Book Review: Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?

TITLE: Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? And Other Questions You Should Have the Answers to When You Work in the White House.
AUTHOR: Alyssa Mastromonaco
PUBLISHED: March 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Memoirs, Politics
PREMISE: Obama's former Deputy Chief of Staff writes about her time in the White House and what it's like to work in politics.
MY REVIEW: I'm honestly not sure how to rate this one. There's nothing really wrong with it. The writing is engaging, it explains things really well, there are some good stories in here. It's just...I feel like the book didn't know what it wanted to be.
Part of it was a memoir, another part of it was life advice. It just kept switching and it was jarring when it would switch. That aspect of the book, I could have done without. But for the most part, I did enjoy it. It just was all over the place sometimes and needed a bit more focus. There were some excellent stories in here about Obama though. Those were fun.
This is one of those niche kind of books, you either are going to be interested in it or you aren't. I was, so I liked it.
WHO SHOULD READ: those interested in politics
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five funny stories about Obama

Book Review Catch Up Part 3: The Second Half of July 2018

Last of the review catch up posts, I promise. Here are all the things I read in the second half of July.

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding Book 1 by Alexandra Bracken
Category: Middle-Grade
Published: September 2017
Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Enjoyable read, as usual, from Alexandra Bracken. Turns out this is going to be made into a movie, so I read it just in time.
Rating: Four out of Five snarky demons

Another Country by James Baldwin
Category: Adult
Published: 1962
Genre: Contemporary
Read mostly because it was on the Great American Read list. I'm kind of slowly going through the ones I haven't read. Not all of them, because there are some I'm just not interested in, at all (Atlas Shrugged, for instance). But most of them I will be reading....at some point.

Robots VS Fairies anthology by various authors
Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi
Published: January 9th, 2018
Fun short story anthology that had stories featuring either robots or fairies.
Rating: Three and a half out of Five short stories that I wanted to be whole books

Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley by Emily Chang
Category: Non-Fiction
Genre: Social Commentary/Feminism
Published: February 6th, 2018
A deep look into the sexism of the tech industry. How bad it is, how we got there, why it persists, and how we can change the culture. The book is good and interesting...it's just draining, hearing about all these incidents and seeing all the indifference from some of the people in the industry.
Rating: Three and a half out of Five informative, but sad books

Kat Holloway Book 1: Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley
Category: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
Published: January 2nd, 2018
Okay historical mystery. Didn't really impress me, but didn't really fail me either. It's good for if you just want some Downton Abbey-esque feelings with a dash of mystery.
Rating: Three and a half out of Five nosy maids getting shit done

Veronica Speedwell Book 3: A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn
Category: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
Published: January 16th, 2018
This series continues to be delightful. If you like slow burn romances, heroines who don't give a fuck about society's expectations, and snark, seriously pick this series up.
Rating: Four out of Five awesome snarky heroines

The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Category: Play
Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: 1953
I started to read this one, and it turns out I actually already have read it...way back in school. I just apparently forgot that. Oh well. If nothing else, it was a good refresher.

Comics read:
Captain America original 1940s series on Marvel Unlimited
Heavy Vinyl vol. 1

Book Review Catch-up Post Part 1: June 2018 Reads

Yeah...I'm woefully behind on reviews on here. I have been reading...I just haven't been terribly motivated to post reviews. So I'm going to do a catch up and try to get back into the swing of reviewing/posting stuff this month.

Here are the rest of the books that I read in June:

Rebel Mechanics Book 3: Rebels Rising by Shanna Swenson
Category: YA
Genre: Steampunk/Historical Fantasy
Published: April 2017
Rating: Three and a half out of Five steampunk outfits
Okay ending. Everything tied up a little too quickly and neatly for my taste. A bit of a let down after how great the second one was.
Rating for series: Three and a half out of Five

Tyranny of Petticoats Book 2: The Radical Element by various authors
Category: YA
Genre: Historical Fiction/Historical Fantasy, Short Stories
Published: March 13th, 2018
Rating: Four out of Five awesome female leads
If you've read Tyranny of Petticoats, this is just more of the same. Lots of good stories in this one.

