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moonyreadsbystarlight's reviews
576 reviews
Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity in This Crisis (And the Next) by Dean Spade
informative
reflective
3.75
This had a lot of great insight on organizing mutual aid. I wish I'd read this years ago when I started working with groups. There is a lot of great practical advice. I do think there were some things that I would have liked to see considered more (like more on disability accessibility, which should be central and I felt like there was more to be desired when talking about inter-group issues). I listened to this on audiobook, which was a bit dry but still very informative. I would definitely to look this over again in physical format to revisit some things. Overall, I think this is a great starting point for learning more about how to do mutual aid and issues to consider when organizing in general.
Edit: the more I think about this, the more gaps I see in it... I definitely need to look back at some parts to get a really good grip on this. I think a 4 might be a bit strong but some of this did have very useful points, so it's definitely above a 3. I'll tentatively put this in the neighborhood of 3.5
Edit: the more I think about this, the more gaps I see in it... I definitely need to look back at some parts to get a really good grip on this. I think a 4 might be a bit strong but some of this did have very useful points, so it's definitely above a 3. I'll tentatively put this in the neighborhood of 3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Classism
Decolonize Drag by Kareem Khubchandani
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.75
This has so much great commentary about what drag is in a variety of cultures (outside of white-washed pop culture). This critiques RuPaul's drag empire really well (from a fan of the franchize) and gives examples of how drag has been done and how it talks about far more than just gender. It ends with more about how to do decolonized drag (and how we should all go out there and fuck it up!). I would have loved for this to be even longer and more in depth, but it was still really great!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, and Colonisation
Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.0
This was a great memoir with a lot of important discussions about disability and accessibility. It was a little slow to start for me, but once the essay on teaching started (which I loved particularly as an educator myself), I was totally engaged. So many people really need to read this book. It puts so many ideas about disability justice into a really digestible and engaging format. It did seem to be written with an awareness of the part of her audience that are able-bodied which I understand but I did find myself wanting to hear more of what her voice without that layer of caution. Over all, this was a really great book -- definitely a great one to pick up to learn more about disability.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Misogyny, and Medical content
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy
What Does Israel Fear From Palestine? by Raja Shehadeh
informative
reflective
4.0
This was a brief look into the history of the colonization of Palestine, focusing on the political situation from the Nakba to the Oslo Accords, to Gaza in 2023/24. The first part focuses on Israel/Palestine relations in the beginning and how events surrounding apartheid in South Africa impacted that. It also reveals the social tensions between Israel and Palestine as well as tensions within each of them. The second part focuses on events since October 7, including the global response.
I think this is good, especially for those beginning to look into what is going on in Palestine. This certainly isn't an an all-encompassing history, but it put into focus certain issues that we are seeing today. It's not THE book on the region but is a great starting point in learning about the current events there.
I think this is good, especially for those beginning to look into what is going on in Palestine. This certainly isn't an an all-encompassing history, but it put into focus certain issues that we are seeing today. It's not THE book on the region but is a great starting point in learning about the current events there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use and Suicide
Who is Wellness For?: An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind by Fariha Róisín
4.0
This was a compelling work that is part memoir, part social commentary on the wellness industry and on the western understanding of wellness more broadly. So much of this speaks to the ways that traumas -- individual, generational, and systemic -- can influence our whole body. A lot of this is very strong, though I do think that the last part where she ties in the environment wasn't as well integrated as the rest of the parts. I do think it is related and good to bring up, but it may have needed to be longer to fully tie that piece in as well as she did the rest of the book.
I am suprised to see how low of a star rating this has, but I think it is due largely to the title and marketing. I would say if you're going into this to know that it is heavy on the memoir elements, which I enjoyed but may not be what some people anticipated from the title.
I am suprised to see how low of a star rating this has, but I think it is due largely to the title and marketing. I would say if you're going into this to know that it is heavy on the memoir elements, which I enjoyed but may not be what some people anticipated from the title.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
Homebody by Theo Parish
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
3.5
A cute, sweet, and relatable comic about finding yourself and coming out as a nonbinary person. Relatively fast-paced and simple with charming details in the art, especially with all the cats
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Transphobia
Moderate: Deadnaming
The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A wild action-filled romp with messy queer drama and critique of rainbow capitalism. A good balance of lightness and seriousness for the sort of story that it is. I also think that the mixing in of other POV and the chapters from the past added to it. I really enjoyed it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Hate crime and Transphobia
Minor: Pregnancy
Face biting - unsure if it qualifies for the cannibalism tag. No one is explicitly pregnant, but there is a bit of a pregnancy scare that spans the book that is mentioned, but it's the day after/getting plan b. Also, someone uses a racial slur but they don't have it on the page, so I tagged racism rather than the slur.
Wear, Repair, Repurpose: A Maker's Guide to Mending and Upcycling Clothes by Lily Fulop
informative
inspiring
3.75
This was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.5 or 4 stars... ratings are hard. This is a nice little book on beginning to sew and why it is important on an environmental level. It's not super in depth on either front, but it has good ideas and I found how the stitches are drawn to be really helpful. It is also supporting of people with different skill sets. For instance, it has tips for people who sew with machines and those who are more comfortable with iron-on patches, though most of it focuses on hand-sewing. I also thought the fashion aspect of having visibly repaired clothes to be really cool. I'm just starting to sew and it was helpful and inspiring for me!
The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I have SO many feelings about this. The characters were great, there are so many layers in all of this, and there is so much cool stuff happening with the art! Incredible!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Car accident and Dysphoria
Threat of suicide in an abusive context
Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture