July -December
See first half of the year here (30 other books!). This post has reviews for 21 books. I read a bit less as I got more and more pregnant. For a while I knit instead of reading. For a while I did neither. COVID-19 social distancing/isolation/etc. kept changing up existing routines.
Also! Spoilers exist throughout but when I found the surprise a critical part of my reading experience I do leave it out so you can enjoy it too.
Links to other reviews:
HIGHLY RECOMMEND – 5 STARS
made me think a lot, in different ways for each book. recommend reading
The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes
Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Garbes, Angela (audiobook)
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Damian Duffy (Adapted by), Octavia E. Butler, John Jennings (Illustrations)
Trickster Drift (Trickster, #2) by Eden Robinson
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge (reread of a favourite!)
ALSO ENJOYED – 4 STARS
Read the synopsis and see if the topic appeals to you
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (Illustrator)
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (read in previous year, but review written to contextualize feelings on #2)
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale #2)
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids by Jancee Dunn (audiobook)
Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman
Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
MEH – 3 STARS
I didn’t like these much, but maybe you will
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
The Odyssey by Homer, Emily Wilson (Translator)
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
The Wild Girls by Ursula K. Le Guin
How Long ’til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar
The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes
CW: Violence.
This novella was inspired by this Hugo nominated song, The Deep by clipping. The song was produced after being commissioned by This American Life for an episode on Afrofuturism, “We Are in the Future”.
I really enjoyed this poetic flowery novel. It explores the descendants of African slave women who were tossed overboard during pregnancy/childbirth, now able to breathe underwater. This mermaid-like people are called the “wajinru”, and in it, we follow their historian Yetu.
The wajinru have a difficult history full of generational trauma, the pain of slavery and loss, and lack of belonging, and somewhere along that history a past wajinru created the role of ‘historian’. The historian holds the wajinru’s entire history within them save for a few celebratory days when they share it. This is to keep the pain from the wajinru full time so they can live in the present without being beholden to the past.
However, Yetu, the young historian, doesn’t want to be beholden to the past: She wants to be her own person, in the current.
Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Garbes, Angela (audiobook)
Another audiobook listen! This book is a bit more on the history (from an intersectional feminist mindset) and some light looks at research (from a non-evaluative perspective, Emily Oster’s Expecting Better or something else is what you want if you want a look at the medical or scientific advice) and feelings (one woman’s own pregnancy & birth story).
I LOVED IT.
Chapter 2, Imperfect Choices, went through a lot of the history of menstruation & pregnancy, and some of the recommendations put on pregnant women. Loved the history of childbirth. Well, I don’t love what happened. But this was fascinating. It went over the medicalization of childbirth, moving labour support from community oriented ‘midwife like’ care to doctors who at the time had minimal experience actually delivering babies, and how while some of the community oriented mindset at the time maybe didn’t have ALL the best practices, it was delivering babies for the most part fine most of the time. This ended up disproportionately impacting black and/or rural women who now didn’t have the resources or access to medical school. Oh wait and I think at first it was when women didn’t really become doctors. This chapter went over feminism’s fight for better pain management during labour, originally ignored by mostly male researchers who didn’t deem it important (interesting now how I see a pendulum shift away from some of these ‘wins’, where some cultural values prioritize ‘natural’ labour).
Chapter 3, An Organ as Two-Faced as Time, discussed the placenta. HOLY SHIT. If you ever want to rant about how amazing the placenta is, read this chapter. It is AMAZING. The first ~12 weeks of pregnancy spend a good chunk of growth on growing the placenta. This is an entirely new organ within a pregnant person’s body. However, this organ is not part of their body, but the baby’s. 50% of its genetic material comes from the father! And it doesn’t get rejected by the human body. There are cells (Cytotrophoblastic cells) in it that are kind of ‘chameleons’: they copy what their neighbours do. It is a disposable temporary organ: After birthing a baby, one must birth a placenta (I knew this one but some people don’t). And more! Go Team Placenta!! That said, after she says (correctly) that there is no scientific evidence eating the placenta helps anything, she does say something that pushes aside the science (I forget the exact wording) and says that maybe culture knows something science doesn’t: Probably not on this one, it has been researched. I mean if you want to eat the placenta go for it! But I thought this was a weird thought to throw in (but again don’t read this book for medical or scientific ADVICE, for that read something else).
Chapter 4 is about the author’s experience with miscarriage. This was heartwrenching and a tough read, if you’re someone who has struggled with this you may want to skip it depending on how you’re feeling. It touches on the side of pregnancy many don’t talk about. About 10-20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage (more may occur before someone knows they are pregnant). Many struggle to get pregnant and it is a journey of months without getting pregnant, or having a miscarriage, or more. The journey is different for everyone. Reflecting on this and how we speak to and joke about getting pregnant can help us be more kind to those struggling.
Chapter 5, The Best-Laid Plans, is about the author’s birth plan and birth story. This is just one woman’s story. If you want more stories, there are books like that. The ways in which labour happens are myriad.
Chapter 7, Mother’s Milk is on breastfeeding. I’d seen some reviews say this goes on a pro-breastfeeding tirade, going against the part of feminism is empowering women to make their own choices. If you only listen to the first part talking about all the amazing benefits of breast milk and its physiology, then stop, I can see you thinking this. However, listen on and she tells the story of a struggling mom who in the end decides to formula feed, and discusses how formula has become more and more healthy as science has added the nutrients we learn babies need (some of which may only be breast milk depending on supplements/diet, for example DHA). In the end, it doesn’t say one is better than the other. But we must empower women to feel like they are making the choice by giving the support they need, and the lack of judgement they also need, to do so. Amen. Because breastfeeding was part of this mother’s story, she did share more of that than of non-breastfeeding.
Chapter 8 – 9 had some tidbits of interest here and there but honestly felt more about the author sharing her experience (which is fine!), I just don’t have a lot to write about them.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book.
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
I usually don’t put books that don’t make me think a huge amount in the 5/5 categories, but this was just FUN. Both authors are very prolific (Terry Pratchett of Discworld fame, Gaiman of American Gods, Coraline and more).
Armageddon is here and Crowley (a demon) and Aziraphale (an angel) have been living among humans so long they kind of don’t actually want it to happen. The Antichrist is misplaced. Other hilarious mishappenings occur. This was the kind of light and ridiculous book I needed (especially after reading some of the heavier books I’ve been reading, like Kindred).
Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Damian Duffy (Adapted by), Octavia E. Butler, John Jennings (Illustrations)
CW: Rape, violence, sexual assault, suicide.
Wow. Ouch. I had previously read the novel written by Octavia E. Butler in the first half of 2020 (review here). The graphic novel only adds to the brutality, horror, and oppression shown. In graphic novels, they can exploit page flips to reveal full page images that conjure emotions, and here the emotions conjured were sickness and pain. The more I read books in the genre of slavery memoir, the more I “feel” the horrors. I’ll never be able to fully understand, but do believe art plays a role in trying to help us get as close as we can. This is a very heavy read. Butler is a genius and this adaption done by Damian Duffy and illustrated by John Jennings brings further emotional power to an already brutally emotional piece.
Son of a Trickster, Trickster Drift by Eden Robinson
CW: Self-harm, violence, , domestic abuse, substance abuse.
Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
This was a pretty good read and intro to Jaret, a high school kid who makes pot cookies, coasts along through school, and lives with his mom in a party house. He drinks lots and has to work hard to keep parts of his home life together because his mom sure won’t. He also starts to see hints of something else in the world: magic.
This book of magical realism was a great introduction to the world Eden Robinson is trying to create, but wasn’t something I found groundbreakingly amazing or anything. The second book does pick up though, so if reading a book about magical realism based in native culture & history set in British Columbia appeals, do check it out.
Trickster Drift (Trickster, #2) by Eden Robinson
I enjoyed this one more than the first. In it, we follow Jared as he moves to Vancouver and tries to stay clean of drugs and alcohol, get on the right direction school wise, and most importantly to him, avoid all things magic.
