Book Review: This Will Be My Undoing

TITLE: This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America
AUTHOR: Morgan Jerkins
PUBLISHED: January 30th, 2018
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essays
PREMISE: A series of essays by Morgan Jerkins diving into things like feminism, racism, pop culture and so much more.
MY REVIEW: Lately I've found that I really enjoy essays. Particularly I like listening to them via audiobook. Which is what I did with this one and I highly recommend it. The author does the narration herself and she's pretty good at it.
I personally really liked this one. As with most essay collections, some are better then others. One or two go a little too long for my taste, but she still makes her point. The subjects raised are interesting ones that not many people talk about. For instance, she talks about a trip to Japan and the differences between how she was treated there, versus the United States.
I think it was a pretty solid collection. I hope we see more from this author in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that like essay collections, Roxane Gay fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five interesting essays

The Big Giant End of the Year Wrap Up Part II

Continuing from yesterday, here are the books I've read (so far) this month. Tomorrow will be the beginning of my favorite of the year lists (yes lists, I divide them up because I can't choose just ten favorite books to talk about. I'm just not wired that way).

Books I read in December (so far):

TITLE: One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter
AUTHOR: Scaachi Koul
PUBLISHED: March 7th, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essays
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Very interesting collection of essays. I can definitely see why this has been making the rounds.
MY RATING: Four out of Five

TITLE: Our Dark Duet
Monsters of Verity Duology
AUTHOR: Victoria Schwab
PUBLISHED: June 13th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Schwab delivers again with another amazing ending to a duology.  But it's probably zero surprise to any of you I loved this, lets face it: I'm Victoria Schwab trash and am here for anything she writes.
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five
RATING FOR SERIES: Four out of Five solid duologies

TITLE: Girls Made of Snow and Glass
AUTHOR: Melissa Bashardoust
PUBLISHED: September 5th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Retelling
RANDOM THOUGHTS: One of my favorite fantasy debuts this year. This one retold Snow White SO much better then Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (and didn't have girl hate going on either).
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five

TITLE: The Dire King
Book 4 in the Jackaby series
AUTHOR: William Ritter
PUBLISHED: August 22nd, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fantasy
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Okay ending. I felt it was rather rushed to be honest. But it ended it in  a satisfactory way so I don't feel too cheated.
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five
RATING FOR SERIES: Four out of Five

TITLE: Wonder Woman-Warbringer
Book 1 in the DC Icons series
AUTHOR: Leigh Bardugo
PUBLISHED: August 28th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy/Superhero/media tie-in
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Solid take on Diana and what it might have been like for her as a teenager. If you're just coming into this from the movie: it completely ignores the movie. And honestly the comics continuity in general from what I can see. So I just see this as one of the many different AU Dianas out there.
MY RATING: Four out of Five

TITLE: The Gilded Years
AUTHOR: Karin Tanabe
PUBLISHED: 2016
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Historical Fiction
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Solid historical novel. A bit predictable but otherwise not bad. Not sure how well it will do as a movie (it's been optioned for a film apparently) as a lot of the middle parts are rather dull. But we'll see.
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five

TITLE: Hunger: A Memoir of My Body
AUTHOR: Roxane Gay
PUBLISHED: June 13th, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Memoir/Essays
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Amazing memoir from Roxane Gay. If you guys haven't checked out Bad Feminist yet, seriously do so.
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five

TITLE: Ash and Quill
Book 3 in the Great Library series
AUTHOR: Rachel Caine
PUBLISHED: July 11th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian/Alternate History
RANDOM THOUGHTS: I am now completely caught up with series. This makes me happy but also sad because now I have to wait for the next book like everyone else...
MY RATING: Four out of Five

