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

February Stories I Ate This Month

School has been very intense this month and I haven't been able to consume too many stories but the ones that I have had time for have been really good!

Movies

• Black Panther
• Such an amazing superhero movie! Actually, just an amazing movie in general! Prior to seeing it, I didn't know much about it and I am glad that I went into seeing it that way. It made it all the more incredible. Also, as I'm sure you have seen all over social media, it has been great for the African American community, especially the children to see people who look like them on the big screen, celebrating African cultures, etc. 
• A+

TV Shows

• Smallville (season 1)
• I have been obsessed with superhero related things the past few months, as you can see by my last Stories I Ate This Month. Therefore, I decided to watch this old tv show from the early 2000s which is on Hulu. I'm loving this version of Clark Kent/Superman/Man of Steel.
• A+

Audiobooks

• Promise Me, Dad - Joe Biden
• I cried,  a lot. There will be a review going up on April 2nd. It has been scheduled already. Also, #Biden2020. 
• A+
• Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Susannah Cahalan
• This chronicles Cahalan's life as she goes mad, gets the proper diagnosis of a rare auto-immune disorder, and recovers. Very interesting. 
• A+

Books

• I Am Not Your Mexican Daughter - Erika L. Sanchez
• It was slow going in the start but the whole story was really interesting to follow and I really felt for Julia. 
• B-

TV Review: Good Girls Revolt (Amazon Original)

For those of you who do not know, I identify as a Feminist. If you want me to explain my views on Feminism just comment below and I will write a post about it if there is any interest in that. However, my feminism is what interested me in this Amazon original show set in the 1970s surrounding a group of girls who work for a newspaper as researchers but aspire to be journalists and all of their other life problems.

I love that the story mainly followed Patti's story but that it included large segments of the other girls' stories as well since they all have a common problem with society. At this point in time, many newspapers were not allowing women to be reporters.Patti was fed up with that. All she wanted to do was write. She was a researcher for her boyfriend. That meant that she did all of the grunt work for him; got phone numbers, set up interviews, obtained the paperwork he needed, and did all of his other errands. That also meant that she would proof his work and help him figure out what angles and stories to write. However, she would never get to write an article or get a byline. Therefore, she and some of the other girls in the pit decide to file a lawsuit with the NAACP against the paper.

The show follows the girls as they work with their lawyer to get enough complaints, the evidence that they are being unjustly treated compared to their male counterparts, etc. The show also follows Patti as she deals with her daily struggles with the men in her life as well as family. The show also follows the relationships among the other girls as well and even some of the more prominent men in the story.

The show was so good and I really wish that there was going to be a second season. Amazon, please bring it back!

Rate: 5/5

One Of Us Is Lying ~ Karen M. McManus

Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. 
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. 
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app. 
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose? 
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them."

Book Review:

This is a twisted version of what I understand The Breakfast Club to be. All these students from very different stages of the high school popularity hierarchy become suspects in the murder of Simon who ran this awful gossip website, where he would posst awful stories about his classmates. It is later determined that he was about to post about all of the people who were in detention with him. They all have various things to hide that could potential ruin their lives and had Simon disclosed them, it would have ruined their lives. In the long run though, those secrets still ruined so much for them. I can not say much without giving so much away so this will be a short review. However, I could have never predicted the result of the case. Read this! 

Pages: 361                                                                                                                                               Rate:5/5

Favorite Quote:

“I don't know why it's so hard for people to admit that sometimes they're just assholes who screw up because they don't expect to get caught.” 

Far From The Tree ~ Robin Benway

Being the middle child has its ups and downs.

But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including—

Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs.

And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he’s learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can’t hurt anyone but him.

Book Review:

I read this book in two days because I was so invested in the story. I wanted to know when Grace would heal, emotionally and be able to forgive herself for giving Peach up for adoption. I wanted to know if she would meet her biological mother and how that would help her move forward and possibly have a relationship with Peach. I wanted Maya to find her place. She seemed to lost. I wanted Joaquin to finally be adopted, to finally be able to open up and be comfortable and know that having others love him would not hurt him or them every time. The first night that I was reading the book, I was only about 100 pages in and forced myself to put the book down because it was already 11pm and I had over 300 pages to go. The next night, I turned the TV off, said goodnight to my dad, and read for a solid three hours in order to finish. I was so happy. 

