Mercury Writers and Multnomah County Librarians Pick Our Favorite Books of 2021! – Blogtown

In search of learn? Right here’s a enjoyable, numerous—and not at all exhaustive—record of our favourite books (together with comics!) that got here out in 2021. As an added bonus, we received just a few Multnomah County librarians to provide us their picks as effectively. And if you would like much more suggestions, you may browse all of the library’s best books of the year here.

by Monica Byrne
A science fiction epic that spans 1000’s of years to inform three tales that every one share a connective tissue, The Precise Star proved to be the e-book that caught with me probably the most this yr. I nonetheless have caught myself pondering simply how bold and vibrant of an achievement it truly is to see Byrne wrangle the huge scope of the story with ease. It’s drawn comparisons to David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, although Byrne’s voice and elegance is all her personal, a sweeping imaginative and prescient that’s a must-read for anybody who appreciates actually revelatory science fiction. — CHASE HUTCHINSON

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by Casey Plett
Casey Plett’s story collection A Dream of a Woman facilities trans ladies of their capaciousness and vulnerability, with deep tales of affection and household, intercourse and habit, and the way we reconcile trauma. These tales look ahead, not for clear triumphs however for the hope that we will maintain complication. Although famous as a brilliant star of this breakthrough period in trans fiction, Plett is commonly missed as an Oregon author. In Dream, Plett understands Oregon rain and Oregon mud, and the way good intentions develop into stifling in a spot the place restricted potentialities are as oppressive because the winter clouds. — ELINOR BROKER

From the Mercury’s previous piece on Philomath:

“I burned via Philomath: Poems, the debut poetry assortment from Devon Walker-Figueroa, in a single sitting. A story coming-of-age poetry assortment laced with searing imagery and gut-punch single-line revelations, Philomath is about Walker-Figueroa’s childhood in Benton County’s rural neighborhood, Kings Valley, and in close by city Philomath. (You possibly can learn the gathering’s titular poem, one in all its greatest, right here.)… This assortment additionally felt very Biblical to me. There are overt references to church and Christianity, but additionally Biblical themes: male violence, blood and hearth, a rotating solid of mysterious characters that seem and disappear simply as rapidly.” — BLAIR STENVICK

by Hannah Templer

Deliriously frothy escapism and considerate queer illustration do not at all times make the perfect bedfellows, however Hannah Templer’s comedian Cosmoknights ships it, and laborious. That is what you’d get if Robotic Jox was a Saturday morning cartoon and everybody was LGBTQ+, and the techno-feudalist backdrop is the proper playground for derring-do and longing appears to be like and the occasional swipe on the patriarchy. With a solid of profitable area cowboy thirst traps and a colour palette that oscillates between an equatorial sundown and Lisa Frank on a two-week mescaline bender, that is the massive homosexual area opera you want in your life proper now, proper this very second. — BEN COLEMAN

by Xiran Jay Zhaor

Marketed as “Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Story in a polyamorous reimagining of China’s solely feminine emperor,” Iron Widow blew up on bookish TikTok as one in all this yr’s most anticipated YA debuts—and it didn’t disappoint. Xiran Jay Zhao tackles structural misogyny via the lens of a dystopian sci-fi world whereas additionally blowing up the love-triangle trope and giving readers the epic poly romance we deserve. This e-book is a brutal rollercoaster and ends with a devastating cliffhanger that I couldn’t cease fascinated by. The YA style has advanced quite a bit through the years, and Iron Widow embraces that future. — ALIYA HALL

by Michelle Zauner

From the Mercury’s previous piece on Crying in H Mart:

The center of the e-book, in fact, is about grief: The grief Zauner feels watching her mom’s well being decline, and the grief after her demise, made extra acute by the truth that Zauner and her mother had not too long ago lastly reconciled after an adolescent tough patch of their relationship. However somewhat than wallowing in pure sentiment, Zauner writes the particulars of her grief: An odd go to to an apple orchard proper after she dies, as a result of it’s one of many few locations in Eugene they’d by no means gone to collectively; eschewing weekly counseling periods and educating herself to make kimchi as a substitute, its personal type of remedy. After a yr through which we’ve all felt grief of some type—if not for an individual, then for a lifestyle—it’s these idiosyncrasies, the bizarre methods our minds discover to course of the onslaught, that ring probably the most true. — BLAIR STENVICK

