One of the best books I‘ve ever read in my life.
12/11/2021

12/7/2021

This book changed my life. Will definitely be re-reading in the new year, to remind myself of who I am and why I‘m important.

“We were like actors who, knowing the play by heart, were still able to cry afresh over the old tragedies and laugh spontaneously at the comic situations.”

I‘m so grateful psychologists are becoming more and more aware of the damage that a cramped religious narrative can have on a person‘s experience of sex and marriage. This is a must-read for anyone from a conservative evangelical background who doesn‘t feel like they have any of the tools needed to enjoy or even understand sex.

Finished 8/21/2021.

I‘d been wanting to take a break from reading about Filipino culture and read more about indigenous experiences, so I was so grateful to find Thompson‘s short story collection, independently bound and printed.

Thompson‘s writing feels very fresh, right on the edge of being too real, too hard-hitting. There is no lie in his writing at all — only truth, however uncomfortable it is. He doesn‘t flinch from it.

I can‘t believe this is Alvar‘s debut short story collection. Truly, easily one of the best books I‘ve read all year.

Finished a couple days ago. There are some moments where Stringer is too idealistic and defaults to vague, flowery language, but the insights drawn from his therapy work are very, very real, and very, very profound. I would definitely re-read the book just for each of his practical, clinical insights.

“We should first become visible to ourselves and then we can become visible to others.”

Yet another book that convinces me how important it is to know the history of your people in the United States in order to more forward and change our futures.

Perfect day to wrap this one up.

I can only always ever hope that books like these are not too little, too late.

A fun, easy-to-read mystery with many familiar references to Filipino culture.

This book changed my life when I first read it in 2016, and it‘s surprisingly — or unsurprisingly — even more relevant now.

thoughts on death, marriage, family, and home.

Jemisin writes with a rhythm and depth of skill that is refreshing and simple, and therefore highly memorable.

I have come to love a city (New York) that I have never lived in.

I will be processing this book for a long, long time.

I am Filipina-American, and the realization that so much of my life has been determined by internalized colonization and colonial mentality is both devastating and liberating.

My journey of decolonization and deconstruction is only beginning.

Finished yesterday. Smith is an escapee of New York during the pandemic. Her essays are very much of-the-moment, a snapshot of the early days of quarantine in a very particular part of the world. She‘s a very strong writer, and clearly very reflective. Yet her words feel empty at some level, and it‘s hard to describe why. Maybe it‘s simply because time has passed when she wrote and what is happening now.

Finished on March 2, 2021. English pieces together an incredible amount of history, biography, and drama to tell the story of the growth of the West Side Irish mob in New York City and Mickey Featherstone, one of its most famous leaders.

I thought this work was very well-done for how much ground it has to cover. I don‘t often read historical fiction, but this was entertaining and easy to read.

One of the many reasons this book is important is because it forces female readers to confront the fact that emotional and mental wellness are crucial to having heathy relationships and a great sex life. Women are whole beings, just like men, and it‘s our responsibility to take care of our whole mind, body, and spirit so we can enjoy all parts of our lives as fully as possible.

“Even if we were to flip a switch today and end all racism and racial oppression, millions of people of color would still be disadvantaged by racial oppression of yesterday, and that would need to be addressed with policies like affirmative action that seek to replace opportunities previously denied.” — So You Wanna Talk about Race? (Ijeoma Oluo)

Reflecting My Grace (Calida Garcia Rawles): https://www.calidagarciarawles.com/a-dream-for-my-lilith

I must have sent a friend at least 15 screenshots and/or quotes from this book.

These are essays that I will be thinking about for a very, very long time.

If you are Asian American, or if you are not, READ this book.

I didn‘t think it was possible for pain to be captured in such exquisitely accurate detail.

Cornejo Villavicencio is unflinching and vulnerable. I am not Latinx, but for many reasons there are many parts of me that feel like I am, and Cornejo Villavicencio captures the many complexities and nuances of being 1) undocumented and 2) 1-, 1.5-, 2nd-gen Latinx in this country.

“I have been partly drawn to writing, I realize, to judge those who have unfairly judged my family; to prove that I‘ve been watching this whole time.” — from the essay “Bad English” by Cathy Park Hong in Minor Feelings

Art by Matt Hyunh for the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/coronavirus-race-artists-asian-american-id...

Written for people who are emerging from traditional evangelical Christianity, this book was a challenging but necessary read for me. Bolz-Weber is passionate about the Church and about correcting what she believes has been harmful teaching about sex — or lack thereof — over the centuries.

I knew nothing about the history of South Korea, or how difficult it was before, during, and after Japanese occupation. As a Filipina-American, many elements of this novel spoke to my soul. See researched this book thoroughly and really immersed me in the broken friendship between the female protagonist and her best friend.

“Each decade of pop comprises dozens of different sounds drawn from sub-genres of music. To stay current, pop trendsetters absorb sounds from outside of the mainstream, often originating with marginalized groups, and appropriate these sounds into a pop format.”

As a musician, and someone who has always been interested in musicology, this book was fascinating! It‘s accessible for non-musicians and causes you to look at pop music in a new way.