5/5 stars Field Guide for Accidents , by Albert Abonado (2024) This is Al's second collection of poetry (his first being Jaw , published in 2020), and it is truly something to savor. Abonado writes with scrutiny about his Filipino identity, his immigrant parents, and the challenges of growing up with a (non-white) dual-identity in America. America, which, "at the airport asks for the name of my tribe, compliments me for the Vietnam in the poems another man read. An honest mi

5/5 stars World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments , by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (2020), Illustrator: Fumi Nakamura This is a beautiful debut of nonfiction essays about nature, how the author relates to the world around her, and how and what animals and plants can teach us. The essays include very cool facts about animals and plants, side by side with anecdotes about the author's past - where she grew up, the many different places she live

4/5 stars Make It Scream, Make It Burn , by Leslie Jamison (2019) One of my favorite nonfiction books is Leslie Jamison's The Empathy...

5/5 stars Falling Back in Love with Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls , by Kai Cheng Thom (2023) "from the depths of my rage and...

4/5 stars The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay (2019) It IS a delight, this book! Ross Gay's essays remind us to look around each day and...

1/5 stars The Secret Rooms: A True Story of a Haunted Castle, a Plotting Duchess, & a Family Secret, by Catherine Bailey (2012) False...

3/5 stars Butts: A Backstory, by Heather Radke (2022) Not my words but an apt, brief description - this book melds "history, personal...

9/11/23 - 22 years later (Each section below has 100 words. This is part of a practice I've been trying to maintain of writing 100 words...

3/5 stars Let Me Go, by Helga Schneider (2001) TW: Anti-Semitism, and graphic descriptions of Holocaust camps, including medical...

5/5 stars Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo," by Zora Neale Hurston (2018) Barracoon tells the story of Olualo Kossula, also...

3/5 stars So Much More Than a Headache, edited by Kathleen O'Shea (2020) I Describe a Migraine I wanted to describe chronic migraines as...

2/5 stars Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, by Mary Norris (2015) There were parts of this book that were quite...

For the past year I've been working with a designer and 19 artistic friends to create a book: Are We There Yet? An Illustrated Journey of...

5/5 stars Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, by Lindy West (2016) "Women matter. Women are half of us. When you raise every woman to...

3/5 stars Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, by Jon Krakauer (2003) I recently visited Salt Lake City (SLC), Utah for...

3/5 stars Call Us What We Carry, by Amanda Gorman (2021) Like everyone else, I was introduced to and blown away by Amanda Gorman when she...

4/5 stars Tongues: On Longing and Belonging through Language, edited by Eufemia Fantetti, Leonarda Carranza, & Ayelet Tsabari (2021) I...

5/5 stars In This Moment: Revolution, Reckoning, Reparation, a chapbook series curated by Amanda Chestnut, coordinated by Jeanne...

4/5 stars They Called Us Enemy, by George Takei, Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott, illustrated by Harmony Becker (2019) In this graphic...

4/5 stars Mixed feelings: Poems and Stories, by Avan Jogia (2019) This book may be slim, but it packs a punch, exploring the complicated...