Second in the Corfu trilogy, which explores Durrell’s idyllic childhood on the Greek island of Corfu. For those who loved the first book (and who wouldn’t?) it’s more of the same: more zany and semi-fictionalized family antics, and more hilarious and wonderful gushing over the animal life of the island. The portraits of islander culture are a little problematic from a PC point of view, but it’s of a piece with the time. The ending note is bittersweet, though, and hints at the eventual loss of paradise with the coming of war.
Tag: genre-biography
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, by Casey Cep
Began as a true-crime story of an Alabama minister suspected of causing multiple deaths for insurance payouts in the 1970s, and segued into Harper Lee, her investigation of this trial, and her fraught writing journey. I really enjoyed this book, which did a beautiful job of patiently sketching out the environment and ambience of the small-town South, as well as pulling together an incredibly sympathetic and emotional portrait of Lee.
Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott
Lamott’s advice to her creative writing students, gathered in book form. Written with attitude, but also with heart and kindness; Lamott endorses writing as a kind of therapy, encouraging her students to explore their pasts and their fears, and mine those experiences for inspiration. She also warns students to temper their expectations regarding glamor or fame in publishing. Warm and self-deprecating in tone and very enjoyable to read, but mostly it’s Lamott talking about herself and her experiences, only thinly disguised as advice to new writers.
Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy
Really great comic, simply drawn and deeply felt, about the author’s experience growing up as one of five daughters in a Muslim family, and moving to Dearborn MI for high school. She goes from being “the girl in the hijab” in school to “just another girl in a hijab,” and has to settle on an identity for herself; she also finds that just being among more Muslims is not a free pass from discrimination.
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
A really beautiful and meditative piece. The author, bedridden by a mysterious disease that has taken all of her strength and energy, finds companionship in a wild snail brought by a friend. The tiny snail’s determination and curiosity become a source of fascination for the author, who mixes facts and observations on the snail with her own reflections on illness and isolation.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
I learned so much from this book. I knew that there was a migration of black people northward from the Jim Crow south but I had no idea of the vast scale of the migration, and only a vague sense of the challenges the migrants faced along the way. Wilkerson follows three real-life people, who made the journey at different times and to different places; she illustrates the challenges that they face and show evidence of how others faced similar trials. I particularly liked her assertion that these migrants were similar to first-generation immigrants to the country from other countries, in their drive to sacrifice and succeed despite all odds, in marked contrast to how they were depicted in society at the time.
All Over the Place: Adventures in Travel, True Love, and Petty Theft, by Geraldine DeRuiter
The author is a travel blogger, and I picked her book up because of her hilarious viral pan of a fancy Italian restaurant. The writing style throughout is entertaining, light, and incredibly self-deprecating; she paints lovely portraits of her friends and family, including her quirky parents and her husband who she clearly adores, whose globetrotting job has enabled her to tag along and explore the world despite her self-acknowledged insecurities and lack of directional sense. Her tone throughout is of bemused gratitude at her own good fortune, which I appreciated.
Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The subtitle of this book is Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, which pretty much sums it up. I really loved reading this book, which married the nerdy enthusiasm of a trained botanist with the quiet wonder of one who was raised from childhood to regard plants as teachers. Kimmerer is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and throughout the book tries to harmonize the surviving wisdom passed down from tribal elders with the strict scientific discipline that she was taught in her Western education. She also ties plants into the threads of her life, finding in them reflections of her experience as a mother. Beautiful and thoughtful writing.
Chicken with Plums, by Marjane Satrapi
Graphic novel about the last few days of the life of Nasser Ali Khan in 1958 Tehran. It begins when he decides to give up on life, and through memories, dreams, and hallucinations, the reader slowly finds out why. The art is simple but the story unspools in a heartbreaking way.
Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
A memoir; after Zauner loses her mom to stomach cancer, she finds herself crying in Korean grocery stores while shopping for the foods that her mother loved. I felt so much empathy for her, especially her journey in trying to recreate the foods of her childhood. We second-generation kids count on our parents to provide a link to the culture of the old country, and when we lose a parent, we also lose that bridge. (To be clear, I am super fortunate in that I have not lost a parent! Don’t go anywhere Ma and Ba! But I’m super grateful every time you answer the phone to handle random questions like “what does this menu say” and “how do you order that dim sum dish I like again”.)