I had some great reads in February!
Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 2014, deservedly so. This chunkster of a book details the story of the town of Toms River, New Jersey, and the growing realisation of the impact of industrial pollution on the town. As well as meticulously detailing the various players: there was a big Ciba-Geigy chemical plant there from the 1950s, the town’s biggest employer until it was eventually closed in the 1990s; also Union Carbide used a local farm to dump waste; the local water company neglected to add filters or report about known pollution in some of their wells; local and federal government neglected to order or follow up on studies, and brushed rumours of pollution hazardous to health under the carpet; and meanwhile families throughout the town were unwittingly drinking water polluted with industrial waste, or working with minimal protection with highly hazardous waste. Over the years there seemed to be more and more cases of both adult and childhood cancers, and this book looks at each study which eventually built up a bigger picture of what was happening. At times it read like a detective story, at others like an epic family tragedy. I was absolutely gripped – with admiration for the investigative writing, rage at the incompetence, indifference and focus on profit over health and environment, and sorrow for the families affected. 4.5/5.
Alice Vincent’s Rootbound: Rewilding a Life was longlisted for last year’s Wainwright Prize. It’s part memoir, part discovery of the healing power of gardening and green spaces. After a breakup and having to live out of suitcases for several months, Alice finds solace through planting and growing, and discovering the green spaces of London and other cities around the world (I enjoyed her account of the High Line in New York particularly). Large parts of this are really beautifully written, and I’m sure I’ll come back to this again and get even more out of a reread, but curmudgeonly me would have preferred a bit more of the plants and a bit less of the relationship angst. 3.5/5.
A is for Apple: A Snow White Anthology, edited by Robyn Sarty, is from the same stable of anthologies as the Beauty and the Beast anthology I read last month. If anything I think I preferred this one – 6 stories retelling the Snow White fairytale from a number of different genres, including fantasy and contemporary literature (including one which recast Snow White and her stepmother as rival beauty influencers). The only one which didn’t really work for me was the paranormal fantasy story, but that’s more the genre than the author, as the writing was good, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I think my favourite was probably the first story, where the author Phoenix Xiao drew on Chinese mythology to explore the question of what if it was the stepmother who was the victim? Honorable mentions also to Julian Barr’s fantasy retelling, and to Mark Hood’s aforementioned beauty influencer contemporary story. A solid 4/5.
Calm Parents, Happy Kids by Dr Laura Markham is a parenting book which focuses on building connection with children and fostering resilience. It gives practical tips, as well as an easy presentation of the science behind espousing this approach. I pretty much agreed with the approach, although I didn’t always find it obvious what the practical tips were, and I preferred another book which she recommends, Lawrence J Cohen’s Playful Parenting. 3/5.
A couple of years ago I got a box set of 3 of indie author Joanna Penn’s books for authors, and am just now working my way through them. The first is The Successful Author Mindset, which looks at the issues which can plague authors at all stages of the creative and publishing journey (self-doubt, perfectionism, etc) and offers thoughts on how to deal with these. It’s a short book that will be good for dipping in and out of. There’s nothing here that I’ve not heard on her excellent podcast, but it’s good to have it all in one place. 4/5.
My first 5* book of the year – Dara McAnulty’s Diary of a Young Naturalist won last year’s Wainwright Prize and I can certainly see why. It’s a diary of a year in his life (when he was 14 – he’s 17 now) chronicling his interaction with nature, his growing nature and climate activism, his life with his family, and his experiences of growing up as an autistic teenager (including how commonplace bullying and isolation was). I loved how he was able to explain how he experiences nature and how autism brings it into such sharp focus, but also how he so clearly and naturally explained how he experiences the neurotypical world and how exhausting it can be. He is a really impressive and accomplished writer, and this is a wonderful book. 5/5.
Akala’s Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire is an impressive and highly readable book about race and class, primarily in the UK although acknowledging there are global issues and threads. It is part memoir of his life growing up as a mixed-race, black-identifying boy in the 80s and 90s, and his experiences of racism, prejudice in education and at the hands of the police, as well as violence in his community and beyond, and part polemic about the roots of institutional racism in imperialism and capitalism. Highly recommended. 4.5/5.
The second of my Joanna Penn boxset of writing books, How to Market a Book is a really excellent primer for all stages of the book marketing process and I’d highly recommend it. 4.5/5.
The Crow Folk by Mark Stay is the first book in the Witches of Woodville trilogy (book 2 is due in October 2021), and I loved it! It’s 1940 in a Kent village, Woodville, around the time of the Battle of Britain in WW2. 17 year old Faye finds a book left her by her dead mother, full of recipes, runes and spells, and a previously unheard-of bellringing method. Meanwhile, strange goings-on are happening in the village. Scarecrows are walking round, led by the charismatic Pumpkinhead, and Pumpkinhead wants Faye’s book. The only thing that can stop Pumpkinhead are Faye, two eccentric village witches, and a bunch of church bellringers. Stylistically, think Dr Who meets Dad’s Army – this is a cosy, and funny, historical fantasy, and I can’t wait for the next installment (also, isn’t the cover stunning?). 5/5.
Dinosaurs, Jetpacks, and Rock Stars! by daughter and father team Kassidy Shade and Andy Chapman is a bonkers chapter book for young children just starting on their reading adventure. 8 year old Tommy makes a wish as he blows out the candles on his birthday cake, and gets an awful lot more than he bargained for. Featuring a giant dinosaur called the Tommysaurus, a swimming pool full of jelly, a giant child-eating gummy worm, and a mysterious character known as the Disco Voodoo King (plus plenty of disgusting farts), this is the sort of mad and silly story that young kids will love, and I think it’s sorted out my birthday presents for the many 7-8 year olds in my life for the next little while! 4/5.
The third and final of the books in my Joanna Penn boxset is How to Make a Living with your Writing (which actually she’s in the process of rewriting and updating at the moment). Again, nothing here I’d not already picked up from her podcast, but again, handy to have all in the one place. I do think though that the price of the boxset was worth it just for How to Market a Book, I’ll definitely be returning to that one later this year. 3.5/5.
Jackie Kirkham 