Throwback Thursday 11/12

On November 12, 2020November 10, 2020 By carryabigbookIn Book Reviews, memes, Throwback Thursdays2 Comments

I discovered Throwback Thursday on my friend Carla Loves To Read page.

Throwback Thursday meme is hosted by Renee@It’s Book Talk and is a way to share some of your old favorites as well as sharing books that you’re FINALLY getting around to reading that were published over a year ago. You know, the ones waiting patiently on your TBR list while you continue to pile more titles on top of them! These older books are usually much easier than new releases to get a hold of at libraries and elsewhere. If you have your own Throwback Thursday recommendation feel free to jump on board and connect back to Renee’s blog.

This week my choice is Samantha Irby’s We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. I figured if you guys were as wound up as I have been it would do you well to have some humor in your lives. Samantha Irby dishes up just that. And guess what? —– Humor counts as Nonfiction! So you can add another one to the books if you are participating in Nonfiction November 😉

This was rip roariously funny. I know I’m making up words here but Ms. Samantha had me in stitches. I can’t believe that I had this title sitting on my shelf since 2017 and it was only the monthly color challenge that had me cull this book from my massive TBR.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life could probably be swallowed whole in one sitting but it served me well in small doses of joy served up like cups of sweet coffee – a little bit here to kick start the day, a little bit there to get past the doldrums of work and the ho hum of everyday chores.

This review originally appeared on my GoodReads page April 7, 2019

Throwback Pic

“Beatles Pillow Fight, Paris” was taken in 1964 by Scottish born photographer Harry Benson. His work and iconic photography have been immortalized in the 2016 film Harry Benson: Shoot First.

Signing off. Hope we get to talk books soon!

WWW Wednesdays 11/11

On November 11, 2020November 11, 2020 By carryabigbookIn Book Reviews, memes, WWW Wednesdays13 Comments

Hello and Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was created by Miz B formerly of shouldbereading and currently hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’ve Read

See my stop on The Forgotten Sister Blog Tour.

Here’s My Thoughts.

See my Review Nonfiction November #2

What I’m Reading

Currently I am focusing my energy on cutting down my NetGalley pile while incorporating some Nonfiction titles. Black Sun and The Purpose of Power are ARCs. Three Women is a book club pick from GoodReads.

Science Fiction/ Epic Fantasy
Hardcover, 454 pages
Published October 13th 2020 by Saga Press

Nonfiction/ Political Memoir
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published October 20th 2020 by One World

Nonfiction
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published July 9th 2019 by Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster

What’s Next

“A dazzling debut novel about a young woman’s dark obsession with her privileged classmate and the lengths she’ll go to win his love.”

“You judge me when you look at me because of the tattoos that cover my body—but that’s only because you don’t understand what they mean…….”

“You judge me because my tattoos make me look strange, dangerous. But there’s more to them than that. To understand the way I look, you need to know where I came from. To understand me, you need to know my story…”

52 Weeks of Women of Color Post 2

On November 10, 2020 By carryabigbookIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

This year I have taken on the challenge of reading 52 books by women of color. Simple enough – every week pick a book written by a woman of color from any genre, any time period, any place in the world. I have taken on many challenges but this one has been the most rewarding. Over this past year I have been introduced to many new authors and new perspectives.

I was supposed to post this last Friday but I am running behind my own schedule and thought it most important to get my Blog Tours up in time.

Book #10 – In the Dream House

From Goodreads: “For years Carmen Maria Machado has struggled to articulate her experiences in an abusive same-sex relationship. In this extraordinarily candid and radically inventive memoir, Machado tackles a dark and difficult subject with wit, inventiveness and an inquiring spirit, as she uses a series of narrative tropes—including classic horror themes—to create an entirely unique piece of work which is destined to become an instant classic.”

Book #11 – Optic Nerve

My GoodReads Review

Book #12 – Such a Fun Age

Book #13 – Remembrance

From Goodreads: “Remembrance…It’s a rumor, a whisper passed in the fields and veiled behind sheets of laundry. A hidden stop on the underground road to freedom, a safe haven protected by more than secrecy…if you can make it there.

Ohio, present day. An elderly woman who is more than she seems warns against rising racism as a young woman grapples with her life.

Haiti, 1791, on the brink of revolution. When the slave Abigail is forced from her children to take her mistress to safety, she discovers New Orleans has its own powers.

