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alexandriaslibrary's reviews
250 reviews
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
emotional
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
interconnected stories about black girls, women, and others (nonbinary) in britain. Loved the vastness and scope of their stories & that they felt very three-dimensional and real
The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House by Audre Lorde
informative
inspiring
Should be required reading! What a mind, her views are still “radical” 40 years later but I wish everyone would’ve listened then
“Can any one of us here still afford to believe that efforts to reclaim the future can be private or individual? Can anyone here still afford to believe that the pursuit of liberation can be the sole and particular province of any one particular race, or sex, or age, or religion, or sexuality, or class?
“Can any one of us here still afford to believe that efforts to reclaim the future can be private or individual? Can anyone here still afford to believe that the pursuit of liberation can be the sole and particular province of any one particular race, or sex, or age, or religion, or sexuality, or class?
Revolution is not a one-time event. It is becoming always vigilant for the smallest opportunity to make a genuine change in established, outgrown responses; for instance, it is learning to address each other's difference with respect.”
From “Learning from the 1960s”
From “Learning from the 1960s”
Bitter Water Opera by Nicolette Polek
emotional
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
A book that feels plucked from my own head. Part magical companion a la Mrs Caliban, part existentialism a la Pure Colour, and a true love letter to Marta Becket and Death Valley.
Our narrator is contemplating the life of the eccentric dancer Marta Becket as a lens for her larger questions about the roles of art and religion in life.
Our narrator is contemplating the life of the eccentric dancer Marta Becket as a lens for her larger questions about the roles of art and religion in life.
James by Percival Everett
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.75
A very Good Book™
Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr.
reflective
5.0
I highly encourage everyone to revisit Letter From Birmingham Jail if they haven’t since school (or ever). We hear so much about MLK Jr in a fluffy, celebratory way, but he’s been so decontextualized. He writes/speaks so accessibly about systemic racism, the urgency for civil rights, and the calling of God to help one another.
“We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was legal' and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was 'illegal'. It was illegal' to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers.”
“We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was legal' and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was 'illegal'. It was illegal' to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers.”
High School by Tegan Quin, Sara Quin
funny
inspiring
reflective
4.25
Getting into celebrity memoir audiobooks & this one was a treat! I loved that they supplemented the audiobook with their old recordings, demos, and performances. I think this book also works so well because of its very
specific scope. Tegan and Sara switch off telling the story of their high school years & their first steps as musicians & as lesbian icons. Lucy Dacus said this is a Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll memoir & it 1000000% is
specific scope. Tegan and Sara switch off telling the story of their high school years & their first steps as musicians & as lesbian icons. Lucy Dacus said this is a Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll memoir & it 1000000% is
The Missing Girl by Shirley Jackson
dark
reflective
4.25
Shirley Jackson never misses. Three, tight, paranoid short stories about girls!
The Tree and the Vine by Dola de Jong
emotional
reflective
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Hard to get my words together for this one. I am sad at how long it took me to pick this up. Sad at how familiar this world of looming fascism feels. Sad that none of my friends have read this or even heard about this one.
Set in 1939/1940 Amsterdam, Bea and an acquaintance Erica move into together. Erica is a boyish journalist who has unstable relationships with a number of shrill women (a lesbian after my own heart). Bea is repressed, closeted, ashamed, but the connection she has with Erica is so undeniable that she cannot be apart from her.
"I could no longer live without her; with her I could have only the strange existence that her miserable childhood had predetermined for her, and in which I could only be the spectator."
Set in 1939/1940 Amsterdam, Bea and an acquaintance Erica move into together. Erica is a boyish journalist who has unstable relationships with a number of shrill women (a lesbian after my own heart). Bea is repressed, closeted, ashamed, but the connection she has with Erica is so undeniable that she cannot be apart from her.
"I could no longer live without her; with her I could have only the strange existence that her miserable childhood had predetermined for her, and in which I could only be the spectator."
The Duke in His Domain by Truman Capote
informative
Tea…. like Ronan Farrow doing a profile on Timothee Chalomet. I had no idea Brando was such a weirdo but in a really familiar way. He would’ve loved Lana del Rey