When I was going through a hard time, someone advised me that anger was an appropriate reaction to an angering situation. This book was an expansion oWhen I was going through a hard time, someone advised me that anger was an appropriate reaction to an angering situation. This book was an expansion on that theme, and it really resonated with me.
"Anger is the expression of hope...The anger we have as women is an act of radical imagination...Your anger is a gift you give to yourself and the world that is yours."...more
America’s poverty is not for lack of resources. We lack something else. Books about poverty tend to be books about the poor. It’s been this way for mo
America’s poverty is not for lack of resources. We lack something else. Books about poverty tend to be books about the poor. It’s been this way for more than a hundred years…these kids of books help us understand the nature of poverty. They are vital. But they do not—and in fact cannot—answer the most fundamental question which is: Why? Why all this American poverty? I've learned that this question requires a different approach. To understand the causes of poverty, we must look beyond the poor. Those of us living lives of privilege and plenty must examine ourselves. Are we—we the secure, the insured, the housed, the college educated, the protected, the lucky—connected to all this needless suffering?
This is somehow the second pirate queen book I’ve read so far this year, and it was a lot of fun: after her husband’s death, Shek Yeung does what she This is somehow the second pirate queen book I’ve read so far this year, and it was a lot of fun: after her husband’s death, Shek Yeung does what she can to retain power over his fleet with his second-in-command, Cheung Po.
I expected this to be fantasy—many pirate books these days have a fantasy element—but this was pretty straight historical fiction. I don’t gravitate toward historical fiction and probably wouldn’t have picked this up on my own, but it was a nice surprise.
There’s a lot here: isolationism and imperialism, the role of women and motherhood, and big ethical questions. I’ll definitely read more by this author.
This was a charming yet down-to-earth memoir told in vignettes. I’ve listened to All Things Considered but knew virtually nothing about Ari Shapiro. TThis was a charming yet down-to-earth memoir told in vignettes. I’ve listened to All Things Considered but knew virtually nothing about Ari Shapiro. This book covers how he got to where he is at NPR, his time as a guest vocalist for Pink Martini, and his interactions with so many people.
Shapiro says, “…one of the best ways to tell a big story is by telling a small one.” This book covers climate change to the Orlando mass shooting to the Syrian civil war through conversations with people in the thick of it. Shapiro quickly builds connection and then shares real stories—he says that he hopes his journalism can “maybe even change someone’s view of the world”.
The theme of this is really the intersectionality of struggle, that Martin Luther King Jr.’s famously summarized as: “Injustice anywhere is a threat tThe theme of this is really the intersectionality of struggle, that Martin Luther King Jr.’s famously summarized as: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.”
I hadn’t read anything by Angela Davis, and this one caught my eye given current events in Palestine. This is a selection of speeches and essays rather than a cohesive collection that progresses. It’s well worth reading, but it’s repetitive because the pieces weren’t originally intended to be collected into a book....more
Yusef Salaam weaves his memoir as one of the wrongfully convicted Central Park Five with an inspirational message about what it means to be an alchemiYusef Salaam weaves his memoir as one of the wrongfully convicted Central Park Five with an inspirational message about what it means to be an alchemist of our own lives.
His story is horrifying, but he has an uplifting message and he doesn’t shy away from discussion of what’s wrong with the system.
I’d pair this with Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow and Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy. ...more
Some authors subtly recap the last book so you don't have to remember exactly what happened. Johnson absolutely does not do that. Maybe that's becauseSome authors subtly recap the last book so you don't have to remember exactly what happened. Johnson absolutely does not do that. Maybe that's because this isn't a direct sequel (it takes place years later and with a focus on new characters), but you are left struggling a bit if you don't remember The Space Between Worlds.
Do I wish I had reread The Space Between Worlds before starting this? 100%. Did I still love it? Also 100%.
I loved the sweeping scope of this book and how it dealt with such big, meaningful themes. Johnson makes a statement with this book: it says important things. I loved revisiting this world and these characters. I loved the politics, but I also loved all the small relationships between people.
First half of this book was gripping but really hard to read for me as a woman with a husband and young son. And then the second half was just…not. ThFirst half of this book was gripping but really hard to read for me as a woman with a husband and young son. And then the second half was just…not. There were so many interesting feminist angles that could have been explored, but most weren’t.
I think the book also suffered from being written pre-COVID and published after the pandemic started, so certain things just didn’t seem realistic anymore given what we know about how people and governments responded. ...more