1857 New Orleans—a city of unrest: Following tragedy, house girl Margot is sold just before her 18th birthday and her promised freedom. Desperate, she escapes and chases a whisper…. Remembrance.“

Book #14 – Small Island

Book #15 – The Remainder

From Goodreads: “Santiago, Chile. The city is covered in ash. Three children of ex-militants are facing a past they can neither remember nor forget. Felipe sees dead bodies on every corner of the city, counting them up in an obsessive quest to square these figures with the official death toll. He is searching for the perfect zero, a life with no remainder. Iquela and Paloma, too, are searching for a way to live on. When the body of Paloma’s mother gets lost in transit, the three take a hearse and a bottle of pisco up the cordillera for a road trip with a difference. Intense, intelligent, and extraordinarily sensitive to the shape and weight of words, this remarkable debut presents a new way to count the cost of a pain that stretches across generations.”

Book #16 – The Girl With the Louding Voice

My Review

Book #17 – Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

My Review

Book #18 – Little Gods

From Goodreads: “On the night of June Fourth, a woman gives birth in a Beijing hospital alone. Thus begins the unraveling of Su Lan, a brilliant physicist who until this moment has successfully erased her past, fighting what she calls the mind’s arrow of time.

When Su Lan dies unexpectedly seventeen years later, it is her daughter Liya who inherits the silences and contradictions of her life. Liya, who grew up in America, takes her mother’s ashes to China, Liya’s memories are joined by those of two others: Zhu Wen, the woman last to know Su Lan before she left China, and Yongzong, the father Liya has never known. In this way a portrait of Su Lan emerges: an ambitious scientist, an ambivalent mother, and a woman whose relationship to her own past shapes and ultimately unmakes Liya’s own sense of displacement. “

Blog Tour: The Forgotten Sister

On November 10, 2020November 9, 2020 By carryabigbookIn Blog Tours, Book Reviews2 Comments

Kindle edition, 384 pages
Published November 10, 2020 by Graydon House Books
Harlequin
Indiebound
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books-A-Million
Google Play
iBooks
Kobo

Synopsis

In the tradition of the spellbinding historical novels of Philippa Gregory and Kate Morton comes a stunning story based on a real-life Tudor mystery, of a curse that echoes through the centuries and shapes two women’s destinies…

1560: Amy Robsart is trapped in a loveless marriage to Robert Dudley, a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Surrounded by enemies and with nowhere left to turn, Amy hatches a desperate scheme to escape—one with devastating consequences that will echo through the centuries…

Present Day: When Lizzie Kingdom is forced to withdraw from the public eye in a blaze of scandal, it seems her life is over. But she’s about to encounter a young man, Johnny Robsart, whose fate will interlace with hers in the most unexpected of ways. For Johnny is certain that Lizzie is linked to a terrible secret dating back to Tudor times. If Lizzie is brave enough to go in search of the truth, then what she discovers will change the course of their lives forever.

Review

The Forgotten Sister by Nicola Cornick is an historical fiction novel about the life and death of Amy Robsart. Lady Robsart was the wife to Queen Elizabeth I’s favorite guy, Robert Dudley. From historical accounts we know that Robsart died under mysterious circumstances and although quite a salacious tale at the time it seems as if history has erased her. When Cornick visited Cumnor Place she realized that Amy’s tomb was not to be found. This made her story the more intriguing and Cornick decided to bring her back to life.

In The Forgotten Sister Cornick utilizes a dual time frame between present day and Tudor England. Throughout time, parallel characters are cursed as history repeats itself.

When you first meet Amy and Lizzie you see how these women defined by the society’s expectations of women. Amy is bound to a loveless marriage and must suffer the public shame of being cuckolded. Lizzie is defined by how society thinks she should be responding to men. The platonic nature of her lifelong friendship with Dudley is questioned and at the same time, she is criticized for being virginal and sexless. Both of these women manage to find ways to rebel against the system and find their own path.

With romance, time travel and the paranormal Cornick weaves an unforgettable story that reminds us the value of women and that history is not to be forgotten or ignored.

Meet the Author

USA Today bestselling author Nicola Cornick has written over thirty historical romances for Harlequin and HQN Books. She has been nominated twice for a RWA RITA Award and twice for the UK RNA Award. She works as a historian and guide in a seventeenth century house. In 2006 she was awarded a Masters degree with distinction from Ruskin College, Oxford, where she wrote her dissertation on heroes.

Where You Can Find Her

Teaser Tuesdays 11/10

On November 10, 2020November 9, 2020 By carryabigbookIn memes, TBR, Teaser TuesdayLeave a comment

“She was dazzling, radiant, not simply to my eyes but somehow to my soul as well. I saw her and recognised her worth.”
63%

One woman’s secret will shape another’s destiny…

With romance, time travel and the paranormal Cornick weaves an unforgettable story that reminds us the value of women and that history is not to be forgotten or ignored.

Stop by my stop on The Forgotten Sister blog tour for the rest of my review! 😀

If you are a woman, what does it mean for YOU to be SEEN? Men, what are ways in which you can see the true essence of the women in your lives?

