This is my monthly sum-up of what I read the previous month. If you missed September’s, head here.
In October, I started a few books this month that I didn't finish.
Cecily Strong's memoir about the death of her cousin, This Will All Be Over Soon. It was not compelling enough for me to stick with. I also started Percival Everett's book Telephone about a scientist who gets a mysterious message in a piece of clothing he bought on ebay while at the same time dealing with a dying daughter. I can't do books about young children dying from a rare disease and it needed to go back to the library so I didn't finish. Note: I did just finish Everett’s newest, The Trees, which I will talk about next month.
Here are my thoughts on what I did finish:
Somebody's Daughter by Ashley Ford. A memoir. Gist: Ford's father has been in prison for most of her life when she is told as an adult that he will be released. What I liked most was Ford's honesty with herself, her family (including her dad) and her mom in writing this book. She writes them, not as piercingly as Kiese Laymon (author of the best memoir I have ever read in recent memory*, Heavy) but in a way that still feels fresh, honest. And that kind of public sharing can be seen as a betrayal of the Black mom/daughter ethic. An ethic she explores so compellingly with...of course...Tressie and Roxane in a terrific Hear To Slay episode. So it feels like a brave book. Women who have been raised by over-stressed, too young moms who tend to parentify them or make them into their best friends would like and identify with Somebody's Daughter.
Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating by Christy Harrison. Non fiction. Harrison is a dietician, an MPH and spent a career as a "wellness" journalist obsessed with food before turning her eyes on herself. Part of the strength of this book is her sharing what she learned about herself. . Here are a few gems-
+ Diets don't work. 95% of us will fail on a diet and even if we become part of the lucky few for whom we do, we will likely gain back the lost weight (and more!) over time. That's not about us not working hard enough or "failing".
+ Unless we have a diagnosed condition like lactose intolerance or celiac, the idea that certain foods make us "sleepy" or "upset our stomach", is fallacy. In addition there is no research supporting "cutting out" certain foods. What's also true is that we have been conditioned to think sugar is "addictive" (no science to support this either) or makes kids "hyper" (this theory has been debunked) or that certain foods make us behave in certain ways because of diet culture...which medical professionals, including dieticians, are not immune to.
+Our bodies will change, do change and that's biodiversity. It's okay, natural and nothing to be ashamed of.
Want to rethink how you think about food and learn a LOT about what's actually science, truth and what is diet culture? Read this book. Another library book that I felt so strongly about that I realized I needed to buy. Go get it and start shedding all the garbage that you have taken in about your body and eating. Not a reader? Go follow and learn from her on Instagram.
everyman by M Shelly Connor. Another first novel that knocks it out of the park. Here’s what Kiese Laymon said:
“everyman is the rare twenty-first-century novel that feels like Morrison and Walker guided the hand of the characters, and the writer, calling it home.”
History, queer love and magic. Family secrets and trying to get home. I know 2021 has been a hell of a year in a lot of ways but it has been a banner one for new fiction. First, The Prophets, then everyman and then the book that I will talk about next month, which I have already been lauding on two, TWO!, episodes of Wondermine, The Love Songs of W E B DuBois. everyman packs a punch that won't leave you reeling but loving.
*The Liars Club and The Glass Castle are still two of my faves but they are, of course, 25 years old.
What have you read recently that you would recommend? Leave a comment below.