Radical Reads & Social Justice
Hello! This is just a quick post to explain the changes that you'll probably have noticed on my blog. In line with the New Year vibes of 'out with the old, in with the new', I've completed a full rebranding of the blog and website.
Rating: 4.5 stars Genre: Literary, Historical Fiction Summary: When Ada fails to conceive a child with her new husband, she becomes increasingly desperate. Barren women in her village are often hanged as witches. Fearing that she is cursed, neighbours start refusing to let her attend their births, meaning she can no longer put her expertise as a midwife to use. Frustrated and afraid, Ada runs away to find refuge with a band of outlaws and their charismatic leader known only as the Kid. In this makeshift and marginalised family, women like Ada are finding power beyond the status of their wombs - and taking revenge on the society that has rejected them.
Rating: 4 stars Genre: Literary fiction, magical realism Summary: When David sets out in his fishing boat from the island of Black Conch, on a morning that seems the same as any other, the last thing he expects is to come face-to-face with a mermaid. He always thought such creatures existed only in rumour and legend, but here one stares at his boat in the vulnerable reality of flesh and blood, and he must step in to protect her when American tourists arrive for a hunting trip like no other. David nurtures trust and then love between himself and the mermaid, desperate to carve out a life for them among the richness and darkness of his island home. Yet it remains to be seen whether this fusion of woman and myth can ever be his to hold onto.
Confession: I'm a massive wimp, and for me full-on horror films or books are an absolute no-no. When I was younger I was traumatised by E.T. the alien for weeks, and my Mum once had to walk me sobbing out of the cinema when I freaked out over Dobby in The Chamber of Secrets. If you share my cowardly streak, you'll love this list of books that sit safely outside of the horror genre, but still provide a creepy and unsettling vibe to get you in the mood for spooky season...
Rating: 3.5 stars Genre: Non-fiction Summary: The USA is perceived as one of the most powerful countries in the world, yet it also has one of the highest maternal death rates. And those rates, already high, skyrocket if you happen to be a woman of colour, a gay or trans parent, or a working-class mother. In Belabored: A Vindication of the Rights of Pregnant Women, Lyz Lenz pulls apart these grim statistics to reveal just how harmful our cultural myths of motherhood have become. From diminishing access to safe abortion, to the policing of pregnant bodies and the stigma of postnatal depression, the intimate and private act of creating a child has been dragged into the public arena for politicians to debate and everyone else to gossip over, or have an opinion about. Belabored is a furiously feminist manifesto that, finally, puts pregnant people, their bodies, and their choices at the centre.
Rating: 4.5 stars Genre: Literary fiction Summary: Raised by her mother and three aunts in a bustling Istanbul home, Asya is tired of negotiating their multiplying expectations and dreams of fleeing to lead her own, unfettered life. Across the continents, in America, Armanoush is also struggling to deal with the demands of her large and dissonant family. When the two young women cross paths, they will force their families towards a reckoning with the past that has been almost a century in waiting.
This idea has been a long time in the making, so I'm very excited to finally be able to share it with you all! I wanted to find more Own Voices book bloggers to follow, and I thought a tag would be an ideal way to do this - and to uplift the Own Voices book blogging community at the same time.
Rating: 3.5 stars Genre: Historical fiction Summary: Dorothea has enough of her own worries - trying to continue her studies of phrenology under the disapproving eye of her father, dodging her simpering stepmother-to-be at society balls, and dissuading men with matrimonial hopes. Yet when visiting a woman's prison on charitable errands, she feels drawn to the tragic story of Ruth Butterham, a maid and seamstress condemned to death for the murder of her mistress. Ruth is an enigma, a girl of only sixteen who has already endured a lifetime of suffering. Always refusing to become a victim, this young prisoner holds onto a burning core of vengefulness that allures and repels Dorothea in equal measure. Is Ruth guilty, or is her confession the product of her own disturbing delusions?
I think we can all agree that before starting book blogging, we had no idea how time-consuming it would turn out to be! As well as actually reading books and writing posts, there are social media platforms to manage, photos to take, websites to design and emails demanding responses. It's no wonder that many bloggers (myself among them!) have found themselves getting overwhelmed. Over four years of book blogging, I've developed a number of strategies focussed on keeping me sane above making my blog uber-successful! I thought I would collect these tips together into an ultimate guide to stress-free book blogging...
Rating: 4 stars Genre: Non-fiction Summary: Feeling a debt of gratitude to his queer community's elders, and determined not to let their stories be lost to history, Mason Funk established Outwords, a charity dedicated to travelling the length and breadth of America to interview LGBT+ elders. From swanky offices to rural snowstorms, the Outwords team seek queer stories wherever they can find them, determined to record as many of the movement's perspectives as possible. The result is The Book of Pride, a collection of interviews with LGBT+ pioneers, including John S. James (HIV treatment campaigner), Diana Rivers (author and women's rights activist) and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy (trans community leader).
OffBeatBooks 