Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold My rating: 2 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Raising Our Hands in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold presents itself as a call to action, blending memoir and activism, but falls short of delivering a truly impactful narrative. While the author’s intentions are clear and commendable, the execution of the book leaves much to be desired. The Details One of the major drawbacks is the uneven balance between personal anecdotes and the broader discussion of social issues. Arnold’s memoir often…
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Shine Your Icy Crown
Shine your Icy Crown by Amanda Lovelace My rating: 3 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Shine Your Icy Crown in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I loved Lovelace’s first poetry series, Women Are Some Kind Of Magic and was excited for Shine Your Icy Crown of her newest series, You Are Your Own Fairy Tale. In fact, I was so excited that I didn’t even notice I had requested the audio version on NetGalley. I’m not the greatest admirer of audiobooks, so I had to find a printed…
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Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners
Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill My rating: 5 of 5 stars Once every so often I bring home a book from the library that my darling husband finds interesting enough to “borrow” from me and I won’t see it again until he has finished it. During his perusal he would get so excited about sharing what he has read that sometimes I cover my ears and shout “spoiler alert”. Yup, we are an old, married couple alright. Anyway, I’m not quite sure how I came about borrowing this book from my library, but I am happy I did. I appreciate a thoroughly…
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Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (And Other Lies)
Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (And Other Lies): Amazing Women on What the F-Word Means to Them by Scarlett Curtis My rating: 5 of 5 stars I was reading The Art of Fact for my course when this book became available for pick up at my local library. If you haven’t read my review on the former, it might explain a lot as to way I chose to ignore my homework and read this one in less than 24 hours instead. I was angry at the way racial minorities and women were represented in The Art of Fact and Feminists Don’t Wear Pink turned out to be a very welcomed source…
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Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions
Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie My rating: 5 of 5 stars I found a digital copy of this book on my phone, although I’m not sure how or when it got there. I started reading it immediately after finishing Adichie’s We should all be feminists and I’m more and more impressed and intrigued by her writing. It was a quick, honest and candid read that addressed the many gender issues that are still so prevalent in today’s world, without placing any blame. Instead the author suggests possible ways to raise girls to be independent, confident and self-reliant. Overall, I hope more people…
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We Should All Be Feminists
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’m slowly beginning to realize that my research for my graduate thesis is taking me in a direction I had no idea it could take me; the direction of feminist theory. I had hoped I could address my topic without venturing into this territory, not because I don’t like the subject, on the contrary, it is because I am afraid I will lose myself in it. In and of itself this isn’t bad, but when you have already told your supervisor the topic of your thesis and then drop that kind of change on him,…
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The Postcolonial Jane Austen
The Postcolonial Jane Austen by You-Me Park My rating: 2 of 5 stars Part of my ongoing research in preparation for my graduate thesis. It is always unfortunate and a little annoying when books turn out to be non-referencing when researching one’s topic. But regardless of my personal feelings with respect to the time I used perusing this text, I found it rather confusing and lacking any distinct focus and direction. I remember taking a postcolonial literature course back during my undergraduate years with a professor named Austen, kind of ironic, right? The prof was nice enough and very enthusiastic about the topic and I really tried my best and…
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A Secret Sisterhood: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf
A Secret Sisterhood: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf by Emily Midorikawa My rating: 3 of 5 stars As part of my ongoing research for my thesis I primarily focused on the section that dealt with Jane Austen’s friendship with Anne Sharp. I was excited to read this book and had high hopes to find little pieces of information that could be truly beneficial for my thesis. I ended up being disappointed. It did discuss the friendship that had not really been mentioned by anyone else, but the research and evidence provided is lacking. Barely any quotes are used and the ones that…
