May 2020 Reads

Almost caught up!  Here are the books that I read in May:

• It's Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
• Don't Go Without Me by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell
• Happy Mum, Happy Baby by Giovanna Fletcher
• Teach Your Class Off by CJ Reynolds
• The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman
• Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl
• Your Pregnancy Week by Week by Glade B. Curtis

I have linked the books that are rereads for me.  It was hard to choose which books from the above list to talk about, so I will talk about the ones I haven't written reviews for and/or read for the first time.  

Don't Go Without Me by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell

My dear friend has another book!  Rosemary also did the illustrations for Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me and when I went to look at how people were responding to this book, I came across this title.  It was a little hard to get my hands on, but I'm glad I have it!  It's quite different because it's a triptych of stories.  They're quite sad, but I genuinely enjoyed them.  It's one that I will definitely pick up again and I think is necessary to read multiple times.  It's hard to describe-- it's something you just need to experience for yourself.  I think the one that stood out to me the most was the first time when the main character was losing their memory and couldn't remember that they were in a relationship.  The illustrations are just gorgeous.  I love Rosemary's style, and I'm not just saying that because she's my friend, I promise!

Happy Mum, Happy Baby by Giovanna Fletcher

I think I finished this book maybe a week or so before my son was born.  Giovanna Fletcher is the mother of now three boys, but at the time of writing this, she was a mother of two.  Honestly, this was a really reassuring read as a soon to be new parent.  I loved reading her birth stories, especially since I hoped to labor unmedicated (didn't happen, but I can talk about that in a different post, perhaps).  But even the chapters where she was figuring out how to parent, it gave me an idea of just what I was getting myself into.  Parenthood is messy and if you're looking in places like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc. it's really easy to just not talk about the harder parts of parenting.  People don't necessarily want to talk about how their child screamed for three hours for seemingly no reason because they think it paints them in a bad light.  They don't want to talk about being pooped on by their kid because... I mean, it's gross whether you're a parent and have been there or not.  But they're all realities that parents everywhere face.  It's nice to know that you can have a million moments of weakness and still be a great parent.  I thought Gi was optimistic but humble.  And it was interesting to read about how she was parenting while her husband was touring in his band and how they navigated that part of their lives.  Just an added bonus.

Teach Your Class Off: The Real Rap Guide To Teaching by CJ Reynolds

Oh look!  It's another one of my favorite YouTube people!  This time a teacher!  It's so exciting to me that he wrote a book and got to share more of his experiences from the classroom.  CJ teaches 9th grade English in Philadelphia as well as the History of Hip Hop class.  He approaches education in a creative and at times magical way.  I think that once you get into teaching, depending on the people around you, it can be really easy to feel beaten down and be cynical about what's going on around you.  But CJ's main advice is to always, always prioritize relationships.  Not that you'll connect with 100% of the students you have, but even attempting to make a connection can really go a long way.  I appreciated the stories that show how powerful relationships are and the little reminder that sometimes, in order to be the teacher you idealize, you have to take risks and step into that role and work towards it.  You can't wait for it to just happen to you because that's not how things work.  It's a very honest, thoughtful, and easy-to-read teaching book that I'd recommend to newbie teachers who are just trying to find their footing.

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl

I got it in my head early on that I wanted to teach a different play next year and perform it with my 9th graders.  I first saw this play when I was in high school in the smaller of the two theaters and I just thought it was magic.  Funny but mostly sad all at the same time.  The only problem with teaching this book is that there aren't a lot of characters, so it would be hard to teach it with a class of 24 9th graders.  Not to mention it would be necessary, I think, to read Orpheus and I have zero confidence in teaching those stories.  

It's a story not just about Eurydice and Orpheus who are in love, but there is also a connection between Eurydice and her father too.  Somehow, interacting with her father just made the story that much more sad to read.  

If you're looking for a quick read (since it's a play) and a lovely one, this is a great one to check out.  

Your Pregnancy Week By Week by Glade B. Curtis

Maybe this is a really nerdy thing to say, but one of the things I was most excited about when I found out I was pregnant was to get a book that would tell me what's going on in my body and with my baby.  This one stood out to me because I liked that it was broken up week by week.  This made it really easy to split up the reading and I could read pieces that were relevant to my situation at any point in my pregnancy.  Whenever a new week turned over (Thursdays in my case), I would pick up the book to see what was going on in there.

One bone I have to pick with this book is that it does go into worst-case scenarios.  Arguably, it's good to be prepared and know as much as possible about your pregnancy, but some things are unlikely to happen in most pregnancies and because it's present in this book, it makes it seem like it happens more often than it actually does.  So on that note, read with this in mind if you're determined to read this book cover to cover like I was.  But the pictures were helpful and I loved knowing what was going on with my baby and what to expect when I would go in for clinic visits.

Thanks for Reading!  I'm looking forward to writing about my June reads soon!

--Jude