This time tomorrow at the apothecary's garden: April at the reader's nook
Grab your favorite beverage and step into the world of books!
Dear reader,
Summer is here. A quick look at Instagram, and it appears as though the entire world is eagerly awaiting summer — the anticipation of warmer days, of ice-cream melting on your fingers, cold coffees and ice tea and lemonade.
For me, those three words are a nightmare! Delhi summers are not for the faint of heart. The sun blazes like an angry god intent on sucking the energy right out of your marrow. The air feels hot, heavy, an oppressive presence that is hard to escape. The air conditioner offers some respite, but you can’t really escape the heat, because there’s no central cooling. Step out of an air-conditioned room, and the full force of the heat slams right into you.
Some days, when the heat gets too intense, all I want to do is vegetate. To just lie there, semi-comatose, on the couch, because the heat has sucked me dry. But my mind rebels. It needs something to do. So instead, I read. And I escape into other worlds, other lives, other countries. This month, I walked the streets of Victorian era Canada, wandered around a junkyard in Idaho, visited an old library in snowy Colorado, and walked the streets of New York.
Books I read
The Apothecary’s Garden by Jeanette Lynes (Historical fiction)
Belleville, 1860: Lavender Fitch is a twenty-eight-year-old spinster whose station in life is greatly diminished after the death of her father, the local apothecary. To make ends meet, Lavender resorts to selling flowers at the local market. One day, a glamorous couple step off the train at the railway station — famed spirit medium Allegra Trout and her handsome but disfigured assistant, Robert. The arrival of the legendary medium is well-timed. Lavender has been searching for a secret cache of money and can make use of Allegra's powers to contact her dead mother for clues to its location. But as the town's anticipation for Allegra's final show begin to mount, so do Lavender's questions. Will the spirits make contact with the living, or is Allegra a fraud? Is Robert really Allegra's brother, or is something else going on? Will Lavender find the money left by her mother, or will she be forced from her home and her beloved garden?
I have a low-key fascination with Victorian spiritualism — the belief that the dead can communicate with the living — seances, Ouija boards and spirits tapping on wood and raising tables. Accounts of spirit communication, like that of a 13-year-old boy Robert James Lees, who passed a message from Prince Albert to the Queen Victoria, calling her by the pet name known only to her and her late husband, are truly fascinating. So of course I was drawn to this book! Did I love it? Not quite — but I did like it. It’s quite an interesting story, that you may enjoy if you are interested or curious about this period in history.
Educated by Tara Westover
Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag". In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent. Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home. Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one's life through new eyes and the will to change it.
Memoirs are really not my thing. BUT this is one of the best books that I’ve read so far this year — and I’ve read a lot of really good books! Super short review: If you haven’t read this book yet, do yourself a favor and read it NOW! You can thank me later.
The Night of Many Endings by Melissa Payne
Orphaned at a young age and witness to her brother’s decline into addiction, Nora Martinez has every excuse to question the fairness of life. Instead, the openhearted librarian in the small Colorado community of Silver Ridge sees only promise. She holds on to the hope that she’ll be reunited with her missing brother and does what she can at the town library. It’s her home away from home, but it’s also a sanctuary for others who, like her brother, could use a second chance. There’s Marlene, an elderly loner who believes that, apart from her husband, there’s little good left in the world; Jasmine, a troubled teen; Lewis, a homeless man with lost hope and one last wish; and Vlado, the security guard who loves a good book and, from afar, Nora. As a winter storm buries Silver Ridge, this collection of lonely hearts takes shelter in the library. They’ll discover more about each other, and themselves, than they ever knew—and Nora will be forced to question her brother’s disappearance in ways she never could have imagined. No matter how stranded in life they feel, this fateful night could be the new beginning they didn’t think was possible.
This was a gem of a book. At its heart, it is about love and loss, grief and blame. Payne had dealt with the issue of addiction, and with the impact it has on families, with a deft hand. As I read about Mario’s and Lewis’ struggles with addiction and the emotions that drove Nora to dedicate her life to her brother, I had flashes of Gabor Mate’s In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts run through my mind. And yet, it wasn’t a depressing novel — far from it. At its heart runs hope, redemption, and the unique human ability to strive for — and to — evolve into a better version of ourselves. Another stellar book that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend as a must-read.
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub (a book about time travel)
On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice's life isn't terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn't exactly the one she expected. She's happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn't just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it's her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?
I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn’t do it for me. And that was mainly because of Alice — a 40-year old who thinks more like a 20-year old: insecure, comparing her life to that of her friends and acquaintances, claiming she enjoys her single status but then everything she thinks goes contrary to that claim. It’s not like I expect everyone to have everything figured out by the time they are 40, but I would expect a certain maturity in thinking, which seemed completely lacking. I did manage to finish the book, and that was mainly because of her father Leonard and, to an extent, her best friend Sam. Overall, though, it was quite a disappointment.
Recommendation corner:
Have some of the bingo prompts got you scratching your head, wondering what to read or maybe even what it means? I got you covered! Every month, I will pick 2 bingo prompts and share a couple of recommendations with you. And just so you’re not here all day reading this, I’ll link you up to Goodreads so you can check out the book and add it to your Want-to-read shelf. Here we go!
A cult classic
Have you ever wondered what makes a book a cult classic {I know I have!} I found this succinct explanation on Bookstr:
A cult classic is usually ignored by the general public, but ecstatically raved about by a small group. These books were either ignored until years after publication, critically bashed when they were released, yet beloved by fans, or just books that a small group loved despite most people never appreciating it.
Flavorwire also includes books that represent countercultural perspectives and experiment with form in its list of cult classics.
So, here are a few of my recommendations:
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: though it is now a classic, it started out as an underground cult hit, quickly becoming the bible for every disaffected youth in 1950s America. By 1979, it was the most banned book of all time!
Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand: while you may disagree with her philosophy and her extreme views on capitalism, there’s no denying that the extreme, rabid cultishness around her books.
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse: the book barely created a ripple when it was first released, but decades later, it has inspired millions.
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk: The first rule of fight club, is you don’t talk about fight club!
The second book in a trilogy
If you know an author is writing a trilogy, would you rather wait for the entire trilogy to be released, or do you like the anticipation of waiting for the next installment? This prompt works for both types of readers. {As for me, I prefer reading an entire trilogy in one go, though that doesn’t always happen, of course!} Instead of recommending the second book in a trilogy {because no one likes to read a story from the middle!} , I’m going to share some of my favorite trilogies with you. Here we go!
Caraval by Stephanie Garber: Welcome, welcome to the world of Caraval ― Stephanie Garber's sweeping tale of the unbreakable bond between two sisters and the game that is more than what it seems. I read the trilogy earlier this year, so you’ll find my thoughts on each of the books in this trilogy here and here.
The Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden: Set in Medieval Russia and inspired by Russian fairy stories, the Winternight trilogy follows the adventures Vasilisa, a young girl who discovers she has magical gifts in a world that has turned its back on the old ways.
Oryx and Crake trilogy by Margaret Atwood: This stunning dystopian trilogy imagines a near future devastated by genetic engineering and plague, where remaining humans must fight to survive.
On my to-read list:
What can I say? I’m an enabler! In this section, I’ll share a couple of books from my TBR list. These will generally include a mix of upcoming releases and books that have been around for years but never made it into my orbit.
Tell me an Ending by Jo Harkin
Across the world, thousands of people are shocked by a notification that they once chose to have a memory removed. Now they are being given an opportunity to get that memory back. Four individuals are filled with new doubts, grappling with the unexpected question of whether to remember unknown events, or to leave them buried forever. Finn, an Irish architect living in the Arizona desert, begins to suspect his charming wife of having an affair. Mei, a troubled grad school dropout in Kuala Lumpur, wonders why she remembers a city she has never visited. William, a former police inspector in England, struggles with PTSD, the breakdown of his marriage, and his own secret family history. Oscar, a handsome young man with almost no memories at all, travels the world in a constant state of fear. Into these characters’ lives comes Noor, a psychologist working at the Nepenthe memory removal clinic in London. As she delves deeper into how the program works, she will have to risk everything to uncover the cost of this miraculous technology.
