Hit and Miss #329: Another year’s books
Phew, hi!
It’s been quite a week—A was sick (better now!), some difficult conversations in and around my extended family (ongoing…), and all kinds of wondering about what the next year will bring (which only time can tell). Last night, we rewatched Die Hard, and it was great fun seeing T so excited about it. Fun also to recount with my sister the many, many ways it was referenced in Brooklyn 99. (In years past, we’ve paired the movie with B99’s Christmas-shopping-turned-Die-Hard episode, and the Bob’s Burgers Die Hard musical episode, but we were all pretty zonked last night.)
As in years past (2022, 2021, 2020 and before), let’s use today to share a few books I particularly enjoyed this year.
As with last year, my reading habit has slowed considerably. This was also the first complete year in which I didn’t use Goodreads at all (mildly principled, but also a broader turning away from minute data tracking), so my recollection of what I’ve read is hazy, and risks suffering recency bias.
With those disclaimers…
- Worlds of Exile and Illusion, by Ursula K. Le Guin: In hindsight, Le Guin towers among the 20th-century authors of sci-fi/etc, but this collection of her first three novels reveals how incisive and thoughtful she was from the very beginning of her work. Great worldbuilding right off the bat, too.
- Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth (Nona next!), by Tasmyn Muir: lol, what a romp. I will happily return to this world and its characters time and again. A funny, mind-bending, lush story, ripe for reflection and laughs alike.
- Good Clean Fun, by Nick Offerman: In Offerman’s own words, truly a “most delightful textbook” for woodworking—an accessible, hilarious, encouraging introduction to the craft, a great accompaniment as I first wrapped my head around making with wood.
- Pastoral Song by James Rebanks: Years ago, I’d picked up The Shepherd’s Life on a whim, and enjoyed it so much it quickly became a top-shelf book. When I saw that James Rebanks had written a sequel, I was glad to read it—this one, a more developed, experienced portrait of modern farming, in contrast to another way, drawing on the experience and know-how of past generations.
- The Farmer’s Wife, by Helen Rebanks: Between the two Rebanks books this year, I think I enjoyed Helen Rebanks’s even more—a celebration of the trials and triumphs of family and home, of an equally worthy course of life.
- Moon of the Crusted Snow and Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice: A continuing portrait of an Anishinaabe family and community surviving—and, ultimately, thriving—in the wake of the collapse of networked infrastructure and all it enables. Come for the story, stay for all the little details.
Books I’m already looking forward to next year (when they come out in paperback) include Emily Wilson’s translation of the Iliad and John McPhee’s Tabula Rasa: Volume 1. I also look forward to digging into more woodworking reading, which helps with that itch to get into the shop whenever I can.
Wishing you and yours a lovely rest in this end-of-the-year “between” week. All the best for the week ahead!
Lucas