Rabbit Hole #63: In/Out Jan. 1-7

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope the first week has been treating you well. Sorry this is a day late; it wouldn't be a free weekend without me getting sick. My hope is to get back on a regular schedule with these; if not every week, every two for sure.

Recently Purchased

Black Chalk by Christopher Yates

Just one this week (after the Christmas spree last week, I think that's plenty!). This is the January choice for my book club, and I have no idea what it's about. Should be interesting!

Recently Completed

What Moves at the Margins by Toni Morrison (4.5 stars)

I honestly don't know what to say. This was an amazing collection of Morrison's nonfiction work, from book reviews to her Nobel Prize acceptance speech. It was the essays on race and gender that were especially hard-hitting though--I often had to look at the date of each piece several times, because they are so relevant to our world right now. Sadly, those pieces were written 20-30 years ago in most cases, showing just how far we still have to go. The only reason I didn't give this five stars is because I wanted more--more of her words and her wisdom.

Currently Reading

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis by Anne Rice

Only about a hundred pages in, and we've already added the mystical realm of Atlantis and some type of extra-terrestrial immortal beings to the already crowded world of vampires, witches, ghosts, and spirits. I'm perfectly okay with that though; Rice's books have always been comfort food for me. They're the type of books I can just sink into and forget about the chaos around me. Looking forward to seeing where she's going to take me. 

Alibis: Essays on Elsewhere by André Aciman

I have really grown to love essay collections over the past few years, and this one ticks all the boxes: travel, memory, art. So far, an enjoyable read. 

Rabbit Hole #50: In/Out Aug. 28-Sep. 3

A lovely long weekend for reading=heaven. Hope you're enjoying your Labor Day weekend!

Recently Purchased

Zero. I'm really trying to curb my book buying this year and focusing on reading the stack I have. It's been pretty successful so far, but I do miss picking up new books on a regular basis. 

Recently Finished

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

I am apparently in the minority on this one. Critics loved it, my book club overall loved it, I'm just. . . meh. It reminded me a lot of Villa America which I read a few weeks ago--filled with flat, stereotypical characters that I just didn't care about. I really had a problem with the female characters; they were just there as show pieces for the men in the novel and just didn't have much agency, even though one of them was the primary focus.  I have much higher hopes for this month's pick. 

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Time of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

Yes, I've finally finished this. And it was amazing. And terrifying. And heartbreaking. And disturbing. Reading this you realize how little the general public knows about the Drug War and police policy and court cases that have put more people of color behind bars than were enslaved prior to the Civil War. We've allowed this to happen. Our courts have allowed the Fourth Amendment to become basically empty. And this is why we finally have Black Lives Matter. It's necessary. I have a lot more to say on this book, but I'll save it for another post. Just read it. Now. 

 Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

This book was a close-up of one Mississippi family in the days leading up to and the immediate aftermath of Katrina. It's filled with poverty and basketball and dog fighting and teen pregnancy and Greek mythology and hope and love and so many things rolled into one. Based loosely on Ward's own experiences during Katrina and her mother's during Hurricane Camille, it's a necessary perspective on what life was like for those most vulnerable. My only issue with the book was the dog fighting, but it was a part of Ward's life and those around her. She used what she knew, and it makes for a very successful read. 

Currently Reading

March, Book Three by John Lewis,  Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

I so wish I could afford (or my school district could afford) to buy copies of all of the books in this series for all of my students. It's such a powerful look at the Civil Rights Movement from the inside and shows readers there was a lot more to the Movement than Selma and I Have a Dream (even though those are powerful and necessary to remember as well). 

Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lai

I am only about 30 pages into this so far, but it's a fun read so far. I think the best part about this is having my Vietnamese students help me pronounce the words and phrases. They find it interesting, and I'm learning something new!

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Just started this last night, and from what I can tell, it's a dystopian future in London where people with special abilities such as telepathy are forced underground working for shadowy criminal elements. I don't know much more about it, other than it's supposedly the first in a planned seven book series. We'll see how this one goes before I decide to jump in further. 

In the Wings

Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunée

I don't anticipate March taking that long, so I will probably get to this memoir this week as well. 

Rabbit Hole #48: In/Out Aug. 21-27

Making progress, but only finished one this week. 

