jdscott50's reviews
1530 reviews

1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei

informative slow-paced

5.0

A dual history and biography of Ai Weiwei and his father, Ai Qing. Ai Qing was a famous poet who lived during Chinese imperialism, World War II, and the eventual Communist rule. His poetry would inspire and encourage the war against Japan and the hope of a new Chinese Nation. However, his defense of criticisms of Mao would have him branded as a Righest and exiled. Ai Weiwei documents these hardships and how this censorship would plant the seed for his own art. His absurdity in art becomes subversive, leading to his own exile, censorship, and incarceration. 

Like his father, he would be detained in a very absurdist fashion. Guards would remain in his room during his detainment and interpretation, leading to many absurd developments. Through it all, his subversive ideas thwart the Chinese government until he eventually needs to leave the country for his safety.

An illuminating look at Ai Weiwei and his father, AI Qing. Oppressive regimes always have their antagonists and, through art and beauty, provide a home for a better way. 

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

Mathew Desmond returns with a new book. After the success of Eviction, Desmond delves deeper into many of the root causes of poverty in the United States. We may sometimes view poverty and homelessness as a fault in our community. Instead, Desmond demonstrates that this works as designed. The poor can be repeatedly taken advantage of through micro fees that make corporations and CEOs super-rich. The impoverished don't have lawyers and advocates. When they go to the check cashing place, they get fleeced; it works as designed. When they try to get housing and get blocked, it works as designed. Many communities rely on the impoverished as a warning to keep workers in check; this works as designed. What are the solutions? It is uncertain, but these societal ills won't stop until communities begin to care about all of their citizens. 

Transitional: In One Way or Another, We All Transition by Munroe Bergdorf

emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

Munroe Bergdorf lost her modeling contract with L'oreal due to comments addressing racism during the Charlottesville protest. She takes us back to the beginning of her childhood in England with biracial parentage. A Jamaican father and English mother left her confused when she would not become the child they expected. She documents this loneliness as she transitions from a young gay man to a famous trans woman model. 

There is a moving section where she discovers drag and the power it gives her to become her true self. Her journey is remarkable. Just as she emerges with a contract, she is embroiled in controversy for speaking out on racism and standing in solidarity with the people of Charlottesville. It would ruin her first major contract with Loreal. After time and sticking to her guns, she wins a new contract and becomes an ambassador for the gay community. An inspiring story that is sorely needed now. 
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"Summer break had arrived and the last thing I wanted to do was spend it twiddling my thumbs in Essex, so I got a job on the door of a drag club instead. I found drag euphoric. Before I had the language to be able to identify as trans, I would refer to myself as a queen. Drag unlocked part of myself that I’d never experienced before. It was more than just make-up, a wig, heels and a tight dress. It was the feeling of waking up, of accessing the confidence to be fully present, fearless and bold. Going out in drag made me feel like the best version of myself; I felt liberated, as if I was able to wear my feelings for everyone to see, without shame, without filter.” 

Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen

adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

We celebrate Lunar New Year and enter the year of the rabbit. Olivia is about to enter a new business venture, taking over her mother's matchmaking company. Just as she takes it to new heights, enters LA's most eligible bachelor Bennet O'Brien. He is handsome, wealthy, and has turned her business into an app. Will her instincts allow her to beat an algorithm? 

Olivia begins to hatch a plan to spy on the competition and hack Bennet's ZodiaCupid app; she matches him for a date. Brash and arrogant, she is immediately put off. Horses and Rats don't naturally mix. However, her heart can't stop racing around him. Will her spying on him backfire? When her ruse is found out during a podcast, it puts them both in direct competition. Can they match each other using their resources? Can they make each other fall in love? A fun story that has a great backstory on Chinese matchmaking. 

After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz

emotional informative slow-paced

4.0

European women at the close of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th century bristle against the constraints of their time. Restrained from living a free life. Men get to rule, fight their little wars, and ensure women have no say in any of it. Instead of men, we will hear the biographies of women, the daughters of Sappho. 

Rina Pierangel, Faccio, Romaine Brooks, Isadora Duncan, Sarah Bernhardt, Virginia Woolf, and many more are here with their adventures told. Who will be the one to create a masterwork to honor their mother, Sappho?

Told chronologically in brief biographical snippets, we see their frustrations and victories. This was a creative way of storytelling. Sort of a National Biography of Women. It introduces historical women of the era with their paintings, sculptures, plays, and writing. I had to look up a number of pieces that led to an immersive experience. 

A Country You Can Leave by Asale Angel-Ajani

challenging medium-paced

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

4.0

Yara and her Mom are on their last chance when they pull up to a mobile home park in the middle of nowhere California. Yevegenia has a wild streak, pushing them from town to town since Lara was little. Lara has clung tightly to her mother since she was a child. She starts to break free in this new town, searching for her Black identity in a Country You Can Leave.

Lara and her mother could not be more different. Genie is wild and adventurous, and Lara is more careful and serious. Running from town to town, often from creditors, will do that to a child. The Oasis is a last stop. A place of unraveling where children watch their parents' destruction. It is a short fall since this is already rock bottom. Lara builds a group of friends, and together, they make sense of each other's lives. When Genie's neglect leads to Lara being assaulted their dynamic shifts and a parting of the ways seems inevitable. 

This is a glimpse of lives exploding. It's tragic and Lara's perseverance will make her ok. It is a sad and traumatic story, but it's good to see people finding their way out. Told from Lara's perspective with Genie's advice on men and Russian literature analogies peppering the narrative. 

The Applicant by Nazlı Koca

emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

5.0

The ominous cover resembles a popular tale retold many times, Let the Right One In. This a vampire novel and movie. A vampire cannot enter unless they are invited. In Nazli Kocha's novel, The Applicant, immigrants are treated like vampires who only seek to drain a country's resources. Of course, the true story is that they are the lifeblood in which a community can thrive. We have stopped seeing things that way, as this book explores. 

In Berlin, on a student visa, her final thesis is rejected, and she is forced to appeal with the university and in German courts. She has only months to find a way to stay in the country. Forced to subsist as a cleaner, she also tries to obliterate herself with drugs, alcohol, and dancing, as we see how she and others survive in a country that clearly does not want them. 

The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin

adventurous medium-paced

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

5.0

The sequel to The City We Became starts at the impasse that ended that story. The five boroughs and NYC, pronounced Neek, are keeping the peace while staring at Staten Island's control by the Women in White. A new threat emerges in a Trump-like mayoral candidate who seeks to make New York City Great Again. His campaign isn't the only threat. Padmini loses her internship and possibly her legal status in the US. The Bronx may lose her brownstone. After an attack in NY shows cracks in their powers and defenses, they must find the higher power that threatens their entire reality. 

We see more of Neek in this story which I appreciated. He was such a force in the short story and opening of the first book. Here we see villains that mirror our everyday existence, from gentrification to white violence against communities. Interesting twist in the end with the multiverse and funny Lovecraftian horror joke. Looks like this will be a duology, but this has been fabulous series. 

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H

emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

Alienated from country and kin, Lamya turns to her faith for guidance in Hijab Butch Blues. Searching for her identity, she knows she is attracted to women, wonders if God is they, has a crush on her school teacher, and finds inspiration from the Koran stories of Mary, Noah, Abraham, and Moses.

In Mary, she wonders if she were not touched by a man would that indicate she is a lesbian? In Noah, she must find faith in herself when no one else believes. In Abraham, confusion as to her purpose. In Moses, a miracle for herself. 

A beautiful memoir that weaves faith into her journey to found family and her true self. 

Hourglass by Keiran Goddard

reflective slow-paced

3.0

Feeling directionless after being with women with unusual tastes and existing on bran flakes and apples, he meets a woman who writes just like him. He chronicles their relationship, the highs, and lows, as well as the eventual breakup. Told in heartbreaking prose and poetry, we follow the rise and fall of their relationship and how he slowly puts himself back together in the aftermath. 

I enjoyed the book; he captures what it feels like at the high of a relationship and the low of a breakup. Very sad at times, though.