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| Michael Walsh with The Heavies back in 2015 |
Top Books Read in 2019
By Michael Walsh
[Here at CoolDad Music, I think I can count on one hand the number of book reviews we've ever posted. I've always meant to do more of them, but it's never really happened. Michael Walsh, who's been playing in local bands since before we started here, greatly increases our book review total with his top reads of 2019.
Most of Michael's selections were published before 2019, but that's the beauty of books -- all art, really. Once they're put out into the world, they're always there to be discovered by new readers. Have a look at this list. I'm sure you'll find something to give you a new and wonderful experience.
Thanks, Michael.]
Hi, I'm Michael Walsh. I currently play drums in Ba Babes, Les Dangers, and Boyfriends. I formerly played drums in The Heavies, Prehistoric Forest and Foxes & Lions. I also make instrumental "junk wop" music under the name Swell Patterns and occasionally release tapes and things as a tiny label called Instruments of Ultimate Good. That's about it as far as plugs and projects that I have.
Note: I read a bunch of books so far this year so here's my top eleven presented in alphabetical order because ordering them by favorite was far too difficult. Hard enough to narrow it down to this.
A Sense of Where You Are: Bill Bradley at Princeton by John McPhee (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1965)
This was the first book I read this year. John McPhee wrote this over the course of a year spending time with Bill Bradley while he was a star basketball player and academic scholar at Princeton. If you like basketball and are inspired by people who are so in the moment with what they do, then this is a great read. Honestly, just how good Bill Bradley was at basketball makes this great. My dad liked this one too.
Caca Dolce: Essays from a Lowbrow Life by Chelsea Martin (Soft Skull Press, 2017)
I read this during the summer on my lunch breaks hiding in this little closet turned office at my job. These essays are hilarious and endearing. Feels more like a friend telling you stories. You root for Chelsea Martin while at times also pretending you don't know her, which is the truest quality you want in a friend. On a side note, this is seemingly in chronological order which adds to a flow that feels effortless.
Cherry by Nico Walker (Knopf, 2018)
I read the bulk of this on Thanksgiving hiding from family. It's sad and haunting, at times even darkly funny. War, drugs, bank robberies, and a lot of cursing. It goes beyond a "war novel" and a "junkie novel" and sits in its own category which might have a lot to do with the reality it's based in. Additionally, this book does something I always love in a first person narrative: when things get dark and times get tougher, there is a shift in the language to express that. I'm excited for whatever Nico Walker does next.
Elizabeth & Mary & Elle: Three New Fictions by Elizabeth Ellen, Mary Miller and Elle Nash (Sad Spell Press, 2019)
Three writers doing what they do best: writing authentic stories. These stories happen to be about love and relationships and everything that comes along with them. I picked this up because I enjoyed Ellen's Fast Machine and Nash's Animals Eat Each Other (both I read this year) and I had heard great things about Miller. This little book instantly made me a reader of theirs for life. All of them. I keep this one in my glove compartment for whenever I'm without a book and need something to read. It's small and short, but packs a punch and a half.
Hymn California by Adam Gnade (Dutchmoney Books, 2008)
This is Gnade's very-out-of-print first book. Although his newest, This is the End of Something But Not the End of You (officially out this February) might be a little better, I never actually thought I'd get to read this (endless thanks to my friend Coletta for one of the best birthday gifts I've ever received!). This book is loose and free-wheeling but written with great care like all of my favorite Springsteen songs. It's On the Road but with your foot resting on the brake pedal in case you need to catch an exit quick. If you can find it, buy it.
Juliet the Maniac by Juliet Escoria (Melville House, 2019)
This was the year where I finally started my deep-dive into autobiographical fiction and Juliet Escoria's debut novel is dead center in that Venn diagram. Part coming-of-age story, part memoir on mental illness that follows a teenage girl as she works her way through youth, drug use, and a long stint in a therapeutic boarding school. All told through short vignettes that are inward but empathetic in hindsight.
Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity, edited by Micah Rajunov & Scott Duane (Columbia University Press, 2019)
Not completely done with this one yet, but it's been so good that I wanted to include it. Personal essays on gender, particularly from the nonbinary perspective, from those who have struggled, as well as thrived with their own identity. It's touching, triumphant, heartbreaking, and most of all important. I've cried and smiled a lot while reading this.
Safe as Houses by Marie-Helene Bertino (University of Iowa Press, 2012)
I feel like short stories have become the lost of art of literature, even more so than poetry. Marie-Helene Bertino's first collection is both imaginative and grounded. "Great, Wondrous" and "Carry Me Home, Sisters of Saint Joseph" are two of the best stories I've read in recent memory and they're two of the last three stories of the collection (that's a real "ender ender"). Instant top five favorite for me. I will probably recommend this to everyone all the time forever.
Taking Care by Joy Williams (Vintage Contemporaries, 1985)
My introduction to Joy Williams was through collecting the old Vintage Contemporaries paperbacks from the 80s and early 90s. I knew enough of the authors (Beattie, Carver, Ford) and loved Lorraine Louie's design work so much just to trust whatever ones I could find. These stories are told with little urgency and crafted so well. Each sentence feels like a gift. I let this one spread out over a few months to allow myself to dip in and out of her world. Seemingly mundane but with so many little victories along the way. I also never wanted to visit Florida before, but now I kind of do.
The Utility of Boredom: Baseball Essays by Andrew Forbes (Invisible Publishing, 2016)
For such an old sport that has been written about so many times, Andrew Forbes does a great job of finding fresh ways to explore the timeless, unique magic of the game with a subtle literary lens. I'd like more of this than another book from a sportswriter complaining about how the game has changed. I'm looking at you Bob Costas. File Under: Books I Can Lend To My Dad
Women by Chloe Caldwell (Short Flight / Long Drive, 2014)
I read this novella in one day. More or less one sitting if I didn't have errands to run. It's fast and heartbreaking. I know some people don't like books with a main character that you can't get 100% behind, but I always enjoy a good 50/50. It's more real like that. To me Caldwell's Women feels important. Way better than Bukowski.
Thanks for reading this. Support authors and small presses. Support your local libraries and book shops. Support CoolDad and support your friends who make art of any kind.