Of course this doesn’t go entirely to plan as he is tormented by his mom’s stalker ex and has the world of magic drawn to him like a magnet. The characters were all interesting. The plot felt similarly paced to the first, with a lot of ‘life-stuff’ then ‘magic-stuff’ as it went on, though the magic came up throughout. As someone who lives here, it was interesting reading a book set in Vancouver that would share passages about parts of Vancouver (Commercial Drive, Hastings St, and so on).
The third and final book of the trilogy, Return of the Trickster, is expected in March 2021. The books are also adapted for TV with one season out and another season planned but facing some controversy right now as the legitimacy of the indigenous status of the director has been called into question.
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge (reread of a favourite!)
This book is good fun. The world/universe is almost psychedelic; it is very imaginative. When humans accidentally unleash a powerful and dangerous AI type being, a family of scientists crash lands on another planet. The children end up being taken captive by wolf like creatures that ‘hive mind’ within small packs to create ‘singular’ beings.
I’m amazed at how the author is able to create and succinctly describe such a different world. The plot is all super interesting, the world is super interesting, and I’d really like more people to read this. I don’t often re-read so that alone is a review in of itself of how much I enjoy this book series.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (Illustrator)
A cute graphic novel following a child ‘adopted’ by a graveyard, Nobody “Bod”. A quick and fun read as Bod grows up surrounded by ghosts and a vampire, and discovers some of the secrets the darker parts of the graveyard holds. Nothing particular deep with this one, just fun.
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale #2), with a brief review of The Handmaid’s Tale (read long ago)
CW: Rape, violence, sexual assault for both books.
The Handmaid’s Tale
I loved The Handmaid’s Tale, in a previous year it was one of my 5/5 books. The first book, published in 1985, followed Offred through her time in The Republic of Gillead, where she serves as a “Handmaid”. She has little rights and must try to procreate for other couples, never to raise her own child and facing harsh abuses for any missteps. It is a trying read but one that is very well done and fascinating. Margaret Atwood has said this of writing science fiction and this novel:
If I was to create an imaginary garden I wanted the toads in it to be real. One of my rules was that I would not put any events into the book that had not already happened in what James Joyce called the “nightmare” of history, nor any technology not already available. No imaginary gizmos, no imaginary laws, no imaginary atrocities. God is in the details, they say. So is the Devil.
-Margaret Atwood, NYT 2017
This makes it an unbelievably believable read. By trawling history for past atrocities and writing a future dystopia that is impossibly possible, Atwood wrote a novel that is so uncomfortable. By further writing the lead character as a sort of ‘unlikable protagonist”, and not some teen superhero set out to destroy the dystopia, it is more uncomfortable. For much of the book Offred for much of the book goes along with the oppressive system, not rebelling against the new order. She is not perfect: In the past before the Gillead regime took over, she had cheated on her husband.
Is this who many of us would be if placed in an oppressive regime? It sucks to think about, but probably: Self preservation is pervasive. Further, even the ‘guilty’ are deserving of human rights. The Handmaid’s Tale hammers this home in an extremely well written way.
The Testaments
In 2019 after the success of The Handmaid’s Tale TV show, Margaret Atwood wrote a followup novel to the first. 30 years later. She writes that a major reason for this our history/current events changing (the Berlin Wall fell between the books, 9/11 changed how politics would go, the 2016 election occurred). Also, she doesn’t get royalties from the success of The Handmaid’s Tale TV show: She sold the rights to MGM in 1990. Writing a followup would help her too gain in the success of the show.
Rather than continuing to follow “Offred”, The Testaments follows four characters: Aunt Lydia (seen in the first book), Agnes Jemima (a young Gillead woman who decides to become an Aunt), Nicole (who is outside of Gillead), and Becka (another young Gillead woman who decides to become an Aunt).
It was a good book, but didn’t land as strongly for me as the first. I think it fell a little more into the “Young Hero Works to Destroy the Regime”, which I suppose is the kind of hope we need nowadays, but is a bit harder to land in an emotionally powerful and believable way. It was interesting getting internal monologues for Aunt Lydia, someone who in the first book was so awful, and hearing how her survivalism in the Gillead regime played out. It was interesting getting at other ways of youth using the role of “Aunt” to gain some power in an otherwise powerless situation. It was a strong sequel, and a worthy read, but like many sequels to successful novels it is hard to live up to the success and impact of the first.
