I began January with Clint Smith’s clear-eyed and important book, How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. As I listened to Smith’s superb narration of the audiobook, I felt compelled to donate a copy to my Southern high school’s library. I plan to do so soon. Reading Sarah Winman’s Still Life was a delight, particularly during this cold January. Italy, art, the flood of the Arno in ‘66! It’s all very captivating, but what stands out in my mind is the amazing cast of characters. I’ll never forget them. Still Life came highly recommended by two Norwich Bookstore booksellers: Carin and Beth. They did not let me down. Matthew Olzmann’s latest book of poetry, Constellation Route, features epistolary poems addressed to Bruce Wayne, William Shatner, and the oldest living longleaf pine in North America, in addition to friends and fellow poets. I raced through this collection and already know it will be a favorite of 2022.

—Shari

In the heart of this long January, when words failed, I turned to images. Huw Lewis-Jones’ Face-To-Face: Polar Portraits is filled with rich, large-format portraits of Golden Age and modern-day polar explorers and the men, women, and children who work and live in the polar regions. Where Hilma Af Klint: Visionary (edited by Kurt Almqvist and Louise Belfrage to accompany the 2018 exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum) provides an excellent grounding in the artist’s life and work and many gorgeous full-page images of the paintings, Hilma Af Klint: Notes and Methods (with an introduction and commentary by Iris Müller-Westermann and edited by Christine Burgin) takes a deep plunge into Klint’s writings and notebooks. Watching the development of her work through the pages of her own notebooks is mesmerizing and inspiring, and leaves me speechless in the best possible way.

—Rebecca