October 7, 2025 • 27 mins
The summer is over, the pages are settled, and it's time for Bookish to check in! In this highly anticipated follow-up episode, Sylvia, Kofi, and Laura revisit their ambitious Summer Reading Lists. They’ll discuss which books lived up to the hype, which ones got shelved for later, and how their seasonal reading expectations measured up to reality. Whether you’re into literary fiction, poetry collections, or “long reads,” join this honest, casual look at the joy (and occasional failure) of summer book challenges.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
[Music] The story follows a PhD candidate at Cambridge University and her area of study is
magic, of course. Okay. Yep. Don't you like that? And then get this, her dissertation
advisor dies and goes to hell. Oh. Oh, wow. And she really wants to finish her dissertation,
(00:24):
so she goes to hell to get him. Okay. All right. I'm seeing it come together the whole
Hi everybody. Welcome back from the summer. Um and summer feels like I don't know like a year
ago. Yeah. Not just months ago. So welcome back to Bookish. I'm Laura Yoo and I'm here
(00:46):
with my friends uh Sylvia Lee and Kofi Adisa. So, this episode we're going to be reporting
back on how we did with our summer reading plans, if we uh completed our challenges or
had to pivot our challenges or didn't complete our challenges. So, I'm going to go to my left. Kofi,
(01:10):
how'd you do? Uh, well, I I had five things that we're going to I was going to read. Okay. Now I
have read five things but only two of them are on this list. Um, so the Q by Basam Abdul Aziz,
I think it's Aziz, sorry. That was a very interesting book considering the time that
(01:31):
we're living in. And it's it's predicated on this gate in which people have to line up and stand in
que basically and to get all kinds of services or any kind of thing that you need. And part of this
is a response to some civil unrest in this Middle Eastern community. Um, now other people who are
(01:58):
critics of the book say that it's basically the Arab Spring that they're talking about,
but it's been fictionalized to the degree in which people for anything they have to stand in line and
wait for the gate to open for them to get their services. And so one of the characters got shot
during the civil unrest and he needs the bullet extracted from him. But in order to extract it,
(02:24):
that would mean the government had to acknowledge there was an unrest. And so he goes through all of
these trials and tribulations just to remove a bullet in his um stomach. I won't tell you
how that ends. Um but you could probably figure it out. Exit West by Mosin Hamemed. That was a book I
(02:45):
read before and essentially it's about and you've probably seen uh either movies or read stories
about these doors that open up into another portal somewhere. It's it's sort of the same theme except
again there's civil unrest and they're trying to avoid this unrest and every place they go to is
(03:05):
worse than the last place and then they finally reach a place that's really really good and it it
becomes kind of like a tragic story because the it's a couple but then the the the girlfriend
decides like you know what I kind of like being here you could keep going through those doors
(03:26):
but I'm going to pretty much stay here. Um, and so then it becomes a different kind of text. Um,
cuz at first it's like, you know, they're running away from something and then it seems like it
becomes someone settling for something. Um, so it's a really good book. It's again, I reread
it and it's it's it's it's good, but I also read it very early in this process. Um, so I'm being
(03:50):
very vague for reasons that are obvious because then I pivoted. good to Vhani Vara's searches
um which is nonfiction and it's about her exploration in 10 years of search history which
(04:10):
I don't even know if I have 10 years of search her own search history for 10 years cuz she never
that's fascinating. Yeah. Yeah, it is. and some of the things that she looked up she, you know,
puts in these different chapters and there's sort of many chapters and or micro chapters along with
larger chapters. It's a fascinating read and it's it searches into basically searches colon
(04:34):
um something about uh selfhood. Um so she's kind of looking within her identity of is this
like a memoir or series of okay kind of creative non-fiction I would put it in that boat. I'm going
to check that one out. It's a very thick book. Oh really? Like 10 years of search history. Yeah,
I guess it would be. But yeah, but she it's not a book that I I'm reading linearly. I kind of
(04:59):
read around. Oh, okay. So, I know what she was thinking about in at a certain time. But it's
fascinating the concept because I never thought of the search history almost being like this sort
of archive of like where you were at or like what was on your mind either in a major or small way,
you know, like insignificant way. But I wonder if she's looking at patterns of things during
(05:23):
certain times. And I think it's also coinciding with the the death of her sister who died from
cancer. And so, you know, it's pretty traumatic. And she's technically, I guess, a millennial. So,
I don't know if you ever seen that commercial with the the young man who grew up with Google. So,
she's kind of like that. I see. Yeah. So that is and I I think the other two books one is
(05:46):
um teaching for change or teaching change rather by Jose Antonio Antonio Bowman. I agree with a
lot of things he says but I disagree with a lot of things he says. Um which I guess is a good book.
Um and the other one that I haven't read yet but I I still have it is Ruan Benjamin's Imagination.
(06:09):
Mhm. Um I I'm I was going to read that and I'm still going to read it. That's also my to read in
the future list. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, since I I started us off. They're both They're both
looking at me. Okay. Well, I read everything on my list except I did not get to emergence strategy.
(06:32):
That was on purpose because I too made a pivot the last minute. But um I do want to spend most of my
um air time talking about one of the books I did read which was Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elilo.
