Hello! Welcome to my 2020 blog series: Snapshot Reviews. In which I give a short review of every book read in the previous month.
June was full of learning, reflection and reevaluating both my reading and personal world. I attended protests in my city, had to face some harsh realities and managed to help some of those in my life open their eyes to the world! My reading this month was sporadic at best, but I did a fair bit of travelling between Canberra and Wollongong so I still managed to finish the month off having read a total of 10 books.
Book 1: Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi
This book is incredibly informative, Ibram X. Kendi gives insight to the entire history of racist America and how these ideas have shaped the world today. It’s very hard to rate non-fiction books in my opinion. However, this truly did what it set out to do, I found it super engaging and for that reason it deserves a five star rating.
Book 2: Poor Unfortunate Soul by Serena Valentino
There are some great themes in this book, that I think would be great to explore with young readers in your life. Ursula for one is incredibly empowered and finds herself most comfortable in her natural state, despite what others may think. For more, check out my full review.
Book 3: You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
This was a fast read, super cute and gave me all the nostalgia for high school shenanigans with my friends. If you are after a light contemporary with a splash of romance this is the perfect read. I listened to the audiobook and it was a ride!
Book 4: Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang
This used dry, abrupt and sarcastic language right from the outset. I flipped to the first page expecting to be thrown into a deep thought provoking and heart breaking read. I was, but I also scoffed and choked on my coffee. This is something that I could read over and over again. It explores some hard themes and has great perspective.
Book 5: Maleficent by Elizabeth Rudnick
I forgot how much I loved Maleficent until I read this, While I think the movie did a better job at showing us Maleficent’s story this was a great novelisation and I think there were some really cute scenes written in here that had a charm to them that the movie didn’t execute as well.
Book 6: Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq
Split Tooth is full of incredible prose. This is 100% a book I recommend picking up on audiobook. There is a darkness to the story tha it contains adult themes. Even if this story goes over your head, I think it is still an awesome read. I can see this being something I pick up and re-read every year.
Book 7: After Australia ed. by Michael Mohammed Ahmad
A fascinating take on futuristic Australia, these stories gave me Black Mirror vibes, but hit so much harder because I was able to understand and picture the landscape better than stories based in the US or in other countries.
Book 8: The House on Hoarder Hill by Kelly Ngai & Mikki Lish
This was a very fun read, I really enjoyed the light humour throughout the story. Hedy and Spencer have a very typical brother-sister relationship and that makes this very easy to relate to. Full review on my blog.
Book 9: Becoming by Michelle Obama
Reading and listening to Michelle Obama talk about her life both in and out of the White House was an incredible experience. She is so insightful and has such an interesting story to tell. This was incredible, I laughed, I almost cried, I cheered when she succeeded and felt bummed when things didn’t go her way.
Book 10: Maleficent, Mistress of Evil by Elizabeth Rudnick
As far as Disney fairy tales go, this sequel (and Maleficent in general) is particularly interesting as it humanises the characters in such a way that Sleeping Beauty did not. I particularly enjoy the dynamic between Princess Aurora and Maleficent as a mother-daughter duo. This story has great character arcs I felt satisfied by all of the relationships that were developed in this book. Full review on the homepage of this blog.
This blog will always be a safe space for this community. I won’t condone any sort of bullying or hate speech in the discussions.
BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT
- Australian CARRD Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xabcfdcX9dRNblOtR8UC0mA50aP0G18g_hSIpyTKJ4s/mobilebasic
- UK CARRD Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1kqV3Ei10znhMOCOCS7Lh2D-a4lq1xhKd5m8SMaqiSYM/mobilebasic
- US CARRD Resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
- Canadian CARRD Resources: https://blacklivesmatter-canada.carrd.co/
- Nox The Reader’s Guide to Anti-Racist Resources: https://noxthereader.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-guide-to-anti-racist-resources.html?m=1
If you can, Donate to the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation: http://www.aboriginalliteracyfoundation.org/how-you-can-help/make-a-donation/ who are doing great things in Aboriginal communities in Australia.
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– HAPPY READING! –
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