2022 Reading Challenge – A 5 Book Reading List

By Ada.

I drafted this nearly 3 months ago reading most of these books back to back in a short period of time. This is by no means conclusive as the year is still not done and I’m 5 books away from my reading challenge goal. In no particular order, I’ve decided to write about novels I felt strongly enough about to share with the world. I wasn’t sure how to tackle this. Should I speak generally of the authors or the books. There’s some overlap but I like the uniformity of one or the other so we’ll discuss by book.

The Percy Jackson series is notably missing from this list. An insanely fun series I’ve been talking a lot about and will probably feature on a series about YA and kid’s fiction maybe.

1. The Intuitionist – Colson Whitehead

Probably the oldest of all his books that I’ve read so far and maybe one of the more difficult ones for me based on the mechanics central to the subject matter but, winner winner baby! Colson Whitehead has been one of my favourite authors for a while. I’m slowly making my way through his catalogue and I’ve still got quite a way to go but this is something.

The novel follows Lila Mae Watson, the first black female Intuitionist Elevator Inspector in some unnamed metropolitan city akin to New York City. The moving plot begins when an elevator free falls on her watch and we accompany her on her mission to clear her name.

While I think Whitehead’s writing can be a bit difficult to read at times – it gets caught up in the precision of its genre and the need to establish itself – he’s great at making a point and paining clear pictures. He’s very good at creating stories that feature and explore race, wrapped around stories seeped in facts or whole fictions and the life that comes of that. It’s not his greatest piece of work but dare I say it, it’s one of his best. I read Harlem Shuffle before this and I don’t believe the story would be what it was if this book didn’t pave the way for it. I think the ending was sort of genius and this is my guy, I’ll never be sorry for that.

2. I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy

This is a really really really good memoir. It’s heartbreaking to read of Jennette McCurdy’s experiences but she does a good job in the way she writes it. With such heavy subject matter, McCurdy’s writing is a credit to her. For one, she’s funny! Humour is a coping mechanism and this is reflected in the novel but the humour grows with her as she matures. It’s not merely a writing tool but it’s honest. This works extremely well with the length of the chapters. The book is split into bite size portions if you will, which lends itself to its content. The voice of her writing captures the emotions and innocence of a child forced into a career and a life she didn’t choose. She paints a clear picture of a complex relationship and how cycles of abuse are difficult to breakthrough. There’s a clarity in the way her thoughts and feelings are minimised by a parental figure she loves and wants to please who also harms her in ways she doesn’t always have the words for. She treats herself to the honesty she wasn’t allowed to have and vocalise, and the hardships that come with getting through it. It’s so warm at the end. Her vulnerability and the level of introspection she brings as she leans into kindness and forgiveness is handled with so much care and compassion. 10/10, would recommend.

3. Our Missing Hearts – Celeste Ng

Celeste Ng can do no wrong to me. None. One of the most phenomenal writers I’ve ever come across, I adore everything she has written so far.

Our Missing Hearts is very on brand for Ng at this point but also super different. It captures a seemingly dystopian world that mirrors our reality as a very plausible future we’re heading towards. Themes of race, specifically anti- Asian violence and anti-Blackness are explored through PACT – Preserving American Culture and Traditions. PACT upholds white supremacy through policies that centre whiteness as the epitome of Americanness. There is a deliberate attempt to weed out the ‘other’. Ng does well to show that attempts to satiate and placate the system by being a good representation of otherness is proof that your goodness will not save you.

I read her earlier works in 2020, including the adapted Little Fires Everywhere and her debut Everything I Never Told You. A recurring theme in her writing is her exploration of Chinese American identity and race relations. She writes with intention. This novel is really great as well because it weaves with the past with the present. In doing this, she not only pays homage to the moments that inspired and brought us to where we are but dialog highlights the very long way we have to go to ensure freedom for all.

But they’re so great, I now say.

4. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty – Akwaeke Emezi

The title is long as hell but it’s also super gorgeous so points for that. This is not their best book, but it stands out to me. This was my chosen holiday read because I thought it’d be cute and easy and romantic and yes but also no. This book stressed me out, I started yelling so much I had to stop but also got too stressed to not know what happened next so I finished it. You can check out the summary yourself because I will undersell it or say too much. But, it deals with grief and how much we build it into our identities. But it also deals with love and relearning what it’s like to breathe life back into yourself and have the colour returned to your cheeks by those you care for. It’s not their most beautifully written book but it’s so beautiful in that it’s easy to get into. It’s easy to fall into the worlds of the characters and it’s one of those novels that reminds me that the devastation passes.

5. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

Jane Austen, woman that you are. This book was so incredibly excellent and as a classic, it sits so in theme with my more recent life mottos?

I tend to avoid the classics for the most part. Much like a large part of my self- perception, they fit into categories of things I don’t do and therefore gospel to how I see myself and interact with certain canon.

The classics especially, I associate with key stage 2 academics and Literature curriculums that I could never really get right. They’re hard to read I said. They’re boring I said. But they’re so great, I now say! Pride and Prejudice was such an insanely fun experience. It has drama, enemies to lovers romance, class commentary, scandal. Why was I running?

My favourite thing about the novel is the thing I was running away from, the writing. Much of today’s media are adaptations of or draw on inspirations from these written works. And in doing so, don’t quite nail it or end up butchering the fullness of their source material. And that’s alright considering they are what they are. But the language of Austen’s time has evolved as language does but in doing so, the richness and intent of her words has been lost in translation. It felt like a blessing to be able to see the extent of language in that way.