Most Defining Books of the Decade

January 8, 2022January 11, 2022Leave a comment

2022 marks 10 years since I started tracking my books and reading habits. I’ve always loved to read and read a lot as a child and teenager, but since I finished university I’ve had a lot more time to dedicate to reading and it has become a very important and enjoyable hobby for me. In the past decade I’ve read a whopping 670 books. I decided to look back over the past 10 years and identify the top 10 books that have defined the decade for me. These aren’t necessarily the best books I’ve read in the last 10 years (though some of them definitely are), but they are the books that I’ve returned to the most often and have influenced me the most. I can confirm I have read every book on this list more than once.

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I know, everyone loves this book and it’s been totally overhyped ever since it came out. But I read The Book Thief for the first time in 2012 and I definitely credit it as one of the books that brought me back to reading. I feel like I went through a reading drought in University and The Book Thief inspired me to create a Goodreads account and set me on a never ending quest to find the most compelling and beautifully written books. It’s one of those books that leaves you with the biggest book hangover, but sends you searching for other books that evoke such strong feelings and emotions.

2. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was another book I discovered in my early Goodreads days, shortly after I first read The Book Thief and was on my quest for beautiful prose. Both books have a heavy focus on reading and books themselves, which is a great way to appeal to a book lover. However, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was so defining for me because it was a classic that I could relate to. Unfortunately, high school English class seems to turn a lot of people off the classics and this was one of the first classics that I read and loved for myself and not because I was required to read it. I’ve since discovered other classics that I adore, like Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice, but A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was a very accessible classic that gave me an appreciation for the classics and a reminder that old stories can ring just as true as new ones.

3. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

This is one of those books that it pains me a little bit to put on the list. If this was a list of the 10 Best Books I read in the last decade, it would not have made the list, but I can’t deny that Throne of Glass was a defining book for me. This was a series that I read because of the hype and it introduced me to a whole world of fantasy and fandom. These days Throne of Glass doesn’t really get as much press time as Maas’ other series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, which is literally all over Bookstagram and Booktok, but Throne of Glass always stands out for me as the series that brought me back to fantasy. I always loved Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, and Throne of Glass defined a new era in which I was excited to participate in a fandom and able to read along with the books as they were released.

4. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime (along with Homegoing) stands out as the best book I’ve read with my book club, which I’ve been a member of for 7.5 years. I didn’t want to read this book and then ended up being totally floored by it and have now read it both as a print book and an audiobook. I constantly recommend this book to people and it taught me that non-fiction can be just as accessible as fiction. I used to be a bit afraid of non-fiction, but this book opened up a whole new world to me and I still think about Trevor’s wonderful blend of humour and history to this day. This is how you write a funny book about something that matters.

5. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

I am obsessed with this book. When I think about it critically I can acknowledge that it has some flaws, particularly towards the end, which is overly dramatized. But The Great Alone is such a good example of how impactful setting and atmosphere can be. Kristin Hannah is a great storyteller and uses the Alaskan setting in this book to maximum effect. Everything about the remoteness of this story sings to my soul and it really highlighted for me how much I enjoy character driven, multi-generational family dramas. As you’ll see from the next 2 books on the list, my love for this book also inspired me to discover a whole litany of other stories.

6. Songs of a Sourdough by Robert W. Service

Songs of a Sourdough is a poetry collection that I was directly inspired to read from The Great Alone. Robert Service writes the most wonderful mix of funny and serious outdoor poetry, that is very much about his love and respect for the land. Despite being 100 years old, I found his poetry so accessible and this was one of my first forays into poetry, a genre that I’ve since come to love very much.

7. The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker

The Simple Wild is another book that isn’t going to get nominated for literary awards, but a book that I keep returning to nonetheless. This is primarily a romance novel, but it offers so much more about family and finding yourself, that I found it to be one of the most fun and relatable contemporaries with an excellent cast of well-realized characters. There are books that you read for pure enjoyment to lose yourself in the story and this is definitely one of them. It’s a simple story, but honest and relatable in its storytelling.

8. Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

Speaking of books that are pure enjoyment, there’s no better read I can think of than Nevermoor. I have not been able to stop raving about Nevermoor since I first read it in 2018 because it is the most fun and immersive world I’ve discovered since Harry Potter. It’s middle grade and has a lot of similarities, but offers something entirely different than Harry Potter. Where Nevermoor gains its strength is from the well developed plot and world building and the integration of real life issues into the storyline. The characters in this book are a joy to read about and I love to escape into this series.

9. Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Beartown is probably the book I most recommend to people of everything on this list. Fredrik Backman writes the most gorgeous prose and creates the most memorable characters. This book focuses on a small hockey town in Sweden and how one event can create ripples that echo throughout an entire community. There is nothing shocking or crazy about this book, but the way Backman crafts every single one of his characters and their relationships with one another is so real and empathetic that you can relate to each of their heartbreaks.

10. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

There is no question that Jellicoe Road is the book that has had the single most impact on me over the past decade. I’ve read this book more times than I can count, as well as every other book Marchetta has ever written. This is a YA book, which I’ve generally moved away from over the past 10 years, but I think this story will always resonate with me. It is a deeply sad coming of age tale which examines relationships, love, and the families we create for ourselves. The writing is haunting and these characters will stick with you long after you finish reading.

Top 8 Books from 2021

January 1, 2022January 11, 20222 Comments

This is usually one of my favourite posts of the year, but I haven’t done it since 2018, so I’m thrilled to return again this year! Almost the entire year of 2020 was a book slump for me and while I didn’t do much reading through summer of 2021, overall this was a much better year and I’m a lot more excited about the books I read.

As usual, I’ll be doing 2 posts that collectively feature my top 15 reads of the year. This post is dedicated to my favourite books of the year that were actually published in 2021 (because I read a lot of new releases) and the second post will feature my Top 7 Reads of 2021 that were published in other years. So without further ago, let’s get into it – these are intentionally ordered in terms of how much I loved them.

8. What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster

What’s Mine and Yours snuck on to my list this year. It was an impulse purchase on Audible that I ended up really enjoying. It has low ratings on goodreads, but I felt it was such a meaningful story that touched on huge number of social issues: race, class, status, family, grief, and of course, love. It features a large cast of characters and I liked how the author examines nature versus nurture and how blinding privilege can be to another’s experience.

7. Where Hope Comes From by Nikita Gill

Where Hope Comes From is a short poetry anthology by Nikita Gill that I cannot stop thinking about since I read it. I find her poetry a bit hit or miss, but picked it up when I saw it was about the pandemic. I wasn’t really looking forward to the pandemic starting to show up in books, but I couldn’t deny that it was exactly what I needed. Reflection is an important part of processing things that happen to you and it was cathartic to read about someone else’s experience with the pandemic and to feel solidarity and acknowledgement of some of the crap we’ve all been through in the last year.

6. If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur

I’m sensing a bit of a theme, but If I Tell You The Truth was another impulse buy from my local bookstore. Jasmin Kaur is a local author (to me) and this story is written in prose and set in the BC Lower Mainland. I ended up loving it. The writing is fantastic and features a young Indian girl who moves to Vancouver for university to find herself pregnant. The author explore a lot of themes, particularly family and gender dynamics in Indian culture and the struggles of immigration. The writing is incredibly honest and heartfelt and I felt so connected to the characters.

5. The Strangers by Katherena Vermette

The Strangers was my second read by Katherena Vermette and was nominated for the Giller Prize this year. This book gutted me within the first chapter and I couldn’t stop reading about the 4 female members of the Stranger family. It’s a multi-generational story that examines the circular nature of trauma and the racism that still exists in Canada’s family and social services. Vermette is an excellent writer and I connected deeply with each of her characters.

4. Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

This is book that I had no right to enjoy as much as I did! It’s a mystery/thriller about a crime writer who is mistaken for a hired killer when overheard talking about her latest book plot with her publicist. When she’s offered a huge sum of money to off a woman’s husband, things quickly get out of control and spiral into a fast paced train wreck of epic proportions. It’s an easy-to-read style that translated so well to audiobook. It’s not a literary masterpiece in any way, but I had a lot of fun with it and couldn’t put it down!

