Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay

Bad Feminist

Title: Bad Feminist

Author: Roxane Gay

Publication Date: 8/5/14

Pages: 320

Genre: Nonfiction

How I Found It: I've seen lots of people talking about it. 

Date Completed: 4/23/17

Summary: A series of essays exploring feminism in modern culture.

What I Thought: When this book came out a few years back, it got a lot of press and traction in the book world. I've had it on my list to read for a while. It felt like a good time to finally pick it up, given my recent effort to read more by people with different perspectives and experiences than me.

Let me say right off the bat, Gay is feisty. Her tone is self-deprecating...and others-deprecating. She has strong opinions and is not afraid to share them. She also has plenty of skill with words and the messages they convey. 

The book is a series of essays, most fairly short. Many of them revolve around popular culture and the depiction of women therein. The essays with pop culture references with which I am familiar were, unsurprisingly, more enjoyable to me. Any reference to The Hunger Games and I'm in. 

Killing Wonder Woman - Tenaya T. J. Tison

Killing Wonder Woman

Hey! There's a giveaway at the bottom of this post! Make sure you read all the way through and enter for your chance to win!

Title: Killing Wonder Woman: Setting Weary Women Free to Win at Work and Soar in Faith

Author: Tenaya T. J. Tison

Publication Date: 3/13/17

Pages: 264

Genre: Chick Lit / Faith / Self-Help / Nonfiction

How I Found It: TLC Book Tours

Date Completed: 4/15/17

Summary: Tison encourages readers to conquer "Wonder Woman" also known as the unattainable ideal to which so many women find themselves striving. 

What I Thought: Book tours are great, but I especially love when I can tell the books came straight from the author. When I got this one, it seemed to have come from Tison's home address and she had written a personalized signature on the title page for me. Authors, my reviews are as impartial as I can make them, but that's a good way to leave a positive first impression of your book. 

On to the book itself...

Tison clearly is passionate about her subject matter. She has poured her heart out onto the page. Her enthusiasm for empowering women of faith radiates on every page. She has had a transformative experience and wants desperately to share it. That much is clear. 

April 2017 Chapter

Welcome to the Read.Write.Repeat. monthly wrap-up.  Every month, I give a quick overview of what books I read, the progress made on the 100 Best Novels goal, a few book-related links, and general blog news.  

April News 

As always, April has lived up to my expectations. It's been a really crazy month for us. We are always so busy during April. It's Kevin's busiest month of the year for work, plus he's taking two of his final MBA classes, plus he's been traveling for work and family reasons. The end of the semester always finds me drained and desperate for respite. I have had my own family events this month, too (my parents just moved to North Carolina!). Plus, we had Kevin's birthday. To say we're exhausted is an understatement. It's been a good month, but a very busy one. I, for one, am longing for the languid days of summer which lie ahead. Ok, they probably won't be particularly languid knowing us, but they won't be April and for that, I'm thankful.

April also marks the start of summer weather here in North Carolina. We had some truly beautiful days in the 70s and then spring waved goodbye and now we're having upper 80s and the beginnings of summer humidity. We planted our garden and everything is vividly green around here. We love summertime, the heat and all, so we're not complaining. But, I did reluctantly turn on the air for the first time because I just can't sleep in an 80+ degree house.

Despite our hectic schedules, I've been really proud of myself for staying on top of things this month. As much as it wears me down, I thrive under a busy schedule. It thrusts my organizational nature into action and I become a to-do list completing machine. I also often find that I read more during hectic months. I use reading as an escape and it's easy to fit it into the short breaks in between tasks, whereas if I sit down to watch a TV show I can get sucked into binge watching. So, here's all that I read and reviewed during April:

Bread and Wine - Shauna Niequist

Bread and Wine

Title: Bread and Wine: Finding Community and Life Around the Table

Author: Shauna Niequist

Publication Date: 2013

Pages: 285

Genre: Faith / Food / Memoir / Nonfiction

How I Found It: A lot of people have talked about this book.

Date Completed: 4/19/17

Summary: Told through a series of personal, poignant essays, Niequist welcomes readers into her life and to her table. 

What I Thought: The book is not what I expected it to me, but once I got it, I loved it. 

Niequist opens her doors and invites us to her table. She shares stories of her life, her struggles with infertility, her friendships, her family, and her favorite recipes. As with many similar memoirs, Niequist offers up the recipes at the end of chapters to which they correspond. 

The Danish Girl - David Ebershoff

The Danish Girl

Title: The Danish Girl

Author: David Ebershoff

Publication Date: 2000

Pages: 336

Genre: Historical / Literary Fiction / Fiction

How I Found It: I knew about the movie adaptation when it was nominated for Academy Awards and then Suzanne at Tattooed Missionary read the book and spoke highly of it.

Date Completed: 4/7/17

Summary: When painter Einar Wegener is asked my his wife, Greta, to stand in for a female portrait subject, something inside shifts. Lili is awoken. The book fictionalizes the real life of one of the first recipients of gender reassignment surgery.

What I Thought: I'm making a concerted effort lately to read more books by/about people who have had/are having very different life experiences than I am. I firmly believe that reading stretches your capacity for empathy and, in such a divisive time in our world, that's something I want to continue to grow in myself. Plus, I want to be serious about challenging my own biases and understanding what and why others feel and believe differently than I do.

Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between the World and Me

Title: Between the World and Me

Author: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Publication Date: June 2015

Pages: 152

Genre: Memoir / Nonfiction

How I Found It: I've heard a lot of people talk about it in the past year.

Date Completed: 4/5/17

Summary: Coates writes about his own journey, his hopes for his son, and what it means to be a black man in America

What I Thought: I have heard this book talked up so much in the last year or so. I was anxious to read it for myself and see why Coates' words have made such an impression on so many.

Coates frames the book as a letter to his son. He tells him about his own childhood in Baltimore, the violence on the streets, his college days at Howard in D.C., his first encounters with police violence, his response to the post-9/11 world, his hopes and fears for his son. The book centers around what it means to Coates to be a black man in America - the dreams, the struggles, the fears. 

Furiously Happy - Jenny Lawson

Furiously Happy

Title: Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things

Author: Jenny Lawson

Publication Date: 9/22/15

Pages: 329

Genre: Memoir / Nonfiction

How I Found It: I read Lawson's first book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Date Completed: 4/3/17

Summary: Lawson, a Texan with a quirky family history, keeps you laughing as she discusses her very real struggles with anxiety, depression, and mental illness. 

What I Thought: I read Lawson's first book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened, back in the very first year of this blog. I remember laughing out loud so much reading that book. Lawson touched some on her struggles with mental illness, but the bulk of the book was her wild stories.

This time around, there are less outrageous stories. I mean, they are definitely there. If this is your first Lawson book, there is plenty here to keep you well entertained. I found myself laughing a lot once again. This time, however, Lawson puts her very personal struggles front and center. The ridiculous is still along for the ride, as the dark humor and personal insight was in the first book, but now the dark humor and daily reality of Lawson's life have taken the reins. 

And it's powerful.