The Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Dirty Girls Social Club is a funny, relatable tale of six Latin-American women, “the sucias” and how they help each other through life’s most critical moments. The women, Lauren, Sara, Amber, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Usnavys, know each other from their college days at Boston University. Years after college, their lives have taken completely different turns, but they continue to meet every year to catch up, show off, and spill tea about their lives. More importantly, they grow together as women and help each other through life. Whether it is marital issues, identity issue, financial issues, or cultural issues, these women are there for each other. It’s not all sunshine and roses, however. They do have issues amongst themselves like jealousy, competition, and fallouts, but they learn and grow from those and become closer in the end. This book is what womanhood is supposed to be about. Supporting each other through thick and thin and standing up for each other in the face of conflict. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez’ light, humorous tone makes this book a fun read. She reveals each woman’s life through her own first person perspective and intertwines it with all of the characters’ lives. Every woman needs to read this book. View all my reviews
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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Everything I Never Told You was Celeste Ng’s first novel and it was her first book that I read. Celeste Ng has a way of pulling the readers in until they are emotionally involved in the character’s lives. I felt her tugging at my heart strings as I read. I felt like I personally knew each character and understood what they were going through at a deep level. I loved the way she explored experiences of Asian-American men, women, and children living in a predominantly White society. She took me through the journey of her characters trying their hardest to fit in and often adopting White culture to pretend that they belong until the continued racist stereotypes and belittlement breaks their pretense. Despite exploring these heavy themes, Ng writes with a gentleness and subtlety that accurately reflects the subtle microaggressions people of color face in this country that we often learn to overlook, but that eventually become too much and lead us to a breaking point. I was hooked by the writing, the suspense, and the beautifully flawed characters in the book. I highly recommend it! View all my reviews
How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life by Lilly Singh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Yes, I love Lilly Singh. It’s difficult not to love her. However, I have always admired her from afar not because of her funny videos, but because of her creativity and entrepreneurship. I’ll be honest, I was late to the game. I stumbled upon her videos when I was in college around 2007. I found some of them hilarious and some of them corny, but all extremely relatable. It’s Lilly Singh’s knack for being able to get people from all walks of life to relate to her stories that has contributed to her success. Also, being gorgeous helps. I was watching her rise when there weren’t any prominent South Asian women in the media, especially ones that were fun and entertaining. That is what drew me to her more than anything. I was curious how this young woman who came from the same background as me was able to become so famous and cool when I didn’t even know my people could be on T.V. in a non-stereotypical way. I was mesmerized by her success. This is why I had to read her book “How to Be a Bawse.” I immediately noticed her book had the same ADHD-like quality that her videos have where there is too much going on, too fast, all at the same time. This book is an extension of her personality. It’s vibrant, colorful, funny, relatable, and most importantly real. There are many motivational books out there, but I’m tired of reading books by White men who started with a small loan or a small business of $3 million dollars and became multi-millionaires or billionaires and now they’re telling us how they can make us rich. I crave books written by people of color, especially women of color like me, who were truly self-made. This book did not disappoint. Amidst the bold colors and graphics (she has a purpose behind them), are some real gems. She talks about letting go of fear, being yourself, investing in yourself, and being “the dumbest” person in the room and surrounding yourself with people who are smarter than you. She doesn’t talk about how she can make you a millionaire in six months. She talks about making sacrifices, learning from your mistakes, and being clear about what you want in life. All this talk isn’t just fluff. She shares personal examples for all of these situations and how she learned these lessons herself the hard way. She has exercises at the end of each chapter to encourage you to evaluate yourself and take the necessary steps to change and succeed. This is a book I find myself going back to whenever I need a little pick-me-up or some quick focus and motivation to start my day. One of my favorite self-improvement books from a truly self-made Desi woman. I highly recommend it. View all my reviews
Click to set custom HTMLThe Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
My rating: 5 of 5 stars We all know Issa Rae’s comedy writing skills from her hit HBO show Insecure. Some of you may also know her from her original show on YouTube The MisAdventures of Awkward Black Girl. I knew she was a great comedy writer for the screen, but I didn’t know about her memoir writing skills. I was not disappointed to find that her memoir was just as funny, heartwarming, and eye-opening as her shows. Issa Rae’s collection of essays take us through a journey for what it was like growing up as an awkward black girl in America especially with immigrant parents. She talks about her lack of dance skills and hair issues growing up. Then she delves into some more emotional topics about her parents’ divorce and how she dealt with her father having a new woman in his life. My favorite essay in this book is “Connecting with Other Blacks” where she lists many stereotypes of black people and how she learned to engage with each type. Not only is she actively breaking down stereotypes in this piece using humor, but she is also showing that not all black people are the same and there are different ways to be black. This makes the book relatable to me as a person of color because it is part of our constant struggle to prove to others that we’re all individuals. As an immigrant, I also related to her experiences of going to visit her family in Senegal and growing up with two cultures. We all love Issa Rae, so I don’t have to tell you all how amazing this book is. Just go read it if you haven’t already. View all my reviews
