Review: “Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar” by Cheryl Strayed
I found this book quite a unique book out of everything I read this year, primarily because of its format. Tiny Beautiful Things is a collection of letters sent to Sugar (Cheryl Strayed) on Dear Sugar columns published on The Rumpus.net.
Review: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” A Short Story by Ursula K. Le Guin
What is Omelas? Where is Omelas? It is not a real place that exists. According to the author Ursula K. Le Guin, Omelas is a Utopian society or a fairytale town where “the happiness is based on discrimination of what is necessary.”
Review: “I, Pencil” Essay by Leonard E. Read
“I, Pencil: My Family Tree As Told to Leonard E. Read” is an exciting parable I have come across this year. This essay was written by Leonard Read, the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), in 1998, from a pencil’s point of view
Review: “The Bell Jar” novel by Sylvia Plath — “To The Person In The Bell Jar”
In the novel, the bell jar represents the imprisonment of emotions, despair, and mental illnesses. Sylvia Plath committed suicide in her apartment less than a month after the publication of Bell Jar, her only novel.
Review: “The Year Of The Hare” by Arto Paasilinna– Off The Grid With A Friend
When I began reading this book, I imagined it would be an off-the-grid adventure. I assumed it would be a lighthearted story about a man bonding with a wild animal.
Review: “Efrén Divided” by Ernesto Cisneros — The Best MG Book Ever!
Just when I thought I was too old for all the middle-grade and YA books, I discovered Ernesto Cisneros’s Efrén Divided, the most perfect middle-grade novel ever written.
Review: “The Travelling Cat Chronicles” by Hiro Arikawa — Saying Goodbye To A Friend
Reading this novel, I learned how important it is to say goodbyes and to make memories. It will give you peace and an understanding. After all, memories will be the only thing left for us to cherish by a person, a pet, and a friend.
Review: “And Tango Makes Three” — Children’s Literature Is Evolving
It is a children’s book about two real-life male penguins who form their own family at the New York Zoo. It was a succinct narrative.
Review: “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison — Epic But Disturbing
Toni Morrison is considered one of the greatest writers ever born. She also became the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature contributing much to the community of BIPOC authors today.
Review: “Notes of a Crocodile” by Qiu Miaojin — A Yearning For The Queer Freedom
Notes of a Crocodile is set in the 1980s, just as Taiwan’s queer human rights movement was still gaining steam. Qiu Miaojin was a Taiwanese queer author who, similar to the protagonist, was suffering from depression.