of nonfiction captures her voice, her experiences, and the exhilaration as well as the (unwanted) expectations/affections when growing up femme. I love Gurba’s writing in general and Mean blew me away showing what’s possible. Let us all embrace short texts that pack a punch.

Books I also read and eagerly enjoyed in 2021 include Hoodwitch: Poems by Faylita Hicks (2019), Pedro’s Theory by Marcos Gonsalez (2021), Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu (2020), What Will My Story Be? by Nidhi Chanani (2021), and Mutiny: Poems by Phillip B. Williams (2021), Those Kids From Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly (2022).

Happy Reading!

Does (White) Privilege Need to Be Presented on The Page When it Comes to Contemporary Literature?

A friend handed me the new memoir The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy saying she thought I might like it. I had highly suggested Melissa Febos’ new memoirs Abandon Me thinking the same. I’d heard vague things about Levy’s book, more so due to the author’s status in the literature arena (she works at The New Yorker and before that New York magazine). Since she’s a writer for The New Yorker I figured I may dig it. I looked through the first chapter or so and then skimmed forward to get to the nitty gritty. Beyond my editorial comment of length, focus, and this being more material for a couple long-form essays than a full memoir, what turned me off immediately was the level of privilege present throughout.

The New Republic review by Charlotte Shane entitled “Ariel Levy’s Infuriating Memoir of Privilege and Entitlement” pretty much capped off my feelings very well, for the most part.

She doesn’t speak from inside one-size-fits-all feminine ambition but rather garden-variety white entitlement.

Yes, the white privilege irked me, a lot, but so did the cis-gender privilege from a woman who identifies as queer. She misgendered an ex who had transitioned to male. She made assumptions about their life and twisted whatever their mental state was with their gender, which may or may not be true in certain instances but I don’t necessarily need this narrator to take on those labels. I think Charlotte does a good job of noting that the white and socioeconomic privilege is a problem to read in that, it distances many of the readers. In seeing this book in print as is perhaps no one thought to mention this issue to Levy in the production phase, nor did they see it, neither did they care.

In a White, straight, cis, abled dominated industry, that is albeit “liberal” in many ways, publishing, as we know it, still has a long way to go in terms of true uniformity of recognizing privilege as well as being inclusive. These seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum depending on whom you speak to. Going back to books and films that I enjoyed, even music, when revisiting the work there are things I notice, aspects of character, points of plot, issues in dialogue and voice that stand out to me because I know more now and I aim to look for issues (i.e., problematic content) because I’m being paid to. Not only is this my life as an editor but as a writer and it is colored by my being a woman of color. My observations are heightened to moments of conflict such as a man in my work place continually telling me to smile during a business meeting, or noticing how PoC co-workers may be terse in response to fellow PoCs but completely saccharine to white counterparts. It’s a point where we refuse to pronounce people by their right name let alone preferred gender pronoun (PGP) because it’s “so confusing” or too “inconvenient.” To notice these things is to take us a step further towards equality, to ignore or dismiss or remain ignorant keeps us in stasis if not reverting us back to what those before us saw not only behind-the-scenes but in their face because it was perfectly legal.

With that in mind, is it fair for us to take this new lens and look at the past in literature as well as the present and future of it expecting the authors and thereby narrators expound on the issues presented but also being aware of privilege? Hell yes. I read Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff soon after it was nominated for a National Book Award. I went in prepared to be let down by the fact that this was going to be a harangue of sorts in novel form about affluent, white, beautiful people with issues attributed specifically to them and not much else. Groff surprised me. For one, she admitted and showed the privilege of the white male character Lotto and also the struggles of his wife Mathilde who remade her life after not having much to begin with, especially in the way of love. They weren’t perfect in terms of looks or personalities but they had that je ne sais quo that garnered them a fan club and they could play a really good game. Within the first chapter Groff prefaced that this couple, in particularly Lotto, were white and privileged, and she didn’t hesitate to immerse readers in their life with strong writing but also by reminding me as reader that to be invested in this particular couple she had to run the gamut and also have people review their biases. Whether or not that meant things ended well you’d have to read. And while it isn’t a white privilege manifesto she did the favor, if not the necessity, of pointing out something that others were reading thereby bringing me further into this world instead of pushing me away from it. It ended up being one of my favorite reads of 2016.

