September’s Books

Exhalation – Ted Chiang

I finished this in August but missed putting it in that month’s posts. This set of science fiction short stories looks at some of the big questions, grappling with what it means to be human, free will, consciousness and time and our place in it. I found the stories thought-provoking. 4 stars.

Lines of note (there were several but this was one that really stood out to me):

Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough. p36

Wandering With Intent – Kim Mahood

This book of essays covers various topics related to the author’s life living and interacting with remote communities in Australia. She offers fascinating insights into complex cross-cultural interactions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Relevant reading with the The Voice Referendum coming up. 4 stars.

Lines of note:
The year she flew into Alice Springs and from there drove out into the Tanami desert instead of having the two weeks of driving from Canberra to acclimatise:
“It seemed that having departed from the orderly, over-planned surrealism of the national capital, I had arrived at its sinister twin” p 19

On the way white anti-racists can flounder out in the outback. Summarising Emma Kowal’s argument in “Trapped in the Gap”:
“Translated, Kowal’s argument suggests that the way forward requires the victimised to let go of the advantages of victimhood, and for the stigmatised to relinquish the excoriating pleasures of the hairshirt. It’s hard to imagine such ideas gaining traction in the current climate of racial politics but, as she points out, the existing model is gridlocked in its own contradictions.”p 98

“I wonder if part of the failure to persuade many of the people out here to choose safer, healthier, whiter lives is because what we offer, compared to what they have, is just too boring” p 99
I noted this because apart from the whiter part, I wonder whether this is in a less extreme way similar to how our son who has ADHD feels about our advice.

Some things I want to find out more about:
IPA’s. I looked this up and found that there are a few of these down in Victoria.
The Emma Kowal book.

The Vanished Days – Susanna Kearsley

This is set in Scotland in the 1700’s. Lily is a widow, whose claim to a pension of her deceased soldier husband is being investigated. Adam is doing the investigating. Featuring dual timelines, the beginning was a little slow but as all the threads came together I was riveted. Interesting characters and some good plot twists made this a winner for me (4.5 stars)

Lines of note:

Sometimes, when all seems darkness and despair, hope is the only thing that does remain for us to grasp – a tree branch beating at the ice within a child’s hand. And so we make an opening, and day by day press forward, and we hold that hope. And therein lies its power. (Page 188)

‘You cannot take the measure of a man when things are working well,’ said Wilde, as though it were a truth I ought to know. ‘It’s only when the plan goes badly wrong and everything is broken that you’ll see what he is made of- if he breaks, too, or builds something from the pieces that remain (Page 246)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith

I read this for Engie’s bookclub. This is a classic, but being Australian I had never come across it. One of my New York reads just before I jet over there at the end of the month. The narrator is Francis Nolan who is growing up in the slums of Williamsburg. Francie had such a positive hopeful outlook in the midst of some pretty awful situations. I found this book delightful. 4.5 stars.

I highlighted lots of lines so I’ll just pick out a few favourites:

A couple of the varied attitudes toward children from the adults in the book. Many of the adults that could have been a force for good chose the opposite:

“She loved the library and was anxious to worship the lady in charge. But the librarian had other things on her mind. She hated children anyhow.”

“Other people treated children like lovable but necessary evils. Sissy treated them like important human beings.” – yay for Sissy!

“Obviously the teacher hated her and others like her for no other reason than that they were what they were.”

“most of the teachers were women made neurotic by starved love instincts. These barren women spent their fury on other women’s children in a twisted authoritative manner.” – this was pretty harsh

The music teacher: “He taught them good music without letting them know it was good.”

On writing: “What was important was that the attempt to write stories kept her straight on the dividing line between truth and fiction. If she had not found this outlet in writing, she might have grown up to be a tremendous liar.”

On imagination: “the child must have a valuable thing which is called imagination … Then when the world becomes too ugly for living in, the child can reach back and live in her imagination.”

Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead is born to a teenage mother in a trailer in southern Appalachia. The voice of Demon narrating this made the book for me. Matter of fact but still keeps trying in the face of truly horrible circumstances while even injecting humour into the story. A winner for me. Five stars.

Lines of note:

“I asked Mom one time how to fix the bed so it was covered up like you see them on TV, which she thought was dead hilarious.”

Demon on first going to stay in a city apartment block: “I didn’t believe the world would even have a place like this. Not just from the kid viewpoint of no place to mess around. Where would these people grow their tomatoes?”

“I didn’t want to be in that kitchen, and didn’t want to go back to the farm. I sat still, trying to be nothing and nowhere, watching my minutes tick out” – **sob**

In considering his community in response to 9/11: “Here, if any terrorists came flying over, they’d look down on trashed out mine craters and blown-up mountains and say, ‘Keep going. This place already got taken out'”

The Art of Frugal Hedonism: A Guide to Spending Less While Enjoying Everything More

50 tips for doing exactly what the title says. Each section is only a couple of pages and the authors engage the topic with a sense of humour. This book is an easy read, they didn’t put forward many ideas that were new to me. 3 stars.

Skyward – Brain Sanderson

The first book in the YA SF series of the same name. A remnant of humans live mostly in caverns on the planet of Detritus, with the constant threat of annihilation at the hands of the mysterious Krell. Sensa wants to be a pilot and be part of the fight to free them from that threat. In the early part of the book, I found Sensa annoying and in a way ridiculous. Her anger and angst got on my nerves, but as the book progressed she underwent real character development and that drew me into the story. The supporting characters were well written and the plot had just the right amount of twists and turns. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series. 4 stars.