The Reading List: First Half of 2022

So technically the year isn’t half over yet, but that doesn’t mean I can’t let you know my favorites reads so far for 2022. Unlike last year, I’m not aiming to complete 100 books by end of year, but I am consistently reading each night before bed -- a habit sucessfully formed!

The Wrong End Of The Telescope

My favorite book of the year. Alameddine seamlessly weaves together a story of a trans doctor volunteering in Greece to help Syrian refugees in a poetic and touching way. I identified with so many of the characters despite not being a refugee, trans woman, Syrian, Druze, Lebanese, or having cancer.

The Stationery Shop

A tragic (to me anyway) love story told over decades against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution. Having not known about most of the revolution, this sent me on a deep dive that I am grateful to have gone on. Also -- yay for stationery shops! I do love good paper and pens.

Afterparties

A glimpse of American-Cambodian culture in Los Angeles and shared cultural trauma through a series of gripping short stories featuring characters with a variety of ages, orientations, and motivations. Sadly, So died before the publishing of “Afterparties”. I wish we had more time with him because I really enjoyed this collection of stories.

Build Your House Around My Body

This novel is an improbable blend of Vietnamese history, Vietnamese lore (including ghost stories), family trauma, and feminist energy in the package of a nonlinear story. It really, really worked for me.

Tell Me How To Be

A tale of “what-ifs” told through the perspective of a mother and son each narrating and navigating their own attachment to the past. I never knew I wanted to hear a tale of an American-Tanzanian family dealing with trauma and fitting in (and what that means to both characters).

What are you reading this year?

-Jen