July Reads
Thoroughly enjoyed the books I read this month. Every one a š„ read.
1.The God of Good Looks by Breanne Mc Ivor š„
Model and aspiring writer, Bianca Bridge, begins the novel as the disgraced mistress of a Trinidadian politician who exited their relationship unscathed. She gets her second chance from makeup guru the abrasive Obadiah Cortland and his magazine startup. This epistolary romance is unconventional, and comes from both their perspective. There are problems, like the willed absence of the motherās backstory in contrast to the fatherās illustrious one, but overall a light and pleasurable read.
2. Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah š„
Hunger Games, but make it prisoners on a too close for comfort near future gladiator circuit, facilitated by completely plausible social media and carceral technologies. Builds to an impossible and emotional resolution. So. Good.
3. House of Cotton by Monica Brashear š„
Magnolia Brown is 19 years old, broke, visited by her newly dead grandmother, and takes a lucrative āmodelingā job in a funeral home. Southern Gothic and unnerving AF. This book was my *entire jam*. If you liked Raven Leilaniās Luster, Zakiya Dahlia Harrisās The Other Black Girl, Kiley Reidās Such a Fun Age, and/or Leila Mottleyās Nightcrawling, you will like this one too. If I ever finish this book, Iāll write about these together.
4. Our Share of Night by Maria Enriquez trans Frankie Corzo š„
Super creepy. As in inordinately tall blonde man creepy. But also creepy that mixes Argentinaās Dirty War ā wherein there are many targets for the military dictatorship to disappear and souls in a states of unrest ā with the rituals of an ancient cult that originated in England and syncretized in South America through the exploitation of children from all over the world and familial mergers among the wealthy. Spans two centuries and three continents. So good.
5. Suite as Sugar and Other Stories by Camille HernĆ”ndez-Ramdwar š„
Short story collection that moves from Toronto to Trinidad to Cuba, blending seen and unseen forces. My favorite is the story of what happens when you pour out a rum for the dead on Jouvert morning. Laugh till I weak.
6. Ayiti by Roxane Gay š„
Short stories exploring Haitian history and diasporic experiences. The zombi one is my favorite.
7. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner š„
Memoir about a dying mother and how foods shared with her helps her daughter grieve.
8. An Island by Karen Jennings š„
A body washes up on the beach tended by solitary lighthouse keeper. The story takes the shape of the keeperās memories of a past that brought him to his isolated island life. The slow quiet pace builds to violent and surprising climax. Short but powerful book.
9. Country of the Blind: Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland š„
Gorgeous and funny memoir about blindness the blends personal experience with historical and literary research. Canāt decide what I enjoyed more, its careful and smart treatment of blindness as āa field of paradoxesā or how beautifully itās threaded around Lelandās love for his wife and child.
10. Lone Women by Victor LaValle š„
Black woman flees the burning remains of her parents and their Lucerne California homestead, for a claim of her own in Wyoming, with a mysterious locked trunk in tow. Itās a story of how lone women made it, or didnāt, as homesteaders at the turn of the 20th century. Plot twist: thereās horror involved.
11. Bliss Montage by Ling Ma š„
Collection of stories that blend the imagined and reality as each story contemplates what form representations of experience should take. I found that the open ended-ness of some - like the one about academics - says more about me and what I want from particular narratives than anything else.
