my 10 favorite reads of 2021

2021 was a lighter reading year for me in terms of the quantity of books I read. I simply didn't have the capacity to go hard in the biblio paint. I also strove to lean into reading for pleasure and to read longer books than my typical novella affairs. And by the metric, 2021 was a success! Still, several books rose above the rest. What follows are my 10 favorite reads of the year. (You can find the full list of books here.)

1. The Hole, Hiroko Oyamada (fiction): After her husband transfers jobs closer to his parents and hometown, Asa drifts aimlessly, trying to adjust to her new rural surroundings and kill time. Soon, she follows a creature to the riverbank and falls into a hole built just for her. No surprise here, perhaps if you know me. I'm a sucker for books featuring wells and holes in the ground. Fans of "My Neighbor Totoro," David Lynch and "Alice in Wonderland" will def enjoy this Japanese novella. 
2. The World of Edena, Moebius (graphic novel): Moebius (aka Jean Giraud) is perhaps the most influential science fiction writer/artist that you've never heard of. Name the film, chances are the French artist has his fingerprints on it in some fashion "Star Wars," "Blade Runner," "Dune," "Alien," "TRON," "Space Jam," "The Fifth Element." Oh, and he also co-founded the iconic sci-fi and fantasy magazine Heavy Metal. 
3. Transcendent Kingdom, Yaa Gyasi (fiction): I'm probably alone in my relative ambivalence toward Gyasi's debut, Homegoing, but her follow-up, Transcendent Kingdom, about a Ghanian family in Alabama and the daughter who must balance her faith with her science training, absolutely FLOORED me. 
4. Signs Preceding the End of the World, Yuri Herrera (fiction): Pro-tip: Buy anything from the publisher And Other Stories and/or the Mexican author Yuri Herrera. 
5. The Hole, Hye-Young Pyun (fiction): The second Asian book by this title I read this year and I'm not sure which I liked better. This one is basically an Asian version of "Misery."
6. Goodnight, Punpun, by Inio Asano (graphic novel): A school student who appears as a bird to readers, Punpun is a heartbreaking coming of age manga I immediately fell for thanks to its pathos, nostalgia and unrequited romance.
7. Naive, Super, Erlend Loe (fiction): A 25-year-old university student in Norway grows disillusioned and quits his job in this classic Norwegian novella. The perfect read if you're looking for some Great Resignation Inspo.
8. Concerning the Book That is The Body of The Beloved, by Gregory Orr (poetry): An epic poem recalling Rumi, Rilke, Hafiz, etc. Not quite finished with this one, but that's mainly because I prefer reading this on my phone while out and about for opportunities to dip into the sacred and holy among the mundane. 
9. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, by George Saunders (non-fiction): A master class from Saunders on what makes a masterful story so impactful through a page-by-page examination of several short stories by Russian masters like Chekhov and Turgenev. 
10. Anarchy and Christianity, by Jacques Ellul (non-fiction): Recommended this book by my pal Colin, I've been blown away by Ellul's examination of the overlaps between Christianity and Anarchy. Though originally published in the early 1990s, there's much here that's enlightening given the rise of Christian nationalism among the United States' evangelicals.