June 2019 Reading Wrap Up

July 5, 2019January 2, 2020 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

June was a fun month where I got to attend Book Con in NYC and meet up with many awesome authors, publishers, and bookish friends. I also collected some awesome books, including my favorite read of the month, How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones. I can’t reccomend this memoir more, and it comes out in October, trust me you want to be on team pre-order. Get your copy now!

You can find my reading month by the numbers and short reviews of everything I read below, and check out reviews of all of these books over on The Stacks Instagram.

June by the Numbers

Total Books Read: 8
Audiobooks: 1
Five Star Reads: 1
Unread Shelf: 2
Books Acquired: 20

By Women Authors: 5
By Authors of Color: 5
By Queer Authors: 3
Nonfiction Reads: 6
Published in 2019: 5

Finding Feminism by Rachel Overvoll

In her first book Rachel Overvoll examines her childhood in a fundamentalist Evangelical family and the events that led her away from her religious past and toward a life of liberation and empowerment. Overvoll is very vulnerable and shares her past sexual assaults, her abusive relationships, and the social conditioning that led her into depression and self loathing.

To be perfectly frank, the writing in this book is just okay, but the content is compelling. A more skilled writer could have created a more emotional narrative, but Overvoll isn’t that, she is a person who wanted to tell her own story, which is to be commended. Its a quick read and gives the reader plenty to think about.

How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones

*The Stacks received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. For more information click here.*
(Photo: amazon.com)

A stunning memoir about finding ones self at the intersection of sexuality and race. Saeed Jones shares his coming of age and his questioning of his identity and belonging and it is incredible to read. Jones’ use of prose and poetry is effortless and serves the story and creates a piece that is as enjoyable to read as it is painful.

I learned a lot about the ways we get in the way of young queer people’s, especially of color, exploration of their identities. In How We Fight for Our Lives I was able to understand the types of violence both physical and emotional, that often accompany the shame and fear about living as one’s true self. I loved this book. Saeed Jones is a force.

How We Fight White Supremacy by Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin

This book is a collection of essays, poems, playlists, interviews, comics, and art pieces all answering the question “how do you fight White supremacy?”. A unique and inclusive work, How We Fight White Supremacy, does a fantastic job of showing the diversity and vastness of Black resistance.

What I loved most about this book is how dynamic it is. Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin have done a fantastic job of finding unique and differing voices within the Black community. The commitment to showing the vastness of Black experience pays off in a book that is not about any one thing, and yet still remains connected to the central idea of fighting White supremacy. From comedian to survivalist to author to Black Lives Matter co-founders, this book proves the point that Black people are not and have never been a monolith.

I Can’t Date Jesus by Michael Arceneaux

In his memoir that is sort of funny and also very authentic, Michael Arceneaux explores his relationship to his identity as a Black gay man and how it relates to his upbringing in Houston and in the Catholic church.

There really aren’t a lot of books about coming of age and living as a Black gay man that aren’t seeped in the exploitation of trauma. This book finds a way to be honest and truthful and deal with painful family dynamics and still keep its sense of humor. I hope this book can open doors for other queer authors to share their stories in ways that we don’t often get to see. Arceneaux is a vibrant personality and it shines throughout the book. Also, he loves Beyonce and I can’t find any fault in that.

King John by William Shakespeare

One of the things I’m learning with my #ShaketheStacks journey through all of William Shakespeare’s plays is that, most of his plays that are obscure, are obscure for a reason, they aren’t that good. That is certainly the case with King John.

As with many of the other history plays, King John mostly revolves around the throne and who has the rightful claim to the power that it holds. There are really only so many ways you can tell that story, and in King John it is done in a way that feels remedial and lacks creativity and excitement. Plus, the full title of the play gives away the ending, which isn’t so bad, but in this case it feels like a trek to get there, and it fizzles out when you do.

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

A literary courtroom drama about a horrible accident at a medical facility that kills two people. This book is compelling from the start, a total who-done it mystery.

Angie Kim was once a trial lawyer and it shows. The scenes in the courtroom are amazing, they are vibrant and feel like you’re reading an episode of Law and Order. Kim is ambitious in including many different facets of life in this book. She draws from her own experience as a lawyer, an immigrant, and a mother which helps make these different parts of book feel full. Autism plays a huge part in this book and I didn’t find those characters to be fully explored or the different points of view to be shared as completely. Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and think it is well executed, I look forward to what comes next from Angie Kim.

