2022 Books Read
Looking back over this list, I realize I’m also looking back over my own interests, obsessions, influences, writings, notes, and thoughts. I’ve lived with these books. They are a part of me. Some grabbed me more than others. I’ve written about some while others I haven’t yet discussed here or in my newsletter. The following list offers a more complete picture of myself as a reader, writer and human being.
* See my 2021 Books Read.
The Books
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith
The Fellowship of the Ring J.R.R. Tolkien
The Revenant Michael Punke
The White Album Joan Didion
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne
The Twilight World Werner Herzog
Cold War Swap Ross Thomas
Less Than Zero Bret Easton Elis
The Storyteller Dave Grohl
The Writer’s Desk Jill Krementz
Gone Girl Gillian Flynn
Trinity: The Best Kept Secret J. Valle & P. Harris
Day of Trinity Lansing Lamont
The Broker John Grisham
The Bomber Mafia Malcolm Gladwell
The Notes
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith
The first book I read this year. A beautifully written story of life told through the eyes of a young girl in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The book reads almost like a biography. Having lived shortly on the streets named in the book, it helped me to understand the history of the place and it’s people. And if you live in Brooklyn, look out into your backyard - you probably have that tree growing there, too - an ugly, gangly tree which grows anywhere but never dies. Read more.
The Fellowship of the Ring J.R.R. Tolkien
I re-read The Hobbit last year. I’m a big fan of the LOTR movies and wanted to give the books a shot. Fellowship took me almost three months to read but it was worth it. Tolkien is a master storyteller. His writing makes me wonder - if he can imagine such an incredible story, perhaps it really did take place somewhere, in some far-off universe. I’m looking forward to reading the next two books in the series. Read my March roundup for more.
The Revenant Michael Punke
I saw the film adaptation when it came out a few years ago so when I found the book somewhere, I grabbed it. I loved Punke’s writing - his understanding of the era’s history is evident, which he tries to stay as close to as possible. The book is based on the true story of trapper Hugh Glass, who was attacked by a bear, left for dead by his comrades, travels hundreds of miles to safety only to head back out into the wilderness looking for revenge. I went down a rabbit hole after this book and listened to a few interviews and podcasts.
The White Album Joan Didion
My first Didion book. By now, I’d heard her name a few times and knew she was a writer I had to check out. I didn’t know where to start. While browsing in a local bookstore, The White Album was displayed on a table. The title - borrowed from The Beatles - intrigued me, so I picked it up. The book is a collection of short stories. The title story, The White Album, is a semi-psychedelic look back into the manic energy of the 60s, culminating with the Manson murders and wondering what the hell it was all about. I especially enjoyed Didion’s essays on California, the women’s movement, and the mall. Didion has a unique writing style which took a while to get the hang of it but once I did I was hooked. Didion is a writer's writer. She can cut right to the heart of an issue or idea, give you all the facts, insight and reporting necessary but still be subtle about it. This book made me think.
Over the last few years, I’ve tried to educate myself on writing by reading not just the ‘greats’ or the ‘classics’ but the real writers. John Jeremiah Sullivan’s Pulphead (which I usually read once a year) is the book that opened me up to real writing - when a writer can tackle a nonfiction subject and perfectly explain the story through his or her own unique lens (can this be called creative nonfiction?). I greatly admire this type of writing. Didion fits the bill of ‘great writing’ for me and I look forward to reading more of her work. I have to revisit this book.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne
I re-read my favorite childhood book in preparation for my first trip to France including Nantes, Verne’s birthplace. Read more in my blog post.
The Twilight World Werner Herzog
I got to meet legendary director Werner Herzog and he signed my copy of his latest book! Read more in my 6.24.22 newsletter.
Cold War Swap Ross Thomas
Less Than Zero Bret Easton Elis
I read the above two books while on a trip in France. Read more in my 7.15.22 newsletter.
The Storyteller Dave Grohl
Perhaps the best drummer’s autobiography ever? I blogged about it.
The Writer’s Desk Jill Krementz
A short but endlessly inspiring collection of writers at their desks. Here’s a short blurb from my 8.12.22 newsletter.