by Alex McElroy

What I really like about The Atmospherians is that it’s humorous and unhappy and infuriating and thrilling and really, very good. Within the satirical novel set within the near-distant future, Sasha Marcus is an Instagram influencer scorned by trolls on the web. Sasha joins forces along with her childhood good friend Dyson to begin the Ambiance, a cult designed to reform males and rid them of poisonous masculinity. McElroy has written a incredible novel about on-line tradition, wellness tradition, cults, movie star, and its middle, the will to be seen. I discovered it not possible to place down. — EMME LUND

by Jeanne Thornton

“What if Brian Wilson from the Seaside Boys was a trans lady?” is just not one thing I had ever requested myself earlier than studying Summer season Enjoyable. However I’m so glad writer Jeanne Thornton took up that conceit (fictionalizing the band because the Get Happies) and spun a very bizarre, expansive, multi-generational tome about household, identification, self-harm, and self-love, spanning from Nineteen Fifties Los Angeles to early 2010s Fact or Penalties, New Mexico. Equally essential to this narrative as surf-rock star Diane is Gala, a younger trans lady working at a hostel in the course of the desert, who makes use of rituals and compelling letters to attach her personal future with Diane’s. This e-book enveloped my mind for just a few days, demanding me to maintain turning the web page, as the easiest novels can. — BLAIR STENVICK

by Danny Trejo

Danny Trejo is an icon within the Chicano neighborhood for his roles in so many tough-guy movies, however on this e-book he permits us to see him in a a lot completely different gentle: as a loving father, a mentor, and as an individual who cares quite a bit about his neighborhood. This e-book is relatable—particularly along with his progress and wrestle with machismo. (Seconded by librarian Melanie F.: “Machismo? Extra like Machis-don’t. If Danny Trejo can pull himself out of the trenches of poisonous masculinity, then perhaps the remainder of society can too.”) Find Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption and Hollywood at the library. — ENRIQUE R., MULTNOMAH COUNTY LIBRARY, WORKPLACE TEAM

by Richard J. Brown

This Is Not for You: An Activist’s Journey of Resistance and Resilience by Richard J. Brown recounts his life’s work to construct connections between police and the Black neighborhood. These unfamiliar with Portland’s historical past will discover an intriguing portrait of the town within the 80s and 90s. Via his lengthy profession as a neighborhood activist, photographer, and storyteller, this native writer attracts on his efforts to empower Black folks. Now in his mid-80s, Brown ponders who will tackle the work he has been doing as an activist and neighborhood builder, if anybody. — BARBARA H., MULTNOMAH COUNTY HILLSDALE LIBRARY

by Ryka Aok
Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aok is a superb science fiction-fantasy combo, with nice characters, intergalactic guests, a dive into the world of the violin and its gamers, nice meals descriptions, and a completely human trans protagonist. Between Shizuka Satomi, who made a take care of the satan, Katrina Nguyen, a transgender runaway, and Lan Tran, a retired starship captain, one can find a narrative of destiny, magic, identification and hope. — RACHAEL S., MULTNOMAH COUNTY LIBRARY, MOBILE AND PARTNER LIBRARIES

by Tyler Feder
Our our bodies actually are cool! There’s an excellent probability each younger reader will see of us all through this e-book who appear to be them and folks they love. Bodies are Cool! by Tyler Feder is an illustrated, easy-to-read e-book that exhibits folks, irrespective of physique measurement, colour, form, or skill, doing enjoyable issues they get pleasure from doing! It is a should for households with kids who’re interested by our bodies and wish to normalize all types of our bodies with all types of talents. In a world the place we’re inspired to see all the things outdoors of “regular” as a flaw, it’s a pleasure to see folks residing fortunately of their our bodies. — NATASHA F., MULTNOMAH COUNTY HOLLYWOOD LIBRARY

by Nidhi Chanani
Music performs an essential half in many individuals’s lives…however what occurs when music involves life and flips your world the wrong way up? Jukebox by Nidhi Chanani is a pleasant examine household, music, and luck that retains you engaged the entire means via. This graphic novel is about two cousins who’re pulled from their period and transported to a different time via a jukebox that strikes via historical past. Vibrant illustrations, a various solid and an important coming-of-age story makes this e-book laborious to place down. — ELLEONA B., MULTNOMAH COUNTY CENTRAL LIBRARY