Recently Purchased

I am so excited for the third installment of Rep. John Lewis' graphic novel series about the Civil Rights movement. Lewis was a founding member of SNCC and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and most recently caught headlines for leading the Democratic sit-in of Congress to protest that body's refusal to address gun violence in this country. The man is a living legend, and his series is a must for history buffs, people interested in social justice, or people who just care about humans.

Recently Finished

The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson

A YA dystopian novel following 16 year old Scotch, a mixed race teen whose skin is being covered by an unremovable sticky black substance. Then her brother disappears in a bubble of light, and everyone in town starts changing. 

I had high hopes: Scotch's voice was incredible and the diversity of the characters was well-done, but the plot itself just seemed to fall apart in the second half. There were some interesting tie-ins; the legend of Baba Yaga showed up, as did the story of Brer Rabbit, but I would have preferred it if the Chaos never happened. There didn't seem to be anything clear as to the cause or resolution of the weird and devastating things that were happening. 
I do love Hopkinson's writing, though, and I definitely will be reading more of her work. 

Currently Reading

Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lai

The story of a young Vietnamese-American girl who is, in her words, forced to accompany her father and grandmother back to Vietnam for the summer because a detective has told her grandmother that her husband, who was imprisoned during the war, is still alive. Only a few pages in, but the angsty tween voice is fun to read!

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

The injustices in our legal system, from the local law enforcement all the way up to the Supreme Court are very, very real. 

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Putting this one on a small pause right now. Tomorrow's the anniversary of Katrina, and while I wasn't here, I had family and friends who were. Couple that with a possible tropical storm heading our way this week, and while I'm enjoying Ward's story and characters; I just am not in the right head space for this currently. 

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

I'm having a tough time getting into this one. I just haven't found anything to really hook me into the story yet. I will finish it (I only have 3 days until book club!), but so far it's leaving me...meh.

Rabbit Hole #47: In/Out Aug. 14-20

Much better this week!

Recently Purchased

Starting a little vacation dreaming/planning with this one. I was actually born in the Azores, but since I was so young when we moved back to the States, I don't really remember anything about it. I figured it was finally time to do something about that, so sometime in the next two years, we'll be heading across the Atlantic!

Recently Finished

The Round House by Louise Erdrich (4.5 stars)

This follows an Ojibwe woman in North Dakota who has been attacked and her 13 year old son who tries to unravel what happened. This is a very compelling read, diving into PTSD and how trauma affects not only the victim, but everyone around them. It also take a look at the difficulties Native peoples have in prosecuting such crimes, especially if they are committed by a white person. 

I thought this was an incredible read. The characters and the emotional upheaval they go through is well-drawn, and the impact is raw and heart-
breaking. I would recommend this as a good starting point into Erdrich's writing. It followed a more linear narrative than a lot of her work, and while it was centered around the same reservation life as her other novels, it isn't necessary to have read anything else by her to fall into this world. 


The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (4.5 stars)

What I appreciate most about this graphic novel is that Strapi presents herself honestly: the good, the bad, and the ugly. As I've said, it's a insightful look into Iran before, during, and after the Islamic Revolution of the 1970s, how it affected people, and how they coped with their rights being stripped away. In a time when people have seem to have a narrow view of people from the Middle East and of Islam, it's always good to read something from those people's perspective. I also highly recommend the film version. 

Currently Reading

The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson

A YA dystopian novel following 16 year old Scotch, a mixed race teen whose skin is being covered by an unremovable sticky black substance. Then her brother disappears in a bubble of light, and everyone in town starts changing. I'm not very far in, but I'm already loving Scotch's voice. Maybe it's because school has started again, but she seems a lot like my students. I'm looking forward to where this is going. 

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

I keep saying I'm going to finish this, and I will. It's just so full of crucial information that it's not something I want to rush through. 

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Esch and her family are preparing for an upcoming possible hurricane. Her brother Skeetah is focused on his pit bull and her puppies, her father is single-minded about the storm, her two other brothers are just trying to be kids, and Esch realizes she's pregnant. This culminates in Hurricane Katrina, which makes me a little hesitant to read this right now, especially with the devastation in Baton Rouge and other areas here in Louisiana, but the characters already have me hooked three chapters in. 

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

Book club meets in 10 days, so I'd better start this one about an aging Hollywood actress, an almost love affair, and Italy. Doesn't really sound like me, but we'll see.