Summer salad
Being suspended in between, book recommendations and a new poem
Over the last few weeks, I have made daily attempts to write. Flipping through my notebooks. Building out the first lines of a new poem. Revising a short story for a contest deadline. But it hasn’t been a very prolific time.
And yet, in recent weeks, I have also been to the movies, the theatre and the museum, I’ve read many books, journaled and embroidered, and I’ve spoken to friends old and new. There’s been gardening and baking, cleaning and cooking, home improvements and plant maintenance. I started weight lifting at the gym and committed to a more consistent yoga practice.
So much goodness going into my brain and body, but barely anything coming out.
The problem, I suspect, is that my baseline has been thrown off. Disrupted sleep and digestion (thanks hormones!). Lack of freelance work making my days a little too unstructured. The horrors of the world persisting. Unpredictable weather cutting short my rambles. The weight of so many loved ones struggling in survival mode.
So while I wait for balance to be restored, here are some goodies. If anyone has books to recommend in turn—or if you have ideas for getting creative again, drop a comment! DM me! Send smoke signals!
adxo
Reading recommendations
The secret at the heart of Meg Wolitzer’s The Wife is fairly easy to guess, so the reveal is not the main driver of this novel. What is, is the well-paced peeling back of Joan Castleman’s trajectory from a talented young woman in her first year at Smith College to the embittered, put-upon wife and mother, who has been coddling her “brilliant” writer husband for 40+ years. The depiction of women’s lives in the 50s-60s-70s is especially relevant in our current timeline, where “trad wives” and a longing for pre-feminism days is all the rage.
Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods is such a well-written page turner, I read all 496 pages in four days. Moore dots all her “i”s and crosses all her “t”s, delivering classic storytelling that doesn’t need a surprise twist to leave you feeling satisfied. Her characters are compelling and beautifully developed, there are two mysteries, family secrets galore, power and class dynamics, campfires and cocktails. Also takes place in the 60s and 70s, so they have to solve the mystery using their brains alone.
Don’t let the BookTok hype fool you. Jacqueline Harpman’s I Who Have Never Known Men is not a beach read — it’s a dystopian novel narrated by a girl who was raised in captivity with 39 other women in a cage underground. They have no memory of how they got there and when they miraculously escape, they find an unending grassy landscape with relentlessly mild weather and an occasional river. Harpman asks us, how to make sense of your self in a world without men, books, and anything beyond the basic necessities? In a world stripped of beauty, is it still possible to love and be loved, to be content with one’s life? If you’re feeling lost and lonely lately, this may not be the read for you. But if you want something that makes you question your priorities and reinforces your gratitude, then get thee to the bookstore!
New poem
Lately, I have been writing poems that take place all over Montreal. This latest was inspired by a walk home along Saint-Denis. It’s an homage to our beloved city, built on such a human scale that every outing inevitably involves a run-in with someone you know… or used to know. In case you missed it on Instagram, here it is again:
That’s all for now, folks! As always, your feedback is my favourite thing, so don’t hesitate to reach out. Fingers crossed that we all get more sun this weekend!