What I’m Reading Now: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Review: Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
Beth has already done a short review on this book so here I am to give a longer, spoilerier review. This is a dystopian novel set in a future post-nuclear-holocaust Sudan. It follows the life of Oyesonwu, a woman born of rape and blessed with magic powers that she will use to change the world. This novel did not shy away from presenting the horror of rape, weaponized rape, genocide and female genital mutilation. Okorafor has a powerful voice and I am really glad to have read this book. I am also looking forward to reading more by this author. After the cut, though, I am going to discuss some problematic things in this novel.
This Month in Reality: Sit Still Already
I’ve been thinking about starting a meditation practice for awhile now and last month’s Relovution reminded me of that. So, I’ve started one. I’ve been using Stop, Breathe and Think. And, it hasn’t been too bad!
So, for this month I’m going to talk about two books that are of a the Buddhist/meditation perspective. (One that I just listened to and one that I admittedly read awhile ago).
Awhile back I read When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön. I was having a rough time because it was winter and I had sinus infections that I couldn’t shake and I was pretty bummed out. And, the title just caught me. It seemed pretty apt for my situation (because I’m overly dramatic so, of course, my life was falling apart because I never saw the sun and I was on antibiotics). Two things from the book stuck with me: the idea that even terrible situations have something to offer us (other than their terribleness) and that we should practice loving-kindness. Loving-kindness has a particular meaning here and refers to a practice of gentleness, compassion, flexibility and forgiveness. Mostly I remember that this idea of loving-kindness (maitri is the word Chödrön used for it) means being gentle and as someone who can be sharp tongued, being reminded of the importance of gentleness is always something I need. Chödrön talked for a long while about starting this practice with yourself. Yes, you mess up sometimes. Yes, you are uncomfortable. Yes, things hurt and you can’t always fix them or make them better. But, you can be gentle with yourself. You can be gentle with others. You might not be able to make something better, but you can, at the very least, not make it worse by being hard and inflexible. This book is full of discussions of Buddhist practice and how practice is important in difficult times.
The second book for this month isn’t actually a book. Mindful Living is a series of audio recordings of lectures given by Thich Nhat Hahn at a retreat that have been compiled for our listening pleasure. This audio recording is a nice example of what the audio format can do that you don’t see in books. It is really neat to be able to hear the monk’s words in his own voice. I enjoyed the lectures. My favorite of the lectures talked about thinking about what your face was like before you were born. We, none of us, came from nothing so it is an interesting exercise to ponder where we came from and how we have been influenced by things. I liked all of the little reminders of how to be mindful and how to make reminders to be present and to enjoy the experience of being you.
This is was interesting audiobook and I recommend it if you know a little about mindfulness and you are interested in expanding your understanding of it.
So, there you have it. One book and one lecture series both of which are worth a look! Yay!
What I’m Reading Now: Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
Beth and I are in the same book club. I’m a little behind everyone else this month. I’m a little embarrassed by that because I recommended this book!
Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
I am halfway through my Pop Culture Homework Assignment!
This book repeatedly punched me in the stomach.
Eleanor and Park meet when Eleanor gets on the bus for her first day at the new school. Eleanor immediately gets on the wrong side of the cool kids on the bus by almost sitting in someone else’s spot. Park growls at her to just sit down next to him. Everything after that awkward and totally real meeting is beautiful and painful and awkward and wonderful. Eleanor and Park are so fucking cute together I actually just swore at you in a review of a YA novel. This was a beautiful, painful and real novel about teen romance. It was also a novel about negotiating identity (when you’re not really sure how to be what people think you are. Are you that thing? Are you not? Does it matter?), being there for your loved ones, and dealing with crappy things in your life.
This book was great also great because of the main characters. Eleanor is a chubby red head and Park is half Korean. Others have talked about the need for diverse characters in teen novels and I think this is a good example.
Spoiler alert and trigger alert: This book deals with domestic violence in a very honest and very real way.
More spoilers ahead.
Eleanor and Park’s relationship grows slowly over a few months. At first, they are just sharing a seat on the bus. Then, they are sharing comic books. Then, they were sharing comic books and music. (I’m actually making a mix tape inspired by the music mentioned in the book.) It just snowballs from there. Eleanor loves her time on the bus because she hates being at home with her Mother’s husband, who is an alcoholic and a wife beater. The story builds until it becomes obvious that the creepiest of the awful things that have been happening to Eleanor aren’t being done by the awful girls in Eleanor’s gym class but are being done by Eleanor’s step dad.
