happy new year // my top 10 reads of 2019

2019 was a big reading year for me. I've always been a reader, but I lack the motivation while I'm in school. This year, though, I went through a phase of reading all kinds of yoga literature and I also discovered Audible, which is excellent (and has a free trial!), and Libby, an online library, which is even better. I've been loving podcasts over the past few years, and I started to add some audio books into the rotation. I actually ended up getting through about a book a week over the year! Audio books are magical.

Late last year I had several discussions with friends about their reading goals. People had aspirations of reading a book weekly or monthly. But they also had more interesting goals: I had friends who wanted to prioritize books written by women and people of colour. I had friends who wanted to evenly split their reading between Eastern and Western authors. Somebody said they wanted to make an effort to read books from different viewpoints on big issues than their own. In sum, I think we're all starting to realize that all reading expands our horizons, but we tend to get stuck reading books with similar voices to our own experiences. It's also important that we intentionally diversify the voices that we hear, through all mediums, but books are a great place to start.

I've compiled a list of my favourite books that I read last year, just in case one of your resolutions involves books. I'm not promising that this list is free from straight white American men - just because you're privileged doesn't mean you have nothing to add to the world - but these writers and their topics are diverse. I'm hoping that at this time next year, it will have diversified even further.

1. The Book of Joy - Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Carlton Abrams

His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Buddhist) and Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Christian) discuss what joy means to them and how to achieve it, during likely their last visit on this earth in Dharamsala, India. Author Douglas Carlton Abrams (Jewish) records this historical event, reflecting upon what the two great spiritual leaders have to say about joy, as well as the beautiful friendship between these men. This book is so pure and such a beautiful representation of how we can hold strong convictions while still being respectful of others' views - we can even learn from them. We need this desperately right now.

2. Born a Crime - Trevor Noah

This book is just so real. While Trevor Noah's childhood stories in South Africa were of course unbelievable, painful, heartbreaking, and disgusting at times, his voice captures range of the experience so well. He doesn't let you miss out on the love, the hope, the joy of it all. I knew very little about the Apartheid before reading this book, which is surprising because of how relatively recent it was - but it seems that Western schools like to focus on Western problems. This is a deficit that I'd like to correct, and Born a Crime was a great place to start.

3. Gumption - Nick Offerman

I imagine that Nick Offerman had so much fun writing this book. He basically just came up with a list of people that he thinks are cool and then wrote a mini biography about each of them. We all know that this guy is funny, but you may not know that he's also incredibly smart and well-written. This book is entertaining and educational, and it touches on a wide variety of topics, including art, writing, politics, religion, etc. etc. Covering everybody from George Washington to Yoko Ono, you get a really cool insight into how Offerman thinks about the world, as well as some cold hard facts about important historical and current figures.

4. Strange Planet - Nathan W. Pyle

Can't forget to represent alien culture in this highly diverse list of books. These comics get my sense of humour, and they get Mitchell's even more. They're endlessly hilarious, and there's a whole instagram account of them too! Absolutely worth the read.

5. Becoming - Michelle Obama

This is a beautiful book. This family has had an unbelievable life, and what struck me the most about Michelle Obama's stories was how damn busy they both were before, during, and after her husband's presidency. Charming and heartfelt, this gives a window into each piece of her life - what it was like to grow up cramped into a small apartment on the south side of Chicago, to be considered nothing more than a senator's wife, to be an overwhelmed new mother, to make progress as the first black First Lady, to have to say goodbye to the whole thing, riding in a limo with Melania Trump. Becoming lets the reader into a fantasy-like world, and manages to stay totally relatable all the while.

6. Bossypants - Tina Fey

Tina Fey just gets me. I don't know how else to describe it. I really got into books written by comedians this year, and none of them made me laugh alone while riding the bus more than Bossypants. Fey is honest and sarcastic, as always, just how I like it.

7. City of Girls - Elizabeth Gilbert

I know y'all were waiting for Liz to show up. I wouldn't leave you hanging. City of Girls is an awesome beach read. I listened to an interview with her a while back, where she said something along the lines of: I wanted this book to go down like a glass of champagne. And it lives up to that promise. This novel is exciting, heart-wrenching, surprising, beautiful, honest, hopeful, and so full of life.

8. Life's Work - Dr. Willie Parker

Stay with me here, because I know we've all got our own opinions and adding a book about abortion to the list may seem controversial. I promise I'm not trying to alienate anybody here, but I truly loved this book. Dr. Willie Parker is a black medical doctor in the States who performs abortions, and this book is the story of his experiences being a professional person of colour providing the most controversial of services to American women in vulnerable circumstances. I'm sure you can imagine that any one of these attributes could afford you some hatred in the current US climate, and putting them all together makes it all the more easy to spread cheap hate. This book is worth the read, regardless of your personal beliefs, to hear about the experiences of a man who, if nothing else, is crazy courageous and standing up for what he believes in at great personal cost.

9. Pastrix - Nadia Bolz-Weber

I think I found my spirit animal in Nadia Bolz-Weber. She's blunt and honest, rough around the edges and unapologetic about it. She's sassy and she stands up for herself. She's fed up with the out-0f-date practices of the church, and she calls out bullshit when she sees it. In three words, I love her.

10. Are We There Yet? - Mari Andrew

Mari Andrew opens herself up in a super powerful way, creating art that is vulnerable and so relatable. This woman has lived such an interesting life, and her illustrated memoir deals with a strange and awesome range of topics including grief, loss, solo travel, dating, paralysis (literally), family, and friendship. This book is heartwarming and Mari's drawings are the cutest. You will be bothering the person next to you to show them every other page.

---

I'm excited to get going on the many books I got for Christmas - it's a good start for 2020! What are your best book recommendations?

Namaste.