Review: Shuggie Bain

On November 9, 2020 By carryabigbookIn Book Reviews1 Comment

My Thoughts

This book brought tears to my eyes. I cried for Shuggie and I cried for Agnes. Trapped in the dysfunction of her alcoholism she allows herself to be taken advantage of and abused by men. Her children – for as much as they love her – seek escape from the neglect, the embarrassment, and the disorder of their lives. As the older children flee young Shuggie is left behind to fend for himself and take care of their mother. He has this enduring hope that he can save her from herself but every time she relapses he feels at fault.

Although he finds a friend in Leeann, Shuggie does not fit in with the normal crowd. He talks posh and carries himself differently than the other boys. As he comes to terms with his sexuality he is bullied and battered.

There were times that I had to put this one aside. Sad for sure and authentic to Glasgow during the Thatcher era, Stuart’s characters call out to you. Excellent debut! Wishing Shuggie Bain and Douglas Stuart the best of luck in its bid for the Man Booker and National Book Awards.

Nonfiction November #2

On November 9, 2020November 9, 2020 By carryabigbookIn Book Reviews6 Comments

Sisters in Hate by Seyward Darby

Hardcover, 309 pages
Published July 21st 2020 by Little, Brown and Company
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Google Play
Abe Books
Book Depository

Special thanks to Jess at Little, Brown and Company for my copy of this book.

When I first read the synopsis I thought in my misguided way that these women would have been born within the movement. Taught to hate as children; their voices getting louder as they reached adulthood. Although this does happen, this was not the case here. All of the women featured in this book are in their forties and joined the white separatist movement as adults.

Hate is far more complex than what we see on the surface.

Like Ibram Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas, Darby looks at the frameworks and ideologies from which racist sentiments arise. What is unique about Sisters in Hate is that it examines hate from a different angle- as a White woman looking in.

One assumption that Darby highlights is the “women-are-wonderful effect“. Basically we as a society look at women and automatically classify them as sweet little girls or nurturing moms. Either way, women are considered harmless, fragile beings that need to be protected. The KKK capitalized on this ideology on its rise to prominence after the premiere of The Birth of a Nation. Instead of being perceived as terrorists they were knights in white-robed armour; gentlemen guarding the purity of the white woman, the mother of the Aryan race.

Historically, Darby cites the “postwar fable of the apolitical woman.” The egregious acts committed by women in the Third Reich have been documented. It has been shown that Nazi women were just as culpable as the men. They too had blood on their hands, but often escaped prosecution. Instead, being of the fairer sex, these women were labeled as victims of their circumstances. So instead of being rightfully vilified, they became victimized. You see this same pattern in other points in history including the antebellum South, the Civil Rights Movement and even in today’s news. Fragile White women, dubbed “Karens” by social media, feel it’s their inherent right to call the police on Black people doing everyday things. They feel threatened by Black people barbecuing, bird-watching, studying in their dorm . . . and are quick to manipulate this framework to the disadvantage of black and brown people.

The Alt-Right has realized that they can use this “women-are-wonderful effect” to their advantage. Kind of like a Trojan Horse, no one would expect a bomb to be dressed as a flower. A woman can be a weapon because she doesn’t look like a threat and because not much is expected of her. In fact, the exponential growth that we’ve seen is due in part to the recruitment measures of women. As mothers – soccer moms, PTA, mommy bloggers – they have access to a market that men don’t. They put a happy smiling face on the movement. With their traditional values, homespun ways and beautiful corn-fed babies, they help to normalize the movement and make it seem benign.

Out of this sacred motherhood, Darby shows these women get a sense of purpose and belonging. They feel important and embrace the movement out of this personal need for self-affirmation. This is by far a scarier notion of hate and signals that much work will be required to dismantle White Nationalism and move towards healing as a nation.

#5 On My TBR – Friendship

On November 9, 2020 By carryabigbookIn 5 on my TBR, memes, TBR2 Comments

5 On My TBR is a weekly meme that gets you digging into your massive TBRs to find five special books. Created by E@LocalBeeHuntersNook this meme centers on a new prompt each Monday. This week’s theme is Friendship. I think this is a timely topic as we are all leaning on our friends, their understanding and compassion right right now. If you are interested in participating you can find additional info and future prompts here.

#1- Dessa Rose

Dessa Rose is an African American classic set in the antebellum South. It is about two women forging a friendship against all odds.

#2 – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society is an epistolary novel. A treasured book leads to friendship and romance against the backdrop of WWII.

#3 – In Five Years

From Goodreads: “Brimming with joy and heartbreak, In Five Years is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of destiny.”

#4 – The Great Believers

Makkai’s book is centered on the late 1980s when HIV was raging. Here she shows how friends within the gay community banded together and became family for those who were all alone.

Three Things About Elsie

I automatically bought this book after reading Joanna Cannon’s The Trouble With Goats and Sheep which totally warmed my heart.