And I wanted to talk about that one because she will be here in like two weeks at Howard Community
College as our Bauer lecture lecturer um featured author and her book Bright Red Fruit is the Howard
(06:59):
County Book Connection book for this year. Um and so I'm doing a little bit of a plug there. Uh,
I don't know if this episode will air in time for that, but if you didn't catch her or if you
caught her and didn't read the book yet, you know, hopefully this conversation will be helpful to
you. This book, you know, was on my list. It was a very quick read uh in the sense that it's written
(07:19):
in several um short poems and it's a it's a novel in verse much like last year's Book Connection
book um by Elizabeth Asavdo. And this one focuses on a young Sudiname American teenager who's a, you
know, an emerging poet, is really passionate about poetry, but she comes from a culture and a family
(07:42):
home dynamic that is very strict, I guess, is is one way to put it. Um, and so the book sort of
talks about like the hyper surveillance on on the body for some for young women in certain societies
and cultures. And there's a lot of references made throughout the book to the Greek or the classical
(08:03):
myth myth of Pphanie. A lot of people are familiar with that story, right? How Dita's daughter was
kidnapped and then taken to the underworld and ate the fruit and had to stay and all this other
stuff. But the book kind of calls out like where's Praphanie's thoughts in all of this? You never
hear her thoughts. And so it takes a little bit of that role in explaining what the daughter is
(08:25):
thinking because the the protagonist of this novel is the daughter. And it's interesting when I first
read it I was like h you know it's not really my you know fl but you the more I thought about it
the more I really appreciated what the author was doing. And it's set in DC. Um it's it's a DC based
um story and this the author also grew up in the DC metro region and it reminded me of a friend
(08:51):
of mine from high school actually who grew up in a very strict Asian household. She was also
the only daughter and she would call me on the phone after school cuz we were good friends.
But it would be very odd because she'd call me. She'd be like, "Hey, I only have like 10 minutes
to talk while my mom's at the grocery store. She thinks I'm doing my homework in my room." cuz we
(09:12):
didn't have like you know cell phones back then and I remember at the time thinking like dang
that is not a way to live you know like I don't know how you were living existing in that but it
reminded me of that because I think in the book you are perplexed if you're not from that culture
familiar with it and there are characters both um her friends but within the culture but also
(09:33):
outside of the culture who don't quite understand like why can't you just call me on the phone like
why why don't you challenge your mother and that way. And I don't think it's that easy. And um and
of course there's a a little like love story as well. That's a little simplistic to to call that.
Um but the major conflict in there is that she starts to, you know, fall in love with this other
(09:57):
poet. It's the first red flag there. Male poets. I'm just going to put that out there. You know,
male poets have some issues, man. Just going to put that out there. and he's not all he's
cracked up to be, but she starts to keep these secrets and she can't stop keeping these secrets
once she has one because of the strict way in which she's, you know, being brought up. So,
(10:19):
it's it's really interesting. I think the author does a really great job with with bringing
you into the conflict where you're like, "Oh, you're so frustrated with the protagonist. Like,
this is really boneheaded." But then at the same time, from a young teenage girl's perspective, you
might be able to understand why she feels the way she does and and how she's trying. So I I thought
it overall, you know, if I it was a young adult, I would uh classify as a young adult fiction and
(10:44):
if I was a young adult or teenager especially, I think I I think I would appreciate this um book a
lot. Um, so yeah, it's so I'm curious at the about her lecture, you know, what she's going to say
about the book and what our students are going to ask her um about about writing this book and what
that's like. I imagine there will be a lot about sort of that censorship. Kind of related to that,
(11:07):
um, one of the other books I read this summer was a book of a collection of poetry by Emily
Jungman Yun called Find Me as the Creature I Am. And I feel like now that I'm talking about it,
they sort of speak to each other. Um because in that book there is also this focus on like the
the the policing of women's bodies and like the way that you as a woman begin to self-p police
(11:30):
that or begin to like shape your understanding of you know your relationships based off of how other
people understand your body to function in the world. And so um her opening poem is a love poem.
It's a meditation on love and it talks it starts off with this idea of the idea of a
horse and you're like where is this going? But it just it's so be each poem is like achingly
(11:54):
beautifully written. Um and there's poems that have to do with violence against the body and even
those are just like it's never like super in your some it's not heavy. It's never heavy-handed and
I appreciated that about but it's still like oh it like it gets you but it doesn't sink you in a way.