The Honey Bus by Meredith May

A coming of age story of young girl trying to find her place in a family with a distant abusive mother. Mereidth May turns to her bee keeping grandfather as a role model and teacher. The book uses bees as a metaphor for May’s life.

This is a sweet story, but lacked any real emotional connection for me. This book feels very much life a YA story, and leaves a lot of the complexity out. I loved the sections with the bees, and learning about how they function as part of the hive were by far the most engaging sections of the book. Her grandfather was such a lovable figure and his passion for bees was the main saving grace of this story.

White Rage by Carol Anderson

A detailed look at the many ways the racial divide has been widened by White supremacy and the fear of advancement from Black people. This book is extremely well researched and full of detailed analysis of court cases, contemporaneous quotations, and more.

This book is extremely powerful and lays our the many ways Black people have been denied rights in America. Not just small individual acts of violence, but over reaching policies that are violent in their own ways. Policies that strip agency and access from Black Americans. White people have a long history of responding to Black advancement through these types of policies and Anderson lays out this history from Reconstruction to President Obama. This book is a clear indictment on the obvious and biased ways White people have made the playing field unleveled in order to get ahead. I certainly felt more equipped to understand the many injustices we see in America today, and this book is a wonderful companion to Anderson’s most recent book, One Person, No Vote. I will say this book is extremely dense, even if it is short, and take a lot of focus to unpack the facts, figures, quotes, and historical accounts. Thats not to deter anyone, rather to prepare you to make enough time to fully understand the work.

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The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After by Julie Yip-Williams

June 21, 2019January 2, 2020 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

In her memoir about living with her colon cancer diagnosis and coming to terms with her pending death, Julie Yip-Williams opens herself up to her reader to share her rage, fears, jealousy, and grace. She writes this book with a sense of humor and a commitment to honesty in all its many complexities.

The Unwinding of the Miracle is approachable and human. Yip-Williams presents the many parts of her life, both before cancer as a child in Vietnam and her final months as a mother of two dying from colon cancer, as though she is just reflecting in a journal. She is candid and vulnerable, it is almost as if she forgets there reader is there.

I didn’t cry when I read this book, which comes a bit of a shock to me, because I thought for sure in a memoir about coping with your pending death I would feel the need to cry. I didn’t. I felt bonded to Julie, and of course her story is sad and unfair and painful, but she takes her reader on a journey, where we too feel as though we can accept this terrible diagnosis. That our friend Julie is getting to die in a way that she is okay with. That we too can live our lives with a little more grace. And that we too can get big mad when it comes to slutty-second wives and birthday parties we’ll never get to attend.

While I found Yip-Williams life to be fascinating. I did not connect with her story as much pre-cancer. Perhaps because I knew where it was going, I didn’t really feel like I needed to take much stock in where she had been. For me, that wasn’t the interesting stuff. I was much more compelled with her navigating her own death. I was enthralled with her love for her children. I was moved by her honesty about the challenges that this type of diagnosis can add to a marriage. These sections are what will stick with me most when I think back on The Unwinding of the Miracle.

What is special about what Yip-Willaims has done, is that she asks her reader to reflect on their own lives, their own hopes and fears, without ever once actually asking the reader to do so. She presents her life and hopes that in learning more about her, we will take the time to get to know ourselves more intimately. Especially, while we still have time to live the lives we want, and be the person we’d always hoped we’d be. She leaves her readers with that gift, even in her death.

If you have read this book, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and if you’re looking for a much more in depth reflection on this book, hear our conversation of The Unwinding of the Miracle as part of The Stacks Book Club with author Lori Gottlieb.

