2018 in Books

Based on the numbers below, I could call 2018 "the year of the memoir". I do love true stories, for only truth is stranger and more incredible than fiction, right? Especially ones which are highly convicting, as Austin Brown's and Francisco Cantu's were for me. 
In loving creative fiction as well, books by Emily St. John Mandel topped my list. I finally picked up a best-seller from years ago, "Station Eleven", and was utterly captivated. I consumed two more of her books in short order, savoring her writing and quickly caring for her characters. 
Not everything I read is listed below, just the highlights. Though there is never enough time to read, 2018 was definitely a good year. 

"I'm Still Here: Black Dignity In A World Made For Whiteness" by Austin Channing Brown (memoir) 

Written with an honest eloquence, "I'm Still Here" tackles the truth of being a woman of color in a predominately white world. In writing about injustice and racism, the author clearly says that things must change, and why. Reading this book as a white person was, as it should be, uncomfortable, and highly convicting. (Two chapters which especially stood out to me was the one in which she outlines her normal work day, and the subtle acts of racism which she must calmly endure in order to not lose her job, and the one where she writes a heart-wrenching letter to her unborn son.) The main message I came away with was this: things are not okay, and we must be aware and start doing better. Silence is not an option. The book is filled with humor (how exhausting white people can be), and raw emotion (keeping in her heart people who have died from needless violence and hate, and the constant fear that someone you love will be next). Thank you, Austin, for speaking up. I recommend this book to anyone, for in the simple act of reading and attempting to walk a mile in someone else's shoes, maybe we can become more understanding, and less willing to be silent. 

"The Line Becomes A River: Dispatches From The Border" by Francisco Cantu (memoir)

Author Francisco Cantu grew up in the US with a strong Mexican heritage. In following his need to understand people who cross into the US from Mexico, he became a border patrol agent. For four years he met people with all sorts of stories, and witnessed violence and desperation and resignation. When it became too much, he left the border to pursue higher education. There his story skips ahead a few years to when he meets Jose, a family man in the US whose mother lives in Mexico. Eventually, the author sees another side of the law, as he is irrevocably drawn to help his friend, a man who will do anything to be with his family. 

This is a tough read, yet so worthwhile. The writing is elegant, even when honestly describing unspeakable brutality. He cites many other researchers on the history of Mexico's violence, and explores why people are compelled to try and cross the border in the hopes of something better. A needed look into a difficult subject, done with truth and grace.

"Station Eleven", by Emily St. John Mandel (fiction/dystopian)

One of the most gorgeously written and captivating books I've ever read. 
Although the premise of "Station Eleven" has been similarly explored in other works, this post-apocalypse tale is told like no other. A deadly virus takes out 99% of the earth's population. We follow the storylines of a number of fascinating people: Arthur, an aging actor who dies the night the virus strikes; Jeevan, a paramedic-in-training who rushes onstage during Arthur's final stage performance and tries to save him during a heart attack; Kirsten, a child actress in the same production of King Lear; and other friends of Arthur's, including Miranda, an artist whose joy in life is creating a series of beautifully-rendered comic books titled "Station Eleven", about a man living on a space station mostly submerged in water and fallen into twilight. The story is told in three main time frames: during the fall of humanity, some years before, and twenty years after. The greatest thing which sets this story apart from others? Hope. Yes, we can all imagine that there would be confusion and violence when society breaks down, yet throughout history, there has always been rebuilding, right? Here, we see a traveling symphony which journeys between the small towns which have been created since the crash, keeping alive music and Shakespeare. Some towns are dangerous, but most are peaceful, as people figure out how to move forward with life. Each character is connected, an interweaving of one great story: how what survives of humanity can eventually thrive. Because, like the Star Trek quote which one character has tattooed on her arm, says; "Survival is insufficient". 

