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Book Diversions Reading Review

Bookish – 3 As

My quest to “read my own damn library” began with the idea of reading three books by authors whose names start with each letter of the alphabet.

Turns out I don’t have a lot of A authors but I picked out three:

Leave me by dying by Rosemary Aubert

The Storygraph key words: emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

A picture of the cover of Leave Me by Dying which shows a rumbled white bed sheet and pillow. The book is being held in Lisa's right hand.

My key words : slow and tedious. 

It was very nifty though for the setting I thought – 1960s Toronto; and he’s a law student in the book so I know lots of the places and that was the only redeeming thing for me really. So much so that I happily put this book, and another by Rosemary Aubert, in a local little free library. Hey! This whole “declutter by reading” thing may actually work.

The Greenway by Jane Adams

The picture shows the cover of The Greenway, a woman's face highlighted dramatically looks out over shadowy people. The book is held in Lisa's right hand.

The Storygraph key words: fiction crime mystery thriller dark mysterious tense fast-paced

My version: British rural mystery. My usual love. Ugh. It was awful. But yippie! Another book out of the house.

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton 

The picture is cover of Ghosts. Primarily a sort of Tiffany-blue with a pencil line image of a lady laying on her front scrolling on a phone. The books is held in Lisa's right hand.

I’m not sure where this came from. Wait – yes I do, I ordered a sweet reads box and it was in that. Anyway, definitely something I wouldn’t have read otherwise.

The Storygraph key words: fiction contemporary emotional slow-paced

My summary: A comedy sort of; a realistic story also. A romance. Definitely not my usual genre. Gosh I loved it. Seriously. Not enough that I would read it again or anything so this one went off to SWCBNOF and there we go, three for three out of the house.

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Book Diversions Politics Reading Review

Bookish – Sept 2022

So back in August I said I would finish the library books I already had and then focus on reading some of the actual books I already own.

Because my father teased me in a dream lol

So I finished up:

Introducing Feminism by Cathia Jenainati & Judy Groves

The Truth Will Set You Free – but first it will piss you off by Gloria Steinem

Introducing Feminism was published in 2007 and is a good overview of historical stuff. Also reminded quite clearly that non-white, non-affluent individuals are often relegated to the margins/footnotes. Though there is a fair bit of Black American feminism reflected here there is very little Indigenous or non-western.

Steinem’s book was published in 2019. It’s hard not to feel her energy coming off the page. It’s mostly quotes and little vignettes so a quick read though lots to stop and think about. I would like to read more by her. Any thoughts on where I should start?

Then there was:

This Book is Feminist by Jamia Wilson and Aurelia Durand

Published in 2021 it’s meant for teens and I’m fine with that. I still learned a lot and it was nice to have everything clearly set out without assuming the reader knew it.

There were some good definitions in here including intersectional feminism, womanism, and more. And a constant reminder to look at who is being left out.

And the last of my own little mini intro course on feminism:

Amplify – Graphic Narratives of Feminist Resistance

By Norah Bowman & Meg Braem with art by Dominique Hue, this 2019 book was published by UofT Press and tells the story of 7 different people / groups and how they can be seen as feminist.

This started with the premise that the willful taking on of a feminist political identity is itself an act of resistance. It told the stories (very briefly) of Pussy Riot, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, Idle No More, Harsha Walia, and others.

The backlash to feminism always seems to come from conservative governments and their innate fear of change. And just outright selfishness: the fear that giving more to others will mean less for them. Sigh.

as an aside this little exploration of feminism was brought about by trying to read Nora Loreto’s

Take Back the Fight

I’m not gonna lie. It was a tough slog. For how amazing it is to read her stuff on Twitter and what she wrote for The Maple and Chatelaine etc. this was hard. I couldn’t do it. One of the rare times I said “enough, I’m not getting anything out of this especially for the effort going in.” So I took a step back and started from the basics.

And then I picked three random books from A authors, which I’ll write about soon… thanks. love you.

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Book Diversions Reading Review

Bookish – May 2022

What I read in May 2022

I finished three books in May.

Celia’s Song by Lee Maracle

The StoryGraph key words: fiction fantasy emotional reflective slow-paced

I really enjoyed this book. Maracle has a terrific way with words – I find myself transported to another place.

