(Book) Clubbing with Friends

(Book) Clubbing with Friends is on summer break!

Sometimes it is good to peel the curtain back and enter a world in which you’d never inhabit, and perhaps would only judge it based on your the surface-level understanding. Educated by Tara Westover provides this opportunity as she explores her childhood memories and ultimate decision to leave the only world she knew behind in order to pursue scholarly studies and knowledge. Kim and I discuss her debut memoir, a stunning and gripping tale of growing up in a survivalist and fundamentalist family in the hills of Idaho. Tara faces death way too many times as a child, she believes in the end of times, and blindly trusts her family until slowly she is exposed to an education that will never allow her to turn back. There was so much to unpack in this book, so Kim and I only scratch the surface, but it’s a memoir well worth reading. Tara’s experience, described in a shocking and yet compassionate way, is emotional and demanding of our attention, and exposes light onto what it’s like living without an education.

Join us in our discussion and discuss the book further in the comments on this post, or by reaching out by social media:

Facebook: Book Clubbing with Friends

Instagram: clubbingwithfriends

Twitter: @bookclubwf

We welcome any discussion points, questions, or commentary you want to add to our next episode, or if you want to suggest a book for us to read, you can also email us at [email protected].

NEXT BOOKS: Wilderness Essays and Our National Parks by John Muir

In Esmé Weijun Wang’s The Collected Schizophrenias, she chronicles her experiences being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorders in various essays. As avid scholars of psychology, Tijana and I were excited to read this collection and better understand Wang’s perspective. Well, we got her perspective and more, both good and bad: stigma, frustration with mental health care, a heartbreaking and touching exploration of whether to choose motherhood, and a better sense of empathy. While we didn’t love the book or its portrayals of the careers Tijana and I have devoted ourselves to, Wang’s collection gave us lots to discuss in a nuanced and detailed way.

And for those who may need it, please visit http://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or call 1-800-273-8255 if you find yourself experiencing thoughts of suicide or of harming yourself.

Join us in our discussion and discuss the book further in the comments on this post, or by reaching out by social media:

Facebook: Book Clubbing with Friends

Instagram: clubbingwithfriends

Twitter: @bookclubwf

We welcome any discussion points, questions, or commentary you want to add to our next episode, or if you want to suggest a book for us to read, you can also email us at [email protected].

NEXT BOOK: Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Join Laché and Katie as they discuss Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, a novel that follows the branches of two half-sisters from the 18th century West Coast of Africa (modern-day Ghana) to the 21st century in America and back to Ghana again. The stories of each generation provide a snapshot into the history and culture of America and Ghana as the characters struggle against what seems like a family curse, but what is actually the effects of white supremacy over generations of black families. At times heartbreaking, at times hopeful, Homegoing brought Laché validation from and gave Katie a better understanding of those who came before us and walk among us today.

Some helpful links for context/background:

-Interview with Yaa Gyasi about Homegoing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDB0y-dWDOE

-Longer interview with Yaa Gyasi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoEAWvTvFus

-Ava DuVernay’s 13th: http://www.avaduvernay.com/13th (also available to watch on Netflix)

Join us in our discussion and discuss the book further in the comments on this post, or by reaching out by social media:

Facebook: Book Clubbing with Friends

Instagram: clubbingwithfriends

Twitter: @bookclubwf

We welcome any discussion points, questions, or commentary you want to add to our next episode, or if you want to suggest a book for us to read, you can also email us at [email protected].

Katie, Rachel, and Meg in this episode discuss Tayari Jones’s An American Marriage - a novel about a false accusation, wrongful imprisonment, love, and the way a relationship’s destruction becomes the foundation for a new future. We found every character sympathetic in this story, no doubt due to Jones’s framing each event from two characters’ perspectives. The story is spun in two different directions - one a window into the cruel, unjust civil system, especially for black men and women, and one an examination of a modern, American marriage. Heart wrenching and fascinating, An American Marriage speaks to the complexities of love and identity. Join us in our discussion and be welcomed to discuss the book further in the comments on this post, or by reaching out by social media:

Facebook: Book Clubbing with Friends

Instagram: clubbingwithfriends

Twitter: @bookclubwf

We welcome any discussion points, questions, or commentary you want to add to our next episode, or if you want to suggest a book for us to read, you can also email us at [email protected].