TITLE: Dear Martin
AUTHOR: Nic Stone
PUBLISHED: October 17th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Contemporary
RANDOM THOUGHTS: I wanted to love this. I appreciate what the author was trying to do...but ultimately....this was just okay. The writing style was not my favorite, there was way too much excusing white people for the shit we do (I'm white and I'm sorry stop excusing us, seriously. We need to be held accountable and called out on our shit. Otherwise I guarantee we will never change), and plot choices that bugged me here and there. Plus I tried not too, but I couldn't help but compare it to The Hate U Give and I'm sorry but The Hate U Give is ten times better in quality. It's not bad. It just....was not my favorite.
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five

TITLE: Little & Lion
AUTHOR: Brandy Colbert
PUBLISHED: August 8th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Contemporary
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Damn good contemporary book. I have to say, contemporary genre, you all knocked it out of the park this year. More then half of my favorite reads from this year have been contemporary reads which is pretty unusual for me.
MY RATING: Four out of Five

TITLE: Final Girls
AUTHOR: Riley Sager
PUBLISHED: July 11th, 2017
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Thriller/Horror
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Okay thriller. I could tell the author was trying to be subversive but they quickly fell into many regular tropes that happen in horror/thrillers such as weird hang ups on sex/slut shaming/women can't be friends nonsense etc. I am still side-eyeing the author like hell for his reasoning behind the female pen name.
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five

TITLE: Wicked Like Wildfire
Book 1 in the Hibiscus Daughter series
AUTHOR: Lana Popovic
PUBLISHED: August 15th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
RANDOM THOUGHTS: One of the most interesting magic systems I've come across. Beautifully written and I loved that most of it involved family and family history. It's just...terribly slow in the middle.
MY RATING: Four out of Five

TITLE: The Afterlife of Holly Chase
AUTHOR: Cynthia Hand
PUBLISHED: October 24rth, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Paranormal, Classic Book Referencing
RANDOM THOUGHTS: This book is best read when you're on that Christmas high like I was when I read it (I finished it around Christmas Eve as a matter of fact). It's like the best of those cheesy Christmas TV specials in book form and it's delightful.
MY RATING: Four out of Five

Book Review: Sex Object

TITLE: Sex Object, A Memoir
AUTHOR: Jessica Valenti
PUBLISHED: June, 2016
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essays, Feminism
PREMISE: A collection of essays from columnist Jessica Valenti that center around the ways in which sex has effected her and other women.
MY REVIEW: Jessica Valenti has been around for quite awhile, but I confess...I've never read her books. I've been meaning too, it just never happened until now. After reading this one, I'll definitely be looking into her other books.
For those trying to wrap your minds around Weinstein, Moore, Franken etc. I definitely recommend picking this one up if you are wondering how exactly we got here. There is a lot of stuff in here that is pretty timely and some of these essays were written quite a few years ago. Oh and FYI, women have actually been calling out sexual harassment stuff for quite awhile now. Stop acting like the news that there's a rape culture out there is somehow brand new information. We've been telling you about it for years now. You're just now finally forced to acknowledge it because the media finally decided to pay attention to it.
I should get back to the book...anyway, there are a lot of great essays in this one. The most notable ones for me are the essays titled Subways and Grilled Cheese. If you want to really get angry at people, Valenti ends the book with some of the comments she's received online from people about the essays. All I can say is...wow.
WHO SHOULD READ: Feminists, those reading up on rape culture
MY RATING: Four out of Five thought provoking essays

