Over the course of my time writing this blog I’ve reviewed a lot of books, many of which center blackness including books that discuss racism as a larger topic and thus also include marginalization on a wider scale. I thought that, seeing as how this is my last post during Black History Month, it would […]
When I told a colleague of mine that I was reading An African American and Latinx History of the United States, they were surprised, because they assumed that an African American history is distinct from a Latinx history, and therefore they should each be afforded their own book. My explanation to this person was the […]
Whenever I review a nonfiction book like How to Be an Antiracist I always feel as though I’m in at least a small part also writing an informational and educational essay about the subject of the book, rather than simply reviewing the book itself. In large part that’s because when reviewing a nonfiction book, I’m […]
Writing this review was a struggle, because Sorted was a very personal read for me. (I’m pretty sure I cried at least twice.) Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place is a memoir written by Jackson Bird about his experiences growing up that led directly to his inevitable transition from the gender he […]
I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately, one book after the other, each word churning in my head rapidly after the one before it. Rarely do I read a book all the way through before I have the rabid need to switch to the next, not because I find the subject matter of one […]
Living in the United States, it can sometimes feel as though there is a drought of information about people within other countries, particularly those who come from marginalized backgrounds. In light of this, one book that has provided me with a kind of water is Queerstories: Reflections on lives well lived from some of Australia’s […]
I think that Stamped from the Beginning is one of the heaviest and one of the most informative books that I have read this year. Often, I speed through texts, even nonfiction, but with a project this large I took my time digesting the material, as there was only so much I could read at […]
I’ve been casually following the Well-Read Black Girl Instagram account for a while, but my financially conscious brain was winning when the book first came out, so I didn’t buy it right away. That said, when I saw that this anthology was on display at my local bookstore on the Black History Month table I […]
Toni Morrison said that this book was required reading, so I obliged and I have to say that she’s not wrong. Between the World and Me is a small book, and not particularly long, but it definitely packs a punch. The book is an extended letter to Coates’ son, Samori, and so has a personal […]
Until I started reading it, I had no idea how much I needed this book. The Fire This Time is a collection of poems and essays dedicated to the topic of race the United States. I think that the editor, Jesmyn Ward, put it best in her introduction when she outlined what kind of book […]
Talking Back, Talking Black is a systematic and impassioned celebration of and commentary on Black English that elucidates and informs without ever feeling as though there is more of an agenda than that of increased understanding. Aside from the introduction, the book only contains five chapters, but each of them packs a punch as they […]
It has been a little over six months since I posted my first book review on this website, I and in that time I have written about fiction, nonfiction, poetry, books I’ve read for fun, books I’ve read for class, and books that fall in between. There have also been several books that I’ve read […]
Stalking God: My Unorthodox Search for Something to Believe In chronicles the spiritual journey of Anjali Kumar, a mother in search of a spiritual awakening for herself and for her young daughter. Kumar started her search upon the birth of her daughter, Zia, in order that when Zia started to ask the big questions such […]
When I told my therapist that I was reading this book and what it was about she was thrilled because, according to her, I needed to adjust my own attitude toward death. Suffice to say Let’s Talk About Death Over Dinner certainly succeeded in this purpose. Despite the universal truth that we are all going […]
When I first picked up what became my copy of Landwhale, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. To my own shame, I did not know very much about the body positivity movement, and I’d never even heard of Jes Baker. All the same, I’ve made a commitment to myself to read broadly and engage […]