Blog • Roanoke County, VA • CivicEngage

Dec 08

[ARCHIVED] A Few Good Books (2021)

The original item was published from December 8, 2021 to February 22, 2024 10:41 AM

We’ve reached the time of year when Best Books of 2021 lists have emerged, so I’ve looked back over my year in reading, but it’s too hard to pick favorites. Instead, here is a small but representative sample drawn from a wide variety of books I’m glad to have read this past year.

	Brood by Jackie Polzin. Though small in size, this semiautobiographical novel beautifully captures a year in the life of the narrator as she attempts to keep her four chickens alive. It may not sound like much, but it is.
	The Stone Face, written in 1963, republished in 2021, tells the story of a young, black journalist who moves to Paris to escape the violent racism of Philadelphia only to find more of the same directed toward Algerians in France. Author Richard Gardner Smith is lesser-known than contemporaries James Baldwin and Richard Wright, but this short book is considered an accurate and powerful account of the Paris Massacre of 1961.
	Sergio Olguin’s R-rated literary thriller The Foreign Girls is the second book in a planned trilogy featuring journalist Veronica Rosenthal. (I thoroughly enjoyed it without having read the first book.) Set in Argentina, it’s a ripped-from-the-headlines story – young, female tourists go missing while on holiday – but the super-cool, hard-to-kill heroine sets it apart from other crime novels.
	Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe is the story behind the family largely responsible for the opioid crisis that has ruined millions of lives. You would be hard-pressed to find a Best of 2021 list that doesn’t include this book, but prepare to be infuriated.
	Finally (and mainly so it doesn’t seem like I only read sad books), check out Zoë Bakes Cakes, in which Zoë François teaches you how to make gorgeous, whimsical, elegant, yummy cakes. I’ve made several and haven’t had a flop yet!