12 Reads From 2017
Looking back on 2017, I read some really lovely books. I'll share twelve of my favorites here, organized chronologically in the order that I read them.
1. Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
This was required reading for my women's studies senior capstone course in the spring. Angela Davis is brilliant and a visionary, and though this book is short, it's rich with critique and calls to action. I love how she steps back and illuminates relationships between seemingly unrelated issues by connecting them back to larger structures; for example, the link between violent occupation of Palestine and police brutality in the US can be better understood by deconstructing our increasing militarization of police globally. The book is fascinating and kind of makes my head hurt (in the best way, that's how I know I'm REALLY learning). I would recommend it to anyone looking to expand their understanding of radical feminist theory and praxis.
2. Kindred by Octavia Bulter
This was also required reading for a women's studies course in the spring. The story centers around Dana, a black woman in the 70s, who repeatedly travels back in time to an 1800s plantation where her ancestors are both the master and the slaves. She has no control over these trips that take more out of her each time, and she's forced to assimilate into a violent world of slavery, negotiating her own safety with that of her ancestors'. It's rich storytelling, but was deeply disturbing for me as a reader because it raised tough questions. To what lengths will we go to in order to secure our own individual futures? What horrors can we grow to accept if we're exposed to them long enough? What violence are we capable of? It's brutal but necessary to think these through. An excellent novel that has stood the test of time. I recommend it for anyone who wants a better understanding of individual slave narratives and their own implicit assumptions and boundaries.
3. Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Rubin's "Happier" podcast is really the only one I listen to, so when a friend recommended the book to me, I had to read it! The book is structured into 12 chapters, one for each month of Rubin's year-long "happiness project". Each chapter centers around a theme like investing in a specific relationship or interest and includes a few goals she'd like to tackle during the month. The book is filled with practical advice on boosting happiness and vivid narratives to explain them, and her commentary is honest and reflective and has lots of fun little aphorisms. I will say that this book isn't for everyone; implicit in her message is the idea that we should always be striving to be our happiest, and I know not everyone subscribes to that notion. I personally enjoyed the book immensely, and while I never set out to develop my own "happiness project", she did encourage me to pursue some personal goals. I'd recommend this book for anyone who's willing to put in a little bit of work to improve their happiness!
4. All the Single Ladies by Rebecca Traister
All the Single Ladies is organized into specific facets of single female life, including urban independence, friendships between single women, rich single women, and poor single women. Each chapter is meticulous but comes alive by including multiple citations from relevant research while also interweaving anecdotes of about forty women throughout the book. It's easy to feel like being single is an incomplete state or a temporary, transitory moment between relationships. As someone who has always been single, I really appreciated the new insight I gained. Traister does a marvelous job connecting historical, political, economic, social, and personal contexts and stories to create a stunning tribute to single women. I'd recommend this book for anyone who might have some preconceived notions about single women of any background.
5. Gracious by Kelly Williams Brown
This book is the intersectional feminist version of those antique little pocketbook guidelines to grace and courtesy. Kelly Williams Brown offers practical advice for being gracious in the subway and at the airport, to difficult colleagues and to problematic remarks, in the home, for hosting, for personal style, and for showing grace to ourselves too while she shares the stories and wisdom of so many gracious women along the way. She reminds us that's all about practice, that all we really can control is how we react to what's going on around us, that difficult people and circumstances offer important opportunities to practice grace, and that when we are comfortable with ourselves we help others find ease and grace of their own too. Brown shows a sensitivity to gender, race, and class that is often absent in etiquette discourse, and she offers some great tips for staying graceful in all sorts of circumstances. I recommend this to ANY friend who wants to grow as a person.
6. Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
Kean shares stories about the elements on the periodic table that are quirky, hilarious, tragic, poignant, and sometimes just bizarre. He's a skilled storyteller, and his wry sense of humor brings his commentary to life. I look at the periodic table in a whole new way now- far from being abstract and random elements, each has a deeply personal story that transcends geography and time. This is written in a really accessible way that doesn't require an extensive chemical background. I'd recommend it for anyone who loves fun stories and is curious about chemistry.
