Dune by Frank Hebert
Dune is one of the fundamental texts of speculative fiction and I have probably read it a half dozen times over the years. Why re-read it now? I saw the trailer for the movie coming out later this year (and if you haven’t seen it, find it online, it is fantastic) and realized I had not read it since my kids were very little. I thought I might have a different perspective now that my youngest is a teenager and that was certainly true. When […]
Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
This book fits the “How to” square by teaching me how to be a better anti-racist. It is not enough to be against racism, one must be actively anti-racist, which is different. I am a white woman and in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, came to realize that I was woefully under educated about the problem of racism in America. At the time all sorts of recommended reading lists came out and Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas […]
Boys of Alabama by Genevieve Hudson
Oh dear. Boys of Alabama is a lot. In Genevieve Hudson’s debut novel we are introduced to small-town Delilah, Alabama through the eyes of Max- the new kid in town. Max and his family just moved to rural America from urban Germany, and we leap into the culture shock with them. Delilah has two religions: Christianity and football- and the two form a dangerous communion. Max is sensitive, quiet, and gay. He can also bring dead things back to life; one touch and wilted flowers bloom. […]
Something That May Shock and Discredit You by Daniel Mallory Ortberg
This would honestly be five stars except for a handful of essays/interludes that were too experimental and obscure for me to get anything out of them. I’m going to keep this review short and sweet for a couple of reasons, the first being that the time for me to have said something detailed, thoughtful, and incisive about it would have been back in late April when I first finished it. That time has now long passed. The second reason being that I’m not sure I […]
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
If we- and now I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of the others- do not falter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world It is time to listen. James Baldwin had a voice unlike any other. He transcends country, creed, and time. His work is astonishing and terribly important. The […]
