Books I love
A self-indulgent tangent from teacher aiding
My favourite books
My favourite book is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. It is fist-pumpingly good. The story of a very plain woman of humble beginnings who forges a life for herself through hard work and diligence.
Other top contenders are:
God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy: beautiful and devastating;
The Red Tent - Anita Diamant: recommended by a beloved friend1, which I continued to on-recommend when working in libraries (to great success!);
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood: epic and stunning story within a story;
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez: does something to my brain, the spiralling and circularity of the family narrative reverberates long after reading;
Oranges are not the only fruit - Jeanette Winterson: short but impactful work about gay conversion therapy - packs a punch;
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro: a story about ‘the help’; I was yelling at the characters during the entire read - frustrating but tragically familiar;
Love Objects - Emily Maguire: if you’ve ever loved a hoarder, this will resonate.
My favourite picture books
My favourite picture book is This is a Ball by Beck and Matt Stanton. It is so good at getting children to engage and argue with you.
My other current favourite is:
Dazzlehands - Sacha Cotter, Josh Morgan: beautifully illustrated, super fun to read again and again.
My favourite non-fiction books
My favourite non-fiction book will always be Decolonizing Methodologies by Linda Tuhiwai-Smith. Fundamentally changed how I thought about myself and my culture, in relation to research.
Other top contenders are:
Black and Blue - Veronica Gorrie: memoir about growing up Aboriginal and then later working as a police officer.
Another Day in the Colony - Chelsea Watego: if running it straight were a book - direct, unflinching and angry in the best possible way.
I am bereft of young adult fiction recommendations, so my goal for the rest of the year is to fix this. I’m starting with Graham Akhurst’s Borderland.
If you have any recommendations for great YA reads - please comment below (if you’re a subscriber) or email me at teacheraideqld@gmail.com.
Hanni Bannani - the bestest
Edenglassie by Melissa Lukashenko is a great read. It changed the way I think about South Bank and Meanjin. Another favourite at the moment is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, which I've just finished. It's absolutely divine—like diving into clouds! Describes the connection between First Nations peoples in America and their environment in the most beautiful way possible.
You could try All Systems Red. It's not YA, but it's suitable (and likely highly appealing) for teenagers. It's also quite short.