March Stories I Ate This Month

Even though I had Spring Break this month, I was unable to get much reading done or tv shows watched. Most of the stories that I have consumed are audiobooks because they are easy to listen to while doing other things. As I write this, I am currently listening to a memoir about the Black Lives Matter movement which you will see in next month's Stories I Ate This Month. I've started some tv shows but have yet to finish a season. I have not watched any movies. And I have started two physical books but I have yet to finish either.

Audiobooks

• The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Train, and Three American Heroes ~ Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, with Jeffrey E. Stern
• I followed this story on the news when it happened and then learned more about Alek Skarlatos no his time on Dancing With The Stars. It was really interesting to hear what each of the men heard, saw, experienced through their own eyes and the memories that have resurfaced overtime and those that have stayed hidden. Told in flashbacks. 
• A+
• It Takes Two: Our Story ~ Drew and Jonathan Scott
• I've been obsessed with the Property Brothers for a few years. I love all of the shows that they have done and cheered Drew on while he danced rather awkwardly on Dancing With The Stars. It was really interesting to listen to how they came into the success that they now have and what comes with the fame.
• A+
• Undaunted: The Story of America's Servicewomen in Today's Military ~ Tanya Biank
• I chose this book to read for a book report in my Minority Politics class. It was really eye-opening and hope-filling. I learned about the personal discriminatory experiences that these women have experienced while trying to fight for our country and also learned how they overcame the oppression and pushed forward. 
• B+
• The Red Parts ~ Maggie Nelson
• This memoir follows the story of Maggie as she learns about her Aunt Jane who was murdered before she could ever meet her. She sits in the courtroom as the real murderer is on trial decades later. Such an interesting perspective. 
• B+
• I'll Never Change My Name: An Immigrant's American Dream from Ukraine To The USA to Dancing With The Stars ~ Valentin Chmerkovskiy
• I've been obsessed with Val for years!! He has been my favorite pro on DWTS forever! Listening to his journey from Ukraine and how he learned to assimilate into the US and managed to keep his heritage alive. It was also such a unique perspective on ballroom dance competitions, family, etc. 
• A+

Books

• A Clash of Kings ~ George R. R. Martin
• I preferred the first book in the Game of Thrones series more than this one and I think that is one of the reasons it took me so long to get through it. However, it was still pretty good and I am excited to continue with the series.
• B+ 

Update on my Goodreads Reading Challenge

I have read 25 of the 100 books that I want to read by the end of the year! I am currently one book ahead of schedule. Thank you Audiobooks!

Friend me on Goodreads if you want! 

The Last Black Unicorn ~ Tiffany Haddish

From stand-up comedian, actress, and breakout star of Girls Trip, Tiffany Haddish, comes The Last Black Unicorn, a sidesplitting, hysterical, edgy, and unflinching collection of (extremely) personal essays, as fearless as the author herself.

Growing up in one of the poorest neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles, Tiffany learned to survive by making people laugh. If she could do that, then her classmates would let her copy their homework, the other foster kids she lived with wouldn’t beat her up, and she might even get a boyfriend. Or at least she could make enough money—as the paid school mascot and in-demand Bar Mitzvah hype woman—to get her hair and nails done, so then she might get a boyfriend.

None of that worked (and she’s still single), but it allowed Tiffany to imagine a place for herself where she could do something she loved for a living: comedy.

Tiffany can’t avoid being funny—it’s just who she is, whether she’s plotting shocking, jaw-dropping revenge on an ex-boyfriend or learning how to handle her newfound fame despite still having a broke person’s mind-set. Finally poised to become a household name, she recounts with heart and humor how she came from nothing and nowhere to achieve her dreams by owning, sharing, and using her pain to heal others.

By turns hilarious, filthy, and brutally honest, The Last Black Unicorn shows the world who Tiffany Haddish really is—humble, grateful, down-to-earth, and funny as hell. And now, she’s ready to inspire others through the power of laughter.

Book Review:

I laughed every second of this audiobook! Even when Tiffany was discussing more serious issues she made them hilarious, but still managed to get the seriousness across. I loved how humble she remained throughout even though she had gained so much more "fame" whilst writing the novel. 

Prior to the movie Girls Trip, which is incredible and hilarious, Tiffany was a struggling comedian. She made a living doing what she loved but she was nowhere near "famous" or "rich;" however, she kept doing what she loved because that is all she ever did. Although the book is shorter than the others I have recently listened to, she chronicles her life from her poverty-stricken childhood to the adolescence she spent caring for her recovering yet belligerent mother, to her experiences with social services, her first experiences as an entertainer when she began  DJing bat mitzvahs, to finding her father and losing him, to very dramatic relationships, to pimping, to her first acting job, to meeting Will and Jada Smith during Girls Trip, and so on. She manages to give you the smallest of details and somehow make them seem to be more interesting than they really are. She picks on herself and also reminds the readers that if she could make it, so can they. 

If you are looking for a hilarious memoir to get you out of your reading slump, this is the book for you.