Author Review: Rebecca Solnit

TITLES OF BOOKS: Hope in the Dark
Men Explain Things To Me
The Mother of All Questions
AUTHOR: Rebecca Solnit
PUBLISHED: 2004, 2014, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essays, Articles, Feminism
PREMISE: In three of her books, Solnit discusses various issues surrounding politics, feminism, and activism.
MY REVIEW: Over the past few months I've been reading through these three books by Rebecca Solnit. For those who have no idea who Solnit is, you probably know or have used a term she coined: Mansplaining. That term is credited to her essay Men Explain Things to Me. She's also a frequent columnist on many websites, including LitHub.
I specifically want to talk about Men Explain Things to Me though, because mansplaining has been a thing getting a lot of flack lately around the internet. Mostly from men, but not always. First, I'd like to point out, Solnit herself is not altogether pleased by how much the term has been overused. She says as much in some endnotes after the Men Explain Things to Me essay. So maybe put your misandry claims away, okay? Second, I think people frankly deliberately misunderstand what the term means. No, it does not mean men can't explain stuff ever. If a woman actually asks for your opinion and you are actually educated and know a thing or two about the subject, go ahead and talk about it! We won't care. Because that's not mansplaining.
Mansplaining is a man making the assumption that a woman can't possibly know this one brilliant thing they know and so proceed to condescendingly explain the thing to us. Yes, sometimes females do this to people too (geeks of all shapes and forms tend to do this to new fans I've discovered and guys, seriously, cut it out). But it is not quite at the same rate as men do it to women. I see you men going "well wait, then how do I know if I'm mansplaining or not?" It's very simple: did the woman ask for your opinion and do you actually know a thing or two about the subject? No to both or one of those questions? You are probably mansplaining. Stop.
Men Explain Things to Me is probably the best of all the essays. But there are a whole lot of really good ones. Hope in the Dark is also incredibly interesting to read at times because it features essays written during the Bush years and it's like a peek back in time to what was going on then. I'm still wrapping my mind around the fact that it's been over a decade since some of the early Bush years.
WHO SHOULD READ: feminists, those interested in social justice issues or politics
MY RATING FOR ALL OF THE BOOKS: Four out of Five satisfied nods

Mini-Review Catch-Up Number 2

One of these again. I really do need to get better about this. I apologize.

TITLE: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
AUTHOR: Mackenzie Lee
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: June 27th, 2017
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Fantasyish
QUICK TAKE: Absolutely adored this one. It's a fun romp through historical Europe with a cast you pretty much fall in love with from the get go. There's apparently going to be another book focusing on Feliciy and I for one cannot wait. One of my favorites of the year for sure.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of My Lady Jane, those looking for fun LGBTQA books
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five happy sighs

TITLE: All the Lives I Want: Essays About My Best Friends Who Happen to be Complete Strangers
AUTHOR: Alana Massey
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: February 7th, 2017
GENRE: Essays
QUICK TAKE: Fun essay collection covering a variety of pop culture topics. There are even a few literary analysis essays in here. Including one that managed to put into words just how sexist the Virgin Suicides book is and why so much of that plot was just not okay.
WHO SHOULD READ: Essay fans, if you like opinion articles about pop culture
MY RATING: Four out of Five satisfied nods

TITLE: Always and Forever, Lara Jean
Book 3 in the PS I Love You Trilogy
AUTHOR: Jenny Han
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: May 2nd, 2017
GENRE: Contemporary, Romance
QUICK TAKE: Okay ending that ultimately...I kind of felt wasn't very necessary. It didn't solve any lingering plots that were left over or anything like that. Basically all it did was tell you things like yes, her dad gets remarried, you find out what college she's going too, that sort of thing. It ended things for sure...it was enjoyable. It was just ultimately...kind of pointless which pains me to say, because I adored the first two books.
WHO SHOULD READ: Super fans of the first two Lara Jean books, everyone else...it's no big deal if you miss this.
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five shrugs
RATING FOR TRILOGY: Four out of Five

