I think this would have worked really well on audiobook, because I just could not get into it. It starts off really strong with a lot of messy, messy family and personal life drama, but then it is just…so long. I don’t know. I used to love long books, but my brain just can’t. And now that I read a lot more I’m kind of in camp, “this could have been shorter.” Lately the ones I have been reading have just not been satisfying. So in all, I liked this one fine, but I didn’t love it. I know they are developing it as a TV series and I absolutely think it is perfect for that format. What the last doorstopper book you loved?

Synopsis taken from Amazon: Casey Han's four years at Princeton gave her many things, "But no job and a number of bad habits." Casey's parents, who live in Queens, are Korean immigrants working in a dry cleaner, desperately trying to hold on to their culture and their identity. Their daughter, on the other hand, has entered into rarified American society via scholarships. But after graduation, Casey sees the reality of having expensive habits without the means to sustain them. As she navigates Manhattan, we see her life and the lives around her, culminating in a portrait of New York City and its world of haves and have-nots.

#FreeFoodForMillionaires #BooksInNewYork #BooksAndPlants #KoreanAuthor #MinJinLee #FamilyEpics #FamilySagas #LongBooks #DoorstopperBooks #BooksToTVAdaptation #BigBooks #Bookstagram #bookstagrammer ...

Do not be fooled by this short book filled with short stories. Silly me for thinking this would be a quick read, because Toni Cade Bambara definitely took me to school. I can’t quite put my finger on why this collection was so challenging, but all I know is that each page commanded my attention. Bambara is brilliant at getting into her characters’ head, and commuting their thoughts onto the page. I was particularly enthralled by how she wrote from children’s perspectives. She really nailed down how kids can just think or say one thing so utterly brilliant about life without realizing it. They have an uncanny ability to see things how they are, adults tend to muddy interpretations with their own projections of how things should be. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes there is a need for more nuance but sometimes it is really just not that complicated. Definitely read this if you’re looking for a challenge in bite sized doses. I will definitely be checking out her other works, just when my brain is a bit more ready. Oh and shoutout to @dcastmusic for recommending this!!!

[ID: The short story collecting Gorilla, My Love by Tona Cade Bambara resting on some plants outside]

#Bookstagram #ToniCadeBambara #GorillaMyLove #ShortStories #ReadMoreShortStories #10Books10Decades #20BooksByBlackWomen #GreatBooks #ReadersOfInstagram #LosAngelesReader #ReadMoreBooks #ShortStoryCollections #booksandplants ...

Sunday slowdown and prepping for the last week of school. Breathing in and out. #book #bookstagram #ilovereading #summertime #teacheronbreak #bookstagrammer #greatbooks #fiction #summerreading ...

#ReadingWrapUp for May and April. I wanted to start this by saying “I don’t have much to say” except that I do, but the thoughts are incoherent and don’t make sense and this will probably just be one long stream of consciousness because the world is burning and we’re killing the kids but still I read sometimes, and when the weight of it all gets to be too much, I somehow can still find comfort in a good book to make me feel less alone, transport me or give me some version of hope, whatever that even means now and lately my brain feels like one big jumble and the depression keeps trying to creep in so I count the colors in the room and focus on my five senses hoping I can keep the tunneling thoughts at bay and it works sometimes, but most times it doesn’t, (and is therapy working?), but how can it when the world is like :this:, but still I really can’t complain because my life is good and I have an embarrassment of riches so here I stand: Reading. Listening. Trying to find a way to fight, for me, for the kids, for everyone.

#ReadingWrapUp #ReadersOfInstagram #ReadMoreBooks #AlwaysReading #Bookstagram #Bookstagrammer ...

DEAR AMERICA by Jose Antonio Vargas is a fantastic memoir about Vargas’ experiences living as an undocumented citizen. I flew through this book. His experiences were really eye opening and gave me a lot to think about. I think he does a great job of trying to balance the telling of his own personal experience, while examining how his experience is VERY different from so many others. I loved how he gets his reader to think about how being undocumented really affects different people differently, depending on hundreds of different factors. But the tie that binds them is still the same, being undocumented presents hundreds of challenges that have damaging effects on your mental health and safety.

