Good morning, I’m not one for monthly wrap ups but I decided to try something a little different this time around. This month was yet another poor reading month for me as I continued to struggle with a reading slump. I only managed to read one book this month, but I am in the middle of three other books so I thought I’d share my thoughts on those in today’s wrap up.
Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
★★★★★
Heart Berries is a powerful, poetic memoir of a woman's coming of age on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in the Pacific Northwest. Having survived a profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to find herself hospitalized and facing a dual diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder and bipolar II disorder; Terese Marie Mailhot is given a notebook and begins to write her way out of trauma. The triumphant result is Heart Berries, a memorial for Mailhot's mother, a social worker and activist who had a thing for prisoners; a story of reconciliation with her father―an abusive drunk and a brilliant artist―who was murdered under mysterious circumstances; and an elegy on how difficult it is to love someone while dragging the long shadows of shame.
I don’t know what to say about this book, I was really beside myself as I read it and very conflicted when I finally set it down. I liked this book, in fact I think, maybe, I loved it. This is a phenomenal book well worth it’s praise. Terese’s voice is poetic and lyrical, her story is so raw and honest. She speaks of being a native woman, of her family, her time in foster care, her career and her struggle with PTSD and bi-polar disorder. This is the kind of book that’ll punch you in the gut.
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute cuisine—now with all-new, never-before-published material.
Oh man this book is so much fun and yet, so painstakingly slow. I’ve been having such a good time reading about Bourdain’s journey up the food-chain from dishwasher to chef, his tips on cooking, eating out and enjoying real good food. What ultimately makes this book so good is Bourdain’s casual, easy going and cynical voice. It may be a slow read, but it’s some of the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos
Long ago, following a cataclysm called “The Rupture,” the world was shattered into many floating celestial islands. Known now as Arks, each has developed in distinct ways; each seems to possess its own unique relationship to time, such that nowadays vastly different worlds exist, together but apart. And over all of the Arks the spirit of an omnipotent ancestor abides.
I’ve been in the mood for a fantasy with a lovely atmospheric, almost dream-like narrative. So, I’m giving this one a go, and I don’t know folks! I want to love this book, I really do, but it’s not looking good. I think if I can just move past the “not your typical girl” trope, maybe, just maybe, I’ll start to enjoy this one.
Land of Smoke by Sara Gallardo
An old man wakes up one morning to find that his beloved garden, the envy of all his neighbours, is floating away – with him on board; a bored young woman decides to start a new, double life in Buenos Aires – with the useful prop of a spare head she keeps in her closet; a meek German missionary leaves Paraguay for the Pampas, completely unprepared for what he will encounter there at night.
What a good book. That’s it. I’m in love. I picked this up on a whim and it was the best decision, I think I have ever made. Land of Smoke is the first of Gallardo’s books to be translated from the Spanish and I think I’m gonna need more. These are some of the dreamiest, delirious and layered short stories I have ever read. If you get the chance, I highly recommend picking this one up, it’s a real gem.
留言