Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - The World Record Book of Racist Stories

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I listened to the audiobook via Libby, and I highly recommend it. The narration was excellent - both Amber and Lacey were hilarious, charismatic, clever, and it truly felt like chatting with friends.

Nothing in here is brand new information or particularly shocking because we know the world we live in, right? It's racist as fuck here. You're probably saying, "No, it's 2024! We are post-racial! I don't see race! I'm an ally!" Uhhhhhhhhh.......... Let's be serious. Anyway, regardless of recognizing that shit like this happens everyday, I think it's really important to empower and encourage others to lament and commiserate in the bullshit they have had to tolerate and withstand in a country that harps on the "American Dream". It's healthy to vent, to let it out, to share your story with others. Authors of color are not here to educate us; it is simply an honor and privilege to read the stories they so graciously share with us.

However, I do think this book and their previous work would be great to recommend to the "good vibes only" or fragile white people in your lives. It's an accessible How to Not Be An Insufferable White Person To The Black People Around You 101 starter text of "hey actually, this shit DOES happen and it happens on the regular, so read this book! This is only accounts from two Black women! Imagine the bullshit that happens every single day to other Black folks! Maybe listen to them! Believe them! And for the love of GOD, stop fucking touching their hair!!!!"

My favorite award/record stories were the ones about white privilege, the commenting on Black folks' hair/bodies, the nail salon story (I was cackling throughout so many of these, but this one got me!) and the older white Southern woman who accused all of the Black colleagues in the office of stealing something from her, as she was later arrested for embezzling thousands of dollars from the company. One thing about white people - they have AUDACITY !!!! Anyway, if these two ever do standup comedy or have a live podcast recording or anything, I will buy tickets because I am officially a Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar stan account. Their banter is fantastic, and I can literally listen to them talk for hours.

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xread_write_repeatx's review

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dark funny informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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librarykiana's review

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funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

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akswhy's review against another edition

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funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

A very quick read, but one I’ll be thinking about forever. Just as good as their first book! I’m tempted to call it delightful, but it’s hard to do that when it’s also terrifying???

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kaaaaaaaa's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny informative fast-paced

5.0

My only beef with this book was the constant references to "we told that story in the first book". I have read the first book. I loved it. But that was two years ago, and I didn't reread the first book before reading this one, because I didn't think I had to. It doesn't actually harm the quality of the book or impact the clarity of the stories; I just personally found it a little annoying.

But anyway, I had to go on an unexpected 2.5 mile walk in 90F/32C heat the other day, and I knew the only thing that could get me through it was some top-tier, A+, quality™ listening material. So I downloaded this book off of Libby, successfully trudged through the heat, and only nearly threw up from heat exhaustion once!

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displacedcactus's review

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challenging emotional funny fast-paced

It's weird to say that I enjoyed a book about racism, but Ruffin and Lamar are so good at making fun of these jerks. You'll probably experience a lot of emotions when reading this -- shock, anger, sadness, but also a sort of disbelieving amusement at the sort of nonsense that some people actually say out loud with their real life mouths. If you enjoyed their first book, you'll probably enjoy this one. If you haven't read the first book, this one makes several references to it, but you can really read them in whatever order.

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