Faithful followers of my must-read, brilliantly executed, and always punctual reviews will know that I only recently discovered Roxane Gay last year, with Bad Feminist. And you will know that based on reading only that collection of essays, I will follow her to the ends of the earth, shout her name from the rooftops, aspire to be as articulate, hilarious, and honest as she, and never be dissuaded from my undying love for her. Difficult Women is haunting and beautiful. I was nervous. My expectations […]
Please excuse me while I furiously try to make my cannonball goal
The joys of motherhood brilliantly illustrates why we write entire novels. Sometimes worlds, feelings, transitions, people, countries cannot be captured by a sole sentence or even a review. This books wrenched my heart, stole my breath and carried me through hope and despair, lives and worlds. It made me reevaluate my relationships with other people. It made me mourn the depravity of the world. It made me dance with hope of the good in life. “In Ibuza sons help their father more than they help […]
A true look at the damages of alcohol, alcoholism, and women
I have been slowly and surely working my way through this list of 21 Books From The Last Five Years That Every Woman Should Read. The latest book I picked up was Drink (2013) by Ann Dowsett Johnston. Drink is part memoir and part hard look at drinking, alcoholism, and women. Johnston describes her own battle with alcoholism: how it developed; how it affected her life and family; and how she was able to eventually stop drinking. At the same time, she describes recently-occurring trends regarding women and […]
There is some strange alchemy associated with gratitude.
This one hit me hard, and I have to admit I’m still processing a lot of it. Drink is part memoir, part investigative journalism, written by Ann Dowsett Johnston, a former editor at “Maclean’s” magazine (Canada’s “Newsweek,” if I may), the story of one woman’s family history and journey of alcoholism, and also an examination of the dangers of (mostly Western) society’s portrayal of the ideal woman and her relationship with alcohol, with is generally supposed to be empowering, equality-driven and rewarding, but has been […]
Sisters are doing it for themselves
Despite all those engagement pictures you’re inundated with on Facebook are telling you, marriage rates in America are slowing down. According to the U.S. Census, the proportion of married adults is dropping and for the first time, single women outnumber their married counterparts. Author Rebecca Traister argues that these unmarried women are a revolutionary force, changing our definitions of love and family, and pushing the political conversation to the left. “Women…perhaps especially those who have lived untethered from the energy-sucking and identity-sapping institution of marriage […]
Mothers and Daughters and Meh
Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors, so I was eager to tackle this one, and yet, meh. Two mothers, one who put her daughter up for adoption and has carried the secret with her (Lila), and one who is facing an unplanned pregnancy (Rae) have their lives interwoven through serendipitous means. This is a tale of tragedy, hope, and forgiveness, and how small missteps can irrevocably change the lives of our protagonists, and those around them. Magical realism is usually my jam, but […]