Mimetic March Staff Picks
Melt into March’s Mimetic Manuscripts! Our staff picks are filled to the brim with some truly amazing reviews. I can’t wait for you to read about our favourite books this month.
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This book somehow manages to be hilarious and painful all at once. I realize that might not be the introduction to this novel you were expecting, but I promise that the conflicting emotions feel very familiar to anyone who has gone through a major relationship shakeup at an unexpected time. Ordering a burger at 2am is both hilarious and depressing. The entire novel plays with these juxtapositions and I found myself cheering for Maggie and pitying her in equal amounts. This story really feels like it was made for the constant uncertainty and unbalanced stylings of today's young adult and millennial audiences, although anyone else will find it equally as entertaining. It’s ultimately a story of connection and community, and I certainly encourage everyone to join Maggie on her journey through this crazy thing we call life.
-Jenna
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Williams uses imagery from myths and fairy tales hence, the title. This book is dense with complex emotions and shows the experience of pain, confusion, and childhood fantasy. The similarity between an alcoholic and a child is especially interesting.
Pearl, an alcoholic, failing mother, some strange family relatives, and dozens of adopted wild children all live on a family-owned island. Getting to know the strange group that cohabitates together is so weird and deeply interesting that I couldn't put this book down because I just needed to learn more.
We follow Pearl's journey into insanity as she dives deeper into the fantasy and trauma that alcoholism can create. I felt so connected and disturbed by Pearl.
If you are longing for strong emotions and a writer that knows how to take a simple act or feeling in a book and make it into poetry. Read the book. Joy Williams, in my opinion, is one of the greats.
-Claire
This is a creatively crafted story of a child who has lived through Hell! Kit’s Cherokee mother dies when she is 6. Shortly afterwards her father is sent to prison for murder. The “Christian do-gooders” step in and place her in a government boarding school, shoving Christianity down her throat, while denying all parts of her Cherokee cultural heritage, even her name! This school is more like a prison for kids with no voice! How an innocent, God-like child can be ruined by those who rationalize they are doing “God’s work” is alarming, and the acts that are conducted by “people of faith” are evil! I have to believe there is some truth in this 1950’s story of Native American indoctrination! This is a story you must take slowly, very slowly!
-Virgie
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Friendship is at the center of this excellent book. Specifically it’s the story of three best friends who create a video game empire. While it was interesting for me (not a gamer) to learn about that industry, and I believe it’s a loyal homage to the period in the late 90s/early 00s when that industry really took off. This book soars because of the characters Zevin develops. The central friendship in the book is platonic which allows for a thorough exposition of that type of friendship. Romantic relationships are undoubtedly more common in literature because of the inherent tension, but this book uncovers plenty of tension in the platonic relationship. Because the primary themes in this book are friendship and creating, it reminded me of Michael Chabon’s fantastic The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. If you were a fan of that book, you’ll certainly be a fan of this one.
-Mike
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Olga Dies Dreaming is a fantastic book following Olga, a wedding planner with a traumatic backstory, from Brooklyn. She and her brother navigate the secrets of their childhood through their adult life, while their mother is focused on creating and supporting a rebellion for Puerto Ricans. It is full of emotion and what it means to be human through the lens of being Latino American. Truly a fabulous book that speaks to the heart and soul. Pa’lante.
-Cass
(A note on language: Latino/Latina is being used to describe the language and culture, not a person. I would never want to exclude anyone, and that is not my intention with using this word. I also do not want to water down or diminish the vibrancy of Puerto Rican and Latino/a culture.)
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I became a fan of Sam Lipsyte after reading The Ask, which is a hilarious, over the top, preposterous romp. This book is funny, but the humor is more sly and subtle and the story is more plot driven than his previous work, which results in a more refined and mature book. I’m a sucker for a book about a well intentioned, bumbling antihero, which is Lipsyte’s forte, and this book has that as well. It’s also set around the punk rock scene in early 90s New York City, which is a backdrop rife with the right opportunities to highlight Lipsyte’s engaging brand.
-Mike
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I would NEVER want to attend this school for good mothers! It’s not an option, but rather a live-in, year-long rehabilitation program where mothers are taught “Motherese” by means of robotic children. These mothers are reminded daily that they have been “bad” mothers, keeping an “atonement” journal. This dystopian novel, on the cusp of being believable in our near future, gave me the shivers! If you’re a fan of Margaret Atwood, or Octavia Butler, this novel will be just another read for you to devour!
