Category: Blog

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Blog Fiction

Love and Fury

written by Samantha Silva, Book 37 of 2021

“You say that I am hard on all women. But no harder than I am on myself. I want a serious and thoughtful examination of authentic human emotion and experience, not false sensibility that imprisons us, but a genuine one that empowers us. Not only for me, but you for you too“.

Mary Wollstonecraft
Samantha Silva, “Love and Fury”

This book is not for the faint of heart. The content warnings include child abuse, animal cruelty, drug overdose, suicide, rape and more. Despite all this, the story’s overall message is that of hope. I knew little of Mary Wollstonecraft before this book, but now I’ll certainly seek out more of her writing. Her story, told skillfully through Silva, is one that I’ll carry with me. Mary Wollstonecraft was a women well before her time and her story as told in “Love and Fury” is a compelling look at the strength humans have even when broken and flawed.

The narration is wonderful- besides the terrible American accent, which I will forgive since the rest was outstanding- and I was emotionally engaged throughout.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this early copy of audiobook. It was truly wonderful.

Recommended for: anyone who wants to rethink history.

Content warnings: child abuse, animal cruelty, drug overdose, suicide, rape (basically don’t read this if you’re in a vulnerable mindset).

Categories
Blog Fiction

Ariadne

written by Jennifer Saint, Book 33, 2021

Clever and passionate women who scrubbed floors and tended fires, and wove cloth, and pounded soiled linen on the banks of the rivers while men played dice in the squares and talked at length of philosophy drinking wine in the afternoon sun and arranging the world to suit themselves. These women took to the wide blue sea in their rickety vessels searching for something better which they had heard they would find with us.

Jennifer Saint, Ariadne

I could not put this book down. What little I knew of Ariadne, I learned from a middle school mythology unit and the novel Circe by Madeline Miller. I knew next to nothing of Circe’s sister Phaedra. From a quick google search, it seems like Jennifer Saint stayed fairly true to the understood paths. If you’re like me and you enjoy a retelling from a women’s perspective, you’ll love this. As much as I love when authors subvert the original story more, Saint’s version of the myths still felt complex and novel. The narration was also excellent and compelling.

Recommendations: Would highly recommend to any mythology fan, and especially those who enjoyed Circe and Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

Content Warnings: Death, animal cruelty, abandonment, substance abuse, infanticide, bestiality

Thank you the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the audiobook.

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Blog Nonfiction

Rebel Ideas

written by Matthew Syed, Book 32 of 2021

Companies founded by immigrants grow faster and survive longer. Immigrants make disproportionate contributions to technology, patent production and to science.

Matthew Syed

I found this book to be successful in treading the line between academic and genuinely engaging. Syed makes compelling points about the inherit value of both diversity and structures that encourage all voices to be heard. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who has a leadership role within an organization or creates and manages teams.

I have seen a lot of people comparing this book to “Range” by David Epstein and I would agree that there are many commonalities that lead this book to feel a bit redundant at times. Nonetheless, I did find this book engaging and I appreciated that the focus of this book was more about how the outsider mindset was valuable to groups and not just valuable within the individual.

Recommended for: Anyone who works on teams, especially those tasked with forming them and those who make decisions.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced copy of the audiobook.

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Blog Nonfiction

When They Call You a Terrorist

written by Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Book 5 of 2021

“What is the impact of not being valued? How do you measure the loss of what a human being does not receive?”

Patrisse Khan-Cullors

Wow. I’ve been trying to prioritize reading more books written by people of color and this was one I will recommend over and over. Patrisse Khan-Cullors tells her story in a deeply moving and personal narrative that covers her life from childhood up to her present day activism in a way that will inspire you to join her. It’s hard not to be moved by the way she makes the day to day criminalization of being black of the US very personal. There’s no time like the present to show up for people of color in this country. 

Recommended for: Anyone who’s wondered, what’s the deal with the Black Lives Matter movement or seems confused about what the movement is fighting for. Anyone interested in learning more about how policing and the experience of prison impacts people of color. 

Actions I will take in response to this book 

  • Support organizations led by and for black folks in my community 
  • Support decriminalization of offenses that are mostly enforced in communities of color.
  • Find out how I can support local organizations not just next month (Black history month, but into the future).

Content Warnings: Incarceration, Racism, Violence, Neglect, Torture, Hate Crimes

Categories
Blog Fiction

Land of Big Numbers

by Te-Ping Chen, Book 9, 2021

“He’d seen the village transform itself over a lifetime, just as he, too, was going to transform himself with an invention the likes of which his neighbors had never seen.”

Te-Ping Chen, Land of Big Numbers

This collection, Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen was fantastic. It tells several unrelated stories of several Chinese people, and/or in a few cases is set in China. The styles and themes as widely as one might expect from such an expansive topic and I’d imagine most people would find at least a few of these stories entertaining. My two favorites were “New Fruit” and “Gubeiko Spirit”. I’m a big fan of anything with magical realism and I was pleasantly surprised by the stories that integrated a dash of the unreal. As a bonus: I learned a lot about contemporary Chinese culture (I’m embarrassed to know so little).

