Mediocre is a book about racism and sexism in America, and like Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race, it’s written in an accessible, personal manner. This one is more a discussion of U.S. history, similar to Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste, though I found the book most powerful when she was talking about her own…
This summer I read several powerful books about race that I’d encourage everyone to read, particularly if you’re interested in U.S. history and racism. In my last post, I wrote about Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. After Caste, I read Gilbert King’s Devil in the Grove, a Pulitzer Prize winner that describes racism and the justice…
This summer I read two powerful books about race that I’d encourage everyone to read, particularly those interested in U.S. history and racial issues. This is a discussion of the first of those two books. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson, is a book you’ve probably already heard much about. I found it…
If you’re like me, the first time you knew anything about the 1921 Tulsa race riots – or race massacre – was this summer, when Trump scheduled a rally in Tulsa on June 19 (Juneteenth). Before that I was mostly unaware of this history. What happened in Tulsa is a perfect example of the way our…
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but I ended up finding it both fascinating and moving. I knew it was about a true-life group of people in the Appalachians with blue skin, and it was also about the historic Packhorse Librarians, women who delivered library books on horseback to families in the…
The events of the last few weeks relating to racism, police brutality, and criminal justice have been horrifying; and yet, at the same time there’s something really uplifting about seeing so many people talking about racism and taking positive steps to do something about it. I have so much admiration for the people that are…
I saw Mitch Landrieu on the Daily Show a few months ago and immediately put this book on my TBR list. It’s a fascinating look at race and the history of the American South, from slavery to Civil War to Civil Rights. As the title indicates, the book is about how three confederate monuments were…
Dr. Seuss has always been a hero of mine. I’ve been a huge Seuss fan since the day I could read, and probably earlier. I have a portrait of the man, several biographies, and a lithograph of the Lorax graces my walls. When I was in the hospital at fourteen my family brought me a…
The world feels very wrong right now. Between shootings, terrorism, and the horrible people that are governing our country with seemingly no ethics or empathy whatsoever. I’ve been trying to write a review of this book for a while, and it’s especially relevant right now with this week’s acquittal of Philando Castile. On top of…
First – I know most of you have read this book already, but for those who haven’t, there are spoilers in this review. Second – let me say up front that I know I’m not giving Mark Twain his due. Published in 1885, Huckleberry Finn is noteworthy for its innovative use of dialect, its portrait…
Small Island is a book about Jamaicans during World War II who dream of seeing the larger world and move to London. It’s also a book about black men and women were treated at this time, and about how racial prejudice in England, the U.S. and the Caribbean differed. And it’s also a book about…
The Book Stop 