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inhabitingtrees's review against another edition
5.0
We often ask the hypothetical question “pick one book to take to a desert island etc” but we never consider that when a pandemic lockdown closes all the libraries, you won’t get a choice, you will instead be stuck with whatever books you most recently borrowed from the library. Am I ever glad Bren Simmers’ Hastings-Sunrise was top of my book stack!
I, like many others, struggled to read during the first part of 2020 - I was “reading” this book from March 3 -> May 18 but only one page at a time. I was buoyantly comforted by the haiku-like observations of seasonal changes. When I didn’t think I was capable of reading or writing anything, I was still able to digest a few of these seasonal snippets at a time, and line by line I also made it through Spring 2020. I’m sure my journal of that time would reflect some copy-cat inspired lines of my own.
Hastings-Sunrise also helped me remember that (on a personal level) 2020 was not the hardest year I’ve had to endure recently, and that there can be true joy and belonging amongst the pain. From 2013-2016 the Commercial Drive, Strathcona, Downtown Eastside neighbourhoods of Vancouver played a significant role in my life and personal growth: I developed my craft as an award-winning poet; grew into my queer identity through a gender-questioning/affirming journey; found community and support among true friends; survived a traumatic breakup, a devastating mental health episode, a drug relapse and my first Christmas alone; watched cherry trees blossom, lounged in grassy parks; all within the streets so beautifully and accurately depicted by Bren Simmers in Hastings-Sunrise. Why am I recounting such personal information in a book review? Because it felt like Hastings-Sunrise was written for me, personally, so intimate are the portraits of the neighbourhood. I’m sure I cannot be alone in the experience of dichotomy in those streets and I’m sure others who have experienced the neighbourhood will also resonate with Bren’s words.
When I first started reading Bren’s book in 2020 I was living in my car due to some limitations/challenges posed by the pandemic but I was transported with every page to the neighbourhood where I had already survived more than a few nights sleeping in a van.
I rated this book 5* because it was my standout top read of 2020 and first re-read of 2021. I first borrowed it from the library, but just like another reviewer, as soon as I returned it I ordered my own copy. This book will certainly be added to my IRL “favourites” bookshelf.
I, like many others, struggled to read during the first part of 2020 - I was “reading” this book from March 3 -> May 18 but only one page at a time. I was buoyantly comforted by the haiku-like observations of seasonal changes. When I didn’t think I was capable of reading or writing anything, I was still able to digest a few of these seasonal snippets at a time, and line by line I also made it through Spring 2020. I’m sure my journal of that time would reflect some copy-cat inspired lines of my own.
Hastings-Sunrise also helped me remember that (on a personal level) 2020 was not the hardest year I’ve had to endure recently, and that there can be true joy and belonging amongst the pain. From 2013-2016 the Commercial Drive, Strathcona, Downtown Eastside neighbourhoods of Vancouver played a significant role in my life and personal growth: I developed my craft as an award-winning poet; grew into my queer identity through a gender-questioning/affirming journey; found community and support among true friends; survived a traumatic breakup, a devastating mental health episode, a drug relapse and my first Christmas alone; watched cherry trees blossom, lounged in grassy parks; all within the streets so beautifully and accurately depicted by Bren Simmers in Hastings-Sunrise. Why am I recounting such personal information in a book review? Because it felt like Hastings-Sunrise was written for me, personally, so intimate are the portraits of the neighbourhood. I’m sure I cannot be alone in the experience of dichotomy in those streets and I’m sure others who have experienced the neighbourhood will also resonate with Bren’s words.
When I first started reading Bren’s book in 2020 I was living in my car due to some limitations/challenges posed by the pandemic but I was transported with every page to the neighbourhood where I had already survived more than a few nights sleeping in a van.
I rated this book 5* because it was my standout top read of 2020 and first re-read of 2021. I first borrowed it from the library, but just like another reviewer, as soon as I returned it I ordered my own copy. This book will certainly be added to my IRL “favourites” bookshelf.
meghan_is_reading's review against another edition
meditations on home-ness, neighbourhoods, and not-owning-house-ness in Vancouver (looks like she moved to squamish neway). I liked the season thing she did as well.
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