Book Review: Wolf Whistle Politics

TITLE: Wolf Whistle Politics
AUTHOR: various, edited by Naomi Wolf
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: May 23rd, 2017
GENRE: Essays, Feminism, Social Commentary
PREMISE: A collection of essays, articles written in the past year or so that center around sexism and wolf whistle politics.
MY REVIEW: So this is yet another essay collection. This one is a very quick read, it's less then two hundred pages so it shouldn't take long too read. It's like most collections where some things in it are better then others. This one had a lot of good ones, but also one or two that...where honestly kind of reaching and not really written well.
But there where two that stood out for me. One was the essay where the book gets its title from. That one described what Wolf Whistle politics is and went even further into coded language which I think is something we all need to take a long hard look at. Personally, I feel like coded language is one of the many reasons sexism/racism etc. has managed to survive despite our many efforts to get rid of it. Bigots and sexists got smart and realized they couldn't be up front about their crap anymore and so they started getting more subtle in the way they did things. They do it in such away that lets them go "no no, that's not bigotry/sexism! Because like I'm not directly saying I think you're inferior to me!" but they are heavily implying it. The subtlety also allows for other people to look the other way and pretend it doesn't exist. See all the "Ugh SJWs are so over-sensitive" comments.
The other essay that stood out was one that went into the history of conservative politics and how the Democratic Party and Republican Party basically switched policies/interests in the sixties/seventies. I kind of wish everyone would read this, especially Republicans who like to brag about how they got rid of slavery. Sorry, you didn't. The Republican party in Lincoln's time was incredibly different then the Republican Party of today. Also please don't go acting like this means your party wasn't racist. there were Republicans very much against the abolition of slavery. Just because people didn't want to own slaves, didn't mean they weren't racist.
So this one was a bit of a mixed bag. There were several good essays/articles in here though and I do think the good far outweighs the bad. So if you're looking for some essays to read, this is an interesting one to look into.
WHO SHOULD READ: Feminists, those interested in current events
MY RATING: Four out of Five

Book Review: Freedom is a Constant Struggle

TITLE: Freedom is a Constant Struggle
AUTHOR: Angela Y. Davis
PUBLISHED: January 2016
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Speech/Interview/Article collection
PREMISE: A collection of interviews/articles/speeches that Angela Y. Davis gave over the past few years.
MY REVIEW: I'm not terribly sure how to review this one to be honest. It's not really a book persay, it's mostly just a collection of speeches, or articles, or interviews that activist Angela Y. Davis gave in recent years. If you are a big Davis fan, this is a good one to have. If you aren't...you probably weren't going to seek it out in the first place.
There are a lot of interesting thoughts here. Reading this made me wish I could see her give these speeches in person. I wish they gave some sort of background on what the items were for exactly. Some I could figure out, but others such as the interviews, I did not.
This is a very short book. You can probably read it in less then a day. The speeches at least are well worth your time.
WHO SHOULD READ: Angela Y. Davis fans, those interested in the recent BLM protests
MY RATING: Four out of Five interesting speeches

Book Review: The Meaning of Michelle

TITLE: The Meaning of Michelle-16 Writers on the Iconic First Lady and How Her Journey Inspires Our Own
AUTHOR: various, edited by Veronica Chambers
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: January 10th, 2017
GENRE: Essays, Social Commentary
PREMISE: A variety of authors write about Michelle Obama and her impact on them and society.
MY REVIEW:I don't really have much to say about this one to be honest. I thought I would, but I don't. It's basically what it sounds like: a Michelle Obama lovefest. Luckily I adore Michelle Obama, so I don't mind this. If you aren't a Michelle Obama fan...you'll likely hate it.
As much as I enjoyed it, I'm not entirely sure why this needed to be a book. A series of articles on a website would have just done the trick. But hey, if the Reagans and Clintons and all of them get a bunch of books about them, why not the Obaamas?
This is a very niche sort of book. Only certain people will seek it out. If you are a Michelle Obama fan, this will be your jam. If you aren't...move along.
WHO SHOULD READ: Die-hard Michelle Obama fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five shrugs.