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi
Category:YA
Genre: Contemporary
Published: January 23rd, 2018
Rating: Three and a half out of Five
I like the overall message in this book, and there were some beautiful passages of writing in it. But the story overall...just fell a little flat for me for some reason.


The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Category: Adult/Classics
Genre: Contemporary
Published: 1905
This was...interesting. It was a bit slow for my taste, but overall I liked it. I find that Wharton's books tend to subvert expectations and I really like that aspect of her books.

Numair Chronicles Book 1: Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce
Category: YA
Genre: Fantasy
Published: February 6th, 2018
Rating: Four out of Five
I adore the Tortall books and pretty much everything Pierce writes. So it was a given, I was going to read and enjoy this. However, even as I enjoyed it...I think the series is unnecessary as most prequels are. It gives good insight to Numair's character...but that's honestly about all it does. But this was mostly just build-up, I think I suspect the next book will be where everything I actually care about happens. Such as Numair meeting Alanna and co.

The Collected Poems by Langston Hughes
Category: Classics
Genre: Poetry
Published: This edition, was published in 1995. It includes all of Hughes poems written over the the years, going as far back as the 1930s.
Still very new to poetry, so I can't comment on the quality. But I personally loved these. I also found some that were written over fifty years ago that are still relevant today. Part of me thinks it's because Hughes was just that good and part of me also thinks its because our society has not evolved as much as we like to claim.

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Category: Classics
Genre: Non-Fiction/Philosophy/Politics
Published: 1513
If you're into history, you'll probably like this. As a lot of it is Machiavelli talking about politics and drawing from examples of history to back up his ideas. I just honestly found it dull.

Graphic Novels read:
Ms Marvel Vol.s 7 and 8
Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 1
Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop Vol. 2

Book Review: Scrappy Little Nobody

TITLE: Scrappy Little Nobody
AUTHOR: Anna Kendrick
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: 2016
GENRE: Celebrity Memoir
PREMISE: Actress Anna Kendrick talks about her life.
MY REVIEW: I...honestly don't have much to say about this book. It is basically what it is: a memoir written by Anna Kendrick.
It's very typical celebrity memoir stuff. She talks about her childhood a bit. She goes into how her career started. There are some bits here and there about the movies she has been in (not much about Pitch Perfect, oddly enough). and so on. There weren't any major reveals that shocked me or anything like that. If you're a big Anna Kendrick fan, you're probably aware of most of the information in here.
So it's an okay memoir. It just doesn't really blow me away. I don't look at Kendrick differently or anything like that. It's just an average celebrity memoir.
WHO SHOULD READ: Anna Kendrick fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five shrugs

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

Book Review: Schindler's List

TITLE: Schindler's List
AUTHOR: Thomas Keneally
PUBLISHED: 1982
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: History
PREMISE: In WWII a man puts together a refuge for Jewish people in Germany.
MY REVIEW: Full disclosure: I have never seen the movie Schindler's List. I've heard the beautiful soundtrack. But I've never seen the movie. I might be rectifying that in the future because this was fascinating. It was also maddening as it went into all the reasoning Germans had for allowing Hitler to do his bs. Personally, I'm seeing a lot of parallels between pre-WWII German attitudes and the US right now. Which is really scary to me.
This is not for the faint of heart. Keneally does not shy away from the horrors inflicted upon the Jewish people. If you want a sugar-coated version of WWII, this is not going to be your book. I also appreciate that Keneally did not try to make Schindler out to be a saint. The book is matter of fact about how this was not really started out of some altruistic motive (though it may have ended up that way).
This is just a fascinating bit of history. I also highly recommend the audiobook, which is narrated by Ben Kingsley. That's how I read it and I found that easier to get through then the physical book which has a lot of blocky dense text.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of The Book Thief, those who have only seen the movie, WWII history buffs
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five interesting bits of history

