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Family is everything.

Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai

February 6, 2021 by bonnie Leave a Comment

I’m a huge fan of Thanhha Lai, so when I saw this book on clearance at my favorite indie bookstore, I was more than eager to snatch it up. The description intrigued me, so I am glad that the book lived up to my high expectations. Lai is a really talented writer, and here she embodies several characters and voices that could not be more completely different. Hằng is a young woman who has survived unspeakable horrors trying to get to the United States. At […]

What are you hiding underneath that skin suit?

The Cockroach by Ian McEwan

February 6, 2021 by bonnie 1 Comment

Ian McEwan has his hits and misses, but by gum, everything he writes is memorable. It’s interesting to see him return to short fiction, since that’s where his career started. I don’t remember all the stories from , but I DO remember opening my mouth in shock a few times. He didn’t earn the nickname “Ian Macabre” for nothing. And with The Cockroach, we DEFINITELY get some wild and memorable moments. If you read Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and thought “This, but in reverse,” you’ll be […]

Dismantle the master’s house.

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

February 6, 2021 by bonnie 1 Comment

Audre Lorde had no equal, and I’m again disappointed that I never had to read her for any of my literary theory classes in college. She’s a talented writer and a brilliant thinker, well ahead of her time, and reading Sister Outsider was thought-provoking and a bit humbling (for she wrote about things we’re STILL dealing with today–we have so much work to do left). Because this is a collection, Lorde compiles these speeches and essays from a variety of experiences and occasions. Therefore, the […]

Intersections of experience lead to better feminism.

Women, Race, and Class by Angela Y. Davis

February 6, 2021 by bonnie Leave a Comment

I’m really mad I did not read this book in college, because I think it would helped me develop a more well-rounded feminism. Angela Davis does not use the word “intersectionality” here, but she’s clearly angling for it. I also think that this book is vital for feminists/womanists, because it helps us address complex issues that surround equity for all who identify as women. As a former history major, I was glad to see the long (racist) history surrounding women’s suffrage frankly addressed. Until we […]

Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

January 22, 2021 by bonnie 4 Comments

Goodreads tells me I’ve read this three times, although it feels like more, since I’ve also taught it twice. It’s a terrifying book in the sense that it COULD happen very easily, and even more terrifying when you realize that what white women are being put through in the novel is something that ALREADY happened around the world to other women, in some form or another. I won’t bother to recap the story, because it’s been read and re-read before, plus the Hulu series illuminates […]

A terrific middle-grade novel about systemic racism, colorism, and…fencing.

Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes

January 22, 2021 by bonnie Leave a Comment

I’m a huge Jewell Parker Rhodes fan, and in middle-grade literature, she has no equal. She is uncanny at tackling major systemic issues that are not only age-appropriate but widely appealing, and also interesting to read about. I was excited to hear she had a new book out, and I quickly read it, as well. In Black Brother, Black Brother we meet Donte and Trey, two biracial brothers in an integrated family. Their dad is White, their mom is Black. Trey looks like their father, […]

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