A grandfather in the story said: It is about trust. Talking kept us trusting. Trusting one another secures our sense of hope in the future. Silence kills hope. We have to be vulnerable I think in order to build bonds with other people; to strengthen our relationships. This goes together with listening more too – actually paying attention to what someone is saying without already thinking about what you’re going to say in response.

Jameela Green Ruins Everything by Zarqa Nawaz

The StoryGraph key words: fiction contemporary adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

Another book that I thought was terrific. It’s a good book for when you want a funny, touching story about accidentally going off to join a terrorist group called Dominion of the Islamic Caliphate and Kingdoms, you know, D.I.C.K. 🤣

Really well done I thought and a good read. And a Canadian author – the standard born in the UK, grew up in Toronto and now lives in Regina type Canadian!

Meetings with Remarkable Trees by Thomas Pakenham

The StoryGraph key words: nonfiction nature informative slow-paced

I cannot remember where I heard about this book. Perhaps the Completely Arbortrary podcast? Or the nature drawing workshop put on by the Lahontan Audubon Society (from Nevada!)? Or maybe the facebook group for Completely Arbortrary fans? I just can’t remember. Sometimes I save notes on the library’s website when I put a book on hold but I didn’t this time – but I wanted to shout out this very nifty feature too.

Anyway, this is literally a book of tree portraits. A sort of world tour of trees that are all found in the UK. I learned that English people really really like yew trees. And there are a lot of really old trees there. And really really old trees can be really really big – like a girth of 10 metres or more! I would imagine that we have some fairly old trees here too but I cannot recall seeing any that are so large. Mind you, I’ve been limited to Toronto for the last couple of years.

As an example, though I found this oak on the BBC online :

The trunk is 13.4m around!

It’s a fun book if you are a little obsessed with trees – but also a huge reminder of the remarkable wealth held in the hands of a small number of people (lots of the trees are on “private” lands and so a bit of a nose-crinkling happened while I was reading.)

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Book Diversions Indigenous Politics Reading Review

Bookish – 30 Aug 2021

Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

– Beverly Daniel Tatum

I just finished the 20th anniversary edition of this book – with an updated prologue and epilogue. Like my last Bookish entry (Memmi) this one is going to take a while to digest.

The first thing to say is this really shouldn’t be your first book on race and racism. Or even your third or fourth. It’s dense. It requires a lot of unpacking. And although she explains that she decided to write the book when she realised she needed to “bring an understanding of racial identity development to a wider audience” (pg77) the book is not something that most people will find easy to digest.

I should probably start with explaining that it’s not about “race” but how one’s own identity – encompassing race – develops. I learned a lot but I am stubborn and carried on through the stats and took notes and had the luxury of time to sit and think and read and sit and think and read. I think that for most people it’ll just be beyond them in terms of time and energy to invest. And that’s a shame. I think it’ll just be too much for all the people who could really benefit from learning what is in here.

Here are some great, big picture lessons though:

Race is a social construction.

Race is a human-invented classification system no different than the Dewey Decimal system. Geneticists agree.

Society is important

A big part of defining yourself can come from what the world around you says about you and about others like you. Everyone needs to see themselves reflected in the world.

We need to talk about race and racism

If we want to move past a racist society we all have to step up – and white people most of all. You have to work to identify your own sphere of influence and consider how to use it to interrupt the cycle of racism.

Racism doesn’t just harm Black, Indigenous, People of Colour – though obviously it effects them most directly.

We all lose – when human potential is left by the wayside because it doesn’t seem to fit with the perceived norm.

We need to talk about racism – the break the silence. White people might be afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing – I am always concerned about this – but the work cannot always fall on the shoulders of Black, Indigenous, Asian, Middle Eastern peoples (to name but a few). The consequences for me to speak out are far less harsh than for some others.

I cannot wait to know all the information out there; I can no longer wait for perfection; I have to keep taking my small, deliberate steps each and every day. In those steps I find hope.

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Book By Q Diversions Review

Bookish by Q

4 August 2021 – Our Skin

My mom made me read this book but I liked it.

I think this is a good book for young kids. I am 10 years old, so I mean someone younger than me.


The pictures displayed lots of different kinds of people: Black, Asian, African-American, white, different genders, people of different ages, people using wheelchairs.

There was even an elephant and a dog.

I think the main message of the book is to treat all people equally. Some people and some systems are still racist. We are in a new time now, we should start progressing beyond past mistakes and so we should start treating people equally.

It’s important to say something. It’s important to have your voice heard.