bluff by Denise Smith. However, on the other hand, have you ended a bit? I mean, have you have you
(12:19):
ever heard Denise Smith like do anything? You know, like he is a very like outgoing,
flamboyant. He's just all energy. He's got really interesting, charismatic energy, at least when
I've seen him like perform. Um, very much in the tradition of like slam poetry. Um, and he's just,
you know, funny and rockous and things like that. This collection, much like Homie,
(12:42):
which was one of his other collections, is very like energetic and vibrant, but this one felt more
like chaotic. Oh. Unhinged only because he he's experimenting in a lot form a lot more in this
collection. I I was shocked at how like, you know, it's probably not fair to compare it to Holomie,
(13:03):
but I was shocked at how like big the book was. And for a book of poetry, you don't really,
unless it's a collection, it's not usually super thick. But I was just shocked at like how much
writing. Oh, I see. How much there was in it. Yeah. I like many words. Yes. And no, cuz some
poems didn't like some poems did. Some poems were pro style, some poems were like form, and there's
(13:28):
one poem and it's just a giant QR code. Yeah. So that's what I mean. like it it's just a very it's
just he takes a lot of different twists and turns with it and I felt like he was trying to play with
form and trying to experiment try all these things and there was something quite nice about that it
wasn't boring but it was almost a little like it was so opposite from like Emily Jungman that I
(13:50):
just had to put it down midway because I was like it's it's like too much like it's zip zigging and
zagging and twisting and turning and I just needed to like just kind of breathe a little
Breathing is good. Yeah. And then in August I was like, you know what? I'm just going to put this
away for now. Come back to it like in the dead of winter when I need a little, you know. Oh, there.
(14:13):
Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. There's like seasons for books, right? Like different seasons for different
types of books. Like Ocean Bong. I wanted to read uh The Emperor of uh was it Emperor of Gladness?
Is that his new book? I wanted to read that one, but then I realized I feel like that's a winter
book. Yeah. I think that's also heavy is what I'm hearing. And um yeah, how about you or Well,
(14:36):
I'm going to start with Denise Smith, too, because I didn't read it and it was on my list. Um and I
think it was that my prior experience with Smith's work is I anticipated heaviness like you know
um like I need to be like fully in and you know Homie did that to me the the other collection. So,
um, so it's like still on my bedside table, like every day I look at it and it's a really
(15:00):
interesting cover, but so I'll get to it probably this winter. So, my big accomplishment for the
summer is that I had um, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Fergus um, on my list and it was my
long read for the summer. It's like almost 6 700 pages. Um, and that's a story about twin brothers,
(15:20):
Marian and Shiva Stone. That's where the name comes from. Mhm. And they're born in India and
they it's around sort of medicine doctors and hospitals and um basically their mother dies.
That happens early on so I don't feel like that's like a secret. Um and then the father who they
think is the father kind of disappears and this long journey of trying to who is the father? Is
(15:45):
he the father? And what happened to them and who are they? And I think now I'm like second guessing
myself, but I think they they end up in the in Ethiopia. Um the main character, Marian, ends up
being a doctor and he's in Ethiopia and then comes to America. So it's like a very long family saga,
right? And um folded into that is these like really interesting conversations about um medicine
(16:10):
and especially women's health. um the woman who ends up raising them is a gynecologist and um so
a lot of the like examples of the patients that they meet and the goings on at the hospital have
to do with women's health and sort of the autonomy of the women's body and things like that and sort
(16:30):
of weaving in history. So it really for like such a long book it really did keep my attention and
um I was so happy to finish it early on. So it was really good. I recommend that book. Um, and he,
the author was recently in the news again because he gave this amazing uh, commencement speech at
(16:52):
I think Harvard, maybe Harvard Medical School or something this this past graduation season,
I think. So, um, great book. I really really loved it. And like I think I am like I'm liking
this whole like long book thing. Yeah. I was not like a fan of big books before,
but I am. I am almost done with there there by Tommy Orange and that's a very interesting book
(17:17):
like it almost reads like collection of short stories but in that each chapter is a different
set of characters but they're all converging at the same big moment in later in the book at a
um a p a big pow-wow in Oakland. So it's I guess what they call like urban Native American story
(17:38):
this book. Um, so you're kind of following these different groups of characters and and you find
out that some of them are related somehow, but they're going to converge at the end at this this
location. I mean, something's going to happen. So, I didn't quite finish, but I'm almost done
and I'm looking forward to finishing that. So, my like pivot was I read this book called I Who
(18:02):
have never known men. It's hard to say. I who have never known men by Jacqueline Hartman. And I think
it's a translation. Um, and it was published in 1995, so it's not like a new book, but it it was
fascinating. I mean, I could not put it down. It opens with this girl. She wakes up or something
(18:24):
like we're following this girl and she wakes up and they're in a bunker and it's just women like
group of 40 women or something like that. And the whole book is, and it's not a long book,
and the book is finding out who they are, how they got there, what is this about, and then it sort
of spirals into a big like philosophical questions about like what does it mean to be human? Like how
(18:50):
do you know who you are? Um, in relation to other people, what's important, what is love, and it
just captivated me. And I think it's one of those books I read in like one sitting or two sittings
or something. It's fascinating. I highly recommend it. Especially sort of that element of like world
building, but like you it's such a mystery, too. So, there's like a lack to the world building
(19:16):
cuz they're trying to maintain the mystery for the reader as well. Reminds me of the ro uh um parade.
Parade. Yes. Very much like that. Like you are thrown into a situation. You're trying to figure
out what's going on and who these people are. So, um, and there are sort of like mixed reviews about
this book. Some people just love it and like the way I'm talking about it and some people
(19:39):
found it not satisfying, right? Like if they were looking for specific kinds of answers, I'm
not sure that they got that. Um, the last book I read technically I guess is summary because I read
it over Labor Day weekend. Sure. Still counts. Yeah. Still counts is um Okay. I had to learn
how to say this word Katabasis . I keep wanting to say Katabasis , but apparently it's Katabasis
(20:05):
and it's Greek, which means um descent or journey downward. Oh. Um and it's a new book by RF Kuang.
