The last few months of any school year are usually hectic. May is always a mad dash to the finish. And this year with the pandemic? I am in a swirl of masks, planning, and grading. There is a finish line at the end and I need to finish everything in order to start my summer. With all the festivities with seniors, I’m excited but tired already.
But it’s so important that I still find time for myself to read! My nightstand is once again filled with a stack of books. Sometimes I’ll see one on sale at the bookstore, and others are gifts. I try not to keep too many unread for long, but it’s hard when they start to stack up. May especially is difficult because I am constantly running to different places to complete some tasks.
1. Elantris
By Brandon Sanderson
I’m not typically a fan of the high fantasy genre. There are a few exceptions, but more often than not I lean towards dystopian. This book was recommended by my awesome fiance since he tends to consume more science fiction than I. He’s the one who first introduced me to the Firefly series, so he’s not steered me wrong yet!
The plot of Elantris follows a world of warring countries and religions. There are the tyrannical Derethi people hell-bent on taking over because of their religious beliefs. A magical plague strikes at random, and a princess from another land tries to save Arelon before a fanatical priest stirs up revolution. I enjoyed the storyline immensely but had such a problem with the language choices. The book was in English, but the author attempted to create another that just didn’t make sense. Some of the names were too similar, the grammar not matching though they were supposedly from the same language. I had to take too many linguistic courses in Spanish to tolerate that! From what I understand, this was one of the author’s earlier books, so I may go and try another from his later series. I’d recommend it to people who like fantasy novels.
2. Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Michigan
By Rudolph V. Alvarado and Sonya Yvette Alvarado
I’ve heard stories about the Mexican side of my family my entire life. My Grandma came to the US when she was a little girl, my Grandpa when he was older. They met, fell in love, and created the family I know and love today. There are some interesting chapters in the story, like the fact that my infant Mom was in the hospital during the riots in Detroit. Theirs is a story of immigrating to a new land, a new language, a new way of life. I’ll always admire how they made everything work for us.
This book dives in a bit deeper and has led to me having some good conversations with my Grandparents, which I think will be its own blog post in the future. I’ve discovered how the Mexican populations have shifted over the past century, and interestingly enough, my family fits directly into it. We’re a “Ford Family,” and back in the day, he was one of the few employers that hired Mexicans at the time. My great grandfather and grandfather worked for the company, and even today I lean more towards Ford vehicles.
I understand how problematic Ford is. I haven’t researched fully into his policies, though I do know racism and xenophobia existed in his mindset. Still, it’s odd to know that, then hear my Grandpa say such good things about him, and the authors have a similar view. I learned quite a bit from this book, and it’s helping me dive in more with research about my family history. If you’re from Michigan, this is a great place to start learning more about our state’s history!
3. A Passion for China
By Molly Hitch
I’m going to be honest, I REALLY loved the picture of the plate on the front cover. It reminds me of a cup and saucer my Grandma Dolly gave me years ago as a graduation present. There’s something so simple and elegant about the design, and I have it tucked away on a shelf even today.
I love the author’s approach to this book, a sort of autobiographical look at the cups and plates and bowls that make up her experiences and family history. There’s also a deeper look into each and how that design fits into a specific moment. She gives wonderful historic context for each. While this book was very different from my other readings, it gave me some serious nostalgia for my Grandma Dolly, and I imagine she would have loved reading it with me! :)
This book was another recommendation for people researching el curanderismo. I had the opportunity to read others that made me more interested in the folk medicine practiced by my ancestors in Mexico. It’s interesting how folk medicine gets such a negative reputation. Considering the fact that my fiance is a medical professional, it is probably odd that I’m so interested! We are a household of science and evidence-based action. But here I am still digging into any book I can get my hands on.
It’s more of an anthropological look at curanderismo, and I’m loving how the author inserts her role in the Latinx community as part of her research. I decided to ask my own grandparents about the practice, and it was fascinating. First, my Grandma dismissed it, saying that we are Catholic and don’t practice such superstitious things. But then my Grandpa jumped in, talking about the old remedies, such as egg cleansings and herbs. This was the main form of medicine practiced in his village when he was young since they did not have much money and doctors were scarce. Personally, I remember chamomile from my childhood, as well as a mix of herbs in soups when I was sick.* So a bit of family history, with a mix of cultural study!
*My Aunt Sandy made me that very soup when I had COVID! And though I couldn't taste a whole lot, there was something particularly healing about it.
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