michaelgreenreads's reviews
406 reviews

 The Ruffin Family share stories of racist experiences, fully leaning into the “you gotta laugh to keep from crying” mode of storytelling. I found Angie’s stories about racism in various churches to be the most eye-opening part of this sequel. 

 Full disclosure: I have been a “Nerdwriter1” fan for a decade now. Anything I write here is HORRENDOUSLY biased. 😅 However, these essays are great, Evan has a real, deep sense of curiosity, and making 250+ video essays on youtube has sharpened his writing! 💖 (But I wish his focus on male artists (other than Virginia Woolf) was wider.) 

 Significantly better than Vol 2! 🎉 I love Rachel Smythe’s use of colour. AND I LOVE WHAT SHE HAS DONE WITH EROS AND APHRODITE. Tay and I have our fingers crossed that the story will pick up the pace in volume 4! 🤞🤞 

 The boobs had me rolling my eyes at a high velocity, but heaven help me if this zombie manga isn’t bursting with joy! A fun book that I enjoyed after crying watching THE LAST OF US. 

 This book was an anniversary gift from the LOVE OF MY LIFE. 💞 And I understand why it is a sensation (think Chicken Noodle Soup for the Soul but with time-travelling coffee!). The employees of the café grew on me with each story, especially Kazu. She had the most compelling energy of the staff. But can we talk about Nagare’s wild hospital backstory??? “The Sisters” was my favourite story. 5/5 

HMMMM! Hmmmmm! hmmmmmmmm! I didn’t expect to pick this book up, and I am torn: I found comfort reading this book while I was healing from an injury… but the more I think about it…. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm 

 

In some ways we’d be better off if more celebrities were more like Pamela Anderson (she is sharp! canadian! legitimately loves poetry and rewilding gardens!). But even though people are portraying this moment as a Pamela renaissance, people need to put on their thinking caps. 

 

To unpack in bullet points: 

 

⭐️ As a Canadian and vegetarian I will say that Pamela teaming up with powerful Russians to take on the Indigenous-led seal hunt in Canada (with one rich man offering her a famous Nazi's car???) is concerning and more than a little weird to include uncritically. 

 

⭐️ Given the nonconsensual nature of her and Tommy’s videos being stolen, a lot of cultural critics should be losing their jobs for treating the sex tape as fun fluff. 

 

⭐️ Oh lord Tim Allen flashing her on the set of Home Improvement because he “saw her naked first” ( 🥴🥴🥴 creep!!!!!!!!) 

 

⭐️ The poetry that is interlaced throughout the entire book isn’t **all that** but she built her memoir around a scaffolding of poetry (with no ghostwriter!) which is interesting for a celebrity to do! 

 

⭐️ Given the number of intense moments she describes, it is amazing that the book has an unfazed tone. But I wish we got more than unfazed and more than 4 pages per life event! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 The writing in this book is ELECTRIC. It’s a literary crime that Lisa Carver has to self publish to get her books out there. This book is filled with rough, intimate, and funny reports from the middle of rural Nevada. If you are a feminist who grew up in a small town, and you’re fascinated by weird people, you’ll love this book. I was stunned by the betrayals. 

 GOD THE FIRST CHAPTER BLEW ME AWAY. 

 

The story is set in Japan where dance was added to the national school curriculum in 2012, leading to a boom in dance clubs. It was fascinating to learn about the unique aspects of the Japanese dance scene. 

 

SO FUNNY that the artist was inspired to start this series while he was watching Glee! Loved that the group are dancing to songs by Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendez and loving it. Reminded me of how big pop music is sometimes. 🙂 

 

Also kudos for the manga having a young man willing to stand up to sexist friends. Just such a cool book, made me want to learn how to be a better dancer. ✌️ 

Continues to be amazing

 I ADORE THIS MANGA. The fact that this series was created by a trans manga artist and had an all trans localization team is simply amazing, especially since the story and art rock. 

 

The manga follows the journey of a trans high schooler who discovers their love for fashion after meeting a himbo. Highly recommended. 🥺♥️