2022 Reading List
My habit of putting this off smashed right up against my first semester of grad school. But now that I have a break here’s the list:
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia – Ursula K. Le Guin
I decided to read some more Le Guin after my introduction a few years ago and this was recommended to me by some union friends. The Dispossessed follows a physicist on the moon of Anarres, which is an anarchist society, as he travels to a capitalist society on the main planet Urras. We learn a lot about how both societies both work and don’t work in regards to the individuals. The worldbuilding is rich, and Le Guin really uses the book to explore a lot of interesting ideas.
Sorry I Was Gone – Martha Grover
I appear briefly in yet another of Martha’s books, commenting on an earlier draft. This is a delightful quick collection of essays, poetry, and drawings that really grapple with how absurd life has felt for the last few years.
Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds – Adrienne Maree Brown
This was a book that had been recommended by a few folks I’ve met in the labor movement. I’d say I’d recommend it for people who are working in/creating organizations trying to reimagine a just world. That said, it’s more of a vibe than instructional manual. But I think we need both. Brown is upfront that you can read the chapters in any order, and I’d recommend that, if something isn’t really vibing with you then just move on to another chapter.
Fresh Grave in Grand Canyon – Lee Patton
A gay mystery set on a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. Great premise, but I felt like it was never quite doing what it was supposed to be doing. While the setting wonderfully described. Everything else felt like half measures. The plot both speeds along too fast and also too slowly, the characters feel not fully fleshed out (they make a lot of weird choices), and the romance teased on the cover was lukewarm.
Sasha Masha – Agnes Borinsky
Lent to me from a friend, Sasha Masha is a YA novel about a boy who feels like there’s something missing from his life and begins to question how he feels about his gender. It’s a fun, but poignant, quick read. The protagonist is both endearing and infuriating as teenagers can be and it really opens a window into confusion people feel when they don’t feel like the labels the world gives them don’t fit. Especially with the way this country is attacking trans kids it feels like such an important book to exist.
Fadeout – Joseph Hansen
Michael Nava referenced Joseph Hansen as an inspiration for the Henry Rios series so I picked this up to fill the gap that Henry has left in my life. Fadeout introduces the reader to David Brandstetter, a gay insurance investigator in 1960’s. I found the mystery to be well constructed and Hansen has a really distinct voice as an author. Clipped, direct, with good attention to the details that make the scenes come alive. Originally written in the 1960’s, it’s a little dated, but I’m interested to keep reading the series.
The Only Good Indians – Stephen Graham Jones
I used to read a lot of Stephen King when I was younger and was struck by the desire to get back into horror. And while yes, there is definitely horror here, there is also incredible brutality. The story follows four Blackfeet men who are being hunted by a vengeful entity from their past. Did I think it was great storytelling? Yes. Would I ever pick this up again? No.
Death Claims – Joseph Hansen
The second book in the Brandstetter series. Another great noir-style mystery. I will say, I can’t help but compare it to the Henry Rios series. Also, David is a real masc-for-masc guy and won’t shut up about it. I GET IT.
Slippery Creatures – K.J. Charles
I normally avoid gay romance books written by women but decided to give this one a chance since it was so popular. And it’s pretty good! A decent mystery, a slow burn, and some good sex (which redeemed it in my opinion).
Troublemaker – Joseph Hansen
It’s interesting to me that the books don’t seems to engage with culture and class so much. Brandstetter is always on the edge of the shifting culture. Maybe that’s what gave them their mass appeal at first.
The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of – Joseph Hansen
This one kind of touches on the respectability politics of queer culture which I find a little annoying because Brandstetter is really very respectable but then again I believe that he is. The mystery feels a little convoluted at the end.
A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy – Jane McAlevey
A little bit labor history, a little bit organizing 101, and a little bit Trump-era politics. I think it’s a good read for folks wanting to get an introduction into what the labor movement is (and can be) right now. I’d seen McAlevey speak several times before, she has a real passion for labor, and a sincere belief that it can make change, and I that comes across in this book.
Dear Teilhard – Hannah Larrabee
I saw Larrabee read at an Incite Reading and picked up this collection because it made me think of Annie Dillard’s For the Time Being, one of my favorite nonfiction books. This is a short poetry collection that really captures what it’s like to be a person in America surrounded by existential dread.
Afterparties – Anthony Veasna So
A strong debut collection, and I can’t help but wonder what work So would have produced if he was still alive. These stories about the Cambodian diaspora in California capture the tension of the immigrant experience; between the refugees and their new country and between them and their children who grew up in America.
The Three Body Problem – Cixin Liu
This book was WILD. It opens during the Cultural Revolution, jumps to modern day, and moves from mystery to alien invasion. There’s a lot of actual physics in the book as well some real speculative stuff. It was also nice to read a story where the big world-changing event is happening in another country and see how different it through a non-Western lens.
The Other Man – Farhad J. Dadyburjor
My first time reading a straight-up romance. It was a fast read, and I liked exploring what gay life is like in India, but there was too much ‘panning away to the curtains’ when things started to get steamy.
The House in the Cerulean Sea – T.J. Klune
A few folks recommended this to me. It’s been described as a ‘big warm gay blanket’, which I would say is true. It’s a Harry Potter-esque world focused on a social worker who inspects orphanages for magical beings. Plus, there’s a gay-romance subplot. But I found the narration a little cloying and the protagonist flat.
Democracy Is Power: Rebuilding Unions from the Bottom Up – Mike Parker
This is an instructional manual for people who want to revitalize their unions. If that’s you, I recommend.
The Route of Ice and Salt – José Luis Zárate
Zárate imagines the journey of the doomed Demeter, the ship that takes Dracula to England in Bram Stokers novel. Told through the ships logs of the queer, angsty, and incredibly horny captain. Great spooky and erotic vibes. If you wished Dracula was queerer then this would be a good companion piece.
Skinflick – Joseph Hansen
What’s interesting about this novel is that it introduces a character who could be trans, and book treats them with a lot of empathy.
Out of Sight: The Long and Disturbing Story of Corporations Outsourcing Catastrophe – Erik Loomis
I had to read this for grad school. It gives an interesting history of labor and environmental movements and how they have worked together and against throughout the years. Often pitted against each other by industry. It then gives an overview of how corporations have moved industries overseas, devastating jobs in America while offshoring the worst of their labor and environmental practices.
Gravedigger – Joseph Hansen
The last few books in this series are starting to feel the same to me, the mystery gets wrapped up really quickly and feels rushed but also I don’t feel like the book spends enough time deepening our understanding of Dave. Also there’s suddenly a love interest that feels real underdeveloped.
The Green new Deal and the Future of Work – Craig Calhoun
Also read for grad school. A collection of essays exploring the history of the New Deal, why we need a Green New Deal, and what that could look like. If you’re at all interested in this, and it offers a lot of promise to keep our planet livable, then I’d recommend it. Feel free to skip around.