3. Infinite Country by Patricia Engel

Infinite Country was yet another surprise read that I picked up on Audible and ended up loving. It’s a very short book, but succinct. It’s a beautifully written immigration story split between America and Colombia that captures the heartache of having your family separated and your kids growing up as part of two different cultures. The struggle to make a living in a hostile environment and the dream of one day reuniting your family. We all just long to be together.

2. Please Don’t Sit on my Bed in Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson

If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while you probably know I love Phoebe Robinson. She consistently gets better with every novel she publishes and this audiobook was easily my best of the year. It’s a collection of essays written for a large audience and I love how she seamlessly blends humour with her astute observations on social issues. She is so relatable and an important voice for black women. I still think about essays from her last novel and I loved her reflections on the pandemic, on her decision not to have children, and her thoughts on the white saviour complex.

1. Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

Without a doubt this was my favourite book of the year. Once There Were Wolves is a haunting story about Inti Flynn and her determination to re-introduce wolves into the Scottish Highlands. The townspeople are vehemently opposed to the wolves out of fear and when one of the villagers go missing, Inti is worried her wolves will take the fall. It’s a wonderful blend of literary fiction and mystery and has the most lonesome atmosphere of grief and sadness that permeates the entire novel. Inti is trying to come to terms with the traumatic events of her shared past with her twin sister and McConaghy uses the loveliest prose to explore themes of loss, abuse, feeling, and sisterhood. Can’t recommend enough!

Once There Were Wolves

December 29, 2021November 30, 20215 Comments

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Author: Charlotte McConaghy
Genres: Fiction
Pub. Date: Aug. 2021 (read Oct. 2021)

It’s fitting that Once There Were Wolves is my last post of 2021 because (unless I happen to read a really good book in late December) it was my favourite book of the whole year! I read Migrations last year and really liked it, so I was cautiously optimistic about Once There Were Wolves. I wasn’t sure if maybe McConaghy was a one-trick pony, but this book has firmly cemented her as an auto-buy author in my books!

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this book since I read it and I have a feeling it’s going to be my favourite read of 2021. I can definitely see how this book might not be for everyone, and I could see Migrations being the more universally accepted book of the two, but I loved everything about this book and actually preferred it.

Once There Were Wolves is set predominantly in Scotland and is about the expedition 30-year old Inti Flynn is leading to re-introduce wolves into the Scottish Highlands. Wolf territory has been shrinking over time and a (real) project to re-introduce wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 was hugely successful. The prey had been taking over the park and without predators to keep them in check, were over-eating the flora and causing erosion at streams and water sources. The wolves completely changed the landscape of the park, breathing new life into the wilderness and bringing a balance to the ecosystem.

Inti’s childhood was split between Australia and the wilds of British Columbia and she travels to Scotland with her twin sister, with whom she is very close. Unfortunately, she is not welcomed by the farmers in Scotland and receives a cold reception and opposition to her work. Nevertheless, she finds some allies and is determined that her project be a success. But when a villager turns up dead and the townspeople suspect the wolves, Inti makes some questionable choices.

So the plot is pretty straightforward, but like most of my favourite books, this is not a plot driven novel. The key word when talking about this book is atmosphere. Charlotte McConaghy is a talented wordsmith, but part of what makes her novels so compelling is her ability to create a very strong sense of setting and atmosphere. The loneliness and wild of the highlands seeps from every scene and creates this overarching feeling of great loss and sadness. It maybe sounds a bit depressing, but it’s also enthralling. It’s not a fast paced story and yet I was totally invested in Inti’s project and her past.

McConaghy’s characters are broken and damaged people and as she slowly reveals their histories to you, you become more and more invested in their characters. This is not a happy story and it deals with difficult and complex themes like abuse, violence, trauma, and how our childhood and formative years can impact us into adulthood. I feel like McConaghy packs so much punch in so small a novel. There are so many parts I haven’t even touched on yet – Inti’s relationship with the town sheriff, her relationships with her family members, and the fact that Inti has a rare condition called mirror touch, which causes her to literally feel what she sees those around her experiencing.

