What I'm Reading: May 18-August 29, 2021

Let me tell you: writing about books takes time that I don't have much of these days. I continue to read them, and to prioritize the time I spend doing that over the time I spend writing about them. Here are three books that I read between May 18 and August 29, 2021, in the order that I completed them:

 

Debt by David Graeber

391 pages

This book, subtitled "The First 5000 Years" took me a ton of time to read, mainly because I had to return it from the library partway through and then get it back. It's about debt, of course, and the other kinds of relationships of obligation, and different ways that human cultures have handled debt over thousands of years. However, this book is really hard to grasp in the sense that I was never quite sure exactly what the author was getting at in terms of his thesis. He throws a lot of facts at you in an order that isn't always sensible, and so nothing sticks quite the way it should. I'm sad, because I've had this book on my reading list for multiple years and had really high hopes for it.

 

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

293 pages

A book club selection, which ended up being basically just Baby's First Residential School Book. The characters featured are archetypal, five young people who attended the same residential school of the coast of British Columbia eventually convene in Vancouver and elsewhere. I thought it was decent and appreciated that it didn't get gratuitous in its depiction of abuse. I also appreciated the book's optimistic tone, as I feel that sometimes things can get very grim when it comes to this topic, but that healing has to come with hope and not just sorrow. Says this white settler.

 

I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider

128 pages

A collection of very short comics about reading and writing. I often don't really get into stuff like this because it romanticizes reading in ways that annoy me, but on the other hand sometimes you find gold and so I keep trying. This one wasn't gold but I think I'll check out Snider's other collection, The Shape of Ideas, which is about ideas and creativity.