September book reviews
September ends with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, so this month I always make it a goal to read more books by Indigenous authors or about the Indigenous experience living in Canada. Got a few of those in this year, plus an eclectic collection of fiction and non-fiction recommended by friends.
Indigenous Reads
A Knock on the Door - the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Published following the work of Phil Fontaine and the Truth and Reconciliation Committee’s years-long investigation of Canada’s residential school system. The book recounts the establishment of the system, sharing primary sources that demonstrate its violent, racist goals, and traces history up until the Canadian government was legally ordered to establish the TRC and begin a process of reparation. The power of this book is in its footnotes, where hundreds of quotes from survivors convey the scope, scale and horrors of the system.
Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City - Tanya Talaga
Recounts the suspicious deaths and murders of seven Indigenous teenagers in Thunder Bay. Thoroughly researched and told in Talaga’s usual journalistic but compassionate prose. Paints a picture of how systemic racism persists to this day in Ontario’s schooling and policing systems.
If you’re more of a listener than a reader, check out the Thunder Bay podcast by Ryan McMahon and Canadaland. https://www.canadaland.com/shows/thunder-bay/
Highway of Tears - Jessica McDiarmid
The subtitle for this book says it all. “A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.” McDiarmid, a journalist, spent years speaking to families of the Indigenous women who disappeared along the notorious Highway 16 in northern British Columbia. To me, the tragedy of this book was both in the individual stories McDiarmid shared, and in her very real conclusion that, despite an increase of awareness, very little has changed at the systems-level to prevent these crimes today.
Moon of the Crusted Snow - Waubgeshig Rice
The quietest, softest dystopic novel I’ve ever read. A world ending not with a bang, but with a whimper. Set in a snowy, northern community where plague begins society’s undoing. About power and leadership. Not for you if you crave closure. Sequel coming out this year!
Ragged Company - Richard Wagamese
“Home is belonging in someone else's heart.”
Four homeless people befriend a retired journalist by going to the movies and later have their lives drastically changed with a sudden windfall of cash. Explores friendship, found family, forgiveness (of the self and others) in a beautiful, sad tale that will make you pause and think about the stories we all carry inside.
Fiction
Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr
One of my favourite reads this year. An in medias res beginning and shifting perspectives across centuries demand patience and work from the reader, but committing to this winding, complex read is well worth it. Themes include: radicalization to eco-terrorism in the 21st century, suppressed homosexuality on the frontlines of WWII, the role of Saracen women society in the ancient world, and the enduring power of stories told for their own sake. Poetically rendered, tragic, brave, hopeful. Made me think.
Siege 13 - Tamas Dobozy
In 1944, Soviet troops surrounded and lay siege to the Hungarian capital of Budapest for 50 days. Dobozy’s anthology explores the ramifications of the siege. Spanning accounts of the violence unfolding, to post-war life of those who defected to the Soviets, to the Hungarian diaspora in Toronto, this collection of 13 interlinked stories depicts the intergenerational impact of warfare and the challenges of holding onto cultural identity. Some of these stories stuck with me for days.
Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield
A book I wasn’t sure I liked at the time, but I couldn’t stop thinking about after I finished. About grief, which made it hit close to home for me, and the many ways we try to deny the loss of someone so precious to ourselves. Dualling narrators unveil a beautiful relationship between two women that slowly devolves into emptiness. The most tragic part of this for me was one narrator’s fruitless quest for answers – phone calls, emails, scrolling implausible online forums – to contextualize her loss. I think this book was marketed as horror, and a slow creep of dread and a bodily unease suffuses scenes particularly towards the end.
When We Lost Our Heads - Heather O'Neill
The French Revolution retold against the backdrop of Montreal during the industrial revolution. About the fraught love-hate relationship between Marie Antoine, daughter of a sugar baron, and Sadie Arnett. Spans the glitz and glitter of high society, the brothels and factories of a world in transition, and everywhere in between. Disturbing and compelling all at once.
The Things We Leave Unfinished
Two love stories for the price of one! In the 1940s, a debutante radio operator and RAF pilot fall in love against the backdrop of the Battle of Britain. In present day, the great-granddaughter of that radio operator is charged with working with an obstinate (but devilishly handsome) author to posthumously finish her great-grandma’s last book – a memoir. Trust issues, True Love, heartache, and spicy sex ensue. A long but well-paced tale that packs twists and turns for the unsuspecting reader.
The Bullet That Missed - Richard Osman, The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman
The third and fourth books in Osman's murder mystery series featuring four elderly British pensioners solving crimes. Laugh out funny with complex, multilayered plots with a wide cast of characters. As wholesome as murder can be. I devour these books like dark chocolate.
King of Scars - Leigh Bardugo
A fun read for fans of the Grishaverse that won’t make sense if you haven’t read the original trilogy. Starring the Grishaverse’s most charming character, now-king Nikolai must grapple with his literal demon while attempting to avert war in Ravka. Told with Bardugo’s usual quick pacing, incisive interiority for each narrator, and zany plot twists. Mythic in its scope with an ending that was apparently very divisive among fans (I liked it).
Non-fiction
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory – Caitlin Doughty
Ever wonder what happens to bodies after death? Doughty’s collection of personal essays tells you exactly what in excruciating detail. Not for the squeamish reader, her essays follow a theme of demystifying death and confronting that it’s a reality that awaits us all. In the aftermath of losing my dad, I’ve found people get weird talking about death, so I appreciate Doughty’s work in this book and others to normalize conversations about mortality. This book also explores other cultures rituals around death and mourning. A shockingly funny and at times moving read about the funerary industry.
Rest is Resistance - Tricia Hersey
A manifesto for staying in, opting for sleep, and reclaiming ‘dreamspace.’ Refreshing to a BIPOC perspective in this genre of anti-capitalist wellness that’s dominated by white women. About centering the self before the demands of capitalism, the patriarchy, and white supremacy. Black poet and theologian Hersey’s nonfiction ode to napping reads with a wave-like rhythm and is rife with repetition, assonance, and imagery. This was a challenging read for me in that it refuted so many of the genre standards of Western empirical non-fiction – in lieu of peer-reviewed studies, Hersey draws on lived experience, personal narrative, and spirituality to reinforce her points – but I enjoyed the challenge to my worldview she presented.
