Reading Roundup: September 2023

She rocked a little forward and back in her chair, her mind chasing this thought, then dashing after another.

Renée Gendron, The Ninth Star

I’ll be honest, September was not the most focused of months for me. It’s our first time really having the “back to school” experience as my eldest was returning to preschool for her 2nd and final year and it was…a transition to put it lightly. Sleep has been off, behaviour has been challenging and I’ve been just all-around exhausted.

Perhaps counter-intuitively, when I’m tired reading is usually the last thing I want to do. That does not mean that I don’t find reading relaxing – I do. However, I also need at least some mental energy in order to properly immerse myself in the worlds being painted in the authors’ words – that’s just how I have always approached reading. So, when my mental energy is low, I don’t tend to reach for a book. Does that sound strange? Maybe. But it’s just the type of reader I am and I have come to terms with this.

So, all that being said, if my reading total seems low this month…this is why! Let’s get on with it, shall we?

Articles

‘Agents of change’: Kenya’s traditional midwives help cut deaths of mothers. By Peter Muiruri in LeparuA

As a woman who has been so lucky to have been born into a privileged life, it amazed me that when I first got pregnant with Aria that the idea of giving birth terrified me. It surprised me because out of most women in the world, I was likely in the smallest subset of the female population least likely to experience medical negligence or a lack of services during childbirth. And yet, I was terrified. Because maternal death during childbirth is still so prevalent, even here in Canada for various reasons. But in other countries, the rate of maternal or infant mortality related to childbirth or infections contracted during or afterwards can be staggering. So, it is always a relief to read about this situation improving, even if just a little, in places in the world where having a baby really can be a life-or-death situation for thousands of women. I hope, one day, we come to a place where women throughout the world can feel safe and confident when choosing to grow their family (emphasis on choosing). But until then…work like what these women are doing is awe inspiring and heroic. Even though I live an ocean away, I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their service.

These women are the agents of change in the community regarding clean and safe delivery.

Haggai Tira, Nurse

‘Hi, Mom. I love you’: US man kidnapped as child in Pinochet’s Chile reunited with family. By Ramon Antonio Vargas

Apparently remaining firmly on the theme of childbirth and trauma, this article broke my heart and then made it soar (or…flutter since I doubt a broken heart can fully soar). To think that so many people were involved in this plot to kidnap children from their parents, trick said parents into thinking their babies had died (how…unimaginable) and then to sell them up for adoption to the highest bidder outside the country of their birth. Who thinks of this kind of thing?! Hopefully no one with children themselves. Thankfully, Thyden’s experience with his adoptive family was a positive one but what if it hadn’t been? And, regardless, what about the years of time with his loving birth family that were stolen from him? 42 of them. To think that there is such cruelty in the world (it does bring to mind the residential schools here in Canada a bit…though those were created for even more nefarious reasons than greed), is unbelievable. I’m so glad he has been reunited with his family but he should have never been taken in the first place. I hope every single one of these children find their way home and that the experience is a positive one for them.

We feel as though we have fit in all along – like a missing puzzle piece now found but meant to fit all along.

Jimmy Lippert Thyden

A new start after 60: My job threatened to make me ill – so I moved out of London and started a magazine. By Lizzie Cernik

I think this “a new life after 60” series may be my new favourite thing to read. I receive at least one as part of my good news roundup from the Guardian every Sunday and often end up down a rabbit hole catching up several others before I realize I’ve been relishing in the later-life triumph of others for hours. It’s just so heartwarming to hear that life can keep getting better and changing in ways you could have once never imagined, no matter what age you have been lucky enough to reach. And this one had a writing focus to boot, which always makes my heart skip a beat. Here’s to many many more of these brilliant stories.

I am using a different part of my brain to write and produce a magazine. Writing is difficult in a lot of ways, but it’s a great way to find out about yourself. It helps me to explore the world.

Mich Maroney

Truth and lies (Review). By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I will never tire of reading writers writing about…well…writing. Everyone has such a different approach and while you might think that this kind of chaos in the writing world would create only disonence…it actually results in an abundance of absolutely beautiful works of fiction. Adichie’s deep dive into her country’s history and how it can be told in all its complexity without ever seeming trite or disrespected is a fascinating read. Clearly, I need to read more of her work as a simple book review stunned me with its depth and evocative use of language.

Successful fiction does not need to be validated by “real life”; I cringe whenever a writer is asked how much of a novel is “real”.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Susie Dent: ‘English has always evolved by mistake’. Interview By Katy Guest

I’m not sure if I have ever mentioned this here but my father is, by training and by passion, a linguist. And a thumpin’ good one (as Hagrid would say) at that. At times his career has hinged entirely on his talent with languages and even in retirement, you will often catch him picking up a Dutch-English dictionary or regaling his daughters on why their kids’ language might be developing a certain way. I, for one, may not have my Dad’s talent with languages but I have always found them fascinating. Especially the constant debate over what words mean or which ones are acceptable in polite society or not. It’s all so…deliciously arbitrary. This interview definitely played into that fascination and reminded me, yet again, that I am indeed my father’s daughter.

