In 2021, I finally achieved two lifelong dreams — first was to run for office and the second was to read 52 books in a year. The two are not unrelated. Turning myself into a public political figure was emotionally draining and, ironically, socially isolating.
During this transformative time, books became my one lifeline. They provided a distraction and sense of purpose outside of my political life. They allowed me to express the cauldron of new campaign emotions that I would have otherwise repressed. Lastly, as a pre-campaign hobby, they provided a connection to my old identity.
So this year I owe a great gratitude to the many books that got me through the year. Here are all of them reviewed.
Table of contents
This is a long list so I have split the review into sections. Feel free to only read the sections that are interesting to you. PS — The reviews are much shorter later on.
- My Top 5
- The Sad Books
- The Critically Acclaimed
- SWANA Literature (South-West Asian North African)
- The Bestsellers
- Political Non-Fiction
- Other Non-Fiction
- Graphic Novels
- The Romance Books
- The Young Adult Fantasy Books
My Top 5
These five books will forever be on my favorites list.
- A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
This book as become my favorite fiction book of all time. It tells the story of Amar, the estranged son of an Indian-American Muslim family, who returns home to attend his sister’s wedding. Sometimes when I read books, I shed tears. With this book, it was a waterfall. Even thinking about the book now brings tears to my eyes. It broke my heart over and over as it depicted how a family could love each other deeply, do their best and still fall apart. I also saw it as the most realistic narration of my family, and our story of growing up Muslim in America.
“He had left the path. His parents had given him a map, and directions, and he had abandoned it all. Now his heart was so ink-dark he could be lost and not know it, and not care, and never know how to find his way back.”
***
2. All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate Crisis by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katherine K. Wilkinson
A collection of essays from women in the climate movement curated by two of my favorite, living climate scientists? Yes, please. My favorite part of the book was the sense of hope and joy it brought to thinking about climate change, not as a battle to be won, but as a renaissance that we are privileged to be living through.
“We underestimate the power of contribution — of acting within our own sphere of influence to tackle the piece of the problem that is right in front of us. In a few decades, if we look back from a place of relative comfort and safety, I think we will remember millions of people who saw the unprecedented danger and didn’t look away, who connected with their power and used it to lead change from the ground up.”
***
3. Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss and Redemption by Daniel Jones
Modern Love is a collection of essays submitted to the New York Times on the topic of modern love. Last year, I read a lot of books providing different theories on what love is, but this collection of real love stories beat them all. My favorite were the atypical love stories — a woman’s platonic love for her doorman, a woman writing a dating profile for her husband and a woman with bipolar disorder trying to date. These loves stories were varied, imperfect and honestly human. And yes, this book did inspire the Hulu TV series, which I also binged this year. It was good, but the book was better.
***
4. Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
A fictional sci-fi novel set only 5 to 20 years in the future, Ministry for the Future tries to show what our future will be given our current trajectory with climate change. The thing I loved most was this book’s realism. There is no magic wand that will solve climate change, but this book realistically depicts a future where we can still have a habitable planet. At times it will depress you, at others you will learn a lot about climate science, and, hopefully, you will also feel hope. I listened to this on audiobook, which I highly recommend.
***
5. Bluets by Maggie Nelson
This book is a love letter to the color blue. When I first heard of the concept, it sounded absurd. But as I read Maggie’s book, her vignettes dedicated to the wide spectrum of identities this color can hold won me over, and I also began to fall in love with the color blue. Maggie wrote this beautifully and despite being only 99 pages, almost every page of this book has at least one sentence I would happily frame onto my wall.
“If a color could deliver hope, does it follow that it could also bring despair?”
The Sad Books
It seems my theme of the year was reading book that made me cry. In fact, it was so bad I had to take a break from reading in October because I just didn’t want to cry. Maybe I gravitated to these books because the campaign was stressful. Nonetheless, here were the novels that had me reaching for tissues the most.
6. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
This book is a fictional letter from a gay son to his illiterate, immigrant mother from Asia. Although the book is fictional, there are many parallels to Ocean’s life making it feel more like a memoir. This book had beautiful writing, and it did make me cry multiple times, but I did not love it. At times the prose was too abstract, and it made it hard for me to grasp what was happening in the story. Ocean is famous for his poetry, and there were a couple of sections of the book that read like poetry that really stood out. Ultimately, I would recommend because I don’t think anyone could regret reading this book, even if the writing is not your style.
“Sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof that you’ve been ruined.”
***
7. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
A memoir of a daughter trying to connect with her mother through Korean food before her mother dies of cancer. It is honestly real in its depiction of taking care of someone who is sick. It’s also a great story on trying to find identity through food and culture as an Asian American. There are so many references to cooking Korean food that it could also double as cookbook. Overall, I would recommend as this book made me smile as much as it made me cry.
“Food was how my mother expressed her love. No matter how critical or cruel she could seem — constantly pushing me to meet her intractable expectations — I could always feel her affection radiating from the lunches she packed and the meals she prepared for me just the way I liked them.”
***
8. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Trauma porn is an accurate way to describe this book. Despite being 720 pages, I read it under a week and would have read it in less time if I hadn’t needed to take a break to just be sad. While a great and captivating read, I’m not sure I could recommend this book because it features so much trauma that it could be triggering.
“Friendship was witnessing another’s slow drip of miseries, and long bouts of boredom, and occasional triumphs. It was feeling honored by the privilege of getting to be present for another person’s most dismal moments, and knowing that you could be dismal around him in return.”
***
9. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
I love multi-generational family sagas and that is what Pachinko is for a Korean family that ends up in Japan. I thought the book was well done, and it bore many similarities to another favorite of mine, East of Eden. The central question of do I inherit being good or evil from my parents took on another level in this book because it also had to factor what it means to be a good Korean immigrant in Japan.
“Living everyday in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage”
The Critically Acclaimed
These are books, old and new, with high ratings who lived up to the hype. We were told they were good, and they were.
10. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
This is a memoir about a LGTQIA+ activist’s childhood growing up as Black, gay boy. I would recommend it to any teen straight or not as it will give them confidence to explore their sexuality during adolescence. I’d also recommend for adults like me who didn’t get to have those conversations when they were younger.
***
11. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Turned into a Netflix movie, The White Tiger is a captivating story about what it really takes to escape poverty in India. I personally enjoyed the book more than movie and I loved that the book was told through a series of letters to the diplomat from China. Some might say the book has extreme takes, but as someone with a Masters in poverty economics, I think it’s actually more accurate than we want to admit.
“The trustworthiness of servants is the basis of the entire Indian economy.”
***
12. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Wow. Americanah tells the love story of Ifemelu and Obinze, two Nigerians in high school who end up immigrating to different countries: one to America and the other to the United Kingdom. Great read on what it means to be an African immigrant to either country, but also on what it means to have dreams as an immigrant.
“The only reason you say that race was not an issue is because you wish it was not. We all wish it was not. But it’s a lie. I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America. When you are black in America and you fall in love with a white person, race doesn’t matter when you’re alone together because it’s just you and your love. But the minute you step outside, race matters.”
***
13. Know My Name by Chanel Miller
I was half expecting this book to be a ghost written novel on the infamous Standford rape case. Instead, I got a painfully real memoir about life during the aftermath of a sexual assault. In this post #MeToo world, this is a must read.
“I did not come into existence when he harmed me. She found her voice! I had a voice, he stripped it, left me groping around blind for a bit, but I always had it. I just used it like I never had to use it before. I do not owe him my success, becoming, he did not create me. The only credit Brock can take is for assaulting me, and he could never even admit to that.”
***
14. Death and the King’s Horseman: A Play by Wole Soyinka
In 1986, British Nigerian author Wole Soyinka won a Nobel Prize in Literature. Death and the King’s Horseman is a play about the clash of Yoruba culture and British colonialism. But it’s also about what is the future of ancestral culture in a modern world.
First I blamed the white man, then I blamed my gods for deserting me. Now I feel I want to blame you for the mystery of the sapping of my will.
***
15. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
A short novel about a group of women brought from Japan to San Fransico as “picture brides” in the mid 1900s. We are told the story through a collective “we.” A great fictional window into Japanese families of that time.
