book-review – Nicole Walker

I read for work—student manuscripts, manuscripts for Crux and DIAGRAM, manuscripts of people who ask for blurbs, and from friends who need a sounding board. These books are sometimes better than the books I read for fun. Maybe being an editor/mentor has changed me so much that reading published books seems too easy? Too finished and therefore become mere objects? Perhaps it’s that I listen to too many audiobooks from Libro.FM. But at the end of the year, I’d download a new book and be like, what is this travesty of justice? Why aren’t my friends’ and students’ books getting published more? Perhaps the Big 5 has led to a dullification of the novel, but I sometimes found it true of the nonfiction too.

But I must read more and more often. The news is bad. Book reading in the US has dropped to an all-time low. Who is going to buy and read these books if not me (and by me, I mean us)?

The books I loved were ones of big scope—2666, Middlemarch, The Secret History, Barkskins, Underworld—Do indie presses publish such long books? Perhaps I don’t know.

I loved all of the Independent Press books I read. These I read by eye not ear.

Secret Agent Man Margot Singer

Excellent collection of essays about a father who may be a spy and other subject, like the essay “Call It Rape.” The essays connect by considering what it means to look and to name.

The Avian Hourglass Lindsey Drager

One of my favorite books ever. A world without birds. Tragic and yet the people Drager makes live here have spirit even without the most elemental animals.

The End of Tennessee Rachel Hanson

Good book about a woman leaving her fundamentalist household. She is wracked by guilt for leaving her siblings behind.

Entwined Bridget Lyons

Excellent book about specific animals and how they are responded to climate change.

Field Guide to the Subterranean Justin Hocking

Fascinating book about the darknesses of human actions and earth’s underground spaces.

College Girl Laura Gray-Rosendale (re-read and taught)

A rape rendered in distressing detail, Gray-Rosendale uses the writing of her own story to both heal and to understand how writing works.

Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer (re-read and taught)

Western academic ecology interwoven with Indigenous knowledge. Obvs very brilliant.

Blanket KT Thompson (re-read and taught)

Excellent book about blankets, what they cover, what they reveal, Native American History/Personal History

Bigger press books read by eye:

The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison (re-read)

This book is actually super weird. The POV moves around so much. Very strange/interesting to have one of the POV’s be by a man who rapes his daughter.

The Mighty Red Louise Erdrich

A cool river and farm and animals dying mysteriously. I liked this much better than The Sentence but not as much as The Night Watchman

Dust Alison Stine

Excellent book about a girl dragged to a very small, dusty town. She’s not allowed any freedom except at the café where she takes refuge.

The Bean Trees Barbara Kingsolver (re-read)

Turtle is kind of abducted! Didn’t quite realize it the first time. A little more complainy than I remember.

Salt Bones Jennifer Gavin

Mystery and the Salton Sea! What more could you want? Generational misunderstandings and missing women.

Mother Trucker Amy Butcher

Very interesting to read after having just returned from the Haul Road in Fairbanks

Heavy Kiese Laymon (re-read and taught)

This book is so embodied. Written in the second person, ostensibly to his mother, Laymon puts gravity in every detail.

I list these audiobooks basically in reverse chronological order. I was super annoyed by Flesh. Find further annoyances below.

Flesh David Szalay

If the author cut “okay” from the dialogue, this book would have saved a lot of paper. I’m glad the title was “Flesh” so I could understand that the protagonist, this very boring guy, was driven by bodily pursuits. Why even have him talk?

One Day, Everyone Will Have Been Against This Omar El Akkad

Great and hard and necessary. See substack.

The Light Eaters Zoë Schlanger

So fantastic. Plants aren’t human but they still show kinds of intelligence.

Circe Madeline Miller

Loved. Came late to this. Actually about Circe, but her side of the story. True witchery!

Last Night in Montreal Emily St. John

Kind of annoying book about wayward twenty-year olds. The Lolita allusions felt over-the-top.

What We Can Know Ian McEwen

Part 1 is about living in a flooded planet 2120 and trying to be a literature professor. Part 2 is about the wife of a poet who wrote her own memoirs. The parts do not shine light upon one another. Annoyed.

When We Cease to Understand the World Benjamin Labatut

Great book about uncertainty and principles and fictionalized stories about Heidegger and Schrödinger.

