Why was I reluctant

To read Wow, No Thank You?  Maybe because I thought Samantha Irby was one of those actresses on Saturday Night Live.  I am not a big Saturday Night Live fan at all.  But I should have listened to my dear friend Rebekah.  She loved it and I did, too!  This lady is quite funny!

Morning with Gayle

I had heard about Gayle King because she is Oprah's best friend, but I knew she was more than just Oprah's best friend, but I never really knew how awesome she was until I started watching CBS This Morning.  For that reason I was so happy to read Notes to Self:  Inspiring Figures Write to the Young People They Once Were.   I had thought that it was a book written by Ms. King about her own life, so at first I was a little bummed that I wouldn't learn more about King from it, but wow, she really picked the heavy hitters here!  Maya Angelou, Joe Biden for example.  And there's also Jane Fonda!  Along with some people I didn't know, but each one had really inspiring stories and wonderful things to say.  It was great listening to the book because each person read their own story! 

Why?

I know there is no point in asking why we do horrible things to one another.  Human nature is prone to such horrors.  Ones that sicken us.  Horrors done to groups of people, horrors done to individuals.  The essays in Not That Bad:  Dispatches from Rape Culture show this to be true with each account.  It is edited by the incomparable Roxane Gay. 

I don't know how to comment on these stories.  Some of the writers say that they don't want to be called "brave" or a "survivor" and some don't want to hear that people are "sorry for what happened" but some do.  I want to respect that.  I want to just give to them as much respect as I can.  So all I can say is that I am very thankful for their words and willingness to share.  I simply want to offer to them all that is within me and that my heart and soul can give, as respectfully as I can.  I absolutely recommend this book.  

SUPER DISAPPOINTMENT

Utopia is Creepy and Other Provocations was not provocative, it wasn't even interesting.  I was SO sad.  I loved The Big Switch.  I loved it so much that when I had to interview candidates for a major position in my department I required all who interviewed to the read the book beforehand so that we could discuss it.  I found it to be that important.
I know it is the rage to publish one's blog to make some money off of a book, but the thing is, Carr went SO far back and that it reminded me a lot of this out-dated piece of work here.

The F Word

I really, really resonated with Bad Feminist in a lot of ways.   The book isn't just about feminism though.  It deals with a lot of issues.  One of the things that kept running through my mind was that this was written in the Pre-Trump days.  Things were bad then, but they are even worse now for women.  No, for humans!  Dr. Gay is brilliant.  Witty, too.