I cried and cried and cried throughout this book. The relationship between Eleanor and Park was wonderful. Eleanor’s relationship with DeNice and Beebi was great. Park’s parents were A+ and their attempts to interact with their son’s first real girlfriend were awkward and beautiful and also very real. Sabrina, Eleanor’s mom, was heartbreaking. (At one point she tells Eleanor she’s so lucky and good for staying away from boys and then implies that there are two types of women in the world: women who are with a man and brave women who aren’t. I think my heart is still breaking from that interaction between mother and daughter.) Eleanor’s brothers and sisters were also heartbreaking.
God, this book. It was so good. It was so good, I’m still crying over it.
Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
I ripped through this novel like a knife through tissue paper. it was so good. Better than good. It was a delight.
The book takes in 1999 and early 2000. Lincoln works for the newspaper in Omaha in the IT department. Most of what he does is monitor the webfence, a program designed to monitor internally for the inappropriate use of email. Everyone at the paper now has email and the higher ups are worried people will abuse it. Mostly what Lincoln does is he checks the folder, sends out warnings, and then does whatever he wants for the rest of his shift.
Beth is a reporter for the newspaper who inappropriately uses her email. Well, she uses it for personal messages and not just for business. Most of the time she emails her friend and coworker Jennifer. Lincoln sees the messages but decides not to say anything. And, then he just keeps reading them and reading them.
When I figured out the premise of the book, that Lincoln basically falls in love with this woman by snooping on her emails I thought, “Oh. That is so gross.” Because it is. But, everything we know about Beth we know from her emails that Lincoln reads. That is the only way she’s in the story. And, she’s easy to like. Beth is smart and she is funny and she really cares about her friend Jennifer. Thankfully, the creepiness of snooping through someone’s email is actually discussed in the book. There are moral compass characters (who play d&d!) There are comic relief characters (Justin, Lincoln’s friend, is fantastic. As is Lincoln’s mother. And, Lincoln’s lunch buddy Delores.).
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The subplots about Jennifer’s marriage and complex relationship with having children was wonderful and something that I would like to see more of in literature and media. The decision to have children is really huge and shouldn’t be taken lightly and so to have it discussed at all (and to have a woman’s doubts about having children discussed) was amazing.
And, the subplot about Beth’s partner Chris was infuriating. If someone is “just too much” for you. Break up with them. Don’t try to make them feel bad about it. Ugh. What a jackass.
This book had everything and I’m so happy that it was part of my pop culture homework assignment!
I got to meet Rainbow Rowell
In a perfect set of coincidences, I am visiting my parents in Cedar Rapids, IA. Rainbow Rowell is speaking in Cedar Rapids, IA. Oh and the library’s ebook of Attachments became available. So, I read the first three chapters before heading out. To start, I wasn’t sure if she would read or give a talk or answer questions. Rowell did mostly questions and answers and she started by answering a question that she gets a lot: how did you become a novelist.
I knew immediately that I was going to like her because she had on a dress with trees on it (I found out at the signing it was from eShakti) and a large cat face necklace. Normally, I am loath to be the kind of person who judges people by what they’re wearing but plus-size women who have cultivated a sense of style (especially ones that are my age or older and remember a time when all plus-size clothing was hideous) are always cool even if I don’t like them.
Rainbow Rowell chatting with the room
So, Rowell started out by telling us about her life before her books were published as a journalist who for awhile had a gig covering Western Iowa for an Omaha paper. It was great to hear her tales of the hijinx that we get up to in the middle of the nation. (We had a Pork Queen who was a vegetarian. If that’s not funny to you, you’re either not from here or you’re not from here and you guessed wrong as to what a Pork Queen is.)
Then she took questions from the audience. She gave advice to young authors. She talked about her favorite fandoms (Sherlock). She talked her X- men-Mary Sue-self-insert fan fic she wrote as a teen. I laughed so much I was so excited to continue reading Attachments.
After Rowell’s talk she signed books. There was a long line and it was great that she signed so many books. I don’t usually fangirl (especially not over an author whose books I’ve not finished) but I stood in that really long line to tell her how much I enjoyed her talk, get my book signed and to get my picture taken.
Yup, I’m that kind of nerd.
Rainbow Rowell and Kate being a total Fangirl.
How are you doing?
I’m halfway through my Goodreads reading challenge. How are you doing?
What I’m Listening to Now: All the Light We Cannot See
First Beth read it, now it is my turn!
Update: Mime Order
So, I have finished The Mime Order. And, everything, everything, everything in this post is going to be full of spoilers for both The Mime Order and the first book in the series The Bone Season.
If you have read the books, please join us for discussion and wild speculation in the comments! Some of my thoughts about the book after the cut.
2 Women, So Many Books 