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katsbooks's reviews
560 reviews
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
“Wanting someone to stand for the national anthem rather than stand up for justice means loving the symbol more than what it symbolizes.”
“Instead of being blind to race, color blindness makes people blind to racism, unwilling to acknowledge where its effects have shaped opportunity or to use race-conscious solutions to address it.”
“I’m fundamentally a hopeful person, because I know that decisions made the world as it is and that better decisions can change it. Nothing about our situation is inevitable or immutable, but you can’t solve a problem with the consciousness that created it.”
“Instead of being blind to race, color blindness makes people blind to racism, unwilling to acknowledge where its effects have shaped opportunity or to use race-conscious solutions to address it.”
“I’m fundamentally a hopeful person, because I know that decisions made the world as it is and that better decisions can change it. Nothing about our situation is inevitable or immutable, but you can’t solve a problem with the consciousness that created it.”
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who remains.”
“Children ceased to be children when you put a sword in their hands. When you taught them to fight a war, then you armed them and put them on the front lines, they were not children anymore. They were soldiers.”
“You humans always think you’re destined for things, for tragedy or for greatness. Destiny is a myth. Destiny is the only myth. The gods choose nothing. You chose.”
“Children ceased to be children when you put a sword in their hands. When you taught them to fight a war, then you armed them and put them on the front lines, they were not children anymore. They were soldiers.”
“You humans always think you’re destined for things, for tragedy or for greatness. Destiny is a myth. Destiny is the only myth. The gods choose nothing. You chose.”
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
“Democracies die more often through the ballot box than at gunpoint.”
“As a strongman becomes more and more destructive, followers’ loyalty only increases. Having begun to treat their perceived enemies badly, they need to believe their victims deserve it. Turning against the leader who inspired such behavior would mean admitting they had been wrong and that they, not their enemies, are evil. This, they cannot do.”
“A history that looks back to a mythologized past as the country’s perfect time is a key tool of authoritarians. It allows them to characterize anyone who opposes them as an enemy of the country’s great destiny.”
“As a strongman becomes more and more destructive, followers’ loyalty only increases. Having begun to treat their perceived enemies badly, they need to believe their victims deserve it. Turning against the leader who inspired such behavior would mean admitting they had been wrong and that they, not their enemies, are evil. This, they cannot do.”
“A history that looks back to a mythologized past as the country’s perfect time is a key tool of authoritarians. It allows them to characterize anyone who opposes them as an enemy of the country’s great destiny.”
Sociopath: a Memoir by Patric Gagne
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
“I don’t care what other people think. I’m not interested in morals. I’m not interested, period. Rules do not factor into my decision-making. I’m capable of almost anything.”
“I can point to research examining the relationship between anxiety and apathy, and how stress associated with inner conflict is believed to subconsciously compel sociopaths to behave destructively.”
“Representation matters. I offer my story because it illustrates the truth no one wants to admit: that darkness is where you least expect it. I am a criminal without a record. I am a master of disguise. I have never been caught. I have rarely been sorry. I am friendly. I am responsible. I am invisible. I blend right in. I am a twenty-first-century sociopath.”
“I can point to research examining the relationship between anxiety and apathy, and how stress associated with inner conflict is believed to subconsciously compel sociopaths to behave destructively.”
“Representation matters. I offer my story because it illustrates the truth no one wants to admit: that darkness is where you least expect it. I am a criminal without a record. I am a master of disguise. I have never been caught. I have rarely been sorry. I am friendly. I am responsible. I am invisible. I blend right in. I am a twenty-first-century sociopath.”
A Touch of Chaos by Scarlett St. Clair
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
“Forever will never be enough,” he said. “Not when I have lived half my life without you.”
“Mourning was not just about the person. It was about the world one created around them, and when they ceased to exist, so did that world.”
“I will love you through this,” he whispered. “I will love you beyond this.”
“Mourning was not just about the person. It was about the world one created around them, and when they ceased to exist, so did that world.”
“I will love you through this,” he whispered. “I will love you beyond this.”
Husband Material by Alexis Hall
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“I am yours, more truly than I have ever been anyone’s. Because when I’m with you, I’m me. Not someone I think I should be. And I’ll be with you, however you want, for as long as you’ll have me.”
“And that's what death is really, isn't it? A lot of things you'll never know.”
“Besides, I'm not with you for your cooking or your ability to wash up. I'm with you because you make me feel better than anyone ever has. And I often wish I could be more like you.”
“And that's what death is really, isn't it? A lot of things you'll never know.”
“Besides, I'm not with you for your cooking or your ability to wash up. I'm with you because you make me feel better than anyone ever has. And I often wish I could be more like you.”
The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
“I think,” Hoa says slowly, “that if you love someone, you don’t get to choose how they love you back.”
“But for a society buit on exploitation, there is no greater threat than having no one left to oppress.”
“How can we prepare for the future if we won’t acknowledge the past?”
“But for a society buit on exploitation, there is no greater threat than having no one left to oppress.”
“How can we prepare for the future if we won’t acknowledge the past?”
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
“Sometimes I feel like my brain is a machine built by someone who lost the instruction manual.”
“Some people are born in the mountains, while others are born by the sea. Some people are happy to live in the place they were born, while others must make a journey to reach the climate in which they can flourish and grow. Between the ocean and the mountains is a wild forest. That is where I want to make my home.”
“I don't want to be a girl. I don't want to be a boy either. I just want to be myself.”
“Some people are born in the mountains, while others are born by the sea. Some people are happy to live in the place they were born, while others must make a journey to reach the climate in which they can flourish and grow. Between the ocean and the mountains is a wild forest. That is where I want to make my home.”
“I don't want to be a girl. I don't want to be a boy either. I just want to be myself.”
Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
“Without intentional efforts to combat old ways and norms, ... institutions ... reproduce dominant social ideas, hierarchies, and systems of oppression.”
“A recent report, “The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline,” highlighted the way in which girls, particularly girls of color, are criminalized as a result of their sexual and physical abuse. ...quite often ignored is how sexual violence can also become a pathway to confinement.”
“For Black girls, to be "ghetto" represents a certain resilience to how poverty has shaped racial and gender oppression. To be "loud" it to demand to be heard. To have an "attitude" is to reject a doctrine of invisibility and maltreatment. To be flamboyant--or "fabulous"--is to revise the idea that socioeconomic isolation is equated with not having access to materially desirable things. To be a ghetto Black girl, then, is to reinvent what it means to be Black, poor, and female.”
“A recent report, “The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline,” highlighted the way in which girls, particularly girls of color, are criminalized as a result of their sexual and physical abuse. ...quite often ignored is how sexual violence can also become a pathway to confinement.”
“For Black girls, to be "ghetto" represents a certain resilience to how poverty has shaped racial and gender oppression. To be "loud" it to demand to be heard. To have an "attitude" is to reject a doctrine of invisibility and maltreatment. To be flamboyant--or "fabulous"--is to revise the idea that socioeconomic isolation is equated with not having access to materially desirable things. To be a ghetto Black girl, then, is to reinvent what it means to be Black, poor, and female.”
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
“We tell people to follow their dreams, but you can only dream of what you can imagine, and, depending on where you come from, your imagination can be quite limited.”
“People love to say, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” What they don’t say is, “And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.” That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing.”
“Language, even more than color, defines who you are to people.”
“People love to say, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” What they don’t say is, “And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.” That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing.”
“Language, even more than color, defines who you are to people.”