Instead of Sitting on Them

White people have so much power that it's embarrassing. Even women. But in

general, women tend to think of ourselves as shotgun riders in the car of life, and for good reason--the world is set up to keep us thinking that way. Stay in your lane, ride in that seat, listen to the tunes pre-selected for you. In this book, Jenna Arnold shakes us out of our passenger complacency (or tries to) with her no-nonsense perspective. She tells us of how important we all are, as just regular folks, and that we're all just ordinary together and can get things DONE. Don't be intimidated! You are powerful! So inspiring! The truth of the matter is, though, that she not only looks like a movie star, but has done everything aside from swimming to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and establishing a colony on Mars. Everything else, though? Check, check and check. I was clicking along with her until I realized I wouldn't be qualified to take out her trash. Nevertheless, she brings a difficult topic to the table and serves it up well. White women have a ton of power that could make real change happen were it leveraged. Kudos to her for trying to do just that.

Quirkiest of the Quirks

Do you like to have fun? Do you love to laugh? Allie Brosh, delivers all that and more in this, her second book. She takes stories from her past and flight-of-ideas them into cartoon form, then whisks you away on tangential whims, but somehow ends up where she started, managing to make sense. However, all of that fun and lightheartedness is definitely shielding us/her from the underbelly of the story(ies). As you travel deeper into the book, between the lines you see the pain she dealt (deals?) with to create these wacky narratives. While I love her work, part of me wishes we lived in the same town and I could have a quiet chat with her on a Sunday morning. I'm in equal parts awed by her and worried about her. Nevertheless, perhaps writing is her own form of therapy, and I will most certainly continue to support her by buying/reading/recommending anything that flows out of her pen.

I Guess We've Always Been Fighting

This is why I read. In the past, I'd only had passing conversations of British rule in India, and the ensuing "Partition". Wow--what a bland word to describe the horrors that preceded the fracturing of a nation. In Moth, the author takes us into the streets, the houses, the schools, and the minds of people hiding from the extreme violence that took thousands upon thousands of lives. Told through the voices of one Brahmin family in Delhi, this tale is gripping and tense. There were characters I liked at times, and loathed at others, but I guess that made them all the more realistic. The author also touched on some taboo topics, but only implied, so probably that would be good book club fodder. Overall, memorable, with hope edging out tragedy as the overriding theme.