Hi readers, here's my reading summary from August.
As promised last time, I'll note the books that made it to my 2022 book of the year shortlist. Only one made it from the group below - It's OK That You're Not OK. Let's start there.
It's OK That You're Not OK by Megan Devine
There's a line from Devine's website that reads like an explanation for this book - most of what passes for grief support is less than useful. It's OK That You're Not OK expands on that thought from a variety of angles - outlining the problems of common grieving advice; establishing her personal philosophy toward grieving, which is rooted in both personal experience and professional expertise; and sharing practical guidance for those carrying their grief. In addition to writing this excellent work, Devine also leads Refuge In Grief, linked above, which is like a real-time manifestation of the book in terms of its support, guidance, and education for the grieving. I plan to write more about this book in the near future.
The Other Ones by Dave Housley
Housley's novel wins on premise alone - what happens in an office when some coworkers split a giant prize from their lottery pool? The focus of this book is only partially on the winners, with most of the attention given to those who remain behind - the "other ones". I enjoyed the read and would recommend it to anyone who is intrigued by the premise, but for me it was more really good rather than great, limited perhaps by my feeling that The Other Ones never quite escaped light reading territory.
Marathon by Hal Higdon
Marathon A to Z by Hal Higdon
I picked out these two books a few days after registering for my first marathon. The two titles differ mostly in their structure - Marathon is a traditionally designed full guide for runners while Marathon A to Z is a collection of short reminders and insights (somewhat resembling the structure of a daily page-a-day calendar). My choice of author is no accident - I relied on Higdon's website throughout the training process, reaching the finish line after following a combination of Novice 1 and Novice 2 (with a touch of Intermediate 1).
Oddly enough, the most applicable note to me was possibly the first one I took down from the book - a good excuse for marathon training is the way it focuses the mind in an activity I already do. This basically described my exact situation - I notice around ten weeks before the race that my mileage logs were roughly aligned to one of his training plans, so I signed up for a race and committed to the training plan for the next couple of months. The programs all have a basic "step back to move up" structure where the weekly mileage (and longest run) increase for a couple of weeks, then drop down slightly for one week before repeating the pattern. Over the eighteen weeks of the beginner's program, I built up to a longest run of twenty miles to cap off a forty-mile week. I avoided doing hills or speedwork so that I could focus entirely on increasing distance, again per Higdon's recommendation. I also followed his advice to take walking breaks during the race, strolling through each water station for around a hundred steps or so. I think the race went well. I finished in 4:27 at a steady ten minute per mile pace (with some moderate discomfort slowing me down over the last four miles or so) and felt good enough afterward to enjoy a day out in Portland. This last point may owe some kudos as well to the author - I remembered that he recommended staying on your feet for a short while after the race, so I did that instead of laying down on the grass.
I'm tempted to keep going, writing up a full recap of every interesting training detail I learned from these two books, but I actually don't think it would be of much general interest. If you are training and want to know these things, just reach out to me or get a hold of these books.
Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
Akpan's short story collection, which sets all of its stories in Africa, is in some ways the opposite of the previously mentioned The Other Ones - I might have thought more of this one had it managed somehow to find moments where it escaped heavy reading territory. Of course, this could be a small challenge given the subject matter in each work, so perhaps my point is that the stories might have benefited from a slightly different start or end point. One thought that comes to mind here is that two of the stories were unusually long, suggesting the possibility that a novel rather than the short form might have worked better for telling select stories.
I didn't have a strong recollection of my reading experience, but I just reviewed summaries for each work and found that these brought me immediately back into the world of his stories. I think this speaks to Akpan's skill and the quality of the work. I have not seen many collections quite like this one so I can offer my approval to anyone who is seeking something a little different for their next read.
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy by Emmanuel Acho
Acho, who I vaguely recall from his helmet football career, wrote this book as a follow up to his video series "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man". The book's slightly altered title reveals his intent to write for a younger target audience than he had for his videos (or book of the same name as the videos). I'm not much of an expert on the matter of a book being a good fit for children, but given how easily this read I think Acho accomplished his goal.
The lingering question for me is where this book fits in the larger context of educational material on systemic racism. This book had very little new information for me, a reader with some familiarity on the topic. I don't think that's a problem necessarily - the obvious point is that I'm an adult, so this book isn't for me. But speaking more generally, I feel some books work best as the equivalent of introductory material, helping those who still need answers to their basic questions about racism, and perhaps this book set (and met) that goal for itself. My understanding is that Acho sees his work as helping those on the fringes come around on these ideas, and I agree with his sense that this is a critical aspect of society's work in addressing systemic racism. But my challenge is that I'm not sure a white person who reads this book will understand its introductory aspect, which I worry will reinforce an issue I notice with increasing regularity - a white person, having just read a book (or even an essay or column), thinks about the matter for a few additional minutes before concluding that they now know everything they need to know about it. On a journey where this book represents the opening stages, I fear a certain type of reader will confuse it with the finish line.
