I barely read last year.
On top of all the horrors going on (and still going on) in the world, I quit what I thought was my dream job, and I lost motivation for most of my passions. Reading included.
I’m off to a better start this year, though.
I reactivated my account on The StoryGraph, set my reading goal to 100 books, and plan to document my reading journey—starting now! Especially because I’m training for my first marathon and reading audiobooks on my long runs.
I read 6 books in January and—spoiler—there’s one book you absolutely must read: The Truth About Immigration by Zeke Hernandez. Because the ongoing, hateful rhetoric about people who have immigrated to or don’t yet have documentation in the U.S. is more than misleading—it’s untrue. It’s racist. And it’s inciting harm.
No one is illegal on stolen land. No one is “illegal”—period.
Abolish ICE.
Keep families together.
Find your humanity.
And contact representatives.
1. Station Eleven
By Emily St. John Mandel
An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days following civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
It is fifteen years after a flu pandemic wiped out most of the world’s population. Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony, a small troupe moving over the gutted landscape, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. But when they arrive in the outpost of St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave. Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the disaster brought everyone here, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty, telling a story about the relationships that sustain us.
Review:
★★★★
So well written. Mandel has definitely studied the craft of writing. I thought I would love this book because I’ve heard so much about it, but I unfortunately didn’t connect to the characters and needed more time with the traveling symphony.
2. The Woman in Me
By Britney Spears
“In Britney Spears’s memoir, she’s stronger than ever.” —The New York Times
In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.
Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.
Review:
★★★★
The first CD I ever owned was a Britney Spears album (which I included in my “vibes I bring to the function” post on Instagram). I cherished it. Sad yet hopeful, Britney tells her story with care and self-compassion. I’ve seen reviews critiquing the writing, but I personally loved that Britney’s voice wasn’t edited out of the narrative. Especially given all she’s been through and the topics she addresses in the book.
3. The Truth About Immigration
By Zeke Hernandez
The go-to book on immigration: fact-based, comprehensive, and nonpartisan.
Immigration is one of the most controversial topics in the United States and everywhere else. Pundits, politicians, and the public usually depict immigrants as either villains or victims. The villain narrative is that immigrants pose a threat—to our economy because they steal our jobs; our way of life because they change our culture; and to our safety and laws because of their criminality. The victim argument tells us that immigrants are needy outsiders—the poor, huddled masses whom we must help at our own cost if necessary. But the data clearly debunks both narratives. From jobs, investment, and innovation to cultural vitality and national security, more immigration has an overwhelmingly positive impact on everything that makes a society successful.
In The Truth About Immigration, Wharton professor Zeke Hernandez draws from nearly 20 years of research to answer all the big questions about immigration. He combines moving personal stories with rigorous research to offer an accessible, apolitical, and evidence-based look at how newcomers affect our local communities and our nation. You’ll learn about the overlooked impact of immigrants on investment and job creation; realize how much we take for granted the novel technologies, products, and businesses newcomers create; get the facts straight about perennial concerns like jobs, crime, and undocumented immigrants; and gain new perspectives on misunderstood issues such as the border, taxes, and assimilation.
Most books making a case for immigration tell you that immigration is good for immigrants. This book is all about how newcomers benefit you, your community, and your country. Skeptics fear that newcomers compete economically with locals because of their similarities and fail to socially assimilate because of their differences. You’ll see that it’s exactly the opposite: newcomers bring enduring economic benefits because of their differences and contribute positively to society because of their similarities. Destined to become the go-to book on one of the most important issues of our time, this book turns fear into hope by proving a simple truth: immigrants are essential for economically prosperous and socially vibrant nations.
Review:
★★★★
A must-read book on immigration. Very informative, and I hope to get a physical copy. Wish more people would read this! My main critique is that the book focuses on the reasons that immigration is good for the country but does not emphasize that the barriers to immigration are built on racism, though I understand the purpose /audience for this book and the rhetorical choice behind this.
4. Letters to a Young Writer
By Colum McCann
From the bestselling author of the National Book Award winner Let the Great World Spin comesa lesson in how to be a writer—and so much more than that.
Intriguing and inspirational, this book is a call to look outward rather than inward. McCann asks his readers to constantly push the boundaries of experience, to see empathy and wonder in the stories we craft and hear.
A paean to the power of language, both by argument and by example, Letters to a Young Writer is fierce and honest in its testament to the bruises delivered by writing as both a profession and a calling. It charges aspiring writers to learn the rules and even break them.
These fifty-two essays are ultimately a profound challenge to a new generation to bring truth and light to a dark world through their art.
Review:
★★★
Some takeaways, but after reading stellar books on writing, I found this lacking. The author’s privilege showed at times too. But overall it’s solid and a quick read if you need some writing inspiration.
5. Wicked
By Gregory Maguire, Narrated by John McDonough
With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come.
Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination.
Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz’s most promising young citizens.
But Elphaba’s Oz is no utopia. The Wizard’s secret police are everywhere. Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas.
Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name—one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel’s distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire’s Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch.
Review:
★★
Movie? 10/10. Book? Not so much. Appreciated a lot of it but, whew, forced myself through this.
6. How to Piss Off Men
By Kyle Prue
Be no man’s peace.
Have you ever been badgered by an annoying pick-up artist at the bar? Ever felt a burning desire to emotionally torture a friend’s boyfriend in an act of revenge? Have you ever endured just talking to a man before?
If so, then this book is for you.
With more than 100 phrases, questions, and comebacks, How to Piss Off Men is your essential guide to sending even the most relentless mansplainer into an existential crisis. Whether it’s referring to his expensive NFL jersey as “cosplay” or letting him know he has the confidence of a much taller man, this handbook will ensure you’re equipped to combat toxic masculinity in any situation.*
The advice in this book has been thoroughly tested for effectiveness. Even on the author, bless his heart.
Review:
★★
Eh? Nothing substantial. Was bored at times because, as women, we get this. We live this. So some just didn’t feel very inventive or elevated.
Have you read or plan to read any of these books? Leave me a comment, plus give me some audiobook recommendations! I’ll need all the audiobook recommendations I can get, as I train for my first marathon.
If you’ve made it to the very end, know I appreciate you more than words can say!
Morgan Vega 
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