Recently Read - October 2020

 Is fall not the best reading season? I’m so glad I’ve had a few opportunities to sit on the front porch, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket with a hot drink and my book. Right now, it’s raining outside and all I want to do is cozy up and get back to my book.

I’ve read some great non-fiction in the past six weeks. I’m learning so much about how people relate to the world around them. That is so important to me. Check them out!

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism – Naoki Higashida – 4 Stars

        This is a very short book that I think everyone should read – particularly those who work with children. Although knowledge has come a long way, there is still so much more to be learned about autism. This book is a series of question that Naoki Higashida answers from his point of view. Interspersed is also a handful of short stories from Higashida’s point of view.

        It’s an incredible book. It’s something that really allows readers to understand how people with autism are feeling and why they do some of the things they do. The book never claims to speak for everyone, but there are many moments where certain aspects of autism are explained in different ways (for example, flapping arms or hands in front of their face). It is a great insights and learning tool for everyone to read.

        Now, some of the questions are repetitive, but Higashide presents each answer in a new and creative way. The stories he writes show a heart-wrenching and intimate perspective as it is the way he sees the world. It gives a voice to others who cannot speak for themselves. I highly suggest this book to everyone.

What If It’s Us – Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera – 4 Stars

        Now, books like these are why I love reading YA. There is so much representation involved in this particular book from LGBTQ issues to immigration to masculinity to learning disorders. There needs to be more books like this around. Admittedly, it’s ridiculously cheesy. As in, so cringey in some parts that I had to look away and take a minutes to compose myself. However, I think that’s a good thing.

        The authors bring so much of teen reality to this story. There’s the right amount of cheesy moments with the frustration of just being a teenager. The dramatics in it are fully accurate when it comes to the way teens think about romance (or the way I did, at least). It’s naïve and magical and romantic. It’s also complicated and involves friends and family in different ways.

        This book is not overly complicated. It brilliantly captures the minds of two completely different teenagers which means it comes with its fair share of eyerolls and awkward moments. I found myself giggling along with the exaggerations and practically screaming at the characters to just communicate (a notion that is lost on teenagers). It was a full blown emotional rollercoaster and I loved every minute.

Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates – 4.5 Stars

        This has been on my reading list for a very long time. It blew up when the Black Lives Matter movement picked up earlier this year, and I can see why. This is such an important book because it is purely about lived Black experience. It is a letter to his son to try and make some sense of the whirlwind of hatred around them. He questions the systems America is built on and how people can possibly move forward from it.

        There is so much care taken in this book to show the reality of the Black experience in America. Through shootings, racism and micro-aggressions, we see how identity and both shaped and questioned in the lives of youth. This isn’t a happy-go-lucky, hopeful book of the future but one that shows Coates’ son the bleak reality of his future. It’s a future of living in fear because the Black body seems to be one that is meant to be violated. This book is a plea to all to protect the Black youth from living in fear.

        The writing itself is poetic and personal. There is so much packed into what is a relatively quick read. The partnership of personal mixed with the high level of language made this a hugely pleasurable book to read (based on the writing itself rather than the content). There is something so engaging about the way Coates presents his experiences through the eyes of the “American Dream.” I give this book 4.5 stars because it doesn’t quite make it to my favourites list, but it will stay with me for a long time.

Year of Yes – Shonda Rhimes – 4 Stars

        I have managed to borrow this book three times from the library and run out of time to read it each time. I finished it in the wee hours of a night where I could not sleep, and it was wonderful. The dynamic and talented Shona Rhimes set out on a “Year of Yes” after her sister muttered “You never say yes to anything” under her breath. This set Rhimes out on a journey of re-finding herself and doing things that scare her. It made her re-evaluate what is important just by saying yes!

        Rhimes’s personality comes shining through in this book. From the side-notes and repetition to the single word lines, you can feel her energy and excitement and despair at every step. We feel when she is afraid as well as feel when her confidence start picking up. We learn about her affinity to her characters and how she writes herself into them (hello Christina Yang). It’s an amazing example of how tone is miraculously conveyed on a page.

        Although the strong points of this book are due to the Rhimes’s personality, it is also an important and fascinating study about what saying yes can do for a person. When I started at my school two years ago, I decided to say yes to every offer of a pub trip or party. That’s how I made my best friends! This is a massive extension on what else one can accomplish if you just say yes to things in your life – including saying yes to tough conversations. I give this book 4/5 stars because of its tone and its overall message.

After Auschwitz – Eva Schloss – 4 Stars

        This book has been on my list for the longest time. I don’t remember how I heard about it, but I as interested in the fact that this was written by the half-sister of Anne Frank. Now, I need to preface this a little by saying that Schloss was Frank’s posthumous step-sister. They were never sisters when Frank was alive. However, they did grow up together and Schloss shares her own tidbits about the life of the Franks – even after the death of Anne.

        I like the timeline of this book the most. Eva Schloss takes great care to explain the details of her life. It is another WWII story, so it is rife with pain and heartache. It also explains how affected she was long after her return from Auschwitz. I hadn’t given much thought to the psychology that is involved with that much torture and witnessing death, but those jarring descriptions are what makes this book absolutely important to read.

        This is a very simply written book. In fact, this is mentioned by Schloss herself. With the prompting of her family, she decided to sit down with a friend to tell her story. Every voice that exists within the context of WWII deserves to be heard and to be shared. We need to learn and to listen to make sure we protect each other to avoid future tragedy.

Book Reviews Posted Elsewhere (all books given to me for free in exchange for a review):

Unspoken – T. A. Belshaw – 3 Stars

https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/unspoken-trevor-belshaw

Yesterday – Samyann – 4 Stars

https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=114&t=158954&p=1511137#p1511137

Victoria’s War – Catherine A. Hamilton – 4 Stars

https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/victoria-s-war-a-novel-catherine-a-hamilton

Snow and Caramel - Jay Kerk – 4 Stars

https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/snow-caramel-jay-kerk

Strong Heart – Charlie Sheldon – 3 Stars

https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=161755

Divided World: Plays of Occupation and Dispossession – Edited by Kenneth Pickering – 4 Stars

https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=163226

Skunk and Badger – Amy Timberlake – 4 Stars

https://www.netgalley.com/book/185309/review/253873

As usual, let me know if you’ve read any of these books and what you think of them!

-        Daniella