Somewhere between 500K-1M new books are formally published annually.  It’s a book lover’s conundrum that we can barely scratch the surface of great reads, niche and mainstream, from year to year. 

What kept you turning pages late into the night in 2023? Which ones were you thinking about long after slipping the tome away on a shelf, filing it away on your Kindle, or the audiobook ran out? My Want To Read list isn’t daunting enough; bring on the recommendations!

Before I share mine – one app recommendation. Multiple friends have recommended Libby to me in recent years, and I finally signed up. It serves as conduit between you and your local library to traffic ebook and audio book loans.  And I love that I can readily queue things I want to read to keep the new ideas and stories flowing.

Without further ado:

Nonfiction

Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond

PBA is one of those books that will leave you angry about the ease with which public policy works against lower income Americans for the sake of maintaining an imbalance the benefits people who are already advantaged.  From making applications for government benefits so complicated that only a third of people who qualify actually sign up, to housing and development policy that keeps affordable housing from getting built in the areas that need it most,  the book makes clear that people are handicapped from the get go if they fall below a certain income threshold such that it is almost impossible to climb back out.  It should be required reading for every American who thinks bootstraps are enough.

Educated by Tara Westover

Westover’s riveting memoir covers her transition from off the grid, minimally home-schooled child to Cambridge PhD-holding historian.  Raised by a paranoid, bipolar, religious zealot father and a reluctant midwife mother — alongside a variety of siblings with their own struggles and tragedies — her journey to ground herself in reality and rise to meet her potential is full of awkward realizations and painful lessons that ultimately set her free of her survivalist family and her past.

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing From Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

Foo recounts her complex PTSD diagnosis and pursuit of treatment, weaving in anecdotes from her emotional abuse-filled childhood and transcripts of her therapy sessions. If you have a complex trauma diagnosis, you may find yourself nodding along — having asked yourself some of the same questions she struggled with or that a weird sense of deja vu when one of her interactions with her parents mirrors your own. She also brings awareness to the challenges in finding a therapist that understands the unique challenges experienced by people of color and children of immigrants.

Fiction

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

From the brilliant wordplay to a compellingly-conflicted protagonist, you’ll cancel your plans to find out what happens faster.  The novel follows Cassie, an overachiever with an incredibly toxic manager at a unethical startup , as she tries to balance her needs, ambitions and realities in San Francisco.  This includes her low pay in a high cost city,  dating a guy who is openly stepping out on his long term girlfriend, a limited support network in her friends and family, and pressure to do more and do it faster.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

I wanted to not like this book given the controversy after its publication, but the decades long friendship turned  business partnership of video game developers Sadie and Sam was a great exploration of the challenges of the things not said in relationships and the struggle in trying to repeat success when it is found too soon.

Finlay Donovan Knocks ’em Dead and Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Ellie Cosimano

Cosimano continues to deliver hilarious reads; I caught up on the rest of the ongoing Finlay Donovan series. This romance novelist on deadline winds up trying to save her pending ex-husband from a contract killing and ends up owing the Russian mob a favor.  She still can’t get out of her way, and it’s still highly entertaining, escapist fun. Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice drops in 2024.

It’s worked for Ojai, which has actively supported local businesses by keeping big box stores out. It has worked for the NJ suburbs of my childhood that are full of multi-generation family businesses that are institutions in down towns dotting the state.

And you see the same in some neighborhoods within major metropolitan areas. From Culver City’s The Ripped Bodice (that deals in romance novels and adjacent products) to WeHo’s Candle Delirium that specializes in all things home fragrance to Los Feliz’s Skylight Books — these small businesses are reliable members of the community that can always find what you’re looking for.

From NZ Herald: “Classic children’s books by author Roald Dahl have been partly rewritten to remove language now deemed too offensive. References to people being “fat” and “ugly” have been removed from much-loved works including Matilda, The BFG and James and the Giant Peach. The Oompa Loompas from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are also now gender-neutral. “

I have mixed feelings about this one as a huge fan of Matilda and the imagery generated by James and the Giant Peach. Is it right to go back and change the authors’s first language choices? I get when books are translated that there are multiple interpretations that can be had, but original author intent matters.

And there’s been recent controversy around Roald Dahl’s anti-semitism that was exposed late in life. Related discovery saw some of childhood legend Dr. Seuss’s titles discontinued.

So it feels like sanitizing those texts is fueled by commercial interests over accurate representation of art and children’s entertainment. Which is nothing new. A number of now seemingly-defunct companies were editing films down from to R to family friendly ratings for years because there was a profitable market to cater to. Expensive Hollywood lawsuits argued on behalf of artist intent and against unapproved edits to aftermarket cuts of films

So, why are books held to a different standard?

Are children’s books fair game because we’re trying to shield them from the realities of historical oppression and discrimination that is so deeply woven into culture? Kids aren’t born racist or sexist; those are learned attitudes. Seems the Dahl classics could be pair with discussions about bullying and appropriate descriptors of one’s looks.

Am I overthinking it? Should we be focused on trying to instill the wonder of reading in kids with whatever material they gravitate toward?

At what age are they ready to be exposed to content in its original context? Given the book banning of late in school across the country, do we need worry about the protecting the original intent in tomes by Margaret Atwood or Toni Morrison being next up for editing?

Are patriarchal Western elders just flailing at a last ditch effort to whitewash parts of literary history that are uncomfortable given current awareness of how certain language lands? Or was Orwell’s 1984 more prescient than fiction?

One travel writer would prefer you hit up non-capital cities for a more realistic sampling of life in that country.

On that front, I’d note that Valencia was a short train ride from Madrid, but a gorgeous coastal city with a bustling street art scene and some incredible architecture – historical and contemporary. And you can’t beat the amazing food, no matter where you are in Spain. 

From Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media study:
– Among women who are familiar with Scully’s character, half (50%) say Scully increased their interest in STEM
– Nearly two-thirds (63%) of women that work in STEM say Dana Scully served as their role model. #womeninscience

1. When you see someone announcing they’re starting a role at a new company that you are qualified to do — check out their profile to see what company they departed from. Backfill opening could be hitting that careers page soon!
2. Your past and future colleagues aren’t your competition. There are plenty of seats in this game of musical career chairs. It’s a matter of finding the right fit for your genius at this #opentowork crossroads. No two persons have exactly matching skillsets, because there’s no way to duplicate what makes you you.
3. Ignore the media. There are nearly 2 job openings for every unemployed person. They challenge is that so much tech talent is on the market simultaneously that recruitment is getting logjammed given their own teams have been downsized. Patience, grasshopper.

Lisa Nikolidakis’s No One Crosses the Wolf intertwines her processing the aftermath of her father’s murder suicide with her memories of a childhood terrorized by her father’s behavior.

And in Acceptance, Emi Nietfeld details her teen mental health and housing struggles while fending for herself in a broken system that found it easier to medicate her than address how ill-suited her hoarder mother was for parenthood.  Chasing higher education as an out, she learned how play the part to create a seemingly more stable future for herself.

As a lifelong reader, I could not pass up Sunyi Dean’s The Book Eaters. Set in an alternate reality with a dwindling line of people that eat books as sustenance and means to absorb information, one woman is on the run with her divergent son who hungers for human brains instead of books.

Lisa Barr’s Woman on Fire follows a hungry young journalist on a secret investigation to find a painting stolen by the Nazi’s.  She crosses paths with an art gallery owner  who is willing to resort to violence to find it first to save her renowned art dealer family’s reputation and legacy.

And I found myself delighted by several novels with romance novelist protagonists because this year needed some escapism.

Finlay Donovan is Killing It features a romance novelist mistaken for a hit woman that winds up in over her head when she sorta takes on a murder for hire  to clear her financial debts in the midst of a custody dispute and divorce.  Everything goes awry in the most comical ways possible.  If you liked Netflix’s Dead to Me, you’d likely like the start of #Elle Cosimano’s series.

Ashley Poston’s The Dead Romantics takes a past deadline ghost writer back to her hometown after her father’s death.  She juggles being back in town that never understood her gifts with being haunted by the ghost of her book editor that has some unfinished business on the human plane. It was a sweet weekend read.

What books made your year?

Backyard breeders are pumping out litters who have no where to go. Families are dumping their covid dogs because of inconvenience and trading in the senior pups for younger models.

There are sooo many animals with love to give, that just need some time to decompress and feel safe in a forever home. And you can save two lives — the dog you rescue and the one that takes their place at the shelter or rescue

PS — Do right by your new dog and your family, and sign up for basic skills classes or private training with your dog. Build the bond; learn the right ways to correct or reinforce behavior so you can have a healthy relationship with your pup

Go to http://covidtests.gov

Honestly, it’s been a year of bad news — mom died, caught Covid at her funeral, aunt died, broke my foot — walking, lots of unexpected expenses, got furloughed while on vacation and now formally laid off.

But I’m still actually really optimistic about 2023 because it feels like this year was just burning down everything that wasn’t working so something new could grow.

So I’m in the market for a new Senior/Lead Program Manager or Product Operations role — I’d prefer to be an IC, but have managed folks before. Chief of Staff roles with real ownership would likely also be a good fit.

I come with glowing recommendations from both the technical and business side (see testimonials in my profile). I am looking for something hybrid in LA / fully remote. For the right next job, I might relocate with my miniature poodle sidekick, Zoey.

Additionally, I’m working on a business plan for Zoe Zoe’s | Treat Discovery for Discerning Pups, which I hope to be able to beta test in the spring.

Other that that, I am going to be taking my dog on some long walks the next 2 weeks to really dig into what I want my #2023 to be. And I’ll report back once I sort the answers.

PS. Many of my talented colleagues were cut loose today as well and would be an asset to your team. If you’re looking for folks in Product, Program, Design, or Support, I can point you in the right direction.