November 2021, a whirlwind
For everyone: Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. You just gotta do it. For people who want to better understand the realities of growing up a Black girl in America and/or love a good memoir: Somebody’s Daughter
I don’t even know what to say about November because I have been way too busy to sit down and think about November. When I picked this draft up to see what I’d been feeling in the beginning of the month, I came across essentially “you don’t know me but you think you know me, but things really suck for me too!”
But I’m not going to go on an instagram vs. reality lecture. What I am going to say is student loans are due soon and money is tight. This is not required and I think it’s anonymous???, but please fill out my google form about this newsletter. It’s what I’d like for Christmas from y’all.
[Books I Read]
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May, published 2020 | Quick summary: A gorgeous exploration through the many ways we can care for ourselves in the darkest times.
What I really wanted to write for that quick summary was “hibernation, but for us!” It’s probably no secret that I miss the early days of quarantine. Not the fear or desperate attempt to understand, but the slow-down period. I’m a person who not only does too much but who is expected to do too much. It’s not feasible for my boundaries to be strong enough to never leave my home (nor do I think that’s particularly healthy for me either) but it is feasible to make winter how I want my life to be. Wintering is such a lovely blend of memoir and history and really inspired to me to let winter be a time to just fucking chill. Slowed down moments, no rushing around, fewer people to interact with, hot tea, reading, writing, reflection. I imagine I’ll buy this book and read it yearly.
[nonfiction, memoir, written by a white American cis woman, medium-length read]
Girls on the Line by Jennie Liu, published 2018 | Quick summary: A dark coming-of-age story told from two main characters who grew up together in an “orphanage.”
I try to read as many books that have to do with foster care, adoption, abortion, and race that I can and this one happened to touch all of those things. I really enjoyed this unsettling novel and if you’re interested and go looking, don’t mix it up with Aimie K. Runyan’s 2018 novel of the same name. Girls on the Line was harsh at times, always honest, and a great depiction of friendship amongst true hardship.
Also “orphanage” because it’s a word we don’t really use in the states when referring to kids who are growing up without their biological families. “Group homes” are around today and uh, conditions are often just as harsh.
[teen and YA fiction, written by a Chinese-American cis woman, quickish read]
Zenobia July by Lisa Bunker, published 2019 | Quick summary: A story about a trans girl helping to solve a cyber mystery while making friends and coming into her own.
Actually, Zenobia July is a bit of an adoption story, as well. Zen is taken in by her aunts after her parents die, though she wasn’t being raised in an affirmative environment by her father anyway. There’s lots of fuzzy good feels in this one. I only picked it up because of the Book Riot challenge but it’s always nice to read something I wouldn’t read otherwise. I’m glad these books exist for kids these days.
[youth and middle-grade fiction, written by a white, American trans woman, longer read than anticipated]
[Books I Heard]
Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford, published 2021 | Quick summary: Ford’s memoir is the story of her childhood, largely defined by the fact her father is incarcerated.
Whew, this one. I’ve been waiting for Ford’s memoir for a long time, as I’ve admired her writing for years and years, in a way only twitter people can. My own father has never been incarcerated, but there were so many moments it felt like Ford was speaking truth to my own story. I related so much as a) a Black woman b) who grew up without her Black father c) because he was imprisoned, though by his addiction. Ford has a true way with words and is honest, sharp, and strong in how she speaks of her family.
[nonfiction, memoir, written by a Black American woman, longer listen, read by the author]
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson, published 2016 | Quick summary: A genre-bending memoir about love, gender, family, reproduction, and identity.
First of all, I believe I can now call myself a Fan of Maggie Nelson, having also read and loved The Red Parts and Jane. I didn’t quite know what The Argonauts was though, especially since the previous books I mentioned focus on the murder of Nelson’s aunt — I didn’t actually know much about her. If you know the kind of stuff I like to read and think about, the quick summary of The Argonauts can tell you exactly why this one was so good. (Plus, Nelson is a truly fantastic writer!)
[nonfiction, philosophy, memoir, written by a queer white American woman, medium-length listen, read by the author]
[What I Recommend]
For everyone: Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. You just gotta do it.
For people who want to better understand the realities of growing up a Black girl in America and/or love a good memoir: Somebody’s Daughter
