My Book List

I spend a tremendous amount of time exercising. We invested in an elliptical when my son was born, and I use it religiously. While I exercise, I utilize my electronic reader…often switching reading selection mid peddle session. Consequently, I read…a lot. Not a new notion, but my writing improved by leaps and bounds once I began reading consistently. When I have the concentration, I prefer classic fiction or quality nonfiction. I particularly enjoy reading social commentary even if the storyline is a figment in the author’s imagination. That said, sometimes smut hits the spot, and I’ve learned from reading poor quality text as well. This page serves as a list of work I’ve enjoyed or thought important to read for whatever reason (in no particular order), and want to pass some titles along to those interested. This isn’t an exhaustive list of everything I’ve ever read, but books I’ve ventured through relatively recently. For the moment I won’t be offering reviews or any commentary within the below section’s list…maybe some day I will. But, I am partial to a book discussion, so feel free to write a comment or email me, and I’ll respond.

Fiction

• Clap When You Land: Elizabeth Acevedo
• Giovanni’s Room: James Baldwin
• Akata Witch: Nnedi Okorafor
• Children of Blood and Bone: Tomi Adeyemi
• The Paper Menagerie: Ken Liu
• Alessandra Hazard stories
• Red, White, and Royal Blue: Casey McQuiston
• Lily Morton stories
• Happy Endings and Familiar Beginnings: Alice Winters (I like her other stuff too, but I like these of hers best.)
• Lynn Van Dorn stories
• S.E. Harmon stories (I’ve loved all of their books, but The Spectral Files series is probably my favorite…very tough choice, but unbelievably well done.)
• Demons Do It Better: Louisa Masters
• Seasonal Velocities: Ryka Aoki
• Former First Lady: Ebony Edwards-Ellis
• Sloane Kennedy stories
• Lucy Lennox stories
• Barbara Elsborg stories
• The Enlightenment of Nina Findlay: Andrea Gillies
• Love in a Time of Cholera: Gabriel García Márquez
• Go Tell It on the Mountain: James Baldwin
• Jewel E Ann stories
• Love at First Slight: J. Marie Croft
• The Handmaid’s Tale: Margaret Atwood
• Outlander Series: Diana Gabaldon
• The Goldfinch: Donna Tartt
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series: Stieg Larsson
• Jane Austen: The Complete Collection
• Fifty Shames of Earl Grey: Fanny Merkin
• The Beautiful Series: Christina Lauren
• Baby & Bump: Brooke Moss

Nonfiction

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Maya Angelou
• ALS Saved My Life… Until It Didn’t: Jenni Berebitsky
• Seasonal Velocities: Ryka Aoki
• Couldn’t Keep it to Myself: Wally Lamb
• Gangs in Garden City: Sarah Garland
• Always Running and It Calls You Back: Luis Rodriguez
• Gang Leader for a Day: Sudhir Venkatesh
• Modern Romance: Aziz Ansari
• The Socialite Who Killed a Nazi wither Her Bare Hands: New York Times obituary collection
• Stokely: A Life: Peniel E. Joseph
• The Secret History of Wonder Woman: Jill Lepore
• Masters of Sex: Thomas Maier
• Not That Kind of Girl: Lena Dunham
• For Her Own Good: Barbara Ehrenreich
• Nickel and Dimed: Barbara Ehrenreich
• Without You, There is No Us: Suki Kim
• Neil Patrick Harris Choose Your Own Autobiography
• David Sedaris books (sometimes…His stuff is either really great or really…not.)
• Far from the Tree: Andrew Solomon
• Bizarre History: Strange Happenings: Joe Rhatigan
• My Two Moms: Zach Wahls
• Bossypants: Tina Fey
• An Atheist in the Foxhole: Joe Muto
• Lean In: Sheryl Sandberg

Essays

• Seasonal Velocities: Ryka Aoki

Poetry

• Seasonal Velocities: Ryka Aoki