I have a confession to make. For a while now I have not wanted to write. In fact, putting my thoughts out there about what I’ve been reading feels like a burden so that, when I finish a review and hit “post,” I am overwhelmed with relief. This is not good. And ironically 2021 has been a stellar year for gorgeous fiction and some remarkable debuts, books that I fear I won’t do justice to.
Take for
instance the National Book Award winner “Hell of a Book” by Jason
Mott. How can a lowly blogger add to the glowing adjectives that follow when
the NBA stamp of approval is affixed to the cover of a book, except to tell you
that, while 
listening to this novel on my morning
walks, I often had to stop and sit, stomach clenched, as the inevitable horror
of another police shooting of an innocent Black man played out in my ear.
Mott’s cri de Coeur is so original, laced with humor (if dark), magical realism (a boy who appears and disappears as if he were wearing an invisibility cloak), a lampooning of the publishing industry, and a loving thank you to Black parents everywhere who expend an inordinate amount of energy trying to help their Black children reach adulthood in America. Exquisite and devastating.
Another
phenomenal listen is Dr. Leana Wen’s compelling memoir and passionate plea for funding
of public health initiatives. Unless you are in the D.C. area or an ardent
listener of NPR you may not be familiar with Dr. Wen but she was our “go to”
voice of reason during the last eighteen months of Covid confusion and 
misinformation. An emergency room physician,
professor, CNN commentator, Washington Post columnist, and former Baltimore
County health commissioner, Leana Wen has accomplished more in a couple of
decades than most do in a lifetime.
“Lifelines” is the story of a Chinese immigrant raised on food stamps and public assistance, who begged for money outside grocery stores to help her parents who were already working two and three jobs to make ends meet. A Rhodes scholar who entered college at thirteen, Dr. Wen has traveled the world specializing in women’s health care and the opioid crisis, becoming one of the first physicians to call out systemic racism as a public health crisis.
Dr. Wen’s story and the telling of it is an eye-opening wake up call to all who still think that the richest country in the world provides the best health care in the world. What gets in the way? Politics.
Next up, thanks to a recommendation from one of my most trusted reading friends, “The Sweetness of Water,” a first novel from the incredible Nathan Harris.
2 comments:
I totally understand your writing funk; nothing kills the joy of writing like being forced to sit down and do it and within a required timeframe. I’m so glad to read though that you were moved by “Hell of a Book.” So inventive! I can’t begin to tell you how much I loved “Lincoln Highway.” It’s an old-fashioned adventure story and, yet, so much more. The characters of Billy, Emmett, Woolly and Duchess are unforgettable and endearing. (There’s even a Sally!) I absotively (a Lincoln Highway word) recommend it. I’m reading Laird Hunt’s little book “Zorrie” now and loving it.
Just finishing a lovely book that's been under the radar - takes place in Firenze. It is called Still Life by Sarah Winman and I think you would really enjoy it. Still waiting for the Towles. About to switch my holds to SC. Heading out Friday!
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