On Reading
a letter about the best books of my summer vacation, so far
Dear friends,
Hello, and happy August! How is summertime treating you? I write to you from Massachusetts, where I’m spending the summer holidays. Here, the humidity is rather heavy, the hum of a window fan a running background accompaniment, but the trees are green, the tomatoes plentiful, the hydrangeas beautiful, and for these simple pleasures all, I am grateful. There are so many things to adore about London this time of year, but I’m still hard-pressed to think of a place I love more in the summer than New England.
What else is new? While I appreciate the seven weeks off between school years, I must admit I am a bit restless, somewhat inept in figuring out how to spend such a lengthy period of free time. I find myself carving out routines out of my everyday hobbies, if only to claim a sense of accomplishment. I am erging at the nearby gym—a poor substitute for time on the water, but at least the Olympic rowers have provided ample inspiration. I am also walking with family members, as I’m determined, stubbornly, to reach a daily (and admittedly random) quota of 10000 steps. And like Molly Baz, I endeavour, where possible, to end each day with an ice cream in hand; we all know it’s the season for it.
I am also reading a lot. It feels like everyone has a Substack these days, and there are many times when I question the point of producing anything for the Internet. Rather than give into these flights of cynicism, however, I try to push them aside and return to what I know and like best: reading books and then sharing a few that have captured my interest, for one reason or another. Here are four from my recent library pile:
The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko
The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman is author Gennifer Choldenko’s eighteenth book, and you can tell: her pacing is sharp; the characters are well-drawn; the ratio of funny and sentimental expertly balanced. I was impressed by her narrative voice, which invites you into the brain of middle-schooler Hank Hooperman as he cares for his little sister after his mom disappears, and I was further pleased that it speaks about the foster care system without perpetuating a harmful saviour-like belief in the industry. That it all reads so genuine is perhaps the highest compliment I can give.
It will be a surprise to no one when I say I teared up reading it, as nearly anything about the goodness of humanity does, but I share it as it had me reflect on my very reading of middle-grade literature. Once a mirror for my early adolescence, I now find myself looking to characters in children’s books as a way of figuring out the type of adult I’d like to be. (Take, for instance, how I jokingly aspire to be Matilda’s Miss Honey in my classroom or look to create the same community that distinguishes The Vanderbeekers.) In Hank Hooperman, I cheer for Hank but also Ray and Coach P. and Lou Ann, adults who love and care and mess up and grow in a myriad of ways. It’s all inspiration I’ll take.
Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo
When it comes to young adult literature, I can be rather picky, wary as I am that YA (like television!) has reached its saturation point. So it is a pleasant surprise to come across a release that not only would have flown under my radar had it not been strategically displayed among the library’s newest arrivals but also—and simply—blows me away. Not Like Other Girls follows Jo-Lynn, a social outcast after her nude photos were leaked to the school, as she investigates the sudden and suspicious disappearance of her former best friend.
It’s pitched as a thriller, but I worry that does its layered composition a disservice, as the novel’s real highlight is the character dynamics. Like Choldenko in Hank Hooperman, Adamo treats her young characters with such tenderness, developing them with the recognition that trauma doesn’t preclude one from experiences of joy nor is it always the direct source of one’s pain. She also gives attention to the friendship “break-ups” that are world-ending when that world is high school without pulling a patronising tone. Definitely one to grab if you’re equally fond of literary mysteries—and/or if you, like me, miss the heyday of standalone young adult novels.
Any Person is the Only Self by Elisa Gabbert
I am many years late to the party, but I’m calling it my summer of the audiobook; no one told me how easy it is to have a book play as I bake cookies, tidy my room, or go for a walk. I’m particularly fond of listening to nonfiction, as it feels like I’m listening to a much smarter friend explain their recent discoveries to me. Elisa Gabbert’s Any Person is the Only Self, which she narrates herself, is a great example. Over sixteen essays, Gabbert manages to hit everything from hair metal to Sylvia Plath’s diaries, and it made excellent accompaniment as I worked on my new favourite hobby of cross-stitching.
I think my enjoyment stemmed, in large part, from our shared identities as consumers. Gabbert sees the artistry of encounter. She reads and watches with abandon and seeks out interviews from artists on their craft, the collection’s bibliography a testament to her sheer curiosity. As in her first book of essays, Gabbert focuses much of her attention on time and memory, filtering them here through the impacts of the pandemic. Are we all still a bit lost, feeling like there’s too much time and not enough time all at once? Yes, Gabbert seems to say, and there are no answers except to turn to our bookshelves. I can relate.
Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna
I tore through Oisín McKenna’s debut, Evenings and Weekends, in a matter of days, largely overwhelmed to have found a book that reflects the nuances of my own life. To say it’s a book about people in London fails to capture its depth and poignancy, but for lack of a better description: it’s a book about people in London, specifically London in 2019 on one of the hottest weekends of the year. Many of them are queer, one of them is pregnant, some are contemplating marriage, everyone has regrets. Over the course of the weekend, we see their encounters with one another, what’s left unsaid just as important as what is.
It's a buzzy novel, and I can see why; the sparse prose and character-driven narrative is reminiscent of recent bestsellers à la Sally Rooney. And yet, I feel it distinguishes itself by its hyper-focus on the decisions that make up our lives and the precariousness of knowing when we’ve really, truly, “grown up.” Revisit it in ten years, and I may not find it as compelling or emotionally resonant—but I think that’s okay. Call it the merits of the right book at the right time.
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What have you been reading as of late? Whatever your suggestions, you know I’m game to hear them. I’m in the middle of eight books as I publish this because I like having the options of so many genres! And to that I say: thank goodness for the local library.
With wishes for good reads and good rest,
Bella
P.S. Things I’m Consuming
As if we needed more suggestions! If your playlists or watchlists are lacking, however, here are a few other things I’ve enjoyed since the school year ended.
+ Beautifully Ordinary: A fun fact about me is that “Dance Monkey” was my most-played song on Spotify in 2020. It’s another way of saying that I’m a loyal fan of Tones and I, the stage name of Toni Watson, who recently released her second album, Beautifully Ordinary. Watson has said that this is the album she wished she had as her debut, a desire you can hear in the honesty of the lyrics. It is, no doubt, what I’ll be playing for the remainder of the summer.
+ Equity-Centred Trauma-Informed Education: Pardon yet another book recommendation, but for any fellow educators, might I suggest Alex Shevrin Venet’s Equity-Centred Trauma-Informed Education? A well-researched primer on the tenets of trauma-informed pedagogy, the book guides us readers in useful reflection on traditional (and, too often, harmful) classroom practices. I’m currently reading my way through the Human Restoration Project’s Restore Humanity to Education zine, which makes for a terrific paired text.
+ A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: Yet another fun fact about me is that I will devour a thriller like no one’s business. It was no different with Netflix’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, the television adaptation of Holly Jackson’s book of the same name, which my family managed to binge in one weekend. I will never grow old of the thrill of guessing who did it and getting it right. And the soundtrack here is golden!
+ Hit Man: Finally, I’m not one to resist the Glen Powell hype train; I saw Twisters and loved every second. My sister and I followed up our cinema viewing with Hit Man, starring Powell as a professor by day, undercover police agent by night. It’s the sort of implausible romantic comedy that begs to be watched from the comfort of one’s living room in the tradition of a summer movie night. You, too, can follow suit.