In the famous memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou–singer, author, poet, and civil-rights activist–chronicles her life from birth to age seventeen. Her story is tragic and heartbreaking and full of injustices, yet it sings with hope and life from start to finish. Mayaβs life began with poverty and hardship in southern […]
Review: Sula
In the town of Medallion, Ohio in 1919, there is a place called the Bottom. It is actually up in the hills, but this place and its inhabitants are all at the bottom…the bottom life, of the world, of hope. Pain is the only thing they never seem to plumb the depths of. The people […]
Review: Born a Crime
Trevor Noah is best known as the host of the Daily Show and as a stand-up comedian. The South African comic has two hour-long specials available on Netflix that are truly worth watching. His humor is smart, heavily sarcastic, and refreshingly free of the crude sexual humor that most comedians seem to depend on. His […]
Review: Whole Body Barefoot
In keeping with the spirit of New Yearβs resolutions and self-improvements, the first book I started in 2019 was a book on health and fitness. Whole Body Barefoot, by biomechanist Katy Bowman, is a quick, simple read, but the implementation of her ideas is rather less so. I read the book in three days, […]