Recommended for: Any adult or older teenager, this collection is very readable and thought provoking. Could make a great choice for a book club.

Actions I will take in response to this book 

  • Learn more about China in general, these stories really peaked my curiosity
  • Give more short stories a chance


Content Warnings: Incarceration, Death, Violence, Suicide

Categories
Blog Fiction

The Divines

written by Ellie Eaton, Book 8 of 2021

“What am I supposed to tell him? That since becoming a mother I exist in a state of perpetual unease? That the world seems to me overwhelmingly dangerous and chaotic. How of all the multitudinous threats posed to him and the baby: earthquakes, rising sea levels, drunk drivers, melanomas, pandemics, zealots with semi automatics. It’s something else I’m most afraid of; the past slowly coiling around us, the snake in the crib.”

Ellie Eaton, The Divines

This book is unsettling, eerie, and deeply compelling. The story in The Divines is told by a woman named Josephine in alternating narratives. Some chapters are told from Jo’s perspective as a teenager at a failing all girls boarding school in the 90’s, and others as Sephine in her adult years as she struggles with marriage and motherhood. Listening to this story brought me back painfully to the sensitive years of teenagehood when everything feels so much more visceral than it does as an adult. It raises questions about how one sees oneself versus how one is seen and how we are all unreliable narrators in our own memory. Ellie Eaton is able to distill some of the common experiences of teenage girls and highlight how the disastrous effects of the self focused narrative can unravel themselves into adulthood.

I’d highly recommend reading this as an audiobook! Imogen Church is a wonderful narrator for this dark and dramatic story. As an American, the distinction between accents and tone was striking to listen to and added so much depth to the story that I otherwise would have totally missed. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Audio for providing early access to The Divines! 

Recommended for: Drama and Suspense Lovers, people who enjoy great narration. 

Actions I will take in response to this book:

  • Consider the impact my childhood friendships and relationships have on my present self
  • Reminisce on the feelings of being a teenager and empathize with teens in my life

Content Warnings (may contain spoilers): Bullying, Adolescent Trauma, Drugs, Sexuality, Body Image Issues, Substance Abuse 

Categories
Blog Fiction

The House on Mango Street

written by Sandra Cisneros, Book 2, 2021

“Friends and neighbors will say, What happened to that Esperanza? Where did she go with all those books and paper? Why did she march so far away? They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.”

Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street

I am glad I finally got around to reading this. I feel like it was one of the few books I didn’t read in elementary and middle school. I picked this up in both Spanish and English and read each tiny chapter in Spanish and then in English to check my understanding. I was able to get the general idea even with my limited Spanish language skills and I really enjoyed the mini stories within the greater narrative. Esperanza is an easy to love narrator and I liked the gentle rollercoaster of adolescent problems in comparison to the current state of the world. Ultimately, what I’m most impressed by is the beauty in the simplicity of the writing. It’s widely read for a good reason, if you haven’t already read it, you may want to. 

Recommended for: I’d recommend this to any middle school or late elementary school kids in my life. I’d recommend it to other folks looking for something accessible to read when practicing Spanish. 

Actions I will take in response to this book:

  • This story made me think about what we owe to our communities of origin. As an adult who lives in the same city I was born in, I alternate between wanting to move somewhere that is more aligned with my current values (a progressive city) and my desire to stay here and enact the changes that will make this place better for those who are growing up here now. 
  • I’ll continue to work on local projects that encourage safe, healthy, and inclusivity in my community (not just for those who fit the mold, but especially for those who don’t).


Content Warnings: Drugs, Incarceration, Abuse

Categories
Blog Fiction

Dune

written by Frank Herbert, Book 1 of 2021

“There is no escape —we pay for the violence of our ancestors.”

Frank Herbert, Dune

I am going to be real honest on this one, the only reason I chose to read this was because I saw it was being made into a movie. My love for movies is nearly as great as my love for reading so anytime I see an adaptation that looks promising I’ll scramble to read the original story. 

Again I must be honest, I didn’t love this book. Science fiction lovers please don’t hate me. I’ve been dipping my toes in more science fiction and fantasy over the last year and I’ve loved it. Who doesn’t want to escape reality these days? I thought the premise was pretty interesting but I never grew to like or even get attached to any of the main characters. The most interesting characters, Alia and Chani in my opinion, were secondary and barely given any substance. I did love that the characters who are children had great agency and were the changemakers.

The story’s major protagonist, Paul Atreides is the teenage son of a Duke engaged in an escalating conflict with another noble family in the distant future. This book was written in the 1960’s, and for the time, I’m sure it was novel and radical (space travel, futuristic technology…powerful women characters). Unfortunately, it feels pretty lackluster today. 

The good news; I believe this will make a much better movie than book. I don’t expect deep character development from movies. A movie will silence the relentless repetitive monologues that all the characters engage in. A movie will have beautiful people and places to distract from flat characters and a predictable plot. 

Recommended for: Anyone looking to escape to another world and has a lot of time on their hands, this is a long book.