Book Review: Lab Girl

TITLE: Lab Girl
AUTHOR: Hope Jahren
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: 2016
GENRE: Memoir, Science
PREMISE: A woman talks about her life as a scientist.
MY REVIEW: This book helped me come to a realization: books dealing with science, kind of bore me. In the book's defense, I didn't realize this when I picked it up. I don't read science books as a rule. But reading this, I kind of realized this was what was going on and why I couldn't get into it.
I'm not blaming the book for my boredom. The author did try her best to make things interesting. I did like the look into how labs are run and why science is so damn expensive. I am impressed with her and other scientists who do this work. I don't think I could handle it, to tell you the truth. But, I was still just really bored while reading it.
So this is yet another it's not you, it's me sort of situation. If you really love science and want to know more about plant life and stuff like that, this book will absolutely be for you. But if you're like me and kind of don't really care...it will probably bore you.
WHO SHOULD READ: people interested plant life, people who like science books
MY RATING: Three out of Five solid books that just aren't for me

Book Review: How Dare the Sun Rise

TITLE: How Dare the Sun Rise
AUTHOR: Sandra Uwiringiyimana
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: May 2017
GENRE: Memoir
PREMISE: A woman tells the story of how she and her family became refugees and came to the United States.
MY REVIEW: So full disclosure, I actually listened to this via audiobook. I actually really recommend doing this. The narrator is great and listening to this story is like the author telling you the story herself and it makes it that much more impacting.
Warning: this woman's life was hard. There are sad things going on in this book. It talks frankly about genocide, racism, poverty and all sorts of tough issues. It is not an easy book to read. But along with all of that are some beautiful moments. The strength of Sandra and her family is amazing. Seriously, where the hell is their movie?
If you're looking for a super happy memoir...this one ain't it. There are some incredibly sad things in here. But if you want inspiring people, absolutely read this.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of memoirs, fans of In the Country We Love: My Family Divided
MY RATING: Four out of Five inspiring stories

Book Review: When They Call You a Terrorist

TITLE: When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir
AUTHOR: Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: January 16th, 2018
GENRE: Memoir
PREMISE: One of the leading voices in the Black Lives Matter movement tells her story and uses stories from her life to talk about racism and other important subjects.
MY REVIEW: If you read the title of this book and your first thought is "ugh, ALL lives matter" or some such nonsense....This book will not be for you. Also, honestly, my blog will probably not be for you. So...bye. This is a very niche sort of book. It is probably going to appeal to very specific type of people. Namely activists, those interested in the Black Lives Matter movement, or allies such as myself trying to educate ourselves more etc.
Memoir wise, this is pretty typical stuff. The author shares multiple stories about her family and helps you understand the motivations driving the Black Lives Matter movement. It also sets some records straight on the movement itself and some very common misconceptions people have about it. Seriously guys, it's not a terrorist group. Get the hell over that idea, please.
Memoir wise, it's pretty average. It does however give a lot of insight to helping understand the motivations around the founding of the Black Lives Matter movement.
WHO SHOULD READ: those interested, people who are curious about learning more about the Black Lives Matter movement
MY RATING: Four out of Five interesting reads

Book Review: So You Want to Talk About Race

TITLE: So You Want to Talk About Race
AUTHOR: Ijeoma Oluo
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: January 16th, 2018
GENRE: Social Commentary, Race
PREMISE: A writer goes into the various issues surrounding race and gives advice on how to talk about it.
MY REVIEW: This book is pretty much what it sounds like: a guide for talking about race. I'm sure someone out there will try and scoff at this book, but personally, I do think it's a necessary read. Especially for us white people who want to try and have these conversations. I can't begin to tell you how many times I see white people try and start conversations about race, but then just pull out of it or give up because they feel uncomfortable, or they just are trying to use the conversation to say there is no racism anymore (if you're going to do that...just maybe, stop). If you have done this...maybe try to read this book.
It is not what I'd call enjoyment reading. I mean, I personally found the author's writing enjoyable, but I know not everyone will, because of the subject matter. But the advice given in it is really good. I'm actually personally going to try out some of the advice myself, particularly the advice about calling out casual racism when you see it. Unfortunately in the area where I live, there are a LOT of casual racists out here. I also love the bit where the author points out that you better be ready to be uncomfortable when having these conversations. I see so many people whine about how talking about race just like, makes them uncomfortable, so they don't want to do it. It makes me want to bang my head against the wall. I'm sorry, but we white people really need to get over how these conversations make US feel.
If you are going to attempt to have conversations about race, please read this book first. I also suggest reading Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson. I have not read it yet, but I read the blog post it's based on, so I also recommend Why I Am No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge, to remind yourself that PoC are not required to have conversations about race with you if they do not want too.
One piece of advice I have to offer is this: instead of trying to assert your opinion on race in a conversation, stop and listen instead. Fight down that part that tries to say "well I haven't seen this, so you must be lying!" and just listen to people when they try and tell you about instances of racism (or sexism/homophobia/transphobia etc.). If you stop and listen, you tend to learn stuff more. Learning helps you grow. Growth tends to make these conversations go much better.
WHO SHOULD READ: White people, anyone interested in having conversations about race
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five necessary books

Book Review: Around the Way Girl

TITLE: Around the Way Girl
AUTHOR: Taraji P. Henson
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: 2016
GENRE: Celebrity memoir
PREMISE: Actor Taraji P. Henson talks about her life.
MY REVIEW: This review will be short because honestly, there's not much to say about this one. It's a very typical celebrity memoir. I can tell you, I really like Taraji, which is why I picked this up. Like most people, I became aware of her when Empire became a thing (I still have not seen it. Sorry guys). I then grew to like her as an actor when I watched Person of Interest a couple of years ago (seriously, watch this show. It's the best). I also highly recommend Hidden Figures, if you haven't seen it yet.
There are a few things in here about her that I actually did not know. She doesn't really tell many dark secrets or anything like that. But it does make me admire her a lot. It's decently written. I can tell she's the one telling me these stories. Which at the end of the day, is all I ask from my celebrity memoirs: that it does actually at least feel like the person is the one telling you their stories and not some ghost writer.
There's no huge bombshells. It's funny and very fast-paced. If you like Taraji and want to know more about her, this is a good one to pick up.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Taraji P. Henson
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five solid memoirs

Book Review: Word by Word-The Secret Life of Dictionaries

TITLE: Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries
AUTHOR: Kory Stamper
PUBLISHED: March, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Memoir, slight micro-history
PREMISE: A person who works for Merriam-Webster gives you a behind the scenes look at how dictionaries get made.
MY REVIEW: Dictionaries. We all use them at some point in our lives. Some of us get really hung up on the definitions of things (bigots for example, LOVE to break out the dictionary and try to use it to show you how they are totally not bigots because of this random definition here!). But I never really quite realized how much work actually went into making those dictionaries. Until I read this book.
This book goes into the fine art of making dictionaries (or lexicography as it's actually called, something I also never knew until reading this). It delves into some history of dictionaries, goes into the author's own experience as a lexicographer, and makes lots of interesting points about language and whatnot.
The writing is witty and pretty engaging. It gets downright nerdy at times about arguing what is and is not a word. In short, it is a delightful memoir/micro-history that deals with dictionaries. I definitely am never going to look at my dictionary quite the same way again.
WHO SHOULD READ: writers, readers, people who are interested in history or like knowing things like how dictionaries are written
MY RATING: Four out of Five things I never thought of until now

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: This is Just My Face, Try Not to Stare

TITLE: This is Just My Face, Try Not to Stare
AUTHOR: Gabourey Sidebe
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: May 1rst, 2017
GENRE: Memoir
PREMISE: Actor Gabourey Sidebe talks about a variety of topics from the things she encounters as a celebrity to family life.
MY REVIEW: Full disclosure: I adore Gabourey Sidebe. I love pretty much everything she's been in and she's just one of those actors who I find to be a breath of fresh air and would love to just hang with some time. So it was probably going to be a given I was going to really like this book. So I'll give the standard this review has bias warning.
Having read a few memoirs now, I've now gotten some idea about what works for them and what doesn't. For me a good memoir is one that just feels genuine. Like it is actually the person writing the memoir and not some ghost writer speaking for the person and trying to cast them in the best light ever. When you read a few of these, it usually becomes pretty clear who is actually writing the memoir and who is just telling a ghost writer stories and having them interpreting them how they see fit.
This is one that feels genuine. Sidebe does not shy away from some the uglier aspects of Hollywood and the way they treated her because of her weight. She also does not shy away from pointing out some of the bullshit she gets from fans about her weight and race. There are stories about family about her mother and everything in between. It's told with a sharp wit and is just enjoyable even though some of the topics talked about get pretty dark.
Personally, this is one of my favorite memoirs this year. I won't say the best (I am in the middle of Hunger by Roxane Gay and that's shaping up to be one the best this year) but it's definitely in the top ten category.
WHO SHOULD READ: Gabourey Sidebe fans, celebrity memoir fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five awesome people

