Best for: People looking for a push to consider leaving social media. In a nutshell: Silicon Valley veteran (seriously, he worked on internet stuffs in the early 80s) attempts to make the case that social media — in its current form — is harming us and society, and tried to get us to quit. Mixed results follow. Worth quoting: “Yes, being able to quit is a privilege; many genuinely can’t. But if you have the latitude to quit and don’t, you are not supporting the […]
Realistic Exploration of Women in History
Best for: People who maybe enjoy the schadenfreud of the seeming downfall of famous women but who are also interested in maybe stopping that. In a nutshell: Author Sady Doyle examines all the ways we push women and judge them for their imperfections. Line that sticks with me: “We spend so much time pathologizing “overemotional” women that we scarcely ever ask what those women are emotional about.” Why I chose it: I’m on a bit of a roll, reading about women who fight the system, […]
This book, I need y’all to read it so I can talk about it with someone!
This might be the weirdest book I’ve ever read. Well, the weirdest book I’ve read that I actually ended up enjoying. I might have to think a while before officially giving it that award. My instinct is to put this review away and not think about it for weeks. I just want to sit with the story, let it brew and fester in my mind a little bit. But I know if I do that, I will forget everything and end up floundering around when […]
In which my sweet Granny comes up once again.
I guess I should’ve expected how close to home this would hit: the subtitle sums it up. It revolves around the oral histories of women who were sent to homes for unwed mothers in the 1940s-1960s, their nearly-always coerced adoptions, their lives after surrendering, their reunions if they ever occurred. I am part of a birth family: my mother relinquished my two younger siblings for adoption, and it defined my childhood. Adoption is such a sore nerve, I almost never read about it. Besides which, […]