From Goodreads: “A novel set in England about eighty-four-year-old Florence, a resident in a nursing home, who has fallen in her apartment, leading her to think about her childhood friend and the secrets of their past that are about to come to light”

Throwback Thursday #3

On November 5, 2020November 5, 2020 By carryabigbookIn Book Reviews, memes, Throwback Thursdays2 Comments

I discovered Throwback Thursday on my friend Carla Loves To Read page.

This week I decided to choose a nonfiction book – The World Between Two Covers – as this is Nonfiction November. What excited me about this book was that it broadened my horizons. It made me purposely search out books in translation and from different perspectives. Back then over 90% of my reading was mystery/thrillers from older white men. This year 90% of my books read were women and POC.

My Review

When I first picked up this book I was excited about the concept of reading texts from all across the world. I could already envision myself with sails cast traveling figuratively to unknown lands. In my mind’s eye I saw clearly the vast array of colors that enveloped the people; could almost taste the exotic food as the aroma of culinary delights wafted into my nose. From looking at the cover, I expected Ann Morgan, “Blogger Extraordinaire”, to include us on her literary adventures. I expected this book to delve into the “The 196 ( . . . AND Kurdistan)” with delightful anecdotes of far-away lands. I supposed it might be a foray into ethnic studies reminiscent of my cultural anthropology classes in college. Ah but alas – One should never judge a book by its cover. What a found between these two covers (pun intended) was a thorough research endeavor in which Morgan painstakingly sought out, found, and was gifted texts from around the world. Indeed some texts had not yet been translated into English and others not even published.

In this global economy that we live in where we can Skype with someone clear across the other side of the world, one might think that Ann Morgan’s endeavor were a simple feat. Over the course of 12 chapters she outlines why we are not as globally minded as we might think we are and the obstacles that stand in the way of authors and readers alike trying to connect across cultures. From the Eurocentrism evident not only in our choice of literary canons, but also in our construction of maps that color how we perceive the world — to the “translation bottleneck” that determines which books even have a chance of reaching the Anglophone reader, Morgan’s thorough analysis is both eye opening and soul searching.

This review originally appeared on my GoodReads page August 4, 2015

Throwback Pic

This photo, Frida Kahlo on White Bench, was taken by Hungarian photographer Nickolas Muray in New York, 1939. The pair are said to have had a decades long love affair.

Signing off. Hope we get to talk books soon!

WWW Wednesdays 11/3

On November 4, 2020November 3, 2020 By carryabigbookIn Book Reviews, memes, TBR, WWW Wednesdays9 Comments

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’ve Read

#52WeeksOfWomenOfColor #76

Samantha Rajaram’s background with sex trafficking law is what started her on the path to writing this book. Set in 1600s Amsterdam and Batavia The Company Daughters highlights the real life experience of poor indigent women who were sent to the Dutch colonies and married off to settlers.

For my thoughts on the book visit my blog tour stop.

First off I must admit that I do not like dystopian novels. I read this one for the Tournament of Books Super Rooster as I have been participating in their challenges for the last 5 years.

For the most part the book was engrossing. It kind of lost my attention around the 2/3 mark. In Station Eleven’s opening scene the lead actor dies on stage while in the middle of his performance. The theater is packed and in the chaos that ensues afterward we learn of the Georgia flu. Gripping right? My mind started racing trying to figure out if our King Lear is patient zero and if Jeeves would emerge as the hero who saves the world. But Station Eleven is more sophisticated than that. Kirsten emerges from the shadows as St. John Mandel takes us on a journey through this afterworld. Shifting time frames between the before and the after, we get to watch Arthur as he reflects on his life and reevaluates his values. And because “survival is insufficient,” we watch as people learn to appreciate what remains of their lives after disaster.

#52WeeksOfWomenOfColor #77

A solid addition to the scholarship on Malcolm X’s life. See my post Nonfiction November #1 for a full review.

#52WeeksOfWomenOfColor #78

I received this book WAAY back in February and although I was very excited as you know all he!! broke loose when Coronavirus hit. So here I am 9 months later finally getting to this awesome book. If you would like to read my review stop by my GoodReads page.

What I’m Reading

I probably will be wrapping this one up by the end of the day but I have to say that it has been an eye-opening experience. I walked into this book with so many misconceptions. Although I have not found any of the women featured here endearing I appreciate that the author is like-minded and holds them accountable for their actions.

What’s Next

The Forgotten Sister is an historical novel set during the Tudor era. It involves time travel, a curse and romance. Please check back here on Tuesday, November 10th for my stop on the blog tour.

Those of you who visited my WWW post last week might remember this title. I have not gotten to it yet but will make a concerted effort to get to it soon. With all of the debates and election coverage I got sucked into the TV and social media. Obviously, I have some catching up to do on my reading.