Lindy Reads and Reviews

Sunday, September 3, 2023

July 2023 Reading Stats and Booktube Uploads

My favourite books in July were all nonfiction:

Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast by John Vaillant

Truth Telling: Seven Conversations About Indigenous Life in Canada by Michelle Good

Ultra-Processed People: The Food We Eat that Isn't Food and Why We Can't Stop by Chris van Tulleken

Rehearsals for Living by Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

The High Desert by James Spooner

Strong Female Character by Fern Brady

La grosse laide / My Body in Pieces par / by Marie-Noelle Hebert (translation by Shelley Tanaka)

DNF's:

Booktube Uploads in July:

Friday Reads July 7

A Wildfire Smoky Friday Reads on July 14

Lindy and Shawn Discuss With or Without Angels by Douglas Bruton

Friday Reads July 21

Friday Reads July 28

Friday, September 1, 2023

June 2023 Reading Stats and Booktube Uploads

Best books that I read in June:

Angels in America by Tony Kushner

With or Without Angels by Douglas Bruton

Mercy Gene: The Man-Made Making of a Mad Woman by JD Derbyshire

Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe

Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes and Dawud Anyabwile

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer

Forget My Name by Zerocalcare; translated by Carla Roncalli di Montorio

Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Yas Imamura

Booktube uploads in June:

May Wrap-up and Friday Reads (June 2)

Friday Reads June 9

Tim Hortons References in Literature

A continuation of my ongoing collection of literary references to Canada's ubiquitous coffee chain. Zalika Reid-Benta's River Mumma gets to go first because there's a map of Toronto in it that shows the particular location of the Tim's mentioned in her novel.

“I need a phone. I don’t care whose. I just need to look
something up.”

“What’s wrong with your phone?” said Mars.

“It got wet. So can I just—“

“Dropped it in the sink?” asked Heaven.

“No—“

“Oh, damn,” said Mars. “The toilet?”

“I fell in the river behind my building last night, OK? Or I didn’t, I don’t know.” Alicia motioned frantically with her hand. “I was kinda blem still.”

“Bro, what?”

“Is that why your hair is already starting to frizz? It hasn’t even been a full twenty-four hours, Alicia.”

“What, you and my mom have a WhatsApp group or something? Just lend me a phone, yah.”

“Not me, my data plan sucks,” said Mars. “Maybe you can hop on real quick when we get in the radius of a Tim’s or something.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Finally, Mars spoke. “I’m really trying my best not to lose my shit, and I’m not doing a good job. So what’s going on, Leish?”

Alicia looked around the store, at the eyes that were on them but not actually looking at them. “OK, first, someone has to order something or we’re going to get kicked out.”

“No one gets kicked out of Tim’s,” said Mars, leaning back in his chair. “Mans can hijack a bus, bring it to Tim’s for a coffee, and still not get kicked out.”

River Mumma by Zalika Reid-Benta

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Motley Crue announced a show in Toronto at the SkyDome (now known as the Rogers Centre) as part of the Dr Feelgood tour. I had to go. I called my friend Kelly, who lived in Toronto, and asked if she would go with me. I then called my mom to ask if I could buy two tickets on her credit card. Those two things secured, I had to figure out how to come up with the money to buy a plane ticket to Toronto. I looked in the newspaper, which was what we did back then to find a job, an apartment or what movies were playing at the theatre. I saw that Tim Hortons right across from my apartment was hiring for the back shift. I applied and got the job. I would be working from eleven at night until seven in the morning, which would give me just enough time to shower and get over to The Body Shop for 9:00 a.m. The pay was $4.35 per hour, minimum wage. When added to the five dollars an hour I was getting paid at The Body Shop, I thought I could save enough for my airfare.

from: Scene 7: The one where I meet an even bigger mistake at Tim Hortons

It also shocked me how coddled some of these young lawyers were. They would be devastated if their free parking space was two blocks away from the building. One of the yound associates had a total meltdown one evening because someone had taken her lunch out of the fridge. I mean a real meltdown. I was in my office when I heard the crying. She was in the hallway and some otheryers were around her consoling her. I thought someone close to her had died. I stood there stunned when I realized all this was about someone eating her Lean Cuisine. Jesus, did these people have no sense of real turmoil? I thought of some of the people who I had worked with at Tim Hortons, trying to raise kids on minimum wage and deciding between paying the rent or buying groceries. But for this privileged young woman, someone taking her lunch out of the fridge (ironically, a common occurrence I covered on my radio show years later) was a complete disaster to her.

