My Thoughts

I started writing this as ‘one last list looking back on 2019’, but I realized it would make an interesting discussion topic: why a book blogger might not review a great book they read. After all, isn’t one of the primary aims of a book blogger to uplift the books we love? I recognize that’s a bold statement coming from me (someone who is not prescriptive when it comes to the purpose of blogging). But I do think it holds true for me at least.

When I wasn’t blogging because life took over (i.e. finishing grad school, starting three news jobs, visiting family), I ensured I still prioritized reading. Without reading, I wouldn’t have a blog. It is the act of reading that gives me the most joy, that I find most valuable. I don’t have a lot of priorities in my life but blogging falls at the bottom. It is the first to go when other priorities become more weighted. This explains why most of the books on this list went unreviewed. It was easier to devour so many great reads than to stop and review each one.

Another factor is fear. I fear sometimes that I can’t do a great book the justice it deserves in a review, so I avoid reviewing it altogether. That is unhelpful, of course! I should write something, so I can at least share my thoughts and boost the book a little. (And also to practice getting better at writing such reviews.)

The List

My initial purpose in drawing up this list was to boost titles that I didn’t really boost last year. I narrowed it down by only picking books that made think “Dang, that was a good book, I wish I had told people about it” (AKA books that I gave four or five stars. I’m more generous nowadays with four stars than I used to be, but that’s another discussion.)

I’ve divided the list into #ownvoices, middle grade, young adult, and everything else. I still have plans to shares thoughts on a few books so I’m not including Nevermoor, Wundersmith, Little Fish, Little Blue Encyclopedia, Tolkien, Race and Cultural History, On the Come Up, or Some Places More Than Others. Writing this list made me realize I do have THOUGHTS on some of these titles, so you may still see a brief review in the future.

#ownvoices

This list contains titles which I could confirm have #ownvoices rep. I note the genre and the identity being represented as #ownvoices.

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• Lu by Jason Reynolds
  • Middle grade contemporary
  • Black
• Apple in the Middle by Dawn Quigley
  • Young adult contemporary
  • Ojibwe
• The Whispers by Greg Howard
  • Middle grade contemporary
  • Gay
• Everlasting Nora by Marie Miranda Cruz
  • Middle grade contemporary
  • Filipino
• The Griefkeeper by Alex Villasante
  • Young adult magical realism
  • Latinx
• A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott
  • Essays
  • Haudenosaunee
• Focused by Alyson Gerber
  • Middle grade contemporary
  • ADHD
• From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
  • Memoir
  • Métis-Cree
• Know My Name by Chanel Miller
  • Memoir
  • Survivor of sexual assault
• My Fate According to the Butterfly by Gail D. Villanueva
  • Middle grade contemporary
  • Filipino
• Ghosts by David A. Robertson
  • Young adult speculative fiction
  • Indigenous (Robertson is Swampy Cree from northern Manitoba; the protagonist is from a fictional nation in northern Manitoba)
  • Anxiety

Middle Grade

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• Spell & Spindle by Michelle Shusterman – middle grade speculative fiction
• Silver Batal and the Water Dragon Races by K.D. Halbrook – middle grade fantasy
• Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz – middle grade speculative fiction
• Refugee by Alan Gratz – middle grade historical fiction
• All the Impossible Things by Lindsey Lackey – middle grade contemporary
• The Miraculous by Jess Redman – middle grade contemporary

Young Adult

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• Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman – young adult speculative fiction
• Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno – young adult fabulism
• Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais – young adult contemporary

Everything Else

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• The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden – adult fantasy
• You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann – adult horror
• The Great Halifax Explosion by John U. Bacon – historical non-fiction
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi – memoir
• The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld – adult fiction
• Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth by Catherine McIlwaine – archival non-fiction

What were some of the best books you read but didn’t review last year?
Why didn’t you review them?
Do you think you might review them in the future?