That Hair by Djaimilia Pereira de Almeid

That Hair by Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Making peace with ourselves in, I think to myself, like making peace with our ancestry, as though being at ease in our own skin were the consequence of the comfort brought by having a family.”

This was a tiny book that reads like a semi-autobiography of the authors life growing up in Lisbon. The author weaves in the history of her family along side how the people around her react to her hair and how she develops her own feelings about her hair. I resonated with the fact that Mila’s early attitude toward here hair was one of indifference, where it was a such a trivial matter to her until other’s like her white grandmother made comments like, “Tell me, Mila, when are you going to take care of that hair?” I feel that these are the turning points we have in our own thought patterns where we adopt the opinions of others. As if our hair, our skin or bodies are a problem that need to be fixed.

The writing style might not be for everyone but I thought it was a great that the author shared her story in this way.

Thank you to Tin House for the early copy!

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A Map is Only One Story

A Map Is Only One Story: Twenty Writers on Immigration, Family, and the Meaning of Home by Nicole Chung
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What I love most about essay collections is that they introduce me to many new writers I would not have otherwise come across. This anthology was well worth the read just for that. There actually quite a few essays by South Asian women in here too! Some of my favorite essays were, A Map of Lost Things by Jamila Osman, Return to Partition by Nur Nasreen Ibrahim, Undocumented Lovers in America by Krystal A. Sital, How to Stop Saying Sorry When Things Aren’t Your Fault by Kamna Muddagouni, The Wailing by Nadia Owusu and How to Write Iranian America; or The Last Essay by Porochista Khakpour. 

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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

Since it is Black History Month I thought i’d pick up a book by one of my favorites. I also chose this book as my book under 100 pages for the #readingwomenchallenge2020 This could also work for my feel good book as well because I love everything about it. These are not hard and fast rules but suggestions delivered in a neat package that can be read over and over. One of the suggestions is to encourage your child to be a reader and I absolutely loved this.

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The Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh

The moment I started this memoir I was sucked in and wanted to know more about E.J. Koh and her family. They are a South Korean family who had been living in America for many years. Koh’s father received a job offer in South Korea so both her parent’s decided to go and leave 15 year old Koh and her older brother alone in California. This separation affected Koh deeply. While apart for about 6-7 years Koh’s mother wrote her letters to bridge the absence. At the time Koh didn’t have a strong grasp on the Korean language. Koh found the letter’s after many years and translated them for this memoir. Koh studied translation and poetry in college.

I was curious to know what it does to a teenager to not have parents around during such pivotal moments in their lives. Koh retreated inward and seemed to just drift along, feeling alone for much of her life. We also read very briefly about her eating disorder and suicidal thoughts. The complex emotions are no explored in detail and much is left to the readers interpretation.

There is history of the lives of her mother and grandmothers woven into this book so in some ways it didn’t feel like a true memoir. But I think understanding these stories helped shape our understanding of the author’s life. I loved that Koh found her calling in poetry which served as an anchor for her.

The book is very slim at only about 200 pages and I could have easily read many more about the complexity of Koh’s life. Overall I was very swept away by this memoir and would love to reread and examine it further. Koh’s writing is truly beautiful…

“Nobody loves you like your mother. Not your father, not your husband, and not your children. While your parents are alive, eat as much of their love as you can, so it can sustain you for the rest of your life.”

Thank you to Tin House for the gifted book. This in no way impacts my review. All opinions are my own.

Expected Publication: Jan 7, 2020 by Tin House

 

 

Beauty is Convulsive by Carole Maso

I was super excited to win a copy of this book about Frida Kahlo because I visited Mexico City this year and before my trip I did a google deep dive into Kahlo’s life. I did not know that Frida was so interested in Medicine as a career path and that she was such a voracious reader. Due to an accident that left her bed ridden she reconsidered her medical career path to maybe become a medical illustrator which would merge her two interests in the arts and sciences. Her career as an artist evolved from there.

This book is written in prose poetry and contains text that is pieced together from Kahlo’s diaries, letters and medical documents. There was so much more I learned about Kahlo’s life in such an intimate way through this book. The writing style might not be for everyone but I think it is a beautifully written tribute to the life and work of an amazingly inspirational woman. This was first published in 2002 and is now newly reissued by Counterpoint Press and is releasing December 3rd, 2019.

Disclaimer: I won this book through a giveaway from Counterpoint Press. This in no way impacts my review. All opinions are my own.

Brave with Beauty by Maxine Rose Schur

Brave with Beauty: A Story of Afghanistan by Maxine Rose Schur
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.” – Rumi

This children’s book teaches us about Queen Goharshad, a 15th century monarch, from western Afghanistan. She dedicated her life to supporting art, music, poetry and architecture. During her reign she generously sold of her riches to build mosques, colleges and libraries for her people. After her passing everything went to ruins but what lives on is the Queens strong will to build a community that lived in beauty, peace and tranquility that continues to inspire us today.

It makes me so happy to see diverse children’s books like this one being published so that stories of amazing figures like Queen Goharshard can be illuminated for more to read. I look forward to sharing this with the little ones in my life.

I received this book through a giveaway from the publisher. This in no way impacts my review and all opinions are my own.

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Good Talk by Mira Jacob

Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations

Published on March 26th, 2019 by One World

Goodreads rating: 4.4/5

Genre: Memoir, Graphic Novel

My Rating: 5/5

Good Talk by Mira Jacob is a graphic novel, memoir and so so so much more! It starts with her 6 year old half Indian half Jewish son asking really hard questions about white and brown people. She flips back and forth between her own life as a brown girl, who thought that her “too dark” skin must be ugly, and her current life where she has to explain things like racism to her son due to the backdrop of the Trump presidency.

One part that stood out to me personally was when she was invited to speak on a radio show about her first book, The Sleepwalkers Guide to Dancing, and the radio show host insisted that she change her blurb about her book to not include the “unusual names” of her characters so as to not confuse the listeners. After going back and forth with the radio host Mira was outraged not because the ask was ridiculous but because these are the “little things” that happen throughout life that get to a point where you can’t ignore them any longer. She writes that these little things seem to be the only way to fight back because if we don’t the bigger things will crush us. As a woman of color who has experienced these little things, I admit to picking my battles, but there comes a time where you can’t ignore them any longer.