reading – 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]Several People Are Typing, by Calvin Kasulke

The black and white Kindle cover of Several People are Typing leans against a laptop screen displaying an empty Slack chat. The cover depicts a series of Slack chat bubbles with odd emojis of wolves, weather, and death symbols interspersed throughout.

(Buy this book here.) Read time: 2 minutes Gerald is trapped in his work Slack chat. Literally. While his body sits dormant in his New York apartment, his consciousness has been fully uploaded to the worst thing about every remote job in America. If he doesn’t find a way out, he’ll be in danger ofContinue reading “[REVIEW]Several People Are Typing, by Calvin Kasulke”

[REVIEW] Miss Major Speaks, by Miss Major Griffin Gracy and Toshio Meronek

My Black lady hand holds up a paperback copy of Miss Major Speaks. The cover depicts Miss Major at her most glamorous, sometime in the 1960s. The book is held up in front of a row of laundromat washing machines. Gotta get those pages in whenever you can, right?

(Buy this book here.) It’s always weird when someone tries to use demographic as an emblem, rather than a descriptor of experience. It’s reductive and robs us of genuine relationships and the understanding our own history(because like it or not, marginalized history is everyone’s history.) It makes small, unremarkable people too big in our minds,Continue reading “[REVIEW] Miss Major Speaks, by Miss Major Griffin Gracy and Toshio Meronek”

[REVIEW] Gaysians, by Mike Curato

(Buy this book here.) AJ arrives in Seattle, fresh out of the closet and dreaming of art school and self-discovery. On his first venture into a gay bar, he spills a drink on drag queen K, who introduces him to John and Steven. The four of them (and a few others) become a found familyContinue reading “[REVIEW] Gaysians, by Mike Curato”

[REVIEW]Finding American: Stories of Immigration From All 50 States, by Colin Boyd Shafer

A hardback copy of Finding American sits on the knees of the author. The cover phot is a young, ethnically ambiguous woman standing in the middle of an empty American road.

[Buy this book.] I’m sitting here trying to remember the first time I thought of someone I knew as an immigrant and I can’t. Maybe it was my great-aunt Una, who came to New York from Panama just after WWII, from what I’ve been told. Maybe my godmother, a French Canadian who eventually repatriated andContinue reading “[REVIEW]Finding American: Stories of Immigration From All 50 States, by Colin Boyd Shafer”

[REVIEW]The Free People’s Village, by Sim Kern

The bright orange cover of the hardback edition of The Free People's Village, depicting a punk rocker hitting a robot dog with a baseball bat, sits on a blonde wooden table on top of a booksleeve printed with 1940s Black debutantes.

[Buy this book here.] whew This is a BOOK, y’all. The year is 2020, and COVID-19 doesn’t exist. In 2000, Al Gore became president, declaring a War on Climate Change and ushering in 20 years of Democrat control. Infrastructure is totally green, and carbon taxes keep it that way. Sounds great, right? NOPE. Instead ofContinue reading “[REVIEW]The Free People’s Village, by Sim Kern”

[Last While In Books] I Guess I Have A Podcast, Now

A podcast recording mic sits in front of a out of focus monitor.

The state of the world isn’t really an excuse for not having blogged for nearly a month, but it’s all I got. Grr. Argh. Politics! (No but seriously it remains awful please let’s all take care of ourselves and others and read good books as often as we can) In any case, I have actuallyContinue reading “[Last While In Books] I Guess I Have A Podcast, Now”

[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] The Idea of You, by Robinne Lee

The Kindle cover of The Idea of You, showing the very pretty kissing couple from the film adaptation, is propped up on a dining table against a woven handbag behind a wide green mug of milky coffee, next to a blue and white chinaware planter.

(You can find this book here.) I wasn’t really planning on reviewing this age-gap, popstar, Amazon Prime-adapted romance but it’s weirdly icky, so let’s discuss. It’s fine that French-American gallery owner Soléne is 20 years older than her 20-year-old lover Hayes. It’s fine that he’s a member of the world’s biggest boy band. It’s fineContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Idea of You, by Robinne Lee”

[REVIEW] The Wildest Ride, by Marcella Bell

A Black woman's hand holds up the Kindle cover of The Wildest Ride, depicting a very handsome Black cowboy, in front of a weathered white wooden fence.

(Rope a copy of this book for yourself here.) This rodeo romance is pure wish-fulfillment fantasy. Lil Sorrow(that’s her real name) is a former teen rodeo champ sidelined for years by sexism and family obligation. AJ Garza is a bull riding circuit superstar trying to take home one last prize pot before retiring to focusContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Wildest Ride, by Marcella Bell”