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drwozniak's reviews
509 reviews
Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies by bell hooks
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
I can’t believe Nabokov is still running circles around hoes from his grave.
I've Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land by Alaina E. Roberts
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Solid. Maybe a bit more academic/dry than I expected. But it does help complicate the story of the American West which I think is good. It made me think of how we can “diversity” our way out of white supremacy and settler colonialism. “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house” and all that was, I think, the main takeaway from this book.
We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Hey! I read all the books mentioned in this book!
A very sad story that was well researched and also told with compassion. Read this (and all the books it mentions) if you’re thinking about foster care or adoption.
A very sad story that was well researched and also told with compassion. Read this (and all the books it mentions) if you’re thinking about foster care or adoption.
Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism by Harsha Walia
challenging
informative
5.0
The Pisces by Melissa Broder
challenging
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Women vs the void is elite. This is funny and thoughtful. Some of the descriptions of homeless and disabled people were uncomfortable but I’m not sure they were “bad”. It was nice to watch Lucy fumble around and try to come to terms with not hiding from life and all of its mess.
Lots to think about! And many hilarious one-liners me and my partner will be repeating at each other.
Lots to think about! And many hilarious one-liners me and my partner will be repeating at each other.
The Viral Underclass by Steven W. Thrasher
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Read this immediately. If it’s the only book you read this year, if it’s the only book you ever read again, just make sure you read it.
The most transformative section for me was when the author discussed the criminalization of disease and viral transmission (usually through HIV). I have been guilty in the past (and present) of holding immense anger towards people who seem to have zero regard for spreading preventable illnesses (COVID, RSV, cold, Rinovirus) and this section really helped me work through that. I will still struggle with my anger at individuals but it helped a lot to reframe.
Overall, this did a great job at showing me how to look at how poisonous individualism can be and how even the “my body my choice” narrative feeds into that belief system. A belief system that does nothing to protect people and continues to shift responsibility away from society as a whole. If we are to move forward as a species, we need to look at how we treat illness as a community issue and not an individual problem.
The most transformative section for me was when the author discussed the criminalization of disease and viral transmission (usually through HIV). I have been guilty in the past (and present) of holding immense anger towards people who seem to have zero regard for spreading preventable illnesses (COVID, RSV, cold, Rinovirus) and this section really helped me work through that. I will still struggle with my anger at individuals but it helped a lot to reframe.
Overall, this did a great job at showing me how to look at how poisonous individualism can be and how even the “my body my choice” narrative feeds into that belief system. A belief system that does nothing to protect people and continues to shift responsibility away from society as a whole. If we are to move forward as a species, we need to look at how we treat illness as a community issue and not an individual problem.