One of the bigger struggles I’ve had with a linked story anthology I’ve been writing for longer than I care to say — definitely more than 5, 6, 7 years at this point — is one of the main characters: a white, well-off financially, good-looking, and intelligent man who is a doctor from a family of doctors. He is my polar opposite in any way that could be checked off on a Census survey. He is also someone people don’t seem to like. Not because he isn’t pleasant but because they cannot relate, or choose not to for reasons I respect, because he is everything that we are not. He has it all, so why, on a fundamental level, would his Black, working class wife (whom others better enjoy reading about, in that we see her struggles) be in love with him? I realized that to at least have some empathy for the most privileged of characters I needed him to reconcile with his privilege, not wholly because that’d be too easy and convenient, but in a way that lead others to see some sort of change with him. Also, I made him too perfect on the exterior that even if he did have somewhat of a broken interior it wasn’t enough of a balance in the fiction world. To make this guy who has a Black wife not necessarily teach him but show him and encourage him to notice that he has to grow up himself which, I’d hope, may not necessarily make him more likeable but readers would give him the benefit of the doubt with sticking with him for the bulk if not the entire story. Let’s be clear, this character is not the “bad guy,” but he’s representative of a larger issue many call out, and have always called out, and we need to face it, be it in media or in life.

I recall reading Eat, Pray, Love soon after it released due to hype. At the time, this was almost a decade ago, I could not quite articulate why I had issues with it. One of the biggest things that hit me was that the narrator, Elizabeth Gilbert, got paid to take her journey for enlightenment to get over her divorce and a relationship with a younger man. I just couldn’t connect as a young Black woman in a bad marriage working her butt off to make more money and move up the ladder in publishing. It definitely wasn’t the book for me at the time, but would it ever be? This is not a knock against Gilbert, it’s a knock against the industry that continues to celebrate these unremarkable (Shane’s words for Levy’s books) stories that are solidly written but seem so out-of-reach and out-of-touch for a good portion of people who will never have these opportunities. If this is what gets pushed through why do we not see more stories from other marginalized groups that are also “unremarkable” in their plot points and skillful in voice? It’s what also infuriates me about those white, straight, abled, and often male travelers who get to be the face of international exploration. They gain momentum on Instagram and Twitter, are interviewed on CBS This Morning for the fact that they decided to go see the world and how “the other half lives.” They receive praise, corporate ad deals, and currency for this when many of us will never have this opportunity to just go. Add to that many won’t feel safe enough to sojourn to various nations without being worried about our physical well-being as women, as transgender, as people of color/Natives, as Muslims, and so on. In fact it heralds back to the colonization of the United States that to travel and act as if you’re discovering something is valued whereas those who had been speaking on this do not have this access.

In Roxane Gay’s brief review of Levy’s book on Goodreads she gave it a favorable rating while also noting the issue of privilege and how it’s ignored. She said it wasn’t necessarily a requirement of the text itself, but how can it be so ignored when it’s so evident (I’m summarizing here). How can Levy’s cisgendered, socioeconomic (though that does waver in the book based on circumstances), and white privilege not manifest in a memoir of all genres in any way?

I’m sure Levy’s book is going to do well because of her status in the literary world and her privilege of her position — how she got the job even touches upon the nepotism and networking not available to others in the publishing industry. What concerns me is how often the issues for transgender representation aren’t mentioned (not even in Shane’s review) for this particular book and also that those who blurbed it, all white people, one white male, praise it for it’s depth and ability to change when the author doesn’t truly seem to be impacted by the latter is worrisome.