Into the Clear Blue Sky Rob Jackson

Focusing primarily on methane, Jackson uncovers ways we can prevent greenhouse gases from escaping into the atmosphere. Very good.

The Old Ways Robert MacFarlane

Dude walks around England. Could not finish.

Magical/Realism Vanessa Angélica Villareal

Incredibly smart and readable understanding of how pop music, gaming, and Game of Thrones play into our understanding of literature. Brilliant.

Fuzz Mary Roach

Excellent fun times thinking about how animals get into trouble, often because humans are in their way.

Prophet Song Paul Lynch

Darkest book ever but also spot on for the US if we don’t stop the fascism now. S

Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs Kerry Howley (reread but I didn’t know it until halfway through)

Reality Winner’s disillusionment with the government leads to her to share one small piece of classified data. She gets punished in ways far beyond usual. Also, it’s The Intercept’s fault for not scrubbing identifying material.

Dream Count Chimamanda Ngoza Adichie

Very good. Four-POV’s about Nigeria and Washington DC, love, feminism, body autonomy.

The Frozen River Ariel Lawton

18^th Century Mid-wife with very modern viewpoint. Writing is strained.

Raising Hare Chloe Dalton

Fave book of the year. See above.

The Time of Our Singing Richard Powers

Long book about 1940s singing. I didn’t finish even though I love Richard Powers. He should blurb my novel!

Tiny, Beautiful Things Cheryl Strayed

I hadn’t read this collection of dear Sugar columns. Sweet.

Orbital Samantha Harvey

Fine. I don’t remember much about it. Sometimes, I wonder about The Booker Prize

Boys and Oil Taylor Brorby

Excellent book about growing up in oil country and surviving.

Careless People

Awesome book about Facebook and how a senior exec came to find it reprehensible.

Weather Jenny Offill

Short book. Quite lovely though I don’t remember much.

Silent Spring Rachel Carson

I can’t believe I hadn’t read this. So beautifully written and so disturbing. The problem isn’t just DDT though. The pesticides we continue to use continue to kill everything around us.

Black Reconstruction in America WEB Dubois

Also can’t believe I haven’t read this. Clarifies how racism was instituted after the Civil War. People, especially poor, white people, were driven to be racist to hold onto any glimmer of power they had.

The Safekeep Yael Van Der Wouden

Omg. So boring. Almost died. Old timey people in cars. Annoyed.

Twist Colum McCann

Cables on the seafloor. Intrigue on the High Seas. Not my kind of book.

On Tyranny Timothy Snyder

Required reading for this year

Whale Fall Elizabeth O’Connor

Hmm. Ocean involved? The eating of a beached whale?

Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz Józeph Debreczeni

Cold and hard story from the “sickhouse” at Auschwitz. Necessary.

The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to his White Mother James McBride

Lovely reflections about color. I don’t remember that much.

Tom Lake Ann Patchett

Cherry trees and daughters. Kind of just beautiful.

Playground Richard Powers

OMG. A story that is very maddening at the end. Good though.

A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini re-read.

Important book for 2025

Everything is Tuberculosis John Green

Title is self explanatory. I’m reading it again right now. I bought it for 3 people for Christmas. I’m teaching it for my climate science class.

Palaver Bryan Washington

Pretty good. Gay son deals with Jamaican mom who now lives in Houston while she visits him in Tokyo.

Underworld Don DeLillo

I started this book 20 years ago and then was like, I don’t want to read a book about a baseball. The book isn’t really about a baseball, except that the book really is about a baseball. I liked it but thought it was annoyingly hyper realistic.

The God of the Woods Liz Moore

OK. Camp counselors and lost children. Mostly a mystery/thriller, which I don’t generally prefer.

The Ministry of Time Kaliane Bradley

I LOVED this book about time travel. The protagonist is a handler for a man transplanted from 18 something to current times. Might read again soon.

The 1619 Project

A must read for 2025. Should have read sooner.

The Secret History Donna Tartt

This was my year for long books. I really liked the intricacies of these screwed-up kids who really screwed up.

Whisky Tender Deborah Taffa

Smart description of being torn between many cultures. Great, place-based insights into Latino and Indigenous communities.