…thunderplump: the sudden downpour of fat, heavy raindrops that leaves us drenched and dripping in minutes.

Susie Dent

The big idea: could we use music like medicine? By David Robson

When my first daughter was little, we were in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Two first-time parents locked down with a newborn, floundering for a way forward without the support system we had so carefully put in place before she was born. One of the ways we relied on regularly to boost our mental health and our bond as a new family in a single activity was listening to music. We would put on a CD or a Cassette (yes, we are that old), of any genre from classic rock to pop to musicals to children’s songs and everything in between and delight in Aria’s giggles as the three of us danced around singing with abandon. It occurred to me recently that since the pandemic, and related lockdowns, has abated, this is a habit we have fallen out of. There always seems to be somewhere to be, something to visit, plans to keep on top of and while the variety is wonderful…we have already started to forget that sometimes the best thing one can do as a family is, well, nothing. OK, not nothing exactly but…nothing structured per say. I think this week I might make a real effort to get back in the habit of just putting on some music and dancing with my kids without rhyme or reason. After all, what’s better than singing along to your favourite song with those you love most. Don’t believe this is a worthwhile use of my time? Read this article and maybe you will change your mind.

Reading about this research has encouraged me to rekindle my former passion for music. Rather than being a distraction from more important concerns, I now recognise it as an essential act of self-care – and I’ve already experienced the benefits.

David Robson

Never show your kids weakness … and other parenting myths, debunked. By Joanna Moorhead

Apparently the theme last month was children. Or, perhaps, that is just the theme of this current season of my life. At any rate, this article was a breath of fresh air. It is almost impossible in this day and age, though I’m sure the same can be said of almost any age in human history, to not feel inadequate as a parent most days. For today’s parents, social media is filled to the brim with what you should and shouldn’t do as a parent and, more terrifyingly, how you are most likely forever screwing your kids up. Fun stuff. But this article was the exact opposite of all that. In fact, it made me feel seen and validated in many of the things I do on a regular basis with and around my kids merely because I’m human. What a nice way to end this section on articles, don’t you think?

It changes your relationships and your social life. Newborns need safety, food, warmth and relationships in order to survive. But as time passes – certainly from about three months – you should be able to carve out a bit of time to get some of the old you back. What you do will depend on what matters most to you: think about what was important to you before, that you want to bring back into your life. It might be going out for a drink with friends; it might be playing music; it might be going out for a walk on your own.

Anna Hammond, Postnatal practitioner

Blogs

Memories and Meanings at the Museum of Innocence. – Leighton Travels

If I haven’t yet introduced you to Leighton’s brilliant blog, I have done you a disservice, dear reader. His travel tales are, dare I say it, even more entertaining than mine and the research that goes into them is mind-boggling. Every time I finish one of his articles, my immediate thought is “well, I clearly have to visit X next” so I must say that I’m very grateful he tends to write in series format. Otherwise my travel plans may have to change on a weekly basis. This piece, about probably one of the most interesting museums I have ever heard of, was no exception to his always-excellent writing. Check it out (and the rest of his stuff!). You won’t regret it.

What’s more, it works as a study of what it means to be a collector. How objects from our past are living broadcasters of nostalgia, comfort, bliss, regret, anguish and so much more.

Leighton, Leighton Travels

The Hallmarks of a Bad Argument By Isaac Saul

If there is one thing that absolutely exhausts me in this life, it’s the fact that it is getting harder and harder to have a simple conversation with someone who *gasp* might have different opinions from you on any subject. It used to be that as long as you avoided religion and politic at the dinner table, you were safe. But now you can get screamed at for the books you read, the way you eat or even, god forbit, which Star Wars trilogy you like the most. When did we get here? When did it get so hard to have a simple conversation and express differing points of view without being called an ingrate or worse? Was it just at the dawn of social media? Or, as I suspect, once the wild west of the world wide web was unleashed? Whatever the cause, I hope we can find our way back to a society in which it isn’t unacceptable (or, worse, deadly) to have opinions. We all have them, whose to say whose is more valid than someone else’s? Barring, of course, opinions of violence and hatred. These have no place in any conversation, argument or no.

I’m a firm believer that one of the biggest issues in our society—especially politically—is that people who disagree spend a lot less time talking to each other than they should.

Isaac Saul

Books

And here, sigh, is where my distracted mind this month really becomes clear. I read three books this month. Three. All of which were from the Bridgerton series, which I am not disparaging. But I do find them very easy to read so…they didn’t take all that much concentration honestly. I hope to do better this month but who knows what the universe has planned for me? We shall see!

I don’t know if it is the fall weather or the fact that we are falling (heh) into a more predictable routine as a family…but my mind is feeling a little calmer lately. Rather than dashing after every single thought I seem to be able to focus again which is definitely a positive change. Here’s to hoping this means more reading (and writing) lie ahead!

Regardless what my mind decides to chase after this month, however, remember…

Life is beautiful

xo Erin