January 2.0

 Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America by Michael Eric Dyson

I started listening to this powerful book of essays just a day before an armed battalion of white supremacists breached the walls of Congress, while police used far less force than during peaceful protests the previous summer, protests with people of brown and black skin not the white-skinned militia attempting to overthrow our government and causing death and injury. The contrast was shocking, yet sadly not surprising, given the caste system and history in America. Dyson (Tears We Cannot Stop, What Truth Sounds Like) does it once again in his latest book, as in he makes me THINK, he demands I consider every aspect of our past and current cultural forces, and he forces me to see America through Black eyes, through the eyes of history. Each chapter addresses Black victims of police murder, as Dyson talks directly to Tamir, Sandra, Breonna, Clementa, and the myriad of victims over the decades of time. I will not forget this book anytime soon, nor should I. Highly highly highly recommend.

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak

"The possibility of an immediate and wholesale decimation of civilization was not half as frightening as the simple realization that our individual passing had no impact on the order of things, and life would go on just the same with or without us." A dead prostitute, dumped in a trash bin, reflects on her life for the 10 minutes, 38 seconds that her brain activity continues. That's it. That's the premise. But my oh my, this book is brilliant. As I learned about how Leila came to be in this trash bin, I fell in love with her and her five friends, her 'water' family. I agonized over their lives, their tragedies, their triumphs. I fell more in love with Shafak's incredible writing (Bastard of Istanbul, Honor), as she forced me to think about death, religion, prejudice, hate, you name it. In one word, this book is BRILLIANT. 

The Naturals series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This is the ultimate potato chip series, well...if you can stomach a lot of murder, that is. The same author as the infinitely less bloody but just as wonderfully entertaining The Inheritance Games, this series was her previous endeavor. Reading just about one a day, I hauled ass through these books. If you like watching Criminal Minds, this series is definitely for you. It takes the concept of 'natural' talents, as a group of teenagers are gathered together by the FBI to access these talents and solve murders. A girl who can detect when one lies, another who thinks in statistics and numbers, another who reads facial expressions and emotions, and two who gather all the facts quickly and can create a profile of who, why, and how. Pure entertainment, rather implausible (it's YA - go with it), and some endearing, quirky characters. 

The One by John Marrs

If you're looking for mindless escapism, as I was as America imploded six days into the new year, this book will give it to you.The premise is a bit implausible and crazy but I'm all about 'just go with' sometimes. A perfect match system has been created through people's DNA, as in, your life partner can be found for you with 100% accuracy. Just think about that...what if you were already married? Or you're gay and you're 'perfectly matched' with a member of the opposite sex? Or your perfect match is halfway across the world? Yep, problems ensue. Big problems. Following five different matches, Marrs leads us down a crazy warren of rabbit holes. Occasionally I was like "Really??" But then I reminded myself I was looking for mindless entertainment so my advice is...roll with it:)

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Continuing the 'modern day classic, one a month' reading, this is a quiet, thoughtful book amidst the sea of crazy news days and reading about serial killers. I had only read one book before by Ishiguro (Never Let Me Go) but considering that one was futuristic dystopia and Remains is the tale of a butler, pre and post WWII, there's not much to compare. Suffice it to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Upon opening up to page one, my first reaction was, aaaargh, long paragraphs. As in, really loooooong. Yet, by page two I could care less, as Mr. Stevens and his melodic voice swept me right into his story, his life as a butler in a 'fine English home,' the relationship with his own father, his road trip to see a former staff member, the issues leading Britain into WWII, and the upheaval of the social order following both world wars. What struck me the most was the invisibility expected of this man, this butler, the utter void of human emotions. Not that Stevens didn't have them, but that his world told him he was not allowed to feel. In a most understated way, this book says powerful things about our hearts and what happens when that heart is subjugated, drowned, hidden, and imprisoned.

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David

McCullough

I adored McCullough's books on Johnstown and the Wright Brothers, but this one was dry and rather boring for me. Perhaps because it was about the midwest (Ohio, etc.) and I'm not really familiar with it? Perhaps because it showed a ton of truly terrible genocide as the settlers pretty much massacred and destroyed the native people? Perhaps because the characters were rather dull and stolid, not that heroic, rather forgettable? Regardless, it was not my favorite.