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We Are Never Meeting in Real Life

May 25, 2020

irby

Samantha Irby is a 36-year-old, black, lesbian living in Chicago. She also grew up broke-ass poor—all of which she lets you know from the get-go in her essay collection We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. But her biographical details are the least interesting thing about her. What really matters is that she is wildly funny, even as I cringed at how she has NO filter about ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: essays, humor

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

March 23, 2020

untamed

Several weeks ago, I enthused about a novel that I thought was outstanding even though it was DARK (The Road, which I would not recommend reading anytime soon). Now I’m back to balance the scales by going full-on evangelical about a book so bright it glows. Untamed is Glennon Doyle’s journey, extracted and distilled into a nourishing and energizing blend of inspiration, wisdom, ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, inspiration, memoir, social issues, women

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

January 3, 2020

know my name

Emily Doe was the name given to the young woman sexually assaulted by Brock Turner, a Stanford student-athlete in 2015. If that doesn’t ring a bell, this should: he was given a sentence that was offensive in its leniency, inciting an outcry around the country. Know My Name is a memoir written by Chanel Miller. She is Emily Doe and she decided it was time to own not only her ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, memoir, social issues, true crime, Viking, women

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

September 9, 2019

maybe you

Sometimes a book comes my way not from reviews or recommendations, but from simple proximity—I see it at the library and decide to read it. Very often these are some of my favorite books. This is the case with Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. It’s her account of being a therapist and what happens when she needs a therapist herself. Gottlieb lives in L.A., is ... Read More...

12 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: life, marriage, memoir, relationships

Becoming by Michelle Obama

January 28, 2019

becoming

Leave it to Michelle Obama, an untested writer, to achieve something that has never happened in my reading history. I finished her memoir, Becoming, on January 15th and had no hesitation in ranking it 5 stars. This makes it not only the first time I’ve found a 5-star book in January, but the only time my first 5-star rating of the year has been given to nonfiction. I just don’t ... Read More...

20 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, marriage, memoir, politics, Random House, social issues, women

Daring to Drive

January 7, 2019

daring

If I had to sum up Manal al-Sharif’s memoir Daring to Drive in one sentence it would be: Saudi Arabia is a country that despises women. I didn’t know this. Somehow, I thought it was one of the more enlightened Middle Eastern countries but after listening to Manal’s story of lifelong oppression for no other reason than being female, I realize how wrong I was.  Ostensibly, the ... Read More...

13 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: contemporary life, cultural, Middle East, Simon & Schuster, women

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