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, […]
An Unflinching Portrayal of Cycles of Trauma, But Not Without the Hope of Healing
First off I want to begin by giving a shoutout to my local library: there was an explosion deliberately set off at the building that holds the library last week (as well as suspicion of a potential shooting situation), which has caused a lot of shutdown in the area as investigations and structural assessment are ongoing. But the library continues to work hard to provide what services they can in spite of all of this, through popup locations, the bookmobile, etc. as well as provide […]
Triple bingo!
I feel like there’s some poetic justice in my “underrepresented” selection netting me a triple bingo, I like that a story about a gay couple adopting a baby SHOULD be valued more than the umpteenth story of a basic white dude finding himself and working out issues with his dad. More non-traditional narratives, please, especially ones this enjoyable There’s not a whole lot to celebrate these days where social progress is concerned, and god, do we still have a long way to go, but it […]
“Into many lives a little irregularity must fall.” (CANNONBALL!! Bingo #3 & 4)
I had read quite a few reviews of this book, and still I don’t think I fully grasped what to expect. Back in January both yesknopemaybe and sistercoyote’s reviews of this book got me to add it to both my to read list, and found it a home on my Read Harder Challenge. My exact words were “Okay, that’s it, you all win. On the to read list it goes. I’m not even that big a Sherlock Holmes fan (hush, I know, I know.)” At […]
I would have done it, too, if it weren’t for…
The What If of this book can be summed up as: What if Mystery, Inc., had actually tangled with chthonic beasts and didn’t realize it until their mid-twenties? What I thought of Meddling Kids? Well, that’s a bit of a mystery, too.
Forget It, Juniper, It’s Racism
Read for CBR 10 Bingo: Underrepresented. Steph Cha is a Korean-American mystery writer in a field dominated by white people (mostly men). I’m usually graceful when I review first time novelists, so while there was a lot that annoyed me about Steph Cha’s debut, I generally enjoyed it and am going to lean mostly on the positives. I love hard boiled/noir fiction. Apparently, so does Steph Cha and her main character (and author ancillary) Junipero Song. The book is littered with references to Chandler, Macdonald […]