Changing my mind is an essay collection by Zadie Smith. There is a new one out called Free, this is the one she wrote before Free, (back when Obama was still president. This fact will depress you). The collection of essays is a mix between articles, lectures and auto-biographical snippets. As far as essay-collections go this is a pretty mixed bag. It deals both with authors, film, her father, and her blackness. “Nowadays I know the true reason I read is to feel less alone, […]
A buddy review with my dear friend Alison, who is a great writer but doesn’t write very much, which makes me sad. #CBRBingo (2nd Bingo!)
NOTE: This review is actually a buddy review with my former life partner slash roommate slash BFF who now lives very far away but we are still in a book club together, and I am making her write this with me so I can win at CBR BINGO because contests are fun and because PRIZES. We read this for our IRL book club last month and I am only reviewing it now. ______ Here’s the Amazon summary, since we didn’t do a good job explaining […]
Seventeen Brushes With Death Is … A Lot
Best for: Those who enjoy literary non-fiction and are not deterred by fairly grim subject matters. In a nutshell: Author Maggie O’Farrell examines, with lovely prose, moments in her life that could have led to her imminent death. Worth quoting: “Crossing time zones in this way can bring upon you an unsettling, distorted clarity. Is it the altitude, the unaccustomed inactivity, the physical confinement, the lack of sleep, or a collision of all four?” “To be so unheard, so disregarded, so disbelieved: I was unprepared […]
Do Any Women Not Have a Story They Could Contribute?
Content Note: This book’s subtitle is literally “Dispatches from Rape Culture.” Best for: Those looking for some reassurance and reminders that yes, it really is that bad. In a nutshell: Editor Roxane Gay brings together essays from 30 people (mostly women), all of which address some part of rape culture. Worth quoting: “The part I wanted them to understand is that these equations can implode, constricting your whole life, until one day you’re sitting in a locked steel box breathing through an airhole with a […]
This is hard to get through, even if you’re normally okay while reading books about rape.
I have never had such a hard time getting through a book that I liked. “Liked” actually feels like the wrong word here. How can I say I liked something that made me angry and frustrated almost 100% of the way through, and which filled me with dread every time I tried to convince myself to pick it back up again? Perhaps “appreciated”? Understand is necessary? See its importance? But not liked. I didn’t expect this reaction, even though rape is a tough subject to […]
A book for everyone
(Sidenote: In posting this review, I’m noticing that the Kindle version is just $2.99!) 4.5 stars. As a person in the 21st century who exists both in the real world and the internet world, I had a passing knowledge of who Lindy West was. I had mostly only encountered her work that went viral however, so I didn’t go into this book as a hardcore fangirl, just as an interested bystander. I think after reading this, I can probably be classified as a hardcore fangirl. […]
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