On Twitter, an editor for an imprint at a Big 5 publisher noted that when she receives material about/by white people their race is never mentioned, but when it’s a PoC it’s always mentioned (I retweeted this from my podcast account). This says more about the state of persisting the “majority norm” than the state of progress. Because we’re continuing to be averse to the critical reading, not solely criticism for the sake of it and certainly not criticism of people, to look at what is on record for those of future accord. What will we discuss when we look back at these memoirs of white privilege, of cis privilege and think on when we — the industry most prominently — desire to know more of marginalized pain and not much else? Where we have to constantly reflect on our state as marginalized whereas our white/cis/abled/Christian counterparts don’t have to? It’s not unfair for both sides to be reflective and it can only benefit all of us to bring us closer to the page.

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Book Expo 2013: How's the Publishing Industry Faring Since?

Well now that almost two months have passed since BEA, Penguin Random House has officially merged, there've been layoffs at academic publishers such as Wiley and Pearson, and who knows what more may come especially with the DoJ agreement keeping Amazon from owning a good portion of the industry in terms of rights. But, as always around Book Expo of America (BEA) time the outlook for the publishing industry and state of books is optimistic and favorable. But you wonder is this because of the BEA crowd being booksellers, librarians, bloggers, publishing professionals, authors, agents, and the like or because now that there's a day for Super Readers as well extends to people who just have a love for books?

This year BEA was very giving. And while there were rumors of some houses having significantly smaller booths than last year I didn't see much that was different from the past two years before at Jacob Javits Center. Random House had a good sized booth away from the cluster of the big six which helped them move and start lines in the autographing area. And many signings had huge turnouts and waits, particularly those for Rainbow Rowell's latest, Fangirl. The acclaim for Eleanor & Park (St. Martin's Griffin) sent fans standing in line for up to an hour just to get a chance to take a picture of the author whose lovely smile and comical and searing prose was worth the wait.

Rick Yancy's The 5th Wave (Penguin Teen) and Sarah Maas' latest in the Thrown of Glass series (Bloomsbury YA) drew huge crowds and waits before hand as well. And that's just a bit of proof of how much young adult titles continue to grow favor and lines at Book Expo with YA authors being a good portion of those doing signings.

Scholastic Editorial Director and author David Levithan signed two of his new/upcoming titles, one of which is the gorgeously elegiac Two Boys Kissing (Knopf for Young Readers). Veronica Roth signed posters for Allegiant (Book 3 in the Divergent trilogy, Katherine Tegen Books). Marie Lu signed samplers for Champion, the last book in the Legend series and she'll be gearing up for her new series with Penguin due out fall 2014.

Algonquin had a YA takeover at their booth one of the days of BEA in celebration of their new Young Readers imprint that will have debuts this fall. Two of their titles were on the YA Buzz Panel. Hitting the 30 year anniversary it seemed apt that a new imprint could bring a new face to Algonquin. And one of the big draws and titles talked about on the Buzz Panel were If You Could Be Mine about two girls in a relationship in Lebanon and the MG book The Time Fetch. And even Tuttle Publishing which is known for it's books bringing Asian education and flair to the marketplace has YA books they were promoting alongside many of their popular cookbooks. And with Paleo becoming a bigger contingent in the cookbook scene Tuttle Publishing has that covered.

There was also the literary contingent with Andre Dubus III signing a new book out with Norton. Elizabeth Gilbert signing her new fiction title with Penguin. Giveaways for National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward's latest, a memoir entitled Men We Reaped about the men she's lost in her life and her life in the South. Colum McCann signed hard copies of his first book since he won the National Book Award in 2009, Transatlantic. Add in the talkative Adriana Trigiani and Jason Mott whose debut The Returned from Harlequin imprint Mira has been getting raves and there's a well-rounded amount of authors for a diverse audience. There was the hype for Burial Rites a debut from Hannah Kent and Wally Lamb's latest along with Son by Phillip Meyer. And Neil Gaiman didn't just have a children's book he was promoting and signing he also had an adult one (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) and drew a HUGE crowd on Saturday morning for his talk on writing and the business along with a signing afterwards.

Amy Tan was there to speak of her new book due out in November. Jim Carrey had a fast-moving line curling around Perseus's distribution booths for signing of posters for his first picture book for kids and Chelsea Handler was there for photo ops. Julianne Moore had another children's book she was promoting and Giada De Laurentiis signed her first children's book as well called Recipes for Adventure with an imprint at Penguin. But the biggest star seemed to be Grumpy Cat who had about a 45 minute wait for a picture beside him. But you could not touch the cat. At all.