The Antidote Karen Russell

Interestingish because there’s a witch and a dustbowl, but super shallow. I read that the book is meant to be as deep as YA, which seemed unfair to YA. With Swamplandia, I will never forget the bad man rowing through the swamps. Everytime I paddleboard, I think of him. I might remember one jump shot the main character takes. And some dust.

On Time and Water Andri Snaer Magnason

Glaciers and melting and sadness and hope.

The Fraud Zadie Smith

Libro.fm says I listened to this book but I do not remember a thing.

Barkskins Annie Proulx

Maybe one of my favorite books ever. I listened to this one too and remember everything. (I’ll try the Zadie Smith again). Pretty much the tale of the Eastern United States through the POV of mowing down trees (and people) for profit. So good and very long.

Nightbitch Rachel Yoder

Woman has a baby. The complete inside-outing of her body and the needs this new creature freak her out. Very right on.

The Horse Willy Vlautin

A man lives way out of town. He’s too old to be doing such things. He tries to save his horse. Very good. My friend Lynn knows him!

Creature Lake Rachel Kushner

Pretty OK book about a guy who lives in a cave and people have to think about him and his thoughts.

This Strange Eventful History Claire Messud

Following the lives of a marriage, children, Algiers, WWII. It was fine.

West with Giraffes Lynda Rutledge

Writing very cheeky and flamboyant but chasing giraffes is always fun.

The Quickening Elizabeth Rush

Pregnant woman. Climate change. On a boat on the way to Antarctica. Pretty good.

How Beautiful We Were Imbolo Mbue

Fighting against oil companies is always a good idea.

The Great Believers Rebecca Makkai

1980s. Art. Friends up to no good. A bit like A Little Life but way less melodrama

Middlemarch George Eliot

Why didn’t I read this 1000 years ago? Like DeLillo, she’s interested in details. Unlike DeLillo, she doesn’t want to batter us over the head with them (I liked the DeLillo! It was just a lot).

2666 Roberto Bolaño

Finally read this. Very long. Also, like DeLillo, many details although these details felt a little more salient. Many countries. Many people. Many dead women in St. Teresa/Juarez. Very good. Glad I survived.

On election day, I took my dogs on a walk and finished listening to the audiobook Parable of the Sower by Olivia Butler. This dystopian story begins in 2024 with a slightly-worse-than-it-is-right-now vision of Los Angeles. The middle class have built walls around their neighborhoods. The poor have no homes, sell their bodies and drugs to survive. But in the book’s version of 2025, then 2026, things get worse: angry mobs, high on a drug called ‘pyro,’ crushes through the neighborhood’s defensive walls and sets whole communities on fire. Eventually, our narrator, Lauren takes to the road, cultivating a small group of people she can trust as they try to survive with only 3 guns, a little cash, and some dried meat and fruit between them. I won’t spoil the end of the book, but I will say, this group coalesced into a community that might survive in a place with a little water and some fruit trees.

Tuesday, I had meetings and manuscripts to read. I made oven fried chicken thighs and mashed potatoes. I cook when I’m nervous. That day, we ate at 4:15. Later that night, with my friend B, I went to the Orpheum where the Democrats hosted what we thought we be a celebratory event. I cheered Susan who I met when she and I organized a rally for Proposition 139—the Arizona Abortion Access initiative—in Flagstaff. We’d gathered in front of city hall with friends like Sanjam, Angie, Ann, Rima, Julian, Emma, Joan, and Erik. I starting work for reproductive rights after an essay entitled, “My Abortion at Age 11 Wasn’t a Choice. It Was My Life,” that I wrote for The New York Times after the Dobbs decision came down. Publishing this piece opened paths for me to work with bodily autonomy advocates like Maggie in Washington DC, Andrea in Florida, and Jasmine in Arizona. I gave interviews to print and television reporters: Haruka, from Tokyo, Maria from Valencia and the amazing Valentine from Paris. I told my abortion story on stage along with other abortion storytellers—another Nicole, Liz, Matt, Dominic, Nilsa, and Dr. Caren. After our presentation, I attended the after party. Dozens of women came up to me to introduce themselves, to tell me their abortion story, to share with me about the story about the time they experienced sexual assault, to thank me for putting my story out there. I’ve had the same experience at every event where I’ve shared my story. Others share their back.

