Canongate Book Mail 📚
Canongate Books.
Three very different books have just arrived from Canongate, and this might be one of my favourite book mail combinations in a while! 📚
A huge thank you to Canongate for sending over three upcoming reads, covering everything from the importance of saying no and challenging power imbalances to a deeply personal exploration of memory, migration and belonging.
The Power of No: A Celebration by Anna Holmes:
There is something incredibly satisfying about the idea that “no” can simply be a complete sentence.
Anna Holmes looks at why saying it can feel so difficult, particularly when we have been conditioned to be agreeable, accommodating or concerned about how our refusal might be received. Drawing on research alongside cultural and personal observations, the book considers the different ways our relationship with saying no develops and how boundaries connect to power, autonomy and choice.
This immediately feels like the kind of non-fiction that could make me reconsider how often I say yes simply because it feels easier than saying no.
Support a local and independent bookshop and purchase the book here.
Breadwinners: And Other Power Imbalances That Influence Your Life by Melissa Hogenboom:
Power isn't always as obvious as who earns the most money, and Breadwinners looks at the much more complicated reality behind our relationships at home and at work.
Melissa Hogenboom brings together research and real experiences from people living outside traditional household roles, including female breadwinners, stay-at-home fathers and same-sex couples. It examines everything from unpaid domestic labour and childcare to the value we attach to employment and income.
I'm particularly interested in the gap between how progressive we might believe society has become and what actually happens behind closed doors. Changing who earns the money doesn't necessarily change who carries the domestic workload, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the book unpicks why those patterns can be so difficult to shift.
Support a local and independent bookshop and purchase the book here.
Shorelines: Memory, Migration and the Selves We Become by Alycia Pirmohamed:
This is perhaps the most reflective of the three and explores the relationship between identity, landscape, family and migration.
Across interconnected pieces, Alycia Pirmohamed moves between different countries and landscapes while considering what it means to belong somewhere. Her relationship with the Canadian landscapes of her childhood sits alongside a connection to East Africa formed partly through family histories and inherited memories.
I'm intrigued by the idea of examining home as something that isn't necessarily fixed to one geographical place. Instead, it can be carried through stories, people, memories and the communities we create around ourselves.
Three books exploring power and identity in completely different ways, whether that's finding the confidence to refuse, questioning the inequalities hidden within everyday relationships, or understanding how the places and histories we inherit contribute to who we become.
Support a local and independent bookshop and purchase the book here.
Thank you to Canongate for the book mail. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into these!
