It’s that time of the year when we sort through all the books we read and try to find some favorites.
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton (Graphic Novel)
Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta’s oil rush—part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can’t find it in the homeland they love so much. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands, where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet is never discussed.
Ducks is gut-punching to read and relatable to anyone who has sacrificed an idyllic life to provide for a better tomorrow. Kate Beaton explores every aspect of the heaviness of moving to the remote regions of Alberta. This male-centric culture leaves her vulnerable and exploited at times. Still, she also dares to remark on the removal of land from First Nations and the exploitation of the land, causing devastating oil spills and further climate collapse. It’s a thoughtful read, leaving you wanting to explore more.
We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets
To be a content moderator is to see humanity at its worst — but Kayleigh needs money. That’s why she takes a job working for a social media platform whose name she isn’t allowed to mention. Her job: reviewing offensive videos and pictures, rants and conspiracy theories, and deciding which need to be removed.
I cannot say that I loved this book entirely. However, it left me uncomfortable and lingers in my brain whenever I read the lists of books I’ve read in the past year. With the advances of AI and the possibility of it marking and tagging dangerous and exploitative content, you know that corporations, in the end, seek to keep a profit, meaning the work that does us damage is left in the hands of humans. Kayleigh is left slowly losing her empathy and her mental health the deeper she goes into the work, which is not only devastating to her mind but is poor pay with little to no benefits.
If you knew that what entertained you came with a devastating cost to someone else’s life, would you continue to consume it?
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez
A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots, all in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
Let me explain for a second. This is in my top reads because it lingers. Not because I liked it. I know that defeats the whole reason for the list, but this is one of the books that I wish I could write a rebuttal against it. Mind you, it wrote the anxiety of living in the diaspora while watching Maria happened so well, but I still have feelings about it.
I was all on Olga’s mother’s side. I really wanted Olga’s mother to succeed, but she’s written as someone who sacrificed her relationship with children for something “greater,” I don’t know how to feel about that. Is Olga’s mother the villain? This book felt kind of anti-liberation for me. It’s like someone took a big red liberal marker and drew devil horns and a tail on Olga’s mom. How quaint that her democratic voting children are in the right.
As someone who passionately wants freedom for Puerto Rico, I find this book a mess. The best review I read that made me want to knock down my rating was this one. Truly, Olga girlbosses her way through life, and then some other shit happens. If I enjoyed it at first, it’s because it’s the closest thing to a telenovela in a while.
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
Evicted meets Nickel and Dimed in Stephanie Land’s memoir about working as a maid, a beautiful and gritty exploration of poverty in America.
If you are or have lived in poverty, reading this book is like having a conversation with a friend in a similar situation while nodding your head repeatedly, “Yes, yes, yes.” Stephanie Land even acknowledges her privilege as a white woman, all while knowing poverty kills. It kills our ability to rest. It kills time we could spend with family. It takes away chances to study and grow. In the USA, what we call “benefits” for the so-called lower classes is laughable at best because, with every twist and turn, you have to be this unattainable, perfect victim of poverty to get your needs met.
If you have never been poor, why aren’t you giving money to organizations supporting people living in poverty? Join a mutual aid. Help others out, and read this book to get a better understanding.
Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky
After a brush with death, Matt Murdock must piece together his shattered life – and that includes returning to action as Daredevil! But years of trauma have taken their toll, and becoming the guardian of Hell’s Kitchen he once was won’t be easy. Mistakes will be made along the way – and this time, one might actually prove to be the end of him. Because when a criminal dies, and Daredevil takes the blame, Matt must go on the run in a desperate bid to clear his name! But even he can’t outrun judgment forever. And with DD’s absence from Hell’s Kitchen, the real devils can come out to play.
After much doom and gloom, I give you doom and gloom through Daredevil. Here’s the thing: I never really read much Daredevil, if any, until this year. After doing so, do I have to say I love him?
It’s just so stupid. If you made Daredevil in Spanish, my grandmother (rest her soul) would love this dummy. Just minimize the violence, and she, my mom, and my aunts would be all on this. Some might argue that Daredevil in Spanish is just Zorro, but I say Zorro is Mexican Batman. Daredevil and Batman are not the same.
This man has so much catholic guilt and interprets the bible wrong at every turn. Matt Murdock will plead for forgiveness, say he is going to do better, and immediately sticks his penis inside of a woman out of wedlock, no ring, no promise. It’s just him vibing off the catholic aesthetics.
Justice is blind, Matt is blind to his own fucking problems, and I love him for it.
PopCult Reviews 
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