Books by American Men – Equal Opportunity Reader

[REVIEW] On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder

On Tyranny, a small tan academic paperback folio, lies face up on a shelf clogged with other books. Someone has written "Gird Your Loins" on the cover with a sharpie.

(Buy this book here.) This book has been everywhere since last year’s election in the US–indie shops, TikTok diatribes, little free libraries and coffee shop share shelves with snarky messages inked on the cover. Something about the idea of a little book of twenty short lessons on how to stem the tide of tyranny, basedContinue reading “[REVIEW] On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder”

[REVIEW] The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, by P. Djèlí Clark

A hardback copy of The Dead Cat Tail Assassins lays on a yellow cushioned ottoman on top of a few other books and a Kindle.

(Buy this book here!) I’m back, annoyed with everything, and politically and emotionally exhausted so let’s talk about a fun book today, fellow readers. An extraordinarily well-written fun book that happens to have won an Alex Award (for adult books that have special appeal to teen readers), but a fun book, nonetheless. Eveen has noContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, by P. Djèlí Clark”

[Hear Me Out] Keep Reading and Carry On–But Also Take Action

Fellow American readers! I just…*gestures broadly around*. I mean, have you seen the *points wildly*. And don’t even get me started on the *enraged wall slide facing the general direction of everything*. Y’all. In case you’re not sure why I’m crashing out in lieu of writing a proper introduction, let me help you out. OnContinue reading “[Hear Me Out] Keep Reading and Carry On–But Also Take Action”

[REVIEW]A Treasury of African-American Christmas Stories, edited by Bettye Collier-Thomas

The classically styled Kindle cover of A Treasury fo African American Christmas Stories lays on a yellow cushion next to a bowl of salsa and a highball glass.

(Buy this book here.) While most Decembers I re-read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, this year I had the good fortune to work on a stage production of Scrooge’s adventures as an audio describer(more info on what that means soon). That means I also had the bad fortune to hear, read, and see my favorite ChristmasContinue reading “[REVIEW]A Treasury of African-American Christmas Stories, edited by Bettye Collier-Thomas”

[REVIEW] Somebody’s Dilemma, by Joshua Valentine

The blue trade paperback of Somebody's Dilemma lays on a blonde wooden table top, next to a shirt with stylized drag eyes printed on it. Drag and scene stickers are laid on the shirt.

(Buy this book directly from the author here.) It’s 2347, and Earth is a polluted, barren wasteland. Exploratory research robots roam, collecting information and sending repetitive transmissions while they prepare to resurrect the human race more than 200 years after its extinction, using carefully banked embryos. Jacey-One is the first of the new humans, raisedContinue reading “[REVIEW] Somebody’s Dilemma, by Joshua Valentine”

[REVIEW] Black Star, written by Eric Glover, drawn by Arielle Jovellanos

The Kindle cover of Black Star, depicting a woman trapped in a glowing space tube, is held up in a dark movie theater in front of a projection screen. The movie playing is the classic camp film Dark Star.

(Buy this book here.) I’ve had a remarkably pleasant year in reading, by which I mean I’ve liked almost everything I’ve read. If I haven’t liked it, I’ve understood it, so my reviews in 2024 have all been pretty positive, although mildly so. Everything’s been good, but nothing’s really knocked my socks off. (Let’s ignoreContinue reading “[REVIEW] Black Star, written by Eric Glover, drawn by Arielle Jovellanos”

[REVIEW] Man, F*ck This House, by Brian Asman

A Black woman's hand holds the Kindle cover of Man, Fuck This House, depicting a line drawing of a house on a black background, up in front of a rundown shed somewhere in the suburbs.

(Buy this book here.) Let me pause for a second while you all finish giggling the way I did when I first saw this title. Okay, done? Giggles out of your system? Then here are the basics: this is a very self-aware indie horror novella that plays with a lot of classic tropes, mainly theContinue reading “[REVIEW] Man, F*ck This House, by Brian Asman”

[REVIEW] The Mountain In The Sea, by Ray Nayler

The Kindle cover of The Mountain In the Sea, depicting a giant octopus floating in the ocean, is propped up on a cafe countertop, an empty mug behind it.

(Buy this book here.) Ha Nguyen is many things; a brilliant researcher who studies octopi, the best-selling author of a book on cephalopod thought, an orphan, and the latest addition to a small team assembled on a near-future Vietnamese island to study strange activity in the local tentacled sea life. The local octopodes, protected asContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Mountain In The Sea, by Ray Nayler”

[REVIEW] Worm, by Edel Rodriguez

The Kindle cover of Worm, depicting a small boy in a Communist Party hat and tie, all drawn in red and green and black. In the background the spine of the famous Che biography can be seen.

(Buy this book here.) If you haven’t heard the name Edel Rodriguez before, you’ve almost certainly seen his work. Think back to the bright orange cartoon of a melting Donald Trump on the cover of Time magazine in 2016, or subsequent images of the former president holding the severed head of Lady Liberty or drapedContinue reading “[REVIEW] Worm, by Edel Rodriguez”

[HEAR ME OUT] I Don’t Think I Like the Film Adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon

The film crossover book cover of Killers of the Flower Moon, featuring photographs of Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, and Lily Gladstone

(Buy the book here. It’s better than the movie.) If you haven’t read Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, you should. It’s an excellent work of non-fiction that illustrates one of many examples of how America’s present wealth and power were created by systematically disenfranchising and murdering Black and Indigenous people who assumedContinue reading “[HEAR ME OUT] I Don’t Think I Like the Film Adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon”