July 2024, overseas
london, scotland, books
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I'm on the other side of my first international trip, which was incredibly chill. Upon reflection, it's probably a good thing that my first time being that far from home was a lot of things that reminded me of home: cute pubs, tasting menus, lots of green views, and walking around commenting on street signs and cars. I got to see my friend Jacob and see (and meet!) my friend Emma.
I met a lot of people—hard to say if tourists (there were plenty of us) are friendly or if the UK is friendly or if it's both. Regardless, I was friendly.
I met a man in a bar reading his phone with two beautiful German Shorthaired Pointers, a breed I was raised with, lying underneath his feet. I bought a shot of tequila for a gorgeous woman drowning in her recent breakup sorrows and commiserated over bad boyfriends, even though I was with my very-much-not-bad boyfriend. Hers was called Preston, and he'd cheated on her and then dumped her, so she hid fish in all of the vents in his apartment. I talked to a Belgian woman in an elevator who told me the United States was her favorite trip, and everyone was very kind. I had a ham sandwich from the hotel bar in the middle of the night, and I can't stop thinking about it. I climbed Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano that erupted 340 million years ago, and then ate ice cream from a truck afterward. I was so lucky to be taken across the country and experience all these fun little life things. And so fortunate I can read anywhere, any time. (And sleep on planes! That's a really lucky skill.) And I read a lot!
[Books I read]
Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler (2021) | Quick summary: Lara doesn’t know what to do with her feelings when her summer “fling,” Jasmine, starts going to her school during their senior year.
There is no reason this should have taken me as long as it did, but regardless, it was very fun and comforting to finish a book I was well into as I embarked on my first overseas trip. It is a sweet book with endearing characters, very light and touching. I don’t quite know how I feel about books named after song titles that also heavily feature that song, but regardless, this is a Demi Lovato book.
[fiction, YA, queer romance, written by a queer white american “editor by day, freelance writer by night, and author and anthologist at every spare moment in between,” medium-length read]
Cocaine’s Son: A Memoir by Dave Itzkoff (2011) | Quick summary: A coming-of-age memoir chronicling Dave Itzkoff’s upbringing by an emotionally immature addict father who he ultimately adores.
I really enjoyed Robin, the biography Itzkoff wrote about Robin Williams. I think of it often; he wrote it with such admiration and care for the man, his legacy, and his death. With the same care and honesty, Itzkoff tells his father’s story, or the “father” part of his father’s story, and how it affected him as a young person and as his own adult. I often say I’d read anyone’s memoir, the guy in the park talking to a squirrel, the checker at my local grocery store, the checker at your local grocery store, but I do have a particular interest in fucked up family memoirs. This is great.
[nonfiction, memoir, family, written by a straight white American journalist and writer, longer read]
A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt (2020) | Quick summary: In a series of essays and poems, Billy-Ray Belcourt describes his multi-identities, unpacking the world he’s forced to inhabit on a daily basis.
Admittedly, it is not the genre I am most drawn to, but I have long admired Belcourt’s talent and ability to bring me directly into his feelings and identities, though they are far from mine. This was angry, honest, beautiful, and sad, and I loved it.
[nonfiction, memoir, poetry, queer romance, written by a queer writer and academic from the Driftpile Cree Nation, shorter length read]
The Seas by Samantha Hunt (2004) | Quick summary: This is the story of a misfit mermaid who falls in love with a human man; it is a darker, more interesting Little Mermaid.
I picked this book because Maggie Nelson mentioned it in her latest essay collection, Like Love. Nelson is one of my favorite writers; I love how her mind thinks, so I’m interested in anything she recommends. This was fantastic. It had interesting, unique, gorgeous sentences and magical realism, which I adore.
[literary fiction, fantasy, written by a straight(?) white American novelist, essayist, and short-story writer, medium-length read]
The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde (1980) | Quick summary: A personal and political insight into Audre Lorde’s experience with breast cancer and mastectomies.
I continually visit many subjects that don’t directly apply to me or don’t yet directly apply to me. Among those subjects is cancer, particularly breast cancer, as it is the most feminized, thus most common among my identities. Additionally, I will read everything Audre Lorde has ever written, and this is one I hadn’t yet. As someone who has not personally experienced a diagnosis of cancer of any kind but loves and supports many people who have, this was an invaluable text.
[nonfiction, memoir, healthcare, written by a queer Black american writer, professor, philosopher, intersectional feminist, poet, and civil rights activist, longish read]
Call Me Zebra by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi (2018) | Quick summary: Zebra’s quest to reclaim her past by relying on the wisdom of her literary icons and their wise words.
I bought Call Me Zebra after being attracted to the cover for months (years?) from a wine shop in Seattle that pairs books with bottles of wine. I long ago drank the wine but finally found myself getting to know Zebra, a strong, smart, weird character who navigates grief, life, and falling in love by relying on quotes from literature giants. Delightful, if a bit pedantic.[literary fiction, contemporary, written by a straight(?) iranian-american writer, medium-length read]
Joy is the Justice We Give Ourselves by J. Drew Lanham (2024) | Quick summary: Bird-watching and nature poems written from a loving, sharp perspective.
Per usual, I decided to do Seattle Book Bingo a few months ago and then realized the other day that we’re halfway through summer (sorry!), and I haven’t been paying attention. I let myself browse around my local library, holding the bingo sheet and picking out things that fit the categories. I saw birds on the cover of this lovely poetry collection, so I picked it up and enjoyed reading it in a single day.[nonfiction, poetry, written by a straight Black american author, poet, and wildlife biologist, shorter read]
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai (2013): Quick summary: A father-daughter “food detective” duo helps recreate dishes using nothing but customers’ nostalgia.
Same story as the bird book, but a different book. And a different category. This delightful book desperately made me want to eat Japanese food every time I picked it up. I read it for Seattle Book Bingo’s “cozy” category, though it would also work for a book in translation.[fiction, mystery, written by a straight (?) japanese dentist, writer, and author, shortish read]
[Books I heard]
Memory’s Last Breath: Field Notes on My Dementia by Gerda Saunders (2017): Quick summary: Based on the “field notes” she kept in her personal journal, Gerda Saunders gives us a direct window into her life as it was affected by dementia.
Y’all know I read any and everything about grief. Though Gerda Saunders is still alive as of this writing, her memoir about dementia is directly in line with what I’m seeking when I read a book about grief. This was beautiful, sad, terrifying, funny, and god, I wish everyone documented everything as well as Saunders is documenting her experience with dementia. The audio was beautifully narrated, as well.[nonfiction, memoir, biography, written by a straight white south african writer and dementia advocate, medium-length listen, read by edita brychta]
The Manicurist’s Daughter by Susan Lieu (2024) | Quick summary: A daughter’s memoir about the sudden, young loss of her mother and the journey to get to know who she really was as a person.
If Memory’s Last Breath is only kind of about grief, The Manicurist’s Daughter is directly about it. Susan Lieu lost her mother as a child when her mother was only 38 years old. Her mom died from complications from cosmetic surgery, beyond tragic in its unavoidability. This memoir explores not only Lieu’s desire to understand and share her mother’s passing but also her desire to understand and share who her mother was as a whole person.
[nonfiction, memoir, grief, family, written by a straight(?) vietnamese american playwright, performer, activist, and author “who tells stories that refuse to be forgotten,” medium-length listen, read by the author]
Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings (2019) | Quick summary: An argument that fat phobia is a means of using the body to validate race, class, and gender prejudice rather than a means to discuss health.
I’d picked this book up before in physical form, but it didn’t keep my attention at the time. As an audiobook, I found myself more invested in the text this time, but it was still a bit of a slog to get through. It’s very surprising to feel this way about a subject I do know a lot about and can relate to, but I can’t help but feel - twice now - that the most compelling parts of this book are about Sarah Baartman, and maybe I just want to read and learn more about her. (This book is good, it’s just not super compelling!)
[nonfiction, history and race, body liberation, written by a straight(?) Black american professor and writer, long listen, read by allyson johnson]
Grief is for People by Sloane Crosley (2024) | Quick summary: A memoir about losing material items, a best friend, and what operating multiple kinds of loss can look like.
While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this grief book to some of the people in my life suffering from the worst kind of grief unimaginable, it’s fantastic. Crosley writes about the dual grief of a home robbery and the loss of a close friend who died by suicide. Crosley dissects the impossibility of losing a friend and how the grief of such a loss is taken just slightly less seriously. Where do you fit in when you lose someone who is like family but who is not family?
[nonfiction, memoir, grief, written by a straight white american writer, medium-length listen, read by the author]
A Piece of Cake: A Memoir by Cupcake Brown (2006) | Quick summary: Cupcake Brown’s coming-of-age memoir growing up in and out of foster care, gangs, addiction, and societal ignorance.
I haven’t mentioned it, but yes, I am still playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild pretty obsessively. Instead of listening to an audiobook a day, I decided to seek out very long audiobooks instead. A Piece of Cake has been on my list because Cupcake Brown grew up in and out of foster care. She’s much more than that one experience and explains her life in great detail, detailing the adversity she experienced from a very young age. Not unlike Susan Lieu’s story, Brown lost her mom at age 11 when her mother was only 34.
[nonfiction, memoir, written by a straight-ish Black american author, attorney, and advocate, long listen, read by bahni turpin]
Song in a Weary Throat: Memoir of an American Pilgrimage by Pauli Murray (1987) | Quick summary: A posthumously published memoir by an amazing activist during the civil and Black women’s rights movements.
Pauli Murray was a civil rights activist, legal scholar, and priest. Murray's work influenced the civil rights movement and helped expand legal protection for gender equality. This was another long memoir on my TBR, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Murray's work and life. A gorgeous audiobook about the life of someone who deserves to have people know her story.[nonfiction, memoir, Black feminist history, written by a queer Black american civil rights activist, advocate, legal scholar, theorist, author, and Episcopal priest, long listen, read by allyson johnson]
[What I recommend]
- If you need a fun summer fling: Cool for the Summer
- If you grew up with addicts: Cocaine's Son
- If you read Audre Lorde, have cancer, or love someone who does: Cancer Journals
- If you like to read about food: The Kamogawa Food Detectives
- If you're a grief girlie (gender neutral): Memory's Last Breath, The Manicurist's Daughter, and Grief Is for People
To August! My birthday month, a month I’m traveling twice even though I don’t have any money to do so, and my second full month of unemployment. (Sweating, it’s fine!)