"Educated" by Tara Westover (memoir) 

Thoughtfully written with descriptive pros and often difficult honesty, this memoir of an untraditional life is fascinating. Tara Westover and her siblings grew up on a mountain with a father who believed the government is the Illuminati (and therefore everything connected to it such as school and the medical establishment) and that they must prepare for the fast-approaching end times. Her mother mostly echoed her father's beliefs, and her idea of home schooling her children meant sending them off with books which they could flip through at their own pace. The family was raised within a strictly Mormon upbringing, with all the children learning how to work in their father's often dangerous junk yard. Yet amidst the chaos, Tara's brother Tyler taught himself trigonometry and went to college, encouraging Tara to do the same. How she ended up in college even though she never went to school before then is only part of her incredible story. The rest often falls into terror and tragedy, with her family clinging stubbornly to dividing lies and delusions. In the end, it's a story of redemption: of one young girl finding the courage to stand on her own beliefs and let herself be something which saved her, something her father was so irrationally afraid of - educated.

"The Road Back To You" by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile (Personal Development) 

Personality types fascinate me. Myers-Briggs was something I've long known about, but when a friend started talking to me about the Enneagram, it was a mystery. This is the perfect book to be introduced to each of the nine personality types of the Enneagram. Everyone falls into one type (often with a specific 'wing' type which compliments it). There is The Perfectionist, The Peacemaker, The Helper, and so on. Each chapter delves into a different type, which helps the reader determine which theirs is. In figuring out my type, I found that it wasn't just how I am wired to act or prone to respond resonated with me, it was seeing one of my life-long fears written out which made me gasp. "Feeling as though I'm not enough" has long been a private fear, so to find that I'm not the only one to feel thus and word it exactly so was a relief. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to better understand themselves and others and thereby gain better emotional health. 

"At Home In The World" by Tsh Oxenreider (memoir) 

Tsh's memoir about the year her and her husband traveled around the world with their three kids is simply a delight. She well describes everything they experience (from the food and sights to the cultural differences and similarities) and how they faired abroad as a family of five. Living as nomads for a year, they stayed in some guest houses for a month at a time, truly immersing themselves in one place and giving their kids stability along the way, while other times they had to pass through a country in a span of a few days. Overall, they appreciated the uniqueness of many places across the globe, while also asking the question: where is home? What does "home" truly mean? 
A lovely reflection, I can imagine picking this memoir up again in a few years to appreciate anew a second time around.

"The Ragged Edge Of Night" by Olivia Hawker (historical fiction based on true events) 

This is one of the World War II stories worth reading among the numerous options out there. What makes it better is that it's closely based on true events, something I didn't know until the author's note at the end. Synopsis: a man named Anton answers a personal ad from a widow and mother of three who is looking to remarry. Anton was a friar, whose order was disbanded during the war. Forced to join the army and fight for Hitler, he left as soon as he could, with an injured back for an excuse. His marriage to the widow, Elisabeth, is in name only: she cannot care for her children alone, and he is drawn to help after having lost a school full of music students to the Reich. Yet aside from the children, Anton and Elisabeth are of one accord in being against Hitler. In their own small ways, they begin to fight against him. From their tiny German town, which faces plenty of threats of its own, they resist, hoping for an end to the war and the continuation of humanity.

"One Station Away" by Olaf Olafsson (fiction) 

Magnus is a neurologist from Iceland practicing in New York. He works with a team whose goal is to communicate with comatose patients whom others have, perhaps, given up on. It is this need to communicate which drives the story and binds the characters together. There is Magnus's mother, a pianist whom her father insists has been unfairly overlooked her entire career. Magnus's girlfriend, a dancer from Brazil, whose sudden death Magnus longs to understand. There are the colleagues on Magnus's team who work together to find a way to speak with the unconscious, and finally the patients, whom they are trying to give voice to, if only they can successfully find a way to do so and spark the same hope in their silent patients. A fascinating read. 

