After taking a break from my year-end book reflections last year (too much baby, moving, house, life stuff), I’m back. Time flies faster with age, and so has my reading: 13 books, which is probably a personal post-college record.
Besides reading more I’ve also been running more, finishing three half marathons and a 5K. Suffice to say it’s been a nice year. (Here are my book reflections from 2021 and 2020 and 2019.)
I do love books but I am trying to show more restraint about buying them, especially since so many are still sitting in boxes after my move. I’ve been frequenting the local library, where I’m working more on my WFH days.
They say don’t judge books by their covers. But a good cover will sucker me in; half of the titles on this list I chose mostly by the cover. Now that I think of it, the same goes for Netflix too.
Making a Scene
Constance Wu
Walking in the library one afternoon, I recognized the cover right off the shelf, from her show “Fresh Off the Boat.” I had watched a few seasons, and remembered there was drama over some stuff she tweeted towards the series’ end that got a lot of flak (which by today’s standards is pretty tame). Still, the backlash wrecked her for a bit.
This is a collection of short stories about her upbringing, family, schooling, romantic dalliances and pursuit of an acting career. A teacher who wrongfully accused her of cheating. Waiting tables to make ends meet, in between auditioning and waiting anxiously for the call back. Growing up in quiet suburban Virginia, where nice Asian girls don’t make a scene, she finds in acting a creative, rebellious outlet.
It reads more like a diary; the writing is earnest and raw. She does not shy from presenting herself in an unfavorable light at times, during moments petty and mundane. If anything, she wrote this more for herself than for us. In this sense, who’s to judge a memoir?
Circe
Madeline Miller
I like good stories and characters from ancient and classical literature. I just can’t stand ancient and classical prose. That was the case in high school English, and still holds water today.
Told from her point of view, Circe’s story is poignant, tragic and beautiful in the ways that Greek mythologies are. It fills the backstory of an otherwise “minor” and oft-misunderstood goddess. From her lowly birth and neglected upbringing, to her exile and fated meeting with Odysseus, Circe tells her own story with a level of introspection not typically afforded to deities. Witch, mother, survivor; vengeful, wise and graceful — the full menu of Greek mythology themes are present, but revisited for contemporary times.
Enchanting may be the best way to describe the writing style. I have not read any Greek classics written from the perspective of women. Maybe there should be more, if they’re like this. And maybe they should put this on high school reading lists as well alongside the classics.
The Shards
Bret Easton Ellis
“American Psycho” is one of my favorite movies. The book is one of the most fucked up novels I’ve ever read. “White” was merely Bret Easton Ellis griping about young people. Hence my hesitation reading of his book.
It turns out to be the best of his I’ve read (admittedly a very small sample). It’s fun, psychopathic sadist deviance, within bounds of my tolerance for the obscene. “Just the right amount of wrong,” to quote my favorite Vegas casino.
“The Shards” is a fictional autobiography of Bret set in 1980s Los Angeles, a high school senior enjoying his last year with his fellow preppy school elite. Copious drugs, quaaludes, sex and drunk driving in the Hollywood Hills. Amid the hazy escapades, our unreliable narrator is trying to solve a series of murders happening in town that nobody seems to care about.
The book is long but the details are engrossing (and occasionally gross). Bret has long had a knack for immersing readers in the blasé excesses of upper-class life, sneering with self-indulgence and self contempt. No character is likable and everyone is superficial, but I couldn’t wait to see how the disaster would unfold.
Wonder Boy
Angel Au-Yeung & David Jeans
Tony Hsieh built Zappos and wrote a book, “Delivering Happiness,” about the journey. He delivered plenty of happiness to customers, colleagues, aspiring entrepreneurs, investors and just about everyone else — except himself.
This is a story of ambition and addiction, from Tony’s childhood through school, to the fame and fortune of Zappos, to revitalizing downtown Las Vegas and his rapid spiral downward. A misfit genius seeking meaning in misplaced places. Mistaking enablers for friends, and taken advantage of by yes-men masquerading as friends.
It is a tragic tale, and I say that as someone who generally rolls his eyes at the self-destructive behaviors of people with incredible resources and privileges. For all his faults and foolishness, Tony is chasing childhood happiness that feels so magical the first time, but is rarely replicated afterwards. Chasing a feeling unattainable is ultimately what addiction is about.
The Consequences
Manuel Muñoz
A collection of short stories set in Fresno and surrounding areas, The Consequences offers intimate vignettes of Latino families in the Central Valley, the country’s breadbasket that produces ¼ of U.S. foodtable goods. Though overall melancholic, the characters’ everyday hopes and fears come alive in rich details.
The stories touch on family, community, and the tensions between personal obligations and yearning to break free. The work is harsh, the environment is unforgiving, and the comforts modest at best. The threat of deportation is ever present.
My issue with short story collections is that it’s hard for me to remember any of them, and that’s true here. What I remember more are the character’s feelings as they toil to make ends meet, to find oneself and their desire to skip town for something else. I will probably remember these on my next drive down the Interstate 5 between San Francisco and Los Angeles, a stretch of road that I usually try to zone out on.
The Three Body Problem
Liu Cixin
Science fiction can often be more about the ideas than the characters. With a semi-rabid cult following and, this book (the first of a three-part series) follows a familiar plot: what happens when the search for extraterrestrial life backfires.
Beginning with the Chinese Cultural Revolution and propelling decades into the future, and involving a VR game that turns out to be more reality than virtual, the story does not lack for provocative ideas and connections. China’s troubled history shapes the motivations of its characters. Environmentalists and existentialists war over the response to the alien threat.
