Reading during dark times
Here’s the sign outside my little free library right now
And here’s what Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had to say about reading:
Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true."
How do we keep going?
We’re gonna read (and phone bank and VOTE FOR BIDEN). Here are my book recommendations for when it feels like all hope is lost and you need to rekindle that flame to keep going and keep fighting:
Harry Potter 1-7. if you haven’t read it, I get it. I told someone recently that I have to hear someone tell me to read a fantasy or sci fi novel 5-10 times before I’ll do it because it’s not my usual genre, and she said, “But don’t you love Harry Potter?!?” (maybe because I never stop talking about it? Or it shows up in my house decor and my entire little free library is all about it). SO HERE’S HOW I GOT STARTED ON HARRY POTTER: I snubbed it with my nose in the air and said I’d never read it. Then, in college, I was at my Mary Ma’s house and had NOTHING to read (and I carry a book with me at all times), and she had a copy of the first one. I read the first few chapters and thought it was horrible - they are SO MEAN to Harry, but kept going (see above, nothing else to read), and fell in love. This was at the time when all the books weren’t out yet — so I did get to go to a few midnight releases at the bookstore — and the movies weren’t out yet, either, so everything was in my imagination. Okay, so I snubbed it and loved it - why would you read it, especially now when JK Rowling is being AWFUL? First of all, she created Harry, but he’s in the world now, and he (and all of the actors who have been in the movies) affirm that trans women are women FULL STOP. Harry Potter is bigger than JK. If you don’t want to add to her $$ check it out from the library or it’s free on Amazon Kindle Unlimited. BUT READ IT BECAUSE IT IS THE ULTIMATE GOOD VS EVIL AND UNDERDOG STORY AND THERE IS SO SO SO MUCH LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP IN IT. One of my smartest friends, Kavitha Venkita, reads all seven every year. I probably do it every other year and just writing this post is convincing me to do it again.
March 1 - 3 by John Lewis. If he could fight as hard and as long as he did in the way he did, we can too. He fought for the right to vote, so GO VOTE. AND VOTE FOR BIDEN - OUR DEMOCRACY IS AT STAKE.
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. I think this book is so accepting of grief in all forms, and is one of the few books I reread. As Cheryl has said this year: vote like a motherfucker.
Good Talk by Mira Jacobs. About parenting in the age of Trump, about race, about colorism.
Yes, Please by Amy Poehler. I fell in love with her all over again earlier this week (HOW was that only 7 days ago) when she and Maya Rudolph and Secretary Clinton did a virtual fundraiser with Senator Kamala Harris (our future VP). Anyway, we all need Leslie Knope in our lives right now and we all need to laugh. Also Bossypants by Tina Fey, which I’m recommending because she tells this story about how much a badass Amy is:
“Amy Poehler was new to SNL and we were all crowded into the seventeenth-floor writers' room, waiting for the Wednesday night read-through to start. [...] Amy was in the middle of some such nonsense with Seth Meyers across the table, and she did something vulgar as a joke. I can't remember what it was exactly, except it was dirty and loud and "unladylike", Jimmy Fallon [...] turned to her and in a faux-squeamish voice said, "Stop that! It's not cute! I don't like it." Amy dropped what she was doing, went black in the eyes for a second, and wheeled around on him. "I don't fucking care if you like it." Jimmy was visibly startled. Amy went right back to enjoying her ridiculous bit.
With that exchange, a cosmic shift took place. Amy made it clear that she wasn't there to be cute. She wasn't there to play wives and girlfriends in the boys' scenes. She was there to do what she wanted to do and she did not fucking care if you like it.” [emphasis mine because YEAH.]
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. This is still my favorite book of his and it’s because of “Jesus Shaves.” I was interning in a senator’s office when I first started reading it, and then couldn’t put it down after I got off the subway, and got caught reading it at work because I couldn’t stop laughing during this chapter. OMG I just found DAVID reading it on youtube so YOU’RE WELCOME. I am now listening and laughing, which I needed.
Did You Ever Have A Family by Bill Clegg. I am ONLY recommending this to people who feel better after having a big ugly cry. It’s so so so sad and depressing and yet there is still hope. THERE IS STILL HOPE.
Tenth of December by George Saunders. These are short stories (normally another genre I avoid, but I love his writing) and these stories remind us of our humanity - which we all need right now.
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. When I took Ox to the Supreme Court the night of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing, there was one protester among those grieving. He had a megaphone and kept saying “Roe V Wade is over, it’s gone. Go home.” Ox was scared and wanted to leave, but I pointed to the thousands of people who were there in peace with candles and flowers and how this hateful paled in comparison. Then the man decided to leave and walked right by us, so I put my body in front of Ox’s. There was another man, holding a pride flag, following him and calling him a white supremacist and Nazi, and the white guy idiot turned to him and said in his megaphone: “YOU ARE A MALE FEMINIST” which I guess was the biggest insult he could give? But we all cheered because YEAH WE ARE ALL FEMINISTS YOU FUCKING IDIOT. Ox and I talked a lot that night, and he had no idea there was a time when women couldn’t vote or black people couldn’t vote. We’ve got more education to do at home, and at the same time, I love that Ox sees that as unimaginable.
Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This is why we fight. It’s a letter to his son about the oppression of white supremacy in America - and we all need to truly see it to combat it, and we all have to work to combat it every single day.
Plainsong by Kent Haruf. Oh, the quiet peace and hope of this small town and the two farmer brothers.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. Just keep going, one step at a time - there is possibility for redemption.
The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry. This poem hangs on our wall in our bedroom, and every time I stop to read it, it helps.
Living Beautifully by Pema Chadron. Confession: I haven’t finished this. I pick it up and get what I need and put it down. I probably need to pick it up again.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller. What a gift Chanel Miller has given us, and continues to give us on her instagram. I thought this book might be triggering because she writes about her sexual assault, but it felt affirming and validating and hopeful.
The Conscience of a Liberal: Reclaiming the Compassionate Agenda by Paul Wellstone. We lost Senator Wellstone way too early, and I know how much he would be fighting for humanity and democracy right now. He and his ideas and his work still inspire me.
Don’t Hesitate by Mary Oliver. Out of her many poems, this one is just so lovely and we can end on a note of joy. Hold onto that spark where ever it alights. The last line alone WOW.
What have I missed?? Give ME some suggestions, please. Sending so much love to all y’all (my tens of readers) and if you are reading this, please please please phone bank with me or you can text or write postcards. Check your registration at iwillvote.com and vote early or by mail. (My dad registered at his new address in Louisiana, and just checked and it hadn’t gone through. Even if you think you are registered - CHECK. I just did, too!)
