bahareads's reviews
1074 reviews

Puerto Rico: A National History by Jorell Meléndez-Badillo

challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.0

Admittedly I know little about Puerto Rico's history as a whole. Much of what I know comes from activists attachment to other freedom movements and historical fiction I've read (DR and Cuba from Racial Migrations: New York City the Revolutionary Politics of the Spanish Caribbean and The Taste of Sugar). I have read War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony for a class, but the professor had a negative attitude towards the book which affected the way I read it. Puerto Rico: a National History is exact what the title says it is; the book covers the island from indigenous times to the present day.

Puerto Rico flows. It is a smooth read. It didn't read like an academic book from an academic publisher. I'm sure Meléndez-Badillo wrote his book with both an an academic and non-academic audience in mind. The jargon is kept to a minimum. The work is concise and clear; its a short book - just above 200 pages!

Meléndez-Badillo is a Puerto Rican so that adds another layer of care and thoughtfulness to the narrative of the work. He includes personal stories into the narrative. He talks about desperately waiting from his grandmother after Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico and the relief when a neighbour phoned him to let know that she was indeed okay. I did start crying at this point. He also talks about guilt around that - but I'll talk about that in another post. He does not go into heavily into a detailed narrative of Hurricane María and the aftermath, utilising Saidiya Hartman's method of not retraumaizing these people (read: historical actors) just to advance the narrative.

Meléndez-Badillo relays the subjection and terrorisation of the Puerto Rican people but also the victory and triumphs of them as well. He end with the text talking about Bad Bunny's track El apagón and some of the lyrics Gabriela Berlingeri sings towards the end of the song. The last two paragraphs are his contemplations and the collective hopes for Puerto Rico by Puerto Ricans. I also cried during this part.

Highly recommend reading. The font is amazing; its very visually stimulating.

Thank you to the publisher (Princeton University Press) for sending me a free copy!

Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

no words. I can’t believe story ARC 1 is complete. Books 6-10 are going to be a TRIP. I might just name my son Kaladin. 

The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe by Marlene L. Daut

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

4.5

The First and Last King of Haiti is an academic masterpiece. Daut shows off her prolific knowledge of Haitian history with this monograph. Concerned with how earlier historical/literary/news works have covered Henry Christophe in a villainous light, Daut attempts to see Christophe through a fuller picture.

Not a moment in Henry Christophe's life is missed by Daut. Where there is no information, she picks the known information from persons around Christophe at that time in his life to piece together what it may have been like. This is one of the reasons TFALKOH is so big. Doubt says she understand "the king of Haiti's early life as a series of stories told about him, ones whose chains of recitation must be corroborated, verified, counterbalanced against and alongside the new documentation unearthed here, oral and written, including enemy reports as well as those that paint are more complicated but not necessarily more flattering portrait."

TFALKOH is published with a trad publisher, but it read more like an academic text from an academic press. The narrative can get bogged down with all citations from the many, many different commentaries on Christophe. It might be frustrating for some readers; I did get overwhelmed at times. However I personally enjoyed it - or maybe I'm just used to it. The narrative is not a straight line. Readers get the background information of everyone who was close to Christophe. I liked this aspect because provided a fuller picture of Christophe, especially when there is very limited tangible information about his early formative years. Daut says her responsibility is to her historical subjects, Christophe and his family, than any particular community.

TFALKOH sucks you in with the stories that Marlene Daut is able to weave throughout the narrative. I gasped, empathised and was agast in many different places. In places where the text may get bogged down the shocking stories always brings you back. Honestly I hope to be able to know as much to produce this type of work that Daut has put out there for the world. TFALKOH should go down as a classic in Haitian studies.

Thank you to www.CoriolisCompany.com for a review copy.

Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible by Brandon J. O'Brien, E. Randolph Richards

informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

Listened to it on audiobook. I enjoyed it. It was a nice refresher for things I subconsciously knew but haven't been consciously practicing. It was also great to hear how some bible stories should be interpreted in light of community culture, which makes me reflect on the way some of these prominent bible stories are taught in churches.

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson

emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Between Good Dirt and Black Cake, Good Dirt blows everything else away. Readers should be able to tell the care and detailed research that Charmaine Wilkerson put into the narrative. I enjoyed how she has a reference page with good secondary source readings at the end of the book for those interested in learning more about the Black history she is referencing.

The audiobook is great. I enjoyed the narrators voices. If you're looking for a book with a tight plot, this is not for you. The novel is very character driven and - in my mind - quite plotless. There is a bunch of POVs but I didn't mind being about to see into all of the characters' minds. Wilkerson has you feeling all of the characters emotions and angst throughout the narrative. What isn't advertised very well is this book has a lot of romance tied up in it. It is a family saga but also the romance plays a large part in the plot. The flashbacks to different ancestors were nice to help establish why and how the jar was so valuable to the Freeman family, but at first it was very jarring and almost unnecessary.

The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution by C.L.R. James

informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution by C.L.R. James is a classic work in the field of Haitian Revolution, Atlantic Slavery, and Caribbean History. CLR James is a Trinidadian historian who is also a Marxist.

The Black Jacobins is a foundational text in the historiography of the Haitian Revolution. James Walvin’s introduction in my edition says that this monograph “remains a starting point and an intellectual inspiration, written by a man whose words, always worth heeding, deal with issues which are both universal and contemporary.” James writes about the Haitian Revolution with the slave experience at the heart of the narrative.

He chronicles Saint Domingue’s history from before the Haitian Revolution to the making a free Republic after Toussaint L’Ouverture’s death. James uses Toussaint L’Ouverture as a narrative vehicle for the main part of the text. Toussaint does not appear in the text until Chapter Four. The first three chapters are background narrative to set the scene for what triggers the Haitian Revolution. The following chapters follow the actions of Toussaint, and Dessalines, Christophe, and other prominent Black leaders of the revolution.

I enjoyed reading The Black Jacobins. I heard about this monograph before, because it is a foundational text, but it was never assigned for a class I was in. Of course, newer works have moved beyond what James covered in his monograph, but I cannot begin to imagine how revolutionary this text was in 1930s. I think about other works on enslavement that come out in the 1930s and 1940s, that James in is conversation with such as Slave and Citizen or the works of Ulrich B. Phillips. James moving away the paternalistic view of slavery to show the gritty reality of enslavement for those in Saint Domingue. The descriptions of punishment and blatant cruel torture is emotionally stirring. The writing itself is fantastic; James creates a beautiful narrative that flows well and is digestible to the average reader. I have read another of Eric Williams’ books, From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492–1969, which was so dense. It was hard to get through.

I am sceptical about some of James’ blanket statements throughout the text. He portrays the enslaved as having no joy or happiness at all in their life; that they were just shells of human beings which I do not agree with. When introducing Toussaint in, James talks about how Toussaint married his wife and rejected concubinage. He mentions that most enslaved people engaged concubinage – but he makes that fact sound negative. Or at least that’s how I read it. Which rubbed me very wrong, because they would not have had a choice in the matter (84). I found it interesting when James talked about the Vodu ceremony that helped start the Haitian Revolution, he did not mention the woman involved; maybe that was not a fact known then.

I picked this monograph because I’m currently reading The First and Last King of Haiti by Marlene Daut. Surprisingly – I have been thinking about this a lot recently – I have not read any works that focus solely on the Haitian Revolution. Overall reading this will be helpful. It broadens my understanding of the period and the influences in the region. Over 85 years old, the book has its flaws, but it set the historiography on a new path. Its influence speaks for itself as it is still so relevant all these years later.

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao

adventurous challenging emotional tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I alternated between audio book and e-book for this one.

Heavenly Tyrant is very different from Iron Widow. Iron Widow read more like sci-fi historical fiction while Heavenly Tyrant reads more like sci-fi with a dash of his-fic influence. It was good but so different from the first one.

For such a large book, not a lot happens in it. There are minor skirmishes here and there but the big battle... isn't even that much of a battle. The characters go through changes and internal battles, which were enjoyable. The world building was well done for me. Zetian remained true to her goal despite everything and THAT is what stuck out to me above all. I am interested to see where the next book goes - because I don't see how Zhao can wrap all of this up in just one more book.

The Winners by Fredrik Backman

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I cried through this one. The Winners is the culmination of a hard story of an area beautifully told. I can't express how much my emotions fluctuated during this book. I appreciate how Backman keeps his characters nuanced. The great ending to a good series.

"tell your sons that if they have to think about whether or not they've had sex with a girl who didn’t want it then they have. If you can’t understand that the girl you’re having sex with wants it or not then you’ve never had sex with a girl who fucking wants it. Stop telling your daughters. We already know it all."

Pillaging the Empire: Global Piracy on the High Seas, 1500-1750 by Robert M. Levine, Kris E. Lane, Kris Lane

informative reflective fast-paced

3.0

I enjoyed Lane’s work. Pillaging the Empire had streamline narrative and short compact chapters. The range of information that Lane covers shows the extension of empire from different European powers. To see the extension illustrated with the theme of piracy was fascinating.

It provided a different lens that I have not previously thought about before; my knowledge of piracy being limited to the West Indies and more with the English narrative of late 1600s and early 1700s. I thought the personal profiles of the popular pirates like Henry Avery, Edward Teach, Ann Bonny, and Mary Reed were very surface level.

It was interesting to see a view of Woodes Rogers from a non-Bahamian focused lens. His story is mostly summed up on pages 196-197; but to link Rogers’ lack of wealth at the time of his death to fight against piracy is a bit erroneous to me. Rogers’ lack of wealth had more to do with his time in debtors’ prison, after his first tenure as Governour in The Bahamas, and his shared company’s lack of land sales and profit in The Bahamas.

Caribbean piracy played a crucial role in shaping the region by challenging European imperial control, fostering alternative economies, and influencing local governance. Pirate havens like Nassau, Tortuga, and Port Royal became thriving centres of trade, smuggling, and illicit commerce. Pirates disrupted Spanish treasure fleets, redistributed wealth, and created economic opportunities for local communities. For examples, Bahamian colonists generally welcomed pirates because of economic opportunities their presence brought, as well as the ability to help them wreck ships in The Bahamas’ shallow waters. Their defiance of colonial rule also influenced Caribbean identities, contributing to a particular narrative in the legacy of resistance, autonomy, and maritime culture.

The chapters are “condensed chronicle of pirates’ own exploits compiled from various sources but is focused on Spanish response” (4). He focuses more on empires, and their influence on the growth of piracy. He says the age of piracy coincided with European political and religious expansion (209). Lane leaves the legal, moral and psychological reflections up to the reader, but he does mention his own views in the preface

Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire

informative fast-paced

3.0

Aimé Césaire's Discourse on Colonialism is a critique of European colonialism and its devastating impact on colonized societies. Césaire was a poet, politician, and intellectual from Martinique. He was a leader of the Negritude movement. Discourse on Colonialism challenges the supposed civilizing mission of European colonialism. Césaire argues that colonialism, rather than being a benevolent force of progress, is a brutal system that degrades both the colonized and the colonizer.

Set against the backdrop of mid-20th-century colonial struggles, Discourse on Colonialism condemns European imperial powers for perpetuating economic exploitation, cultural destruction, and racial hierarchy. Césaire critiques Western humanism, asserting that it is a selective ideology that values European lives while disregarding the suffering inflicted on non-European peoples. He draws connections between colonial violence and European fascism, arguing that the atrocities committed in the colonies laid the groundwork for the horrors of World War II.

His main argument is that colonialism is not about spreading civilization but about maintaining economic dominance. Through historical examples, Césaire tries to dismantles the moral and ideological justifications for this idea of  “empire,” advocating instead for the liberation and self-determination of colonized peoples – like himself.

Discourse on Colonialism is a powerful and incisive critique that should resonates with those from formerly colonized nations. His argument that colonialism was never about civilization but rather about economic greed and racial subjugation is compelling. I strongly agree with his assertion that colonialism dehumanized not only the colonized but also the colonizer. Césaire’s exposure of European hypocrisy—claiming to champion human rights while systematically oppressing non-Europeans—remains extremely relevant today as former (and not former) colonial powers continue to exert economic and political control over their former (and not former) colonies. For example, Martinque is still a colony of France, under the label “overseas department.”

What I found most impactful, albeit obvious, was his emphasis on how colonialism erases and distorts indigenous cultures. His argument that colonized societies had their own systems of governance, culture, and knowledge—systems that were deliberately destroyed—challenges the Eurocentric idea that colonization was a necessary step toward modernization. This is a reminder of how history often hides the voices of the marginalized

Césaire’s background in the colonial world profoundly shaped his view of global power structures, including his perspective on the United States. The United States, in his view, perpetuated a new form of imperialism to enforce Western dominance. Does he mention the Cold War? He does mention Communism/Maxist and its influence and him and other around him – but I cannot recall him talking about the Cold War. He does talk the World Wars which I interpreted to be WW1 and WW2.  Césaire’s Marxist influences would have played a part in his critique of the US.

Discourse on Colonialism is an important text understanding the historical and ongoing effects of colonialism. Césaire’s passionate denunciation of imperialism, his critique of European hypocrisy, and his insights into the connections between colonialism and fascism, this work as relevant today as it was in 1950s. His analysis urging us to center the voices and histories of those who resisted.