Learning about racism through a western, but non-American perspective was new to me, but as Eddo-Lodge points out, important for Americans to do. I particularly loved her discussion on teaching white parents how to raise children of color in this world rampant with racism. White people!! Don't be misled by the title, you need to read this too!!

"Sometimes there’s beauty in the tough words—it’s all in how you read them." Niven captures just how unfair life can be, but how important it is to embrace the life and the love you are given with every ounce of your being. The best romances are often tragic ones, and Violet Markey and Theodore Finch's love story lives beyond the pages of All the Bright Places.

Particularly fascinated by the way Young describes his chronic fears after Obama was elected and inaugurated. Living as a Black person, scared that the first Black President could be assassinated because of his race is a reality for Young that I never thought about and changed the way I understand how progress can come at a cost.

"It's hard to be calm in a world made for whiteness." One of the best memoirs I've read. While short, Brown details her story starting with an exploration of the consequences of having a white man's name. She describes the realities of being Black, specifically a Black woman, in the professional world, and the anger that grows from watching your community be incarcerated, sexualized, and lynched. If you're committed to racial justice and care about the voices of those otherwise silenced, read Austin Channing Brown.

“The problem with living in the now, is it means, by definition, you’re not making plans for the future.” I cry at the end of most books, but I didn’t with this one, even though I feel like I should have. Maybe I was *too* engrossed in the story or maybe the feeling of overwhelming contentment and overwhelming sadness canceled each other out?? idk? But I loved this book and I feel like I learned a lot about myself and the world and dreams reading it, as cliché as it sounds. The second person narrative made it unique and that much more personal, even though Gabe and Lucy’s story is one of the most intimate stories I think I’ve read. I love books that make me team one guy then team the other guy and I go back and forth until the very last page of the book, which Santopolo made me feel. I also want more from/about Lucy- maybe a book from the perspective of her son would be nice.

“I wonder what I did. When exactly it was that I drove him away. I wonder how I could have been so wrong about us. About him. I truly believed he loved me. More than that, I saw it. I saw I saw it. I knew he loved me. Didn’t I?” Broke my heart!!!! Oh, and men are scum!!!!!!
Also, I have to stop lying to myself- mystery is obviously my favorite genre

“‘I don’t understand it. What *can* there be in a simple little story like that to make people praise it so?’ she said, quite bewildered.
“‘There is truth in it, Jo, that’s the secret....”

I wish I grew up with the March family like so many of my peers have. It took me a moment to get into Little Women, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down. It’s a lovely story about so many things- love, sisterhood and motherhood, dreams and growing up, loss and recovery. It’s clear Alcott put her entire self into creating every character. I’m tempted to pick a favorite, but Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are some of the strongest women I’ve come to know and love, despite how “outdated” some may say this classic has become. They’re each so unique, but harbor a similar femininity, as Alcott captures the beauty of girlhood. It’s not about female domestication, but rather learning to build a life you love and growing to love the life you have. I’m deeply moved.

Du Maurier is an incredible writer! Her prose is beautiful and poetic and illustrative and elicits so many intense emotions!! However, I found the early middle to be a bit slow and the ending to be a bit rushed. I wish we got more description of the drama the narrator was witnessing towards the end and a more striking view of what she was witnessing on the final page of the book. I also was not fully convinced Max did love the narrator after all (although this very well could be intentional because the narrator was not fully convinced either).

Nancy Jooyoun Kim tells the important, emotional experience of being an immigrant in the US. I love books that move between two story lines, one is of Margot who is trying to make sense of her mother's death and the other about Mina, who came to the US with the hope of making a better, safer life for her daughter. Kimm explores the seemingly start contrast between Mina's life and how Margot navigates the world, as someone who was raised in the US, but reveals they have more in common than they think. The writing and pace of the book is one of its strongest aspects and it's a necessary read for anyone who aims to be more empathetic and understand the world through diverse lenses.