bookreviewswithkb's reviews
592 reviews

more historical text than memoir. Shehadeh explores the difficult relationship he had with his father, and how they were robbed of an opportunity to get to a place of understanding each other because his father was assassinated. the author uses the historical context of Palestine to demonstrate how the fissures and fractions of his relationship with his father were influenced by the destruction of their home and their country 

a good read to understand more about Palestine and the ways it’s been colonized. but very dry, no emotions even though it’s an emotional topic

a beautiful memoir that explores Grande’s individual and familial experience with immigration from Mexico to the united states, focused mostly on the impact. the way Grande discovers an understanding of the decision her father made to leave her behind when he first left Mexico in order to create what he perceived would be a better life for his family. the grounding that writing and reading gave her when she felt lost and hurt within the abuse she experienced, when her identity wasn’t honored, when she couldn’t quite figure out how to put the pieces together

i now have to read Across a Hundred Mountains as soon as possible after reading about all of the heart, dedication, and sacrifice Grande put into her first novel! 

thank you @netgalley and @eccobooks for the early copy! publishing date is March 12, 2024

i will read anything Hala Alyan writes. she is an absolute master with words, her writing destroying my heart and burying into my soul. this collection is breathtaking, moving, all encompassing. it’s a reflection on grief and identity and Palestine and love and displacement 

“Be lucky. Try to make it to the morning. Try to find your heart in the newsprint. Please. I’d rather be alive than holy. I don’t have time to write about the soul. There are bodies to count. There’s a man wearing his wedding tuxedo to sleep in case I meet God and there’s a brick of light before each bombing.”

love love love. an absolute must-read 

thank you to @simonbooks for the review copy! 

Martin gives us a well-researched account of the first high school in the south to undergo court-mandated desegregation, a history of Clinton High School in Clinton, Tennessee, that has widely been unknown due to the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder that resulted in many of the 12 Black students who walked through the doors of Clinton high to remain silent throughout the years since, because white people are always trying to erase history that tells of our racism. the author lays bare the truth of these desegregation efforts

the education system in the united states remains segregated today. Martin points out that “school segregation more than doubled between 2001 and 2016” and readingpartners.org reports that “over 30% of students attend schools where 75% or more of the student body was the same race or ethnicity.”

although i have some critiques of the book, what’s important is that we learn this history and continue to advocate for an anti-racist education system

i deeply appreciate this novel. Katouh contextualizes the war and revolution in Syria through the characters in this novel, through the gut-wrenching decisions they make in order to survive, through their love for their country and for each other. it’s absolutely beautiful and devastating and everything i love about literature

thank you so much to @netgalley and @bloomsburypublishing for the ARC 

this is a short novel filled with so much depth and complexity, written beautifully. it’s thought-provoking and reflective, showing us the story of a young Black girl sent to juvenile detention after she defends herself against a racist and violent attack by 2 young men. it’s an intimate examination of the emotional trauma of being imprisoned, of the ways that racism is perpetuated within the systems in our society, and the expectations placed on Black women 

“It’s as if I’m exposed to something dark. It hangs over all of us and connects us, but is different for everyone. It’s as if we’re all in our own vortex: we’re moving, but aren’t going anywhere. Or maybe it’s not a vortex. Maybe it’s a pit, we all have our own pit we’ve fallen into. No one wants to accept how far down they’ve ended up.”

i was swept away in this story, caught up in the magic, in the way it made me feel. this multi-generational family saga is seeped in secrets, in Ecuadorian culture, in love and care. it’s about the ways those who come before us seek to protect us, even at their own expense 

it’s absolutely beautiful 

this is a thought provoking young adult novel centering ideas of revolution at both the personal and the societal level, intersectionality, familial responsibility, and finding yourself. the main character is piecing through what it means to be both Black and a woman, in a world that oppresses both identities, as she comes into herself 

thank you to @tinyrepbooks and @penguinrandomhouse for the review copy 

“intimacy is not about the fact we need each other. it’s about facing the face we are each other. the separations in who we are, are a myth.”

this book is a memoir in the form of collection of essays of Lawson’s life experiences as a Black person traveling throughout the world, detailing lessons on liberation, friendship, and self-transformation 

thank you @simonbooks for the review copy! 💙

this is a beautiful centering of Black Muslims, with a particular emphasis on Black Americans within the Nation of Islam - of the utilization of faith and faith community as an anchoring, as survival, but also the internal conflicts that arise when your personal ideology starts to differ from your religion’s ideology, the way we have to navigate our lives in a particular way in order to hold on or to let go 

a great collection