I know this may be me being captain obvious, but the more I think about borders the more I just sort of realize how fake it all seems. Haven’t humans been migrating to different areas to escape hardships since literally the beginning of time? Animals still do this…Further, as the climate crisis worsens we will only see more and more movement of people traveling to so-called “better and safer” areas. Reading Vargas’s story was just perplexing. Like why can’t they just give him his damn papers. I know the reason (racism) but the absurdity of it all just seems so…..well, stupid.

Also shoutout to Maria @mpjustreading for putting this on my radar.

[ID: The book DEAR AMERICA: NOTES OF AN UNDOCUMENTED CITIZEN, by Jose Antonia Vargas, rest on some green bushes. The cover is bright yellow with a black fingerprint on the cover.]

#DearAmerica #FilipinoWriters #FilipinoAuthors #AAPIAuthor #Memoirs #GreatBooks #AlwaysReading #PlantsAndBooks #FlilipinoBookstagrammer #BookReflection #BookReview #CaliforniaReader #ReadMoreBooks #alwayslearning ...

A Haiku to my TBR Stack

Look at these beauties,
But will I ever read them?
No one really knows

#BrainSoup #CantThink #ReadingSlumps #ReadersOfInstagram #TBR #ReadMoreBooks #Haikus #BooksPictures #PicturesOfBooks ...

The Vanished Birds is one of the most beautiful science fiction stories I have ever read. When a young boy crashes onto a planet it is evident he holds some mysterious power. A crew hired by a strange and powerful scientist must hide the child until more is known about his frightening gifts. This is a book I wish I could get lost in again for the first time. It is really about family, and a mother’s love for her child. I also appreciate how queerness is represented throughout the novel. I find it strange when science fiction novels set far in the future aren't more imaginative about how people love and exist. The Vanished Birds hits all those right notes without bashing you over the head with it. A science fiction favorite, by a half-Filipino author, I am in love. I highly recommend this one if you’re looking to get lost among the stars, the crew of this ship will surely find its way into your heart. Readers of Becky Chambers will definitely find something to love here.

ID: The novel the Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez rests on some plants outside.

#TheVanishedBirds #SimonJimenez #ScienceFiction #BestBooks #AlwaysReading #FilipinoAuthors #FilipinoBookstagrammer #Bookstagram #SpaceStories #SpaceOperas #SFF #SciFi #ReadersOfInstagram #BookReflection ...

Welp. I have picked up all of these only to put them back down. I’m officially in a terrible reading slump. I’ve only finished one book this month. That being said this month has been insanely busy and I think my brain is just too tired to focus on a book right now. Im completely unmotivated and I think I’ll just let it ride. I have never failed to find my way back but clearly my brain just needs to chill. What do you do to get out of reading slumps? #readingslump #tbr #tbrpile #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #books #springbreak ...

Thanks @bibliolifestyle for hosting this book tour for The Blood Trials. I don’t think I ever signed up for a book tour faster! I first saw this one through @ibingebooks . She has been RAVING about it and Briana is definitely a bookstagrammer with impeccable taste. I can’t wait to dig into this one. Also I do judge books by their covers, and this one is A+. Check out the synopsis: Blending fantasy and science fiction, N. E. Davenport’s fast-paced, action-packed debut kicks off a duology of loyalty and rebellion, in which a young Black woman must survive deadly trials in a racist and misogynistic society to become an elite warrior.
#thebloodtrials #thebloodgiftduology #nedavenport #bibliolifestyle ...

#Bookstagram is an online cultural community on Instagram, where thousands of people take pictures of books and write reviews or reflections. Sometimes community members post pictures of stacks of books or book mail. Niche communities exist within bookstagram, from accounts specializing in science fiction and fantasy to those dedicated to romance novels. When new users find themselves on bookstagram they may at first be perplexed by the language frequently used by more seasoned reviewers. For example, DNF stands for “did not finish” and “TBR” stands for “to be read.” The community itself is sometimes embroiled in heated debates and can become littered with controversy. As a result of this specific language and hyper-cliquishness some people may find certain aspects of Bookstagram to be reminiscent of a cult. In this essay I will…...

#Cultish #Cults #TheLanguageOfCults #BookstagramIsCultish #TBR #DNF #ARC #Bookstagrammer #BookReviews #BookReflections #GoodBooks #NonfictionBooks #LosAngelesReads #CaliforniaReader #AlwaysReading #aapibookstagrammer ...