As many of you know, I’m an avid reader. I have so many books on the go, and so many more that are in the queue to be read. This year some friends of mine started a book club, and it’s been a lot of fun gathering with this group, and the books we’ve been reading have led to some lively discussions.

Here’s what we’ve been reading:

October: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

November: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

January: Americanah by Chimamanda Nguzi Adichie

February: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

March: Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters by Courtney Martin

April: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

May: The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu

Some notable books on that list have been January’s book and March’s book.

January’s book, Americanah was enlightening to see and understand the perspective on an international student from Nigeria. I have spent nearly the entirety of my life in Canada and I often have a hard time fully understanding the experiences of those who newly arrive in North America. I found the main character’s perspective and humour insightful as she names and wrestles with concepts and concerns that are far removed from her home context. Her perspectives on race and culture as a Non-American Black were intriguing and gave voice to things I’ve felt or experienced but struggled to name aloud.

Since reading Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, I can’t stop talking about it. While reading it: I often wanted to curl up and cry for all the women in my life whose lives reflect those depicted in this book; I surprisingly found stories that deeply resembled my own; and my eyes were opened to how these attitudes and behaviours have stolen life from so many of the lovely and beautiful women in my life. And though the bulk of the book was heavy-laden with sad stories and statistics, it ended on a hopeful note, with encouragement to get help and support. I was surprised as one of the chapters discussed the author (and my) generation’s deep spiritual hunger; naming that ours is amongst the first of generations where spiritual beliefs or foundations have been absent and in the place of having belief in and a relationship with God our generation has made their own gods that we center our lives around, one being eating disorders. This idea isn’t exactly new to me, in fact part of the reason I work in ministry is because I see this everyday; the way people orient and center their lives around something that leads to death and I long for them to reorient their lives toward something that would give them life rather than take it away. But I was surprised to see the author name this as well, and invite her readers to fill that spiritual hunger and how that can give them the strength and support to conquer their disorders and reclaim their lives.

And as always, there’s more that I’m reading, but I’ll include some of the others in another post.