Gone Girl Gillian Flynn
Another book I wished I’d read first before seeing the movie. I read it a few years ago after seeing the movie but when I found a copy of it I wanted to read it again. Looking back through my notes, I wrote “this book is unsettling! It doesn’t feel good!”, but of course I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I’m not a huge fan of crime thrillers but this one is just built different. Flynn’s writing style is detailed, quirky, scary, and weirdly funny. I went down the rabbit hole with this one and jumped into interviews with Flynn where she talks about her writing process and discusses the impetus for the book and some of the themes, including violence, the media, marriage and feminimity.
I recently re-watched David Fincher’s film adapation and while I thought the movie was pretty good, I missed all the detailed and nuanced quirkiness of Flynn’s writing. Note: Flynn wrote the screenplay for the film.
Trinity: The Best Kept Secret J. Valle & P. Harris
In August 1945, two children witness an avocado-shaped craft crash in the desert outside Socorro, New Mexico. Less than a month after the world’s first atomic bomb test by the Manhattan Project at nearby Trinity, New Mexico, the event is perhaps the first UFO crash in modern history. The children kept the story to themselves until they reached old age. With never-before-revealed eyewitness accounts, legendary investigator & computer scientist Jacques Valle digs into the UFO question.
I began reading this book in September when I’d decided to finally do some research for a fictional story I’d been writing. I engaged my curiosity with this book and supplemented my historical knowledge with a stack of books, documentaries and films on World War II, atomic weapons, and the Manhattan Project.
Day of Trinity Lansing Lamont
I began reading this book on the day I finished Valle’s book. I’m still working through it! (I took a break to read The Broker.) Though I haven’t yet finished, I’ve covered the entire Manhattan Project, the Trinity test, and it’s aftermath. Initially I was disappointed with this book. I didn’t particularly care for the writing and felt the book really wasn’t what I was looking for. But I stuck with it and I’m glad I did. When the book was written, it was the first accounting of the Trinity test available to the public. Lamont overlooks no detail and explains, second to second, minute to minute, what occurred in the years, months, and days leading up to the first nuclear explosion - in all it’s frightful, naive, in-genius, diabolical glory. I’ve spent over two months reading and once I actually read the chapter which covers the test itself, I wished I could start the book all over. As discussed in some of my recent blog posts and in the above bullet on Valle’s book, this book started a chain reaction in me - to research, to read, and to understand the history of the time I want to cover in my fictional writing project.
The Broker John Grisham
I found this lying around my grandpa’s place. I haven’t read any of Grisham’s books so I gave it a shot. It started out like a typical thriller, and I kept turning the pages, but somewhere along the way I began to really like it and Grisham’s writing. I finished it quickly and jumped into researching Grisham and his writing process. When I find a book I like, especially fiction, I can’t help but dive into the author’s other work, their background and their writing process. Grisham is a ‘planner’ - he likes to outline extensively before writing the first word. He always knows how the story is going to end. He starts writing a new book every January 1st.I’ll definitely be checking out some of his other books soon.
Here’s some videos I watched to learn more about Grisham and his writing:
The Bomber Mafia Malcolm Gladwell (audiobook)
Gladwell is a master storyteller and writer who can unlock parts of our society which seem too complex to understand. This was my second Gladwell book (I read Blink in 2020)and I’ve got Outliers on my shelf to read next year. Read more here.
As I mentioned, I’m still working on Day of Trinity (expect a full blog post when I’m done!). I hope to get in another thriller before the year is up. Over the holidays, I’ll be traveling - a perfect time to pick up a small, paperback thriller with which to steal away some time.
This list is filled with books I can separate into categories - whether I’m reading for fun, for research, for inspiration, or for education. Back in 2020, when I began my writing journey, reading became important. Reading had always been something I loved and cherished but now I realized I had a chance to not only learn about the subject matter but also to learn about the craft of writing. I’ve learned something from all of these books and writers and I’m grateful to have had the time and ambition to read them. I’m not sure who said it first, but to be a writer is to be a reader.
Bonus: check out this fascinating video on how and why we read.
