Our library is back open! After a four year renovation and a fifteen month waiting period during Covid, the doors to the Durham downtown public library finally swung open. My daughter and I have been there quite a bit and in the midst of that pleasure, I forgot to share July’s reads! So here they are:
What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat- Aubrey Gordon. Non fiction. A thousand mini paper cuts, this book. Between Gordon's "friends" reactions to the everyday microaggressions she experiences, her science-based research and lived experience, this book slices into you like the razor it really is. Excellent, important read for all, but, dare I say, especially straight size folx like me.
The Addiction Inoculation - Jessica Lahey. Want to insulate your kiddo against addiction? Lahey tells you how. No surprise but connectedness, both to family, school and community, matters a great deal and is a protective factor. Once again, Lahey leads with her personal experience which I always appreciate. A must read for parents.
The Mothers- Brit Bennett. Fiction. Bennett's first book but I read her second book, The Vanishing Half, first. And I liked it better than The Mothers. I was dissatisfied with a few storylines (Nadia's mother's death for one) and couldn't get past those sticking point. Definitely my issue, not Bennett's, but it was a distractor for me.
American Baby: A Mother, a Child and the Shadow History of Adoption- Gabrielle Glaser. Non fiction. Glaser goes deep into the story of one of the thousands of women who were forced to give up their babies in the 1960's. She juxtaposes that story with the history, business really, of adoption in the US, both prior to the 1960's and immediately after. A business that depended on deception, lies and misinformation for decades. "Just forget this ever happened," one woman is advised. As if.
Normal People- Sally Rooney. Fiction. Meh. Totally not sure what the fuss was about on this one. Plenty of vapid white people doing things that I wasn't interested in and didn't care a lick about. I finished it but am not sure why.
How to Kill Yourself and Others in America- Kiese Laymon. Essays. No one writes their heart, soul and mind like Laymon. He's a genius storyteller whose words hit you hard with truth bombs and shiny hurt. Reading Laymon feels like you are reading him; it's simultaneously unsettling and captivating. It's like you're in his pocket but also his mind. If you liked Laymon's memoir "Heavy", this collection is a must.
Thick- Tressie McMillam Cotton. Essays. McMillam Cotton's essays have teeth. They tackle similar content (racism in America) to Laymon's collection and are as engaging and searing as his but read very differently. McMillam Cotton herself is in the essays but they don't define her, as Laymon's do. I know more about McMillam Cotton after reading this collection but I don't know her. An incredibly vivid, visceral collection.
Do you miss what I read in June? Click here. Got something to recommend? Click here.