My top reads of 2018 include six books (well, eight of you count the three Kristin Lavransdatter books separately). I wanted to have a top ten or a top five, but this is how it turned out. Becoming (2018) by Michelle Obama Milk and Honey (2014) by Rupi Kaur The Star Side Of Bird Hill (2015) by Naomi... Continue Reading →
I experienced a few firsts on Christmas Eve. First Number One I read A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens for the very first time. I had never read it because I kept telling myself that I already know the story, so what is the point? I have images of Donald Duck, Goofy, and Mickey Mouse... Continue Reading →
I've failed this month. I've probably failed at more important things than reading the Literary Wives book pick, Anita Shreve's The Stars Are Fire (2017), but I always feel particularly melancholy when I don't hit my reading goals. My reading for the past two months has been dominated by academic journal articles and books about... Continue Reading →
Here’s what I read last month in five-word reviews. I did a lot of academic reading in October for an upcoming research trip to South African and Botswana. Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne: cute poems for Pooh lovers This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga: after war woman wanders, falters Rubyfruit Jungle... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago, I posted about Pulitzer Prize winners. The post received attention from Lana Cole at https://colecampfireblog.com, who has decided to read all of the Newbery winners. (See her post about it here https://colecampfireblog.com/2018/07/21/my-new-reading-goal/) She has inspired me to see how many I’ve read. Here’s the list. The ones I have read are... Continue Reading →
Here is my September reading in in five-word reviews. It was a good month! The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro: lovely reread; regrets are haunting Living a Feminist Life by Sara Ahmed: casually written brilliant caring theory The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by bell hooks: empathetic critique of toxic masculinity... Continue Reading →
I've been pretty silent on social media lately, and on this blog. I used to speak up about current events, social practices, academic theory, morality, etc. But for the last two years, I haven't spoken up. I'm not sure why. There's a lot of discomfort within me because of this. After reading Rhetoric Retold: Regendering... Continue Reading →
The marriage of Celestial and Roy is mediated by bars: prison bars. They are a young black couple who is torn apart when Roy is falsely accused of rape (Celestial was with him when it was supposed to have happened) and he is sentenced to 12 years in prison. After he is incarcerated (a very... Continue Reading →
When I was working on my Master's degree, I took a world literature class in which we read books by Anita Desai (Indian), Khaled Hosseini (Afghan-born American), and Edna O'Brien (Irish). I've also engaged with more popular and award-winning authors, like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigerian) and Jhumpa Lahiri (American of Indian origin). Nevertheless, I really... Continue Reading →
Here is my August reading wrap-up in five-word "reviews." True Grit by Charles Portis: rare case movie was better Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan: excess, snobbery almost ruin love The Last Man by Mary Shelley: lonely rambling epic of philosophy Friends and Relations by Elizabeth Bowen: dense prose describes English families The Quiet Side... Continue Reading →
The Bookshelf of Emily J. 