This summer was stellar for me reading-wise. I managed to have two of the best reading months I’ve had, and the best reading week. I managed to read at least ten books that are now favourites, and more that are excellent. September wasn’t as good, mostly because my kid started school during the fourth wave of the pandemic with a more transmissible variable than last year and almost none of the safety measures that kept school transmission extremely low last year in place. It’s been a horrifyingly difficult time, and it’s just getting worse. Normally I retreat into books, but this… I don’t know what to do with the fear, frustration, and outrage I’m feeling. I can’t focus, I can’t sit still, I can’t breathe. For any other parents out there in a community with shitty leadership, I feel you. I wish I could promise we’ll all get through this – but that’s what’s so scary. We don’t know if we will. But I do hope we can all manage to find some coping mechanisms so that if we do make it through, we’re in sort of one piece. (You know, other than alcohol.) Anyway, let’s get on with the books, because there are some real gems in here!
JULY
I love Call the Midwife. It’s one of my favourite shows. I decided to give the audiobooks a try, which was a good choice, because I was able to zip through all three books back to back. They’re not light reading, but they do have a similar feel to the show (just the stories are longer and with darker details). They’re worth reading. Earlier this year I read Jenny Lawson’s new book, Broken. I loved it so much that I decided to read Furiously Happy again since I read it when I was deep in my post-partum depression and not blogging. This time I was able to write a review. I recommend both books if you’re feeling overwhelmed and looking for a way to cope.
Between the World and Me is a modern classic when it comes to race and identity politics. It’s Ta-Nehisi Coates’ letter to his son about his own experiences of race in America, his fears and his hopes for what his son’s life will be. He explores some of the history that underpins what it means to be Black in America, he shares some stories of overt racism and microaggressions he’s experienced in his life. His language is extremely evocative and his anger and sadness seep off the page as you read, and you will not be the same after reading this book as you were before – but in a necessary way. Concrete Rose is Angie Thomas’ prequel to her hit book, The Hate U Give. It’s the story of Maverick, Starr’s father, when he was a teenaged father and trying to find a way to be there for his child. In typical Thomas style, she manages to draw the complexities of her characters with insight and love, and create a page-turner of a book. We Are Not Free should be required reading in schools. Not so much for the book itself (though it’s a great one), but because of the subject matter. It’s about some young Japanese-Americans from San Francisco who are put in an internment camp during WWII. It’s not an easy read, of course, but it’s such an important one, because it looks an a vital part of Asian-American history that too many people don’t even know existed. You Are Your Best Thing is a great compilation of essays by a huge variety of Black authors, artists, actors, activists and other important cultural figures to share their experiences of being Black in America. What it means, the challenges it has caused, the stereotypes they’ve had to blow up and the other identities they embody that intersect in different ways with their Blackness. It’s a wonderful collection, and each piece has a unique, vital voice.
The House in the Cerulean Sea was a balm to my COVID-weary soul. It was the charming, inspiring, heart-warming book I didn’t even know I was looking for. I loved so many things about this book. If you’re a fan of fantasy, found family, LGBTQIAP+ romance and personal growth, this book has so much to offer. Alone Together was a bit of a sleeper hit for me. I came across it by accident, and nearly didn’t give it a chance. I’m so glad I did. It’s a collection of writings by various authors on what the COVID-19 pandemic has done to their lives, the things they have experienced, the challenges they’ve had to face and the ways in which they’ve learned to cope. There is so much here that anyone will recognize and deeply identify with, and it definitely did make me feel less alone. I’d never read any Jhumpa Lahiri before Whereabouts. Apparently it’s a book she wrote in Italian and then translated to English herself. In it, we explore the depths of one woman’s life. We learn her history, find out about her relationships, her friendships, her love of her home city, her opinions of people around her and the peculiar habits and preferences that make her unique. It’s an introspective journey that is quiet, and yet will have a deep impact. South and West is the second book by Didion I read this year. It didn’t work that well for me – though, as always, there were some beautifully-written passages. It’s based on notebooks she kept during a journey in the American South with her husband and during the Patty Hearst trial in California. It felt dated (both happened in the 1970s) and it didn’t really make much of an impression on me. As always, Didion is hit and miss for me, and this one was more of a miss.
