This year, instead of going with themes like reading black authors in February and Indigenous authors in November, I decided to read whatever I wanted to read, whenever I want to read it. This helped me feel less pressured to get books done by a certain time, so it could start being fun again.

I’ve also been a part of a magical realism-based book club for the past two years or so and it’s forced me to really expand my reading choices.

With that said, here are the books that stood out to me in 2021…for better or for worse.

Best Sci-Fi

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Whenever I’ve heard stories of the underground railroad, I’ve always thought, No fucking way. I mean, it seems impossible that a mere human like Harriet Tubman could have singlehandedly freed hundreds of slaves relying on a network of trustworthy conductors. Surely not a mere human…but a witch? a magical negro?…now they might be able to complete this fantastical feat. And so you have The Water Dancer.

Best Book by an International Author

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Helen Oyeyemi, a British Nigerian author living in Prague and writing from the perspectives of a white family, several immigrants and a xenophobic house. What I loved most about this book was that all of the characters were so clear. I also thought the author chose an interesting way to discuss race relations and xenophobia through the guise of the supernatural.

Best Blind Read

She Would be King by Wayetu Moore

I usually read a little about a book before I start it so I know what I’m getting myself into. But every once in a while, I do a blind read. I’ll just pick up a book and without even looking at the inner jacket, I start reading. Sometimes this is a huge mistake. But sometimes, like in this case, it is a welcomed lovely experience.

Black people are magical, literally and figuratively. This book explores the strength of our powers and the amazing things we can accomplish by harnessing that power. Also, it’s a commentary on sexism, racism and colonialism.

Most Enlightening Book

What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage

We live in a world where the stigmas surrounding HIV and AIDS during the height of the epidemic in the 80s and 90s, doesn’t really exist in the same way. HIV isn’t a death sentence. And we know so much about the virus now that ignorance isn’t really an excuse for leaning into stigma and stereotypes. But this book, written in the 90’s, when a diagnosis was grimmer, and many were still ignorant about the disease, attempts to shed a light on what life is like for a upper middle class black heterosexual woman living with HIV.

I found the main character relatable and appreciated that Pearl wasn’t too scared to show both positive and negative character types that exist in the black community.

Best Costume or Fashion Book

Costume Design 101 by Richard La Motte

This book was assigned reading for my Costuming on Set class at LACC. So I expected it to be more of a textbook, and thus completely unenjoyable. But I was wrong AF. I found it to be super informative and to fill in the gaps for all the questions I have about what the job is really like. Often when you ask about how to get into costume design or how the job works, you’re often told that you learn on the job or learn as you go, which is true. But what Richard did was break down, from start to finish of a project what all the key players do and how they work together. I found it really helpful when I took my first costume job as a PA.

Best Overall

The Nickle Boys by Colson Whitehead

This book is so haunting. Colson does an amazing job of giving voice and holding space for the thousands of boys who have done time in the hellish reformatory schools of our recent past. It’s a difficult read because of all the awful things that happen to these boys. But I promise that it’s not trauma porn. There is some redemption within the heartbreak.

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2021 Book Review