-Virgie
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Barbara Kingsolver’s new book, Demon Copperhead, just might be the best written book I have read in a long time. Kingsolver perfectly captures the voice of her young, male narrator, Demon in this coming of age novel. A modern retelling of Dickens’ David Copperfield, this book is set in Appalachia America and explores generational poverty, domestic abuse, the foster care system, high school football and the opioid crisis. Demon's will to live and thrive, however, wins us over as we root for him to overcome all odds. He is a character you will instantly love and cheer for until the last page of the book.
-Danielle
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This dynamic story, inspired by true events, toggles between 2019 Detroit and 1929 Birmingham, Alabama. McKenzie, a young reporter for the Detroit Free Press, witnesses police brutality towards people of color in her community. McKenzie’s thoughts continue to return to the unsolved murder of her great grandfather in Birmingham, and within the era of the Black Lives Matter Movement, she is determined to investigate this unsolved murder and publish it for her paper. She is seen only as a “trouble-maker” in Birmingham as she exposes the police corruption and white supremacy present in 1929 Birmingham. This story is an action-packed mystery, which shows blatant similarities between the present and past.
-Virgie
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Stuart’s debut novel, Shuggie Bain, won the Booker Prize. That book, which I haven’t read, focuses on the relationship between a gay teenage boy from Glasgow, and his alcoholic mother. In Young Mungo, 15-year-old Mungo Hamilton lives with his family in government housing in Glasgow. His mother, an alcoholic, drops in occasionally. Stuart does an excellent job of portraying Mungo and his siblings and how they are forced to deal with their mother, who was widowed while she was pregnant with Mungo. But the central relationship in this book is between Mungo and James, a Catholic boy who lives in the same housing project as Mungo and is also realizing he, like Mungo, is gay.
Mungo’s Glasgow that Stuart paints is bleak. But the characters are so well developed that it’s easy to root for Mungo, James, Mungo’s family, and Mungo’s neighbors because they all display bursts of humanity, despite the terrible circumstances. The sense of hopefulness is evident throughout this novel, in the parts both light and dark, and the ending is artfully vague enough to reaffirm that.
-Mike
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I adore books like this one! Truly one of the best enemies-to-lovers stories I’ve read so far! Not only does Bannen create an amazing fantasy world with unique culture and lore, but she also keeps it familiar enough that not much explaining is needed. On top of that, all of the characters are extremely likable and I love the dynamic relationships between them as well as the tough situations they are forced to face that are very very real. If you enjoy books with a little cozy, a little spooky, and lots of flirting, then this is the book for you!
-Isabella
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Amina Al-Sirafi, the Pirate of legend, is retired. She’s quite happy (mostly) raising her daughter and caring for her family in the remote countryside. But there is always one more job, and this one seems simple enough: find a wayward granddaughter who’s been kidnapped by a Franc. What ensues is an adventure that takes us across seas and realms, because the last job is never the last and it’s never easy.
This book ticks all my boxes, It’s got pirates, it’s got witty banter, it’s got nail biting suspense, it’s got badass ladies doing swashbuckling things. This is the adventure novel I’ve been itching for, it made me feel like a kid again. I couldn’t put it down.
-Izzy
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Although it is a fact humanity has always written of fantastical concepts rooted in concrete precepts of science and logic, the genre “sci-fi” never truly found much purchase on the collective mind of book readers until the 50s/60s. It wasn’t until the 80s that the genre truly defined itself as a mine from which scintillating works of literature are exhumed. Hyperion, written in 1989, is one such gem. Though the book is mainly an anthology of stories from seven unique and insightful characters, Hyperion manages to weave a deeply incisive and compelling commentary surrounding human life (and death), religion, morality, and consciousness, all tied together by the impending threat of total intergalactic annihilation caused by a terrifyingly omnipotent being moving backwards through time, The Shrike. Sensuous and violent, nihilistic yet hopeful, and ultimately a masterwork of classical science-fiction, Hyperion is a convoluted, meticulous, and deliciously poetic sci-fi delight to read. (Book 1 of 4 of the Hyperion Cantos).
-Bryce
Sam is back home and everything is off. The colorful walls and art her mother had are replaced with the white walls and conformist images of her dead grandmother. The rose garden is perfect and devoid of any other life. Her mother seems terrified of saying the wrong thing. Sam’s dreams are filled with thorns and dead hands. And vultures seem to be keeping an eye on the house. All in all, it’s fairly off putting and Sam will get to the bottom of it, even if that’s not the most advisable course of action.
Creepy, spooky, and darkly humorous, A House With Good Bones is an excellent examination of how a house can hold generational trauma. I adored this book.
