ralovesbooks's reviews
1431 reviews

Thank you to Penguin Random House Audio and Libro.fm for my free copy! 

This book is beautiful and well-written, but I got lost on audio between all of the timelines and interconnected family branches. I much preferred the compact punch of the stories in Sabrina & Corina. 

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Libro.fm for my free copy! 

This multi-narrator novel is really powerful and tackles a lot of issues that I don't think get enough air time in literature, much less YA lit, like Islamaphobia and immigrant stories that are not about Latinx folks. I love that Sabaa Tahir won the National Book Award for this novel and that it'll get lots of hype in libraries and schools. 

Thank you to Hachette Audio and Libro.fm for my free copy! 

I chose this novel because I am on a streak of mythology retellings, and this one was quite good. I liked the frame of what happened on Ithaca while Odysseus was gone, with the women as the main characters/movers and narrated by Hera, of all people. At points, it got too intricate and drawn-out, but I was pleasantly surprised, having gone in fairly blind. As I told a friend, it's not as good as Circe, but it feels like Circe. 

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Libro.fm for my free copy! 

This book was fine, very Lauren Graham: endearing, self-deprecating, etc. Listening to her read her own words is the best way, and all the more if you crank up the speed. 

Thank you to HarperAudio and Libro.fm for my free copy! 

What a dark, funny, heart-wrenching (at times) story. I loved it, and I loved it in audio, read by Ginnifer Goodwin. I felt that desperate, bored feeling of being a teenager, and when the wheels fell off the plot, I was right there with the main characters. I really cared about what happened to them in this bizarre story, and now this author is 2/2 for me. 

The audio has an author's note that is so beautiful, I'm so annoyed that it's not in print. 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Audio and Libro.fm for my free copy!

For once, I think listening to the author read the book made a less optimal experience for me because the delivery was very flat. I was intrigued by the child actor situation, but the emotional abuse and learned disordered eating were so disturbing that I couldn't enjoy it. I think it's a powerful telling of the author's truth, except the title, which I think is patently untrue and just click bait. I can't recommend it.

“We need to see the workers of the fashion industry as the whole people that they are and, just like when you eat a meal at a restaurant knowing someone took the time to prepare it, and made it special for you, we should do the same with every piece of clothing that we own.”

Over my years of Dressember advocacy, I’ve learned more about the fashion industry and what goes into my clothes. My biggest lifestyle change has been to almost entirely halt my clothing purchases and wear what I own, which is more than enough and certainly a privilege. What do you do when you love clothing, but you know the industry is broken? Worn Out is a great overview of how fashion is a complex industry in need of reform in ethical practices, environmental sustainability, and legislation. The consumer, corporation, and lawmaker all need to play a role in reforming fashion.

The author comes from a background of reporting and editing in the fashion industry, and for much of the book, I had a hard time with that perspective because it seemed like she benefited from the industry (free clothes, tickets to runway shows) even though she witnessed exploitative behavior on so many levels (abuse of power, inhumane working conditions). Eventually, she left her editorial corporate jobs, and I think she holds the tension well. She loves fashion, and she wants to make it better, and I respect that.

I learned about this memoir from my friend Nikki, and it was as powerful as she described in her review. One of the main aspects that I’m trying to grow in my advocacy is to seek out survivor stories and listen. Reading this memoir with a listening posture was a way for me to practice that. This story is really difficult to read, but it’s important to witness. At the age of 13, Sara experienced an abusive home and was groomed into prostitution. She murdered her pimp and was sentenced to life without parole as a juvenile, which meant that she would die in prison. There’s so much tragedy there. Thanks to the intervention and advocacy from many people that allowed her to share her whole story, Sara was released from prison after serving 19 years, and she continues to be an advocate for survivors of trafficking and incarcerated women. 

And then I learned that only 27 states and DC have laws against prosecuting child trafficking victims for commercial sex. It’s overwhelming that so much wrong can be in the world. But it does no good to stay overwhelmed or grieved or even angry. I think about this quote from Audre Lorde in Sister Outsider: “Hatred is the fury of those who do not share our goals, and its object is death and destruction. Anger is a grief of distortions between peers, and its object is change.” So let us listen, learn, and channel our anger toward change. 

Content warnings: child sex trafficking, violence, murder, rape, abuse

Thank you to Penguin Random House for my free copy!

“Even if the sounds and words we create might require greater concentration and attention, I believe our stories are worth the effort.” (“Diversifying Radio with Disabled Voices”)

I became aware of Alice Wong when my friend Kendra gave me a copy of Disability Visibility, which was one of the most powerful books I read in 2020. Alice edited this anthology of pieces by disabled folks, and I highly recommend it to anyone in medicine, education, or social work, as well as curious learners who would like to add the perspectives of the disabled community to their world view. Her more recent memoir, Year of the Tiger, compiles a number of essays, blog posts, and interviews into this vivid collage of activism and advocacy.

I didn’t know this book was a collection of pieces, so hey, the Year of Essays continues, inadvertently! The tone might be surprisingly lighthearted, but Alice doesn’t shy away from describing the world as it is, which is to say, inaccessible and intolerant. But there’s hope, because we can grow in our knowledge, vigilance, and boldness. The stories, as she says, are worth the effort. I was struck by the concept that Alice kept hammering home: she needs to keep telling the same stories and conveying the same messages of access all the time. Sometimes, I feel that way with Dressember, like I’m saying the same thing over and over, and I get tired. But if a large part of activism is passion, there’s a big part that’s persistence, too. So we keep going, right? Right. 👏👏

This YA novel is historical fiction about the events that led to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911, which was the workplace disaster with the most loss of life until the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001. Due to broken fire escapes, ineffective ventilation, and locking their employees in the building (!!!), 146 workers died in this tragedy, and many were young women or girls. I learned the most about the shirtwaist strike through this book, that it lasted for 3 months in the cold New York winter, from November 1909-February 1910. It was the largest uprising of female American workers to date, but it sadly did not accomplish their goals in terms of fair pay, a closed shop, and improved working conditions. The fire occurred about a year after the end of the strike and shed light on the abhorrent working conditions in the garment district and beyond.

The story is told through multiple perspectives: two shirtwaist girls and one society girl who joins them in their strike. There’s so much going on here: immigrant stories, suffrage, women’s higher education, and the reality of living in a tenement in New York City at the turn of the century. I thought it was well done, and reading it can create a lot of opportunities to talk about dignified work, ethical consumption, and compassion for those who are making a way in a new country.

I found my copy at a community bookshelf near my office in New York City, and I ended up listening to it on audio via my library, which was well-read by Suzanne Toren.