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Showing posts from November, 2024

Seeing Beneath the Surface

Current reads that offer real and imagined dangers   [two hardcover books: Seen Yet Unseen: A Black Woman Crashes the Tech Fraternity by Bari A. Williams, There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh]  [front cover of a hardcover book: Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Umoja Noble]  Algorithms of Oppression:How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Umoja Noble  non-fiction information technology  NYU Press, 2018  This wonk-erful text is compelling and accessible for non-wonks. The information provided is also disturbing.  On page 29 the author declares her intentions:  ...In the ensuing chapters, I continue to probe results that generated by Google on a variety of keyword combinations relating to racial and gender identity as a way of engaging a commonsense understanding of how power works... By seeing and discussing these intersectional power relations, we have a significant opportunity to transform ...

Timely Rereads + Current Ones Too

Currently reading fiction and nonfiction, alternating one J. California Cooper short story with one or two Jessica Valenti chapters.   [one trade paperback book - Homemade Love by J. California Cooper and one hardcover book - Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win by Jessica Valenti]  [zoomed in closeup of The Strong Black Woman by Marita Golden] The Strong Black Woman, How a Myth Endangers the Physical and Mental Health of Black Women by Marita Golden   Non-fiction   Mango Publishing, October 12, 2021   https://maritagolden.com/ Our TWWBF2021 interview here:  https://youtu.be/dQ5lIMx66Vo   With a mix of surgical precision, lyrical phrasing, keen observations, testimonies, and profound insights from the author, experts in assorted fields of study, and a broad spectrum of other Black women, The Strong Black Woman challenges and deconstructs pervasive stereotypes superimposed upon them to reveal the inherently ...

Grieving for What Could Have Been

Continuing to celebrate Black love, Black joy, Black triumphs over adversity, Black friendship, family, community is one of my coping strategies for processing anxiety. Here are three satisfying reads for encouragement and pleasure.  [front cover art of a trade paperback book: profile view of two adults embracing; only the bottom half of a woman's face is visible]  Courage to Love Again by Kimberly Brown contemporary romance with Christian elements Black Odyssey Media, April 2024 After a series of devastating losses, Pasha Sinclaire is grieving, anxious, and depressed. Enter Callum Ellis, successful entrepreneur and seeming guardian angel. Years of emotional abuse and the undercutting of her sense of self-worth make it hard for Pasha to believe Callum is as decent as he appears to be. She’ll need to continue working on healing herself before she can trust again. Forever friends, family by blood and by choice help her navigate this bumpy path back to her true self. Light-heart...

Decisions, Decisions...

These characters are forced to choose who to trust to work with them to achieve the best interests of their personal and professional ambitions.  [ 3 trade paperback books: Frenemy Fix-Up by Yarah St. John; a couple standing side-by-side in tree pose, The Design of Us by Sajni Patel; a couple lying on the beach, Errands & Espionage by Sam Tschida; an adult holding binoculars up to their face]  Frenemy Fix-Up by Yahrah St. John Contemporary romance  Harlequin/afterglow books , February 2024   Deadlines. Shay is a small business yogi who works hard to go with the entrepreneurial flow. Colin is a corporate go-getter who thrives under pressure—until that stress jeopardizes his health. When these former high school classmates who quickly remember all of the ways they annoy each other work together to establish Colin’s fundamental work-life balance, both of them recalculate their expectations of what and who they want in their lives. Witty banter combined with re...