She's fantasy writer, right? And um dark academia, I think, is sort of the genre that she writes in.
So, I picked it up at Costco. Um, which guarantees Yes. So, it's gonna be good. I was like,
(20:28):
I just wanted to see what all the hype is about. Like, I mean, the hype around this I know. I've
seen so much like interview like I'm I'm actually surprised whoever's doing the marketing for this.
I know. So good. Like, and not only that, like months before there were these test copies out
there, right? These numbered copies like one out of 50 or whatever they are. And these people would
(20:49):
go get on TikTok or you know different social media to talk about the book and it actually sort
of generated all this buzz around reading um Greek mythology and all these sources that she's going
to reference in the book right so all these people are reading like classical literature you know the
fans of RF Kuang to get ready for the release of this book and and I did not do any of that but
(21:15):
um I was still able to basically the story follows someone who it's a student at a PhD candidate at
uh at Cambridge University and her uh area of study is magic of course. Okay. Yep.
Like that. And then her uh satire of academia. I see. Yeah. Her this get this her dissertation
(21:42):
advisor dies and goes to hell. Oh wow. and she really wants to finish her dissertation. So,
she goes to hell to get him. Okay. All right. I'm seeing it come together. The whole classical myth.
And again, this was like a pretty big book, long book. And I sat for like maybe two days and just
read it. And you read through the whole thing in two days. I mean, it was like, and I think again,
(22:06):
this is another book where some people really didn't like it. They, you know, they're calling
her like overrated. D if you go into it with no expectation but to be entertained, right? And and
like kind of laugh at these like jokes that she's making about academia. I thought it was so fun to
read. Like it was entertaining. Like it's not that serious. That's kind of the vibe I got, which is I
(22:30):
was like, I am kind of interested in in this one. I I've never been really interested in her other
books, but when I saw the interviews and all the stuff, I was like, I would I would read that one.
it and I'm just really impressed with how like prolific she like how do you write that much like
in like feel like she's just oh yeah and I'm going to law school or something like that. So I think
(22:50):
she now has like a degree from Harvard, Oxford and when she was at Oxford I think she wrote
Babel which is the other her book. So of course because I I thought Katabasis was so entertaining
I got myself a copy of Babel and now I'm going to read that. Um and let me borrow your copy of Yes,
you should don't buy Don't buy another copy at Costco. We love Costco, but you know,
(23:15):
you can borrow probably on sale. Yeah, it was probably on sale. Anyway, so I I felt
like I rounded out this summer like you know um on a fun note in terms of uh reading and
um I do want to read the Bauer book. What what is it called again? Bright Red Foot. I do want
to read that before the author comes. I think on the 18th or 17th or something. It's a pretty quick
(23:38):
read. I think you'll be able to do that. Yeah. So, we did it, guys. We sort of did it. I mean,
I think the whole point of reading is the journey, right? I agree. I agree. You pivot,
you take detours, you really pursue and f, you know, chase that rabbit of like, you know,
what is it that's interesting to you? So, and that can change at any given time. So, it's a it's the
(24:03):
um it's the spirit of curiosity. It is which Jose Bowman talks a lot about in building up
that curiosity not only within ourselves within our students and that kind of curiosity may lead
to students not using generative AI. He doesn't make that point but one can hope one can hope. Um,
(24:26):
but yeah, no, I I I think um I know for me sometimes if I'm hearing the author talk
about his or her work and then they give me his or her work uh then I feel compelled to read it and
then I put everything else on the side and that's what happened with uh Vahhani you know she gave me
(24:48):
the book she didn't sign it but she gave me the book and I was like okay I'll start reading it
and I did it's It's it it was quite it was quite enjoyable. Oh, I don't know if I would have taken
some sort of risk I think she took, but I thought it was a really good Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if I
could talk about the death of my family. I don't think I'm there yet. But jeez, you took a turn,
(25:13):
huh? Took a turn, huh? I just think I'm normal. I don't think I think you are. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I don't know. I just think, you know, I don't think she's abnormal, but I think, you know,
well, she's reached a depth of like being able to overcome that self like whatever you want to call
it, sensory kind of process. She's she's chosen to go and that's a very difficult thing to do
(25:37):
psychologically, emotionally, mentally. It's why not everybody is a creative non-fiction
writer about their traumas because you really have to sink to a level of transparency and
vulnerability that is very like just out there. So yeah, I I really admire people who do that.
I do too. That which is why I started reading her book almost immediately. That was my homage
(25:59):
to her her tragedy. But other than that, um I guess I should also say to our lovely fans and
and everyone thing, I'm no longer a member of the Howard Community College family, but
I am uh at Towson University as their assistant director of writing of their writing center. Uh so
(26:21):
um I am interloping here as a as a a podcaster um and everything but I as always I enjoy the
talk of books well congratulations. We'll miss seeing you here every day but we'll do this at
least once a month and I think it adds another level and layer of collaboration across higher
(26:43):
ed institutions. I agree. Continue on. Well tune in next time you guys. Yes, this has been another
episode of Bookish, a casual book club. And you can catch us anywhere you catch podcasts
uh or listen to them. Um until next time, this has been Sylvia, Kofi, and Laura. Goodbye. Goodbye.