Ep.64 The Unwinding of the Miracle by Julie Yip-Williams — The Stacks Book Club (Lori Gottlieb)

Hardcover: 336
Publisher: Random House (February 5, 2019)
3/5 stars
Buy The Unwinding of the Miracle Amazon or IndieBound

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How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance by Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin

June 18, 2019January 2, 2020 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

The Stacks received *How We Fight White Supremacy* from the publisher. For more information click here

Solomon and Rankin have not only complied the words and images of Black activists and artists, but they too have lent their voices to this book in the form of ten essays each. These essays anchor this book. They tie together the ten chapters with reflection and give the reader a sense of who created this book, and why. They are personal and sometimes contradictory and serve as an invitation for the reader to reflect on their place in the struggle. These essays are in many ways a call to action.

There are some pieces I connected with more than others, which is of course to be expected in any book filled with the work of many contributors, but there was never a point where I felt that the book carried on too long or ran out of steam. I was excited to read what came next and learn how other people were doing the work of dismantling the racist and sexist White male patriarchy.

This is a powerful book with a sense of humor and a sense of style. Check it out for yourself. It is worth it just to see the many amazing Black thought leaders included in this book respond to the prompt, “how do you fight White supremacy?”.

If you have read this book, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and if you’re looking for more about How We Fight White Supremacy check out both of the authors on The Short Stacks.

The Short Stacks 15: Akiba Solomon & Kenrya Rankin//How We Fight White Supremacy

Paperback: 304
Publisher: Bold Type Books (March 26, 2019)
4/5 stars
Buy How We Fight White Supremacy Amazon or IndieBound

Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation by Robert W. Fieseler

June 6, 2019January 2, 2020 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

In 1973 there was an arson fire in a New Orleans gay bar called The Up Stairs Lounge that left 32 people dead. It was the largest mass killing of gay people in history until the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016. In Tinderox, Robert W. Fieseler tells the story of The Up Stairs Lounge fire, the people who were killed, the main suspect, the media’s response, the city officials’ incompetence, and how this event was part of the broader Gay Liberation Movement.

There are about ten pages of writing in this book where Fieseler takes us moment by moment through the fire itself. He recreates the scene and the terror and he is relentless in presenting every detail. These ten pages, are some of the greatest ten pages I have ever read. They took my breath away. This book has other moments that are engaging and exciting, but there is nothing like the ten pages in which we relive this fire.

This is a strong book and well researched book. The scope of what Fiesler has created in Tinderbox is powerful and a true indictment on society and how we treat those who are different from us. Fieseler draws parallels between the Gay Liberation Movement and current events in The United States and past movements that led to other groups of people reclaiming their civil rights. While some of the connections Fiesler made were spot on, other times I felt like her was reaching for parallels that weren’t always so obvious.

We covered this book on The Stacks, and for a more in depth conversation on Tinderbox, check out The Stacks Book Club episode with Joseph Papa where we dive deeper into what we thought worked, and didn’t work so well in this book.

Hardcover: 384
Publisher: Liveright; 1st edition (June 5, 2018)
3/5 stars
Buy Tinderbox Amazon or IndieBound

May 2019 Reading Wrap Up

June 6, 2019January 2, 2020 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

May is always such a busy month for me with birthdays, graduations, and holidays, and this May was no different. I enjoyed most everything I read, with Ibram X. Kendi’s forthcoming book, How to Be an Antiracist as my clear favorite.

You can find my reading month by the numbers and short reviews of everything I read below, and check out reviews of all of these books over on The Stacks Instagram.

May by the Numbers

Total Books Read: 8
Audiobooks: 2
Five Star Reads: 1
Unread Shelf: 0
Books Acquired: 26

By Women Authors: 6
By Authors of Color: 5
By Queer Authors: 0
Nonfiction Reads: 5
Published in 2019: 4

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

This play is one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies. A romp involving four sets of characters whose plots intersect and merge in and around a forrest. While this is a fine play to read, it is a great deal of fun to actually see. There is a ton of physical comedy and sight gags, so it doesn’t fully translate to the page.

I personally love the lovers in this play, and to get more specific, the women lovers. Both Helena and Hermia are smart and sassy and tough as nails. They flip on a dime and their speeches are the most visceral of the whole show. I couldn’t help but want to watch the play the whole time I was reading it. If you’ve not read much Shakespeare this is a good one to start with since there is most likely a summer production being put up in a town near you. If not, check out the film, which is star studded and pretty good adaptation.

