Fiction
I showed up late to the party when it comes to Elizabeth Strout. This is now the third book I have read by her, and I am obsessed.
"Olive Kitterdge" is a novel that is also thirteen separate stories that cankterorous, complicated Olive is a part of in some way. The stories span years in a Maine town and touch on love, loss, and the demons we can't outrun.
Lest you be put off by that description, Strout's writing is beautiful, sparse yet somehow full. She is one of the writers who makes me believe the studies that proclaim reading literary fiction can make you more empathetic. I wrestle into the minds of her characters and feel myself immersed in their situations. Her work is divine.
Lest you be put off by that description, Strout's writing is beautiful, sparse yet somehow full. She is one of the writers who makes me believe the studies that proclaim reading literary fiction can make you more empathetic. I wrestle into the minds of her characters and feel myself immersed in their situations. Her work is divine.
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
I feel in love with Smith's essay collection "Feel Free" last month, and a friend gave me this book shortly after. I devoured the story of an unnamed narrator and her friend Tracey who bond over dance in London. Smith shines a light on the complications of relationships, racism, and the good intentions of philanthropists gone awry all in one book.
The story travels from London to New York to Africa, and Smith's examination of relationships and privilege are profound without being preachy. Whether she sets her gaze on friends, lovers, or parents and children, she has a way of creating believable situations with authentic dialogue and interactions.
I picked up NW for next month. I am likely going to read everything Smith has ever written.
Stray City by Chelsey Johnson
I've seen this book described as a love letter to Portland in the 1990s, and I totally agree. It's a beautiful piece of work exploring the LGBTQ community that sought refuge in Portland during this time.
Andrea Morales flees her small Nebraska town when coming out earns her rejection. She makes a home in Portland and joins the Lesbian Mafia. One night, broken-hearted and vulnerable, she starts a relationship with Ryan that leads to an accidental pregnancy and threatens to unravel the belonging she's found in the LGBTQ community.
The dialogue is believable, the characters are rich, and this story is fiction but weaves in threads of reality, including the death of Brandon Teena who happened to be from the same state Andrea's character fled. It examines the damage that is done when dogma overrules compassion, and it spans years in the life of Portland, showing us the way the city changes as well as the people within it.
Johnson's understanding of people is what makes this book shine as she observes, "The tyranny of family love is that you can't help but love people who think God can't stand the sight of you."
Grab this one and settle in.
Short Stories
I feel in love with Smith's essay collection "Feel Free" last month, and a friend gave me this book shortly after. I devoured the story of an unnamed narrator and her friend Tracey who bond over dance in London. Smith shines a light on the complications of relationships, racism, and the good intentions of philanthropists gone awry all in one book.
The story travels from London to New York to Africa, and Smith's examination of relationships and privilege are profound without being preachy. Whether she sets her gaze on friends, lovers, or parents and children, she has a way of creating believable situations with authentic dialogue and interactions.
I picked up NW for next month. I am likely going to read everything Smith has ever written.
Stray City by Chelsey Johnson
I've seen this book described as a love letter to Portland in the 1990s, and I totally agree. It's a beautiful piece of work exploring the LGBTQ community that sought refuge in Portland during this time.
Andrea Morales flees her small Nebraska town when coming out earns her rejection. She makes a home in Portland and joins the Lesbian Mafia. One night, broken-hearted and vulnerable, she starts a relationship with Ryan that leads to an accidental pregnancy and threatens to unravel the belonging she's found in the LGBTQ community.
The dialogue is believable, the characters are rich, and this story is fiction but weaves in threads of reality, including the death of Brandon Teena who happened to be from the same state Andrea's character fled. It examines the damage that is done when dogma overrules compassion, and it spans years in the life of Portland, showing us the way the city changes as well as the people within it.
Johnson's understanding of people is what makes this book shine as she observes, "The tyranny of family love is that you can't help but love people who think God can't stand the sight of you."
Grab this one and settle in.
Short Stories
You are Free by Danzy Senna
I picked up this collection of short stories because a) I had read about them in Zadie Smith's book of essays "Feel Free" last month b) Senna is married to Percival Everett whose book So Much Blue is still on my mind months after reading it.
