Act Natural

Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting 

by Jennifer Traig

As one who enjoys the quirks of history, this book is right up my alley.  Told from a rather personable perspective, this book presents a well researched accounting of some of the most horrifying, hilarious, and outrageous parenting practices that have trended in the western world over the past thousand or so years. From baby cages that prevented the ‘demonic’ practice of crawling, to girdles for pregnant women so the baby wouldn’t grow to big, child rearing has seen some dark days and this book has them all!

Broken into topics, each chapter addresses a different parenting hot topic and how people have handled said issues at different times. Chapters on topics such as childbirth, advice columns, discipline, sibling rivalry, etc, walk you through historical attempts to address these issues to comedic effect. The things people have done to raise well adjusted humans are absolutely astounding.

Act Natural is not only an ode to parenting, it also provides a unique window into domestic life throughout the last thousand years. Interesting historical tidbits, cultural norms, and attitudes of the people who lived before us are well outlined in this book. 

While filled with sources, citations, and an impressive appendix, this thoroughly researched book is a joy to read and often laugh out loud funny. Traig’s almost glib tone while recounting some truly unhinged parenting practices allows the reader to gasp and laugh all while going on this educational journey through the history of parenting. 

Fans of Chuck Klosterman, Mary Roach, Caitlin Doughty, and Bill Bryson will appreciate the informative nature of this book as well as the tongue in cheek humour.

Maybe in Another Life

  by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Having just finished reading the amazing Daisy Jones and the Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I was hungry for other titles by this amazing author. First to arrive on my holdshelf was Maybe in Another Life and I was certainly not disappointed. 

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if you had made different choices in your life? What if you had said, yes instead of no, or the other way around? How much of a role do fate and destiny play in our daily lives, are these concepts real?

  

In this charming novel of what ifs, Hannah Martin, 29, returns home to Los Angeles after having lived her life in multiple cities working at a variety of jobs. Hannah believes in a predetermined life and that, “Life is long and full of an infinite number of decisions……that I’ll end up where I need to end up no matter what I do.” 

 

Shortly after arriving in LA, Hannah and her best friend, Gabby, head out to a bar for a school friend reunion. As midnight approaches, Hannah faces the choice of leaving with Gabby or staying later and accepting a ride home from her old flame, Ethan. Hannah wonders to herself what would happen in either case. 

Through alternating chapters, we follow Hannah’s life first as she decides to go home later with Ethan, and in turn as she leaves with Gabby. Each of the parallel realities goes in a different direction, and naturally has other decisions within it based on what is happening, but there are also constants between the two stories that offer thoughtful insight into how much of our lives happen due to chance and how much we truly control. 

For believers in fate, destiny and soulmates, this is a novel that will give you all the feels and the hope that there is a soulmate out there for us, no matter which path we take.

Disappearing Earth

Disappearing Earth

By Julia Phillips

On the Kamchatka Penninsula, a relatively isolated part of Russia, two girls go missing.  Eleven-year-old Alyona and eight-year-old Sophia, alone and trusting, accept a ride from an unknown man and vanish.

Disappearing Earth then moves through each month of the subsequent year, telling the stories of a wide variety of characters, all of whom have some link, however tenuous, to the missing girls.

There’s Ksyusha, a young woman from the indigenous Even people in the north, attending university in the city.  She is accustomed to living under the thumb of her northern boyfriend, but begins to explore the new world of university life.  There’s Oksana, witness to the abduction, who’s closest ally is her dog Malysh.  When he escapes from her apartment, Oksana is broken.  And there is Natasha, who’s own sister Lilia disappeared at age 18 and whom the police have deemed a runaway.

Many of the characters in Disappearing Earth come from small villages and tribes in the northern part of Kamchatka.  Some grew up moving with the herds through fields and wilderness and living outdoors for much of the year.  As they grow into adulthood, they are confronted with modern city life: the joys and benefits, as well as the loneliness and disconnection.  

Julia Phillips uses the book to explore the culture clash between indigenous people and Russians, and between older and younger generations.  Her commentary applies to many cultures around the world and is of particular significance in Canada.

The book’s final chapter introduces Marina, mother of the missing girls.  She struggles with media attention, an inept police department, panic attacks and the need to forge ahead with day-to-day tasks.  Fraught with pain and anguish, Marina stumbles upon a tip regarding her daughters’ whereabouts which leads to the book’s satisfying conclusion.

Phillips’ novel is more than a mystery.  Although a story about the abduction of young girls could certainly be disturbing and difficult to read, I found Disappearing Earth to be very readable and I had no trouble with the content.  It is really a novel about disappearing culture and youth, and the changing face of Russia.