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

In her debut novel, Etaf Rum sets out to tell the story of three generations of Palestinian women who are pushing up against the expectation of women in their community and their own hopes for their lives. The book tackles issues like abuse, gender roles, obedience, and freedom. And it has all the makings of something powerful, though the execution fell flat. I found the characters (both male and female) to be under developed and the story to be redundant. I never connected to anyone and figured out the ending within the first few pages.

I appreciate Rum and her effort to tell a story about people we rarely see, but the idea was the strongest part of this book, and not the execution. I wished there had been more nuance and complexity in character and plot development and in the writing. The fact that this book was written and published is a good thing, it is bringing more voices to the table, and for that Rum should be applauded.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori

This short little novel about a woman in Japan who lives an unconventional life as a worker at a convenience store is totally delightful. Murata asks her reader to chip away at what it means to be and act human? However she doesn’t take herself too seriously, the book is quirky and fun, while still asking huge questions about humanity. I really enjoyed this book and because it is so short you can read it in a day and reflect on the characters for a long while after.

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

This was one of my most anticipated books for 2019. After reading Kendi’s National Book Award Winning book, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America I knew whatever he wrote next I would need to read, and How to Be an Antiracist does not disappoint. The books is part memoir and part guide to identifying and combatting racist ideas in ourselves and in our culture. Kendi’s main premise is that there is no such thing as a “not racist” person, instead there are only racists thoughts and actions and antiracist thoughts and actions, and these two things can live simultaneously in any human, even Kendi himself.

The book can be read by anyone. Kendi centers his own experiences, thoughts and actions, and uses his racist thinking as a way to connect to his reader. He basically says if I can be racist so can you and in turn we can all be antiracist if we so chose. Kendi takes his experiences and combbines them with more digestable bits of the history that were the majorty of Stamped from the Beginning. If race insterests you even a little, or you feel like you have work to do to embrace antiracism you should check this book out.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb

In Maybe You Should Talk to Someone , Lori Gottlieb shares insights into therapy, she is both the therapist and the patient. The book focuses on five patients, Gottlieb being one of them, and throw us into these sessions and we get to hear what it is like to be on both sides of the couch.

I loved how Lori was able to extrapolate meaning from her sessions and use her patients for proxies for the reader. Two clients really stood out to me, Julie and John, and I won’t say more about either, but their stories were rivietting and a great reminder that everyone is going through something. One thing that Gottlieb doesn through out that is so smart, is that she leaves each section with a bit of a cliffhanger. It simulates what she herfelf must feel when sessions are out of time, just when she is getting somewhere with her clients. I think the book could have benifited from a little more editing because there were times I felt like I was ahead of Gottlieb, and knew what was coming next.

I enjoyed Maybe You Should Talk to Someone. It was a very well crafted book about therapy and life and how we all tell our own stories, to ourselves and the world. If you love memoir and want something with heart but not lacking sense of humor, this book is for you.

Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear by Kim Brooks

When Kim Brooks left her four year old son in car so she could run into target, she wasn’t expecting for a passerby to call the police. But of course, thats exactly what happened, and it set into motion her years long legal battle, and this book. Small Animals is Brooks’ memoir of what happened to her and her family after her “lapse in judgment” and also a look into the broader landscape of modern parenting.

Brooks does a great job researching and presenting not only the state of modern (upper/middle class) parenting, but she also helps her reader understand how we got here. She explains how the need to constantly monitor kids is hurting their autonomy and ability to grow up. She also talks about the amount of anxiety that parents feel now that is exacerbated by social media and mom blogs, and how all that judgement fuels the parent industrial complex. While Brooks does attempt to acknowledge her own White privilege, she doesn’t go far enough in talking about the inequities between White mothers and those Black and Brown mothers who are incarcerated and separated from their children for far less. There is much more to explore at the intersection of race, sex, class, and motherhood.

Despite the omissions, this book is very solid. I enjoyed reading it and I think it makes a great read for parents of young children or those considering becoming parents. Brooks asks us all to look at the sexism and judgement we level against motherhood and the role of women in relationship to children.

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker

If you’ve ever wondered how you could freshen up your gathering, weather it be a dinner party of a baby shower or a conference, this is a great book for you. Priya Parker has dedicated her life to gatherings and making them resonant and powerful. She shares her triumphs, best practices, and mistakes with her reader in this The Art of Gathering.