Pages: 288                                                                                                                           Rate: 5/5

Favorite Quote:

“You kill them with your success. Then they’ll have to kiss your motherfucking feet.”

Our Revolution: A Future To Believe In ~ Bernie Sanders

Throughout the Presidential campaign, Bernie Sanders galvanized voters with his progressive platform and vision for America. In the book, Sanders shares experiences from the campaign trail and outlines his ideas for continuing a political revolution to fight for a progressive economic, environmental, racial and social justice agenda that creates jobs, raises wages, protects the environment and provides health care for all.

Book Review:

I decided to pick up this audiobook knowing that I would agree with much of what was being said politically. During the 2016 Presidential Campaign, I was an avid supporter of Bernie. I agreed with the majority of his policies. I believe that he truly cares about the growth of the middle class and not the protection of the 1%. I also knew that he would make it his mission to protect the planet, lower the United States's carbon footprint, etc; all things that I believe to be important. However, what I did not pay much attention to during the campaign was how he developed these ideas. How these important issues became his values. 

I was pleased that he was narrating the book himself. For me, that always makes the audiobook much more interesting. It doesn't sound as though someone is just reading off of the page. You can actually sense the emotion of what he is saying. I was also pleased that Mark Ruffalo would be doing some of the reading himself. Ruffalo is another avid supporter of Bernie and of his ideas, so I knew that he would also be able to portray the emotion of the words. Both of their voices were really soothing and passionate. 

Learning more about Bernie's childhood was important. It developed his family values and demonstrated how he developed his ideas. It was also really interesting to learn about his early political career as that is something that I also did not pay much attention to during the campaign. I feel that those parts of his life really helped me understand his ideas and why he had such values that he was passionate about during the campaign. I won't be specific because I feel that that takes away much of the value of listening to or physically reading the book, which I avidly recommend. 

Pages: 464                                                                                                                                             Rate:5/5

Favorite Quote:

“This campaign was never just about electing a president of the United States—as enormously important as that was. This campaign was about transforming America. It was about the understanding that real change never takes place from the top on down. It always takes place from the bottom on up. It takes place when ordinary people, by the millions, are prepared to stand up and fight for justice."

The Nowhere Girls ~ Amy Reed

Three misfits come together to avenge the rape of a fellow classmate and in the process trigger a change in the misogynist culture at their high school transforming the lives of everyone around them in this searing and timely story.

Who are the Nowhere Girls?

They’re every girl. But they start with just three:

Grace Salter is the new girl in town, whose family was run out of their former community after her southern Baptist preacher mom turned into a radical liberal after falling off a horse and bumping her head.

Rosina Suarez is the queer punk girl in a conservative Mexican immigrant family, who dreams of a life playing music instead of babysitting her gaggle of cousins and waitressing at her uncle’s restaurant.

Erin Delillo is obsessed with two things: marine biology and Star Trek: The Next Generation, but they aren’t enough to distract her from her suspicion that she may, in fact, be an android.

When Grace learns that Lucy Moynihan, the former occupant of her new home, was run out of town for having accused the popular guys at school of gang rape, she’s incensed that Lucy never had justice. For their own personal reasons, Rosina and Erin feel equally deeply about Lucy’s tragedy, so they form an anonymous group of girls at Prescott High to resist the sexist culture at their school, which includes boycotting sex of any kind with the male students.

Told in alternating perspectives, this groundbreaking novel is an indictment of rape culture and explores with bold honesty the deepest questions about teen girls and sexuality.

Book Review:

I was skeptical going into this book. I was expecting it to be too much like Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu. Obviously, it had its similarities, but it was not the same at all, which I was beyond grateful of. The similarities were that a group of girls was brought together by an anonymous girl (we know who it is, they don't) to change the patriarchal system in their town and school that allows for girls to be raped, for boys who rape to not be held accountable, for girls to be harassed every day, for boys who harass them to not be held accountable, etc. 

It was overall a great story. At the beginning, I did find it to be a slow start. It took until I was about halfway through the book before I was sucked into it. However, it is an easy read, the characters are really interesting (especially Erin). Although, it took awhile for me to be interested in it overall, I really enjoyed the dynamics of the story. I enjoyed the character development as the girls in the town began to realize that they weren't alone, that they could speak up, that maybe they could get justice. I also enjoyed the friendships that developed between Grace, Erin, and Rosina. 

Pages: 416                                                                                                                                 Rate: 3/5

the sun and her flowers ~ rupi kaur

Book Review:

I could rave about Rupi Kaur's poetry for days. I loved her first collection, milk and honey, and this was no different. I did not want to put the book down. I read and reread the poems many times before moving on to the next poem. I analyzed the words compared to the beautiful, yet minimal sketches that she includes on the various pages. I was beyond happy with this collection. 

My favorite poems were probably "introvert" and another one that didn't have a name but is on page 223. They both come with sketches and those images just really amplify the messages that each poem is trying to convey. 

The collection is the perfect infusion of feminism, mental health awareness, and self-love. 

Pages: 256                                                                                                                                 Rate: 5/5