(27:08):
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[Music] The story follows a PhD candidate at Cambridge University and her area of study is
magic, of course. Okay. Yep. Don't you like that? And then get this, her dissertation
advisor dies and goes to hell. Oh. Oh, wow. And she really wants to finish her dissertation,
(00:24):
so she goes to hell to get him. Okay. All right. I'm seeing it come together the whole
Hi everybody. Welcome back from the summer. Um and summer feels like I don't know like a year
ago. Yeah. Not just months ago. So welcome back to Bookish. I'm Laura Yoo and I'm here
(00:46):
with my friends uh Sylvia Lee and Kofi Adisa. So, this episode we're going to be reporting
back on how we did with our summer reading plans, if we uh completed our challenges or
had to pivot our challenges or didn't complete our challenges. So, I'm going to go to my left. Kofi,
(01:10):
how'd you do? Uh, well, I I had five things that we're going to I was going to read. Okay. Now I
have read five things but only two of them are on this list. Um, so the Q by Basam Abdul Aziz,
I think it's Aziz, sorry. That was a very interesting book considering the time that
(01:31):
we're living in. And it's it's predicated on this gate in which people have to line up and stand in
que basically and to get all kinds of services or any kind of thing that you need. And part of this
is a response to some civil unrest in this Middle Eastern community. Um, now other people who are
(01:58):
critics of the book say that it's basically the Arab Spring that they're talking about,
but it's been fictionalized to the degree in which people for anything they have to stand in line and
wait for the gate to open for them to get their services. And so one of the characters got shot
during the civil unrest and he needs the bullet extracted from him. But in order to extract it,
(02:24):
that would mean the government had to acknowledge there was an unrest. And so he goes through all of
these trials and tribulations just to remove a bullet in his um stomach. I won't tell you
how that ends. Um but you could probably figure it out. Exit West by Mosin Hamemed. That was a book I
(02:45):
read before and essentially it's about and you've probably seen uh either movies or read stories
about these doors that open up into another portal somewhere. It's it's sort of the same theme except
again there's civil unrest and they're trying to avoid this unrest and every place they go to is
(03:05):
worse than the last place and then they finally reach a place that's really really good and it it
becomes kind of like a tragic story because the it's a couple but then the the the girlfriend
decides like you know what I kind of like being here you could keep going through those doors
(03:26):
but I'm going to pretty much stay here. Um, and so then it becomes a different kind of text. Um,
cuz at first it's like, you know, they're running away from something and then it seems like it
becomes someone settling for something. Um, so it's a really good book. It's again, I reread
it and it's it's it's it's good, but I also read it very early in this process. Um, so I'm being
(03:50):
very vague for reasons that are obvious because then I pivoted. good to Vhani Vara's searches
um which is nonfiction and it's about her exploration in 10 years of search history which
(04:10):
I don't even know if I have 10 years of search her own search history for 10 years cuz she never
that's fascinating. Yeah. Yeah, it is. and some of the things that she looked up she, you know,
puts in these different chapters and there's sort of many chapters and or micro chapters along with
larger chapters. It's a fascinating read and it's it searches into basically searches colon
(04:34):
um something about uh selfhood. Um so she's kind of looking within her identity of is this
like a memoir or series of okay kind of creative non-fiction I would put it in that boat. I'm going
to check that one out. It's a very thick book. Oh really? Like 10 years of search history. Yeah,
I guess it would be. But yeah, but she it's not a book that I I'm reading linearly. I kind of
(04:59):
read around. Oh, okay. So, I know what she was thinking about in at a certain time. But it's
fascinating the concept because I never thought of the search history almost being like this sort
of archive of like where you were at or like what was on your mind either in a major or small way,
you know, like insignificant way. But I wonder if she's looking at patterns of things during
(05:23):
certain times. And I think it's also coinciding with the the death of her sister who died from
cancer. And so, you know, it's pretty traumatic. And she's technically, I guess, a millennial. So,
I don't know if you ever seen that commercial with the the young man who grew up with Google. So,
she's kind of like that. I see. Yeah. So that is and I I think the other two books one is
(05:46):
um teaching for change or teaching change rather by Jose Antonio Antonio Bowman. I agree with a
lot of things he says but I disagree with a lot of things he says. Um which I guess is a good book.
Um and the other one that I haven't read yet but I I still have it is Ruan Benjamin's Imagination.
(06:09):
Mhm. Um I I'm I was going to read that and I'm still going to read it. That's also my to read in
the future list. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, since I I started us off. They're both They're both
looking at me. Okay. Well, I read everything on my list except I did not get to emergence strategy.
(06:32):
That was on purpose because I too made a pivot the last minute. But um I do want to spend most of my
um air time talking about one of the books I did read which was Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elilo.
