My Reads
I try to keep up with my reading and I do a good job in general. Where I usually find myself lacking is with the books that I’m so excited about that I buy a hard copy. It’s so much harder to sneak in a few minutes here and there when you have to haul a physical copy around. That being said I have a few of my reads to share. One that I have finished and loved, two that I’m currently reading, and a few that are up next.
What I Have Been Reading
The Book of Joan really stuck with me after I finished. The more that I thought about it, the more that I loved the writing. It seemed to pull from so many historical influences. Of course the main influence was Joan of Arc. The book has this relentless beat that seems to be underscored by something like religious fervor. Except there is no religion. There are only the scarred earth and the scarred bodies. And with the scarred bodies the descriptions can’t help but invoke images of an almost Louis XVI ostentatious display of both women and men with white sexless bodies that frill and froth high above the atmosphere in space. They are barely human at this point. And the Earth below is barely Earth.
Ecologically what is there left when there are no humans left? Everything. Life goes on, potentially so much better, without humankind. The final war won’t be one of religion but of pure greed and it will rage until it consumes us all.
The books left me thinking. What is romantic love when we are beyond bodies or at least when our bodies are beyond our reach? When there is there nothing left do we all hope for love? What happens when all we have left are our bodies? Again pulling from historical influences, the book climaxes in this Greek tragedy sort of place, but the story has been a tragedy all along. Beyond the tragedy I was left with the thought that even when everything is destroyed there is always the hope of creation.
What I Am Currently Reading
My Beloved World – I am trying to be a girl boss so I figured that there is no better way to learn than by reading Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s memoir. I was really lucky and got the opportunity to have a relatively small group discussion with her a couple of years ago and I have been meaning to read the book ever since.
This is How it Always is – I have always believed in the power of stories and their ability to help us empathize with one another. Now more than ever it is important to take in as much information as possible about people who are different than we are so that we can be better allies. This book is about love and family and those already intricate relationships with the added secret of a transgender child.
What Is Next On My List