Book Review: Insane Clown President

TITLE: Insane Clown President-Dispatches From the 2016 Circus
AUTHOR: Matt Taibbi
PUBLISHED: January 17th, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Articles/Essays
PREMISE: A collection of articles that the author wrote during his time covering the 2016 Presidential campaign.
MY REVIEW: There's not really much to say about this one. If you kept track of the 2016 election, you likely read at least one of these articles, especially if you're a Rolling Stone magazine reader. It turned out I had read one or two of them when they had been released.
If there is one takeaway from all of these articles it is this: the 2016 election was like no other election I've seen. I mean, I've seen some nutty ones. The last election was pretty bad. I also can tell you stories about the Bush vs. Gore election (the first election I actually paid attention too, but sadly was not old enough to vote in at the time). But even those don't compare to this last one. If there's one thing I appreciate about Taibbi, it is that he calls out the BS on all sides of the aisle. Much as I voted for Clinton, there were several missteps in that campaign (as well as with Sanders, who I also voted for. Sorry Bernie Bros, he was not the perfect candidate you all make him out to be). It's sad to me that an entertainment magazine has some better reporters writing articles on politics then papers like the New York Times do.
I wouldn't really call this entertainment reading. The things that happened during that time and after are just frankly too depressing for me to enjoy remembering it. But there are some important insights here that I think are well worth reading. And worth remembering come next election cycle.
WHO SHOULD READ: Rolling Stone magazine fans, those who want a recap of the election
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five insightful articles

Book Review: Tears We Cannot Stop

TITLE: Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
AUTHOR: Michael Eric Dyson
PUBLISHED: January 17th, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essay, I guess.../Social Commentary
PREMISE: Michael Eric Dyson talks to white Americans about things like the racial divide, how racism has persisted all these years, and what we can do to try and change things.
MY REVIEW: In a perfect world, every white person would read this, actually listen to what Dyson is telling them, and change things. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world. I have a sad feeling the people who need hear this stuff, will never read it. Or if they do read it, will go on about how this is racist towards white people (see, reactions on Goodreads to The Hate U Give and pretty much any book calling white people out our crap) and will ignore all the important advice Dyson gives at the end.
So why am I, a white woman, reading this you ask? To educate myself. There's also a great passage in the book from Dyson that kind of sums up why I read books like this, despite how much it criticizes my race:
"What I ask of my white students and what I ask of you, my dear friends, is to try, the best you can, to surrender your ignorance, to reject the willful denial of history, and to live fully in our complicated present with all of the discomfort it brings."
I really don't think that's too much to ask. Can it get uncomfortable at times, when you realize friends/family/even yourself sometimes do the things this book (and other books talking about race) points out? Yes. But sometimes life is uncomfortable. Especially when you go about trying to improve yourself. If you want a book that holds your hand while talking about racial issues, I'm sorry this book will not be it. It's very blunt and delivers several hard truths that need to be heard. I can pretty much guarantee it'll make you uncomfortable at some point. But if you are willing, it can definitely be worth it.
One thing I really appreciate is that he includes a whole chapter at the end that goes "okay, you've realized now that things are bad. Here's what to do to improve". It not only gave advice about how to deal with racism when you hear it, but also gave a whole list of books to educate yourself on. I loved this, because there are lots of times when I learn about issues and go "well okay, that's definitely a thing. How can I deal with it when it comes up?" and no one tells me. Sorry, but sometimes we privileged folks do need a bit of a guide to help us know where to go after we learn about issues we didn't know about.
WHO SHOULD READ: Anyone willing to read it with open minds, fans of essays
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five important books

Book Review: Me Talk Pretty One Day

TITLE: Me Talk Pretty One Day
AUTHOR: David Sedaris
PUBLISHED: 2000
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essays
PREMISE: David Sedaris writes humorous pieces commenting on various subjects.
MY REVIEW: When I first started picking up essays, this was one of the books that was basically on every must-read essay collection list. It's also part of the Rory Gilmore challenge which I've been unofficially going through book by book these past few years (I've completed over 60 books now!). So possibly, my expectations for this were a little too high.
I don't think this book is bad. Sedaris is hilarious. There are many laugh out loud moments in this book. I could listen to Sedaris tell funny stories about his family all day. But after awhile...they just got repetitive. I also can't help but notice....he kind of went out of his way to avoid anything heavy. Like, the minute something like say homophobia came up, there was suddenly a quick change in the subject. Which...okay. Not everyone has to talk about the heavy stuff if they don't want too. But ultimately...it kind of made it so that for me...the collection didn't have much substance too it.
It was funny, don't get me wrong. If you want just funny essays this is a great one to read. If you want essays that actually make points on things though....I can recommend better things. So this was just an okay read for me. I see why Sedaris is popular...I've just read better.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that want light hearted essays
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five okay but not spectacular essays

