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The book list continues…
"Little Witch Hazel: A Year in the Forest" by Phoebe Wahl
I love Wahl's children's books, so I made sure to check out her latest work, a four-part picture book showing the adventures of a tiny witch in spring, summer, fall, and winter— all set in the Pacific Northwest. The illustrations are both gorgeous and charming, and the character Hazel herself is everything I aspire to be— caring for her neighbors, returning library books, and growing morel mushrooms in her tiny kitchen garden. Great for kids and for anyone who likes pretty books!
"The Archipelago of Hope: Wisdom and Resilience from the Edge of Climate Change" by Gleb Raygorodetsky
It's been a while since I've read a book about climate change (a lot of them go over the same talking points and can start to feel repetitive), but this one was a fresh take because it doesn't focus on carbon capture technology or regenerative agriculture: it's a travelogue, a collection of stories of the peoples that the author traveled the globe to meet. The common thread between all of the groups? They are Indigenous: peoples who have preserved a distinct culture tied to a land that they've inhabited for thousands of years. And they hold the wisdom and the worldviews necessary to halt the march of global warming, restore the balance of humans in their ecosystems, and put us on the path to wholeness— if we will listen to them and actively restore their rights.
The first story is the author's own, growing up on the furthest eastern region of the U.S.S.R. In the chapters after, he tells stories of the various people groups: the Skolt Sámi reindeer herders in northern Finland, the nomadic Altai of eastern Russia, the Karen farmers in Vietnam, the Sápara rainforest protectors in Ecuador, the Tla-o-qui-aht nation in British Columbia, and more. He talks about their way of life, his time spent with them, the people's stories he encountered, and especially the challenges they have faced with a climate that is rapidly changing before their eyes.
This book is both incredibly fascinating and a stirring call to action, showing that healing our world is possible by listening to those who listen to the land. Highly recommended as both a travelogue and a motivation to support Indigenous people around the world.
I used to really be into minimalism (and I've been on a decluttering kick lately), so I picked up this book from the "Recently Returned" shelf at the library and gave it a whirl. It's a book of minimalist philosophy told through the lens of the authors' (mostly Millburn's) own personal stories of growing up in poverty, getting filthy rich, struggling with drug addiction or infidelity, and finding their inner peace and fulfillment through paring down their things and focusing on what really brought them happiness.
Millburn is a great storyteller and the book is full of great advice, but the book reminded me why I stopped reading minimalist authors several years ago— I have a lot of personal baggage that makes it hard for me to empathize with someone who realized, after several years of making $300,000 a year, that money didn't buy happiness. I'm glad for them, but it's not very relatable to me. That said, the core ideas are worthwhile and I've written down many of their prompts for reflection. Definitely worth reading if you're into this subject.
This seminary-course-turned-book is an accessible introduction to the Biblical hermeneutic of reading the Old Testament with a focus on women: particularly, what they say and don't say, what the context says about them, and how they shape the stories they're part of. Although it's pretty academic, it's fairly easy to follow.
Some of the hermeneutic seemed like it was splitting hairs or inferring too much into the text, but the author reminds us that the goal is not to get one "right" answer, but to learn to interpret different Biblical stories through different lenses. The author also argues that many feminist readings of the Bible miss the theological richness that can come from the intersection of a feminist interpretive lens with a belief that Scripture is both divinely-inspired and relevant to the modern reader.
If you're interested in Biblical interpretation, this is a good read.
"Huda F Are You?" by Huda Fahmy
I absolutely love Fahmy's comics about her life as a hijabi woman in America, and was excited to read her full-length graphic novel inspired by her middle-school days. It's funny, poignant, and deeply relatable to anyone who has ever experienced an identity crisis (whether in middle school or otherwise!). I highly recommend both this book and her webcomic, https://www.instagram.com/yesimhotinthis/
Others in this series:
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