This is a fairly abstract list of my favorite books that I read last year.

• The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco - Medieval monk is literally Sherlock Holmes.

• Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Olgo Tokarczuk - Beautifully written and often surreal; becoming invisible with age and caring about things just so much.

• Excellent Women, Barbara Pym - Just like, being a person.

• All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1), Martha Wells - A security cyborg figuring out if it wants to be a person. It’s a well-plotted, fast-paced novella. The whole series is amazing.

• Either/Or, Elif Batuman - Trying to figure out some strategies for being a person.

• The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich - Historical fiction following several characters, exploring Native dispossession and identity in the 1950s.

• I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy - Memoir - incredibly disturbing, readable, self-aware and generous.

• True Biz, Sara Novic - Multi-perspective fictional narrative mixed in with lessons about ASL, disability rights activism and Deaf culture.