February 2020 Reading Round-Up

Here are some of my favourites reads from February:

Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob
-graphic novel

This memoir hits all the right notes: heartbreaking and funny and absurd… it‘s contemporary life as seen through the eyes of Mira Jacob, daughter of Indian immigrants to the USA. Jacob married a white Jewish man. In the volatile time surrounding Donald Trump‘s election, their 6-year-old son has many questions about race and colour. Jacob answers him with care and honesty. The paper doll art and speech balloons collaged against photo backgrounds is unique and really effective.

"Is Daddy afraid of us?" "No!"

Conversation between the author and her son: 
Was Michael Jackson brown or was he white?
Well, he was black but his skin was brown and then it turned white.
Are you going to turn white?
No.
Am I going to—
No.
Daddy?
Daddy‘s already white?
But was he always?






Commute: An Illustrated Memoir of Female Shame by Erin Williams
-graphic novel

Personally not a fan of Instagram memes
being right: The only way out is through.

This memoir in comics format is a must read for anyone interested in gender dynamics and feminism. Erin Williams, an illustrator and cancer researcher, writes about recovery from alcoholism and how her addiction was tied to her sexual experiences. Simple line drawings with effective use of black and spot colour add grace and power to this honest, uncomfortable, and deeply moving work.

The shame of previous digressions will poison you if you let it.

Men are able to dismiss the deficiencies of other scholarly men as products of their time rather than recognizing them as bigots who helped to perpetuate centuries of oppression.

Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera 
-novella translated from Spanish by Lisa Dillman

A brilliant allegory encompassing contemporary latinx experience on both sides of the border between Mexico and the US—or life and the afterworld—told simply, yet with such inventiveness (“he angloed” rather than “said in English”) that I felt frequent thrills deep within my language-loving core. My heart was with the badass heroine and her archetypal quest, echoing with ancient mythology.

The stadium loomed before them. So, what do they use that for?
They play, said the old man. Every week the anglos play a game to celebrate who they are.
-----

The city was an edgy arrangement of cement particles and yellow paint. Signs prohibiting things thronged the streets, leading citizens to see themselves as ever protected, safe, friendly, innocent, proud, and intermittently bewildered, blithe and buoyant; salt of the earth worth knowing.

-----

First there was nothing. Then she made out two mountains colliding in the back of beyond: like they‘d come from who knows where and were headed to anyone‘s guess but had come together at that intense point in the nothingness and insisted on crashing noisily against each other, though the oblivious might think they simply stood there in silence.

Rebent Sinner by Ivan Coyote
-queer Canadian storytelling

An excellent collection of mostly short pieces from one of my favourite storytellers. Ivan writes with warmth, humour—and sometimes sadness—about life and being human. Since they happen to be trans, Ivan also writes about that.

Semi-drunk and definitely creepy dude in the lineup at the market says to uninterested young mother: “Is that a new baby?”
Young mom retorts coolly: “Is there such a thing as an old baby?”
Even the clerk laughed.
-----
Sometimes there you are on the highway, and you drive right through a flock of memories, like ghosts. All you can do is keep your eyes on the road.
-----
A friend told me today, “Don‘t catch a falling cactus.” I did this only once, but still, it needs remembering.

Malagash by Joey Comeau
-Canadian audiobook [2 h] narrated by Jenna Lamia

A teenage girl plans to use her mad programming skills to keep her dying father alive forever in the form of a benign computer virus. This warm and funny novella-length audiobook avoids sentimentality while portraying a Nova Scotia family coming to terms with their grief. 

When you smile, it reminds me of when you were a baby, and you would pee anywhere you wanted.
-----
I‘ve been scared to touch them but I do so now. The cow does not rear or buck. It does not snort or gnash. It accepts my touch with the indifference of a giant, of a machine. I am trying not to think of it as stupid meat and bone and muscle. I am trying not to think of myself as stupid meat and bone and muscle.

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
-British novel

This quiet, compassionate, sharply-observed novel about loneliness and aging has completely stolen my heart.

Cleft chin, widow‘s peak, Hapsburg lip and five o‘clock shadow. By simply rearranging these words he could later make a poem out of them, he decided. He knew nothing about poetry, apart from assistant-stage-managing The Cocktail Party when he was in the repertory company.
-----
Mrs Post paused on her way out. She was wearing, in spite of the warm afternoon, her mock (and as far as Mrs Arbuthnot was concerned, her mocked at) fur coat of grey shaded stripes. If I were going to copy any kind of fur, Mrs Arbuthnot thought, consoling herself, it would not be squirrel.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
-audiobook [7 h] narrated by Lynne Thigpen

I‘m so glad I decided to revisit 9-year-old Cassie Logan before my library hold comes in for Mildred Taylor‘s 2020 conclusion to her multivolume saga about the Logan family (All the Days Past, All the Days to Come). The audiobook of the 1977 Newberry award-winner is expertly narrated by Lynne Thigpen, has a preface written and read by Jacqueline Woodson, plus an afterword in the author‘s voice. The whole thing is a powerfully moving experience, recommended for family listening. 

The cover of the 40th anniversary edition (pictured) is by Kadir Nelson, the illustrator who also did The Undefeated, the next book on this month's list.

You have to demand respect in this world, ain't nobody just gonna hand it to you. How you carry yourself, what you stand for--that's how you gain respect. But, little one, ain't nobody's respect worth more than your own.

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Nadir Nelson
-picture book poetry

This is for the undefeated. This is for you.
And you. And you. This is for us.

Kadir Nelson‘s striking paintings accompany a poem that Kwame Alexander wrote to remind everyone that Black Lives Matter, and also about aspects of American history that have been left out of textbooks. Brief biographies at the back help identify historical figures in the illustrations. Further research will reward readers who seek the sources for the snippets of poetry and literary references in the text. An award-winning all ages picture book.

The Phone Booth in Mr Hirota's Garden by Heather Smith and Rachel Wada
-Canadian picture book

A Japanese man built a “phone of the wind” in his garden as a way to deal with grief. After a tsunami struck his coastal town of Otsuchi, thousands of mourners flocked to the phone booth, longing to connect to their missing loved ones. Canadian author Heather Smith was inspired by this and created a fictional version for children, hoping readers “will see that sometimes in sadness there is beauty.” The resulting picture book works on several levels: pure storytelling; lovely art; the true story that inspired it; and as an illustration of the grief process. There‘s reassurance that grief lessens over time and that there are things you can do that can help you feel better. Rachel Wada‘s art evokes Japanese techniques, perfect for the setting. All ages.

More about the actual phone booth can be found online, including here: https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/01/otsuchi-wind-phone-japanese-mourners/512681/

Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Aldamuy Denise and Paola Escobar
-picture book biography

A picture book biography of the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City: Pura Belpré. At library storytimes and outreach visits, she shared the folktales she had learned through her family‘s oral tradition. These stories weren‘t in books, so she wrote them down and they were published. Art by Paola Escobar captures the feel of the early 20th century by using muted shades of deep colours. Flowers burst forth to symbolize magical elements of story. 

Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes by Dana Thomas
-audiobook [9 h] narrated by the author

Dana Thomas is a creditable and engaging guide as she reveals the extent of worker abuse, environmental degradation and waste of resources happening in the clothing industry, an industry that employs one out of every six people on the planet. Hope is presented in the form of many solutions currently underway. We all wear clothes and socially conscious consumers can make a difference; this audiobook is a great way to get informed.

At any given moment, anthropologists believe, half the world‘s population is sporting jeans. Six billion pairs are produced annually. The average American owns seven.