I was trying to figure out which book I wanted to read next when I started flipping through We Are Never Meeting in Real Life (2017) by Samantha Irby. I knew this book was supposed to be a collection of humorous essays, and it was on NPR’s Recommended Books from 2017. Other than that, I knew almost nothing about the book or the author. Irby got right into it with her fictional application to the Bachelor television program. It immediately grabbed my attention, and was funny and entertaining. […]
If only we could get back to those eight years
“Racism is not merely a simplistic hatred. It is, more often, broad sympathy toward some and broader skepticism toward others.” (123) I first discovered Ta-Nehisi Coates when a friend of mine recommended The Beautiful Struggle back in 2009. Since then, I’ve kept my eyes out for Coates, whether he’s speaking on The Daily Show, or writing a new book. When I noticed his latest book, We Were Eight Years in Power (2017), I immediately got on the wait list at the library. As a side note, I was a little […]
Murder and misogynists
I’d read The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and enjoyed it in a disturbing, Gone Girl sort of way. There are a lot of similarities between The Girl on the Train and Hawkins’ latest novel, Into the Water (2017). The characters are messed up, the men are horrible, and a woman is dead under mysterious circumstances. Jules Abbott has been estranged from her sister, Nel, for years when Jules hears from the police that Nel was found dead in “The Drowning Pool.” In Beckford, a small town where the two sisters […]
When your comfort becomes your affliction
I’d already read Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay when I saw her on The Daily Show talking about her newest book, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body (2017). The interview was great, and I was immediately interested in the book. There was a long wait list at the library, but I picked it up as soon as I could. “These are the ugliest, weakest, barest parts of me. This is my truth.” (2) Roxane Gay has been struggling with her weight since she was gang raped at twelve years […]