Parker states the obvious that we so often take for granted, as well as things that don’t often consider when hosting. One example that sticks out is setting the tone for your gathering. Making sure that your guests know where they are going and why, and no, not just an address. She also suggests that hosts shouldn’t be chill, and that who you keep off the guest list is as important as who you put on it. Parker spends equal time on social gatherings and professional gatherings, and while I didn’t have as much use for the professional gathering ideas, I could still appreciate the lessons. This book really makes you think about the role of gatherings and the roles we play in successful (and unsuccessful) gatherings, and that reflection is well worth it.

The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything that Comes After by Julie Yip-Williams

Julie Yip-Williams is very much the miracle of her own story. She was born blind in 1970’s Vietnam, and then flees to Hong Kong before she arrives in America and receives surgery to help restore her vision, she becomes a lawyer, gets married, and has children. This story is incredible and inspiring and would have been enough for a great memoir, and yet, that is just where this book starts. The real story here, is that in her 30’s Yip-Williams is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, and from that devastating diagnosis we get the rest of her story.

What makes this book different from other “death memoirs” is that Yip-Williams is relateabble. She is angry, and sad, and jealous, and hopeful, and messy, and all the things that you’d expect from a person confronting death. She is also funny, thankfully. She is a real and well rounded human who takes to her reader in and treats them as a friend and a confidant, not an audience. I enjoyed this book, but never felt fully connected emotionally. I didn’t have the cathartic cry I expected given the subject matter. There were moments where I felt the pangs of emotion, but I never gave in. I never ugly cried. No matter my reaction, this book very much belongs in the canon of books that deal with confronting what exactly it means to be alive.

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

June 4, 2019January 2, 2020 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ 2 Comments

The Stacks received *A Woman is No Man* from the publisher. For more information click here

In her debut novel, A Woman is No Man, Etaf Rum tells the story of three generations of Palestinian women who are struggling to be their own person and still be deemed respectable in their culture. The book tackles issues like abuse, gender roles, obedience, and freedom. We watch as the characters grapple with their place in life and the future they see for themselves.

What worked for me in this book was the ambition that Rum displays in taking on this story. She is not afraid to show her audience the bleak reality that so many women who deal with domestic violence confront daily. She shows how the abuse of women is systemic inside a family and how cultural expectation can exasperate that. A Woman is No Man is not representative of all women of Palestinian descent, just as no story about a White man is true for all men who identify as White (something I feel compelled to say, and yet at the same time annoyed for feeling like that isn’t self evident). Rum has created a version of the world that is true based on her experiences and her imagination.

A Woman is No Man has the makings of something powerful, though the execution fell flat for me. I wasn’t moved by the characters. They all blended together. Their pain was collective, and thus they functioned as a chorus instead of three distinct protagonists. Of all the female leads, Fareeda was the most complex and in turn the most interesting to read about. Overall, the men and women in the story felt more like vessels to make a point rather than fully developed humans. While I loved the structure (multiple points of view through generations) I found that the plot was lacking, which led to repetitive dialogue throughout. The ending came as no surprise to me, though the book seemed to be headed toward a big reveal.

Simply put, this book wasn’t for me. I appreciate the story that Rum is telling, even if I didn’t like the execution. I wished for more complexity and depth. A Woman is No Man felt safe, even though it was telling the story of immense pain and inner conflict. It is worth noting, while I didn’t love this book, it has had much success including making it on the New York Times Best Seller list, and being chosen by Jenna Bush Hager for the her book club on The Today Show.

If you have read this book, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and if you’re looking for more about A Woman is No Man check out Etaf Rum on The Short Stacks.

The Short Stacks 14: Etaf Rum//A Woman is No Man

Hardcover: 352
Publisher: Harper (March 5, 2019)
2/5 stars
Buy A Woman is No Man Amazon or IndieBound

A Midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare

May 30, 2019January 2, 2020 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

This month for #ShakeTheStacks Challenge I was excited to read one of William Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies, which makes sense because it is easy to understand and full of fun characters who aren’t afraid to go after what they want, even if it gets a little out of hand. The play has three casts of characters that cross paths through out the show. There are the lovers, the fairies, and the mechanicals (an acting troop). There isn’t much of a plot, mostly a lot of people running around in a forest.

