This beautiful collection of essays reads like a series of childhood memories languidly leading towards adulthood and a more complete realization of self. Landing somewhere between essays, memoir and poetry, this book transports you to the 100-year-old house of Cox's childhood where her imagination ran free, she communed with stray cats and she wrote her first stories. The author herself best describes how I felt at the end:"It's too soon when we are pulled back to reality to discuss it. I don't know how to articulate the rainbow neon swirl of feeling happening inside of me, and so I sit, reeling in the best way."
Chanel Miller doesn’t remember being sexually assaulted by Brock Turner because she was unconscious at the time. She does, however, remember all that ensued in the aftermath and in Know My Name she recounts every eviscerating detail. Miller’s story is deeply personal, but it is not unique. She writes beautifully and courageously about the ugly processes that follow her assault: medical exams, trials, therapy, and the struggle she faces to simply get through each day. Constantly barraged with the repercussions of her assault, Miller is unable to forget an event she doesn’t even remember. In revealing her identity—she was previously referred to simply as “Emily Doe”—Miller owns her narrative and proves that victimhood does not make a person powerless.
This fun collection of anecdotes about Darkshire’s life as an antiquarian bookseller is delightfully quirky and playful. He takes us deep into his unpredictable apprenticeship at Sotheran’s in London–one of the oldest bookshops in the world–sharing tidbits about the people he interacts with, the books he comes across, and the unexpected perils of rare bookselling.
I loved loved loved this book.
A beautiful exploration of love, loss, finding one self, mental health, healing, and care.
I want to stay home and read it all over again.
A timeless piece of writing, with reflections on battling cancer, lesbian motherhood, Black American womanhood, community organizing, and love. An important voice to familiarize yourself with now, as Audre Lord's wisdom and vision carry lessons that could help us traverse our most persisting social issues if only we would listen.
Essayist and poet Ni Ghriofa writes a loving autofiction of the sheer physicality of mothering and milk, along with an assay into the life of Eibhlin Dubh Ni Chonaill, AKA Eileen O'Connell, a well-born poet in 18th century Ireland who composed a traditional lament after her husband's murder. Ni Ghriofa pursues connection with this Eibhlin Dubh that goes beyond literary scholarship into something like love. Ni Ghriofa's prose is rich and layered, while magically direct and concrete.
Consider the audio version available from Libro.fm to hear the poem in Gaelic.
Perfect for any Janis fan or someone into the 60's music scene. A good slow burn toward fame from a Texas girl who just wanted to paint but then discovered Bessie Smith. And like the cover says, it's about her life and her music, not harping on her death which already takes up too much space when she was such a fantastic vocalist and songwriter that inspired many.
Yes!!! So real and honest on topics like sex, relationships, being black, how a slightly picky list of must-haves in a partner has changed over the years, did I mention sex? Normalizing conversations about pleasure, normalizing not being partnered at a certain age, all from the female perspective, really brought things to the forefront and I enjoyed how fun she could be while still taking it seriously. I know she wouldn't make me dinner but I'd love to be there when she had leftovers.
One of the best books I've read about what it means to be a mother and an artist. I still think about this book and the emotional ride it took me on. I found so man answers in these pages. Simply put, I ADORE this book.
Concept: Write a letter to a stranger. Maybe you caught their name, maybe they will forever be a mystery but essentially a person who passed by your life only fleetingly. Yet they haunt you, you've never forgotten them. What would that letter say?
Product: This book!
