Dracula's Guest & Dracula

 

No One Can Know

Current Read: No One Can Know
Date Started: 01/15/25

Date Finished: 

Rating: 

The Days I Loved You Most

Current Read: The Days I Loved You Most
Date Started: 01/10/25

Date Finished: 

Rating: 

White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color

 

Current Read: White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color
Date Started: 01/07/25

Date Finished: 01/10/25

Rating: ★★★★

This book is a tough one to rate. I read it for a new "Books Are Political" book club that I joined at the end of last year. First off, I'm glad that this book exists. It's definitely a needed book. And yet, with that being said, I'm also tired of hearing this. As a biracial woman of color, I found myself toggling between my White and Brown identities. This is probably a good thing as having empathy for both is necessary for me to go deeper into understanding. But it also riled up deep set emotions. How many times does someone need to write, take the labor to research, and publish works that don't get read and listened to by the very people who need to read and listen to them?! This book was refreshing for me. A reminder that no, I'm not crazy. These things exist. But it also made me think about my own privileges as a light skinned woman of color who has an advanced degree amongst other privileges. It made me wonder what else I can be doing, especially as I work through a racist system that's otherwise known as education. 

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

 

Current Read: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
Date Started: 01/06/25

Date Finished: 01/06/25    

Rating: ★★★★ 

I bought this book years ago at a library book sale because the title intrigued me. I have experience with the author from watching clips online - and admittedly seeing him referenced on The Big Bang Theory from my husband's many rewatches. The universe is an amazing thing (er, place?), that I have little knowledge of. I'm pretty much an Atheist, so everything that Dr. DeGrasse Tyson says is word for me. I wrongfully thought that listening to the audiobook (as read by the author) would help me understand this. Ha. No such luck! It's a short and condensed book that was clearly written by a very smart person for other very smart people. Now that isn't me taking a dig at my own intelligence! I'm a fairly intelligent person with a Master's Degree in Psychology. But this went wayyyy over my head. I'm lucky that the one thing that I took away from it is the difference between aluminum and tin foil! I'm going to have to try reading this by myself again, and at a much slower pace - chapter by chapter.

when they call you a terrorist: a black lives matter memoir

Current Read: when they call you a terrorist: a black lives matter memoir
Date Started: 01/01/25

Date Finished: 01/03/25

Rating: ★★★★

Although I don't generally do audiobooks for a variety of reasons, I bought this book years ago using an audible credit that I somehow earned. I wish that I had listened to this book when I bought it - it would have had more meaning for me and less overthinking about current events and controversy with the author. With that in mind, I removed a star because I can't "love" this knowing the reality and questioning in my mind. But regardless, as hopeless as I felt listening to statistics, this book gives me hope that people like me can make changes. Albeit small, I can start something. It's ironic, painful even, that I write this after finishing a chapter that focused on a 2016 Trump presidency as we look into a 2025 Trump presidency.

Hope is waning, but I will not allow myself to fall victim to complacency.