I Read: Love, Stargirl

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

I didn't love this as much as StarGirl. I don't know why, but I think it's because by having StarGirl as the narrator, she loses some of her mystery. She's still quirky and unique and learning to find herself and how she fits in the world, but when you can see how her mind works, and why she chooses the things she does, it takes some of the interest away from her character. 

This is written like a journal, or more specifically a really long, expanding letter to former boyfriend Leo. StarGirl says in the beginning that she'll never send it, so it's really functioning much more like a journal than a letter, but she is definitely writing it to someone. 

I Read: Stargirl

Stargirl by Jerry Spinellio

This book joined my TBR by way of a Facebook post series. I was nominated and then in turn nominated folks to post 7 favourite books over 7 days. One of my nominees is also a book lover and decided to go for 3 (or was it 4?) different sets of books, based on genre. Amazing dedication.

Anyway, this one was on his list. I'd honestly never even heard of it, but for some reason immediately decided I needed to pick it up. And I am absolutely not sorry for that. 

I Read: All About Love

All About Love by bell hooks

This is another of the books from Trevor Noah's recommendations on Goodreads. I don't know what I was expecting from it, but what it is was not it. That's not a negative, I found it very interesting, but it was not what I was expecting. 

I feel like I picked up a lot of random nuggets that I can use throughout life. I'd never thought to consider love and why people can't express it, or feel like we don't have it. This read a lot like a journal I would have studied when I was taking psychology at University. A thorough examination of the origin of the feelings of love. Why we can't feel it, why we don't try. That kind of thing. 

I'd recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about their own emotional journey. There's a lot to digest in it. The text makes a lot of assumptions about the person choosing to read, but not in a way that turns the reader away. The points are relatable, no matter who you are or what you come from. 

If you're into self-study. Pick it up. (No stars on this one - I might drop that system to a simple note of whether I'd recommend it or not. Or who I'd recommend it to. Some books just don't fit into a rating scale.)

#44-2020

I Read: A Song of Wraiths and Ruins

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

I picked this up based solely on the recommendations of some random other book readers on Twitter. I'm not kidding. It hadn't even come out yet, and people were in love with this book, and the author seemed like a super-fun person, so I ordered it. 

It took me a while to read, through no fault of the story or the writing, but because the political climate of the world has been insane, and I haven't had any attention span to read at all. Real-world burn-out, I guess. 

But, I am very glad that I read this. It's something I may not have picked up without those random recommendations, even though it's a similar genre style to what I've been reading for the last couple of years. 

I Read: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and six more

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and six more by Roald Dahl

I remember Roald Dahl from when I was in school. And of course, he's the genius behind Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I've always been amused by the way his mind works. 

My mom found this book as a set of three book recommendations from Trevor Noah on Goodreads. We both respect and admire Trevor Noah and so we decided to pick up the books. This one was the most surprising of the recommendations so of course, I read it first. I kind of always assumed that Dahl was a white, North American flavour, rather than being globally known. I still don't know any different - Trevor could have found the book once he was already in the US. But I still found it an interesting choice. 

I Read: The Gryphon's Lair

The Gryphon's Lair by Kelley Armstrong

(Second in the Royal Guide to Monster Hunting series)

Once again, another Kelley Armstrong book. I make no apologies for being a fan of her writing, reading everything she puts out, and pre-ordering most of the time to make sure that I get it in short order. Even when it's a fantasy novel intended for kids, which is the case for this one. 

If it's not obvious I want to tell everyone that if they haven't read Kelley Armstrong yet, please, please do.  It doesn't have to be her teen, or young adult stuff, but everything she writes comes with the same attention to character and story. Her characters are believable and they grow within the story. Even the minor ones. 

I Read: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

(Prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy)

This is the "long-awaited" follow-up to The Hunger Games trilogy.  I put that in quotes, because I wasn't particularly waiting for it. Sure, I pre-ordered it, but I didn't really feel like I needed it before I knew it existed. There wasn't anything missing in the original story for me. I didn't need any backstory in particular to feel the story was complete. I only needed it in the sense that I'm a completist, so I had to have it to complete the set.

But I understand the concept of following up on that kind of success with something that might bring that back. And Collins is a good writer. It's a well-written book. I enjoyed it. It took me longer than it should to read but that was more a function of what was going on in the world and finding time to read it, than not wanting to read it. 

Commentary

I am a white woman. I've had the advantage of that my whole life, without even knowing about it. I've known I've lived a pretty easy life. I don't, and have never denied that. But I've always said it was because my parents, and their parents worked hard to give their children those advantages. It never really occurred to me that even hard work can't erase systemic disadvantages. 

I haven't liked the term white privilege. I feel like it lumps us all in the same bucket. But I can't, with an conscience, deny that it's true. There is a certain privilege to being born white. Even more so, if you're born white and male. More than that if you're born white, male and rich.  

But I digress. Events in the US right now have been widening my eyes to how things work in that country, and by extension in my own. The system really is broken. It's been broken for a long time. And those it's broken for have been telling us for a very long time. It's time we actually paid attention. Because those of us who reap the greatest advantages from that system are the best ones to fix it. We have to change our mindset in order to change the system that our blindness has supported. 

I've been racist because I've taken advantage of my privilege without questioning it. I grew up in a small town where almost everyone was like me. I live in a city that's pretty similar. I have a very small social circle; at first glance it's very homogeneous - not by design but because it's small and I don't go out of my way to meet any new people. I've had connections with BIPOC but not all friendships/relationships are meant to be lifelong. I've never had any personal experience that has led me to hold judgements against individuals who look different from myself. I've always hoped (and believed) that I judge each person based on their character, and not their physical appearance.

I'm choosing to listen and learn and educate myself in order to make sure that I am being the best advocate (ally?) that I can be. I'm going to do what I do best, and read about the history of injustice in order to own the part I play in it. I am going to stop being offended by BIPOC complaints against "white people." If I am doing nothing wrong, I have no need to feel guilt or shame. But doing nothing isn't right. I pledge to be anti-racist - to point out racism and do whatever I can to quash it whenever I can.

I've learned in real terms why Black Lives Matter is really only the beginning of that sentence. It's really that Black Lives Matter just as much as every other life.  All lives can't matter until all life matters the same. I've learned how deeply the world is flawed for some people, statistically. And how we all learn these behaviours, so we have to make the effort to un-learn them. 

I don't really have anything to contribute to the larger conversation, which is why I'm leaving this here. I needed to write it, as part of my own process. To acknowledge the problems, to make sure that I do whatever I can. I do not have any power, except over my own actions, but I will do what I can to support the human race, in all it's glorious shades.

"There's only one Race. The Human Race."

The most important seven words that I have heard this week.

 https://janeelliott.com/