I listened to this book on audiobook (not read by Anita Hill), it was pretty good. She is obviously a brilliant woman and this is a deeply important tI listened to this book on audiobook (not read by Anita Hill), it was pretty good. She is obviously a brilliant woman and this is a deeply important topic. I did feel like it was a bit repetitive or I guess just dealt with topics and examples that I was already pretty aware of and well-versed in. I actually don’t have much knowledge about the whole Clarence Thomas situation and all of the aftermath of that up until this day, so that was really interesting. I thought it was a good overview of gendered violence including everything from the Supreme Court hearings, workplace harassment, campus sexual assault, bullying of queer children, and so much more. Of course trigger warning for gendered violence!!...more
I’ll read any of Chang’s poetry, Obit was one of my fave collections ever. This isn’t necessarily a poetry collection, but an epistolary with poetic lI’ll read any of Chang’s poetry, Obit was one of my fave collections ever. This isn’t necessarily a poetry collection, but an epistolary with poetic letters written to family or characters from Chang’s past. I love to read anyone writing beautifully abt grief and losing parents. This collection also includes collages with images and artifacts and handwritten poems on them. It’s like an updated version of the photo spread in the middle of memoirs and they appear between every few letters and it is fantastic....more
This is great! I’ve been following Blay since the 2 Brown Girls podcast days and I think she is such a talented and dynamic writer. I read a lot of liThis is great! I’ve been following Blay since the 2 Brown Girls podcast days and I think she is such a talented and dynamic writer. I read a lot of literary criticism of color from people who grew up online, and spend too much time online myself, so as a genre this can feel very basic and overdone esp when the writer is recapping discourse that happened years ago. But I think Blay has a lot of interesting and personal points to add, so I definitely welcome this to the pop culture criticism narrative....more
This is OK. I listened to the audiobook and I don’t think it’s read by the author but can’t remember. The reader is fine though. Not to pit two non-fiThis is OK. I listened to the audiobook and I don’t think it’s read by the author but can’t remember. The reader is fine though. Not to pit two non-fiction books by Korean American authors against each other but when you have Cathy Park Hong’s brilliant Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning...it’s just ..cute next to gorgeous ..gorgeous is going to, you know, devour cute! and I just didn’t feel like JCK had a super strong argument of whether or not Asian American identity existed and why it did or did not. I felt like there was a good amount of speculation in saying for example, "the south Asian person from Queens doesn’t think about white supremacy" or something like that, even about his parents' POV. I just don't know if that's true! And I wish he just asked his dad or whoever what they thought about assimilation and assimilating themselves and their kids into whiteness, rather than being like yeah my dad never thinks about that. Obviously I’m a black person and in any kind of writing about race in America you have to talk about blackness and anti-blackness and idk, I guess I just think that the choice to identify as a "person of color" or "race(d)-American" is a choice and I am interested in why Asian American people across ethnicities and cultures decide not to identify with and build solidarity across that in the way that I think black and African people do? ...more
I loved this book! I listened to the audio, cannot remember if it is read by the author but the reader is great. KCV is brilliant, biting, funny, an aI loved this book! I listened to the audio, cannot remember if it is read by the author but the reader is great. KCV is brilliant, biting, funny, an amazing interviewer and storyteller. Really, really fantastic....more
This is a 3.5 but I’m rounding it up to 4 cus Emezi is such a good writer. I think they’re a genius in fact and excited to read whatever is next from This is a 3.5 but I’m rounding it up to 4 cus Emezi is such a good writer. I think they’re a genius in fact and excited to read whatever is next from them that doesn’t involved incest :) This is a memoir in letters and they’re all great but I did feel like it got repetitive abt halfway through bc there are multiple letters to the same people around kind of the same couple of themes and it just took me out of it that I didn’t really know who these people were and what they were talking about?? Like in the way that poetry can be beautiful even if you don’t actually understand it, but y’know when I read a memoir I do want to actually understand it....more
This book confounds. Not because of the author, she’s fantastic. But the fact that she was preyed upon by G.M. and everyone in France including friendThis book confounds. Not because of the author, she’s fantastic. But the fact that she was preyed upon by G.M. and everyone in France including friends, family, teachers, doctors, were just like, yup that is normal and okay! The fact that he was writing books abt his 14 year old lover and using her actual name?? It was so unbelievably terrible. TW for CSA/ephebophilia and just maddening disappointment in all the adults in Springora’s life. But so glad she wrote this. & I listened to the audiobook....more
I listen to this on audiobook which I actually would not recommend; I don’t think the author is a great reader it’s very slow and monotone and I do wiI listen to this on audiobook which I actually would not recommend; I don’t think the author is a great reader it’s very slow and monotone and I do wish I had read it in book form. But it’s a fantastic memoir about experience of postpartum psychosis, which I’ve never read about before, and it was just so devastating and complex and fast moving between Cho’s time in the ward and growing up with her family to her abusive ex partner to her husband and his family. You’re right inside of her manic mind and it’s I think she is a beautiful, poetic writer and I think the story is really important to understand moms’ experiences after giving birth and also understanding psych ward experiences, health insurance in US/UK (she lives in London but is hospitalized during a trip to America), and how it affects the entire family....more