from: Scene 10: The one where I meet some mean girls

Running Down a Dream by Candy Palmater

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I nodded, and did exactly what hockey players -- especially Canadian hockey players -- are still widely celebrated for. That is, I toughed it out, I gritted my teeth against the pain and went looking for the number of the guy who'd... except there wasn't any obvious enemy. In a real dark night of the soul, perhaps, the enemy never has a face or a number. And perhaps it is this primitive simplicity of the hockey code that explains its grip on the Canadian psyche? Perhaps the "eye for an eye," or, much more aptly, the "tooth for a tooth" logic, and the Darwinian dog-eat-dog philosophy are the Canadian value system? But if so, how to beat what lacks a jersey and a number? Tim Horton, drunk and weary at the end of his career, driving off the highway, or Jean Beliveau, graceful and celebrated all his life long, gritting his teeth against the Reaper. Derek Boogaard downing painkillers against the concussive goon whose jabs never weaken, or Guy Lafleur, in court, wondering what a father can ever do to help his son.
The questions, the doubt, would not begin for decades, of course. At five, climbing up from the grainy surface of a frozen slough, I merely smelled the tobacco and beer, and I trusted.

"Initiation," The Call of the Red-Winged Blackbird: Essays on the Common and Extraordinary by Tim Bowling

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Jimmy ran his palms over his cheeks. "I wanna date myself."
He hadn't shaved in ten months. He told me whenever he got clean-shaven, it meant he'd reached the height of recovery and soon they'd have to turn him out.
Sitting by the windows, we share our four weekly donuts. I've offered to go to the schmancy place on Queen with their bacon & Cap'n Crunch donut, but he wants Tim's.
Jimmy takes the apple fritter, the Boston cream, and the chocolate-glazed. I take the maple dip. Now that we're friends, we know each other's favourites. I always leave the chocolate-glazed for him, even if I pick first. I can get one any time.

Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill

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"You know how those people are," you said, grabbing the box.
Ma's cheeks flushed. Those people? Really? She took a deep breath to calm herself down and said, "You know, Liz. I hired her through word of mouth. I heard she's the best of the best."
Your face shifted. "How is she the best of the best?"
"She ... she worked at the house of the ... the president?"
"The president of what?"
Ma backpedalled. She had forgotten Canada didn't have a president. "I mean, the prime minister."
"Really? Which one?"
"The one ... right now."
"You're kidding me." Ma hated this Canadian expression, which forced her to repeat herself.
"Really. She's the best of the best."
Justin barged in through the front door with his arms full. "Morning, MG! I got doughnuts from Tim Hortons. Hope you're hungry."

The Story of Us by Catherine Hernandez

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At the Tim Hortons, the cashier was much more pleasant than expected when Jade ordered her French Vanilla and croissant in English. Jade had visited Montreal many times, but never alone. Even though she'd taken the mandatory classes up to grade nine, she still spoke no more French than what had been taught in grade three. Once, during a previous trip, a waitress had refused to take her order in English, and she couldn't figure out is the issue was her race or language limitations, as a white woman at a nearby table ordered in English with no issues. Montreal was like that -- beautiful and friendly some moments, cold and isolating at others.

Jade Is a Twisted Green by Tanya Turton

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When I first started thinking about alcohol and its costs, I found a forensic anthropologist. This was a man who had the tools and expertise to determine the total costs. I phoned him to set up a meeting and we met at a Tim Hortons. I explained to him in detail what I hoped he would do. I told him I would help to publish his findings and offered to coauthor any report. I offered to assist in any way that I could, but please, would he do the math? Would he come up with the numbers?
I wanted to find out many things. How many deaths were the direct result of alcohol? What percentage of accidents? How many cancers? How many heart attacks? How many suicides? Could he determine how much shorter a child's life would be because the parents were drinking and not providing proper nourishment during the child's formative years? What is the cost to society for one child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder during that child's life, due to the increased cost to education, should he require a special needs tutor, the cost to social services because he would have problems getting employment, the increased cost to policing when he messed up, to corrections because the justice system has no alternatives but to send him to jail? And the increased cost to health care, including mental health?
Near the end of our two-hour meeting, I was nearly begging, but he refused to undertake this research. I couldn't understand why. Was it too difficult? Too time-consuming?
But, when we were leaving, standing outside in the parking lot, he admitted that he still liked to take a drink now and then.
Because I have been unable to obtain precise numbers of what alcohol costs us as a society, and what the statistics are for alcohol-related deaths, I have been forced to estimate. My estimate remains at one in two. That is, every second person in this Treaty 6 territory is going to die from an alcohol-related death, whether they drink or not. And, I have come to believe this estimate might be low.

Firewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (and Yours) by Harold R Johnson

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In the winter, I looked forward to snow days. The suspense, sitting on the edge of my mom's bed next to the radio, wishing desperately, dreaming of snow forts and snowmen. I would close my eyes, listening to the CBC radio host recite a list of school cancellations, to the soothing voice.
Snow day mornings were absolute heaven. My mom and I had a ritual. I would sit in a purple plastic sled and she would pull me through the snow. The destination? Tim Hortons. Marching along, crunch, crunch, her boots sinking, everything covered in white, icicles like spears.
"I'll have a medium with double cream and just a pinch of sugar, not very much, thanks," I would mouth my mom's order at Tims in the mornings on the way to school while she leaned her head out the car window, neck reaching for the drive-three speaker. For me, I liked the hot chocolate.
The sound of the little sled brushing the snow underneath, the steady glide through the barren landscape, offered tranquility, a sense of togetherness. Shut your eyes and you're flying through the universe.

Pageboy: A Memoir by Elliot Page

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Once you've gone mad, you know the way

It was 3 a.m., and they did ask, but still, going through the Timmy Ho's drive-thru to grab doughnuts and coffees with the paramedics driving me all the way out to the Chilliwack hospital because the psych ward at St Paul's downtown was stacked to the brim with nutbars and loony tunes was unnecessarily surreal. I mean, come on, there's a time and a place for double-doubles and chocolate glaze, and it's probably not when you've got a suicidal basket case shelved on the gurney in the back. What's true is that they likely couldn't have considered such an early morning snack with any other kind of patient rattling around in the back, and they were sock-monkey tired--five overdoses and one ridiculous car crash already that shift--and I was like a free ride. And also, for the record, I was saying over and over again, "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay." They didn't get that I was saying it to try to keep the voices calm and carry on because I was scared shitless, thinking a person like me doesn't want to end up in a place like Chilliwack, which is more or less exactly what the physiotherapist said to me when she shook me awake to throw the medicine ball around with the other caw caw cawrazies at 6 a.m.: "A girl like you doesn't want to end up in a place like this."

Mercy Gene: The Man-Made Making of a Mad Woman by JD Derbyshire

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Shit. How is it Sunday already? If Abe had to book a back-up preacher to pick me up, he'll be annoyed. He's wearing his church suit, so maybe he just cut the sermon a little short and skipped after-service fellowship in the foyer. I can taste that scalding caffeinated sludge at the back of my throat.
Thankfully, there's an extra-large coffee from Timmy's and a crumpled paper donut bag wedged into Abe's cup holder, so that's one less reason for him to resent me. I'm jealous of the old man. He got to pregame this encounter with his beverage of choice and I didn't. I couldn't afford any of those tiny bottles of booze on the flights over here, so I'll need to conserve my energy until I can get to a liquor store. I want to ask him to stop somewhere in the city so I can stock up but don't because I can't stand the thought of the quiet judgement that would follow.

Wonder World by KR Byggdin

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Over the past few weeks, Simon had been lecturing me with increasing frequency about my alleged "aversion to kindness." He cocked his head with a pensive expression, and I could see that we were in danger of repeating the waterfall situation.
To sum up: Simon had a car. When he first told me this, I'd said, "Of course you do," and he'd looked at me quizzically and I had not elaborated. It was an old, beat-up Volkswagen Golf in a subdued dark green, with scratchy carpeted seats and gummy cupholders. Occasionally he would pick me up and take me on a kind of drive-through buffet, hitting up Tim Hortons for a breakfast sandwich, McDonald's for hash browns and coffee, and Wendy's for a shake to dump our coffees into, something 6Bites had recently termed a "dirtbag affogato."

Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey

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The source of the dog whistle was not in the hospital room, as Riot previously thought, nor in the Tim Hortons where he removed himself to avoid Faye. It was coming from inside of him.

Reproduction by Ian Williams

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By early March the accusations Gerald Dove had made against McVicer’s Works mounted. The incidences of allergy, cancer, and miscarriage among our community were eight times the provincial or national average.

There were weekly meetings at the one-room schoolhouse, and I went to them. The highway was dark, the stars out at seven. I walked across the new bridge and down the old Bowie Road to the school. It was well lighted, and you could see your breath even though it was crowded. People drank coffee in Tim Hortons cups. There were ice crystals inside the window, and everyone kept on their hats and gloves.

Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards

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Uncle Derry, who never stopped talking, gave Lise all the specs on his beloved ’63 Porsche convertible as they drove out to the old house. A broken heater and the raw, early morning air forced Lise deeper into her flimsy West Coast jacket and the cigar-reeking scarf Uncle Derry had wrapped around her neck. Woofers crouched in the back seat, his overlarge head swaying between the two of them, tongue hanging out and breath foul with the smell of liver. They passed small desolate [Cape Breton] communities consisting of little more than a gas station, a Tim Hortons or a 7-Eleven along a secondary highway. The convertible seemed out of place amongst pickups and muscle cars, but everything was out of place this morning and had been since she’d arrived [from Victoria]. Her imagination leapt to Daniel: in a drug-induced stupor, or knocked unconscious after a drunken brawl, police surrounding the house while inside he held a woman such as herself, a mommy figure, hostage. The worst, the very worst, would be absence, the house empty with no sign of him. Depending on the outcome, she could leave tonight, couldn’t she? Go back to, what, the bakery, her inadequate life, her persistent ache for her son?

The Broken Heart of Winter by Judy LeBlanc

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In North Bay, the bus stopped, and I walked around the parking lot looking for my dad’s car. When I found him, he got out and hugged me. I pressed my hands against his back. I felt his nose against my hair, the soft whistle of his breaths against my head. When his arms loosened, he held me out in front of him, as though making sure I’d come back in the same condition I’d been left.

He said, “Look at you. You’re a big-city girl now.”

I mumbled no, no, and then asked him how his drive had been.

Not far from the station, we stopped at a drive-through and he ordered a large black coffee and a box of timbits. He asked me if a wanted a hot chocolate, and I said I was okay.

The roads were good, my father said, though it had snowed quite a lot the few days before. Even so, he turned on the radio, which updated us on the road conditions as we drove upon them.

“Would you pass me a honey glazed?”

The box of doughnuts was in my lap. I picked through them. Hard icing flaked onto his jacket collar.

The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

May 2023 Reading Stats and Booktube Uploads

Best books in May (in alphabetical order):

Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation and the Loss of Aboriginal Life by James Daschuk; audiobook read by JD Nicholsen

Firewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (and Yours) by Harold R Johnson; audiobook read by Kairyn Potts

Knife on Snow by Alice Major

Monstress Book 1 (Issues 1-18) by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World's Deadliest Migration Route by Sally Hayden; audiobook read by Aoife McMahon

My Rainbow by Trinity Neal, DeShanna Neal and Art Twink

Old Herbaceous: A Novel of the Garden by Reginald Arkell

Osebol by Marit Kapla

Varjak Paw by SF Said

Wild & Precious: A Celebration of Mary Oliver; audiobook read by Sophia Bush and others

Wild Geese by Martha Ostenso

Your Driver Is Waiting by Priya Guns

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May readathons on booktube:

Mental Health May

I read 8 books in which mental health was an important element: Any Other City (PTSD; suicide); Jade Is a Twisted Green (suicide; anxiety); My Fourth Time, We Drowned (depression; PTSD; assorted other mental illnesses); Wild & Precious (suicide; various mental health issues); Wild Geese (CTSD); X-Gender (OCD); Your Brain on Art (various mental health issues); Your Driver Is Waiting (situational depression)

May of the Moderns

I read 1: Wild Geese. (I thought Old Herbaceous would fall into this category too, but it wasn't published until 1950.)

Misery May (Thomas Hardy readathon)

The Return of the Native

Read Across Canada Challenge:

Ontario - Jade Is a Twisted Green

Manitoba (catching up from April) - Wild Geese

Asian Heritage Month

I read 6: Bandit Queens; Carmilla; Monstress; Varjak Paw; X-Gender; Your Driver Is Waiting

Book Naturalists Book Club - X (fail)

Anything by Sonia Shah - I planned to listen to The Next Great Migration but didn't get to it yet

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My goal to read more from my own shelves:

I read 8 (5 were acquired in 2023)

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Booktube uploads:

Sunday, April 30, 2023

April 2023 Reading Stats and Booktube Activity

I went through a lot of books this month! Out of 51, these are the best (in alphabetical order):

A Is for Bee: An Alphabet Book in Translation by Ellen Heck

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades

Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke; audiobook read by Emily Tremaine

Old Babes in the Woods: Stories by Margaret Atwood

Permafrost by Eva Baltasar; translated by Julia Sanches

Remember by Joy Harjo and Michaela Goade

The Tender Narrator by Olga Tokarczuk; translated by Jennifer Croft and Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Thick Skin: Field Notes From a Sister in the Brotherhood by Hilary Peach

The Third Person by Emma Grove

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott; audiobook read by January Lavoy

Unraveling: What I Learned About Life From Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool and Making the World's Ugliest Sweater by Peggy Ornstein; audiobook read by the author

Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith

Welcome to St Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure by Lewis Hancox

What Feelings Do When No One's Looking by Tina Oziewicz and Aleksandra Zajac; translated by Jennifer Croft

These are the two I didn't finish:

April readathons on booktube:

Trans Girl April - I read 13 books by trans and nonbinary authors

Picture This - I read 14 picture books (actually more, but I didn't count them all)

People April - I read 10 books of memoir or biography, including the group read, The Five

Read Across Canada - Manitoba - I haven't yet read the one I chose (Wild Geese)

My goal to read from my own shelves: I read 4 (all purchased in 2023)

Booktube uploads:

Thursday, April 6, 2023

March 2023 Reading Stats and Booktube Uploads

Best Books of March:

Alberta Alone by Cora Sandel; translated by Elizabeth Rokkan

The Lost Century by Larissa Lai

Thank You, Mr Nixon: Stories by Gish Jen

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai; audiobook read by Julia Whelan and JD Jackson

The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel; audiobook read by Caroline Cole

Antigone Rising: the Subversive Power of the Ancient Myths by Helen Morales

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H; audiobook read by Ashraf Shirazi

Ma and Me: A Memoir by Putsata Reang

Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History by Lea Ypi; audiobook read by Rachel Babbage and the author

The Power of the Powerless by Vaclav Havel, translated by Paul Wilson

This Strange Visible Air: Essays on Aging and the Writing Life by Sharon Butala

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Booktube Uploads in March:

Friday Reads March 3

Friday Reads March 10

Monday, March 13, 2023

February 2023 Reading Stats and Booktube Uploads

Best Books of February 2023

The Outer Harbour: Stories by Wayde Compton

Highly imaginative, interlinked stories set in 2001-2025—styled as a radio transcript, journalistic reporting, real estate promotion, & a series of posters, as well as more conventional fiction narratives—that come together almost like a novel. Vancouver is a character in these stories that are mostly about biracial artists addressing racialized class conflict, anti-immigration attitudes, & police violence. Published in 2014, it still feels fresh.

Knight Owl by Christopher Denise

In this children‘s historical fantasy picture book, a small but plucky owl realizes his dream and becomes a knight. There‘s plenty of foreshadowing—dragon imagery is on almost every page—until Owl comes face to face with a massive dragon. Funny, sweet and inspiring. A Caldecott Honor recognizes the charming art, which rewards careful examination to find jokes and surprises.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus; audiobook read by Miranda Raisin

I had put off reading this because of the cover, even though it was on lots of “best of 2022” lists, including Barack Obama‘s. My mistake! Loved the main character so much! And the humour. And the early 60s setting. And the clever dog. And the fierce feminism. So good!

