Everything I've Read in 2021

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley)

An incredible read through and through. A fascinating, in-depth, intimate look at the incredible, inspiring life of Malcolm X including the tragedy that muddled his early life, his involvement with the Nation of Islam and his mentorship and eventual disappointment with his mentor Elijah Muhammad and his own premonitions of his eventual death.

The Lying Life of Adults, by Elena Ferante

The Neapolitan series made me a huge Ferante fan. Another coming of age tale, this novel tells the tale of a young girl who grows increasingly distrustful of the ‘adults in the room.’

Delirious New York, by Rem Koolhaus

Working at an architecture firm for ~2 years and working in the art world (which is always architecture adjacent) this work often came up in discussion and was cited to me as both “the reason I became an architect” and “the reason why I moved to New York,” by colleagues.

In maybe my favorite line of the book, Koolhaus describes Coney Island as a “clitorial appendage.”

Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng

A hapa (mixed raced/half Asian) teenager goes missing in 1970s Ohio. The pressures of growing up under family pressure and being mixed race create pressures for the protagonist, Lydia. A former co-worker recommended this one to me a while ago and I finally got around to reading it.

Trick Mirror, by Jia Tolentino

It felt like there was a point in time when everyone in Brooklyn was reading this collection of essays. Tolentino’s The Age of Instagram Face made the rounds in 2019 and I have previously enjoyed her commentary. Trick Mirror’s contemporary commentary, however, often falls flat. One essay I did enjoy was the one titled “Reality TV me” where she recounts her reality TV experience as a young teen (before reality TV was really a thing).

Capitalist Realism, by Mark Fisher

In this “late-stage capitalism” we find ourselves in, it is (as Fisher remarks) hard to imagine any other dominant economic or social stratification. There simply isn’t space to even conceive of any other spaces in this climate. Bleak.

The Symposium, by Plato

Sometimes it feels like I got short-changed by the literary canon / core curriculum I was taught in public school. I was gifted this book a few years ago, but had reservations about reading it because I was supposed to read it with a former partner (who was in a secret “book club”). Any who, I digress — this book is all about how many boy love is the highest form of love and women are vastly superior in every way possible (as lovers, as partners, in lesbian couples). That was my main takeaway at least.

Lean in For Graduates, by Sheryl Sandberg

Another Brooklyn stoop find. Sandberg gave the commencement speech at my alma mater the year after I graduated. I never really had an interest in reading it, but due to a work situation I found myself in (misogyny in tech) I was inspired to finally do so. My complaints (common criticisms of this book) were that this book seemed to cater to elite white women with pedigrees to boot. It was a timely read with the release of White Lotus earlier this year.

Caste - The Origins of Our Discontents - by Isabel Wilkerson

I had high hopes for this title (and it was praised by many media sources) and asked for it from my mother for Christmas last year. Wilkerson makes the comparison of Black society in America to the untouchables caste in India (and to Nazi Germany). Wilkerson fails to really consider economic class and other major considerations in her argument and does not do a good job of going into the complexities of the caste system in Indian and its long reaching history.

The Plague, by Albert Camus

Timely and popular during the pandemic. I can be morbid and the arc of this story closely follows the arc of our own during ‘these trying times.’

Nothing to Envy, by Barbara Demick

An in-depth look at several defectors whose lives were interwoven and who grew up under the boot of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Moving in many ways.

Minor Feelings, by Cathy Park Hong

Another timely read, with the Atlanta killings back in May and the elevated Asian hate and consciousness of anti-Asian sentiment post-COVID, but like always, really. Park Hong tackles what it’s like to be Asian in America in this book of essays. We’re all connected by this deep rooted self-doubt and hyperawareness of how much space we occupy.

Bronze Age Mind, by Bronze Age Pervert

Gifted to me by a former co-worker, I’m not sure I understand the gist of this self-published pseudonymed controversial figure. Lindy Man and Red Scare podcast adjacent, the right Twitter stans BAP. I wanted to read this to get a clue into this mysterious figures psyche, but I’m just puzzled.

Crying in H-Mark, by Michelle Zauner

Moving, incredible, relatable. As a fellow hapa, this book moved me and spoke to me and my experience of growing up mixed raced in America.

Interior Chinatown, by Charles Wu

I bought this book for my dad for Christmas last year but wanted to read it myself. When I was in a thrift shop in Jackson Hole, WY in September, I picked up a copy for myself. Also timely, since I just got back from a trip to LA — I enjoyed Yu’s approach to the novel (it’s written like a screenplay) and his attempt to tackle the Asian male’s experience in America (always trying to be the ‘Kung Fu Man,’ but usually cast as ‘Generic Asian Man’).