“Overnight, our neighbors began to look at us differently. Maybe it was the little girl down the road who no longer waved to us from her farmhouse window. Or the longtime customers who suddenly disappeared from our restaurants and stores.… And even though our husbands had warned us — They’re afraid — still, we were unprepared. Suddenly, to find ourselves the enemy.”
***
16. The Archer by Paulo Coelho
If you read the Alchemist, then you might like Paulo’s other novels. The Archer reads very similarly, and tries to tell the story of life through the allegory of being an archer. The Alchemist is undeniably better though.
“But never hold back from firing the arrow if all that paralyses you is fear of making a mistake. If you have made the right movements, open your hand and release the string. Even if the arrow fails to hit the target, you will learn how to improve your aim next time.”
***
17. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Recommended to me by a best friend, this book has a strong plot but had one of best written characters I’ve ever read. The first chapter which introduces main character Leo Gursky and his loneliness was stellar. I would definitely recommend as a fun read with great writing.
“At the end, all that’s left of you are your possessions. Perhaps that’s why I’ve never been able to throw anything away. Perhaps that’s why I hoarded the world: with the hope that when I died, the sum total of my things would suggest a life larger than the one I lived.”
***
18. Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience by William Blake
A collection of 15 poems on innocence and 15 on experience by a famous 18th century British poet. I liked the poems on innocence more than the poems on experience, but overall I don’t think 18th century poetry is for me. They were too romantically ideal and abstract which made it heard for me to relate.
“How can the bird that is born for joy
Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child, when fears annoy,
But droop his tender wing,
And forget his youthful spring?”
The SWANA Literature
SWANA stands for South-West Asia North Africa and is a much better term to describe the Middle East. I read lots of books from this category because I perpetually have an identity crisis as an Arab-American.
19. Mirage by Somaiya Daud
This was the first book I finished in 2021, and I honestly remember nothing about it besides it being fantasy novel based on the Arabian Peninsula. It didn’t impress me then and doesn’t now.
***
20. I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib
This graphic memoir by NPR reporter Malaka Gharib, who is half Egyptian and half Filipino was an absolute joy. Would buy and would recommend.
***
21. Algeria is Beautiful Like America by Olivia Burton
Another graphic memoir but this one was not as great. I thought there would be more of story related to Algeria, but the country was barely in the book. I remember finishing this book feeling underwhelmed.
***
22. Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories by Ghassan Kanafani
This collection of short stories is famous in the Middle East and I can see why. I read this book in February, but the main story of three Palestinian refugees trying to cross from Iraq to Kuwait is forever seared into my brain.
***
23. The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
It’s been 8 months since I read this book, and I still feel complexly about this novel. The main plot of the book revolves around a hate crime to a Muslim, Arab family in a small Nevada town. I liked how the book represented the complex feelings that could bring, especially with not being able to tell if your neighbors secretly hate you. I also thought the relationship between an Arab daughter and a retired solider dealt with the fetishization and colonialism dynamics in dating well. But I think I ultimately found the tone too pessimistic to be a favorite, despite its realism.
“Growing up in this town, I had long ago learned that the savagery of a man named Mohammed was rarely questioned, but his humanity always had to be proven.”
***
24. The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany
My grandma read this Egyptian novel in high school in Iraq, which made it fascinating read for me. I really liked the book for its wide array of characters that could exist in Cairo. I did not expect the book to prominently feature a few gay characters, but that was a pleasant surprise. If you want to get rid of your monolithic view of the Middle East, read this book.
“If you can’t find good in your own country, you won’t find it anywhere else.”
***
25. SWANA Literature for Children
I counted these 4 children’s book as one book, because they were each short but I still enjoyed all of them because they told stories from the Middle East that I wouldn’t have known of otherwise.
25a. The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq by Jeanette Winter
A book about Alia, a real bookkeeper in Basra who helped save 30,000 books during the American invasion in 2003. A great book for kids and a heartwarming story about Iraq.
***
25b. Alia’s Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq by Mark Alan Stamaty
This tells the same story as above, but in more detail and in a graphic novel format. This book was geared more towards adults, so I preferred it more.
***
25c. Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini
By the famous author of the Kite Runner is a children’s book about crossing the Mediterranean Sea as a refugee from Syria. The watercolor art is beautiful, and the prose sometimes reads more like poetry.
25d. Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughn
I hated this graphic novel. It’s a fictionalized depiction of the real event of lions escaping from the Baghdad zoo during the 2003 bombing by Americans. That being said, the lions were humanized more than the Iraqis who died during that event. And it’s portrayal of Baghdad wasn’t even accurate, but more a type of Orientalism (aka- a fetishized, fantastical and inaccurate depiction of the Middle East).
The Bestsellers
I normally find bestsellers to be enjoyable reads that I don’t remember once the year is over. This year was not much different.
26. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet
A fascinating plot of two light-skinned twin sisters from a Black town that separate. One ends up giving herself an identity as a white woman, and the other falls deeper into Black culture. A great read that also gets bonus points for seamlessly including a trans character.
***
27. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
This novel deals with a 25 year Black girl who goes viral for a racist incident against her. The core of this novel deals with what it means to be a white savior, which was mediocrely executed leaving me feeling underwhelmed.
***
28. Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A captivating fictional novel based on movie star Evelyn Hugo, who is based on old Hollywood movie stars such as Rita Hayworth, Marylin Monroe, and Elizabeth Taylor. The romantic plot twist in this book is golden, but I also respected Evelyn for her ambition and honesty. A great beach read or book to get you out of a reading slump.
***
29. Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
If Sally Rooney is the voice of our generation, then I am worried for our generation. While Sally Rooney does write very convincing characters and dialogue for the modern era, the characters at this novel lack so much emotional intelligence that I found the novel frustrating. She is a good writer though.
***
30. Normal People by Sally Rooney
Honestly, same as above.
The Political Non-fiction Books
I usually turned to these books to find comfort in the struggle in running for office from others who had done the same.
31. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Reading Obama’s long memoir of his White House years was a fascinating insider perspective. Like most people, I didn’t like how long it was, but I also wouldn’t know what I would have cut. P.S. — Obama reads the audiobook, which makes it my preferred way of reading the book.
***
32. Represent: The Woman’s Guide to Running for Office and Changing the World by June Diane Raphael
A how to guide for running for office as a woman. I think the audience for this book is very niche, but the real stories of woman who ran were particularly motivating.
***
33. AOC: Fighter, Phenom, Changemaker by Prachia Gupta
There is something about reading other people’s campaign struggles that gave me motivation for when I struggled with mine. That was my main reason for reading this book. I’d only recommend if you are running for office or a huge AOC fan.
***
34. On Practice & Combating Liberalism by Mao Zedong
Damn. This was my first time reading Mao directly and I now understand how he led a political revolution in China. Both essays describe what happens when a society falls apathetic to social ills, and what to do about it. I loved both, but I want Combating Liberalism (only 2 pages) as a poster in my room. Read both of these now. Like today.
***
Political books I started but didn’t finish. I picked these up to teach myself how to run a campaign, and only read the parts I found necessary.
- How Organizations Develop Activists: Civic Associations and Leadership in the 21st Century by Hahrie Han — Of the list, had the most practical advice for building a movement, not just a campaign.
- How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning by George Lakey — The simplest to read, with solid advice. If I had to pick one book to recommend for understanding how run a campaign, I’d recommend this one.
- Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals by Saul D. Alinksy — More theoretical advice from a big union organizer. Would recommend.
- 101 Ways to Win an Election by Mark Pack — Advice is good for running a campaign, but can also be found online. Good to read if you want a simple centralized list of things you will have to do to win an election.
- Get Out the Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout by Donald Green — More geared towards increasing voter turnout, than running a campaign. So not as useful for me.
- Rules for Revolutionaries: How Big Organizing Can Change Everything by Becky Bond — Skip it. Written by Bernie organizers, but holds little practical advice.
The Non-Fiction Books
35. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
This account of Elizabeth Holmes reads more like a thriller and psychoanalysis of a serial killer than a history of one of Silicon Valley’s infamous companies. Would recommend for the thrill.
***
36. How to Find Fulfilling Work by Roman Krznaric
Part of the School of Life book series, but didn’t find this book that helpful. Would not recommend. I would recommend the other book from the series, Self Knowledge, which is one of my favorite books of all time and the best ‘self help’ book I have ever read.
***
37. Black Futures by Kimberly Drew
A great art book on afro-futurism. I learned about so many cool artists from this book.
