Jason Homer
September holds particular significance in our community as so many important moments and celebrations come together. It marks the return to school, the observance of the Jewish High Holidays, Worcester’s celebration of Pride, the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, and, of course, Library Card Sign-Up Month.
My Escape Read: As a fan of Allie Brosh’s “Hyperbole and a Half,” the part-blog, part-webcomic I had been following since about 2010, I loved her first book. But by the mid-2010s, she was posting much less, and I was spending less time online. I had honestly forgotten just how funny, irreverent and relatable her work was as an exhausted millennial. I was delighted to stumble on her 2020 collection, “Solutions and Other Problems”, while browsing the Graphic Novels section of the WPL. I was there after a staff member told me to go check out how great it looks with manga pulled out as its own section. The book was exactly the kind of ridiculous, honest and unexpectedly heartfelt reading I needed. Brosh manages to make stories about terrible pets, childhood, grief, loneliness, and her own questionable life choices both completely absurd and incredibly relatable. If you enjoyed “Hyperbole and a Half,” this is an easy recommendation. And if you haven’t read either, you are in for a very weird and very funny time.
My Serious Read: “Brown Enough” by Christopher Ravis. I would recommend listening to the audiobook to hear the stories directly from Rivas himself, as it helps the book feel conversational as he shares stories about race, identity, code-switching, masculinity and belonging. Much of September asks us to navigate our own identities, and this book prompts those considerations. I especially appreciated how honest he was about the pressure to be “Brown enough” while also trying to fit into spaces that were not necessarily created with you in mind. The book is part memoir and part social commentary, and I found myself thinking about how often we adjust or hide parts of ourselves depending on the room we are in. It is an easy listen, but it also leaves you with some harder questions about identity, representation and what it means to actually be part of the conversation.
My Holds: “The Sixth Faction” by Veronica Roth comes out Oct. 6. I was a huge fan of the “Divergent Series” by Roth and, like many fans, did not like the ending as it felt forced and did not match how the narrative progressed in the series. Well, I guess Roth listened as this novel will explore an alternate reality where Tris’ plans to join Dauntless are altered by tragedy.