Amazing + important collection of essays and poems about Black women/femmes/and gender non-binary folks living their loves in the natural world. BreakAmazing + important collection of essays and poems about Black women/femmes/and gender non-binary folks living their loves in the natural world. Breaking down the stereotypes and barriers to Black faces in White spaces ( as in the name of Carolyn Finney's book - she writes the foreward for this collection) and sharing Black joy in the outdoors whether birding or hiking or snowboarding or mountain climbing, is what this book is all about. Go read it, you all!...more
What a delight to find this book by Kate Carroll de Gutes. While I wait for her book Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, which won the 2016What a delight to find this book by Kate Carroll de Gutes. While I wait for her book Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, which won the 2016 Oregon Book Award for creative nonfiction and the Lambda Literary Award for memoir, I saw that this was available immediately via Hoopla and I devoured it in one night - a memoir that is so resonant in its attempt to relate honestly via a month-long Facebook challenge, turned book of essays, about grief, panic, and figuring out how to be human and make your way through this world, fantastic bowtie and all.
From a review on Two Sylvia's Press, "In 2012, Kate Carroll de Gutes found herself at a rest stop “ruined with anxiety. And when I say ruined, I mean in a car, in hundred-degree weather, with all the windows rolled up, sobbing and crouched in the passenger’s seat rocking and waiting for the Ativan to take effect. I posted on Facebook, ‘Hello, Redding. Dear gods yer hot.’ A funny post that let my family and friends know where I was, but not how I was.” " Thank goodness that prompted Kate to share so much more about how she *really* was....more
What an astounding new book examining the ways that the Christian patriarchy movement harms the women caught in its snare. It turns out that Cait WestWhat an astounding new book examining the ways that the Christian patriarchy movement harms the women caught in its snare. It turns out that Cait West is a friend of a friend and Dawn sent us a signed copy. Several of my favorite recent books (The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell, this delightful book, and The Authenticity Experiment by Kate Carroll de Gutes) have all come via Dawn Burns! Dawn's book, Evangelina Everyday is also in that list. This read was a 4.5 and I am rounding up.
As Tears of Eden shares, "Over the past few years, a growing number of documentaries, books, and articles have been published, bringing awareness to stories of spiritual abuse. One new contribution is Cait West’s debut memoir Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy. Cait’s memoir courageously details her upbringing in–and eventual departure from–Christian patriarchy and the stay-at-home daughter movement.
In Rift, Cait chronicles her life as a stay-at-home daughter in the Christian patriarchy movement, reflecting on geographic shifts as markers of new stages in her life. From her birth in Delaware, early upbringing in Pennsylvania, school-age years in Colorado, early adulthood in Hawaii, and new beginnings in Michigan, each location of Cait’s life marked a further descent into–or steps out of–Christian patriarchy."
And from Cait's book itself, this sums up so much of what is powerful about her vulnerable telling of this story in service of herself and others who are trying to find their way to a different world, "Now that I've gained distance from my former life, it's painful to consider the damage that my family, my father, and my church caused. And to know we perpetuated a patriarchal system that is centuries old. To know my family's patriarchal values can be traced back through chattel slavery, Manifest Destiny, white supremacy, and violence of all kinds. Patriarchy thrives anywhere men are praised for their will to dominate - and Christian patriarchy blesses this pursuit of earthly power by imagining it's a heavenly duty. Like abuse, Christian patriarchy, at its core, is about power and control - at any cost."...more
I bought an original 1919 first edition of this book at a barn sale recently, having no idea how old it was or that it was a first edition. It smells I bought an original 1919 first edition of this book at a barn sale recently, having no idea how old it was or that it was a first edition. It smells old and mildewy but I returned to it over and over again these last few months, reading a story or two at a time, in which Peter Rabbit introduces us to the birds of his woods and prairies. There is so much bird fact and lore in it that remains incredibly relevant today- and there is some language that should probably be left in 1919, too. Overall, loved the experience of reading this in the original form!...more
Do yourself a favor and read this book of short stories. The author was a student at UI's Writing Program when she was killed in an auto accident at 2Do yourself a favor and read this book of short stories. The author was a student at UI's Writing Program when she was killed in an auto accident at 22 years old back in 1966. Tayari Jones (who wrote America Marriage, another MUST read, and another UI Writing Program author) does the intro and gives insightful context to how the stories came to be published as a book now. As unfortunately relevant as ever, they are a collection of the books that peel back racism in the American South in the 1960's to expose the deeply personal and familial effects. IMAGINE what other writing we may have gotten to experience if Diane Oliver had lived. Grateful for the publishing of this collection now. ...more