Book Review: Between the World and Me

TITLE: Between the World and Me
AUTHOR: Ta-Nehisi Coates
PUBLISHED: 2015
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essays/Letters
PREMISE: A man talks about things like race in a series of essays written as letters to his son.
MY REVIEW: When it comes to books like this one or Letters to a Young Muslim and whatnot, I'm never really sure how to go about reviewing them. These are books that need to be read by people regardless of how good I or anyone else actually thinks they are. Plus, I'm still very new to essays so I'm still not exactly sure about what qualifies as a good essay or not. I just tend to judge them based on whether or not it made me think. Pretty much all of them tend to do that to some extent.
This one especially did. I'm slightly familiar with Coates from his appearances on various things. Plus, I've been reading the Black Panther comic run he's been writing. This goes into his life and his own various experiences with race and race relations. There is a lot of food for thought in this one. I can't say I related to any of it. I am a white woman, I will never experience things like this. But I'm of the firm opinion that you don't have to relate to every piece of writing out there, and just because you don't relate to it, doesn't mean the piece of writing isn't good or important.
This is a very quick book. I read it in an afternoon. But the things it talks about will stay with you for quite a bit.
WHO SHOULD READ: Essay fans, Letters to a Young Muslim fans, those looking for books that talk about race
MY RATING: Four out of Five essays to make you think

Book Review: Letters to a Young Muslim

TITLE: Letters to a Young Muslim
AUTHOR: Omar Saif Ghobash
PUBLISHED: January 3rd, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essays?
PREMISE: An ambassador talks to his son via letters about what it is to be Muslim in this day and age.
MY REVIEW: I first heard about this book through The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Which lately, has been on fire with its interviews and non-fiction book recommendations. My non-fiction TBR list has exploded these past few months thanks to them.
This was a very interesting read. I do not really know much about the Muslim religion beyond the very basics (there's praying five times a day, the head scarves are for religious reasons; do not bother people about them etc.) so this gave a lot of insight into the religion itself. As the author was also an ambassador, he wrote a lot about how things in the Middle East came to be and that was very illuminating. Because honestly...we aren't taught enough about the situation in the Middle East, despite the fact that we constantly hear about it in the news.
This is a very heavy, thinkers type of read. It's a small and fast read but it packs quite a punch and gives you a lot of food for thought. I say that overall, it was a job well done.
WHO SHOULD READ: Anyone interested
MY RATING: Four out of Five thought provoking letters

Book Review: Dear Ijeawele, Or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions

TITLE: Dear Ijeawele, Or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions
AUTHOR: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
PUBLISHED: March 7th, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essay/Feminism
PREMISE: Author/activist Adichie goes into her ideas of feminism in a letter to her friend.
MY REVIEW: A couple of weeks ago, my review of this might have been very different. What happened a couple of weeks ago, you ask? Well, Adichie gave an interview where somehow trans issues came up and she said some pretty transphobic things. There have been more detailed articles about it. This review of the same book goes a bit into what happened.
 I'm conflicted about how to approach this because while I definitely sigh at yet another feminist saying transphobic things (even if it is perhaps said in ignorance, which...I really hope is the case here). I also don't want to suddenly discount all the things she says about issues that she is informed about, such as race/gender etc.
This has clouded my reading of this somewhat and I will freely admit that. There are parts in here I liked and parts in here that...I just kept thinking about those comments in the back of my head and they really contradicted some of this book. So yeah...lots of mixed feelings. I do think I will still read Adichie...I just am going to probably be much more critical of her stuff now then I might have been before.
WHO SHOULD READ: Feminists, fans of We Should All Be Feminists
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five conflicted feelings