Tuesday night, at the Orpheum, I said hello to Shonto. I ran over to Aubrey to give her a huge hug for winning her election. Jonathan spoke to the audience to tell us how Apache had run out of ballots, so they were trying to figure out how to get more. James grasped my hand. Pamela patted my shoulder.

As the votes came in, the mood shifted. B and I left before we could see what would happen in Pennsylvania. We shared a cigarette. I hadn’t smoked in over 20 years but tonight seemed like a good night to start again. I came home and found my husband scrolling and scrolling. I said, “Your eyes can’t change the news,” but he couldn’t stop trying to make it so. I took a melatonin and tried to sleep. In the morning, my son came upstairs and squeezed my shoulder. “I’m sorry, mom.” I told him I was sorry too.

On Wednesday, I moved like molasses. My body didn’t want to enter the day any more than my mind did. It took me a while to get it together, but I managed to walk the dogs. Not only did I have to stop the storm of ideas in my head—I have to move. I have to buy a gun. I should get seeds. The characters in Parable of the Sower wished they had packed more seeds—but, because I finished that book, I needed a new one. I started Naomi Klein’s 2014 This Changes Everything: Capitalism versus the Climate. I knew it would be at least as depressing as I felt. 10 years ago, we needed to act full-throttle, full-throated on climate change. But then, we elected Trump two years later. Now we have him again. A dark hope rises in me that he will drive us to the brink where we finally see into the abyss and our mindset is collectively and purposefully shifted. But I shrink from that darkness because we’re just as likely to fall headfirst into the abyss as we are likely to change our fossil fuel-ish ways.

I came home and read Alison’s manuscript, The Rejection Lab. Sarah, my co-editor at the University of Georgia’s Crux series, and I thought today would be a good day to read about rejection, race, dating, Benjamin Franklin, Cotton Mather and the whole history of trying and losing. At 11:00, I realized I was going to be late for work. I rushed around getting ready, which was the only time I hadn’t felt near desperately sad. Panic is a good distraction from sorrow.

I made it to school with a minute to spare. I thought I was OK but when I walked into the faculty meeting, I burst into tears. Seeing my friends, Monica, Angie, Karen, Geetha, Oscar, Erica, Bill, Christine, Calinda, made the election results real. I felt their sadness. I reckoned with my own. I streamed tears while we discussed new Annual Review policies. They’re not called Annual Reviews anymore, was the upshot.

I had to run to teach my class. I almost cried when I saw my intermedia creative nonfiction students but kept it together. The students knew I’d been working hard on the election, even as I hadn’t directly told them what my politics were, because that’s against the rules. But it’s not against the rules for them to guess. They looked at me with pure empathy. And so, did I. They would have to live longer with this travesty that me. Still, we were there together for that hour. I was so grateful for the essays we read. They were brilliant—each one differently so—one was about a rug, another about the ocean, another about bones, another about where our old laptops go to die. For 75 minutes, I felt a reprieve. Then, I had a beer with Sherwin Bitsui. Then I went to dinner with my husband and son. Then, Lawrence and I had a glass of wine.

That evening, we faculty attended a talk by Sabah. I saw Jeff, KT, Bjorn. We nodded at each other, as if to say, “Can you believe we made it to a talk after what we’ve been through today?” “Yes. And in fact, I’m glad you’re here.”

There are a lot of names in this story. I drop them on purpose. These are people who, if we had to walk a long road north from LA, that I would trust to have with me. These are people who are going to stand up for me, for our trans and gay brothers and sisters, for voting rights, for bodily autonomy, for working to act on the climate crisis. These communities will band together. They will listen to my stories and tell me theirs. We are locked arm in arm. They can try to break us up, but are links are strong.

Of democracy and the climate, technology is not going to save us—not polling technology or internet technology or SpaceX or coating the atmosphere with a thin layer of sulfur dioxide. What’s going to save us is stories of this goofy, beautiful world—stories like Gary Kristensen who road 48 miles in Oregon in a boat made of a pumpkin. What’s going to save us is the story of the dams coming down on the Klamath where now salmon spawn in their ancestral grounds. What’s going to save us is your story and my story and Alison’s story, Grace’s, Ben’s, and Hayden’s. We build our communities by telling our stories. My hope lives because we keep telling them.

Tag: book-review

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