AUGUST
This Book is Anti-Racist is a great middle-grade book about the topic that introduces the language, concepts, history and discussion of race. It includes interactive elements and encourages the reader to fully engage with the information it shares. When Breath Becomes Air was…. wow. It’s the memoir of a neural surgeon diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he died while writing it. The final section was written by his wife posthumously. So of course, you know going in that it’s going to be a tough read. But, oddly enough, it wasn’t as heavy as I expected. There’s an upbeat tone to the book that, given the topic, is a surprise. And the decisions Kalanithi made even knowing and understanding the situation he was in were full of hope and a determination to continue living, right up to the end. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry wasn’t such a success for me. It was alright, but I didn’t connect with it strongly, and though some elements of it were though-provoking, it’s not one I’ll be following up on. The Window Seat, on the other hand, was possibly my favourite book of the year so far. It’s an exploration of a wide range of topics, and is as beautifully written as it is intelligent. I adored her style, the way her mind works, and her unparalleled ability to make any topic intriguing.
I read Project Hail Mary after re-reading The Martian and getting some recommendations for it in my comments. I’m so glad I did! I loved it almost as much as The Martian, and it had that same scientific problem solving, fast-paced plot and great character development. I highly recommend it. I don’t normally do romance, and I didn’t actually know that Seven Days in June was a romance when I went into it. As far as romance novels go, this was one of the better ones. It explores the lives and experiences of two Black characters, one of whom is dealing with chronic pain, and the other with addiction. It did a great job of drawing the characters around the central romantic theme, and I appreciated that. Shaun Bythell’s book is a short one, but quite amusing if you’re a book lover. He discusses some categories of customers he typically sees in his bookshop, and will leave you wondering: which of these do I fit into? Men Explain Things to Me is an exploration of the ways in which women’s voices and bodies are belittled, overlooked, taken advantage of and controlled by men or by a world designed for them. It’s a great place to start if you’re looking at why feminism is not a movement of the past, but still of vital importance today (if you’re still not sure, just ask any mom what it’s like to navigate the world with a stroller and a need to breastfeed a hungry baby, and that’ll give you a good idea of what a mess it is for us).
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies has been popping up all over the place this year. It’s a collection of short stories that centre around characters who are dealing with difficult and traumatic events in their lives, and how their current situation ties back to the church or someone who is part of a religious community in one way or another. I really enjoyed this, and found the stories to be full of interesting situations and characters that gave me a lot to think about and stuck with me. The Argonauts is a powerhouse of a book. It explores sexual identity and gender, and juxtaposes Nelson’s experience of her body and how it changes while she’s pregnant with her partner’s FTM transition. She looks at queer parenthood, at how society seeks to label people and how often those labels don’t fit. She looks at the ways in which assumptions of gender impact our space in the world, and how others treat us. It’s academic in parts, theoretical in others, and deeply personal. It’s one of the most intelligent explorations of this (or any) topic I’ve encountered to this point. One of my top recommendations of the year. I mostly read Leave the World Behind because it was available as an audiobook from my library, and I was vaguely curious. I’m glad I gave it a try, if only to know what people are talking about, but it was only a middling read for me. Aristotle and Dante, on the other hand, is yet another favourite book I’ve discovered this year. I loved the exploration of the complexities of sexual identity where it meets family, personal expectations, and cultural norms. Beautifully written, wonderful characters, highly recommended.
SEPTEMBER
I’ve been meaning to get to The Fire This Time ever since reading The Fire Next Time (twice) last year. It’s another fantastic collection of writings by a diverse range of authors as they discuss what racial identity and racism have meant in their lives. How Not to Get Shot is an audiobook I found on my Audible Plus membership list and was curious. It’s by D.L. Hughley, a comedian, so audiobook is the best format for it. His wry humour and the sharp cultural criticism that is woven into his humorous jabs is a very effective exploration of how ridiculous concepts of race are and what it’s like to have Black skin in America. Good if you’re looking to understand more about racism, but find it easier to engage with when it feels a bit less serious (though it is very serious under all the jokes). Jonny Appleseed was this year’s Canada Reads winner, and for good reason. It’s a loosely autiobiographical novel that explores what it means to be a two spirit indiginous young person in Canada today. It’s by turns painful, violent, explicit, tender and humorous. It’s full of the complexities and blurred boundaries that real life holds, and underneath it all is this current of cultural pride and familial love that are so beautiful. Another fantastic read!
Phew! That was a great few months of reading. I’m now heading into my autumn reading slump season when I usually run out of steam with my reading and switch to binge watching Netflix instead. So I don’t expect the next few months to be as full of wonderful books as these three were, but I’m so glad I have managed to really get back into the swing of reading for parts of this year. It’s been a wonderful reading year so far, and I’ve managed to find some books that have surprised me with their excellence and others that have taught me about important aspects of society. I’m feeling very grateful for having stumbled across some truly amazing books by chance, for the excellent recommendations that brought me to others and for my library’s stellar audiobook collection that has kept me going over the past few months!
What about you guys? Have you read any of these? Which books did you read over the summer that stuck with you?
