Baubles From Bones: Issue 6
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Baub's Reads

Elyse says: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a paramount book for anyone interested in climate literature that isn’t soul-spearing. And don’t get me wrong–this book isn’t without its punches. But with Kimmerer’s background in poetry, science, and her native heritage, this book is as hopeful as it is harrowing, as honest as it is endeavored. There are also a lot of themes within it outside of environmentalism that I think fit with quite a few of our features in Issue 6, most obviously (of course), “Entry 44,” but also “Outlaw, Exile, Traitor,” and even “The Point of Measurement,” among others. This is a truly beautiful book, and if you haven’t given it a chance yet…get on it. :)

Caroline suggests: The Likeness by Tana French, the second book in the Dublin Murder series. We read it for our book club almost a year ago but I still constantly think about it. The story, the twists, the concept, and the narrating in the audio book! It could be argued that the ending is predictable, but I was so engaged the entire time that I never tried guessing the ending, and OH BOY WAS THAT THE RIGHT DECISION! The ending took me by surprise and gave all of the built up suspense such a high payoff. I wish I could experience this book for the first time again. Even though it’s part of a series, it works very well as a stand alone (I say as I plan to continue the series…). If you enjoy mysteries, I highly, highly recommend it. (Even if you don’t like mysteries, I still recommend it. There isn’t gore or horror, and it’s written SO WELL!)

From Joel: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a Russian dystopian novel about a society of nearly-robotic efficiency that lives in glass houses and the existential turmoil a rocket scientist experiences once he is diagnosed with a soul. Distinguished as the first novel banned by the Soviet censorship board, it deals closely with the manipulative culture of authoritarianism and led to Zamyatin’s blacklisting in the Soviet publishing sphere. After a smuggled copy of the manuscript was published in Europe, it directly inspired Orwell to write 1984. We is a genre-defining work that celebrates individual freedoms, creativity, and love while retaining a dark sense of tragedy and peculiarity (particularly the scene where a man has sex with a chair). Its prose is just stunning as well! The edition of We I read also came paired with an Ursula K. Le Guin essay, and I'm kinda cheating here by doing more than just one thing... but I would kick myself for not discussing it. That essay is “The Stalin in the Soul,” which concerns itself with censorship, especially as experienced by Western creatives who often face the censors of soft-footed market demands. I cannot get this essay out of my head. It so perfectly voices thoughts and fears I’ve had as a hopeful creative and now a small publisher with all the grace you can expect of Le Guin. Easily a must-read essay!

Baubles From Bones: Issue 6
​Available for purchase:
Physical (NA)
Physical (Intl)
Digital
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