Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? I listened to this book courtesy of DC Library over long drives between Baltimore and Virginia. It carried the added bonus of being read by Hamid himself.

Why not 3 or more stars? Classmates Saeed and Nadia become more than friends — just in time for their city to be swept into war. Escape presents itself in the form of doors that transport passengers to other corners of the world, taking our protagonists to Mykonos, London, and San Francisco. While Hamid ably conveys the instability and danger of the refugee experience, the magical doors didn’t add much to the story. What’s more, the doors eliminate the reality of exodus, arguably a crucial aspect of understanding displacement and the human consequences of conflict. A fine book that keeps the reader at a distance, on the other side of the door.

The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley

4/5 stars

What's it about? In three essays, Aldous Huxley dissects the visionary experience and its attainment through mind-altering drugs. Of particular enjoyment is “Heaven and Hell,” in which Huxley discusses non-pharmacological means of transcendence, such as art and breath work. Compelling, dense, and effective in its call to seek the “Mind at Large.”

How’d I find it? I came to this book through Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind, a book club selection for Solid State Books.

Who will enjoy this book? In addition to those intrigued by How to Change Your Mind, this book might also appeal to readers of Eckhart Tolle.

What stood out? Huxley advocates relaxing the brain’s survival-focused filter from time to time to expand one’s perception and feel true being. In addition to the mescalin and LSD he champions, Huxley unconvincingly argues that color, light, and physical exertion can free the mind but fail to impress our oversaturated and modern sensibilities. His thoughts about how theatrics and alcohol interact with transcendence and religion seem somewhat unresearched but offer food for thought to expand one’s own ideas.

Which line made me feel something? “Visionary experience is not the same as mystical experience. Mystical experience is beyond the realm of opposites. Visionary experience is still within that realm. Heaven entails hell, and ‘going to heaven’ is no more liberation than is the descent into horror. Heaven is merely a vantage point, from which the divine Ground can be more clearly seen than on the level of ordinary individualized existence.”

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

4/5 stars

What's it about? In a not-so-alternate America, incarcerated people can win their freedom by fighting to the death in gladiatorial matches. The novel centers on lovers and beloved fighters Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker, with diversions to other characters to round out the brutal landscape of bloodsport: fellow participants killing to save themselves, fans Wil and Emily, protestors Kai and Nile, and the suits and ties behind the horrific Criminal Action Penal Entertainment (CAPE) program. A page-turner about humanity, survival, and oppression in America.

How’d I find it? Excitedly awaiting this book’s release after enjoying Friday Black, I picked up a copy at Solid State Books.

Who will enjoy this book? Those who enjoyed the horror and competition of The Hunger Games and Battle Royale will like this debut novel.

What stood out? Adjei-Brenyah’s world-building in Chain-Gang All-Stars generates a society both horrific and believable, bolstered by writing that is crisp and at times gorgeous. He makes his characters lovable; you’ll root for all of the CAPE fighters (except for Simon J. Craft perhaps). The sense of surveillance permeates the book: cameras flit around heads, “hard-action sports” announcers await their cues, viewers at homes binge series on wall-sized screens. My only beef is the heavy-handedness of the novel’s social justice bent; the statistics about the current prison system can feel like finger wagging.

Which line made me feel something? From the chapter titled “Sing-Attica-Sing”: “Does disappearing one person from the earth clean it some? I seen men I knew were a danger to the world and they too deserve better than this. A shame for me to hope for better, but I know it’s better that can be done. Ain’t no magic potions for these bleeding human hearts.”

The Sirens of Mars by Sarah Stewart Johnson

1/5 stars

How’d I find it? I came across this book at Politics & Prose and added it to my growing stack.

Why not 3 or more stars? I hesitate to tag this book as anything but memoir, despite the tantalizing subtitle of Searching for Life on Another World. The focus is Johnson herself, who is a scientist and female. That’s it. That’s the “edge” here. While the book roughly sketches out the history of Martian discovery, I wanted much more astronomy and fewer forced analogies between interplanetary exploration and motherhood.

Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis

4/5 stars

What's it about? Environmentalist and former evangelical and aspiring Olympian Amber Kivinen abandons her boyfriend of fourteen years to compete on a reality show for the chance to join the first manned mission to Mars. A tender, funny, and at times didactic debut about ambition, love, and human greed.

How’d I find it? This book found me. While shelving at Solid State Books, I discovered this fabulous cover and had to have it.

Who will enjoy this book? Lovers of reality TV will adore this book and its satire.

What stood out? You know what? My enjoyment of this book gets 5/5 stars. I read all 300+ pages over the course of three days while working full-time and could not get enough of the hilariously obnoxious cast of characters: restless Amber, her boyfriend Kevin, the MarsNow contestants, slimeball billionaire Geoff Task, and Kevin’s stoner besties. Willis completely sticks the landing (hehe) in a surprising and satisfying way that absolves the novel of some clunky bursts of sentimentality and climate change warnings. It took me awhile to warm to Kevin’s narration every other chapter, as the breaking of the fourth wall and persistence of his gloom distracted from all the fun of the reality show’s taping.

tl;dr — read this one.

Which line made me feel something? “She chose this barren place and now she’s scraped out, empty, mourning everything. The smell of a red pepper when you cut it open. The pattern of rain on a window. The feel of water on her skin. She misses birdsong, even a crow’s cackle. Her dad’s voice. The smell of her mom’s hair.”

Machines in the Head by Anna Kavan

3/5 stars

What's it about? Mental illness, addiction, and ennui haunt this selection of short stories by Anna Kavan. A sinister and strange moan of a book.

