#bookish love

whilereadingandwalking:

Seeking comfort in book stacks and good pens on Moleskine pages.

“Sometimes an old photography, an old friend, an old letter will remind you that you are not who you once were, for the people who dwelt among them, valued this, chose that, wrote thus, no longer exists.”—Rebecca Solnit in A Field Guide to Getting Lost

InGwen E. Kirby’s short story collection Shit Cassandra Saw, women are broken up with, fall apart, find toughness in their bodies, find their own ways towards autonomy. The stories are harsh and sharp at the edges, with a dollop of irony whipped in. 

In “Marcy Breaks Up With Herself,” a woman enduring heartbreak tries to invest in a Marie Kondo–like minimalist system, in a weird, self-destructive, liberating move. In “Here Preached His Last,” a ghost follows the protagonist around the house calling her a whore, but he’s unbothered. In “Casper,” three girls begin to take care of a strange white taxidermied rabbit they find for the Depot; their friendship hinges on the events that come next. Mothers struggle and flounder, but the women in these stories find a bitter, angry strength in their own destruction, a rebellion all of its own. Some of the stories felt too brief, or cut off abruptly, or were a little too indulgent, but it’s clear that Kirby is a devastating emerging voice playing with the way women are seen and treated in the world, ready to spin out satiric and ironic tales that are weighted painfully with truth. 

I found the defining story of the collection was “A Few Normal Things That Happen a Lot,” a surreal story in which women become rough, sharp, monsters who can protect themselves from the predation of men and the patriarchy, but they wish they had never had to, sadness and pain comes with their evolutions. The women in these stories find a bitter, angry strength in their own destruction, rebelling by finding sharp edges and core indestructible power in their own bones, reclaiming their bodies for their own. It is a coherent and fiery collection that makes me excited about what Kirby will have for us next. 

 I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

Content warnings for homophobic language, rape, sex shaming, sexual harassment and abuse, revenge porn, animal cruelty.

There’s nothing quite like a good sky.

The youth are our future, and Teen Vogue is helping to lead the charge—through education, coverage, and amplification of marginalized voices. In No Planet B, edited by Lucy Diavolo and published by Haymarket Books, a community of climate activists speak up in a way that is accessible, educational, and inspirational. 

No Planet B taught me quite a bit I didn’t know. I was most impressed by its coverage of the plastics crisis. For example, the need to shift to a ‘reuse’ approach and not depend on recycling to save us. Corporations are using recycling as a distraction while ramping up the fossil fuel and fracking–heavy production of plastics. I learned from these pieces that the US sends much of its recycled and disposable waste abroad—for a long time, to China, but now to Southeast Asia. While many Western “green” programs and corporations lean on the top five countries responsible for marine plastics to fix up their act and stop “mismanaging” their natural resources, these same countries—China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka—are where Western countries are sending their trash. 

The essays cover the young climate activists fighting for change at high levels and in their communities—whether they’re sleeping outside McConnell’s office in protest, advocating for the Green New Deal, or standing with Greta Thunberg in global climate strikes. The essays also cover intersectional climate justice, discussing and highlighting how climate change disproportionately impacts people of color, Indigenous groups, people living in poverty, and young women around the world. They amplify those voices and stress that climate justice is not only an environmental but a social and political issue. 

All around, this collection is easy to read but full of crucial, important truths. It highlights how our youth are making a difference, and how we should learn from their actions, invest in their movements, and join the fight.

It’s already May! The year went from crawling about to zooming ahead.