Reading on a Wednesday

Read: Breaking my combo of Japan-related books, today I remembered that On Top of Glass - Karina Manta's autobiography - came out yesterday (thanks for not telling me, Kobo!). I picked it up and read it almost straight through. Very easy and enjoyable read; the various themes (eating disorder and body image issues, coming to terms with her sexuality, gender, anxiety, and of course the figure skating) are interwoven well, and she has a lot of interesting stories. Some of them are not very happy and these are told in a raw manner - crying in a seamstress's arms because after struggling to become healthy, her coach said she looked too fat in her costumes; a judge told her that she needed to walk (yes, on land) in a more feminine way; she skated their wonderful free dance at their last nationals with skates held together with duct tape, because she couldn't afford new ones. But some of them are thoughtful, funny, or joyful. I am not a dance floor person, but the way she describes how dancing makes her feel makes her love of it leak through.

I found it pretty relatable in a lot of ways, even if my experiences with gender/skating/etc have often been quite different from hers. Although one of my first dates with a girl was also a sunny picnic, haha. (Also, Jason shows up for a couple of stories because he lived with Karina and her other roommate, Britney Simpson, at one point, and he comes across as the sweetest. He and Karina apparently did a chat to promote her book, I should find it.)

Reading: Poseidon's Steed, a book about seahorses. I remember the other book I read from this author having a lot of grammar issues, but there seem to be fewer in this one.

To read: Will try to tackle one of my unread paper books next.