My Three Favourite Reads of June & July 2022
I am fortunate enough to have read more than 20 books over the past two months, so I thought I would share my top 3
We soon depart for the longest and most epic part of our summer road and camping trip. I’m excited. I’m not at all prepared.
I shouldn't’ say that, I have taken care of a very important detail: I took a large stack of books out of the library to read on our journey.
Having had the privilege to read over 20 books so far this summer, I thought I would share my top three for anyone looking for an excellent read.
3) The Invention of Wings
I enjoyed the Secret Life of Bees and loved The Book of Longings, also by Sue Monk Kidd, so I quickly jumped on the opportunity to read The Invention of Wings.
I was not disappointed. It is my favourite of the Sue Monk Kidd’s novels I’ve read so far.
Beginning with the early 1800s, this book creates a stark juxtaposition of privilege and power growing up right next to poverty and slavery. There is incredible nuance, the characters are well-developed and multi-dimensional. No one is purely good or evil, while both good and evil clearly exist in their stories.
The stories are told from the perspectives of multiple characters, but the most poignant — opposing while intertwining — are those of Hetty (“Handful”) and Sarah. Hetty is a slave owned by Sarah’s family, but they are close in age and grow up together yet far apart.
Their relationship is incredibly complex and Sarah battles with her morality and privilege. Hetty’s character is brilliant. She is sharp, witty, smart, and strong, just like her mother.
2) All The Light We Cannot See
I’ve been meaning to read this book for a very long time. I kept picking it up and putting it back down at the bookstore, and I don’t know why. I’m so glad I finally read All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.
This book is set during World War II and these stories of war are told in a way I’ve never seen before. The book moves back and forth between two perspectives: that of an innocent child in France named Marie-Laure, and that of an innocent child in Nazi Germany named Werner.
Marie-Laure is blind and her mother died when she was young. She has a very special relationship with her father.
Werner is an orphan with incredible talents, whose skills are discovered by the Nazi party.
Their heart-breaking stories implausibly, yet inevitably, collide near the end of the war.
1) Ten Steps to Nanette
I don’t know exactly how to describe Ten Steps to Nanette, by Hannah Gadsby, but I’ll start with “Wow”.
Hannah Gadsby is an Autistic comedian who discovered her neurodivergence late in her life. She has two specials on Netflix, one called Douglas, and the other Nanette.
Douglas is hilarious and entertaining. Hannah is brilliant and funny.
Nanette is different. Nanette is powerful. Nanette is uncomfortable and it’s meant to be. Hannah essentially trauma-dumps on her audience, but in a carefully thought-out way, with some comedy thrown in for comfort.
Watching Nanette should make your stomach do flips, should make you hold your breath at times, and should really make you think. It’s challenging to watch, especially for those of us with our own traumas, and Hannah is certainly cognizant of that.
Her book is different. While at times difficult to read, it is not so in-your-face, but is still raw and painfully honest. It’s also hilarious at times. The book is a “memoir situation”, intertwining social and political commentary with Hannah’s personal story of how Nanette came to be.
Gadsby’s shows and her book are rich with social commentary, smart-ass humour, and there is much calling people in positions of privilege to account.
“Autism in women, non-binary, and genderqueer folk remains chronically under-diagnosed… I had to become an expert in neurobiology just to beg permission to claim that piece of my identity.” — Hannah Gadsby
Other non-Fiction I’m reading or have read recently
We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation, by Eric Garcia.
The Autism Industrial Complex: How Branding, Marketing, and Capital Investment Turned Autism into Big Business, by Alicia A. Broderick.
Learning from Autistic Teachers: How to Be a Neurodiversity-Inclusive School, edited by Rebecca Wood et al.
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