October book reviews
by Alana
I rely on books a lot to help contextualize world events. I’ve been feeling heavy lately under the weight of all the bad news from the conflict in Palestine, the war in Ukraine, and the constant stream of misinformation I find myself coming into contact with working in the ‘wellness’ industry. October was a month for reads that either helped me understand these issues better, or provided a much needed, if brief, distraction.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine – Ilan Pappe
A must read if you want context for the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Pappe is an Israeli political scientist and historian, and his thoroughly researched book documents the detailed and strategic plan established by the IDF in 1948 to ethnically cleanse Palestine. Pappe shares military documentation and reports from numerous cities and towns where Arab occupants were killed or forcibly removed. Traces this violence and the resulting revisionist history campaign perpetuated by the Israeli state throughout the twentieth century.
Conspirituality - Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker
Written by three yoga cult survivors and critical voices in the wellness industry. A must-read for yoga teachers. Traces the scary overlaps between the ‘wellness’ industry, far-right politics, and anti-science sentiments. Examines how the pressures of capitalism and COVID-19 accelerated the confluence of ideologies of physical wellness and eugenics, of personal liberation and libertarianism, and of cult-like worship of anti-science, for-profit practitioners.
Recommended by Rachel, Justine, Emily, and others (maybe they’re worried I’m starting a cult)
Black Skin, White Masks – Franz Fanon
Fanon is a psychiatrist from Martinque when it was a French colony and was a leading voice in the psychology of colonization. First published in 1952, this seminal philosophy text takes a similar psychoanalytic approach to those used by Freud, Jung, and Lacan. Fanon applies this lens to both the unspoken hierarchies of race and the overt hierarchies of colonialism. While his psychoanalytic stance felt reductivist and bore all the traces of misogyny and homophobia present in the writing of his contemporaries, I could see how Fanon’s text paved the way for the anti-colonial critical race theorists of the late 20th century.
I Keep Exoskletons to Myself – Marisa Crane
A story about stigma set in a dystopian world where instead of going to prison for committing crimes, citizens are given an extra shadow. The narrator mourns the death of her wife and struggles with how to raise a child with two shadows in a world ready to hate that child. About surveillance culture, memory and mourning, letting go and holding onto to what's important. A thought-provoking, rough but rewarding read.
Nothing to See Here - Kevin Wilson
A disaffected woman is charged with raising the stepchildren of her sorta-estranged best friend. The only catch is the children catch fire (it doesn't hurt them, just everyone else) when they become emotional. A story steeped in the cadences of the American south and politics, in basketball and swimming pools, in loyalty and finding purpose in life. Heartwarming, satisfying read.
An Unthinkable Thing – Nicole Lundrigan
Tommie, the eleven-year-old narrator of this novel is charged with multiple homicide. It’s 1958 in a Toronto-like setting, and the novel jumps back and forth from Tommie’s trial to the summer he spent in the house of his victims where his mother is a housemaid. A psychological thriller pivoting on social and class dynamics, guilt, and abuses of power.
Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros
I jumped on the bandwagon and have no regrets. What a fun, dumb, addictive read. About hot twenty-year-olds sent to dragon rider school to fight in the noble war against vague enemies. Featuring dragons, an oblique critique of war, a steamy romance, and, best of all, a Hunger Games-esque pace that never relents. Five big dumb stars out of five.
Lapvona - Ottessa Moshfegh
New winner of the ‘most fucked up book I’ve ever read’. Medieval rural setting. Follows a peasant boy’s murder-driven ascent into lordship. Lots of symbolism I maybe didn’t get in this book – fixations on sheep, breastfeeding (?), and gruesome details about the human body. A stalwart critique of dogmatic religion. Creepy, weird, and unlike anything else I’ve read.
Tress of the Emerald Sea – Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson at his best. An inventive story of a working class girl turned pirate on a quest to save her princely love from the clutches of a cunning, all-powerful witch. Full of wordplay, endearing side characters, and inventive magic and environments. A tonic read for a rainy day and a messy world.
Murder on Black Swan Lane & Murder at Half-moon Gate by Andrea Penrose
Books one and two of a Regency-era mystery series set in London. Charlotte is a widow, artist, and newspaper satirist, and Lord Wrexford is a mercurial and wealthy man of science. Coincidence teams them up to solve murders steeped in the ideas of the times – from alchemical experimentation to steam engine innovations, Penrose’s historical research and use of the period vernacular makes for fun reads.
