Today I'm sharing the best book I read in September.
Of the six books I read this month, I had three 5-star reads:
How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davis
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Things by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth
These were all great in their own way, but the one I will be recommending far and wide is my Best of the Bunch!
I found affirmation and validation in the pages of
How to Keep House While Drowning for the ways I prioritize (or don't) what Davis calls "care tasks." (This term both succinctly encompasses the tasks needed to care for one's body and one's space and also reminds the reader that these tasks are not externally imposed obligations but steps to take care of oneself and one's loved ones.) While Davis does offer what she calls "gentle skill building" — practical tips for specific care tasks — she spends much of the book breaking down assumptions and cultural messages that feed shame and make care tasks more difficult. She is relentlessly focused on function over aesthetics or appeasing some imaginary judge or taskmaster. And I appreciate her three-tier approach to care tasks, with the baseline being what needs to be done for health and safety, then what can be done to aid comfort, then what can be done to foster happiness. It's a clear structure for prioritization that allows one to adjust based on one's current capacity. I would highly, highly recommend this read!
What is the best book you read this month? Let me know in comments, or write your own post and link up below!
Looking back:
One year ago I was reading:
Jessica,
Delusions of Gender,
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, and
Here One Moment
Five years ago I was reading:
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Girls with Sharp Sticks
Ten years ago I was reading:
Jesus Calling,
Number the Stars,
The Pushcart War,
David Copperfield, and
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
No comments:
Post a Comment