And I wanted to talk about that one because she will be here in like two weeks at Howard Community
College as our Bauer lecture lecturer um featured author and her book Bright Red Fruit is the Howard
(06:59):
County Book Connection book for this year. Um and so I'm doing a little bit of a plug there. Uh,
I don't know if this episode will air in time for that, but if you didn't catch her or if you
caught her and didn't read the book yet, you know, hopefully this conversation will be helpful to
you. This book, you know, was on my list. It was a very quick read uh in the sense that it's written
(07:19):
in several um short poems and it's a it's a novel in verse much like last year's Book Connection
book um by Elizabeth Asavdo. And this one focuses on a young Sudiname American teenager who's a, you
know, an emerging poet, is really passionate about poetry, but she comes from a culture and a family
(07:42):
home dynamic that is very strict, I guess, is is one way to put it. Um, and so the book sort of
talks about like the hyper surveillance on on the body for some for young women in certain societies
and cultures. And there's a lot of references made throughout the book to the Greek or the classical
(08:03):
myth myth of Pphanie. A lot of people are familiar with that story, right? How Dita's daughter was
kidnapped and then taken to the underworld and ate the fruit and had to stay and all this other
stuff. But the book kind of calls out like where's Praphanie's thoughts in all of this? You never
hear her thoughts. And so it takes a little bit of that role in explaining what the daughter is
(08:25):
thinking because the the protagonist of this novel is the daughter. And it's interesting when I first
read it I was like h you know it's not really my you know fl but you the more I thought about it
the more I really appreciated what the author was doing. And it's set in DC. Um it's it's a DC based
um story and this the author also grew up in the DC metro region and it reminded me of a friend
(08:51):
of mine from high school actually who grew up in a very strict Asian household. She was also
the only daughter and she would call me on the phone after school cuz we were good friends.
But it would be very odd because she'd call me. She'd be like, "Hey, I only have like 10 minutes
to talk while my mom's at the grocery store. She thinks I'm doing my homework in my room." cuz we
(09:12):
didn't have like you know cell phones back then and I remember at the time thinking like dang
that is not a way to live you know like I don't know how you were living existing in that but it
reminded me of that because I think in the book you are perplexed if you're not from that culture
familiar with it and there are characters both um her friends but within the culture but also
(09:33):
outside of the culture who don't quite understand like why can't you just call me on the phone like
why why don't you challenge your mother and that way. And I don't think it's that easy. And um and
of course there's a a little like love story as well. That's a little simplistic to to call that.
Um but the major conflict in there is that she starts to, you know, fall in love with this other
(09:57):
poet. It's the first red flag there. Male poets. I'm just going to put that out there. You know,
male poets have some issues, man. Just going to put that out there. and he's not all he's
cracked up to be, but she starts to keep these secrets and she can't stop keeping these secrets
once she has one because of the strict way in which she's, you know, being brought up. So,
(10:19):
it's it's really interesting. I think the author does a really great job with with bringing
you into the conflict where you're like, "Oh, you're so frustrated with the protagonist. Like,
this is really boneheaded." But then at the same time, from a young teenage girl's perspective, you
might be able to understand why she feels the way she does and and how she's trying. So I I thought
it overall, you know, if I it was a young adult, I would uh classify as a young adult fiction and
(10:44):
if I was a young adult or teenager especially, I think I I think I would appreciate this um book a
lot. Um, so yeah, it's so I'm curious at the about her lecture, you know, what she's going to say
about the book and what our students are going to ask her um about about writing this book and what
that's like. I imagine there will be a lot about sort of that censorship. Kind of related to that,
(11:07):
um, one of the other books I read this summer was a book of a collection of poetry by Emily
Jungman Yun called Find Me as the Creature I Am. And I feel like now that I'm talking about it,
they sort of speak to each other. Um because in that book there is also this focus on like the
the the policing of women's bodies and like the way that you as a woman begin to self-p police
(11:30):
that or begin to like shape your understanding of you know your relationships based off of how other
people understand your body to function in the world. And so um her opening poem is a love poem.
It's a meditation on love and it talks it starts off with this idea of the idea of a
horse and you're like where is this going? But it just it's so be each poem is like achingly
(11:54):
beautifully written. Um and there's poems that have to do with violence against the body and even
those are just like it's never like super in your some it's not heavy. It's never heavy-handed and
I appreciated that about but it's still like oh it like it gets you but it doesn't sink you in a way.
bluff by Denise Smith. However, on the other hand, have you ended a bit? I mean, have you have you
(12:19):
ever heard Denise Smith like do anything? You know, like he is a very like outgoing,
flamboyant. He's just all energy. He's got really interesting, charismatic energy, at least when
I've seen him like perform. Um, very much in the tradition of like slam poetry. Um, and he's just,
you know, funny and rockous and things like that. This collection, much like Homie,
(12:42):
which was one of his other collections, is very like energetic and vibrant, but this one felt more
like chaotic. Oh. Unhinged only because he he's experimenting in a lot form a lot more in this
collection. I I was shocked at how like, you know, it's probably not fair to compare it to Holomie,
(13:03):
but I was shocked at how like big the book was. And for a book of poetry, you don't really,
unless it's a collection, it's not usually super thick. But I was just shocked at like how much
writing. Oh, I see. How much there was in it. Yeah. I like many words. Yes. And no, cuz some
poems didn't like some poems did. Some poems were pro style, some poems were like form, and there's
(13:28):
one poem and it's just a giant QR code. Yeah. So that's what I mean. like it it's just a very it's
just he takes a lot of different twists and turns with it and I felt like he was trying to play with
form and trying to experiment try all these things and there was something quite nice about that it
wasn't boring but it was almost a little like it was so opposite from like Emily Jungman that I
(13:50):
just had to put it down midway because I was like it's it's like too much like it's zip zigging and
zagging and twisting and turning and I just needed to like just kind of breathe a little
Breathing is good. Yeah. And then in August I was like, you know what? I'm just going to put this
away for now. Come back to it like in the dead of winter when I need a little, you know. Oh, there.
