What I'm Reading: 'Breath, Eyes, Memory' by Edwidge Danticate

This lovely wisp of a novel came to me at just the right time -- I had just finished Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, and although Breath, Eyes, Memory is not a memoir, it is particularly autobiographical fiction and is narrated by a young woman who experiences a dramatic relocation as an integral part of her coming of age. In this case, Sophie Caco moves from her native Haiti to New York City.

I love books about relocations like this because when I was sixteen my family moved from small-town Alaska to southeast Michigan, which was an enormous cultural shift for me. In some ways it feels very insignificant because at sixteen, I felt very fully-formed and mature, and only two years later I went away to college, so in a way it just feels like one elongated, natural transition from adolescence to adulthood. But in other ways it feels like a major and formative turning point in my life because it probably dramatically changed the outcome of that transitional period.

I certainly wouldn't assert that I share much in common with either Edwidge Danticat or Jacqueline Woodson's experiences, but I really enjoy reading about something I experienced through so many different perspectives.

Bookhive's Best of 2014

So many bloggers and writers and editors will tell you how much they positively despise putting together "Best of' lists at the end of the year. Those people are lying. Making lists is incredibly fun and frankly not all that difficult. Yes, there are tons of movies and books and albums that are made each and every year, but only a small fraction of them are worth consideration for a "Best of" list and it is quite literally their job to figure out which ones. So they can get over it. 

A few caveats regarding my own list: I am not a professional literary editor or reviewer; I have a full-time job so anything I read that was published in 2014 had to be squeezed into an already busy schedule, and additionally, had to be available to me at the library or interesting enough to warrant a purchase, which is rare for new titles. I'm still not enough of a mover and shaker to warrant advance review copies, so I do my best to keep up and I have the library fines to prove it. Thus, my favorite titles published in 2014:

The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore -- Smart, well-researched, incredibly interesting and so much more than a history of a comic book character. 

On Immunity by Eula Biss -- Really hard to describe but brief and wonderful all the same. Her meditations on the nature of disease and vaccination are poetic and troubling.

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples -- This comic started a few years ago but the latest issues and an omnibus edition were published this year, so it's fair game. I am not a comic book expert, so when I say it's my favorite comic book, that probably means very little, but it's really terrific; funny, challenging, and beautiful.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson -- Just ignore the YA-genre buzz around this short prose-poem memoir. Adults should read it, kids should read it.

Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast -- A really warm and honest and insightful graphic memoir on the aging and death of Chast's parents. I cried less than I expected.

Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, and Leanne Shapton -- I was surprised by how many "Best of" lists forgot about this one, because it made a huge impression on me. I still haven't removed it from the pile next to my bed because I keep going back to it. It is endlessly entertaining and makes the smallest minutiae of women's lives fascinating.

The Gift of Books: All the Prizes...

They say gifts often reveal more about the giver than the recipient, and the following books, the biggest and best of 2014, will inevitably show the world your impeccable taste.

Lila by Marilynne Robinson -- Probably best in combination with the first two volumes of Robinson's  Midwestern trilogy, this has been a major prize-winner from a Pulitzer Prize veteran.

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell -- If your friends or family are already David Mitchell fans, they've undoubtedly already read this, but if they aren't yet, they soon will be. His novels are ambitious and he nails it every time. This was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize this year.

An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alamedinne -- An NPR Staff Pick for 2014, this novel follows a reclusive woman in Beirut as she reflects her memories on the Lebanese War.

Bark by Lorrie Moore -- A collection of short stories by an American master, and a NYT Notable Book of 2014.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacquline Woodson -- Yes, it's technically YA, but it's also a National Book Award winner for young adults, and was recently purchased by the Obama girls. A ringing endorsement, if ever there was one.

What I'm Reading: 'Brown Girl Dreaming' by Jacqueline Woodson

Yes, technically this is considered to be a YA book, largely because Woodson is one of the most acclaimed/celebrated/decorated authors of books for young people. And if I had a pre/teen, I would insist they read this, along with all her other terrific novels. I would go so far as to argue that in light of the recent events in Ferguson and Staten Island, Brown Girl Dreaming might just be the perfect and essential text for discussing civil rights with younger adults. But that doesn't mean it isn't beautifully written and fully enjoyable for a grown-ass person either, because it is certainly one of my favorite books published this year.

Brown Girl Dreaming is a semi-autobiographical prose-poem account of Jacqueline Woodson's childhood in the South during the Civil Rights movement. Although it's an era in history with its fair share of excellent literature, nothing about Brown Girl Dreaming reads like cliche and Woodson's perspective and memories feel so fresh and alive.