It’s ambitious for a novel that’s under 300 pages, and yet it all works. McConaghy doesn’t waste time on things that don’t matter and she trusts her reader to draw their own conclusions from the story rather than spelling everything out for us. I feel like there were no ideas out of place. To write such beautiful prose, while also delivering on a character driven mystery novel is an impressive feat!

Definitely a trigger warning for rape and domestic violence. But I do feel that McConaghy handles these topics well. I’ve read several rape/harassment scenes this year that really bothered me because I felt that they were included for shock value, whereas I think in this book they are handled with sensitivity and purpose. It is not included to shock us, but rather to invite the audience to reflect on the devastating impact to the victim and how those events influence and shape a person. It is a dark book, but also a hopeful one. Inti is a broken person, but like the wolves, she is willing to try again, to try and heal herself and keep moving forward. The wolves can heal landscapes, but maybe they can also heal people and communities.

5 stars – I can’t wait to read this again soon.

Side note: I can’t help but mention that I find it fascinating that prior to her two literary novels, McConaghy wrote YA fantasy. I have no idea how they compare in terms of writing, plot, or quality, but I do find it a bit annoying that she seems to be trying to distance herself from them and pretend they don’t even exist. Her author blurb on the back of the book literally calls Migrations her “debut novel”. Like I get trying to re-invent yourself, but that’s a straight up lie. What’s wrong with making your debut in the YA fantasy scene? Be proud of all your books and where you started, it just shows your versatility and growth as an author.

Five Little Indians

December 22, 2021November 30, 20211 Comment

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Author: Michelle Good
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pub. Date: Apr. 2020 (read Jun. 2021)

It’s been months since I read Five Little Indians, but I think it is a very important book and I do want to take some time to review it. It’s been getting a lot of press since over 200 children were found buried at the Kamloops Residential School (and thousands more since), shocking many Canadians, but not many indigenous people.

As the title suggests, Five Little Indians follows the lives of 5 survivors of a residential school on the north part of Vancouver Island. Some of these children aged out of the school, while others ran away or were smuggled away by family members. All suffer trauma as a result of the experience and many of the survivors end up in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) in Vancouver.

This is not an easy book to read and that is the way it should be. It doesn’t focus so much on the atrocities committed within residential schools (though they are still featured), but more on the long term trauma that comes with having survived such an experience during your most formative childhood years. The impact the schools had not only on the children, but on parents and entire communities.

When the children leave the school, some of them are lucky enough to have families to return home to, while others have no one and are forced to try and make it on their own at just 17 or 18 years of age. Some of the teens find each other in the DTES and create a new little family, but struggle emotionally and financially, turning to alcohol, drugs, and sex to cope with the trauma and memories they are saddled with from school. Those that are able to return home find that they are returning to families that have been just as broken by the loss of their children to the schools.

Family members turn to their own coping mechanisms and the teens find it hard to return to a culture and community that they now feel divorced from. The role of residentials schools was to “kill the Indian” in the child. The government and the Church succeed in this mission by cutting out the heart of indigenous communities and creating shameful cultural associations in the children. This separation traumatizes the community and the shame of the abuse perpetrated against the children makes it hard for many to return home at all. They have been abused mentally and physically and no longer have any kind of self worth, making it hard to be with the people who love them, even if those people have suffered in their own way.

The writing is simple and I found it effective in that it doesn’t sugarcoat anything. The storyline does a great job of shining a light on the long term impact of residential schools and how many aspects of the schools are still alive in society today. Many would argue that our child welfare system has basically just replaced the schools, with indigenous children still regularly being removed from their families at disproportionate rates – families still suffering from the trauma of residential schools. I recently finished reading The Strangers by Katherena Vermette, which I also think does a really good job at exploring the ways in which indigenous people are still marginalized today.

Everything about this book made me feel uncomfortable and that is kind of the point. Reconciliation is a big and uncertain topic and to think we can attempt it without feeling very uncomfortable is folly. I’ve been trying to work my way through more indigenous literature this year and welcome any other recommendations.