I'm extremely curious about creative couples since D and I both write. I mean, we don't make the money or get the awards or general acclaim like Senna and Everett, but I still love to read their work and wonder if they revise together or just want the other person out of their creative space.
This is a thoughtful collection of stories that centers around women and race, and Senna's insight is generally spot on. She has a way of creating a pleasurable tension in each story while offering realistic characters.The stories are thought provoking and enjoyable.
I picked up this collection of short stories because a) I had read about them in Zadie Smith's book of essays "Feel Free" last month b) Senna is married to Percival Everett whose book So Much Blue is still on my mind months after reading it.
I'm extremely curious about creative couples since D and I both write. I mean, we don't make the money or get the awards or general acclaim like Senna and Everett, but I still love to read their work and wonder if they revise together or just want the other person out of their creative space.
This is a thoughtful collection of stories that centers around women and race, and Senna's insight is generally spot on. She has a way of creating a pleasurable tension in each story while offering realistic characters.The stories are thought provoking and enjoyable.
Essays
Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture edited by Roxane Gay
The common theme in these essays about rape is one that victims know well: taking responsibility for something that isn't our fault.
Roxane Gay, who was gang raped at the age of 12, edited this book of essays to remind us that it is that bad, regardless of our experience in rape culture and regardless of how many people still refuse to acknowledge its existence.
The topic of rape is obviously a heavy one, but the essays are beautiful despite the violence that takes place within them. Each writer, both male and female, approaches the topic from their unique perspective and offers readers a glimpse of how rape culture has shaped their worlds.
A daughter discusses her mother's choice to stay in her marriage, despite her husband raping their child, to preserve the family; a woman whose sister was assaulted by a man now has to live with that man being a part of their family and her family's rejection of her due to her anger. Michelle Chen writes about the risks women face when crossing the border, their bodies used as collateral or as a way to punish them.
Every essay highlights the fact that when anyone is raped or assaulted, a lack of support or help recovering will leave damage in its wake. Not discussing trauma, categorizing it as not that bad or not as bad as what it could have been, does nothing but deny victims the right to heal as much as possible.
The essay "All the Angry Women" ends with "her anger is not going away." It's not. It shouldn't. It is that bad, and that anger is going to be a tool for many of us to fight.
Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America
Go get this book. Read an essay a night. Let it sit in your brain. Meditate on these women's words and experiences and the research showing what it's like to be a nasty woman in Trump's America.
Jessica Valenti, Sady Doyle, and Sarah Hepola are just a handful of writers who contribute to this book. Doyle explores Trump's role as an abuser and explains why trying to give him a mental illness out is damaging for everyone. Hepola reflects on what it was like to be sober after the election after years of using alcohol as a crutch. Samantha Irby explains what it's like to be a queer black woman living in Trump country today.
All of these writers are incredible on their own, but having them together in one book discussing the current world we live in is a gift.
Amateur Hour: Motherhood in Essays and Swear Words by Kimberly Harrington
Let me start with the obvious: Kimberly Harrington is not an amateur, not at parenting or writing or life. I fell in love with her and I fell hard for this book.
These essays cover parenting, friendship, marriage, and middle age. This book is funny, laugh out loud worthy even, but it will also cause an array of emotional responses, sometimes on the same page. Harrington finds a way to nail the difficulty of being a parent without sacrificing the joys, and she doesn't diminish either the hard parts or the privilege of being a mom. That's a tough line to walk, and she does it flawlessly.
The common theme in these essays about rape is one that victims know well: taking responsibility for something that isn't our fault.
Roxane Gay, who was gang raped at the age of 12, edited this book of essays to remind us that it is that bad, regardless of our experience in rape culture and regardless of how many people still refuse to acknowledge its existence.
The topic of rape is obviously a heavy one, but the essays are beautiful despite the violence that takes place within them. Each writer, both male and female, approaches the topic from their unique perspective and offers readers a glimpse of how rape culture has shaped their worlds.
A daughter discusses her mother's choice to stay in her marriage, despite her husband raping their child, to preserve the family; a woman whose sister was assaulted by a man now has to live with that man being a part of their family and her family's rejection of her due to her anger. Michelle Chen writes about the risks women face when crossing the border, their bodies used as collateral or as a way to punish them.
