My favorite media / tech fiction of 2021

I started (and actually finished) a lot more books in 2021 than pretty much any other year. I assume it had something to do with spending so many evenings/weekends at home? And the unique experience we were fortunate enough to have traveling around the US, working remotely, left me with more reading time too.

I used to over-index on nonfiction, but I suppose the circumstances of the world contributed to me swinging in the other direction this year. And despite my escapist intentions, I still somehow ended up consuming a fair few books that were set in or very relevant to the media and/or tech industries. Since a lot of you also work in or are interested in those fields, I thought I'd share six of my favorites from 2021, in case you're looking for some reading inspo for the new year.

In no particular order:

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

This book, which is written in a TV screenplay format, is as a great example of a unique format / structure executed brilliantly, serving the narrative and underscoring the point Yu is making. It's funny, entertaining, and an innovative and thought-provoking commentary on Asian representation in American media.

Random quote I highlighted: "We’re trapped as guest stars in a small ghetto on a very special episode. Minor characters locked into a story that doesn’t quite know what to do with us. After two centuries here, why are we still not Americans? Why do we keep falling out of the story?"

One by One by Ruth Ware

A bunch of ridiculous, self-involved tech-startup people are stuck in a French mountain ski chalet after an avalanche. Then people start... GETTING MURDERED. I love classic murder mysteries, so there was pretty much no way I was not going to read this book. A breezy little thriller with a good ribbing of the startup world.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

It's hard to hype this book because it's been on so many "best" lists. But fair enough, because it was probably my favorite book of the year. Klara, an artificially intelligent android "friend," makes for a brilliant protagonist and a surprisingly poignant point of view to reflect on the nature of humanity and technology.

Random quote: "What was becoming clear to me was the extent to which humans, in their wish to escape loneliness, made maneuvers that were very complex and hard to fathom."

The Every by Dave Eggers

I really loved The Circle (the book, not the movie). A sequel to that book should not have worked. Yet it turns out that it does! Many people are going to be turned off by the length -- I don't think this book needed to be 600 pages -- but it is, for me, one of the best satires of the tech world and culture that I've come across. There are some brilliant, hilarious moments and I found the underlying critique Eggers makes about society's embrace of new technologies and the business of big tech to be sharper and scarier than its predecessor.

Random quote: "Capital-P Play was last year’s management theory, following multitasking, singletasking, grit, learning-from-failure, napping, cardioworking, saying no, saying yes, the wisdom of the crowd > trusting one’s gut, trusting one’s gut > the wisdom of the crowd, Viking management theory, Commissioner Gordon workflow theory, X-teams, B-teams, embracing simplicity, pursuing complexity, seeking zemblanity, creativity through radical individualism, creativity through groupthink, creativity through the rejection of groupthink, organizational mindfulness, organizational blindness, microwork, macrosloth, fear-based camaraderie, love-based terror, working while standing, working while ambulatory, learning while sleeping, and, most recently, limes."

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz?

Pretty sure Maddy Buxton (my colleague who shares my interests in both internet video culture and just-good-enough murder mysteries) got me into this one. An MFA writing teacher stumbles across the world's greatest plot via one of his students who dies before writing and publishing it. Great twists ensue. I enjoyed this one for how it explores the idea of what would happen if there was a piece of media that contained a plot / narrative arc that was so good that it's rise to breakthrough cultural phenomenon became inevitable.

Random quote I highlighted: "'I just care about the story. Either it’s a good plot or it isn’t. And if it’s not a good plot, the best writing isn’t going to help. And if it is, the worst writing isn’t going to hurt it.'"

Network Effect by Martha Wells

I can appreciate that this may not be for everybody. But I am the kind of dork who would be into the sci-fi adventures of a sarcastic, sentient robot-person named "Murderbot," who just wants to be left alone to watch TV dramas. If this sounds good to you, you're probably already reading this series (all of which are fantastic), but it was one of my favorite pandemic discoveries, so figured I'd include it here. It also won best

Random quote: "(Data suggests family dramas bear a less than 10 percent resemblance to actual human families, which is unsurprising and also a relief, considering all the murders.)"

Other works of fiction I liked this year that were not explicitly about media and/or tech:

• The Portrait of a Mirror by A. Natasha Joukovsky?- A vicious mocking of wealthy New York people, which includes amazing gems of sentences like this: "Much like Diana, the loft was built for special occasions and editorial photoshoots, not everyday life."
• The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris - Great premise, which has been aptly described as "Get Out meets The Stepford Wives."
• Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden - A captivating vigilante noir that takes place in and incorporates the history and culture of the Rosebud Lakota Reservation in South Dakota.

Anyone else read any of these? Any recommendations in this genre for 2022?