Hear Me Out… – Equal Opportunity Reader

[Last Year In Books] What I Read in 2022, and How I’m Reading in 2023

A full bookshelf, mostly titles in foreign languages and by Black authors.

Finally, I’m getting around to making a post about my last year in reading, and what I hope to read in 2023. 2022 was a bear of a year for me, fellow readers. It was also a banner year, in many ways. I’ve alluded to my personal struggles on Instagram and also in this readingContinue reading “[Last Year In Books] What I Read in 2022, and How I’m Reading in 2023”

[HEAR ME OUT] The New Interview With The Vampire Is Better Than The Original

Um, wow. I finally got a little time to watch the first three episodes of the new television adaptation of Anne Rice’s classic monster novel Interview With the Vampire and so far, it’s excellent. I’m a crabby, critical person and I give the episodes I’ve seen so far 10 out of 10, no question. ThisContinue reading “[HEAR ME OUT] The New Interview With The Vampire Is Better Than The Original”

[READING CHALLENGE] Read Disabled Writers!

A poster featuring the striped Disability Pride Flag in the background. The text, highlighted in yellow and green, says "July Reading Challenge: Read something by a disabled author."

(To skip straight to a booklist, click here.) I’m super late with this month’s reading challenge, but it’s here, fellow readers! First of all, how are you all doing? I took last week off from reading and blogging because I am TIRED. I’m also in that lovely part of reverse culture shock where I absolutelyContinue reading “[READING CHALLENGE] Read Disabled Writers!”

[Hear Me Out] The Handmaid’s Tale Is Not The Book We Need To Read Right Now

A series of tweets reading: "Parable of the Sower" was a book that could read the room and explain how to navigate it, too. forget "Handmaid's Tale," that's for people who plan to give up. I'm not willing to be a handmaid, as if that's an option for Black women anyway. I'm willing to learn how to shoot and make acorn bread, though."

(To skip straight to the books, click here.) So on Friday, despite widespread public disapproval following a leak back in May, the US Supreme Court overturned 1973’s landmark Roe vs. Wade ruling, rescinding the constitutional right to an abortion. Naturally, there’s been immense public outcry from many of us with uteruses, both virtually and inContinue reading “[Hear Me Out] The Handmaid’s Tale Is Not The Book We Need To Read Right Now”

[Reading Challenge] Read #BlackJoy for #PrideMonth

(To skip straight to a booklist of Black Pride and joy, click here.) Y’all knew this was coming, right? I’m not an ally, I’m an accomplice. In the roughest, toughest parts of my non-ambiguously Black nerd femme life, my gay, lesbian, trans, and non-binary fam have always jumped in the trenches with me, helped meContinue reading “[Reading Challenge] Read #BlackJoy for #PrideMonth”

[HEAR ME OUT] It’s About Damn Time We Had A Trans Batgirl

So the other day while I was trying to do the opposite of doomscrolling by finding positive things on the internet, I came across the image above, shared by everyone’s favorite cosplaying drag queen, Dax Exclamation Point. I haven’t read a Batman comic in ages, although for years that was the only DC book IContinue reading “[HEAR ME OUT] It’s About Damn Time We Had A Trans Batgirl”

[Reading Challenge] AAPI Writers With A Twist

(Check out the booklist here.) We’re a two weeks deep into AAPI Heritage Month and I’ve already scrapped two other versions of this reading challenge in order to go with this one. I think that non-Asian Americans are slowly familiarizing themselves with some Asian cultures. Indian, Chinese, and Japanese Americans have always been recognized, ifContinue reading “[Reading Challenge] AAPI Writers With A Twist”

[Hear Me Out] The Television Adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko Wasn’t Made For Me–And I’m Both Glad and Worried

(This is an edited version of a post from the Equal Opportunity Facebook page. To buy the book the series is based on, click here.) Thanks to a kind and generous soul in The Black & Asian Alliance Network, I now have an Apple TV account and have been watching the series adaptation of MinContinue reading “[Hear Me Out] The Television Adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko Wasn’t Made For Me–And I’m Both Glad and Worried”

[HEAR ME OUT] Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Is a Holiday Miracle

A tablet displaying the cover of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is held up by a Black woman's hand--my hand-- in front of a glittery Christmas tree in closeup.

Merry Christmas!!! So this is not the Christmas post I had originally intended. I had this whole thoughtful post/review about Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol planned out for today. I was going to tell you about how I re-read it every year at Christmastime, and how I have large chunks of it basically memorized asContinue reading “[HEAR ME OUT] Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Is a Holiday Miracle”

[Hear Me Out] What Do I Mean When I Talk About Reading Diverse Books As A Diverse Reader?

4 smiling people--Asian man, Latina or Indigenous woman, Black woman and Black, mixed or Arab man--stand in a row, wearing colorful shirts that spell out the word TEAM

I get asked a lot of questions about this blog/book portal. No, wait–I don’t get asked a lot of questions. What I actually do is field a lot of random assumptions about what Equal Opportunity Reader is, who I am, what I think, and what my political stances may or may not be. I don’tContinue reading “[Hear Me Out] What Do I Mean When I Talk About Reading Diverse Books As A Diverse Reader?”