spring reads
in which I provide proof that I read 11 books this spring
Dear readers of the internet and presumably books,
I don’t remember exactly what inspired me to set myself a little sub-goal in my larger goal of reading 30 books this year. Maybe it was the fact that I did this last summer, and it helped keep me on track (or more specifically, helped keep me on track to be ahead of schedule) for my annual reading goal. January to March is always a bit of a slog for me reading wise, so I wanted to give my reading habits a bit of a jumpstart.
I was, in fact, successful.
I set out to read 10 books from March to May. In the end, I read 11. What an overachiever. I talk about my March reads here. Now let’s get to the other 8.
Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados (Flying Books, 2020)
I did enjoy this book more than I thought I would, although I really thought I would hate this book. I signed out the audiobook from the library after a certain favourite YouTuber of mine suggested that listening to the book was like listening to someone shamelessly tell you hours and hours of gossip. This was, in fact, exactly what this book was like.
The main character, Isa, is deeply insufferable. Normally, I don’t like books with super unlikeable characters, but the gossip-esque nature of this book led to me really not minding it at all. I don’t particularly want to listen to gossip from a good person, that sounds boring. Isa and her friend, Gala, spend a summer in New York being absolutely terrible women being mean and awful to everyone that crosses paths with them. Including each other.
Listen, this isn’t like, the most plot-forward or high-brow piece of fiction you’re ever going to encounter. But I actually think it’s kind of the perfect romp-y book you might want to pick up for this summer, especially if you’ll be spending your days in the city. Live vicariously through these truly awful characters.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (The Borough Press, 2023)
Listen, I’m late to the party on this one. Enough has been said about Yellowface and its absolute work of genius. But I just have to say that I ate this up. Every second that I spend reading this book I couldn’t predict what was going to happen next. Kuang is an absolute brilliant writer for using her, what I can only assume is deeply personal experience in the publishing industry, and turning it into maybe the book of a generation.
June is a deeply flawed main character, who does absolutely terrible and reprehensible things in the wake of her not-really best friend’s tragic death. But at the same time, sometimes she’s right about things. Rarely, but it happens. Kuang asks the reader to be able to both condemn the main character while sometimes feeling real genuine sympathy for her or her experiences, or just the way she approaches the situation she’s found herself in.
My own very brief, very light experiences with publishing and the literary world have shown me that this book could in fact be straight up non-fiction, and ironically enough, just weeks after I finished Yellowface, rumours resurfaced about the true identity of Freydis Moon, a fantasy author who’s been accused of publishing under several false names and ethnic backgrounds. Sometimes life really does imitate art.
Prairie Edge by Conor Kerr (Strange Light, 2024)
Another 5 star read, and this one is hot off the presses. I had actually pre-ordered this one after having read Kerr’s poetry collection earlier this year, Old Gods. This book was an absolute treat.
A pair of distant Métis cousins, one of them just out of prison, make it a mission to steal herds of bison from private farms and National Parks, only to release them into Downtown Edmonton, as a way to take back the land in an incredibly symbolic and ironic way. Kerr challenges readers to think about how far we might be willing to go for true and complete liberation, even if that means bison on the highway.
I won’t say too much more in fear of giving it away, but this is a quick read I absolutely tore through. I cannot recommend it enough.
The Truth About Stories: a Native Narrative by Thomas King (University of Minnesota Press, 2003)
This is another “I’m going back to grad school maybe/hopefully/hopefully not and so I need to reacclimate myself to reading academic text and maybe it can be related to my thesis” read. I’ve never been a fan of Thomas King’s fiction. (I don’t mind admitting that, he is never going to read this substack.) This was a little bit more digestible. It’s funny to call non-fiction more digestible than fiction, but that’s just how I feel about Thomas King.
I can appreciate a brief history of the significance of Indigenous storytelling, through oratory and then through literature, and how the two work together. I will likely be coming back to this one in the next few years.
The Future by Catherine Leroux (Biblioasis, 2020)
Womp, womp! The worst book on this list (in my opinion, of course) won Canada Reads this year. I picked this up right after the contest wrapped up, bitter that Bad Cree had been snubbed (and in the third round, smh), but hopeful that I would discover a beautiful, incredible piece of literature that would perfectly incapsulate the Canada Reads theme this year and blow me out of the water.
Unfortunately, that was not the case.
This book is split into 3 sections, and after the first section, I was feeling really optimistic. I was gripped by the setup, I found the characters interesting, and the dystopia that Leroux had created felt really real. I loved the idea of a French-Canadian Detroit.
Unfortunately, as I read through the later sections of the book, I felt less and less engaged. Part II of the book introduces about 15 new characters with little to no character development, and is a really jarring tonal shift from the first section. There was no real wrap up at the end, and the book seemed to introduce a whole new genre in the 11th hour which, to me, seemed to come out of nowhere.
Sorry, Canada Reads, should have given it to Bad Cree! (Jessica Johns Supremacy Forever <3)
Coexistence: Stories by Billy-Ray Belcourt (Penguin, 2024)
Another hot off the press masterpiece that made me bawl my eyes out. My heart belongs to Billy-Ray Belcourt, always always always.
This was another pre-order, because if Billy-Ray writes something, I will read it, no questions asked. I actually ended up at the launch event for this book at the Toronto Reference Library, and I’m so glad I was, because it gave me an incredibly intimate lens through which I could enjoy this absolute gem of a book.
A series of interconnected short stories, which is somewhat of a new style for Belcourt, this book had all the classic elements that I’ve come to expect from his writing. A number of thinly veiled self-insert characters (“This one is about a gay poetry teacher from Vancouver - but he’s 40, so it’s not me.”), graphic yet deeply tender gay sex scenes (and a distinctive absence of straight ones), and incredibly personal and moving accounts of healing from intergenerational trauma.
I told Billy-Ray at the book event, in my awe-struck and flustered state, “I feel like you’ve put into words everything I’ve ever felt.” I do believe that to be true.
The Black Unicorn: Poems by Audre Lorde (W.W. Norton & Company, 1978)
After the book event for the previous read, I’d been itching to read some more Audre Lorde poetry, as BRB cited her as one of his foremost inspirations when it came to poetics. I chose The Black Unicorn because it was the only one available at the library without a hold.
I think this may be the oldest poetry collection I’ve read in memory, and what stood out to me was how poignant and relevant Audre Lorde’s work remains, some 45 years later. It feels deeply contemporary, like it could have been published this year, and the themes she writes about, racism, womanhood, queerness, are some that remain incredibly present in our current era. There are some truly incredibly pieces in here. Even if you’re not a poetry reader, I think everyone can find something truly special in this collection.
Look at me, pretending like I’ve discovered Audre Lorde. Queen of writing always.
Heartstopper Volume 4 by Alice Oseman (Hodder Children’s Books, 2021)
In perhaps the most drastic shift so far, I read the 4th Heartstopper book. I read the first three last summer, and the hold on volume 4 was too long that I forgot about it. But god damn it, these are tender little books. Just a sweet little read. I have a hold on for the 5th book.
There’s really not much to say about this little YA graphic novel other than it’s just so cute.
Well, readers, wish me luck on my next reading endeavors. I have another similar challenge set up for myself this summer, and, spoiler alert, it’s not going well.
Until next time.
From the void,
Annie >:)