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
This book isn’t sci-fi and wasn’t fantasy (though the book talks about the ‘magic’ the main character infuses into her character, seemingly able to make you recall long forgotten memories), but is Young Adult Realistic Fiction. I think I read it at the right time: In December, feeling decision fatigue with the mounting stress of the world around me as we cancelled plans for the holidays, I wanted something light and airy and poetic.
This book was what I needed. It isn’t devoid of conflict or challenge but following a high school teen mom try to figure out how to achieve some of her dreams despite the adversity and poverty she has faced somehow did it for me. The main character’s love of cooking was a delight and the characters felt fun for me. This was an enjoyable read.
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
CW: Violence.
This was enjoyable until the ending, which I will spoil. This is a tale of Binti, the first of the Himba people to go to the most prestigious university in the galaxy where many different people and alien races go. Her family is not super approving of this path, and she must undergo the journey there on her own knowing she will face their rejection. She will also face the rejection of those on the ship taking her to the university, who do not understand nor respect her culture’s traditions. This is all good and interesting and Binti’s difficulty balancing her connection to family and culture with striving for knowledge and discovery is great.
BUT THEN. Aliens invade the ship taking her to the university, killing everyone but her. They also want to kill the entire university, to get their chief’s stinger back (which was taken in a great disrespect to their alien culture). Binti does convince them not to do this mass murder, and instead resolve this through dialog. Great.
However, then the alien race that MURDERED AN ENTIRE SHIP and would like to do GENOCIDE is just forgiven. What? Everyone contentedly goes back to normal, ignoring the massive death the aliens caused. Here is your stinger (good, a step to reconciling peace), here is a spot in the university, and we will just ignore the murder you did. What?
The novella was written well but I don’t think I can forgive the confusing ending. Forgiveness especially in the face of murder cannot come this easy, peace even more so.
The Odyssey by Homer, Emily Wilson (Translator)
I decided to read The Odyssey after listening to The Ezra Klein Show, An Epic Conversation with Madeline Miller. This is the first English translation of The Odyssey done by a woman.
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
This book is about language and its impact on how you perceive the world. Its also about interstellar adventure and intergalactic space battles and excitement and intrigue.
Rydra Wong, the protagonist, is a fantastically interesting woman: competent, intelligent, strong (and remember this book was written as 1960s sci-fi, when this wasn’t always true of female protagonists: I just think of Philip K Dick’s often flat or stereotypical women and am happier reading this book). The characters other than her were harder to think of as complete and interesting for me, though, so it was hard to get into the book where only one character was really interesting and complete.
Its clear that this book was written a while ago, with computer systems using ‘reel to reel tapes’ (what even are these?) and other outdated technologies. It was a fun-ISH read, but not phenomenal. I did really enjoy the ideas explored about language and its importance on how one perceives and interacts with the world, this felt fresh, but I wasn’t a fun of the battles or other major dramatic plot elements.
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
This was a read for my work’s book club! It was really topical with the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests, though something we should have been discussing and reading long before. Before reading, I was able to view a talk with author Iljeoma Oluo which was a great survey before diving into the book itself. The book is a short read so a great way to take even just a little time to learn about the racial landscape of America. The author writes really concisely and so its not a huge effort.
What was particularly interesting about this book club is it was mostly with my American colleagues – I am based in Canada, and we have our own history of discrimination and oppression. Each country’s past shapes their current struggles. Since Canada gets a huge amount of its media and news from the US, I was aware of quite a bit. But also unaware of quite a bit too. This book and the discussions with book club were enlightening.
I hoped for some examples that were more… subtle? Current? For example, I feel like cultural appropriation examples like racist Halloween costumes or wearing headdresses to festivals is something well known to not be a good idea now (though maybe I’m in an isolated ‘bubble’ are some do not yet know this now). But maybe its a product of the times changing – maybe, when this book was written, this wasn’t widely accepted. I’m curious if there are blind spots like that now. Are there behaviours and actions that are culturally at that turning point now, or will be in the future? What are they?