***
38. You Are an Artist: Assignments to Spark Creations by Sarah Green
Meh. I like the youtube channel with the same goal more than the book. Great concept of an art book which gives assignments to do to teach you about art.
***
39. Nickled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
A great book of investigative journalism on why we need to increase the minimum wage and have more rights for minimum wage workers. Been on my to read list for forever, and it did not disappoint.
The Graphic Novels
40. Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob
My favorite graphic novel from the year which was about explaining race to your mixed race child in post-Trump world. The art was unique and the book was actually hilarious. Highly recommend.
***
41. On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
A beautifully drawn space novel prominently featuring a non-binary character. Five stars for the art, the characters and the story.
***
42. In Real Life by Cory Doctorow
This novel about a gamer girl was enjoyable, but not memorable.
***
43. The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
I wanted to love this book, but I’ve read it twice now and still do not remember any of the art or the plot.
***
44. The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel by Renee Nault
If you don’t want to read the actual book like me, this is a great alternative.
***
Other graphic novels that I already mentioned above:
- I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib
- Algeria is Beautiful Like America by Olivia Burton
- The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq by Jeanette Winter
- Alia’s Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq by Mark Alan Stamaty
- Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini
- Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughn
The Romance Books
45. Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali
The first romance book I read featuring a hijabi protagonist, and it was absolutely lovely.
***
46. Less by Andrew Sean Greer
My least favorite book of the year. I hated the protagonist and the plot, but the writing was decent. Don’t read it though.
***
47. We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon
A love story between a Jewish girl who doesn’t believe in love and a Muslim boy who is a hopeless romantic. If want a quick read to pick up your spirits, this book will do.
***
48. The Meeting Point by Olivia Lara
The second worst book I read this year. I read it because the plot sound entertaining, but the book didn’t really deliver.
***
49. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
I read 9 books featuring a LGBTQ+ protagonists this year, and it had definitely been a gap in my reading. This book is a gay love story between a fictional version of Prince Harry of England and a son of the president of the United States. Arguably the best romance book I read this year.
The Young Adult Fantasy Books
Tiktok made me read them.
50. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
This book was all over Tiktok, and unfortunately it did not live up to the hype. It’s like Twilight for the new generation, but with fairies instead of vampires.
***
51. Curse of the Night Witch by Alex Aster (Emblem Island #1)
I was pleasantly surprised by this Tiktok recommendation about three teens who embark on adventure to break a curse placed on them by the Night Witch. My favorite part of the series was the world building, which was based on Colombian folklore stories. The lake that steals color was really cool. A pleasant read but definitely geared to high school audience.
***
52. Curse of the Forgotten City by Alex Aster (Emblem Island #2)
The sequel to the book above, and just as enjoyable. While the first one is on land, this one is on the ocean so it has more pirates, mermaids and sea creatures in general. If there was a third book in the series, I would read it too.
Bonus: The Abandoned
For my own record keeping purposes, I want to document all the books I tried to read and didn’t for their various reasons.
- Promises of Power by Carl Stokes :
This political memoir by the first African-American mayor of Cleveland. What I read was fascinating, and I can’t wait to finish it.
- Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
The sequel to A Court of Thorn and Roses, but I just couldn’t get far. Will not finish.
- A Job to Love by The School of Life
Ultimately wasn’t interesting enough to finish.
- Cities of Salt by Abdul Munif
A long read about how oil drilling changed a desert oasis community. I am working through this book, and it’s good. It’s just long.
- My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
A collection of RBG’s speeches. RGB has great speeches, but this book is just long. Unsure if I will dedicate the time to ever finish this book.
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Kimmerer
Will absolutely finish this book sometime, I’m just slow to read non-fiction.
- Feminism for the 99% by Cinzia Arruzza
This book is short, but the half that I read was so obvious that I don’t feel a strong need to finish it.
- The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
Similarly to Braiding Sweetgrass, I loved what parts of this book I did read, but will take me some time to finish.
- An American Sickness: How Healthcare became Big Business by Elisabeth Rosenthal
I would love to one day finish this book. It likely won’t happen anytime soon though.
Other articles about reading from Ayat Amin
2019
2018
2017
