Read on Repeat
I enjoyed this entry— Readers on Repeat on Medium so much that I had to write a response to it. Note: It's Members-Only so you may not be able to access it
The inspiration for her post was "Readers on Repeat" — books she has read more than once. She lists eight books that made the cut for her. I enjoyed that so much that I had to respond. The remainder of this post is my response to her post:
This is such a fun entry in your wonderful oeuvre.
I loved your list. Especially Wind in the WIllows and Brunelleschi’s Dome. The former is and has always been a sweet portrait of a gentler, kinder time. written in a tender, quiet voice that never fails to calm me. I have wanted to read it to all three of my grandchildren; alas, the short attention span of current childhood is so interrupt-driven and attention spans are so short that sitting and absorbing a sweet collection of stories is a difficult lift for both grandparent and grandchild.
The latter is a book that is now on my must-read list, and I shall download it this very day. The author has you to thank for making it known. If I may, I'd like to add a couple of entries that may interest you and other readers of your writings
- Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki: last read: 2025
This is the one book I have in both Kindle and solid form. I keep re-purchasing it (you're welcome, Amazon and Powell's Books), then giving it to people I love and cherish, both new and old. Its trans themes are nicely threaded throughout, but it's so much more than that. I re-read it often -- really, whenever I need some “feel good” reassurance that the universe isn't unfeeling, does take notice, and has some lovely tricks up its infinite sleeve. Beyond that, it is a story that brings delight and joy... A couple of excerpts lifted from the cover:
"A beautiful story of friendship and love...I fell in love with these characters and did not even realize how desperately I needed this story right now."
CHARLIE JANE ANDERS, AUTHOR OF ALL THE BIRDS IN THE SKY
Delightful and heartbreaking. An unexpected mashup of science fiction and fantasy that will make you love music, crave donuts, and wish to read it all again.”
JOHN SCALZI, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
2. The Once and Future King by T. H. White: last read 2020
We all think we know the basics of Camelot, Arthur, Guinevere, and the principle of fairness exemplified in the Knights of the Round Table, or at least we have some hazy notion of them. White's book is so much more than the Disney-fied, sanitised, Sword in the Stone, or the execrable Lerner and Lowe Camelot though.
The first book of this imaginative retelling of the Arthurian saga was written in 1939 on the eve of the deadliest war in human history, a war that killed 80 million people. I have called it a "retelling," but really it's a reframing as well. Advancing the ideas of human fairness and inclusion, and ideas that somehow, in this self-absorbed era, we have totally discarded. I find the fact that it is a hope-filled story written on the very eve of the horrific events of 1939-1945 another of the universe's perverse jokes on humankind. And yet the story is one of kindness and love. By the time the final book of the tetralogy was written, the author had lived through the horror of World War II, and the tone is tempered by having lived through the dreadful reality of this inconceivably terrifying time in human history.
This is not your Tolkien-esque fantasy. It is flat-out weird. White had a distinct point of view--the thread that runs throughout. His secret mission was to find an antidote for war and for unreasoned hate. Even so, the story is a joy and a modern masterpiece. He allows the story to run everywhere, from the tragic to the comic to the didactic.
Just as the lights went out and gave way to an age of darkness after the collapse of Arthur's kingdom, in this modern age, the concept of "might makes right" has re-emerged as our guiding principle in the governance of human affairs, and we may be preparing for a new age of darkness personified by men (yes, men exclusively) who almost seem to be the caricatures of evil.
And yet, and yet ... we may yet ascend from this dreadful time in which we have found ourselves, just as in the final book of the tetralogy, "The Candle in the Wind," we find hope in the resolution of the legend of Arthur.
The story is "a hopeful tragedy." For sure, it is a high tragedy right up to Greek levels and then some. And yet its hopefulness lies in King Arthur's ability to continue deepening, learning, reaching for the goodness that he still believes is in every person. Neither my daughter nor I can read beyond the end of Book Three, where it is said that Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot never gazed upon one another again. I always break up into a flood of tears at that point, lacking the courage to go on.
3. Finally, read anything and everything by Karin Bishop
Karin exclusively publishes on the Kindle Store. Her books, YA and adult alike, helped me understand aspects of my own life story -- Who I was and am. Written and published in the early part of the 21st century, when we as transgender people drew curiosity rather than condemnation, drew interest and a desire to understand us and how we came to be and fit into society, rather than scorn and a desire to destroy us utterly. I highly recommend you grab whatever in her extensive oeuvre suits your fancy at the moment, and simply enjoy an affirmation of who we are as a culture, as a sisterhood, as a network of people who support, uplift, and share sorrows and joys.
Submitted with love for all my sisters and brothers with earnest appreciation of all of you
Another respondent also mentioned this:
Two come immediately to mind.
Both by Lewis Carroll :
Alice in Wonderland
“’But I don't want to go among mad people,' said Alice. 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the cat. 'We're all mad here.’” — Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland, 1865
And
Through the Looking Glass.
I responded to this, saying:
I must admit that Alice and the idea of being cast into a world of madness terrified me as a little trans child, for reasons that will be obvious to our sisters, especially. For me, it was a mirror of real life and "finding my way home" for definitions of "home" that will also be meaningful to people like us will resonate strongly