Books I Read in March

- Home Truths: Fixing Canada’s Housing Crisis by Carolyn Whitzman – I did not understand most of the technical jargon but I took away that our housing crisis is fixable and has been fixed in the past and present in many contexts that can show us the way. All we lack is the political will and the moral imagination to invest in housing for all.
- Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear by Mosab Abu Toha – I’ve been reading a lot of Palestinian poetry lately, and the meter doesn’t always land right for my English-speaking ear. But this one does.
- Woven: Nurturing a Faith Your Kid Doesn’t Have to Heal From by Meredith Miller – I think I recommended this book to every parent at church
- To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters (audio, re-read) – the weakest of the series, which is unsurprising since it’s the first, but still good
- Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being by M. Shawn Copeland – really fascinating. I learned so much! About the oppression of fishermen in first century Galilee, about antebellum slavery in the US, about the resurrection as a queering/coming out experience of Christ, about Christ’s solidarity with humanity – but specific humanity. Well written and thought-provoking. Highly recommend.
- A Nest of Vipers by Harini Nagendra – Miss Marple, if she were a young Indian woman also committed to Indian independence
- Content Warning: Everything by Akwaeke Emezi – raw and gritty poetry. I appreciated it very much, but the title is apt.
- Dead Lions by Mick Herron – his prose is something else. Even if you know what happens because you’ve seen the Apple TV show, it’s a worthwhile read, despite the typical male fiction writer’s habit of describing women.
9. We Drink From Our Own Wells: The Spiritual Journey of a People by Gustavo Gutierrez – I wanted to underline every sentence. Desperately needed in this time.
- Water and Salt: Poems by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha – a mixed bag, but Running Orders will haunt me for awhile
- The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett (audio) – meh. The wizards aren’t my favorite. And time travel! The plot was hard to follow, but Pratchett is just always at least a little bit funny even when I’m not clear is actually going on.
- Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear – this one was dull
- Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice – compelling and disturbing. Apocalyptic dystopia can be tough to read while we’re going through it, but as the author said on Bluesky, if you’re nervous about Canada-US relations, why not read a book in which neither exists anymore?
- Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price – thoroughly researched and notably full of citations, but I just was never quite sure was the point was. Here is an example of an Autistic person! Here is another type! Oh, and another thing about us is _____. Cool? What do you want the reader’s response to be? Especially the allistic reader?
- To Marry and to Meddle by Martha Waters (audio, re-read) – delightful escapism. I think this is my favourite of the series, though it does try to do too much. There’s a wife learning to stand up for herself, a husband learning to listen to women, one of them is too forgiving of her parents, the other too unforgiving of his, and they need to learn from each other – plus the whole “marriage of convenience developing inconvenient feelings” trope. With bonus cat the wife loves and the husband hates! It’s a lot, but I love this overstuffed story of love and growing respect and affirmation.
- Gay Girl Prayers: Poems by Emily Austin – ehhhh. I was primed to like it, and she definitely knows the Bible extremely well. But many poems felt needlessly provocative, provocative for the sake of being provocative. I did like some of them anyway, especially Proverbs 17:6 and 1 Peter 3:7. I just wanted her to use the provocation to say something more substantial.
- Sleepless in Dubai by Sajni Patel – fluffy and insubstantial, a little too YA but cute. And what an ad for Dubai!
- The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime by Vicki Delany – these books are just so cozy. They appear deceptively simple, like there’s nothing to them. But I read enough in this genre to know that the author must have worked very hard indeed to master this formula and give us a good, consistent story every time, with characters that remain lovable despite not changing any more than the Simpsons age.
- Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally – so I’m reading along, finding it enjoyable if predictable, but then when she finally confronted the villain he was so dastardly it felt like a complete tone shift from the relatively lighthearted beginning. It was hard to know how to describe it in my Storygraph review. I ordered the next one from the library before I got to that point, but now I’m confused and conflicted by the whole thing.
- Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett (audio) – the witches are my favourite! And Magrat is back! I loved this one.
- Vanishing Act by Thomas Perry – This one was recommended by my dad, whose favourite authors are Clive Cussler and Daniel Silva. Definitely in the vein of those guys. Definitely a page-turner. Definitely dated to heck. I’m willing to give the next one a shot.
22. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman – I just love Richard Osman’s writing style; I know not everyone does but I do. Great pacing, great mood, twists galore that he telegraphs just the perfect amount. Perhaps just a touch too twee? But Thursday Murder Club fans rejoice: he’s still got it. I’m so curious about Adam, though.
23. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder – clear and descriptive
- Real Tigers by Mick Herron – slow start, but it really picked up and ended with a bang. Although battle scenes can be tough on the page, and his Jackson Lamb is too in love with the same joke over and over. I think that’s an on-purpose characterization, though. Anyway. I’m enjoying this series, mostly.