Dona's Book Blog

I found HOW TO WRESTLE A GIRL by Verita Blackburn on the Libby app. Check for your local library on the app and read great books for free!📚 Several of the stories share a narrating character and her striving for clarity about her sexual identity at varyious stages of her life, and even further, this narrator's object of fascination, Ezparanza. Some of the other stories are more difficult to connect to this core of the collection, but for the repeated theme of criticism of the patriarchy's force and authority on queer existence.  The audiobook is read by a group of individuals, who each perform their stories beautifully. Some, brilliantly. I recommend this form for a short, gripping listen. Mini reviews of the contained stories: 1. "Part I: Fam" A brilliant very short piece on internalized anti-blackness. 2. "Bear Bear Harvest" Cousins are plentiful in all the ways, in numbers and size and feelings, just roaming through the house like mad geese,...

I found Kill Joy by Holly Jackson on the Libby app. Check for your local library on the app and read great books for free!📚 My sweet husband gave me Holly Jackson's GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER trilogy for Christmas last year, and while I have yet to read them (you could read this whether or not you've read the other books), I was in no way lacking to enjoy this charming little mystery short. In it, several college students gather in a mansion to act out a murder mystery a la the old 90's murder-with-your-meal dinner shows. Many dramatic gasps, plot reversals, and suspenseful hijinks ensue. I'm assuming these characters show up in the first book of the trilogy, which would be fine, because they are each genuinely likeable. The way the brothers fight constantly reminds me of me and my sisters. And I love the main character, Pip Fitz-Amobi (yeah, that name is amazing !), with her self-assuredness and keen judgment. I even love that Jackson decided to tell ...