Top 5 (indigenous books) Tuesday

Because my reading speed is abysmal nowadays and I don’t even know what’s up with my want to pick up books, I haven’t read any of the books here. But I definitely want to! Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads thought up this prompt. You can find her post here.

The prompt was chosen because of Australia Day. It’s a public holiday that doesn’t have the fondest memories for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. But then again, when does white men invading and ‘discovering’ an already discovered land ever have fond memories? Meeghan shared this link, which looks to be a good place to start if you want to know more about the First Nations.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, Rovina Cai (Illustrator) – Imagine an America very similar to our own. It’s got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.

There are some differences. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.

Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family. 

This has a really beautiful cover – it’s just so beautiful. I’m really interested in seeing an America where magic has been popularised and changed and that Indigenous people and their culture are at the forefront of that (as I read from the synopsis) – and that makes me really interested in this! 

Elatsoe sounds like a really cute character but at the same time, ready to protect her family, which I really like! 

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse – While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse, Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) has been reborn. The gods and heroes of legend walk the land, but so do monsters.

Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last—and best—hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much larger and more terrifying than anything she could imagine.
Maggie reluctantly enlists the aid of Kai Arviso, an unconventional medicine man, and together they travel to the rez to unravel clues from ancient legends, trade favors with tricksters, and battle dark witchcraft in a patchwork world of deteriorating technology.
As Maggie discovers the truth behind the disappearances, she will have to confront her past—if she wants to survive.

Welcome to the Sixth World. 

I know Roanhorse is a popular author and I’m really interested in reading her books! Apocalyptic world, mostly underwater, gods and monsters walking the earth. Definitely all up my alley. 

The Things She’s Seen by Ambelin Kwaymullina, Ezekiel Kwaymullina – Nothing’s been the same for Beth Teller since the day she died.

Her dad is drowning in grief. He’s also the only one who has been able to see and hear her since the accident. But now she’s got a mystery to solve, a mystery that will hopefully remind her detective father that he is still alive, that there is a life after Beth that is still worth living.

Who is Isobel Catching, and why is she able to see Beth, too? What is her connection to the crime Beth’s father has been sent to investigate–a gruesome fire at a home for troubled youth that left an unidentifiable body behind? What happened to the people who haven’t been seen since the fire?

As Beth and her father unravel the mystery, they find a shocking and heartbreaking story lurking beneath the surface of a small town, and a friendship that lasts beyond one life and into another…

This sounds so very interesting and also a book that deals with hard topics and will stay with you for a long time.

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina – A compelling debut novel asks what happens when children develop inexplicable abilities—and the government sees them as a threat.

They’re known as Firestarters. Boomers. Skychangers. The government calls them Illegals — children with inexplicable abilities — and detains them in menacing facilities so that society is kept out of harm’s way. Ashala Wolf and her Tribe of fellow Illegals have taken refuge in the Firstwood, a forest eerily conscious of its inhabitants, where they do their best to survive and where they are free to practice their abilities. But when Ashala is compelled to venture outside her territory, she is betrayed by a friend and captured by an enemy. Injured and vulnerable, with her own Sleepwalker ability blocked, Ashala is forced to succumb to a machine that will pull secrets from her mind. It’s only a matter of time before the machine ferrets out the location of the Tribe. Her betrayer, Justin Connor, is ever-present, saving her life when she wishes to die and watching her every move. Will the Tribe survive the interrogation of Ashala Wolf?

I think the synopsis sounds so interesting and you know me – I’m always up for magic in a book. 

Meet Me at the Intersection by Rebecca Lim (Editor), Ambelin Kwaymullina (Editor), and various authors – Meet Me at the Intersection is an anthology of short fiction, memoir and poetry by authors who are First Nations, People of Colour, LGBTIQA+ or living with disability. The focus of the anthology is on Australian life as seen through each author’s unique, and seldom heard, perspective.

With works by Ellen van Neerven, Graham Akhurst, Kyle Lynch, Ezekiel Kwaymullina, Olivia Muscat, Mimi Lee, Jessica Walton, Kelly Gardiner, Rafeif Ismail, Yvette Walker, Amra Pajalic, Melanie Rodriga, Omar Sakr, Wendy Chen, Jordi Kerr, Rebecca Lim, Michelle Aung Thin and Alice Pung, this anthology is designed to challenge the dominant, homogenous story of privilege and power that rarely admits ‘outsider’ voices.

I’ve only read like 2 anthologies so I’m not all that clued up about them but this one looks so good! I love the bright cover and diverse content.

I’m not that late with this post! I enjoyed making this post as I think it’s very important to always look to be more diverse in your reading (in just general life, actually) but because we are very much readers, it’s definitely important to diversify your reading. That and what once you start reading diversely, it’s very hard to actually want to go back to like reading just white authors and just white characters. Trust me – I’ve been there.

Have you read any of the titles on this list? What were they like? Which are your favourite Indigenous books? Give me those titles down below in the comments!