
Four books I've recently read and enjoyed:
1. The Leavers by Lisa Ko – "Short and blocky, she wore loose jeans—never had he seen her in a dress—and her voice was so loud that when she called his name dogs would bark and other kids jerked around. When she saw his last report card he thought her shouting would set off the car alarms four stories below. But her laughter was as loud as her shouting, and there was no better, more gratifying sound than when she slapped her knees and cackled at something silly."
2. Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny – "First, in the produce section, they saw some woman with a baby in a stroller and Audra said, "Oh, hi! How are you? Are you going to that thing on Tuesday?" and the woman said, "I don't know, because there's that other meeting," and Audra said, "I thought that got canceled," and the woman said, "No, it's still on," and Audra said, "I wish they wouldn't double-book this stuff," and the woman said, "I know," and Audra said, "Well, if we don't go, will everyone say bad things about us?" and the woman said, "Probably," and it wasn't that Graham wasn't paying attention, it wasn't that he missed the specifics—it was that there were no specifics, that was the way they actually talked."
3. Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – "Your feminist premise should be: I matter. I matter equally. Not 'if only.' Not 'as long as.' I matter equally. Full stop."
4. The Thing Around Your Neck By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – "The drive to the resort was long, on roads haphazardly chiselled into steep hills, and Ujunwa worried that Edward was too old to drive so fast. She held her breath until they arrived at the cluster of thatch roofs and manicured paths. A smiling blonde woman showed her to her cabin, Zebra Lair. She sat on the bed and smelled the cool lavender scent from the linen and then got up to unpack, looking out of the window from time to time to search the canopy of trees for lurking monkeys."