Really mixed feelings about this. I love Sarah Jaffe's writing. It's evocative and beautiful, which political writing often isn't. The memoir-like breReally mixed feelings about this. I love Sarah Jaffe's writing. It's evocative and beautiful, which political writing often isn't. The memoir-like breaks about her own experiences with grief, which I found sincerely moving, are the real standout in the book. The rest of the book is well written and reported. The stories are interesting and informative. But, for me, the politics that Jaffe uses them to point to leave a lot to be desired. I think the politics of turning toward community care and mutual aid is a response to a lack of power, and the way they're presented here as a path to healing in the midst of destruction doesn't really lead to the kind of mass politics that can build the power to challenge the ruling class that causes so much of our collective grief. I was struct by a tone of resignation that the destruction will continue unabated and the most we can do is try to protect each other as best we can....more
I loved There There. Didn't like this as much. Tommy Orange's prose is still beautiful (except when he's writing teens talking about social issues, alI loved There There. Didn't like this as much. Tommy Orange's prose is still beautiful (except when he's writing teens talking about social issues, although that's probably realistic). The plot lacked the momentum that drove There There to its conclusion, but I don't think it made up for that with a deeper focus on the smaller cast of characters. The first act set in the 19th century was much stronger than the rest for me. Still not a bad novel at all!...more
I have such complicated feelings about this book. I didn't love Moraga's writing. I found it so overwritten that it was hard to find any actual meaninI have such complicated feelings about this book. I didn't love Moraga's writing. I found it so overwritten that it was hard to find any actual meaning in the language at times. I also don't like that Wings is focused entirely on pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, although I know those were unique experiences for the author. It's not really a portrait of a motherhood, which lasts a lifetime. It's a portrait of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, none of which is essential to motherhood. I know that I'm bringing a lot of baggage to this book as a non-birthing mother myself, but I often felt incredibly sad for Ellen, who at times seemed to be an afterthought and at other times didn't seem present in the story at all. She is identified as Rafael Angel's mother, but we learn nothing about her relationship with him or with motherhood, and Moraga doesn't even seem curious about it. Not that the author is obligated to tell someone else's story in a book about her own, but it was painful for me to see the form of motherhood that more closely resembles mine pushed to the margins. The new foreword in the 25th anniversary edition pays lip service to trans identities, but it rings pretty hollow as an appendage to this book with a profoundly biological essentialist view of motherhood. ...more
This was a lot darker than the other novels by Sebastian Barry I've read, but I still don't think I'll ever get tired of reading Barry writing old peoThis was a lot darker than the other novels by Sebastian Barry I've read, but I still don't think I'll ever get tired of reading Barry writing old people reflecting on their complicated, mostly sad lives....more
Eric Jager does such a fantastic job bringing the middle ages to life on the page. He gives you not only a great narrative of the events, but a beautiEric Jager does such a fantastic job bringing the middle ages to life on the page. He gives you not only a great narrative of the events, but a beautifully novelistic impression of what it must have been like to live through them, even in all the horror of medieval war and disease.
Rene Auberjonois did a spectacular job narrating this book as well. It's fun to hear an audiobook read by someone who played a really beloved character on one of my favorite TV shows of all time. RIP ...more
I liked this a lot. I'm more interested in the social implications of the science than the actual neurological details, and there was enough of that iI liked this a lot. I'm more interested in the social implications of the science than the actual neurological details, and there was enough of that in the book for me. I really really appreciate that Conaboy made such a consistent effort to acknowledge non-gestational mothers and to look at the research on moms like us that there is, limited as it may be. I honestly can't express how much that means to me. I also desperately want to know if Chelsea Conaboy is a Metroid fan or if the title is just a complete coincidence....more
I'm interested in criticism of marriage as an institution as someone trying to figure out what I want my queer marriage to look like when it's carryinI'm interested in criticism of marriage as an institution as someone trying to figure out what I want my queer marriage to look like when it's carrying around a ton of baggage from having been a cis het marriage for 8 years before I transitioned. This books has a lots of valid critiques of marriage and the nuclear family as institutions, but I'm not sure "men are trash, get divorced" is a compelling solution to a systemic problem even if it's the best solution for a lot of straight women individually. Lyz Lenz getting married in her early 20s to a man who was 100% wrong for her (and tbh sounds like an asshole!), and her conservative Christian upbringing are probably not that unusual in the general American population, but very foreign to a lot of her readers (like, people who listen to This American Life enough to get the reference in the title). Ultimately this book is coming from what I think of as a post-girlboss feminism in which we talk a lot about systemic problems but still only offer individual and largely apolitical solutions to them. This all makes the blend of personal memoir and broader social commentary aspect of the book a unsatisfying for me. I didn't learn much of anything about marriage in society from it or find a new perspective from which to think about my own marriage. Lenz offers a lot of statistics but doesn't really investigate them or consider marriages that look very different from her own. What is marriage to someone who got married in their 30s after several long term relationships? What about people who remarry and find happiness? Those are important perspectives to examine for a book about marriage in general. What does a woman give up by getting divorced? Or what about marriages where the dynamics aren't so obviously patriarchal and oppressive but the couple is still unable to be happy together. These would be important questions to ask for a book about what it means to get divorced and what life after divorce can look like, but Lenz doesn't seem especially interested in addressing stories different than her own or anything but the most superficial engagement with social science.
P.s. I'm 100% sure her ex is a guy who complains about how Star Trek is too woke now while completely missing all the subtext in old Trek....more
A good premise poorly executed. Bad writing (uninspired dialogue, corny jokes) completely undermines Apocalypse as villain who should have extreme arrA good premise poorly executed. Bad writing (uninspired dialogue, corny jokes) completely undermines Apocalypse as villain who should have extreme arrogance and power to back it up. The story rushes through what should be dramatic moments (Apocalypse at the UN). The art is overly digital and lacking in detail or a sense of movement. Big disappointment...more
This was ok. I get that it's a book about women's treatment in the media, but it's a bit exhausting to hear the ruling class credentials of people likThis was ok. I get that it's a book about women's treatment in the media, but it's a bit exhausting to hear the ruling class credentials of people like Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright praised to high heaven to emphasize how unfairly they were treated in the media. I learned some details about specific cases, but I didn't find myself thinking about anything differently because of this book. I think the bitchification framework was a little bit limiting in how Yarrow ended up requiring herself to fit everything into that mold.
It's also very narrow in its straight, white perspective. There's some attempt to talk about specific prominent Black women, but not much about the impact on women of color generally. There are basically no queer women in the book, and the discussion of women's sexuality doesn't really allow for much sexual agency on the women's part....more
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