What these two books have in common is that they were slim volumes with eloquent language that made it feel like I reading so much more than was there. One was a favorite writer who had last year’s #1 book read, and the other was new to me.
#7) Weather by Jenny Offill – Fascinating look at our moment in time as uniquely talented author Jenny Offill examines the political shift in America and how it affects us individually. Lizzie is the University library’s reference librarian who earns an additional job answering letters to a popular podcast hosted by her mentor. The podcast forecasts dark times ahead and many of the letters Lizzie handles treat her like a therapist doling out advice. Even as Lizzie gets caught up in her letter-writers’ angst, she juggles raising her young son, supporting her downward-spiralling brother, and alternatively fending-off an enticing potential affair. Offill’s writing is unique; short bits of insightful and arch observation that sometime seem disparate, but add up to a sobering yet entertaining whole.
#8) The Presence of Absence by Simon Von Booy – In his elegant, thought-provoking prose, Simon Van Booy has created a beautiful gift to his fans; a fictional conversation of sorts between the author and his readers, speaking through the mouth of Max Little, an author who learns that he will die within a year or so. As his terminal disease advances, he ends up spending his last days in a hospital bed, reflecting on his life, his beloved wife, and the future… even beyond his passing. Through it all, he carries on a conversation with the reader, an asynchronous dialog that is happening as he writes it, but also as the reader reads it. The book is sectioned into two parts, “In Vivo” or, within the body, and “Ex Vivo” or, outside the living body. As you might imagine, the first part is told while Max is still alive, and the latter part years later.
This type of story benefits form Van Booy’s simultaneously sumptuous and spare writing style . Never using an excess of words, he selects them so carefully that they come together like poetry. Sprinkled with moments of deep emotion and sudden humor, The Presence of Absence is a wonderful addition to this talented writer’s bibliography.
#9) American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang – Gene Luen Yang’s Award-winning graphic novel unfolds as three distinct stories that weave together by the book’s end. Jin Wang is the only Chinese-American student at this school, and he wants nothing more than to blend in. Danny is an All-American high school basketball star who is mortified when his Taiwanese cousin, Chin-Kee visits for a couple of weeks every year. The Monkey King strives for divinity, looking to transform his identity to something far more than he is. With an insightful eye on American youth, Yang creates a tale that will resonate with anyone.
#8) Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh – Jennifer Haigh’s first novel is a tough read. Not in the sense that it is boring, or dense, or lacks punctuation or anything like that. The subject matter was just upsetting in a subtle way that felt like part of another time. Perhaps that’s a good thing in this day and age, but Mrs. Kimble focuses on a charming man of dubious ethics, who woos women, marries them, and then inevitably disappoints them. What upset me about this novel was the desperate way the three Mrs. Kimbles loved their husband. Not that it felt false, which was probably the most upsetting thing about it.
#11) Engines of Oblivion by Karen Osborne – Osborne’s second offering in her series, The Memory War, took some time to draw me in, but ultimately succeeded in telling a complicated story about the ongoing saga of first contact that turns to interstellar war, and the women who change the course of history. Engines of Oblivion picks up with Natalie Chan, a supporting character form the first installment of the series, Architects of Memory, who frankly, took a while to emerge back into my brain even after having read the previous novel only a year or so ago. The main characters from Architects do return, and their presence is felt throughout, but this is really Natalie’s story, and her evolving relationship with the Master Node of the mysterious Vai. The challenge with Osborne’s novels is that her plots are so dense, and convoluted, that I often don’t really know what’s going on. Ultimately, the characters are real enough, and the story engaging enough that it almost doesn’t matter that I’m missing the larger story she is trying to tell, but part of me is frustrated by that as well.
#10) Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – This sweet story is, at its heart, a story about family lost and family reunited. 70-year-old Tova lives alone with the 30-year-old grief of her son’s death, ruled as a suicide. Her husband has also recently passed away, and Tova lives her solitary life in the the small tow of Sowell Bay, WA among the company of the KnitWits, friends who she enjoys, but more accurately tolerates. When Cameron, a young lost man comes to town searching for his father in a desperate attempt to get his life on track, the two invariably collide and find they have more in common than they could ever imagine. What makers Remarkably Bright Creatures stand out from its someone pedestrian, albeit well-constructed central story, is the only real joy in Tova’s life — her job cleaning at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, and the unusual relationship she develops with Marcellus, the Giant Pacific Octopus who is a resident there. How Marcellus affects the trajectories of both Tova and Cameron’s lives adds a unique twist to Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel.
#13) Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice – This slight novel is filled with atmosphere. Far to the north, in a remote Anishinaabe community, winter approaches. When all power and networks suddenly fail, the people of the town find themselves cut off from the rest of the world, and it is only through a small number of unexpected arrivals do they learn this phenomenon is widespread. Where some folks have prepared for a long winter by following older traditions, like hunting to stock up on meat, others are ill-prepared, and it’s up to the community to support everyone. While things are tough in town, it soon becomes apparent that things are far worse in the larger cities to the South.
#12) Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami – Acclaimed Tokyo writer Haruki Murakami collection of short stories, Men Without Women, published in 2017, explores a variety of scenarios where men find themselves without women and their lives a thrown into upheaval. Two of the stories contained in this collection, ‘Drive My Car’ and ‘Scheherazade’ were combined to create the marvelous screenplay for the 2021 film, DRIVE MY CAR, by filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi to great effect, which is why I decided to read Murakami’s collection. While an adept and accomplished writer, I wish I could read the stories in the original Japanese, because I felt that the quality of the writing was impacted by the translator, two of which are used for this group of stories. The bulk of the stories in this collection were beautifully done, but a couple toward the end were not as strong. 
#14) Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire – Young rabbit Cress Watercress, is relocating with her mother and younger brother after losing their father to a mysterious, but most certainly dire fate. Cress is in the early throes of grieving, and is more unhappy about leaving her home. The beleaguered family finds sanctuary, and a steep rent, at the Broken Arms, a near dead tree with a strict, blind owl as landlord, and takes residence in a tiny apartment beneath its roots.