Book Review: Shrill-Notes From a Loud Woman

TITLE: Shrill-Notes From a Loud Woman
AUTHOR: Lindy West
PUBLISHED: May 2016
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essays/memoirs
PREMISE: Online writer Lindy West talks about various topics including how  being a feminist online has effected her.
MY REVIEW: I am somewhat familiar with Lindy West's work before this. I do occasionally read Jezebel (very occasionally, it sometimes gets a little too white feminist for my taste), and I remember one of the incidents that she talks about in this book. So I was a little interested in reading this.
For the most part, I liked it a lot. West is an engaging writer. It gets a tad repetitive in places. Sometimes she does repeat things a lot. But lets face it: a lot incidents with internet trolls tend to go about the same. So that's probably a large part of it. I had to put the book down because so much of the harassment she receives for basically voicing an opinion, just really makes you question whether there's any empathy left in the world at like, all. There is one story at the end that gives a little hope, but it is very little as it's just one person realizing what a colossal jerk they were.
At times this mostly just feels a bit ranty (I know, I probably shouldn't judge that). The stuff she's writing about is interesting (at least to me) so I don't mind that much. If you like memoirs dealing with subjects like feminism and weight issues and whatnot, this is a good one to look into.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Lindy West, feminists, people who like social commentary essays
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five essays to nod along at too

Book Review: Here We Are-Feminism For the Real World

TITLE: Here We Are-Feminism For the Real World
AUTHOR: Kelly Jensen and various authors
PUBLISHED: January 24rth, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Feminism, Essays/misc.
PREMISE: A variety of authors talk about feminism and their dealings with it.
MY REVIEW: This book is an interesting one. It has essays but also has author interviews, blog posts, even some fun lists out there that are all geared towards helping people understand what feminism is/how it relates to everyday life and so on. A lot of the information I knew. But if you're a person who is just getting into feminism or trying to make sense of the many ideas around it, this is a good book to pick up. Honestly, even if you have been in the feminist discourse area a while, it may be a good idea to read this as it deals a lot with making feminism more inclusive. Some feminists I know could stand to be more inclusive (looking at you, TERFs and White Feminists).
This is a wide variety of topics that it chooses to talk about. It deals with weight issues, mental health issues, transgender issues, faith, being male and considering yourself feminist, and so much more. It is quite possibly one of the most inclusive feminist collections I've ever read. Which, considering how many feminist books I've been reading lately....is a bit sad.
I basically loved this collection. It's perfect for those just dipping their toes into feminism, and also a good brush up for those of us who have been feminists for awhile. This was just a very well done collection. Most of it is basic stuff, but still, it was good.
WHO SHOULD READ: Feminists (particularly beginner feminists), anyone interested in actually learning about what feminism is beyond the stereotypes you've probably encountered
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five hell yes essays

Book Review: The Geek Feminist Revolution

TITLE: The Geek Feminist Revolution
AUTHOR: Kameron Hurley
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: May 2016
GENRE: Essays/commentary
PREMISE: Sci-fi writer Kameron Hurley shares her insights and thoughts on being a geek and a feminist and various other subjects.
MY REVIEW: For the most part, I enjoyed this collection. I just....don't think it was completely what it advertised. From the title, I expected a collection more along the lines of Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist. Or something that frequently linked feminism and the geek world together. Now there were some essays here that did that and they were fabulous. But a lot of the essays...didn't particularly have anything to do with being a geek feminist.
After doing some research I realized why: a lot of this book is actually mostly just old blog posts from her popular online blog. That explains the one about the ACA (that feels bittersweet now thanks to the fact that it looks like there's a good chance it's getting repealed). A lot of the posts talk about her creative process and time in marketing and so on. It's very interesting...just not why I picked up the book.
As with most of these types of collections, some essays/blog posts are better then others. This did however make me very interested in picking up Hurley's books. I was interested in them beforehand, but now they're higher on the TBR list.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Bad Feminist. Kameron Hurley fans, geek feminists
MY RATING: Four out of Five social commentary essays

