June June June. I have to admit - it was a weak month. While my total number of reads was fine (five books), nothing I read *truly* fired me up, except for one book, which is this month's only and only favorite.

So here it is, my (one) favorite read for June...


Asghar's incredible collection of poetry offers a piercing look at history, family, childhood, and how our histories create our current condition. Many of her poems center around The Partition of India in 1947 into India and Pakistan, and how this has impacted her family and shaped her own identity. There's a lot of loss in this book - loss of history, loss of family and, to a certain degree, loss of self. 

Before reading this book, I was absolutely ignorant about The Partition.The fact that I knew nothing about this historical moment, in which an estimated 14 MILLION people were displaced (yes, you read that right) in an effort to escape genocide and violence, is an embarrassment. But I was grateful to Asghar for doing the labor of teaching readers of her work a bit about this event.

These poems are strong, beautiful, and raw. Asghar is able to do a lot with very spare and restrained language. Many of her poems deal with The Partition and the effects that linger long after such horrific events take place. Others focus on what it's like to grow up in the US as an orphaned Muslim-Pakistani woman. It's an amazing book, and one of the best things I've read this year, let alone this past month. Highly recommended!

Other books read: Seven Brief Lessons on Physics - Rovelli; The Tea Master and the Detective - Bodard; Baby Teeth - Stage; How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend - Addison.