Unfortunately the writing (or at least the English translation) is very terse. The characters feel one-dimensional, seemingly fixed and predestined in their actions and beliefs. What it lacks in character development, it amply makes up for with details into astrophysics, scientific principles and big theories. As someone who got through college without taking any science (I know), I naturally struggled to distinguish between science and fiction during these parts. There is a chapter about folding dimensions where I pretty much lost it.
After finishing the book I read a summary to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Only then did I appreciate it a little more.
Lady Joker Vols. 1 and 2
Kaoru Takamura
Clocking in at over 1,200 pages, this two-volume behemoth of a crime novel was less daunting than the page count seems. (Yes I’m counting this as two books.) It helps to have an interest in Japan, having visited many times.
On the surface the story is fairly simple: corporate espionage, kidnapping and a whodunit involving a beer company, cops and robbers. What fills the pages is a rich immersion into Japanese history, corporate culture, the criminal underworld and political extortion. Class discrimination and generational divides. A 101 on beer distribution and the newspaper business, and how beat reporters rush to file in time of deadlines.
Everything is examined in almost excruciating detail. Everyone is wrestling against the stifling tradition of conformity of Japanese society. The layers of details and conversations rival that of The Wire, which understandably may be too much for some. But it makes for a cast of endearingly eccentric characters. For those who enjoy crime novels and want to learn what is simmering beneath Japan’s veneer of orderliness, this is a good slow burn.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Gabrielle Zevin
Playing video games forged some of my closest friendships. Making a game almost broke one of them.
This novel gets a little sappy at times but is a wonderful ode to the childhood love for games. It follows a boy and girl who first meet and connect over games in therapy, and later reconnect to make their own. As their success leads them to running an indie game studio, they tussle with the compromises involved in making a living from making art, while staying true to oneself. The tension between settling and selling out, and the stubborn, insufferable pursuit of perfection.
Full of delightful references to the game classics, this book hits all the nostalgic notes for anyone who grew up with video games. (And maybe too for those who didn’t.) The beautiful writing stirred memories of my own childhood — the blissful naivety of being completely absorbed in games, their characters and the stories they tell. I’d like to relive these moments soon with my son.
Pageboy
Elliot Page
Another book I picked from the library shelf based on cover recognition. This time, it took a second: I had read about Ellen’s transition to Elliot, but had not seen anything else.
As a fan of several then-Ellen Page movies growing up, it didn’t dawn on me that perhaps his greatest act then was living as a woman. I liked his female character roles and their tomboy sass. Little did anyone know that the cute-girl persona was the source of so much strife.
Organized as a series of vignettes, the chapters jump in and out at different pivotal moments in his life, juxtaposing fellow Hollywood celebrities and his upbringing in Halifax in Nova Scotia. His recounting of wrestling with gender dysphoria, coming out and transitioning reads a bit muddled — but perhaps because these are personally confusing experiences. While hard for me to relate, I certainly empathize with one of the closing lines: “Let me just exist with you, happier than ever.”
Moscow X
David McCloskey
A fun, action-packed, fast-paced spy thriller set in modern day Russia. The mission: Part Putin from ill-gotten money and forge a trail to political allies.
Centered around CIA operatives and the heir of a Russian oligarch who’s fallen out of favor, the story has all the trademarks of spy thrillers: betrayal, seduction, shady bankers, brilliant and borderline reckless agents, and their uptight bosses.
A former CIA operative, McCloskey struts his stuff. A deep knowledge of global history behind today’s geopolitics. Insider knowledge of meticulous planning involved in espionage missions, and all the contingencies and variables that must be accounted for. Delightfully, the novel never feels bogged down in overly dense technical details, which is rare for agents-turned-authors.
Reading this felt like watching a Mission Impossible movie, and I would not be surprised if this was adapted into a screenplay and its own film soon.
Going Infinite
Michael Lewis
Who is Sam Bankman-Fried and how did he sucker so many supposedly smart people? That is the question that famed biographer Michael Lewis was tasked with answering as he shadowed him for six months, up to the FTX collapse. That is the question I still have after finishing this.
Lewis does his job telling the coming-of-age story of an odd, precocious child who grows up to be an odd, immature adult. But he seems a bit too enthralled by SBF’s eccentric behavior. There are plenty of silly scenes and absurd episodes, often involving Storybook Brawl and SBF’s baggy shorts. And there is one thing that me and SBF have in common: We both think reading Shakespeare is overrated. (See earlier comment in blurb about Circe.)
The book’s publication was pushed earlier than planned, to coincide with SBF’s trial. No wonder the ending felt rushed. It makes a weak, not wholly convincing effort to connect the dots and answer the opening question. Most people don’t understand finance, and even fewer understand crypto. But people will believe in most anything if you make them feel rich and part of a cool club. And yes, I do own some crypto.
Trail of the Lost
Andrea Lankford
Every now and then I feel a yearning to disappear for a week into the wilderness. This story is a gripping warning about why I may not last that long.
This story is about the search for three missing hikers on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail. Written by a former park ranger, the book looks at how wanderlust fantasies can quickly go awry, and the community mobilization and detective work that ensues for the search. It’s also a reminder that the dangers in the wilderness are not always natural; all sorts of sketchy characters seek solitude for good reason.
Heartwarming and heart-wrenching, this investigative memoir reveals a wide range of emotions in the search for the missing: grief, letting go, the interminable search for answers, the closure that never comes, the good volunteers, and those who genuinely try to help but only end up hurting.
My favorite line: “You may not find what you’re searching for, but you will find more than you seek.”