7. Hunger by Roxane Gay
There are few feminists that I esteem as highly as Roxane Gay. Time and time again, she proves herself to be intersectional, brilliantly thoughtful, willing to engage in difficult discussions, and able to make light of herself. This book is a bit of a departure from her "Bad Feminist" vibes; it's a memoir of her experiences with her body. There's trauma, resilience, pain, love, humiliation, and even a little bit of hope. This book is raw, heartwrenching, painfully beautiful -- the horizons of my empathy have been expanded after reading it. Thank you for sharing your story, Roxane Gay. I would recommend it for anyone who's willing to get a little uncomfortable to learn more about the challenges faced by people of size.
8. History of the Present Illness by Louise Aronson
A set of short stories about health and illness, this book is a gripping collection of moments that feature both patients and providers. The format of each chapter varied, but the stories were loosely connected through both themes and characters. I especially loved this because it's set in San Francisco and at UCSF, and I read it right before I started so it felt like I was getting an inside sneak peek into what I might see later down the road. I appreciated how the author found beauty and meaning in these accounts that may not seem to have much at first, but I do think that Aronson focused perhaps too much on the darker parts of medicine and its disappointments. In the author's note at the end, she explained this by saying that happy stories are less interesting. I'm still working through how I feel about that. Anyways, I reached out to Dr. Aronson -who is SO lovely-, and now I'm helping her coordinate our medical humanities elective this spring. I would recommend the book for anyone interested in learning a bit more about the precarious space between health and illness or more about San Francisco through its people.
9. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Homegoing starts with two Asante half-sisters, each chapter alternating between the descendants of Effia and Esi. One line of the family stays in Ghana, and after Esi is sold into the slavery, the other half of the stories take place in the US. Homegoing is brutal, devastating, hauntingly beautiful, and deeply humanizing. I love how the intergenerational format offered windows into so many moments throughout African and American history, and I love how these stories built off each other in unexpected and profound ways. I wasn't expecting it to be so heavy. The writing is evocative and lyrical and, it is uncomfortably graphic at times but it is clear that Gyasi carefully selected each word for a reason. The symbolism and water and fire were especially powerful for me. This is an homage to resilience, family, and legacy. I'd recommend it for someone looking for a book that will make them feel deeply.
10. Sensing Light by Marc Jacobson
My roommate picked up a copy of this from the UCSF library and let me borrow it for my flight home. This book chronicles three doctors in San Francisco whose lives and careers are irrevocably changed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 80s and 90s. We see them interact with patients, piece together clinical presentations, develop experimental trials, collaborate as a team, lean on each other through the suffering, forge lasting friendships, and navigate lives outside of medicine. The epidemic changed UCSF and healthcare in this city, and it was really special to learn more about how from Jacobson, a doctor who was there the whole time. I emailed him after reading the book, and he was happy to meet with me and talk more. We had a lovely conversation. Sensing Light brings up challenging issues, but it also highlights moments of hope, joy, and light amidst the pain and darkness. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the doctors on the frontline of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
11. Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown
Brene Brown is an expert who has written extensively on shame, vulnerability, courage, and now- belonging. She writes that belonging isn't a reward we get for "fitting in"; rather, we have to practice it each day by showing up as our truest selves, even if it feels like we're standing alone. We don't feel belonging when we push people out, create ideological bunkers, and dehumanize the "other"; we feel belonging when we're willing to enter the "wilderness of uncertainty" and work through it to gain clarity. Ultimately, we can't belong to anyone else but ourselves. YES, I know this all sounds a bit cheesy, but she has some excellent research and personal narratives to illustrate these ideas. I read this book about a month into medical school when I needed to hear its message most. This book made me realize that I wasn't alone because I wanted to do things differently from those around me. I'd recommend it to anyone who's trying to fit in or find belonging but needs a little guidance.
12. God's Hotel by Victoria Sweet
This book is an ode to Laguna Honda hospital in San Francisco. I remember driving past the hospital the day that I moved to the city and wondering about what kind of place it was. Sweet creates an incredible homage to Laguna Honda and the type of medicine it creates space for. Though at the surface, the hospital might seem grossly inefficient with its high ceilings, gardens, knitting nurses, and enormous wards- sometimes these deeply human elements are most needed for healing. Sweet chronicles the patients she met, the changes the hospital endured, and her own journey to learn more about Hildegard the medieval nun and medical practitioner. God's Hotel makes me want to radically envision what medicine and healing could look like. It's a really lovely book. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for new perspective on medicine, efficiency, and healing.
xoxo,
Juhi
1. Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
This was required reading for my women's studies senior capstone course in the spring. Angela Davis is brilliant and a visionary, and though this book is short, it's rich with critique and calls to action. I love how she steps back and illuminates relationships between seemingly unrelated issues by connecting them back to larger structures; for example, the link between violent occupation of Palestine and police brutality in the US can be better understood by deconstructing our increasing militarization of police globally. The book is fascinating and kind of makes my head hurt (in the best way, that's how I know I'm REALLY learning). I would recommend it to anyone looking to expand their understanding of radical feminist theory and praxis.
