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In The Heights: Finding Home
Author: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Jeremy McCarterEdition: HardcoverDate read: July 22, 2021 Goodreads synopsis: In the Heights: Finding Home reunites Miranda with Jeremy McCarter, co-author of Hamilton: The Revolution, and Quiara Alegría Hudes, the Pulitzer Prize–winning librettist of the Broadway musical and screenwriter of the film. They do more than trace the making of an unlikely Broadway smash and a major motion picture: They give readers an intimate look at the decades-long creative life of In the Heights (Goodreads). Lit Girls Take Reading In the Heights: Finding Home truly is like coming home. Finding Home tells the making of the Broadway show, and the recently released movie, through the…
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On Women’s Equality Day
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information. Alright, so I’ve already acknowledged that I’m a little behind. If you need to know more about it, you can find out why here. Sometimes even with the best of intentions, we can fall short. So today, on Women’s Equality Day, I am honoring my original intention of dedicating my reading to books authored by and featuring Women of Color. The Hate U Give In the opening chapters of The Hate U Give, Starr witnesses her childhood best friend being shot…
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Keep Calm and Read a Book
The other day my well meaning father asked me if I had given up on my blog. It’s true that I haven’t posted in a while; but what he didn’t know was the immense pressure and guilt I was feeling. I had kicked off March with an aggressive four book goal that I announced to the public in a post for Women’s History Month. I was ready to read and post and be active on Instagram, and all the things you’re supposed to do when you run a blog. But then things got in the way. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. But suddenly my 9-5 was also…
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Women’s History Month 2021
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information. March is upon us (again? still?). This year somehow felt like three years and one long month simultaneously, and somehow, I forgot that March comes after February. You would think writing a post about Valentine’s Day would alert me to the fact that March was creeping up. Well, that was not the case. I woke up on Monday, and (surprise!) it was March and the first official day of Women’s History Month! Despite being utterly unprepared for what is, obviously, the…
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A Promised Land
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information. Author: Barack ObamaDate Read: January 15, 2021Edition: Audible Audio EditionGet a Copy: Bookshop Goodreads Synopsis: A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making – from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy. In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education…
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My Love/Hate Relationship with Love: A Love Story
It’s Valentine’s Day and I find myself thinking analytically and way too much about Love. “Love is a many splendid thing,” right? “Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is Love”, correct? (and yes, I did recently watch Moulin Rouge, thank you). This season practically forces us to think about Love, whether we want to or not. If you’re married or in a committed/serious/mildly entertaining/kinda maybe sort of relationship, this holiday comes with its own challenges. But, for those of us who are single, this is the season of shaming (yes, more than Christmastime!). I cannot watch television or listen to the radio without being told how…
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The Office of Historical Corrections
Author: Danielle EvansDate read: January 11, 2021Edition: Hardcover, Book of the Month Club Edition Goodreads Synopsis: Danielle Evans is widely acclaimed for her blisteringly smart voice and x-ray insights into complex human relationships. With The Office of Historical Corrections, Evans zooms in on particular moments and relationships in her characters’ lives in a way that allows them to speak to larger issues of race, culture, and history. She introduces us to Black and multiracial characters who are experiencing the universal confusions of lust and love, and getting walloped by grief—all while exploring how history haunts us, personally and collectively. Ultimately, she provokes us to think about the truths of American…
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Proof That Words Matter
I’m sitting here in my parents’ house on Jan 6, 2021, at 7:52 pm wondering what on earth happened today; how did we let it get this far? I had been hoping to post a nice review but that went out the window the moment my phone lit up with the news of a coup happening on Capitol Hill. And make no mistake, this was an insurrection in the United States of America. Seriously, google images of coups, in any country, and tell me they don’t look like what happened in D.C. today. I couldn’t let today pass without comment. I couldn’t watch our democracy be threatened without saying unequivocally…
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Best Books of 2020
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information. I started this year with a commitment to be more mindful in my reading. Who would have thought such a reasonable resolution would turn into my most prolific year of reading. While nothing in 2020 went quite the way any of us expected, it was a year filled with small moments of joy and surprising wins; this blog is one of mine. So what follows is a list of the best books I read in 2020 and some honorable mentions (July…
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Book v Movie: Practical Magic
I am of the mind that the book is always better. If I’ve read the book (especially if I love the book) then seeing the film adaptation disappoints. However, if I see the movie first, I find that movie holds a special place in my heart that the book just can’t fill. Stardust (book by Neil Gaiman, film starring pretty much everyone) is the best example of this. I love the film so much that the book just fell flat for me. Somehow it lacked the magic of the film. Another great example is Legally Blonde. Despite that the literary Elle Woods is a member of my sorority; the book…