(14:13):
Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. There's like seasons for books, right? Like different seasons for different
types of books. Like Ocean Bong. I wanted to read uh The Emperor of uh was it Emperor of Gladness?
Is that his new book? I wanted to read that one, but then I realized I feel like that's a winter
book. Yeah. I think that's also heavy is what I'm hearing. And um yeah, how about you or Well,
(14:36):
I'm going to start with Denise Smith, too, because I didn't read it and it was on my list. Um and I
think it was that my prior experience with Smith's work is I anticipated heaviness like you know
um like I need to be like fully in and you know Homie did that to me the the other collection. So,
um, so it's like still on my bedside table, like every day I look at it and it's a really
(15:00):
interesting cover, but so I'll get to it probably this winter. So, my big accomplishment for the
summer is that I had um, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Fergus um, on my list and it was my
long read for the summer. It's like almost 6 700 pages. Um, and that's a story about twin brothers,
(15:20):
Marian and Shiva Stone. That's where the name comes from. Mhm. And they're born in India and
they it's around sort of medicine doctors and hospitals and um basically their mother dies.
That happens early on so I don't feel like that's like a secret. Um and then the father who they
think is the father kind of disappears and this long journey of trying to who is the father? Is
(15:45):
he the father? And what happened to them and who are they? And I think now I'm like second guessing
myself, but I think they they end up in the in Ethiopia. Um the main character, Marian, ends up
being a doctor and he's in Ethiopia and then comes to America. So it's like a very long family saga,
right? And um folded into that is these like really interesting conversations about um medicine
(16:10):
and especially women's health. um the woman who ends up raising them is a gynecologist and um so
a lot of the like examples of the patients that they meet and the goings on at the hospital have
to do with women's health and sort of the autonomy of the women's body and things like that and sort
(16:30):
of weaving in history. So it really for like such a long book it really did keep my attention and
um I was so happy to finish it early on. So it was really good. I recommend that book. Um, and he,
the author was recently in the news again because he gave this amazing uh, commencement speech at
(16:52):
I think Harvard, maybe Harvard Medical School or something this this past graduation season,
I think. So, um, great book. I really really loved it. And like I think I am like I'm liking
this whole like long book thing. Yeah. I was not like a fan of big books before,
but I am. I am almost done with there there by Tommy Orange and that's a very interesting book
(17:17):
like it almost reads like collection of short stories but in that each chapter is a different
set of characters but they're all converging at the same big moment in later in the book at a
um a p a big pow-wow in Oakland. So it's I guess what they call like urban Native American story
(17:38):
this book. Um, so you're kind of following these different groups of characters and and you find
out that some of them are related somehow, but they're going to converge at the end at this this
location. I mean, something's going to happen. So, I didn't quite finish, but I'm almost done
and I'm looking forward to finishing that. So, my like pivot was I read this book called I Who
(18:02):
have never known men. It's hard to say. I who have never known men by Jacqueline Hartman. And I think
it's a translation. Um, and it was published in 1995, so it's not like a new book, but it it was
fascinating. I mean, I could not put it down. It opens with this girl. She wakes up or something
(18:24):
like we're following this girl and she wakes up and they're in a bunker and it's just women like
group of 40 women or something like that. And the whole book is, and it's not a long book,
and the book is finding out who they are, how they got there, what is this about, and then it sort
of spirals into a big like philosophical questions about like what does it mean to be human? Like how
(18:50):
do you know who you are? Um, in relation to other people, what's important, what is love, and it
just captivated me. And I think it's one of those books I read in like one sitting or two sittings
or something. It's fascinating. I highly recommend it. Especially sort of that element of like world
building, but like you it's such a mystery, too. So, there's like a lack to the world building
(19:16):
cuz they're trying to maintain the mystery for the reader as well. Reminds me of the ro uh um parade.
Parade. Yes. Very much like that. Like you are thrown into a situation. You're trying to figure
out what's going on and who these people are. So, um, and there are sort of like mixed reviews about
this book. Some people just love it and like the way I'm talking about it and some people
(19:39):
found it not satisfying, right? Like if they were looking for specific kinds of answers, I'm
not sure that they got that. Um, the last book I read technically I guess is summary because I read
it over Labor Day weekend. Sure. Still counts. Yeah. Still counts is um Okay. I had to learn
how to say this word Katabasis . I keep wanting to say Katabasis , but apparently it's Katabasis
(20:05):
and it's Greek, which means um descent or journey downward. Oh. Um and it's a new book by RF Kuang.