2. Kindred by Octavia Bulter
This was also required reading for a women's studies course in the spring. The story centers around Dana, a black woman in the 70s, who repeatedly travels back in time to an 1800s plantation where her ancestors are both the master and the slaves. She has no control over these trips that take more out of her each time, and she's forced to assimilate into a violent world of slavery, negotiating her own safety with that of her ancestors'. It's rich storytelling, but was deeply disturbing for me as a reader because it raised tough questions. To what lengths will we go to in order to secure our own individual futures? What horrors can we grow to accept if we're exposed to them long enough? What violence are we capable of? It's brutal but necessary to think these through. An excellent novel that has stood the test of time. I recommend it for anyone who wants a better understanding of individual slave narratives and their own implicit assumptions and boundaries.
3. Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Rubin's "Happier" podcast is really the only one I listen to, so when a friend recommended the book to me, I had to read it! The book is structured into 12 chapters, one for each month of Rubin's year-long "happiness project". Each chapter centers around a theme like investing in a specific relationship or interest and includes a few goals she'd like to tackle during the month. The book is filled with practical advice on boosting happiness and vivid narratives to explain them, and her commentary is honest and reflective and has lots of fun little aphorisms. I will say that this book isn't for everyone; implicit in her message is the idea that we should always be striving to be our happiest, and I know not everyone subscribes to that notion. I personally enjoyed the book immensely, and while I never set out to develop my own "happiness project", she did encourage me to pursue some personal goals. I'd recommend this book for anyone who's willing to put in a little bit of work to improve their happiness!
4. All the Single Ladies by Rebecca Traister
All the Single Ladies is organized into specific facets of single female life, including urban independence, friendships between single women, rich single women, and poor single women. Each chapter is meticulous but comes alive by including multiple citations from relevant research while also interweaving anecdotes of about forty women throughout the book. It's easy to feel like being single is an incomplete state or a temporary, transitory moment between relationships. As someone who has always been single, I really appreciated the new insight I gained. Traister does a marvelous job connecting historical, political, economic, social, and personal contexts and stories to create a stunning tribute to single women. I'd recommend this book for anyone who might have some preconceived notions about single women of any background.
5. Gracious by Kelly Williams Brown
This book is the intersectional feminist version of those antique little pocketbook guidelines to grace and courtesy. Kelly Williams Brown offers practical advice for being gracious in the subway and at the airport, to difficult colleagues and to problematic remarks, in the home, for hosting, for personal style, and for showing grace to ourselves too while she shares the stories and wisdom of so many gracious women along the way. She reminds us that's all about practice, that all we really can control is how we react to what's going on around us, that difficult people and circumstances offer important opportunities to practice grace, and that when we are comfortable with ourselves we help others find ease and grace of their own too. Brown shows a sensitivity to gender, race, and class that is often absent in etiquette discourse, and she offers some great tips for staying graceful in all sorts of circumstances. I recommend this to ANY friend who wants to grow as a person.
6. Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
Kean shares stories about the elements on the periodic table that are quirky, hilarious, tragic, poignant, and sometimes just bizarre. He's a skilled storyteller, and his wry sense of humor brings his commentary to life. I look at the periodic table in a whole new way now- far from being abstract and random elements, each has a deeply personal story that transcends geography and time. This is written in a really accessible way that doesn't require an extensive chemical background. I'd recommend it for anyone who loves fun stories and is curious about chemistry.
