A roundup of some books I enjoyed throughout this past year, in categories I’m inventing on the spot.
Book I Looked Forward to so Much I Requested it for Christmas, and it Fulfilled My Anticipation
Bread of Angels, a memoir, by Patti Smith
I finished reading Smith’s memoir moments before starting this blog post. I generally only buy books by local authors or writers I know. Everything else comes from the public library. But I wanted a copy of this for my own and suggested my husband could buy it for Christmas.
A good portion of the book covers her childhood years. What’s fascinating, and maybe a little validating to me, is that such an extraordinary person didn’t have any kind of private lessons, go to summer camps, or travel at all growing up, as her parents were working class and made just enough money to feed and house the family. Largely, she and her siblings were left to their own devices, which meant they were free to make discoveries, develop initiative, and hone their imaginations.
Notable quote:
“This is what the writer craves, in a cafe in the earliest hours, in an empty drawing room of a hotel, or scrawling in a notebook in the pew of a silent cathedral. A sudden shaft of brightness containing the vibration of a particular moment…The unsullied memory of unpremeditated gestures of kindness. These are the bread of angels.”
If there’s a secondary theme, it might be summed up near the end, after she has recounted her efforts to continue a meaningful life after a tsunami of huge personal losses left her to bring up her children and reconstruct a career on her own.
“We are on this chessboard Earth, we attempt to make our moves, but at times it seems as if the great hand of a disinterested giant haphazardly sends us on a trajectory of stumbling. What do we do? We step back and seek within ourselves what is needed to be done and serve the best we can.”
Best Armchair Travel
Hidden Libraries: the World’s Most Unusual Book Depositories, DC Helmuth.
This book explores some of the world’s most unusual libraries–everything from a little free library built into a hollow tree to a “future library” that solicits authors to write stories not to be read for a hundred years. I shed a tear reading about the plundering a destruction of the great Mayan libraries of old, of which only 20 volumes were known to escape. On the other hand, I was filled with inspiration discovering the lengths people have gone to in order to make sure others have access to books, including biblioburros serving remote mountain regions and underground libraries in London created during WWII.
New Interpretation of One of My Favorite Classics
We’ve all read Mark Twain’s story from Huck Finn’s point of view. Now Percival Everett has added a much-needed perspective by showing us events through Jim’s eyes, which at times means the brutality of slavery is shown more starkly than in Twain’s work. I believe this is an especially important book at this very moment in time.
Most Civic-Minded and Informative Nonfiction Book
Who is Government, the Untold Story of Public Service, Michael Lewis
A fascinating read, containing chapters by various authors, each of them doing a deep dive on one person or group within the federal government, showing what work they do and how it helps us all.
The first chapter is about a former coal miner turned engineer who made it his life’s mission to prevent roof collapses in mines, the number one cause of on-the-job death for miners. The slate of writers here is impressive – Dave Eggers writing about the Jet Propulsion Lab, W. Kamau Bell explaining what antitrust laws are, Sarah Vowell (be still my heart) taking on the National Archives (be still my heart again.) I learned there’s a woman who has been working at the FDA, trying her best to build some kind of system for medical professionals to use as a repository of information about the treatment of rare diseases.
I hope these folks haven’t all been purged from government by now.
Novel Where the Geographical Location is a Main Character
This is a novel that spans centuries and several points of view, but remains fixed geographically to one location. One section of forest with a house that endures through several additions and renovations from colonial times on through to present day. A series of connected stories show the lives of various people (and in one case beetles) who inhabit it throughout the years, vivid and complicated characters all.
The writing is absolutely gorgeous, especially his nature descriptions. I would read it all over again just for those passages. There are surprising turns in the plot, but ones that make sense. After they’ve been sprung, you can see how the path was leading there all along.
Most Awe-Inspiring Book of Nature Writing
Close to Home: the Wonders of Nature Just Outside Your Door, Thor Hanson
If you’ve read my blog even sporadically, you’ll know why I was drawn to this nonfiction book. Thor Hanson is a biologist who wants to let us know we are all part of nature and that wonders are all around us. We don’t have to go farther than the nearest patch of green outside our doors, whether that be our own yard or a city park, to make discoveries and experience awe-inspiring biodiversity. The more we experience it, the more we will want to protect it.
He spends a lot of time describing the amazing variety he encounters within 100 feet of his house. This is interspersed with accounts of other naturalists who have increased our knowledge of the natural world simply by going outside and being observant. He has a real facility for describing plants, animals, fungi, and even air in a way that brings it all to life on the page.
Charming and Downright Delightful Graphic Novel That Left Me With a Warm Glow
Pumpkinheads, Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
I don’t read a ton of graphic novels, but I picked this one up for a reading challenge and found an unexpected treasure.
If you’re looking for a low-stress, but still engaging book, here you go. This is a sweet little tale about two high school seniors who are work besties finishing out their last ever shift together at a pumpkin patch. As one of them encourages the other to (finally) find and talk to the girl he’s been crushing on, they take the reader on a tour of the whole place in a madcap goose chase as they stay one step behind her.
Lots of fun and great artwork. Speaking of the illustrations, pay close attention because a couple of wordless subplots take place there.
I read many more books, but these are the highlights I felt like sharing. Here’s to new literary adventures in 2026!
Nomadic Noesis 