How’d I find it? I have heard twitterings among booksellers about Anna Kavan before and was intrigued to find this copy among the offerings at Lost City Books.

Who will enjoy this book? Admirers of Lucia Berlin and The Bell Jar should enjoy, as well as those who seek speculative elements in their literary fiction, such as Kavan’s ever-morphing city that recalls Italo Calvino.

What stood out? The selections from Asylum Piece open the book grimly, salvaged by the strength of later standouts like “A Bright Green Field” and “Face of My People.” The stories benefit from an illuminating forward by editor Victoria Walker about Kavan’s life and influence.

Which line made me feel something? From “Ice Storm:” “The big unbroken trees sprayed like unclear fountains towards the mist. Through the centre of each jet of clouded crystal the black branch was threaded. The trees were lovely and frightening to look at. I tried not to feel afraid of the trees. Dear God, let me not start being afraid of things in the natural world.”

Shrill by Lindy West

5/5 stars

What's it about? Lindy West reflects on the experience of being fat and female in America in a gem of an essay collection. Chock full of humor and darn good writing.

How’d I find it? As a nursing student, I am frequently on long drives between hospitals, campus, and home. Audiobooks get me through the commute. DC Library provided this one, entertaining me during traffic or while wolfing down lunch.

Who will enjoy this book? Fans of Mindy Kaling, Joel Golby, Rax King, and Jia Tolentino will appreciate, but probably most millennials as well? I feel like Lindy gets all my references.

What stood out? The essays "Death Wish" and "Slaying the Troll" deftly knit together wit, anguish, and sharp social commentary. You can also listen to West perform a version of "Slaying the Troll," in which she confronts an internet troll whose cruelty focuses on her late father, on This American Life. I honestly wanted to begin rereading this book the second I finished it.

Which line made me feel something? I have long struggled to pinpoint why certain jokes in comedy make me uncomfortable, and West lays it out expertly in "Death Wish:" "People...desperately want to believe that the engines of injustice run on outsized hate — stranger rapes in dark alleys, burning crossing and white hoods — but the reality is that indifference, bureaucracy, and closed-door snickers are far more plentiful fuels."

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

3/5 stars

What's it about? The novel follows the monks of the abbey of Saint Leibowitz in three different future eras as they endure the travails of their time. Expect spaceships, a Station Eleven-esque reverence for antiquity, and quests for purpose through religious conviction.

How’d I find it? A fellow science fiction fan encouraged me to check this out, and I found a copy at Books-A-Million before having a drink at the bar next door.

Who will enjoy this book? Fans of Lauren Groff's Matrix, lovers of apocalyptic slow burns, and those interested in the push and pull between faith and secularity.

What stood out? Several eerily prescient moments make it hard to believe Miller wrote this book in 1959. The biggest hint of the time is the lurk of nuclear war, though this doesn't make the writing feel dated. Look out for the Poet — a thoroughly entertaining presence in the second act.

Which line made me feel something? "You don't have a soul, Doctor. You are a soul. You have a body, temporarily."

First, We Make the Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? I borrowed the audiobook from DC Library and listened as I weeded in the late summer heat, arguably a double dose of anti-anxiety activity.

Why not 3 or more stars? I will preface this by saying how much I love the physicality of this book. The hardcover is designed gorgeously, and I have purchased this as a gift for readers who I think will enjoy it. That said, I'm not the right reader for this book. Think of First, We Make the Beast Beautiful as Anxiety for Beginners. Alas, I am no beginner and gained little from learning about what makes someone else anxious and how they cope with it.

Light in August by William Faulkner

5/5 stars

What's it about? This masterpiece centers on a collision of strangers in Jefferson, Mississippi, the murder of a white abolitionist, and the resulting interplay of race, faith, and morality. Joe Christmas, an enraged and lonely orphan struggling with questions about his own heritage, faces the consequences of his violence. Young and pregnant Lena Grove learns the power of her beauty and helplessness as she pursues her child’s father, ensnaring a besotted Byron Bunch. Gail Hightower, the disgraced minister, offers counsel and judgment as he reckons with his failings. Told in flashbacks, conversation, and through the perspectives of minor players, such as the trigger-happy wannabe soldier Percy Grimm, the novel is an immersive experience of the Prohibition-era American South.

How’d I find it? This book has been among my belongings for so many years that I don’t even know how I acquired it. I certainly can’t remember buying this boxed set of works by Faulkner, whose face appears across the spines if you arrange the titles in the right order. Did my spouse blend Light in August into our books when we married? Perhaps I inherited it from a friend who moved away, a common occurrence when you’re the one in your social circles known as a shelter to all unhoused books?

Who will enjoy this book? Those who love Toni Morrison’s work, particularly Sula and Song of Solomon, and The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer should appreciate Light in August.

What stood out? Some of the most incredible writing I’ve read in a long time can be found in chapter 20, devoted to our final glimpse of Gail Hightower as he contemplates at dusk. Faulkner delves deep into his characters’ psyches as the story builds towards a brutal conclusion that cultivates page-turning dread. The novel closes with a much-needed serving of humor, a genius move by Faulkner after 400 pages of heavy.

Which line made me feel something? On being complicit in someone’s death and watching them die: “…upon that black blast the man seemed to rise soaring into their memories forever and ever. They are not to lose it, in whatever peaceful valleys, beside whatever placid and reassuring streams of old age, in the mirroring faces of whatever children they will contemplate old disasters and newer hopes. It will be there, musing, quiet, steadfast, not fading and not particularly threatful, but of itself alone serene, of itself alone triumphant.”