Over the years, I’ve written many a book report. Here’s a round up of some of my favorites:

I wrote about The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai and why you should add it to your reading list here. It’s one of my favorite books of all time. It chronicles the life of a man part of the queer community in Chicago ravaged by the AIDS epidemic. Makkai set this in the late 1980s and mid 2010s which makes the absence of gay friends and family aching. It has one of the best written death scenes I’ve read. Oh, BTW, it will make you cry. No doubt.

Octavia E. Butler is one of my favorite authors of all time. She writes compelling sci-fi tales that question the fabric of freedom. Kindred is riveting. Highly recommend. My full review lives here. Hulu made a modern day series based loosely on this novel that is worth watching as well. Button warning: violence against black bodies and 1800s slavery.

I found The Midnight Library short and sweet with vivid scenes I still think about regularly. A woman no longer wants to live and finds herself in a library with books shelved into perpetuity. Each spine cracks open into a would-have-been life if she made just one choice differently. She is thrust into a visceral sample of the life. In one alternate life, she elects to study wildlife in the Arctic and confronts some dangerous neighbors. It’s deep and will make you think about your life choices. Did you choose wisely? The longer report can be found here.

Now, I urge you to put this one at the top of your list if you feel the need for a paradigm shift regarding capitalism and how we can go back to a civilization our ancestors knew. We have forgotten our connection with each other and with the world around us. Dr. Kimmerer is a registered member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and reminds us of what we already know. Let’s remember how we loved before money came into the equation. Also, her tone is light and sage. She is not heavy handed like I have been above. I met her when she signed my book, and gave a speech at Colorado College. Y’all, she was amazing. The knowledge she shares is healing. Find my thoughts here.

This is such an interesting novel — read why here.

Oh, y’all. This one is one of my favorites of all time. If you know a woman, any woman, this book is for you. I listened to it on Audible because Glennon narrates this herself. This is another all-time-fav — why I think so, here. Lofty claim, but I kid you not. This book was paradigm shifting.

Annnnnd how can we forget my Trip Around the World Via Reading when I inhaled novels translated from their native tongues into English. I learned so much about Saudi Arabian culture, natural vegetation in the tops of the Andes mountains, gorgeous literary customs in Iran. I recommend all of these as I’d love to read them again.

What good books have you read lately?

xMae