Scan barcode
isabel_reyes's reviews
181 reviews
The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne, Tamara Payne
5.0
immensely wishing i had read his autobiography (a definite precursor to this) because i feel like i missed out on a lot of the perhaps more obvious material that he would have included in that.
the things that surprised me:
-he was a pretty terrible kid and was partially to blame for the institutionalization of his mother
-either malcolm x wasn’t as involved in the civil rights movement directly as i had thought or this book was slightly incomprehensive but either way —> he was a broad preaching in the middle east for much of the civil rights movement
-he was not a member of the black panther movement
-he was a separatist who, at one point in time, colluded with the KKK
-he broke away from Elijah Mohammad’s teachings towards the end of his life and flamed his former mentor
-the fbi and his former american muslim brothers worked together to have him killed
the things that surprised me:
-he was a pretty terrible kid and was partially to blame for the institutionalization of his mother
-either malcolm x wasn’t as involved in the civil rights movement directly as i had thought or this book was slightly incomprehensive but either way —> he was a broad preaching in the middle east for much of the civil rights movement
-he was not a member of the black panther movement
-he was a separatist who, at one point in time, colluded with the KKK
-he broke away from Elijah Mohammad’s teachings towards the end of his life and flamed his former mentor
-the fbi and his former american muslim brothers worked together to have him killed
The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
3.75
this was good ! it just felt glaringly unrealistic at times
Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
4.0
this was lovely at times and at worst, digestible. very readable as far as poetry goes
Andy Warhol was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History's Great Personalities by Claudia Kalb
3.5
this was alright. it suffered a bit from too much information. i appreciated the celebs that were included tho bc i knew almost all of them. the marilyn monroe, princess d, and lincoln biographies were my favs
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
3.75
kind of a let down tbh (?) but i still enjoyed this and got properly freaked out a couple times. eleanor was beyond annoying tho
Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi
4.0
entertaining read for sure!! not as literary or subtle as i may have sished
We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir by Raja Shehadeh
3.75
not a lot i didn’t already know and a little too historical to truly be considered a memoir. but that in itself is a commentary because it makes it clear that history is inseparable from the palestinian identity