my 2013 book stack

The end of the year is, for many, a time to calculate, assess, and number. In that spirit, I give you just a few of the best books I read in 2013 in no particular order. Imagine, if you will, tiny thumbnails of the book covers beside each book title, because wouldn’t that be nice!

The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida. An extraordinary memoir by a 13-year-old nonverbal boy with Autism. Did I already say “extraordinary?” This book gives us a look into a mind thought inaccessible. In it, Higashida answers questions such as “Why do people with autism talk so loudly and weirdly?” “Why do you line up your toy cars and blocks?” “Why don’t you make eye contact when you’re talking?” “What’s the reason you jump?” Naoki’s answer: “When I’m jumping, it’s as if my feelings are going upward to the sky.” This is one of my must-reads from the year.

Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and Identity by Andrew Solomon. I watched his TED talk about love, and had the chance to hear him speak and speak with him at the first ever Autism Pride Week, held in Asheville, NC. First, he is a captivating orator. Second, he is brilliant. Third, he is a person who writes from a place of great depth, wit, erudition, and humanity. Fourth, and not least, he is a genuinely charming man, in the way that intellectuals can be and sometimes aren’t. This book is breathtaking in its breath and its depth. Not just for parents, it does offer parents a humbling look at what it means to love unconditionally a child who has fallen far from the tree, one that may–at times–seem unlovable.

The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, also by Andrew Solomon. Ah, that most pervasive of family secrets, here written about and understood from the inside out, with a deep sense of humanity. Deeply revealing, enlightening, and enriching, I would have everyone read this book, whether they suffer from depression or not. Because if you don’t, someone close to you does, and this book will illuminate the way.

The Sea Road by Margaret Elphinstone. I have a 37days book club that meets each month virtually, and this was one of our books for 2013. I knew nothing about it before choosing it, and in many ways it was a counterintuitive choice as I’m not generally drawn to historical fiction, which is all I thought this was. It was a book that intrigued me on many levels–not the usual battle cries and sea exploits of the Vikings, but something deeper than that–the story of the Vikings from the perspective of an extraordinary woman named Gudrid. Exploration, cultures colliding, steps into what is not known, all richly told.

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout. After I read Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, I knew I wanted to read more of her work. Enter The Burgess Boys, a story of family and home and much more. Three siblings are at the heart of it, two brothers and a sister who calls them home to help her navigate a complex situation with her son. Strout’s prose is exquisite, the characters complex, and it is a book I loved reading.

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. When I was asked to interview Khaled Hosseini on stage during his stop in Asheville this year, I had never read a word the man had written. I’ll admit that I’m leery of giant bestsellers, preferring the lesser known erudite and, yes, “difficult” books, so I had stayed away from The Kite Runner and his other books. But since he was coming to town to talk about his new book, And the Mountains Echoed, I felt an obligation to read it before sitting on stage with him. I was hooked from the first page. Beautifully written and with a sensitivity that is hard to describe, this tale over generations is beautiful constructed and rendered.

And so many more.

These are the favorite books I read aloud to Tess at bedtime this year. I think they are beautiful books for adults, as well, and ones especially beautiful and satisfying to read aloud:

Keeper by Kathi Apelt

The Underneath by Kathi Apelt

The Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Apelt

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Summerland by Michael Chabon

Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo

Mockingbird by  Kathryn Erskine

I hope 2014 is a year full of reading for you.

Love,

 

 

 

 

Image by Susan Landor Keegin