Folks who know me a bit know that my family was interned in the 1940s during WWII. This is a piece of family history that stays with me and I constantly reflect on its impact on my family and on me. I often talk about it in terms of my personal culture and in terms … Continue reading
Last night, I attended a keynote address by a noted professor of history. This professor is an expert in African-American, Black, and African history and as an AfroLatina woman, brings personal experiences and perspectives to her teaching and to her addresses. The theme of this professor’s keynote was “What do you do with the mess … Continue reading
What would you do for fam? American Street is the #OwnVoices debut novel by Ibi Zaboi and it packs a punch. This is not a happy story; however, it was very powerful and before I get to my thoughts, I want to recommend this as a solid read with the following warnings. TW: drugs, domestic … Continue reading
For the past week, I have been thinking about a tough question about representation in all forms of media – TV, movies, books, and in particular board games. This mainly stems from the idea of the #ownvoices movement in literature. This means that an author is writing characters from their own experience. So for example, … Continue reading
Amal and Claud are married. They live in London and have a fantastic relationship and life. Together, they decide to have a child, but twenty-one days into the pregnancy, Claud has a miscarriage. The story begins here as Amal drives to the hospital to pick up Claud in order to drive to Claud’s parent’s house … Continue reading
I received a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review. When I first started blogging about books, I had a small understanding of what diverse literature and stories were. I thought mostly about diverse authors from the United States and less about global perspectives. I also failed to acknowledge the … Continue reading
This is Paradise is a short story collection written by Kristiana Kahakauwila, a hapa author of kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiian), German and Norwegian extract. In efforts to set up this blogging event, a person contacted me through my blog with the recommendation I reach out to and possibly feature Kristiana during this month. I immediately went to Goodreads to … Continue reading
In the United States, November is Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month / Native American Heritage Month. Although we should be celebrating and honoring all Indigenous Peoples and First Nations year round, this month in particular is an intentional focus on standing with these communities and help to lift Indigenous Peoples voices and experiences. This month on … Continue reading
This is a feature book for LGBTQ+ History Month. Disclaimer: I received a free e-book in exchange for an open and honest review. I received an electronic copy of City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault from the author after inquiring about the book through Twitter. From the description, this book is the first in a … Continue reading
This is one of my picks for #DiverseDetectives. #DiverseDectectives is an book blogging event through the month of October hosted by @siliconphospho and @Bina_ReadThis. Through this month I am committed to read two mystery / detective novels featuring detectives of color and posting at least one review. Devil in a Blue Dress is my first pick … Continue reading