This one was my least favorite of Jamison's books, but has moments of such sparkling goodness.This one was my least favorite of Jamison's books, but has moments of such sparkling goodness....more
WHOA - so much amazing information. And so dense. This is one that I kept having to re-borrow from Hoopla to finish over several months. Worth it, thoWHOA - so much amazing information. And so dense. This is one that I kept having to re-borrow from Hoopla to finish over several months. Worth it, though....more
This book was far more academic-feeling than I expected. At times I struggled to stay engaged, even when some of the content was of interest. The firsThis book was far more academic-feeling than I expected. At times I struggled to stay engaged, even when some of the content was of interest. The first essay, a conversation between the author and Wayne Koestenbaum lost me so many times that I almost gave up. And I did end up skipping around and only fully reading the actual essays and not the conversations that she had with other thinkers and authors. The essay on Carolee Schneeman and the essay about Kara Walker's Event Horizon (a very short one, sadly) were the two that I devoured and loved. Many of the other essays felt way over my head - there are so many essays that I really just didn't get. Cultural criticisms that didn't invite me in and make me curious, but instead left me feeling like I was peering through a window into a whole different world, and one that I was definitely not smart enough to be a part of, for the most part. Some of Zadie Smith's work makes me feel this way too, but with her, always in a way that I admire and can engage with, unlike the majority of these essays. I so want to love them, but I don't....more
Beautifully written and seriously heartbreaking at points. Much appreciation for the author and her willingness to share her story. It's sometimes harBeautifully written and seriously heartbreaking at points. Much appreciation for the author and her willingness to share her story. It's sometimes hard for me to rate a memoir, but this is a 4.5 and I am rounding up. ...more
I have been interested in container ships since a visit to the port city of Savannah, GA 5 years ago. A recent visitation to Savannah made me even morI have been interested in container ships since a visit to the port city of Savannah, GA 5 years ago. A recent visitation to Savannah made me even more curious about the GIANT ships that pass through town on the river outside where we stayed, and I set off to find books that would help to explain some of the inner workings of the ships and help me understand the world of shipping containers/ cargo ships/ container ships. This one was an account of one ship's challenging shipping company and crew dynamics that ultimately led to the loss of the whole ship in a hurricane. What a heartbreaking loss of life that was totally unnecessary. Ugh, greed. I am guessing the rest of my exploration of container shipping will point at this root issue, but next up is trying to understand how we got here - so on to "Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate" for a broad overview. ...more
From the book - "I was the furthest thing from a regular meditator, but I liked the way meditation pointed me to an understory of quiet that existed bFrom the book - "I was the furthest thing from a regular meditator, but I liked the way meditation pointed me to an understory of quiet that existed beneath all my busyness and all my social roles. Meditators sometimes call this the "quiet feeling tone" of the body. The understory is that grebe place that withstands the onslaught of bad weather and modernity. It may be hidden or veiled by static, but once we tap into it, it offers a glimpse of our nondoing selves and, possibly, a better version of a personal life.
Now when I hear birdsong, I feel an entry to that understory. When I am feeling too squeezed on the ground, exhausted by everything in my care, I look for a little sky.
There are always birds flying back and forth, city birds flitting around our human edges, singing their songs.
If the wind is going the right way, some birds like to spread their wings and hang in the air, appearing not to move a bit.
It is a subtle skill, to remain appreciably steady amid the forces of drift and gravity, to be neither rising nor falling."...more
Ko's first book, The Leavers, was a favorite book of all of 2018. It was a solid 4.5 and almost a 5. And I was so hoping for a similar experience withKo's first book, The Leavers, was a favorite book of all of 2018. It was a solid 4.5 and almost a 5. And I was so hoping for a similar experience with Memory Piece. It has such an intriguing cast of characters and the first half was incredibly promising. And then it sort of... fell apart? Got boring? Stopped making sense? Felt super disconnected from the first half? All of the above? And so, a 3 star read. I will definitely read anything that Lisa Ko writes and find some joy in it, but this one was definitely a let down. ...more
![BURGESS BIRD BOOK FOR CHILDREN By THORNTON W BURGESS LITTLE BROWN HC 1919 [Hardcover] Thornton W. Burgess](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1697485978l/130208192._SY75_.jpg)
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