- Izzy
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A chilling quartet of tales from our good friend, Junji Ito. In my opinion he's still at his top form, each tale has his signature combinative style of body and cosmic horror, with an underlying theme of some sort of grand irony or misconception at work. A woman comes down with a mysterious weeping illness, the vicious second in command at a prestigious Catholic School, and a terminally ill man looking for his resting place fill the roster of this absolutely fantastic collection from the master himself. Good to read if you liked films such as House of Wax, The Fly, and even Suspiria fans can get a kick out of these.
-Ryan
Eat a book, taste the story, learn a little from what’s been written. Devon’s life was a fairytale among the book eater families. As a rare girl, she was treated with adoration and given freedom to wander and eat as many fairytales as she desired. But she always chaffed at the edges of fairy tales and princessdom. When we meet her as an adult, she lives a rather more dangerous, stressful life trying to keep her son alive and fed with the minds he so craves until she can track down a drug to curb his growing appetite.
I fell in love with Dean’s writing when I read her short story “How to Cook & Eat the Rich”. Dean draws you in with a vague feeling of wrongness, something’s not right and I want to know what. Her characters are not easily loved, their lives don’t lend themselves to the “right” decisions. If you enjoy a macabre story with lots of gray areas then The Book Eaters is for you.
-Izzy
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I love any poetry by Pablo Neruda, especially collections that include both the original Spanish and the English translation. This book is so beautifully illustrated and such a great introduction to Pablo Neruda and poetry in general for younger readers. The questions presented in this “Book of Questions” really do make you think, all while enjoying the art of poetry. A very fun read for both young and old readers!
-Lark
Love poems have existed probably for as long as humans had a word for love. Shakespeare’s Sonnets and those of Garcilaso de la Vega before him laid the groundwork for the human literary expression for love, which continued into Romanticism with John Keats and Byron and Shelley and into modern times with poets like Pablo Neruda. Though Neruda’s Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair is written primarily in blank verse, his verse transcends the need for meter or rhyme. Neruda’s poems portray the unadulterated human experience and the strength of love itself. His poems read passionately and true, soaked lavishly with romance, longing, and (of course) despair. Born Chilean, Neruda’s poems are bursting with the poetic lyricism of the Spanish language and the preternatural beauty of his surroundings, which together convey a blatantly real perspective on the nature of true love. Beautiful, turbulent, and transcendent, Neruda’s Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, is a must-read for humans in general, love-struck or not.
-Bryce
This poetry collection makes me feel like I’m moving. The rhythms in each poem sweep me along and into whatever place Jae Nichelle is in. These poems bring me into a world I have and will never know. They make me feel equally at home and like a distant listener.
Izzy
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Vaginas! What a voyage this book was. Female Reproductive Systems are important to almost everyone in some way and yet we know almost nothing. Science has neglected to learn anything about the female reproductive system and until recently we had a lot of misconceptions, we are just starting to pull away the curtain the patriarchy placed. Vaginas have the capability to do so much more than we think! I find it to be a privilege to own such an incredibly intelligent body!
Everyone should read this book. It's historical, scientific, emotionally validating, and helped me as a woman understand the mystery of my own body. Since reading this I’ve given this to men and women and every person has come back saying they learned more in one book than they ever did in health class and the internet combined. This book shows us our historical wrongs and shows us how exciting this new era of science is!! If we want to crush the patriarchy we must educate ourselves and educate others. If you read this, don't just put it on your shelf when you are done, give it to the next person; let's get everyone in the loop.
-Claire
Don’t read this book unless you can control your anger, because this true account will certainly raise your ire! This is the story of Ann Trow, aka Madame Restell, one of the boldest women in American history, and a self-made millionaire. Madame Restell was a champion for women’s reproductive rights, providing birth control and abortions to desperate women, and even going to jail for her efforts! Yet, she persisted to help women, and she found herself beloved by her patients, but despised by the men who wanted to control them! This is her story, as well as an account of women’s rights in the 1800’s, and serves as a warning for women to fight for their rights, and not let the pendulum swing back to the 1800’s!
-Virgie
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Daniella Mestyanek Young was raised in the infamous Children of God cult, an extreme religious group founded in the late 60’s whose doctrine focuses heavily on sex as a form of both worship and evangelism. Her gut-wrenching memoir details what it was like living within the group’s overseas compounds, enduring sexual assault, beatings, and religious manipulation from the time she could walk. Young always knew that she wanted out; as soon as she could, she left her “family” to join the United States military, a move that didn’t exactly provide her with an escape from the cult-culture she was so desperate to leave.
Young’s unflinching narration is not for the faint of heart, but her courage and determination are what shine through in the end. If Educated by Tara Westover captivated you, you’ll be equally taken in by this story.
- Megan
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