Reading Through the Classics: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

TITLE: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
AUTHOR: Mary Wollenstonecraft
PUBLISHED: 1790
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction, Classics
GENRE: Essays
PREMISE: Mary Wollenstonecraft writes a series of essays calling for education of women.
MY REVIEW: For those that do not know: Mary Wollenstonecraft was the mother of Mary Shelley (who got the name Shelley when she married). She was a writer, philosopher, and many other things. Some consider her one of the very early feminists in history.
So this is basically Wollenstonecraft saying "hey, women aren't as fragile as you make us out to be. Educate us and stop treating us like infants and we'll probably accomplish just as much as men do." To me, this seems pretty obvious and I think history has basically proven her correct. What really gets me is honestly...she wasn't even calling for anything huge. She wasn't saying women should run for office or defy gender roles or anything. She literally was just saying, hey we're people too. We deserve to get an education too. I doubt she was including PoC women in this, because racism in that time was normal. But still...it didn't seem all that radical to me. Yet...simply asking for education was enough for people to lose their shit. I can't help but think of all the trolls/MRAs who whine about little things like Star Wars having female main characters. The more things change, the more they stay the damn same.
Enjoyment of this work is...probably going to depend on how much you love your scholarly discourse. It's old-fashioned language so deciphering it sometimes takes a bit. So reading it can be sometimes tedious (I started this back during Christmas and just finished it last week to give you an idea of how long it can take). I highly recommend this for those looking into early feminist ideas.
WHO SHOULD READ: Feminists, those interested in scholarly discourse

Book Review: We Were Feminists Once

TITLE: We Were Feminists Once
AUTHOR: Andi Zeisler
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: May 3rd, 2016
GENRE: Pop Culture commentary/essays/feminism history
PREMISE: An examination of marketplace feminism and its effect on feminism itself.
MY REVIEW: This is one of those books that has a very niche audience. Basically, if you're not remotely concerned about feminism and its history/current popularity...you're probably going to be bored with it. This is a kind of book people have to actively want to read. It's not what I would call an entertainment sort of read.
As a feminist, I actually found this one interesting. There were a lot of topics here I was familiar with because I read things like The Mary Sue and they talk about pop culture and feminism a lot. But there were some interesting looks into the history of feminism and how our capitalistic society does effect it, for better or for worse. I've seen some complain that this book doesn't offer many solutions to the problems it brings up. I...do and don't agree with that complaint. The author does point out some things people can do but honestly...a lot of the problems here are things that can only be fixed by an entire industry deciding it needs to change and frankly the odds of that ever happening...are slim.
What this book is good at is making you aware of issues that the media often likes to gloss over or ignore completely. I'm all for people becoming more aware of issues. The more people who are aware things, the more chance we have of getting things changed.
WHO SHOULD READ: Feminists, those interested in feminism vs. pop culture/consumer society issues
MY RATING: Four out of Five let me burst your ignorance bubbles

Book Review: The View From The Cheap Seats

TITLE: The View From The Cheap Seats
AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman
PUBLISHED: May 2016
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Speeches/essays/articles
PREMISE: A collection Neil Gaiman's non-fiction writing from intros he wrote for books to speeches he did at various functions.
MY REVIEW: If you're going into this book hoping for new Neil Gaiman material to read...you're likely going to be disappointed. Most fans, probably know most of the things here. Especially if you're a regular reader of his blog.
This book is a collection of old things Gaiman has done. It has a lot of speeches, various intros he wrote for people's books, and many other random non-fiction. I don't think it's meant to be read all at once. Stuff like this is probably best read here and there when you're in the mood.
Like most collections, some are better then others. There was a lot in here about Gaiman that I wasn't aware of, so for me it was rather fun. But if you're a Gaiman super-fan, then likely you know most of the things here. I'd only pick it up if you're really interested and just want all the things he wrote in one place or something.
WHO SHOULD READ: hardcore Neil Gaiman fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five on point speeches