7. Hunger by Roxane Gay
There are few feminists that I esteem as highly as Roxane Gay. Time and time again, she proves herself to be intersectional, brilliantly thoughtful, willing to engage in difficult discussions, and able to make light of herself. This book is a bit of a departure from her "Bad Feminist" vibes; it's a memoir of her experiences with her body. There's trauma, resilience, pain, love, humiliation, and even a little bit of hope. This book is raw, heartwrenching, painfully beautiful -- the horizons of my empathy have been expanded after reading it. Thank you for sharing your story, Roxane Gay. I would recommend it for anyone who's willing to get a little uncomfortable to learn more about the challenges faced by people of size.
8. History of the Present Illness by Louise Aronson
A set of short stories about health and illness, this book is a gripping collection of moments that feature both patients and providers. The format of each chapter varied, but the stories were loosely connected through both themes and characters. I especially loved this because it's set in San Francisco and at UCSF, and I read it right before I started so it felt like I was getting an inside sneak peek into what I might see later down the road. I appreciated how the author found beauty and meaning in these accounts that may not seem to have much at first, but I do think that Aronson focused perhaps too much on the darker parts of medicine and its disappointments. In the author's note at the end, she explained this by saying that happy stories are less interesting. I'm still working through how I feel about that. Anyways, I reached out to Dr. Aronson -who is SO lovely-, and now I'm helping her coordinate our medical humanities elective this spring. I would recommend the book for anyone interested in learning a bit more about the precarious space between health and illness or more about San Francisco through its people.
9. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Homegoing starts with two Asante half-sisters, each chapter alternating between the descendants of Effia and Esi. One line of the family stays in Ghana, and after Esi is sold into the slavery, the other half of the stories take place in the US. Homegoing is brutal, devastating, hauntingly beautiful, and deeply humanizing. I love how the intergenerational format offered windows into so many moments throughout African and American history, and I love how these stories built off each other in unexpected and profound ways. I wasn't expecting it to be so heavy. The writing is evocative and lyrical and, it is uncomfortably graphic at times but it is clear that Gyasi carefully selected each word for a reason. The symbolism and water and fire were especially powerful for me. This is an homage to resilience, family, and legacy. I'd recommend it for someone looking for a book that will make them feel deeply.
10. Sensing Light by Marc Jacobson
My roommate picked up a copy of this from the UCSF library and let me borrow it for my flight home. This book chronicles three doctors in San Francisco whose lives and careers are irrevocably changed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 80s and 90s. We see them interact with patients, piece together clinical presentations, develop experimental trials, collaborate as a team, lean on each other through the suffering, forge lasting friendships, and navigate lives outside of medicine. The epidemic changed UCSF and healthcare in this city, and it was really special to learn more about how from Jacobson, a doctor who was there the whole time. I emailed him after reading the book, and he was happy to meet with me and talk more. We had a lovely conversation. Sensing Light brings up challenging issues, but it also highlights moments of hope, joy, and light amidst the pain and darkness. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the doctors on the frontline of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
11. Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown
Brene Brown is an expert who has written extensively on shame, vulnerability, courage, and now- belonging. She writes that belonging isn't a reward we get for "fitting in"; rather, we have to practice it each day by showing up as our truest selves, even if it feels like we're standing alone. We don't feel belonging when we push people out, create ideological bunkers, and dehumanize the "other"; we feel belonging when we're willing to enter the "wilderness of uncertainty" and work through it to gain clarity. Ultimately, we can't belong to anyone else but ourselves. YES, I know this all sounds a bit cheesy, but she has some excellent research and personal narratives to illustrate these ideas. I read this book about a month into medical school when I needed to hear its message most. This book made me realize that I wasn't alone because I wanted to do things differently from those around me. I'd recommend it to anyone who's trying to fit in or find belonging but needs a little guidance.
12. God's Hotel by Victoria Sweet
This book is an ode to Laguna Honda hospital in San Francisco. I remember driving past the hospital the day that I moved to the city and wondering about what kind of place it was. Sweet creates an incredible homage to Laguna Honda and the type of medicine it creates space for. Though at the surface, the hospital might seem grossly inefficient with its high ceilings, gardens, knitting nurses, and enormous wards- sometimes these deeply human elements are most needed for healing. Sweet chronicles the patients she met, the changes the hospital endured, and her own journey to learn more about Hildegard the medieval nun and medical practitioner. God's Hotel makes me want to radically envision what medicine and healing could look like. It's a really lovely book. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for new perspective on medicine, efficiency, and healing.
xoxo,
Juhi
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