"Five-Carat Soul" by James McBride (fiction/short stories) 

From his moving memoir, "The Color Of Water", to his novels and this collection of short stories, James McBride writes with honesty and strength interwoven with humor. There are so many gems in this collection, many which focus on an African American community named The Bottom, and the children, teachers, drifters and musicians who find hope amidst the challenges of everyday life. There is a series of stories told from the perspective of a lion who must live in captivity in a zoo, and his communications not only with the other animals but with a zookeeper who understands how to speak in Thought Language. There is a tale of a heart-weary Abraham Lincoln who, after the loss of his son, overhears a conversation about freedom from a couple of slaves and is inspired. Perhaps my favorite is one about a small mixed-race orphan boy who is teased by African American soldiers that his father is the 'greatest white man of all', President Lincoln himself, causing the boy to run off in an innocent and earnest search for his father, and the soldier he meets along the way who craves freedom for them both. 

James McBride is one of my favorite contemporary authors. Though often difficult and even brutal in their truthfulness (on race and freedom, that of humans and animals alike), still there is beauty and laughter and hope in each story. 

Honorable mentions:

"Lethal White" by Robert Galbraith, aka J.K. Rowling (mystery)  

I enjoy the Cormoran Strike mystery series. Admittedly, I'm a bit over the will-they-won't-they of two characters getting together or not when it drags out over several books, however Cormoran and Robin are likable enough to keep me reading, as well as the dark mysteries they investigate. 

"Lost City Of The Monkey God" by Douglas Preston (memoir) 

Myth and legend surround the so-called City Of The Monkey God, or the White City, located in the heart of the Honduran jungle. For some, the tale was on par with Atlantis. In 2015, a team of archeologists and others officially began uncovering the ruins. The story is quite interesting in large part because the author, a seasoned writer for National Geographic and other places, explains the background on the city: how explorers through the years claimed to have found it when they didn't, how Columbus brought destruction to the New World in the form of Old World diseases which ran rampant, and how the city was finally discovered amidst a slew of caution and mystery. 

"Everybody Always" by Bob Goff  (memoir/Christian)

From funny to poignant, each essay explores the command of Jesus to love your neighbor, period. Just love everybody, always. The final chapters in the book delve into a time when Bob Goff, Ambassador for Uganda, worked to convict witch doctors who were killing children. Convict them, and then, somehow, try and love them, even them, too. 

"Wind, Sand, and Stars" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Fiction based in reality, the French author of "The Little Prince" ruminates on life as a pilot, and all the thrills and dangers which his mail-carrier job in unreliable planes flying across the Sahara (or crashing there) afforded him. 

"The Lola Quartet" 

and 

"Last Night In Montreal"  (both fiction/suspense)

Two more by Emily St. John Mandel, since I have fallen hard for her writing. Fiction mixed with suspense, Miss Mandel brilliantly weaves together the lives of a slew of characters, making the reader both race to discover their connections and decisions and pause to savor her elegant prose. As always, the places she writes about so vividly are as integral to the story as anything else, with "Lola" taking her characters from Florida to New York and in-between as they attempt to find or sever relations involving a child, a duffle bag of cash, and a high school quartet. In "Montreal", which takes place in Canada  and all across the US, there is a girl who has spent her life disappearing, and the boyfriend, detective, and detective's daughter who seek to untangle the secrets which she herself may not fully know. 

"Marathon Man" by William Goldman (suspense/thriller)

Rest In Peace William Goldman, hilarious author best known for writing both book and screenplay of "The Princess Bride". Also turned into a film, this story focuses on an average Joe, who finds out that both his beloved brother and girlfriend may not be all that they seem. 

"Small Victories" Anne Lamotte 

As always, Anne Lamotte writes from a place of honesty. She is humorous and sincere, irreverent and faith-filled. As a Christian prone to swearing, I appreciate her realness in wrestling through questions such as what it means to be a Christian and believe in a greater good when there is so much sorrow. 

"The Same Sky" by Amanda Eyre Ward 

The story follows two very different people: a young girl growing up in the slums of Honduras, whose mother left for America when she was very young and sends money when she can, and a woman living in Austin, Texas, whose dream of being a mother were first dashed by cancer and then by the birthmother of the baby she and her husband adopted who changed her mind. As the despair of poverty, drug use and violence in Honduras grows, the young girl eventually sets off on a dangerous journey to America, hoping that she and her brother can reach their mother, while the woman in Texas seeks to find new purpose in her life through helping a troubled teen. A moving story of hope.