The book made me feel for every person who has been adopted and wanted to find their biological family but never could. I became even more interested in helping those who get lost in the foster care system. I loved this story. The character that I resonated with the most was Grace. I never experienced teen pregnancy. I've been raised by my biological parents and have a slew of siblings, unlike Grace. However, Grace and I both deal with things in similar manners. I could tell based on how she gave up Peach, how she immediately slid into the big sister role for Maya, how she reacted to meeting her older brother, and how persistent she was in finding her biological mother. I felt like I would have reacted and made the same decisions that she did. Maya was more rebellious and Joaquin was too scared of caring too much. 

I loved the dynamic that was built between Grace, Joaquin, and Maya. I loved how their families didn't let their children's needs to connect with one another make them feel like they were less than, instead the families just grew. 

I was also very glad that Benway depicted the difficulties of alcoholism and the foster care system. Maya and her sister are hiding their mothers empty wine bottles, dumping out the rest of the alcohol, and going about their lives while she remains passed out in her room. Benway also depicts the troubles that many children have when their alcoholic parent goes to rehab. That person is no longer in their face 24/7, they no longer have to hide their alcohol, etc. That time give the child time to feel anger, resentment, and eventual forgiveness, hopefully. Maya felt all of that and it was an interesting dynamic to read. Also, Benway depicts the struggles that so many people face while they are being bounced around in the foster care system. Joaquin was in 18 homes in 17 years. He was bounced from family to family. He experienced failed adoptions, abuse at the hands of foster parents, etc. What Joaquin went through strongly resembles what others experience and how the foster care system really needs to be changed. 

Pages: 389                                                                                                                                  Rate: 5/5

Favorite Quote:

“The older she got, the more human her parents seemed, and that was one of the scariest things in the world. She missed being little, when they were the all-knowing gods of her world, but at the same time, seeing them as human made it easier to see herself that way, too.” 

The Sign of The Four ~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Sign of the Four (1890), also called The Sign of Four, is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 stories starring the fictional detective. The story is set in 1888. The Sign of the Four has a complex plot involving service in East India Company, India, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a stolen treasure, and a secret pact among four convicts ("the Four" of the title) and two corrupt prison guards. It presents the detective's drug habit and humanizes him in a way that had not been done in the preceding novel, A Study in Scarlet (1887). It also introduces Doctor Watson's future wife, Mary Morstan.

Book Review:

Like I said in my review of A Study in Scarlet, I really enjoy the premise of the Sherlock Holmes stories. I am fascinated by the characters and have wanted to read the original stories for a while now. I'm glad that I read the first and I feel that this followed A Study in Scarlet nicely. 

There was a lot more character development than in the first story or so I felt. I do believe that it depicted Holmes's drug addiction in a unique way that I felt really symbolized the character well. Sherlock does not see himself as being addicted, like we see others as addicted. He sees it as a mechanism to keep his mind engaged when there is no mystery for him to follow or case for him to solve. He seems to stop using, from what I understand, when he is working a case because every part of his mind is being used for deduction and observation in order to solve the case. However, when he is using, he takes on the typical side effects of an addict. He doesn't have a different type of self control or anything like that. Its interesting to see how his mind works and how he justifies his actions. It's also interesting to see the worry from his companion, Doctor Watson. Watson worries about what the drugs do to Holmes and he worries about what could happen to Holmes while using. I feel that Watson has the same type of feelings that other people who care about addicts experience. 

Beyond Holmes's drug use, we have the case itself. The case is nothing spectacular. It has the same tone and feel to the case in A Study in Scarlet. However, I do believe that that tone is what makes the Sherlock Holmes stories so special. It was interesting and I certianly did not predict the result. I did predict many results while reading but none of them ended up being correct. I think that that is what makes reading the stories so fun. I can not wait to continue with the other stories.