My favorite part of this play are the two female lovers, Helena and Hermia. They are smart and sassy and really fun characters who drive the action of the play, without them, the plot wouldn’t exist. They’re part of a love rectangle, with shifting allegiances which makes for great fun. The young ladies are so emotional you never know what they’ll say next. In the scenes with the lovers you get a sense Shakespeare knows what its like to be a teenager in love, because the characters are so unpredictable and well written.

When it comes to the plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream there isn’t much there. Some spells and mistaken identity, and then a wedding at the end, of course. If you don’t see the play and just read the text, it feels sort of silly. Which, I’m discovering on my journey through Shakespeare’s work, is the case with a lot of his comedies, since they are plays and are meant to be seen. In this play there is a whole section revolving around the fairy queen, Titania, falling in love with an actor, Bottom, despite the fact that he has a donkey’s head. Its really silly, but without the representation on stage you miss the whole fun of it. Reading these comedies requires more focus from the reader and a lot more imagination.

If you’re new to reading Shakespeare, I highly suggest this one. It has some really stunning writing (Titania and Oberon), both rhyming verse and prose, it has a lot of fun characters, and it has been made into a movie, so if you want to test your understanding you can watch it as well.

Next month for #ShakeTheStacks Challenge, I’ll be reading King John.

Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Penguin Classics; Reprint edition (August 1, 2000)
4/5 stars
Buy A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Amazon or IndieBound

Beloved by Toni Morrison

May 23, 2019January 2, 2020 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

Beloved is perhaps the most critically acclaimed book written by one of the most prolific and celebrated authors. It is the story of a woman, Sethe, who escaped slavery, only to be haunted by her past life both on and off the plantation. The book is parts historical fiction and part surreal ghost story. The book has been turned into a film, won a Pulitzer Prize, and continues to be assigned in schools across the country. When we talk about the “great American novel” Beloved makes the list.

There is something funny that happens to books when they’re proceeded with superlatives, they become untouchable and intimidating. A fear creeps in, that the reader won’t understand or appreciate the book, and often that can start long before the reader ever starts reading. That was the case for me when I picked up Beloved for the first time as part of The Stacks Book Club. I was so nervous and intimidated by the book and what I might think of it. Would I “get” it? Would I like it? Would I be moved as so many others had been?

The truth is, my answer was mostly, no. I didn’t really “get” it, I didn’t really like it, and while I was moved by specific scenes and passages, I wasn’t over come by this book. And the more I think about that, the more I think thats allowed.

As I read Beloved I appreciated the skill and mastery of Ms. Morrison. I was impressed by her ability to create layer after layer of meaning in her story. Her ability to write nuance is unmatched in my reading, she understanding of how pain manifests itself in people is art in itself. I read Beloved and understood what makes both Ms. Morrison and the book so great, though I personally was never personally overcome. What I’m learning, especially when it comes to great work, is that both things can be true and live together. There are both technical and emotional components to any good piece of art, and you can appreciate one even if the other doesn’t resonate. These things are not mutually exclusive.

Of all the themes in Beloved, the idea of generational trauma, is what spoke to me most. Morrison connects the years of suffering under chattel slavery to the everyday manifestations of trauma on her characters. She creates characters that are complete with confidence and crazy, which is so very human. Your heart aches for the women in this story, their fear, pain, and rage is deserved, and Morrison never lets you forget that. Weather she is recounting events from years ago or writing dialogue, the trauma in this story is never far from view. It haunts the world of the book.

The book moves between points of view and events without much set up, the years skip around, and sometimes its hard to know exactly where you are in the story. This was challenging for me to connect with, though on a second or third reading, I think this complexity would add so much to my enjoyment of the book. Like in a good scary movie or thriller, Morrison is leaving us Easter eggs to pick up on, only when we’re revisit her novel.

There is a lot to unpack and look into when talking about Beloved it is not an easy read, and the subject matter is not comfortable. This book requires a commitment of the reader. The expectation of greatness from her reader is partly what makes her books so good. Toni Morrison demands you bring your full self to her work, and that you take your time, and if you do, you might just be rewarded with a story that will stay with you for life. This book is worth you time. I can’t promise you’ll like it, but if you read it with an open mind, I think there is much to appreciate about this story.

