What We’re Reading

Occasionally (usually when I’m sick, out of ideas, or pressed for time – like this week!) I like to post what we’re reading in my house.

Niki’s books

I am embarrassed to admit it, but I’m STILL reading This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein. I started this book back in September. The introduction and opening chapters were so intense, so bleak, that I began to have anxiety attacks at night after reading it. What sort of world were my children born into?? I had to put the book away for a bit. I’ve come back to it, and I’m happy to say that while it remains intense, it isn’t nearly so bleak. This is too important a book to walk away from just because it’s challenging. Climate change is not just coming -and fast- it is already here! We can’t keep our heads in the sand because the subject matter and the solutions may be difficult.

Jacobin Magazine. Like the Economist to which I also subscribe, I don’t read every single article, but I find the intelligent and challenging perspectives and subject matter important. One issue of Jacobin can take me weeks to get through.

Your Face is a Forest by Rhyd Wildermuth. I purchased a copy of this book for several reasons: I wanted to support Rhyd, as he is a friend and colleague, I wanted to help him go on pilgrimage, and I wanted to read more of his writing. And hot damn, he is a good writer. Really good. I even like his poetry. This last piece is a big deal, because (true confession time) I almost never read anyone’s poetry. There is a 90% chance that I will dislike it. I love poetry and have very particular tastes and frankly, most poetry isn’t very good. Some of Rhyd’s poetry isn’t my favorite ever, but I don’t hate it! I can’t tell you how relieving this is. My own personal poetical issues aside, the writing and content of the book is what I am reaching for at the end of my days, when I need something beautiful to think on before bed. I read it in small doses, because every so many paragraphs I’m gazing up, away and into myself, reminiscing or feeling or musing over something in my own experiences or longings that Rhyd’s words have touched. Or I’m laughing out loud over an unexpected description of gorse. Ugh, this is beautiful work. Highly, highly recommended.

Kids’ books

We’re on book three in a series by Meghan Whalen Turner, The King of Attolia. This book is about a thief who has finagled his way onto the throne of a neighboring kingdom. It’s very political and the writing focuses a lot on geography in a made up world that is remarkably similar to Greece and Turkey and the countries around the Black Sea. It’s quite good, though a little dry; the thief-king character is cheeky and surprising. My kids seem to like it, as do I, though I think it would be more enjoyable for me if I read it to myself. I am coming to find that some books just don’t work as well when you read them aloud.

The book on the left was a gift, a find in someone’s neglected storage. The Book of Runes: Handbook for the Use of an Ancient Oracle: The Viking Runes, commentary by Ralph H. Blum, 10th anniversary edition, 1993. It looked like a good introduction for the kids, who are keen to not only learn runes, but make their own. Now that I’ve googled the author a bit, I see that it’s not super traditional, but not so problematic that it will ruin the kids for ever. Starting in April we’re going to begin learning runes together ,and my son, and possibly myself and the 4 yr old, will make a set of runes. I’m looking forward to this!

Coming Soon

I have a reading project that I have devised for myself for the spring and summer.

When I was in graduate school (over a decade ago now!) I went through a period where I chose to only read books and listen to music by women. It was a revelation to my spirit. It helped facilitate a “leveling up” in my feminism, as well as helping me to hear more clearly my own voice.

I now need and desire to apply the same “leveling up” to myself around issues of race. I’m really, really white. I’m an Anglo-phile and Eurocentric in my tastes. I don’t have a conscious aversion to voices of color, but it’s time to expand the dialog inside my head. Once my choir concerts are over in mid-April (they’re free, they’re good, please come), I will be reading books by and listening to music by people of color. I will be suspending my subscription to the Economist. I’ve looked around the bookshelves in my house and it’s a little depressing how few books by people of color I have. There may be a few more that I don’t identify as people of color, but still. My goal is to read all the books in our house that apply first and then I’ll head to the library. I’ll let you know what I’m reading once that gets underway!