June 2023

Top book of the month has to be My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. I devoured this book. Unhinged my snake jaw and took it in whole. I was stuck in my apartment, sick and delusional, with disturbing fiction by my side (famously the second best medicine). I have a penchant for reading upsetting books written by women so this was firmly in my wheelhouse. NOT an easy read and content warnings are abound.

My Dark Vanessa tells the story of a “romantic” relationship between high school student and teacher and the after effects almost 20 years later as multiple former students come forward about the abuse suffered at the hands of that teacher. Our protagonist, Vanessa, does not consider herself a victim but an active and equal participant* so what are these other women talking about? Russell gives us the backstory of Vanessa’s high school and college years, detailing the specifics of her everchanging relationship with her English teacher Strane, without things ever feeling exploitative. As an audience, we empathize with adult Vanessa even as she denounces the plight of other victims. The book is complex and empathetic. One of those books that makes you cry and gets you furious and you love it but you’ll probably never read it again.

For further reading in this vein I would recommend The Most Precious Substance on Earth by Shahi Bhat and Lolita Podcast by Jamie Loftus.

*of course, we all know that children cannot consent and any kind of adult/minor relationship of this manner is inherently coercive and ILLEGAL

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Other standouts of the month include:

• Coyote Doggirl by Lisa Hanawalt

• Putting the Rabbit in the Hat by Brian Cox

  • succession kING

• The Idiot by Elif Batuman

• This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

• I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

I encourage you to pop into your local library branch or nearest independent bookstore for any of these titles!