A Quick Cram Session
End of the month, books came pouring in and I just couldn’t keep up. All these books are worth more time, so apologies due, but anyway: CRAM SESS.
This was a wildly funny, darkly comedic read. Like, I know you can call everything from “The Mindy Project” to “New Girl” dark based on who’s asking, but really – if you think Mindy Kaling is dark, yeah, maybe keep thinking that and don’t read this book right now.
Story topics include, but are not limited to: (1) A male doula (or “doulo,” because calling a man a doula is kind of ridiculous, don’t you think?) with some very severe mommy-issues, (2) A ‘hereditarily’ chubby boy waiting for the day his metabolism will begin (3) a super intense and quite possibly evil Dungeon Master. It’s super fun. Get crackin.
BITTER EDEN by Tatamkhulu Afrika
Published for the first time in English, Bitter Eden delves into the lives of three men held in a WWII prisoner camp, what they do to survive and how they keep themselves entertained throughout the days.
Although the three men enter the camp sure of their heterosexuality, in a male-only camp, the lines between best friends, those who have your back, and bunk mates necessary to fight off the cold blur, causing the men to question if their companions are something more. With poetic prose coupled with the often despairing story, Bitter Eden is a haunting read.
SAINT MONKEY by Jacinda Townsend
Audrey and Caroline (often called Pookie), two young girls growing up in the 1950′s rural Kentucky, become best friends based on a mutual ugliness/ awkwardness. Both fatherless at any early age- Audrey’s dad dying too soon, Caroline’s placed in jail after his brutal murder of her mother- the girls rely on grandmothers, the women of their small town and each other to figure their way from the awkward adolescence into womanhood.
Their paths diverge – Audrey heads to New York City, playing the piano for sold-out crowds and discovering the Harlem Jazz enclaves; Caroline stays home selling cosmetics and keeping her head held high above the judgements of her small town- but over the years, the girls connection never quite parts.
Townsend’s debut novel is an amazing tale of coming-of-age, keeping friendships through different states and circumstances and life for young black women before the Civil Rights Movement did anything to help. I’m keeping an eye on her, and you should, too – after all, Toni Morrisons and Alice Walkers aren’t created overnight.
JACOB’S FOLLY by Rebecca Miller
Spanning generations, centuries, cultures and continents, Rebecca Miller’s story examines the ties and traditions of religion, family and tradition have on an individual’s dreams.
There’s Jacob Cerf, a young Jewish street peddler, torn out of an unhappy marriage and into the heights of French society by sheer fate. There’s Masha, the young woman following out her dreams of acting while trying to keep in line with the rules of her faith. And then there’s Leslie, a man who’s had the desire to be a firefighter in his blood, even though the career took the life of his father. Each character’s story is exhilarating and enticing, but once you figure out how the three are connected, things really begin to shine.
