It’s been a weird year, but I don’t need to tell you that. The coronavirus, social uprisings, the 2020 US election, and the struggle of Zoom classes are at the forefront of everyone’s minds. As you work your way through midterms mixed in with such a messed-up country, taking some time for yourself is important, but that doesn’t mean that you have to stop learning! Below are three of my October favorites, ranging from the all too topical on politics and xenophobia to the calm of familiar YA:
Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy by Talia Lavin
Wanna read about neo-Nazis? Yeah, me neither. But I picked up Culture Warlords Friday night and didn’t put it back down until I’d finished it the next evening. Culture Warlords is 240 pages of Lavin’s fury, pain, and surprise at her dive into the online communities of white supremacy that lurk below the surface of “the same internet on which you can order groceries, check out pictures of your friend’s cat, or chat up a prospective lover”, Lavin puts it. There, “Neo-Nazis and budding neo-Nazi’s find one another and engage in a dance of mutual radicalization”. We’re introduced to Talia Lavin’s plethora of alter-egos used to infiltrate these online spaces, like gunloving Aryan-queen Ashlynn or tortured incel Tommy. Utterly at odds with her true identity as an anti-fascist, fat, Jewish, New Yorker are her adopted personas that allow her to deep dive into more antisemitism, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and islamophobia than I ever thought possible. Shockingly dark and a frightening peek into white supremacist ideology, Culture Warlords is impossible to put down and ignore, as much as you might want to.
Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? by Dave Eggers
Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? is one of those books that I return to time and time again, re-reading it whenever I’m in need of a good dose of heartbreak and anti-heroes. Better known for What Is the What and The Circle, Egger’s takes on a new role as a pseudo-scriptwriter in Your Father’s, the book written entirely in dialogue between a young man named Thomas and various members of his community. Set against the backdrop of an abandoned army base on the California coast, Thomas grapples with his past and the devastating events that resulted in the death of his friend Don to the best of his ability, disregarding the intense consequences that are sure to follow. Overwhelming sympathy and dislike for Thomas color my reading of this book, and it’s just that conflict that calls me back to Your Father’s. Despite mixed reviews from the press, this uniquely formatted novel dealing with police brutality, mental illness, and child abuse is sure to bring me to tears every time.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
If you’re like me, you’re looking for some escapism to get you through this crazy time (well, when I’m not reading about antisemitism). That’s why I turned towards the ever-nostalgic genre of YA fiction: simple and accessible, YA is the perfect antidote to the gloom of the upcoming winter and the world at large. The Song of Achilles is a retelling of the story of Achilles from Patroclus’ point of view that winds the reader through their quiet love story and painful experiences in the Trojan War. The love between Achilles and Patroclus is sweet and youthful, and prose is both easy to digest and lovely (“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.”) While it’s not a true retelling of The Iliad (classics’ folks, you’re not gonna like this one), The Song of Achilles is still an interesting adaptation of Homer’s tale and the perfect quick and easy read with a touch of love and struggle that’s the perfect thing to distract you from the dread of fast-approaching November 3rd (Don’t forget to vote!).
Alright, that’s all for this month folks! Have an idea of a book to add for November? Contact me here.
Happy reading!
(PS! The links above all take you to McNally Jackson, a NY bookseller that really needs some help staying afloat. Support our local businesses!)