Death, Sex, and Money’s interview with Tayari Jones: https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/death-sex-money-tayari-jones

NEXT BOOK: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

(This was incorrectly identified as Homecoming in the podcast episode)

In this episode, Kim and Katie tackle the mountain of immigration through the lens of Valeria Luiselli’s essay: Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions. This essay is as long as it sounds: around 100 pages (easily read in one or two sittings), but the topics Luiselli encounters and reveals to us readers stayed with us long after we finished the book. Immigration from Central and South America is not just immigration - it’s refuge from war, we discover, and we try to tackle our own country’s viewpoint and treatment of these war refugees. The essay may be easy to read, but it’s not easy to digest.

Here are some organizations you can donate to if you feel inspired by this episode or this essay:

RAICES, Neta Texas Civiil Rights Project, Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee, The Florence Project, KIND, ASAP, Women’s Refugee Commission

Or find and support an organization in your community.

NEXT BOOK: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

If you have any discussion points, questions, or commentary you want to add to our next episode, or if you want to suggest a book for us to read, email us at [email protected], comment below, or contact us using our various social media accounts:

Facebook: Book Clubbing with Friends

Instagram: clubbingwithfriends

Twitter: @bookclubwf

Remember to subscribe on iTunes, rate, review, and if you’re super nice - like, follow, and share!!

In this episode, the first of 2019, Grace joins me again to discuss Danez Smith’s Don’t Call Us Dead, a poetry collection that focuses on police brutality and the American experience of black citizens. Grace has her MFA in poetry and so we are treated to our first poetry lesson in a while - for me, since maybe my first-year of college or since high school. Don’t panic! It’s much simpler and less daunting than it seems. Just as you would read a novel, you can read a poetry collection (which I discovered while reading this book). Danez Smith investigates the experiences of young black boys in America and the effects of gun violence, police brutality, and HIV on black lives through a graphic and poignant narrative throughout Don’t Call Us Dead. We hope you enjoy it and take more from it than just pretty words, as they have a lot of important points to make for white people (Grace and me and included) that deserve introspection and action, not just appreciation.

As promised in the episode, here are links to Smith performing their poems:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BXRENTIqRg (“Dinosaurs in the Hood”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSp4v294xog (“Dear White America”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j1tO6o6SxA (Smith performing pieces from Don’t Call Us Dead)

NEXT BOOK: Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions by Valeria Luiselli

If you have any discussion points, questions, or commentary you want to add to our next episode, or if you want to suggest a book for us to read, email us at [email protected], comment below, or contact us using our various social media accounts:

Facebook: Book Clubbing with Friends

Instagram: clubbingwithfriends

Twitter: @bookclubwf

Remember to subscribe on iTunes, rate, review, and if you’re super nice - like, follow, and share!!

Alex and I discuss Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris - the delightful and whimsical “part comedy, part love story, part everything-but-the-kitchen-sink” young adult novel. As it’s Alex’s favorite book, we indulge in the nostalgia that comes with reading a childhood favorite book and the escape, comfort, and joy it brings us all these years later. It’s also our first young adult novel, and it was easy to relax and enjoy the love story that is perfect in every way.

What are your favorite books from childhood? Leave it in the comments below or reach out to us on social media!

Next book (which is actually a poetry collection): Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith. Grace will be joining me in this transition toward more diverse subjects and authors in 2019. Don’t miss out- borrow, buy, find your copy now!

HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY AND NEW YEAR!

If you have any discussion points, questions, or commentary you want to add to our next episode, or if you want to suggest a book for us to read, email us at [email protected], comment below, or contact us using our various social media accounts:

Facebook: Book Clubbing with Friends

Instagram: clubbingwithfriends

Twitter: @bookclubwf

Remember to subscribe on iTunes, rate, review, and if you’re super nice - like, follow, and share!!

Join Katherine and I as we explore a different side of National Parks where people drink too much water at the Grand Canyon and others purposefully hurl themselves off cliffs taller than two Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other. Andrea Lankford’s Ranger Confidential: Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks dives deep into the gritty and often unseen lives of park rangers and their day-to-day work. It’s a bit gruesome, it’s very fascinating, and extremely emotional at times. In our discussion, Katherine gives us a small glimpse into when she herself worked at Acadia National Park and we both agree that we don’t want to ever do BASE jumps.

Really angry feminists Katie & Grace take on Rebecca Traister's non-fiction book written about the 2016-summer of 2018 women's anger movement. We have lots of opinions, which we express (angrily - noting a theme?). And, basically, we all should just read Audre Lorde.