Get Rec’d– November Reads
Ok. Now this might just be the worst ‘site launch’ of all time. Not only is this like the third web hosting platform I have tried to use so far, I am already behind on what was my first deadline.
That all said, the following books kept me company on planes, trains, in hostel beds, and in hospital waiting rooms. It’s okay! I’m fine. These little life consuming stories follow personal quests, humans, trees, philosophy, and above all else, change.
ALSO
I wanted to shoutout my favorite site and one of the cheapest, most sustainable ways to buy books, both used and new. Thriftbooks is an online marketplace that sells millions of rare, new, and used books. Not only are most of the books on here well under $10, the shipping is quick, and packaging is recyclable.
Anyways.
Blue Highways
If there’s one book on American culture that I love, this is it. Blue Highways is William Least Heat Moon’s most well known novel detailing his roadtrip across the U.S, the people he met along the way, and the small, forgotten towns he stumbled upon. For the entirety of his trip, Heat-Moon stuck to the blue highways; the lonesome backroads color coded as such on the map. He stumbled across Backwoods Bible Beaters, retired school teachers, Apache hitchhikers, and just about any other American you can imagine. Each of his peculiar characters shed light on his own introspective exploration of change and loneliness,
The Native American Veteran paints a portait of a culturally diverse America rapidly being replaced by strip malls, McDonalds, and other cheap cash cows. This travelogue is just as much about the out-of-the-way communities he visited as it is about Heat-Moon’s personal struggles and quest for selfhood.
The Red Tent
While I’m rarely drawn to ’90’s feminist best Sellers,’ I fell in love with the protagonist, her struggles, her bravery, and most notably her observant traits. Perhaps I was just excited to read a novel told with such historical consideration from a female perspective, especially as it relates to Biblical figures. The story follows Dinah, Jacob’s daughter who is all but mentioned a few times in Genesis. Diamant expands her story accurately and lends an elusive glimpse into the Rent Tent: the sacred space where women had their period, gave birth, and found support amongst one another in times of change and instability.
This book really changed the game for me. It was the first nonfiction book that I’d read on ancient womanhood that was still full of blood and betrayal nonetheless. I have to give a major shoutout to Phoebe Draper on this one for gifting me her own copy.
Siddhartha
Handing another shoutout to Gimmelwald’s Luka for this suggestion and free download! Merci! I loved it!
Siddhartha is short, sweet, and one of Hermann Hesse’s most well known works. Siddhartha follows the story of a Brahmin’s son who embarks on a quest for authenticity, spirituality, the self, and wisdom. Inspired by the author’s trip to India before WWI, Hesse delved into the Buddhist world of Enlightenment and asceticism.
And despite the fact that the story is told in such simple English (it was published originally in German after all), I felt all the wiser for reading it.
It’s the perfect read for anyone feeling lost and unfulfilled, of which I am both ha! Not only that, it’s hardly over 100 pages, so it’s a good start for those in search of ‘well read’ status, especially the ones that don’t actually want to put in the work.
Just Kids
Patti Smith’s Just Kids read like a love letter to New York City, art, artists, and most notably, Robert Mapplethorpe: Smith’s best friend, lover, and partner. The reader gets to bear witness to the duo’s undefinable relationship as the ever-changing enigma that it is. I kept wanting to put a label on their connection, but quickly realized that those efforts were futile. So no this isn’t a book about two no-name lovers’ rise to fame; it’s the story of two creatives trying to make it in an unforgiving city where all they have is each other.
Many pop culture enthusiasts have read this one or at least posted it on their story. Maybe it’s a testament to the famous names, places, and faces Patti and Robert stumble across, namely Jimi Hendrix, Andy Warhol, Janis Joplin, and the renowned Chelsea Hotel, that’s just as much a main character in the story as it was an artistic haven to call home.
The Bluest Eye
To summarize my emotions and thoughts on The Bluest Eye in just a couple of paragraphs, is to do a total disservice to its themes of self hatred, the demonization of blackness, and internalized racism. Following the tragic coming-of-age tale of Pecola Breedlove and Claudia MacTeer as they navigate a world that scorns their existence and skin color.
This book forces you to bear witness to the psyche and soul of an 11 year old girl as it crumbles under hatred and oppressive white cultural values. The two young girls learn to yearn for the purity that Shirley Temple and her bright blue eyes come to represent. More heart wrenchingly though, Morrison’s book follows young victims of incest, abuse, pregnancy, and a despair that is only known to those discriminated against in this country. If you haven’t read any literature from Morrison, I suggest you start with this one and then maybe try out Beloved.
Girl, Woman, Other.
Now this one is just super fun. Everything from the cover art and language to the characters and grammar is vibrant.
Girl Woman Other is a compilation about black British womanhood as told through the lenses of 12 different characters. It read a lot more like poetry, as you can probably imagine after flicking through the punctuationless pages. Like most books I fall in love with, this one was full of those perfect little Aha! moments where I thought to myself,”So THAT’s how they’re connected.
In short, this book breathed life onto every page in the shape of gayness and straightness, mothers and daughters, voodoo queens and rigid school teachers, and sex and drug abuse. It was good, really good. And most importantly it’s an honest insight into lifelong friendships, ones that evolve and grow just as much as the people in them do.
Alright.
Until next time. I hope the next post comes more promptly than this one!