Loved this a lot! I’ve been following Pham since reading “The Ivory Tower Doesn’t Yet Have a Room for Brown Girls” and the tumblr days. It is so introLoved this a lot! I’ve been following Pham since reading “The Ivory Tower Doesn’t Yet Have a Room for Brown Girls” and the tumblr days. It is so introspective and well written and researched. Loved the references to literary theorists and artists bc I am an English major™️ and art heaux. I listened to the audiobook & it’s not read by the author....more
I haven’t actually read anything besides Harriet the Spy by Fitzhugh, but I was so obsessed and felt so seen by the character when I was young, and loI haven’t actually read anything besides Harriet the Spy by Fitzhugh, but I was so obsessed and felt so seen by the character when I was young, and loved the film adaptation, so she’s really left a mark on me. I loved this biography and learning about her life and her loves and her adventures in queer New York....more
So this book definitely has an interesting premise, but I don't think Tubbs was really apt to write it? And actually I don't know if anyone would be aSo this book definitely has an interesting premise, but I don't think Tubbs was really apt to write it? And actually I don't know if anyone would be apt to write it, because there just isn't enough information about these three women. There weren’t many primary sources like their own journals or letters, so it seemed like a lot of speculation. Obviously these mothers were very influential to their iconic sons, but it was very much just listening to civil rights history that I already knew about and then a line about their mother probably supporting them through this. I was underwhelmed....more
I listened to this a while ago, the audiobook is not read by the author but I thought the reader was great. It is 9 hours which is kind of long..IIRC I listened to this a while ago, the audiobook is not read by the author but I thought the reader was great. It is 9 hours which is kind of long..IIRC Weiner only works at two or three tech companies so while it was interesting to understand the social aspect of those companies, it got repetitive bc the whole thesis of it is basically "the tech/startup world is filled w young sexist privileged dudes with no social skills and i feel weird abt it." I'm not deeply invested in startup culture and started to doze off when Weiner would get really technical abt what was happening. Even though it is an inside look into this industry, I didn't really find much to be surprising or Weiner's perspective to give us anything new. I see some reviews saying this began as a longform essay, and you can tell!...more
3.5 if it was an option. I listened to this on audiobook, it’s read by the author and she’s a great narrator. There are some thinking exercises (like 3.5 if it was an option. I listened to this on audiobook, it’s read by the author and she’s a great narrator. There are some thinking exercises (like in Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good) so if you’re wanting to do that maybe the book would be better or at least additional to read along. I waited a few months for this book so it’s obviously in high demand. It’s sort of selfhelp-adjacent, body positive manifesto-adjacent, memoir-adjacent, so it includes personal anecdotes and info from studies and mantras to help one towards radical self love. I don’t rly have any body qualms but after reading Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia I wanted to read more on fat phobia. Still, I think any body could gain some insight from this book, I certainly did....more
This is a pretty good memoir. I listened to it on audiobook it is read by the author, and she is a pretty good reader. I haven’t read anything by her This is a pretty good memoir. I listened to it on audiobook it is read by the author, and she is a pretty good reader. I haven’t read anything by her before but she is a writing professor so it’s well-written account of her experience of an unwanted/unplanned pregnancy while she already has two children with her husband. It’s also about abortion, marriage and family dynamics, America (a lot of it takes place in West Virginia, a state I’ve never given a single thought to) and it was a very emotional with read, Parravani was going through it. Her husband was characterized so badly, I don’t know if they’re still together but he sucked so it was kind of uncomfortable listening to her talk about him....more
I listened to this on audiobook. It is read by the author and I think she does a great job, her voice is honest and biting. This book is amazing, justI listened to this on audiobook. It is read by the author and I think she does a great job, her voice is honest and biting. This book is amazing, just so important and necessary, so well written and researched. It is a series of essays abt race in America, specifically from an Asian/Asian American identity and it includes so much history, arts analysis including the work of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha and Richard Pryor, personal stories abt CPH’s adolescence, friendships, experience teaching. I feel like a lot of cultural criticisms I read recently have just reiterated things I already know but I learned so much from this book. I haven’t read CPH’s poetry before but I definitely want to, and this is a book I want to own a copy of too. Cannot recommend this enough! I think everyone should read it....more
I'd maybe rate it a 3.5. Mariah reads (and sings) the audiobook, so that is a real treat. I think hardcore Lambily members will love this book, becausI'd maybe rate it a 3.5. Mariah reads (and sings) the audiobook, so that is a real treat. I think hardcore Lambily members will love this book, because she goes deep into her writing process for her songs, and her experiences in recording & performing some. I am def a Mariah fan, but mostly post-Emancipation, though I know all of her big hits from earlier. So I wasn't totally aware of all of the songs she referenced, but it's clear that Mariah is such a smart and talented artist, singer, and songwriter, so for the songs I did know, I loved learning about the how and why she wrote them. I really didn't know anything about her childhood or past relationships (heavy on the Tommy Mottola, skimpy on the Nick Cannon), never saw Glitter or the TRL appearance she kept referencing. She talks about traumatic experiences with her family, growing up around violence and drugs, racist bullying in school, so it's a Cinderella story that I was totally unaware of. One thing about the book is that it isn't super linear, I tbh thought I was listening to it on shuffle at first bc there would be a chapter like, "i love my dad (:" and the next one would be like, "growing up w my dad sucked :(" but all in all, it's a fine celebrity memoir!...more
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