For a more in depth conversation on Beloved, check out The Stacks Book Club episode with DaMaris B. Hill where we discuss the themes, characters, and social implications of this story.

Paperack: 275
Publisher: Plume (October 1 , 1998)
3/5 stars
Buy Beloved Amazon or IndieBound

A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland by DaMaris B. Hill

May 17, 2019January 2, 2020 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

The Stacks received *A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing* from the publisher. For more information click here.

In her collection of poetry that covers the history of incarceration of Black women in America, DaMaris Hill crafts poems that highlight the pain of being a Black woman and the undeniable strength that comes along with it. She tells of some of the most famous women of the Diaspora as well as many women whose stories were nearly lost to history.

Throughout the book, Hill connects her poems to the history of the women’s lives through prose. I found these introductions to be extremely helpful in contextualizing her poetry. While I didn’t always connect with the poems, I was able to understand the stories being told which enhanced my experience. Poetry can be so personal, having the historical details allowed me to have thoughts about the work even if the poem didn’t speak to me.

Not all the women in the book are famous women. One section of A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing focuses on women from another book, Colored Amazons by Kali N. Gross. These women, have also been incarcerated, victimized, abused and in some cases killed, like their more famous counterparts in this book. They serve as a reminder that not only Harriet Tubman or Assata Shakur have had their humanity stolen away, but rather that their more notorious incarcerations are part of a long line of locking away Black women.

If the struggle and power of Black women interests you, this is a book for you. If you are working on reading more poetry, this is a great place to start, especially because the context Hill gives her readers allows for more understanding. Certainly parts of this book are a challenge to read, don’t shy away from that. The emotional responses are intentionally evoked by Hill. The discomfort is part of the story.

Listen to DaMaris B. Hill discuss this book, and much more on The Stacks

Hardcover: 192
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing (January 15, 2019)
3/5 stars
Buy A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing Amazon or IndieBound

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young

May 9, 2019January 2, 2020 ~ TheStacksPodcast ~ Leave a comment

The Stacks received *What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker* from the publisher. For more information click here.

Damon Young is known for bringing his authentic voice to his work. He is funny, he is observant, he is smart, he is Pittsburgh, and he is Black. All of this can be said as well, for his new book What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker. Young takes apart his life and reconstructs the most important and formative stories, people, and ideas into essays. And instead of telling us all the whats in his life, he is clear that he wants to show us the whys. We get glimpses of what it means for Young to be alive as a Black man in America in 2019. He shares his anxieties, insecurities, victories, and tragedies with us.

There are four essays in this book that really stand out. They all engage with Young and his relationship to women in some way. Weather it be the health care system and his mother, his unconventional love story with his wife, the hopes he holds for his daughter, or his own reckoning with the kind of man he once was in the face of Rape Culture, Young is grappling with his humanity in relationship to those around him and society at large. Thus, these essays take on an urgency that isn’t found elsewhere in the book. You can sense Young’s anxiety around diving so deep, and luck for us he writes these essays anyway, because they are truly impactful.

The other essays in What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker cover a variety of topics from Black anxiety, use of “n-word”, homophobia, and gentrification. These essays are solid but don’t always strike the same thrilling balance between humor, insight, and vulnerability that are present in the above mentioned essays.

Damon Young is powerful voice in Black culture, as the co-founder of Very Smart Brothas and Senior Editor at The Root, and he is a voice that is unpretentious and relatable. He is speaking of his own experiences and observations inn this book, and because of his ability to articulate the whys behind so much of his life you leave the reading experience with a lot to digest. I don’t know that this book changes your life, but I do think it will make you stop and reflect about how you can live a little better.

We had Damon Young on The Short Stacks and he talked all about What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker and you can hear that conversation by clicking HERE. He drops so many gems throughout the episode, you won’t want to miss it.

The Short Stacks 12: Damon Young//What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker

Hardcover: 320
Publisher: Ecco; 1st Edition edition (March 26, 2019)
3/5 stars
Buy What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker Amazon or IndieBound