In a world that’s been taken by storm by AI {I have a lot of very conflicting thoughts on this}, could we, in the not-so-distant future, actually invent a technology that will allow us to delete our memories? Imagine the neural interface from Star Trek {a technology that allowed a direct connection to be formed between a computer system and an individual's brain}, which allows you to download the data from your brain, and then go in and delete a memory. Given the ecstatic reception of Chat-GTP, I won’t be surprised if this technology will also be touted as the best thing to happen to humans after coffee! I mean, would you want to delete your memories? Would you consider everything that could go wrong if you deliberately chose to delete something from your mind? And how do you know how much continued access the tech would have to your brain? Ooooh! Chillingly dystopic!
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts. Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.
I’ve noticed this book winking at me every time I haunted my favorite bookstore {I mean, do you know how hard it is to resist that gorgeous cover? And yes, I do mean haunt, like a ghost, hanging around the book store for hours, flitting from shelf to shelf, picking up books, putting them back, sometimes even on the wrong shelf {gasp!}, before wandering over to the counter so I can take some gorgeous books back home with me.} I’ve been ignoring it, though. Until recently, I heard someone say that it is an excellent study on the creative process. And boom! I promptly added it to my to-read list.
The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin by Stephanie Knipper
Sisters Rose and Lily Martin were inseparable when growing up on their family’s Kentucky flower farm yet became distant as adults when Lily found herself unable to deal with the demands of Rose’s unusual daughter. But when Rose becomes ill, Lily is forced to return to the farm and to confront the fears that had driven her away. Rose’s daughter, ten-year-old Antoinette, has a form of autism that requires constant care and attention. She has never spoken a word, but she has a powerful gift that others would give anything to harness--she can heal with her touch. Antoinette’s gift, though, comes at a price, since each healing puts her own life in jeopardy. As Rose--the center of her daughter’s life--struggles with her own failing health and Lily confronts her anguished past, the sisters, and the men who love them, come to realize the sacrifices that must be made to keep this very special child safe.
I mean, yes, it’s magic realism so obviously it is on my radar! But more than that, I am curious to see how this novel deals with autism and the very real stress that parents and caretakers of children with disabilities face.
For the love of poetry
I’ve been immersed in To Begin With, The Sweet Grass by Mary Oliver, a poem in 7 parts. I’ve been using pieces from this poem in my art journals throughout the month, and just contemplating its meaning as a whole and in its parts. As with anything that Mary Oliver writes, there’s so much that you can get out of her observations and her words. I’ll leave you with a photograph of one of my art journal spreads, featuring some bits that I love from part 3 of the poem. You can read the full poem here.
Monthly round-up
Things that caught my attention this month
⫸ 250 things to know at the start of the project: 31 is super important! Don’t skip it. I’m never sure how to answer 78. If you do, hit reply and tell me, please! I’m not sure you can know 90 before you start a project. 150, 151, 158 and 169 is generally sound life advice. I’m not sure 186 really belongs on this list, but that could just be me! 199 - always!
⫸ The Universal: 4 questions concerning the internet: A long read on AI and tech - Paul Kingsnorth makes some excellent points here, along with some downright scary AI developments that even the developers don’t know how to explain. Read the transhumanism, God and Devil section with a secular lens if you don’t subscribe to Orthodox Christianity {I don’t}; it does make a perverse kind of sense…definitely a lot to think about here.
⫸ Star Trek: Picard: I’m totally not a Star Trek geek, but this series is really, really interesting. There’s a very strong focus on story telling rather than on crazy tech or dying planets, and it will make you ignore your “no binge watching” rule!
⫸ I hosted our first sharing thread earlier this month — there are some great book recommendations there + you can still share your favorite reads with the community!
Thank you for being here and for spending some time in my bookish world. Hit reply and tell me what you’ve been reading and enjoying this month!
Happy reading,
Shinjini