The Waiting by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim; translated by Janet Hong

In 1950 when the war started, people fled from northern Korea in such numbers and such haste that hundreds of thousands of family members were separated. This poignant graphic novel addresses that issue, and the sustaining hope that loved ones will once again be reunited. Two timelines: a daughter‘s present-day concerns for her elderly mother‘s wellbeing, as well as the dramatic events of the past. Stark, expressive black and white art.

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler; audiobook read by the author

Ed Yong calls Sabrina Imbler‘s queer memoir “transcendental.” I agree. I love the way this nonbinary Chinese American science journalist filters fascinating aspects of sea creatures through a personal lens. They are full of wonder for the natural world, and can also make correlations to their own issues relating to such things as body image, autonomy, adaptability, racism, street safety, and a sense of community.

How Not to Spill by Jessica Johns

I first read this in 2020 and wrote: Nêhiyaw (Cree) writer Jessica John‘s‘ first poetry collection is only 40 pages, so it didn‘t take long for me to read through it twice. And I will read through it again, because I can‘t get enough. “My ceremony is facetiming my nieces & nephew every sunday.” From badass grandmothers to dreams about MySpace, love letters, warnings and doorways: these are poems about holding on to joy and beauty no matter what.

I picked it up again before reading Johns' debut novel, Bad Cree.

A Bigger Picture: My Fight to Bring a New African Voice to the Climate Crisis by Vanessa Nakate

Part memoir, part manifesto: Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate addresses this book mainly to youthful readers, but I found it inspiring. Courage is contagious. She shares her experiences with burnout, racism (cropped out of an AP photo when she attended a conference in Switzerland) & overcoming her own shy awkwardness. Her delivery is earnest, there‘s an impressive array of facts, and there are concrete suggestions for individual actions.

The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz; audiobook read by Emily Lawrence

A refreshing change for me: the idea that humans will still be around in 59,000 AD, working to keep all living things in balance on a terraformed planet. Very queer, anti-capitalist, uplifting solarpunk, told in three interconnected novellas over a vast timespan. Audiobook read by Emily Lawrence includes music and other sounds.

Frizzy by Claribel Ortega and Rose Bousamra

This wonderful graphic novel for children addresses systemic racist bias towards “good” hair by presenting a wholly sympathetic character, Marlene, who hates the weekly salon visits her mother deems necessary in order to straighten her wild curls. The tone of the narrative is humorous (despite serious topics), the resolution is celebratory, the characterization is relatable and the vibrant art is very appealing.

Sometimes They Sang by Helen Potrebenko

This had been sitting on my shelves unread and so I picked it up for the Read Across Canada Challenge. So glad that I did! Witty, fiercely feminist and oriented towards workers' rights. It was published in 1986 and stands up well to the test of time.

Man Made Monsters by Andrea Rogers; audiobook read by DeLanna Studi and Lane Factor

18 loosely interconnected stories touch on incidents across 200 years in a Cherokee family—beginning in 1839 and ending in 2039. Each one has a monstrous or horror element (vampire, werewolf, medical experimentation, ghosts, zombies, deer woman or other supernatural creatures). Author Andrea Rogers is queer and Cherokee. Her bracing stories have queer characters and address Indigenous issues like forced relocation, residential schools and MMIW.

The Sentimentalists by Joanna Skibsrud

“I don‘t believe in ghosts. I just think about them sometimes.” This is a haunting, lyrical, fragmented novel about history and how trauma affects subsequent generations. Napoleon is a veteran of the Vietnam war. In the final year of his life, his daughter seeks to know him better, and what happened when he was a soldier. There are no clear answers, but the emotional resonance rang through me like a bell.

Homie by Danez Smith

I reread this nonbinary poet's collection for Feminist Book Club, having previously read it in March 2020. This time I had a deeper appreciation and understanding. Smith expresses rage at the injustices in society and also celebrates the joy of being part of a Black queer community.

The Talk by Alicia Williams and Briana Mukodiri Uchendu

Jay is an African American child, telling us about his life from early childhood into pre-adolescence. One day his parents & grandparents give him ‘the talk‘ —about the dangerous realities of racism. Afterwards: “The family reassures me that I‘ve done nothing wrong & no, I‘m not to blame.” Their “eyes say that I‘m the beat of their hearts” and “the joy in their smiles.” A powerful, important picture book with warm, poignant illustrations.

Booktube links:

Friday Reads February 3

Friday Reads February 10