Gifts are complicated things. The simple premise of giving someone something they need, love, or want is what actually complicates the definition of a gift. Gifts, before anything else, function like a contract that requires the exchange of goods and/or services until someone dies, or decides to break off the relationship with the gift giver. … Continue reading
Talking about race is exhausting. It is emotionally draining, stressful, awkward, painful, scary, and sometimes really dangerous. To have a conversation about race, or any hard topics like gender, sexuality, and class, requires a level of vulnerability that demands patience and practice. People from different sides of the spectrum often come to the table with … Continue reading
I am not going to lie, the decision I made to read this book was heavily based on the cover. What is that old saying again? Anyway, I found myself drawn to the strong yellows and greens and I had also seen this book everywhere. It was popping up in book stores, in my library, … Continue reading
I am going to cut to the chase on this review. Like the title suggests, there is a problem with the way that Asian literature is represented, or to be more precise its lack of representation, in the Western world. Many scholars and teachers have suggested to me over the years that Asian literature cannot … Continue reading
Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. Clicking through for additional information or to make a purchase may result in a small commission. Suki Kim’s book Without You, There Is No Us: My Secret Life Teaching the Sons of North Korea’s Elite was written in 2014. I really enjoyed this book. It was a powerful … Continue reading
Rupi Kaur’s poetry collection Milk and Honey burst onto the literary scene in 2015. It quickly turned from a self-published collection to being picked up by a major publishing house and turning into millions of sales around the world. Poetry in the twenty-first century is not at the forefront of general literary interest. More often … Continue reading
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the world to find the good death is Caitlin Doughty’s latest book. Part anthropological study, part travel memoir Doughty travels to far and wide places around the world to learn about how different cultures deal with and treat death. This book feels like the natural flow-on from her previous book … Continue reading
Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. Clicking through for additional information or to make a purchase may result in a small commission. It is coming up to Christmas, the end of the year, and the 21st of December. Whilst many people around the world are making Christmas lists, dusting off menorahs, tentatively imagining New … Continue reading
Every woman and girl knows what it is like to have their body judged by not just the people around them, but also by themselves. I distinctly remember being about seven or eight years old at my friend Amanda’s house playing dress-ups, when I thought to myself as I looked in the mirror, “Well at … Continue reading
Poverty traps people not just in a monetary way. It also traps people in silence. People don’t open up about their complicated families or lives for fear of judgement. And people will judge. Let. Me. Tell. You. Vance’s memoir was like a breath of fresh air in this sense. Continue reading
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