So that's the fun stuff, but what about the business of publishing? How is that going? Ebook sales are rising but still do not make up a huge portion of the market. They take up 15-20% of sales in trade and many independent presses and small university presses are trying to find a piece of that pie. Making the Digital Zone and coinciding conference IDPF huge draws for industry professionals to get to know what's available on the digital side and how they can reap the benefits for low costs.

Even with sales not taking a huge piece of the pie like expected ebooks are and will continue to be very important to the market. Kobo, one of the lesser known e-readers may soon be striking a deal with the American Booksellers Association (ABA) to distribute their ebooks exclusively with independent stores helping both parties in one swoop. One of the detriments of the indie store has been competing in the digital market and a contract with Kobo can improve that. I mean look at this New Yorker cover (below). Doesn't that say enough about the state of the indies? Especially indies in big cities like NYC where ones pop up but need a steady base of customers to continue to go to. And in places like Queens and the Bronx we do not have many if any.

From the agent perspective, especially if you follow the Twitter-verse and look at new books coming out in the Young Adult realm certain trends are slowing and others are surging. Amy Tintera's Reboot and T. Mike Martin's The End Games both play off of zombies, which may be the new "thing." Dystopian is losing ground but there are still new ones coming out like Joelle Charbonneau's The Testing series from HMH Kids. And aliens are making a comeback! (See the popularity of The 5th Wave and also Malinda Lo's sequel to Adaptation.) Maggie Stiefvater's latest in the Raven Cycle series was a huge item up-for-grabs and traipses along a new line of fantasy and mystery and the hunt for a mystical king. Whereas contemporary YA is gaining ground and will always have relevance (note what I said about Rainbow Rowell's line).

Mysteries and their big name authors like James Patterson and Preston & Child had ARCs flying off the floor. And with the Readers Day on Saturday people went buck wild about the freebies.

More MG is being sought by publishers and agents. More specific stories and non-recycling of themes we've seen/heard/read before. It's becoming harder to become unique if in certain instances trends are the thing but good writing is good writing and books is what excites everyone about BEA in the first place.

So what is the outlook on the publishing industry? Well, it has ebbs and flows as any business does. Super Readers on Saturday proved to be big fans and also those in education seeking out titles to give to students and promote reading. Books will always be a necessity whether for entertainment, inspiration, or education. And BEA tends to remind those of us in the industry how much people enjoy it and how important it is. Yes, people get very grabby hands at BEA and there is shuffling of bodies and pushing of arms and taking of items clearly marked for sale but in the grand scheme of things it's about books and book lovers and uniting them for a celebration of the industry not just an analysis of it.

Time will tell what the (immediate) future holds for publishing. A lot of predictions made don't come to fruition. A lot of sites in beta may or may not be the next huge thing. And many books predicted to be hits may flounder and those that barely got any publicity may surge due to word of mouth from various people in the community. There's no true tell-tale sign except that publishing needs to be malleable and change with the times while consistently seeking to produce great content and find the audience for it.

For next year and the year after BEA will still be held in New York City at Jacob Javits before going off to Chicago for a year or maybe more. It's been really nice having BEA in my hometown/backyard for the past three years straight and I'll continue to enjoy it no matter the locale.

Fave Reads of 2011

After connecting with many book bloggers via Twitter and Goodreads last year and being part of a book group and always, always discussing books I enjoy (Hunger Games!) I figured I should join in and note some of my fave books that I read in 2011. I made a goal to read 50 books in 2011 and read 54, which was somewhat disappointing but hey I surpassed my goal. *Please note that not all of these books came out in 2011 and that I may have read ARCs or galleys of said titles that I got from Book Expo.

These are in no specific order of awesomeness. But overall I really enjoyed and would highly recommend them.

• When She Woke by Hillary Jordan (Fall 2011) - This was a phenomenal tale about a woman coming into her own after being betrayed by her beliefs and society in a dystopian setting where the highly religious and conservative rule with a heavy hand. It's a sci-fi take on The Scarlett Letter in which the main character is branded by the color red, and those that commit crimes are branded by colors also. It starts and ends with "when she woke" and you get chills reading some of the things the protagonist has to go through.
• Erasure by Percival Everett (re-released 2011) - One of Everett's earlier works and a great one. It mocks the literary elite and what is considered the 'Black Experience' by others. What happens when a very educated man writes what can be considered ghetto or urban lit and it is widely lauded by those who have no idea what it's like to be African American? Well, the way things go is intriguing and you don't quite get a final answer which makes you wonder where things are going in the literary world and outside of it where money talks and sometimes the subjectivity of art is questioned.
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (Fall 2011) - I feel like Laini is one of the most literary and illustrative authors, not just YA authors, around. She brings you into her world and keeps you there and frankly you don't want to leave it. The worst part of a Laini Taylor book is finishing it. But she strikes gold again with the tale of a young girl raised by demons who are at war with angels and how deep things go when starcrossed lovers suffer a great betrayal.
• Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman (2011) - A debut from Norman and a really good one. Usually I get kind of urked by writers writing about writers but this delved into the reality of being a struggling, emerging writer trying to find your voice amidst real life responsibilities and day-to-day disappointments. As someone who works and writes and works I felt like Norman really captured the life of someone toggling between what they want to be and what they are. While a job shouldn't define you, it often does.
• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (2010) - This was a book club pick and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the details and textures within this piece though it was kind of heartbreaking in the end. We had a good discussion about the characters and that's what stood out for me most throughout.
• Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction (2007) - I am a fan of anthologies. Last year I read the Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Fiction also edited by Michael Martone when I saw him again at the Postgraduate Writers Conference. What I love about anthologies is that they can introduce you to a slew of writers you weren't aware of in snippets. There are hits and misses with any collection but I always enjoy the range of stories and reading various genres.
• Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr (2009) - I'd heard a lot about Karr's latest memoir. She's considered one of the best at the genre. After Lit I was hooked and am eager to read her two previous memoirs. She has a way of delving into things with a clear head looking back and capturing people, facial expressions, times as though they were a snapshot.
• The Given Day by Dennis Lehane (2008) - My first read of Lehane's. I've seen films based on his books but had yet to actually delve into one of his novels. I was invested from the first pages. He has a few too many POVs I felt but the core story between the White Boston cop and the Black man on the run and the friendship formed as America came apart and got back together again all the while having snippets of Babe Ruth (not as lovely as you may like to think) weaved in was amazing. And the fact that for me he didn't lose me at any part after more than 600 pages is a feat in itself.
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2010) - Another book club pick but also something I had been wanting to read for awhile. I was glad when I finally got to read it and discuss with others. It's funny that when I was reading it a woman came up to me and said "You wanna read a book that will REALLY make you hate White people? Read Medical Apartheid." Henrietta Lacks is a tome that does make you ashamed of how medical professionals treated patients, or color and in general. People were not people but test subjects and to some still are. It was eye opening really and heartbreaking to read of the Lacks family tragedies that went on for years with their mother in the ground and them in the dark about her cells contributions to science and the advancement of medicine.
• Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (Spring 2011) - A friend is the publicist for Libba Bray and highly recommended her book. After hearing her, Meg Cabot, and Maggie Stiefvater speak at a This is Teen event sponsored by their publisher Scholastic and hearing how funny and endearing Libba was I was happy to snag a copy. This woman is hilarious and really captures the voices of her characters. You have to go with the world she creates but her characters are not caricatures. They're endearing as much as the author is and so you go with it and kind of fall in love with each of them.
• Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey (2011) - Amy Garvey is one of the coolest authors I've had the honor of tweeting with and sending baked goods! I snagged a galley of Cold Kiss at Book Expo and boy was I glad I did. This is a well written character driven, literary young adult novel with fantastical elements. Some may say not a lot goes on action-wise but a lot goes on emotionally and I love the scenes she drew out of true love.

Other books I enjoyed this past year were The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones, The Apothecary by Maile Meloy, The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson, and A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.