What’s Mexico Cassie Reading Now?

Allende has knocked it out the park with this gentle yet epic novel that follows the life of Victor and his family as they survive the Spanish Civil War and living as refugees in France. The family are lucky enough to be chosen by the poet Pablo Naruda to be taken to Chile to make a new life there, only to find themselves caught up in another brutal civil war. I couldn’t put this down.

The first in the 2-part series, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Prize winner, Saramago. This is a parable of loss and disorientation.

The second book in the series, Seeing begins as a satire of government and democracy and winds up as something far more sinister

This compendium consists of three famous works by the Argentine novelist. Cortázar influenced an entire generation of Latin American readers with his works.

The excellent reporter turned author marched into my life many years ago with his book about hallucinogens and here he is again (actually, this is an older book) explaining the reciprocal relationships between plants and humans. Spoiler: did we domesticate them or them us?

My copy of this almost 100 year old book has an entirely different cover but the text is gloriously the same. Tramping here, by the way, refers to hiking and exploring, not living on the streets. Immerse yourself in this guide to walking from the early 20th century. See how much resonates today and how much joyfully does not – the book advises keeping your collar and tie in your pocket in case you need to visit the post office, for example.

If I were to award a prize for the best book read in 2023 it would be this gorgeous collection of essays that will reframe how you look at the natural world and your place within it.

McFarlane is a gentle writer with the skill to transport his readers directly into his adventures as he explores the United Kingdom in search of the last remaining truly wild spaces.

Haskell takes the reader with him as he visits and revisits twelve trees, exploring their relationships with the world around them. I was hooked immediately – “the forest presses its mouth to every creature and exhales. We draw the breath: hot; odorous; almost mammalian, seeming to flow directly from the forest’s blood to our lungs”.

Intentionality has long mattered to me in my daily actions and interactions. Now I’m going to use this journal to help me be more mindful and be absolutely present in my adventures, no matter how small (or big)

I picked this up on a recent day trip to Gibraltar where I learned that the Neanderthals survived for thousands of years after dying out everywhere else. The author takes us back to the beginning of humankind and introduces us to our proto-ancestors, Ancestors and to the other groups of humans who died out when we didn’t. Finlayson ends with a warning, “when it all comes tumbling down, who will survive? There is enough in our story to suggest that it will not be those of us in the comfort zone, the auto-domesticated slaves of electricity, motor cars, and cyberspace, who would not last more than a few days without supporting technology… the children of chance, those poor people who today must scrap for morsels each day… will once again be the most capable at survival…”

I picked this up on a whim in the airport on the way back to Spain from London this summer. It’s probably the hardest work of all the books I’ve read recently but I’ve still loved every moment we’ve spent together on the journey back in time to the very earliest moments of life on earth.

As a huge fan of George Orwell and a mega feminist I couldn’t resist this new take on 1984, told from Julia’s point of view.

I found it far more involved than Winston’s story although now absolutely want to go back and re-read it to link the two stories more firmly in my mind.

This is a wonderfully sensitive exploration of love within the queer, specifically trans, community. It focuses on the lives of three individuals including one person who detransitioned. I admit I was worried I’d be reading a book that would give credence to the anti-trans idea that many people regret their transition but instead I found a human who tried to live their true life as a woman but was exhausted by all society threw at her and eventually stopped trying. Truly beautiful reading.

I’m very excited by this new book. I’ve only dipped in and out thus far but it’s written by the man who first made me understand how beautiful and complex tequila is. He changed me when we met in Tequila a few years ago. Prior to our meeting I’d been a vodka lover (years of working in the fSU will do that to you) but his expertise and love for tequila convinced me to give tequila a try. Fair to say I’ve never looked back.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I began my time with Demon but I don’t think it was a modern David Copperfield. Kingsolver takes her readers deep into the Appalachians into a world of poverty, despair and misery, of foster care, drugs and violence but she never lets us lose sight of the beauty of humanity or nature. A true masterpiece.