I've recently found myself hating contemporaries. They're all so full of 15 year olds having no clue what life even is and making cliche moves and mistakes.
Picking up New Adult, especially Colleen Hoover, was a fantastic idea.
This book made me laugh and cry... okay there was a lot of crying. But most of all, I found characters I could finally relate to again!

Here's to my 50th book of the year!

4.5/5 stars

just read this. I want to throw it at every racist person I meet. And I think it has great points for both white people and people of colour.

This manifesto hit a lot of points for me. I know mostly people who are in academia will want to read this, but I really think it's accessible to everyone. Vivek simply highlights her experiences with and around men, as well as those that come because she is a trans-woman and queer. But the end also asks some important questions, and offers suggestions as to how we need to re-train our brains to think of gender and the roles that come with it, they way we think of "good" and "bad" people, and why it's not just men that we're afraid of.
5/5 stars.

this is the longest that it's ever taken me to read a book
and it's not being it's bad
it's because it was GOOD
I felt like because of how many stories and non0fiction (both personal essay and articles) were in it I really had to take my time and digest each one... even if I read many, many books in between. I almost would recommend reading it this way. Some of the stories I read years ago I still think about all the time. But I also don't recommend it cause at some points I forgot I still had to finish it. Pro and cons, ya know?
anyways, I like this a lot and I highly recommend it for graduating high schools and anyone in/just coming out of college/university.
4.5/5 stars!

I miss Carie a lot. I love how honest she is, how fun she seemed. And, obviously, that she played Princess Leia.
This mainly talks about her affair with Harrison Ford during the filming of the first Star Wars, which I was actually a bit disappointed with because I wanted to hear more about the process of Star Wars. I guess if I want to read that, though, I should read a "making-of" book, not a memoir.
I really enjoyed the poetry, I would a buy a whole book of her poetry. It was a bit insta-poetry, but I assure I wouldn't have liked it as much as I did if it were completely insta-poetry (yes, that was shady).
If you miss Carrie, this will make you sad, but you'll be happy about it.

I really enjoyed this, and I can definitely see it being used in a lot of academic settings. Though I did have a similar problem to it that I did with his first novel: I love what it is, but his writing just isn't my style.
4/5 stars

I love Ashley Graham a lot. I preach a lot that I don't care about my size, that I'm confident in how I look. But we all have bad days. And I loved that she wasn't afraid to talk about them in this book.
I wasn't perfect for me, I found it repetitive at times, but I loved how honest she was about more than just her size. She's not afraid to talk about her religion and the role it's played in her life (I actually had no idea she was religious), and on her marriage and the ups and downs that her and Justin have gone through.
Whether your plus-sized or not, care about models not, I think I'd still recommend this book. She shares a lot of insight about going for what you believe in, and what it's like to be fat.
4/5 stars!

I listened to the actual lecture the book is a transcript of. And considering the content, I think that's the best way to consume these stories. I did, however, read the story at the end: the one King intended to be read and not listened to.
I think King did a fantastic job narrating the stories in his lecture. He makes great points about differing Indigenous cultures, as well as those cultures compared to Western/Christian cultures. It was also refreshing to see a man's perspective on women that isn't awful.
King is funny and respectful, but he's also honest. And it was incredibly refreshing.
5/5 stars

3.5/5
I really enjoyed this - especially with it's anecdotal style and insights into life as a brown person in Canada. I had to whip out a pencil a few times to underline and make notes in the margins because it was so thought provoking.
The writing wasn't my favourite, though. It felt sort of messy and like maybe the chapters should've been shorter then they were.
But I'd highly recommend this if you're interested in cultural studies at all. For some reason, I think this is being shelved in humour, but this is my pitch for it to be in the community and culture section.