My favourite sections of this (based on amount learned): Is it really about race?, What is the school-to-prison pipeline? , I just got called racist, what do I do now?, Talking is great, but what else can I do?
Actions I am trying to take (not just because of this book, many of these were put in action earlier): Adding organizations that fight for criminal justice to my donation portfolio, assessing my book to-read lists for more diverse voices.
How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids by Jancee Dunn (audiobook)
Disclaimer: I did not read this because I’m particularly worried about future children’s impact on my relationship. Right now, our relationship is fantastic! That said, having never had kids, I have no idea how that will go! I picked up the audio-book copy of this to listen with my husband because reviews said it was hilarious, and we needed something to listen to on one of our long drives to visit family. We listened together and paused frequently to discuss.
This was really entertaining! And had some good insights that I think are helpful not just for relationships with kids, but all relationships (though the book is probably only something you want to listen to/read if you have or want to have kids – and listen WITH your partner and pause often for great discussion!).
Some ideas my partner & I liked: Scheduled regular date nights when kids arrive, prioritizing individual time (in particular, for the mother, who traditionally is less protective of this time), communication to divide labour rather than assuming partner is being lazy – they just might not know its an issue! or not prioritize the same level of cleanliness, allowing partner to parent in their own way and take the back seat when its their turn to do something, how fathers at the top (CEOs, in politics, in TV, etc.) can have influence to driving changes in parental style. There’s a lot there and even more in the book.
Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman
(audiobook, husband loved it)
This was an enjoyable ‘read/listen’. I think a lot of it alleviated some concerns I have about the shift to becoming a parent, in that it showed some modes of parenting that work (albeit from an outsider’s perspective watching the French way). Much of it seems kind of obvious/natural to me: let kids experience frustration, your kid can sleep through the night, let them wait (‘le pause’), have rules, etc.
I think what I liked most was just a positive perspective on parenting. As I share I am pregnant, the responses are all excited, but also often (and typically from the male half of hetersexual couples) downplay that excitement by informing me how I’ll never sleep again, enjoy vacations, have free time, have any autonomy, … I get that it will be different and overwhelming and a lot (I mean, as much as someone who hasn’t done this yet can ‘get it’), but this book presented parenting being still a lot of work, but also with an effort to stand up for your own personal autonomy & making sure to carve that out. This is something I needed to hear.
I don’t know if its so much the French vs. American way of parenting. But it does seem to present a view on parenting that I quite enjoyed.
The Wild Girls by Ursula K. Le Guin
I like Ursula K. Le Guin, but this story didn’t really do it for me. We follow two captive ‘dirt children’ in hierarchical society with a form of slavery, seeking their own justice. It was fine, but didn’t feel groundbreaking, thought-provoking, or particularly exciting to me.
How Long ’til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin
This story collection didn’t really resonate with me. I had loved Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy. Few of the stories in here gripped me and it was kind of a slog for me to finish it.
I did enjoy two stories: Walking Awake and Stone Hunger.
Walking Awake is a story where there are multiple levels of oppression. In a future where humanity is enslaved to beings that breed and use their bodies for their own, they are given no name just numbers. Other human caretakers breed and care for them until it is time for their masters to take their bodies. The resulting story is horrific, layered, and interesting in how the oppressed can prop up the oppressor basically in a plea to save their own butt.
Stone Hunger is in the same universe as the Broken Earth trilogy, and so I think I liked it because it was nice to revisit that universe.
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar
Two women on either side of a Time War write letters to each other, aware they are fraternizing with the enemy and risking their own standing within their respective sides of the war. Its written as the letters back and forth, with some chapters of what each person is up to alone.
I had a hard time getting into the writing style and lyrical style with what felt like minimal hard plot. I kept trying to piece together what was going on outside of the characters budding feelings for each other, but had a hard time figuring that out. Maybe I missed something or was having a hard time focusing because I wasn’t gripped by anything in particular.