sondershelf's reviews
77 reviews

WHEN THE WORLD ENDED I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE FOREST by Glenn Diaz

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hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

"I have not been to a forest. This appears to be at the heart of this inquiry. I have not been to a forest."

I recall when I was beginning to delve deeper into poetry and was enamored by the idea of utilizing ecological concepts to talk about my overwhelming emotional state of dealing with anxiety and depression (and of course, teen angst). In one of the writing workshops I attended, a panelist commended this utilization, stating that it is a hopeful visualization of going back to one's "nature" due to its lack in my urbanized upbringing. I have always been fascinated and always saw solace in nature, its chaos not being assumed as necessarily destruction but as something that just occurs. Glenn's attempt at retracing our history through forests, not only exhibits our "roots" as a society, but also ways we have been uprooted away from this environment. 

Easily my favorite of this year. 
M Train by Patti Smith

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challenging reflective slow-paced

4.0

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

Walking With The Comrades by Arundhati Roy

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hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

"People who live in situations like this do not have easy choices. They certainly do not simply take instructions from a handful of ideologues who appear out of nowhere waving guns. Their decisions on what strategies to employ take into account a whole host of considerations: the history of the struggle, the nature of the repression, the urgency of the situation and quite crucially, the landscape in which their struggle is taking place. The decision whether to be a Gandhia or a Maoist, militant or peaceful, or a bit of both is not always a moral or ideological one

Tiempo Muerto by Caroline S. Hau

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

“So long as the mountain stands, there is hope.”

Tiempo Muerto proves both the reflective and revolutionary potential of fiction in our country. Caroline Hau being able to explore economic disparity, historical plagues, and the potential solutions exhibit an exploration of a not so distant alternative future in our society. Showing that the spaces between us can be closed when take action together.