TOP TEN BOOKS I’VE READ IN 2022
#10: Mama’s Boy By: Dustin Lance Black
A loving, honest, moving memoir of a man and his mother, of two Americas and a hopeful future. Beautifully written, and refreshingly honest, this is a wonderful and innovative memoir!
#9: I Was Better Last Night By: Harvey Fierstein
I cannot rave enough about Harvey Fierstein's memoir. Hell I can't rave enough about Harvey Fierstein. As a little gay boy doing theatre he was my idol-as a middle aged gay man still doing theatre-Harvey holds my history. His career and life as laid down in this wonderful memoir will be fascinating to read for theatre folk, will amaze those folks who love a good memoir/autobiography, and affirm (or in my case, re-affirm) Mr. Fierstein's rightful place as an icon in theatre and a hero to us gay boys!
#8: The Last Graduate By: Naomi Novik
Picking up where the first book left off, Novik takes the reader on the ride of a lifetime in The Last Graduate. It's El's senior year and the consequences of her actions from the first book come home to roost, kind of, in this book. The plotting in this book is exquisite! The ending, ends, but doesn't and did leave me screaming some very unladylike words at the end...but I'll calm down (eventually) and wait calmly for the 3rd book.
#7: The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba By: Chanel Cleeton
This is simply written-and that's what makes it so effective! There is so much packed into this novel, from the fight for Cuban independence, to the history of the Pulitzer/Hearst newspaper wars with a hint of the newsboy strike, but at the forefront of this beautiful story is women. Women who are forever shoved to the back and forgotten...even the ones who did something extraordinary. Based on the actual Evangeline, we meet her, a determined young reporter and a courageous farm wife. How all three are interconnected is something you'll have to read for yourself-trust me, you won't be disappointed!
#6: The Island Queen By: Vanessa Riley
A gorgeously written life of an extraordinary woman of her time, or any time! Mrs. Dorothy Kirwan Thomas survives at all costs at a time when this was nigh on impossible for a woman, let alone an enslaved woman. Dorothy (Doll and/or Dolly)'s life begins and ends in the West Indies, but wends its way to Europe along the way. Richly detailed, reverently told this awe inspiring life will bring you to the height of every emotion, and leave you reeling and bowing to this Island Queen!
#5.5: The Wicked Cozies By: Julia Henry (aka Julie Hennrikus), Sherry Harris, Barbara Ross, Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell), Cate Conte (aka Liz Mugavero) & Jessica Ellicott (aka Jessie Crockett)
No year would be complete without a healthy dose of my favorite cozy mysteries, by my favorite cozy writers. The Wickeds have enabled my mystery habit for years and trusted me with their book babies. I’ll be forever grateful to them for sharing their talents and their quirky characters and towns with me. Apologies to Jessica Ellicott, as I didn’t actually get to read any of her books this year, I’m woefully behind in the Beryl & Edwina series! This year’s Wicked selections were: Cate Conte’s Witch Way Out; Barbara Ross’ Muddled Through and Perked Up part of Irish Coffee Murder); Sherry Harris’ Three Shots to the Wind and Rum and Choke; Maddie Day’s Murder at the Lobstah Shack, Murder in a Cape Cottage and Batter Off Dead; and Julia Henry’s The Plot Thickets. All superbly plotted, populated with lively and quirky characters in beautiful settings. Any of the series by these fabulous women will be worth your time.
#5: Horse By: Geraldine Brooks
WOW! Just WOW! A stunning achievement in storytelling! Only Brooks could write the story of a fabled American Thoroughbred and realize that it also has to be a story about race; and write she does. Spanning over 150 years and filled with history and heart Horse stuns on all levels!
#4: The Tour By: Jean Grainger
I have to say, this book was exactly what I was hoping it would be. A sweet, charming tale of a group of strangers embark on a tour of Ireland, and they and their tour guide also embark on a tour of themselves. Despite its predictability, this book is a perfect antidote to the shit-show that is the world at the moment.
#3: The Three Musketeers/The Count of Monte Cristo By: Alexandre Dumas
I vaguely remember reading an abridged version of the Three Musketeers when I was a kid. Reading it as an adult was so much more fun. Adding the Count of Monte Cristo to the mix added to the fun. Dumas’ humor is quite snarky and delicious in the context of each of these brilliant epics. While poking fun at a number of people and conventions, he still manages to write of life and love and despair and hope with a great amount of pathos. I highly recommend revisiting some classics you may have read when you were younger, I think you’ll find them to be completely different stories now!
#2: Blacktop Wasteland/Razorblade Tears By: S.A. Cosby
Cosby is one of my new favorite authors, and that's after only two books! His use of words and his story ideas are absolutely breathtaking!
Blacktop Wasteland: WOW! Just...WOW! A man trying his best to leave his past behind him finds it fast approaching in the rear view mirror. When it over takes him is where the action in this book is, and what action! There are so many levels to this story and I can't discuss them without revealing major plot points. Suffice it to say, Blacktop Wasteland is a raw and timely look at abject poverty and the decisions it can lead too; it's a story of family and family legacies; it's a story of despair, redemption and dare I say hope! This is an extraordinary story from an author who's use of words puts the reader in the midst of these ordinary lives in extraordinary circumstances.
Razorblade Tears: Cosby somehow manages to write a gripping thriller, wrapped around current social issues without beating the reader over the head with platitudes or telling the reader what to think. All sides are presented and as Ike repeats in the book-"I'm stating facts". The twists and turns in this superbly plotted thriller left me screaming out loud at numerous points throughout the book. I can't praise Cosby's writing enough-he is quite simply the most exiting author writing today!
#1: August Wilson’s Century Cycle: Gem of the Ocean (1900s), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1910s), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1920s), The Piano Lesson (1930s), Seven Guitars (1940s), Fences (1950s), Two Trains Running (1960s), Jitney (1970s), King Hedley II (1980s), Radio Golf (1990s)
Read any of August Wilson’s plays and you’ll know why he was one of our greatest playwrights. Read all 10 plays in his century cycle, in decade order and you’ll know why all the praise that was heaped upon him in his lifetime will never come close to acknowledging his brilliance or his legacy.
I’ve always loved Wilson’s work, but reading them in order gives one so much more depth of feeling and understanding of his characters and their struggles. It also highlights how truly magnificent Wilson’s mind was. An example: the first play in the cycle is set only a few decades after slavery and the language spoken by the characters is indicative of people who had little to no formal education and learned at the knees of family who spoke no English when they were brought to the US. As the decades pass and the cycle continues you can see how the language changes, or doesn’t, based on circumstance and opportunity. Sad to say that after 100 years nothing much has changed but and within his plays Wilson shows this, and yet still writes his characters with a sense of hope. Writing 100 years of African American history in 10 plays is quite an undertaking; writing them with honesty, rawness, heart, hope love and respect is nothing short of extraordinary.
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