Every essay highlights the fact that when anyone is raped or assaulted, a lack of support or help recovering will leave damage in its wake. Not discussing trauma, categorizing it as not that bad or not as bad as what it could have been, does nothing but deny victims the right to heal as much as possible.
The essay "All the Angry Women" ends with "her anger is not going away." It's not. It shouldn't. It is that bad, and that anger is going to be a tool for many of us to fight.
Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America
Go get this book. Read an essay a night. Let it sit in your brain. Meditate on these women's words and experiences and the research showing what it's like to be a nasty woman in Trump's America.
Jessica Valenti, Sady Doyle, and Sarah Hepola are just a handful of writers who contribute to this book. Doyle explores Trump's role as an abuser and explains why trying to give him a mental illness out is damaging for everyone. Hepola reflects on what it was like to be sober after the election after years of using alcohol as a crutch. Samantha Irby explains what it's like to be a queer black woman living in Trump country today.
All of these writers are incredible on their own, but having them together in one book discussing the current world we live in is a gift.
Amateur Hour: Motherhood in Essays and Swear Words by Kimberly Harrington
Let me start with the obvious: Kimberly Harrington is not an amateur, not at parenting or writing or life. I fell in love with her and I fell hard for this book.
These essays cover parenting, friendship, marriage, and middle age. This book is funny, laugh out loud worthy even, but it will also cause an array of emotional responses, sometimes on the same page. Harrington finds a way to nail the difficulty of being a parent without sacrificing the joys, and she doesn't diminish either the hard parts or the privilege of being a mom. That's a tough line to walk, and she does it flawlessly.
She can go from writing about letting her kid bleed it out in "The Super Bowl of Interruptions" to "You are All the Joy", a letter to her kids that caused me to crawl in bed with all of mine for a reading cuddlefest. "Hot-Ass Chicks" is the ultimate ode to the girlfriends who keep us going, and it had me in tears. Harrington accurately opines "..I need my hot-ass chicks like I need oxygen. Because the first casualty of motherhood is honesty. And the second is vulnerability." That's true and lonely if you don't find your people.
This book is over 300 pages and covers using social media to broadcast our insecurities as well as what it means to be a working mom in the United States (spoiler alert: it's hard because our policies suck.)
I can't recommend this one enough. If you are one of my hot-ass chicks, you may find it randomly on your doorstep soon.
Non-fiction
The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships by Suzanne Stabile
Most of the people in my life know I am obsessed with the Enneagram. It's helped me understand my own behavior as a two, and it's been a wonderful tool to use when trying to understand how other people who are not twos view the world.
I started with Ian Morgan Cron's The Road Back to You, and Stabile was a co-writer on that one. Stabile set out on her own this time to explain how we can have healthy relationships with everyone on the Enneagram, no matter what our numbers. "The Road Back to You" helped me figure out what number I was on the Enneagram, and "The Path Between Us" helps us understand what that means for relationships with others. (I feel it's necessary to point out that Stabile is a two, and relationships are EVERYTHING to us. It doesn't surprise me at all that a two focused her book on the relational aspects of the Enneagram.)
This book is broken into chapters that cover each number and how to interact with people in that number. It's a quick read and a wonderful reference tool, and I will likely purchase it because the library frowns upon highlighting their copies.
Logical Family by Armistead Maupin
I had never heard of Maupin before I grabbed his memoir, my first read for the month of May. As a gay man growing up in a conservative, racist home in the south, Maupin has a unique story to tell about finding your logical family when your biological one can't accept you.
Regardless of sexual orientation, most of us have found ourselves in the world finding our logical family, those friends that are chosen as family in a way we don't get to choose our biological relatives. Maupin takes us from the American south to Vietnam to San Francisco, and along the way he shows us what it mean to embrace who he truly is and shed who he was trying to be to garner acceptance by his family.
This book has endless stories about people you will recognize, but its best moments are when Maupin's worlds collide, like the one where he is marching with his logical family after the murder of Harvey Milk and his biological family shows up, still not ready to accept him but present in his hurt.
Maupin is a gifted storyteller, and this book will appeal to anyone who has made their home away from the one they were born into.
