Now we are firmly in the Top 10. There have been a lot of films I have enjoyed in the past few years that center on indigenous people around the world, so I thought I’d trey reading some books by Native American, and other indigenous authors from various parts of the world. The first of which appears in my Top 10. Also the first of the several memoirs by female musical artists to hit the Top 10 makes their appearance.
#8 – Stories I Might Regret Telling You: A Memoir by Martha Wainwright (2022)
Another enjoyable celebrity bio in the rock & roll vein. Martha Wainwright has a fascinating career and life in her own right, but as she mentions more than a few times in this book, she also comes from music royalty, with her mom, Kate McGarrigle, her dad, Loudon Wainwright III, and her older brother, Rufus Wainwright. Martha was always struggling to keep up creatively with her famous parents and brother, and arguably succeeded, even though she often felt inadequate. She also led a sometimes wild, rock & roll, partying lifestyle that makes for entertaining reading. She’s definitely a heart on her sleeve kind of woman, and doesn’t hold back. It was a quick, fun read, that doesn’t shy away from some of the darker and sadder part of life as well. Sometimes it reminded me of Sarah Polley’s recent book of essays, Run Toward the Danger, in the quirky, matter of fact way she told some disturbing stories. It certainly made me want to go back and listen to more of her music!
#9 – Swim Home to the Vanished by Brendan Shay Basham
Brendan Shay Basham has constructed a novel exploring grief with such poetry, and such visceral imagery, that it’s hard to shake. Damien is struggling with the loss of his younger brother Kai, who was swept away by a river and drowned. Damien’s odyssey takes him from the Pacific Northwest, through the dessert, to an isolated fishing town under the iron-rule of a family of brujas (witches.) As his journey progresses, he is slowly being transformed into a fish.
Everyone in this novel is grieving, especially the earth, and nature itself. For many, grief leads to a violent lashing out, and woe to those in that path. With exquisite language and a hard-hitting, dreamlike narrative, Swim Home to the Vanished is quite a feat for this first time novelist.