If You Only Read One: February 2021
We know that we read — and review — a lot of books. It definitely helps that there are three of us, in that regard. So with this feature, we want to tell you our favorite read of the month - if we only recommend one book to pick up, what would it be?
Moira
This was a good month of reading but COVID brain is real and I can’t tell you half of what I read. What I do know is that “Valentine” by Elizabeth Wetmore (Bookshop | Kindle | my review) is the stand-out read of the month. While it was an intense and sometimes brutal book, it will stay with me for a very long time. The novel closely follows women in a desolate oil mining town. The nature of what this town does to women is brutally and beautifully explored through their relationships. The book also explores the nature of anger—that while we cannot choose what happens to us, we are still required to heal our anger or we will hurt ourselves and those we care about.
Shannon
I read a lot of rom coms this month (like…a lot), but you all have (likely) already heard about my favorite book of the month: “Black Buck” by Mateo Askaripour (Bookshop | Kindle | my review). It’s a sharply written critique of start-up culture and an excellent commentary on racism in the corporate world, white fragility, and the type of work a capitalist society values. I loved the protagonist, Darren, even as he seemingly abandoned some of his values as he got ahead at a start-up, and the supporting characters were all finely drawn as well. Highly recommend this one.
Elizabeth
I had a prolific month of reading — I think like 20 or 21 books? — and so this took longer than usual to narrow down, and really, I spent way more time trying to justify providing a fiction and a non-fiction recommendation (only to myself, Momo and Shannon are cool) than I should have. When it comes down to it, if I could only recommend one, it would be “Mediocre” by Ijeoma Oluo (Bookshop | Kindle | my review). As I touched on in my review, I think this is essential reading, as it really frames the continued consequences of American white-male-centering — and how it impacts literally every aspect of life today. Beyond the subject matter, Ijeoma is a gifted scholar and a talented writer, and she really brought this material to life in a thoughtful and conversational way.
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