It’s a good thing that I keep a log of the books I read, because I can’t remember the beginning of April. That log also will hopefully mean that I can and will get all the way through this blog post, and it won’t end up relegated to the drafts folder like all the half-finished others. I believe in myself! Anyway, I did some reading. A lot of it was rough going in the content sense, which maybe wasn’t great right now? I don’t know. Here’s a roundup.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Tales from growing up in post-apartheid South Africa from the point of view of a true misfit. This book is hilarious, insightful, and deeply concerning, sometimes all at once. I’ve heard the audiobook version is good, but I just had good old paperback. I could still hear Noah’s voice in my head, though.
Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
A classic Gladwell deep dive, this time into how we misinterpret interactions with people we don’t know. This is illustrated using a number of real-life cases as examples — mostly prominent police and sexual violence cases — which each build a piece of the picture. It’s also about how we default to truth in interactions. Appropriately for the chosen stories, it takes a more serious tone than his previous books.
Gladwell has been increasingly panned by critics for his anecdotal methodology. (There’s also this review in which the critic ironically appears to have fundamentally misunderstood what Gladwell is saying.) However, there is definitely a place for these accessible discussions. While rigorous and peer-reviewed studies are essential, getting out basic ideas and encouraging people to think about them is also kind of a good thing. Not that I’m biased.
The audiobook is read by Gladwell, but is interspersed with clips from interviews with various experts and court transcripts by voice actors. Each chapter opens with a clip from Janelle Monae’s “Hell You Talmbout“, which helps to keep grounding the tangents Gladwell takes back to the underlying problem of what can go wrong when we can’t talk to strangers.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Audiobook highly recommended: Obama’s voice is wonderfully soothing, and she injects an extra element of life and personality into it. She traces her story from growing up in Chicago through living in the White House, sprinkling smart observations throughout. Also almost made me cry multiple times, often just from nostalgia. Her emphasis, though, is how ordinary her life was.
There is also an upcoming Netflix special that looks to be an equal heart-string-plucker.
Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow
A different kind of touching story. This is the story behind this article, and what went into the investigation. Far more than just a story of one man’s serial sexual abuses, it follows many trails that add up to a culture of powerful men taking advantage of women and doing what they can to stay in power, especially by leveraging the press. These are some heavy subjects, and Farrow navigates them sensitively but still directly. The book is made readable (as opposed to a pile of emotional depression dumped on your head) by the momentum of the narrative, which includes some entertaining asides and character profiles. In some ways, it reads like the mystery novel that would never get published because it’s just too crazy.
Audiobook recommended just so you can hear Farrow’s attempts at different voices. And/or you can listen to the eponymous podcast and hear the voices from the people themselves.
Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor
And now an actual novel! A time travel novel! This story is fast-paced, and it doesn’t baby the reader along: it’s just one damned thing after another. The characters are fun, although I had some trouble keeping them straight. It got a little Russian novel with the names by the end, with everyone separately referred to by first, last, nickname, and sometimes title. That gets points for realism, but as a reader not living the life of the protagonist, I couldn’t ever remember who belonged to which first name. Also points for realism for not starting with an info dump, although I could have used a bit more exposition in the beginning to just settle into the story.
My biggest gripe, though, is that there are apparently sequels, but my library doesn’t acknowledge their existence. They might only be available in the UK. I WANT MORE.
April Reading Roundup Review
- April reading was actually April listening.
- Audiobooks are great.
- My current method of dealing with stress is to learn about other people’s stresses.
- I have to relearn how to sit down and read.
- Does anyone have recommendations for books/podcasts and if so could you sort of secretly share them with me because I already have a bunch on my list but I want more but I don’t want to keep putting off preexisting <li>
- Anyway love you all thanks for reading
