This year proved to be unlike any other year in SO MANY WAYS. Many of which I would rather not repeat. But it was an excellent year for reading for me. I read 332 books this year, far exceeding the 266 books I read last year. Here were my favorites of the year:

Poetry

~ Fat Dreams by Nicole Steinberg: Poems chronicling one woman’s battle with weight – gaining it, losing it, dealing with society. (Now sold out but available as a free PDF from Barrelhouse!)

~ Ways We Vanish by Todd Dillard: Poems that focus on family – the death of parents and the birth of a child. The aging of parents and the wonderment of a young child.

~ If They Come For Us by Fatimah Ashgar: A collection of poems that weave identity, family, loss, immigration and religion together. Many poems focus on the Partition of India and Pakistan and the long term effects this had on people.

~ This Apiary by Allie Marini: A chapbook of poems that love, religion, nature, and the everyday horror of life.

~ Boat Burned by Kelly Grace Thomas: A collection of poems that focus on womanhood, relationships, family, the trauma that is living in America under Tr*mp, and the female body.

~ Green by Melissa Fite Johnson: A collection of poems that take you on a journey from loss and sexual violence, to hope and happiness.

Fiction

~ And I Do Not Forgive You: Stories & Other Revenges by Amber Sparks: This collection of feminist short stories blurs genres – fairy tale, fiction, fable – to create short stories that pull you in quickly. This is a fierce collection that is a wonderful read.

~ The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd: A historical fiction novel about Ana, Jesus’ wife. Powerful and feminist.

Creative Non-Fiction

~ The Two Kinds of Decay by Sarah Manguso: A lyrical account of the author’s struggle with an autoimmune disorder in her twenties.

~ The Reckonings by Lacy M Johnson: An essay collection that grapples with justice, revenge, fairness, police brutality, the role of art in the face of despair, kindness, and hope.