A dear friend gave me a used kindle at the start of 2021, and it turned out to be a tremendous gift, though at the time I accepted it grudgingly. I had always preferred physical books to their digital versions- the heft of a hardcover, the act of turning pages, that book store smell. But I had used a kindle on vacation before and acknowledged its portability as a very handy feature. What I didn’t realize then was that same portability made it easier than ever to pick up and put down a book when time allows. I hadn’t carried a book in my purse since my NYC subway days, but a kindle could fit easily in there and that allowed me to read instead of doom-scroll while waiting at the dentist or mechanic.
Combine that with a year of underemployment and a world gone mad, and I needed a way to stay off the news, stay off of social media, and reading was the answer. I’ve always been a fast reader and at times have been an avid one, but for a time, I only read occasionally. Now I consumed books like it was my job.
Several books were recommended by friends, while I got a number of these title recommendations from the annual book list shared by former President Obama. Later I discovered even more recommendations through an episode of the podcast Yo Is This Racist? with the host of a podcast called The Stacks, Traci Thomas (call it a crossover episode, if you will). Between the two, plus a few random recommendations, this list was born and took on a life of its own. My brain feels full, yet hungry for more.
My grand total was 85 books. That number doesn’t include any books I had read before, though it does include one or two that I didn’t finish, for various reasons. I denote those books with an * and explain why they weren’t finished below. Technically the Bridgerton collection was 3 novels in 1, because the download contained the first 3 books of the series. Therefore I counted it as 3 books even though it is listed as 1 on the chart below.
Btw, don’t read that version: do yourself a favor and get them as separate books. The reason is because the editors foolishly stuck post-collection epilogues at the end of each book which means the reader gets all kinds of spoilers for future books right before they begin the next book. It’s maddening for a first-time reader.
All of these titles were obtained via my Los Angeles Public Library card through the Overdrive app. All of this content, education & entertainment… for free!
Comments are not open on this post because I am so tired of spam. If you know me or follow me on IG, feel free to start a conversation there about these titles or authors. Without further ado, here’s the list, in the order that I read them:
| Title | Author |
|---|---|
| How To Be An Anti-racist | Ibram X. Kendi |
| Trouble The Saints | Alaya Dawn Johnson |
| The Lost Book of Adana Moreau | Michael Zapata |
| Wow, No Thank You. | Samantha Irby |
| Becoming | Michelle Obama |
| The Well of Ascension | Brandon Sanderson |
| Four Hundred Souls | Ibram X. Kendi |
| Leviathan Wakes | James S.A. Corey |
| Our Time Is Now | Stacey Abrams |
| Indigo | Beverly Jenkins |
| Brave, Not Perfect | Reshma Saujani |
| The Well-Gardened Mind | Sue Stuart-Smith |
| Destiny’s Embrace | Beverly Jenkins |
| Always & Forever | Beverly Jenkins |
| The Hero of Ages | Brandon Sanderson |
| Destiny’s Surrender | Beverly Jenkins |
| Everyday Is A Gift | Tammy Duckworth |
| Vivid | Beverly Jenkins |
| Land | Simon Winchester |
| Caliban’s War | James S.A. Corey |
| White Tears/ Brown Scars | Ruby Hamad |
| The Body Keeps The Score | Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. |
| Abaddon’s Gate | James S.A. Corey |
| Bridgerton Collection, Volume 1 | Julia Quinn |
| The Year 1000 | Valerie Hansen |
| The Code-Breaker | Walter Isaacson |
| Hidden Sins | Selena Montgomery* |
| The Gifts of Imperfection | Brene Brown |
| Cibola Burn | James S.A. Corey |
| Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents | Isabel Wilkerson |
| The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue | V.E. Schwab |
| Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America | Ijeoma Oluo |
| Destiny’s Captive | Beverly Jenkins |
| Piranesi | Susanna Clarke |
| No Ashes In The Fire | Darnell L Moore |
| City On The Edge of Forever | Peter Lunenfeld |
| The Rook | Daniel O’Malley |
| Forbidden | Beverly Jenkins |
| Nemisis Games | James S.A. Corey |
| Feeling Good | David D. Burns, MD |
| Breathless | Beverly Jenkins |
| Long Division | Kiese Laymon |
| Tempest | Beverly Jenkins |
| Stealing Home | Eric Nusbaum |
| Babylon’s Ashes | James S.A. Corey |
| Rebel | Beverly Jenkins |
| Yolk | Mary H.K. Choi |
| Wild Rain | Beverly Jenkins |
| The Warmth of Other Suns | Isabel Wilkerson |
| Winds of the Storm | Beverly Jenkins |
| Bad Feminist | Roxanne Gay |
| Through The Storm | Beverly Jenkins |
| A Woman Of No Importance | Sonia Purnell |
| Night Song | Beverly Jenkins |
| You Are Your Best Thing | Tarana Burke |
| Night Hawk | Beverly Jenkins |
| The Disordered Cosmos | Chanda Prescod-Weinstein |
| A Field Guide To Getting Lost | Rebecca Solnit |
| Midnight | Beverly Jenkins |
| A Paradise Built In Hell | Rebecca Solnit |
| Taming of Jessi Rose | Beverly Jenkins |
| Hearts on Fire | Jill Iscol |
| A Chance At Love | Beverly Jenkins |
| Georgia | Dawn Tripp |
| Soundtracks | Jon Acuff |
| A Little Devil in America | Hanif Abdurraqib |
| Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan |
| Orwell’s Roses | Rebecca Solnit |
| Josephine | Beverly Jenkins |
| Something Like Love | Beverly Jenkins |
| The Undocumented Americans | Karla Cornejo Villavicenio |
| Wild Sweet Love | Beverly Jenkins |
| One Person/ Multiple Careers* | Marci Alboher |
| Empire of Pain* | Patrick Radden Keefe |
| Men Explain Things To Me | Rebecca Solnit |
| Utopia Avenue | David Mitchell |
| Hood Feminism | Mikki Kendall |
| The Last Smile in Sunder City | Luke Arnold |
| My Monticello | Jocelyn Nicole Johnson |
| Jewel | Beverly Jenkins |
| Game of Secrets | Kim Foster |
| Belle | Beverly Jenkins |
| There There | Tommy Orange |
*I didn’t finish these two books: Empire of Pain and One Person/ Multiple Careers.
I ran out of time to read it, but I plan to finish Empire of Pain when I get it back from the library (it is a very popular book right now and my loan expired- I have a new hold on it but it will be awhile before I get it back).
I don’t intend to finish One Person/ Multiple Careers. It was not from one of my trusted recommendation lists and instead was suggested by Amazon after I had loaded some other book onto my kindle. I do *not* recommend it- I found it trite, blasé and containing huge gaps in understanding (ie, blind spots). No thanks!
