I loved all the books I read this month, which was a breath of fresh air after the very hit-or-miss list from April. Behold this list of glorious writing!
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
In the 60’s, a pair of twins from an impoverished black, Louisianan town is split in two as one vanishes to pursue life as a white woman and the other, grappling with the grief and anger of this loss, leans into her blackness. There was so much complexity in this book and I’m so impressed by how well Bennett navigated the themes of duality and discrimination, of the blessing and curse of looking white, of the tragedy of a society where coming from a black family is a shame to be concealed. Every character was so very flawed and alive. I also loved the inclusion of a trans character whose own struggles, though not front and centre, complemented the story in such a natural way. This was the case for a lot of the book: the gravitational centre was clear, but it pulled in so many other aspects of the human condition that it ended up being about far more than just the experience of being black in America. I can’t say it was a fast-paced narrative, and yet it was deeply satisfying seeing it evolve as secrets were kept, learned, and revealed in equal measures. The prose was excellent: clear yet lyrical in its expression. It isn’t a happy book per se, but there was a sense of healing in it.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Told from the first person POV of Patroclus, this novel tells the story of Achilles from childhood until death. I’ve been wanting to read this since I came across Miller’s Circe last year, and while I think I still like that one more, I really loved this book. Miller has such a distinct way of writing both frankly and poetically that makes you feel every word on the page (though I did listen to this as an audiobook and the narrator did a great job bringing the voice to life). I find it fascinating how she’s able to use the blueprint of a myth and create a fully-rendered story that has internal logic enough to make it feel believable while still maintaining the magic of the world. My one beef is that some of the big assumptions about Achilles weren’t included, and while she explains in interviews the reasons for this, there was enough allusion to them throughout the book that their explicit absence made some things fall flat to me - including parts of the ending. Other readers have critiqued it for not following the myths very closely, so I was surprised at the commitment to avoid the more commonly known (if incorrect) narrative pulses. That said, I loved how the narrative captured the looming dread of prophecy and its ensuing tragedy so well. A very good read.
The Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Folded together like 1001 Nights, this graphic novel nests story within story, starting with a man of the North Pole meeting the love of his life, a woman of the South Pole. The book recounts his experiences on the voyage that unites them and weaves together many different mythologies from different peoples and cultures along the way. I really loved the illustrations and the quirky, unpretentious humour that kept the narrative down to earth. The way the myths were handled also managed to maintain the surrealism of their base stories while making them feel very modern, particularly in the casual tone of the dialogue. That said, the main character is a man at least stylistically and culturally based off the Inuit and I couldn’t help but feel a little weird about the use of these aesthetics in service of a story clearly not written by a member of that heritage. I don’t know if the stories themselves were based off Intuit mythology, but even so I couldn’t quite love this book with my whole heart for that reason. Artistically though, I really enjoyed taking the plunge into this very unique world.
Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu ⭐⭐⭐⭐
In her collection of short stories, Fu splashes her pages with science fiction, imaginative realism, philosophy, and surrealism to explore the various vices and struggles of our time. I found the narrative quality varied between the stories, some feeling very well polished while others felt like they lacked the punchline of some of the stronger pieces. That said, each story was so unique that I couldn’t help but be drawn in. Among the standout works were "Pre-Simulation Consultation XF007867" about a woman requesting a holodeck-style experience with her deceased mother, “June Bugs” about a woman caught in a domestic abuse relationship who moves to a house infested with an absurdly growing number of insects, and “Twenty Hours” about a husband and wife who take turns murdering each other and then regrowing their partner as acts of love. A great book to pick up if you want some bite-sized thoughts to chew on.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
In this novel, two childhood friends reconnect at Harvard and decide to make a video game over the summer that will change their lives forever. In a month of excellent reads, this still managed to stand out and is one of my favourite books not just of this month or this year, but possibly of all time. The characters and the emotional arcs were enthralling to the point that until I finished, I felt like I was living in the world of the book. I loved how real everything felt, a feat likely achieved by the incredible balancing act of making the characters flawed enough to be infuriating while being highly relatable. I’m always a fan of an unconventional structure, especially when one is pulled off as well as this, and in this case I loved the weaving of narrative with flashbacks, interviews, and a singular POV shift that really punched above its weight class in an already heavy-hitting book. All the while, the commentaries about ambition, creative expression, heritage, cultural appropriation, success, failure, grief, loss, death, and, above all, the unique love found in true friendship, textured the book into a true standout of the literary world. The buzz around this book is well deserved. On a personal note, I had also just visited the Harvard glass flowers exhibit that came up in the book, so it felt very timely too.
And that’s a wrap on May! Thought these reviews were on point? Don’t agree with something I said? Let me know in the comments below! I am but a humble reader whose opinions can’t possibly represent the myriad complexities of these books and would to hear your own thoughts.
Happy reading!
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