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows is a one of a kind book with a story that is culturally so familiar to me, but almost nonexistent in the literary world. Balli Kaur Jaswal is a brilliant writer who wrote this cross genre book with all the masala you could ever want. She takes your guard down with the humor, hooks you in with the suspense, and opens your mind with the explorations of cultural traditions and stereotypes of Sikh/Desi people. It’s got the best of everything and something for everyone. Her unique blend of the humor, thriller, and erotic genres is genius. I absolutely love this book and am a huge fan of hers now. I will be honest in my review, however, and say that I was disappointed by the editors of this book. There are many small typos and errors that could have easily been corrected with some thorough line editing before publication. Luckily, Jaswal’s storytelling was powerful enough to distract even a stickler for grammar like myself from the errors and keep me hooked. Go read this book! View all my reviews
Due to current events, this week I’m bringing back an old book review I did of the novel Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran. This book explores in detail what it’s like for parents to have their children separated from them because of our messed up immigration laws. In this book, Shanthi Sekaran takes us through the journey of Solimar Castro Valdez as she risks her life to cross the border and works hard to build a life for herself and her son who she gives birth to in the United States. Spoiler Alert: Eventually, Solimar is put in a detention center where Sekaran takes us through the horrifying way people are abused in these establishments. Solimar’s son is taken away from her and put into the foster system. Sekaran takes us through the foster system in detail and shows us how difficult life becomes for the child and for the parents who are trying to get their children back through the legal system. Today, we are finally seeing first hand accounts from the children and parents themselves. We are seeing what it’s like to be treated as less than human by immigration officials in the media, but this has been going on in the United States for years. Lucky Boy was published in January 2017, before this topic was being talked about in the media. Sekaran spent years before writing this novel researching these topics and it is evident from the very first page. I can not recommend this book enough.
Here is my Goodreads review of the book:
Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran
My rating: 5 of 5 stars I finished reading this book two days ago and it is still with me. From the very first page it was obvious to me that Shanthi Sekaran took the time to research the topics and cultures she explores in this book. She writes about Mexico not as a stereotypical version we often see in American media. She talks about it through her characters and their version of life in a small town in Mexico. She also explores Indian-American culture with the same sensitivity and without the stereotypes. She takes us through the foster system, immigration detention centers, and the life of an undocumented woman in the United States in detail. Then, she goes beyond these countries, cultures, and legal institutions to make the reader feel the emotions of a foster parent, a couple who is unable to conceive, and a mother who has lost her baby. This book is beautifully written and is extremely topical. I highly recommend this book! View all my reviews
One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Scaachi Koul uses a light hearted and often sarcastic voice to dive into serious issues like culture clash, racism, and body issues. She describes her family life growing up in Canada with Indian immigrant parents and the values they instilled in her by making the courageous decision to leave their place of birth and move to the other side of the world. She talks about the stereotypical images of India portrayed in the media of poor brown people running in the streets throwing colors at each other. She also addressed the lack of diversity in media and how it affects her professional life. I appreciate her bringing these important issues to light in her collection of essays, but more than anything, I appreciate her using humor as a vehicle to explore these topics. Books written by authors of color, especially South Asian authors, seldom contain humor. I believe humor is one of the most effective ways to help people expand their minds. Scaachi Koul does a great job of addressing important issues in a voice that makes them easier for the average reader to digest. View all my reviews
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. by Samantha Irby
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Samantha Irby is a genius. This hilarious collection of essays is perfect in every way. Real life is sad so I’m on a constant mission to find humor through books, movies, and T.V. shows. This is one of the funniest books I have ever read. Samantha Irby’s voice is sharp, bold, and vulnerable all at the same time. She isn’t afraid of laying everything out on the table, exposing her most helpless moments, and turning them into comedy. I’ve heard many times that “comedy equals tragedy plus time.” Samantha Irby has taken these embarrassing and depressing moments from her life and reflected upon them with wisdom and detachment. She’s not afraid of talking about her social anxieties, bowel movements, body issues, and struggles with dating. This book had me feeling anxious, sad, and laughing out loud all at the same time. If only we could all have the wisdom and courage to laugh more at ourselves like Samantha Irby. View all my reviews
Fresh Off the Boat by Eddie Huang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Fresh off the Boat is a memoir with a story that is familiar to me. As an immigrant growing up in the United States, I personally relate to Eddie Huang’s life in many ways. He talks about the struggles of growing up in a traditional Taiwanese immigrant family, he talks about abuse, he talks about violence, and through all of this tragedy, he makes you laugh. I especially love his outlook on the life: he sees the world through the lens of food. Throughout the memoir, he relates specific dishes to specific memories and the detail with which he describes the food, makes my mouth water. This memoir felt so personal to me that I used it as inspiration for my own. By sharing his family’s personal journey, Eddie Huang gives a voice to all immigrant families living in the United States. View all my reviews
Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars The literary publishing industry is terrible when it comes to diversity in authors and stories. The comic book publishing industry is worse. Gems like Bitch Planet are difficult to come by. Kelly Sue DeConnick makes me proud to be a comic book writer and gives me something to strive towards. Bitch Planet is a series of feminist graphic novels that hit hard on patriarchy. From the strong (physically and mentally) women characters with diverse backgrounds who are literally kicking patriarchy down to the little misogynistic advertisements satirically sprinkled throughout the book, this graphic novel is in a league of its own. I can’t wait to read the rest of them! View all my reviews |
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