Chaos for Your Book Club

So, I wasn’t just mimicking the example animal in the prompt, cats are actually my favorite animals. People who know me know I love all animals, but love-love cats. I got into a random conversation with a stranger a couple days ago (in person, which is kind of weird for me these days) and they were saying how they thought that cats were especially suited to people with lots of books since they are small and quiet (usually!). I’ve also noticed a lot of bookish people having cats rather than dogs, so I feel like ole dude was on to something. Anywho, Japan also loves cats , especially cats who love books because this book is about a cat named Tiger who pops up into socially withdrawn high schooler Rintaro’s life after his grandfather dies. As he’s in the process of mourning for his plain spoken, book loving grandfather, he’s also tasked with running his grandfather’s bookstore and preparing to go live with an aunt he’s never met. With Tiger, he goes on a quest that rivals those of mythological heroes and involves rescuing books from people who don’t seem to fully appreciate them. He learns some valuable life lessons along the way.

The last page (which is just a paragraph in the edition I came across) is f i r e. I’ll include it in the next paragraph with a spoiler warning, if you’re interested.

This is about Vern, who is pregnant with twins when she escapes from a cult and the only life she’s ever known. She hides out in the woods, killing animals as necessary and dressing her newly born babies in their hides. As she tries to survive, she realizes she’s being hunted and followed by ghosts. The superhuman changes going on in her body point her towards a truth that involves exposing the secrets of the compound she left and the horrors of how the U.S. has objectified Black bodies.

**major spoiler alert**

Here is the last page, which I think makes a good argument for reading the rest of the book:

“They both sat down, sweaty arm to sweaty arm. They remained until the woods were black but for the patches of moonlight. They remained until they could hear the night calls of one thousand living things, screaming their existence, assuring the world of their survival. Vern screamed back.”

Whew!

I don’t know anyone in real life who has a mortal enemy, but what a spicy life to live! Anyway, I asked my good friend what his least favorite book was and he said The Great Gatsby. Annnnd, I totally see where he’s coming from. He’s a program coordinator at a public library in Jersey City and he led a book club discussion through the library a few months ago where we discussed the book. When I read it a second time as an adult, I was able to find things I actually appreciated about it. Mostly, I think it’s great for providing a snapshot into what American life was like for a certain group of people in the ’20s. It also gives such great (and damning) insight into the concept and construction of whiteness. So much so, that I feel that the attitudes portrayed by the rich and white characters in the book can be directly tied to many attitudes held today.

A pleasant consequence of following some of these instructions is the other things you discover. This made me use the “shuffle” function on Spotify, which I never had before. I basically just asked it through a voice command to “play something” and the first song it played was No Love by Summer Walker, featuring SZA (who I LOVE) and Cardi B. Once I got a gist of what the song was about and its general vibes, I immediately thought of Luster.

The book is about Edie, a Black twenty-something year old artist who is just trying to make it. Once she finds herself without her admin job, she starts to live with her lover who’s twice her age and in an open marriage. She realizes that part of the reason she’s been invited into their lives is to help their Black adopted daughter, Akila, become more adjusted. The dynamics of the four people— Edie, her lover, his wife, and their daughter— is just as odd and interesting as you could imagine as it constantly juggles power, sex, and race.