Books about resistance, Covid, and the suburbs
Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day by Kaitlin Curtice
I already follow Kaitlin Curtice's blog The Liminality Journal, and had been eagerly anticipating the release of her new book. It did not disappoint! In this book, she explores four realms of human experience— the personal, the communal, the ancestral, and the integral— and reflects on how we can resist oppression, destruction, and the harmful status quo in each of these areas.
I really appreciated her approach to "resistance": it is often framed as a struggle, battle, or other military-inspired conflict, but she views it as creating friction in a harmful machine, so that no amount of resistance, however small, is wasted. She discusses various forms that resistance can take: familiar avenues such as educating ourselves and taking action, but also things like embodying ourselves, finding joy, and connecting with our ancestors. The book is both unapologetic and gentle, offering balm for those of us who often feel burnt out because we can't "save" everyone or "fix" everything. I highly recommend giving it a read.
Call Us What We Carry: Poems by Amanda Gorman
Like many people, I was introduced to Gorman's poetry when she performed at President Biden's inauguration, and I was intrigued to pick up this collection of her poetry.
It's absolutely beautiful. You can tell it's meant to be read aloud: she does a fantastic job of using assonance and alliteration to create a mesmerizing sound. Beyond that, her poetry is rich with allusion and imagery, making me feel like I could reread the poems again and again, catching more each time. This collection delves into the community trauma of Covid, of racism, or learning to live together and embrace difference.
It's a gorgeous collection and I would highly recommend.
Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much by Ashley Hales
I pretty much never review books I dislike, because if I don't like a book, I don't finish it. However, I was going through this book with my Sunday school class at church, so I read almost all of it, and boy howdy, I do not recommend.
At first glance, it seemed like a book that might speak to me: the premise is that the author moved back to the California suburbs from the city (although if you ask me, Salt Lake City is the most suburban-like city I've ever been to) and struggled with finding identity and belonging. However, rather than either embracing her new home or figuring out that she did want to move back to the city after all, she spends the entire book vehemently critiquing the suburbs— but always from an outsider's perspective, which just makes all the critiques fall flat.
Also, my goodness did she need an editor. The non-sequiturs, the unclearly-connected stories, and the examples that introduce intriguing ideas and then never go anywhere with them are present in every chapter, which made it difficult to read.
The book has a good premise, but the execution is very lacking.
Previously on What I've Been Reading:
All What I've Been Reading posts
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