Book Review: Divided We Stand

TITLE: Divided We Stand-The Battle Over Women's Rights and Family Values That Polarized American Politics
AUTHOR: Marjorie J. Spruill
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: February 28th, 2017
GENRE: History, Politics
PREMISE: A non-fiction book delving into the 1977 National Women's Conference and how what happened there was a glimpse of future politics to come...
MY REVIEW: I have so many mixed feelings about this book. I do think it's an important thing to read and many people today could stand to read it. But I have issues with the way the author went about presenting the information because it's clear from the way she presented it, that she is biased and wanted you to feel a certain way about things. I HATE when non-fiction history authors do this. If there's something that doesn't have a lot of info and you do have to guess, then okay I get that. But stuff like this? No, just give us the information and let us come to our own conclusions, please.
Namely, she seemed to want you to sympathize with conservative women and admire Phyllis Schlafly. About eighty percent of this book is spent presenting Schlafly and her group as some amazing united force. Meanwhile, she presents the feminists as an unprepared group that spends too much time in-fighting and whatnot. I thought this was weird and then I went and looked up the writer. She's from the south. And most of the books she's written has to do with southern white women and their great deeds. Which, explains a lot.
Look, feminists are not perfect. I am the first to tell you that. But seriously don't sit there and tell me that Shclafly and her group was better. They did everything they could to undermine progress for women simply because they felt they knew what was best for every woman. That is not something to be admired. And I don't think it's very surprising or admirable they were able to organize very well. They all just had one goal. It's easy to agree and get everyone on board when you have one goal. Feminists, have more then one goal, and everyone wants their goal to be at the fore front and focus on that. So of course, we're not all going to agree on everything. Also, I would like to point out, Shclafly's group is also responsible for a lot the negative and frankly untrue stereotypes you hear about feminists today, such as that lie about how feminism is about hating men.
But one thing this book does do well, is it explained the switch of the political parties that took place during the seventies. It does draw very good links between politics now and politics back then. I just...am not pleased with how biased the author clearly was and how she tried to get you to sympathize with people who were actively trying to take away women's rights.
WHO SHOULD READ: Feminists, those interested in political history
MY RATING: Three out of Five flawed takes on history

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

Book Review: Never Caught

TITLE: Never Caught: The Washington's Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
AUTHOR: Erica Armstrong Dunbar
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
PUBLISHED: February 7th, 2017
GENRE: History
PREMISE: A non-fiction book that looks into the slave Ona Judge, who ran away from George and Martha Washington.
MY REVIEW: I wanted to read this one almost as soon as I heard about it. Most people do not go into the fact that the founding fathers owned slaves. In fact, some people go out of their way to ignore it. Or try to paint it in a rosy "well, they treated them with kindness so it was like...okay!" light. Look at all the ways people try to romanticize Jefferson having sex with his slaves (or in some cases, outright say it didn't happen because that doesn't fit their world view of Jefferson).
For the most part, I did like this one a lot. Unfortunately...it didn't go enough into Ona Judge's story. I think the author just didn't have enough solid information. Half of the stuff about Ona is in fact, speculation on the author's part. Logical speculation, sure. She does present all the facts she has and show you how she comes to her conclusions...but ultimately....it's speculation.
The far more interesting thing to me here was the deep look into pre-Civil War attitudes about slavery. I really wish the book had actually been more about this, because that a) had solid information and b) was just more interesting because it is a thing that most people just don't go into. It was nice having a book that did not wax poetic about George Washington for a change. Sorry guys, he was flawed. All the founding fathers were flawed. Yes, they did great things. But they were also human beings with many faults. I personally would love a book that focused on the founding fathers and their views on slavery because there is a bit in this book that goes into it a little and it's pretty fascinating (and also disturbing sometimes when you consider the mental gymnastics some of them had to have done to justify their views).
WHO SHOULD READ: those interested in american history
MY RATING: Four out of Five looks at things people don't often talk about

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