Actions I will take in response to this book:

  • This story made me think about contemporary climate change, land ownership, and the conflicts around those issues. My biggest takeaway was the reminder that children really are the future and that as an adult it’s my responsibility to the best I can for them.
    • Ally myself with younger generations to improve societal conditions that are unacceptable and harmful to both our our current situation, but especially their future. 
    • Watch the I am Greta Documentary to learn more about Greta Thunberg’s mission.
    • Recommend the book “A Children’s Bible” by Lydia Millet to anyone who wants to read something dystopian about the future we’re heading towards. 

Content Warnings: Drugs, Addiction, Death of a Parent, Violence, Displacement

Categories
Blog Fiction

Deacon King Kong

written by James McBride, Book 45 of 2020

“If I didn’t have Jesus and his cheese, I’d kill somebody. That’s what Jesus did for me 67 years, he kept me sane and on the right side of the law.”

Hettie, Deacon King Kong

For a book that starts with a shooting in the New York City projects, I laughed a lot more than I had I thought I would. This book has it all: murder, mystery, history, romance, and large amounts of holy cheese. I wrote an exceptionally long essay on my thoughts on this book, all the things I loved about it and the themes and as I wrote I realized it all sounded so very depressing. I even tried to explain it to my husband and he could not see how any of the plot could be funny but I can assure you both, it is. 

The more I think about this book, the more depth it gains. I could talk for hours about this book, unfortunately I’m on vacation for a few days with just my husband here at home with me. Please read this book and talk with me about it. Save my dear precious husband from having to listen to me say things like … “I know you didn’t read Deacon King Kong but …” or “You know in the book I just read…”. He will appreciate it and love you forever. 

A note on Dominic Hoffman’s narration of this book: It’s great, it’s emotional, it’s well timed, and I suspect contributed significantly to my enjoyment of this book. At times he seems to say things in the wrong accent, understandably as he flips casually through several, which was a bit confusing. 

Recommended for: Anyone looking for something with social commentary that will still make you laugh out loud (a tall order these days). 

Actions I will take in response to this book 

  • Prioritize reading, listening, and sharing concerns and experiences of BIPOC. 
  • Leverage my privilege in the service of others. 
  • Exercise empathy for marginalized groups who are hesitant to trust the government and bureaucracy due to histories of exploitation and neglect. 
  • Continue to work toward implementation of policies that allow all people equitable access to health and wellness. 

“And no resident in their right mind would go over their heads to the mighty Housing Authority honchos in Manhattan, who did not like their afternoon naps disturbed with minor complaints about ants, toilets, murders, child molestation, rape, heatless apartments, and lead paint that shrunk children’s brains to the size of a full-grown pea in one of their Brooklyn locations, unless they wanted a new home sleeping on a bench at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.”

― James McBride, Deacon King Kong

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Blog

Read, Think, Act

Do your hobbies make you a better person?

This question was posed to my Intro to Ethics class over ten years ago during my first semester of college. At the time my primary hobbies were overthinking things and white knuckling through my crippling social anxiety. So I mean, no? maybe? yes? Over the many years since this question was posed, I have pondered the purpose of our hobbies. I do believe since we’re only given a undetermined and limited time to live, it would be ideal to spend it on activities that we enjoy and make ourselves better people. I don’t oppose the idea of having hobbies that one simply enjoys doing (looking at you Animal Crossing), but there is something to be said for that sweet spot that combines both. My verdict on the question posed: I’d like them to. But you may be wondering, why are we here?

My one enduring lifelong hobby has been reading. I competed in Battle of the Books competitions in grade school, finished all the YA literature in the local library before high school, and after my college hiatus returned full force to reading. It’s safe to say I’ve always enjoyed reading for the personal benefit of providing me a safe place to explore both this world and many others. But does reading help me develop as a person? The science points to higher levels of empathy, increased levels of life satisfaction and resiliency, and various other benefits. Personally, the perspective given to me by reading has been extremely grounding during this tumultuous and challenging year.

I picked up How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi in January of 2020 aftering seeing its eye catching cover displayed at a local bookshop the previous fall. I devoured the book and Kendi’s unique way of mixing personal and empirical narrative. My day job is to prepare my local public health department for accreditation (a.k.a align our workflows with best practices). I realize that doesn’t sound particularly engaging but I love it. It means pushing our wonderful team to do better for all members of our community but especially those disadvantaged by racism and other forms of discrimination.

I didn’t realize at the time how much I was going to lean on Kendi’s insights over the year, especially after George Floyd was killed on May 25th in Minneapolis while being arrested for using a counterfeit bill. It was never enough to simply not be racist, it’s essential to be actively antiracist. It’s not enough to read the books, it’s essential to take action. This stream of thought lead me here, to this blog. Do I want my hobbies to make me a better person? Yes, and in today’s world I need them to.

I guess all of this is to say, I’ll be doing something new this year. I’m going to be documenting what I’ve read, what I think about it, and what actions I’m going to take as a result.

Cheers to 2021! Cheers to making another year count!