The Little Book of Lykke: Secrets of the World's Happiest People by Meik Wiking
Wiking wrote The Little Book of Hygge, my first read about the Danish concept of coziness and happiness in the moment. He's the reason I'm hooked on hygge, and I will gladly read anything he writes.
"The Little Book of Lykke" (pronounced looka) expands beyond the happiness secrets of the Danish to include how other countries find ways to be happy. This book is broken down into sections and covers topics such as freedom, trust, and togetherness. Wiking provides real, actionable ways to create a happier life wherever you live.
I love reading about other countries ideas of freedom. Wiking fairly points out that the U.S. is a country with a huge divide between those who have money and those who don't, and Denmark would not consider that freedom. Freedom to them, and many other socialist countries, means knowing your neighbor can go to the doctor, go to college, and buy food. It creates trust and togetherness.
He also points out that Breaking Bad could have never been a believable show in Denmark. Instead of working a full-time job and still needing to resort to cooking meth to receive cancer treatment, Walter would have simply heard, "Here is your treatment plan, Walter. I will see you on the fifth."
How to be a Perfect Christian: Your Comprehensive Guide to Flawless Spiritual Living by The Babylon Bee
If you don't enjoy satire and sarcasm is not your love language then you best pass this one by. Sarcasm is basically a survival tool for me, so I loved The Babylon Bee's tips on how to be a perfect Christian without the inconvenience of, you know, authentic faith and a messy relationship with God.
This satire is cutting, and no matter where you are in your spiritual journey, you can't help but be convicted of a few transgressions within this book. It's a reminder that there's no formula for faith, no way around love and messiness.
It's a welcoming invitation to get real about what life is really like following a Jewish carpenter who didn't play by the rules, even if it means we have to forego the image of perfection in other people's eyes.
The Mommy Shorts Guide to Remarkably Average Parenting by Ilana Wiles
Know a pregnant person? Give them this book. I grabbed this one after seeing someone on Instagram commenting about how funny it was, and it did not disappoint. I only wish I had read it when my littles were younger because I think it would have been a sanity saver.
Wiles is honest about parenting and reminds all of us that being a totally average parent is a worthy goal. Pick it up for laughs and cute baby pictures.
The Very Worst Missionary: A Memoir or Whatever by Jamie Wright
If you've followed Jamie Wright's blog of the same name then you know her style: honest, smart, and challenging in the best possible way.
Wright's memoir focuses on her beginnings as a sort of Jewish kid before moving to her free-for-all teen years that led her to a baby, marriage, and a Christian faith that both saved her and almost sunk her. She handles the church and those within it kindly despite not always being handled kindly when she had questions, and she sheds light on what happens when short term mission trips aren't thought out journeys but simply ways for Christians to feel like they are doing something Jesus-like.
Wright's work is hilarious. You will laugh out loud reading this book. You'll also question some of the long-held beliefs about being a Christian and saving the world. I hope Wright continues to share the wisdom of her journeys because this book is beautifully written, accurate in its insight, and necessary for all of us.
10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works by Dan Harris
I read "Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics" and loved it, so I grabbed Harris' first book that chronicles his journey from majorly successful but stressed recreational drug user to meditation enthusiast. It did not disappoint.
Harris is a wonderful writer, and reading this book made me feel like I was listening to a friend tell a great story. Harris traces his complicated route to meditation, starting with Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra and finally leading to a set of meditation practitioners who can answer his questions and concerns about the practice. Along the way he offers practical advice and reasons to get started with meditation, and implementing the RAIN method and the "Is this useful?" question have helped everyone in my house considerably.
Harris reminds us that mindless living often comes with consequences, and the mindfulness meditation offers helps us train one of our most important tools: our minds. Meditator or not, read this book and it will be hard for you to stay unconvinced about the benefits.
Graphic Novel
What to do When I'm Gone: A Mother's Wisdom to Her Daughter by Suzy Hopkins and Hallie Bateman
This graphic novel is a beautiful quick read. When Hopkins realized she would one day have to navigate life without her mother, she approached her mom to receive advice about how to go on when she was gone. From that this book was born, and it is full of advice, recipes, and lessons about grief.
The illustrations are beautiful, the advice is sound, and this would make a great gift for any daughter or son.
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