She's fantasy writer, right? And um dark academia, I think, is sort of the genre that she writes in.
So, I picked it up at Costco. Um, which guarantees Yes. So, it's gonna be good. I was like,
(20:28):
I just wanted to see what all the hype is about. Like, I mean, the hype around this I know. I've
seen so much like interview like I'm I'm actually surprised whoever's doing the marketing for this.
I know. So good. Like, and not only that, like months before there were these test copies out
there, right? These numbered copies like one out of 50 or whatever they are. And these people would
(20:49):
go get on TikTok or you know different social media to talk about the book and it actually sort
of generated all this buzz around reading um Greek mythology and all these sources that she's going
to reference in the book right so all these people are reading like classical literature you know the
fans of RF Kuang to get ready for the release of this book and and I did not do any of that but
(21:15):
um I was still able to basically the story follows someone who it's a student at a PhD candidate at
uh at Cambridge University and her uh area of study is magic of course. Okay. Yep.
Like that. And then her uh satire of academia. I see. Yeah. Her this get this her dissertation
(21:42):
advisor dies and goes to hell. Oh wow. and she really wants to finish her dissertation. So,
she goes to hell to get him. Okay. All right. I'm seeing it come together. The whole classical myth.
And again, this was like a pretty big book, long book. And I sat for like maybe two days and just
read it. And you read through the whole thing in two days. I mean, it was like, and I think again,
(22:06):
this is another book where some people really didn't like it. They, you know, they're calling
her like overrated. D if you go into it with no expectation but to be entertained, right? And and
like kind of laugh at these like jokes that she's making about academia. I thought it was so fun to
read. Like it was entertaining. Like it's not that serious. That's kind of the vibe I got, which is I
(22:30):
was like, I am kind of interested in in this one. I I've never been really interested in her other
books, but when I saw the interviews and all the stuff, I was like, I would I would read that one.
it and I'm just really impressed with how like prolific she like how do you write that much like
in like feel like she's just oh yeah and I'm going to law school or something like that. So I think
(22:50):
she now has like a degree from Harvard, Oxford and when she was at Oxford I think she wrote
Babel which is the other her book. So of course because I I thought Katabasis was so entertaining
I got myself a copy of Babel and now I'm going to read that. Um and let me borrow your copy of Yes,
you should don't buy Don't buy another copy at Costco. We love Costco, but you know,
(23:15):
you can borrow probably on sale. Yeah, it was probably on sale. Anyway, so I I felt
like I rounded out this summer like you know um on a fun note in terms of uh reading and
um I do want to read the Bauer book. What what is it called again? Bright Red Foot. I do want
to read that before the author comes. I think on the 18th or 17th or something. It's a pretty quick
(23:38):
read. I think you'll be able to do that. Yeah. So, we did it, guys. We sort of did it. I mean,
I think the whole point of reading is the journey, right? I agree. I agree. You pivot,
you take detours, you really pursue and f, you know, chase that rabbit of like, you know,
what is it that's interesting to you? So, and that can change at any given time. So, it's a it's the
(24:03):
um it's the spirit of curiosity. It is which Jose Bowman talks a lot about in building up
that curiosity not only within ourselves within our students and that kind of curiosity may lead
to students not using generative AI. He doesn't make that point but one can hope one can hope. Um,
(24:26):
but yeah, no, I I I think um I know for me sometimes if I'm hearing the author talk
about his or her work and then they give me his or her work uh then I feel compelled to read it and
then I put everything else on the side and that's what happened with uh Vahhani you know she gave me
(24:48):
the book she didn't sign it but she gave me the book and I was like okay I'll start reading it
and I did it's It's it it was quite it was quite enjoyable. Oh, I don't know if I would have taken
some sort of risk I think she took, but I thought it was a really good Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if I
could talk about the death of my family. I don't think I'm there yet. But jeez, you took a turn,
(25:13):
huh? Took a turn, huh? I just think I'm normal. I don't think I think you are. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I don't know. I just think, you know, I don't think she's abnormal, but I think, you know,
well, she's reached a depth of like being able to overcome that self like whatever you want to call
it, sensory kind of process. She's she's chosen to go and that's a very difficult thing to do
(25:37):
psychologically, emotionally, mentally. It's why not everybody is a creative non-fiction
writer about their traumas because you really have to sink to a level of transparency and
vulnerability that is very like just out there. So yeah, I I really admire people who do that.
I do too. That which is why I started reading her book almost immediately. That was my homage
(25:59):
to her her tragedy. But other than that, um I guess I should also say to our lovely fans and
and everyone thing, I'm no longer a member of the Howard Community College family, but
I am uh at Towson University as their assistant director of writing of their writing center. Uh so
(26:21):
um I am interloping here as a as a a podcaster um and everything but I as always I enjoy the
talk of books well congratulations. We'll miss seeing you here every day but we'll do this at
least once a month and I think it adds another level and layer of collaboration across higher
(26:43):
ed institutions. I agree. Continue on. Well tune in next time you guys. Yes, this has been another
episode of Bookish, a casual book club. And you can catch us anywhere you catch podcasts
uh or listen to them. Um until next time, this has been Sylvia, Kofi, and Laura. Goodbye. Goodbye.
(27:08):
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