NonFiction – Page 12 – …on the B.L.

Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and Other Lies

October 18, 2018June 8, 2019 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 256
Quick Review A collection of women’s stories and experiences with feminist ranging from hopefully to angry. Curated by Scarlett Curtis and in partnership with Girl Up. You can’t not feel empowered reading it.

*Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and Other Lies* by Scarlett Curtis in Austin, Texas.

I knew I would love Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and other lies, an incredible anthology, as I read the first essay by Evanna Lynch – aka Luna Lovegood – talking about cats and period panties and the fear of bleeding on someone’s couch. Honestly, who hasn’t been there? There is a vivid authenticity coursing through the pages with the strongest potency of passionate women.

*Feminists Don’t Wear Pink* by Scarlett Curtis at Grafitti Park in Austin, Texas.

The pink cover is just the beginning of tearing down ill-founded preconceived notions about the hairy, man-hating feminist ogres instilled in our psyches by the patriarchy. Every contributing author has her own feminism just as unique as her. One thing is clear, their feminism is as unboxable as the universe. Some like pink, others like pants, some dream of being mothers, some just want careers. In their own way, they are working towards equality and opportunity for everyone to live their lives to their own drums.

Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and other lies contains a multitude of essays with a variety of lengths, narratives, messages, tones, and more. Each woman tells her own bit. Some women are joyous and other are angry while others find humor in what others some describe sorrow. Feminism has as many emotions as people do with just as much complexity. Contributing authors range from the incredibly famous to advocates to the unknown working behind the scenes. Emma Watson, Keira Knightley, Jameela Jamil, Claire Horn, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, and so many other incredible women. Each woman has an incredible voice filled with experience and brilliance. I loved every moment of reading.

With the holidays coming up. I highly suggest stuffing this pink treasure into the stockings of the girls and women you love most, and also the males should read it too. Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and other lies is a really wonderful and inspiring book.

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Memorable Quotes
“Does femininity impede feminism?” Evanna Lynch
“14. My religion mandates sexual satisfaction from my partner. What does yours do?” Amani Al-Khatahtbeh
“We have a lot of work to undo…” Jameela Jamil
“Learning to have sex from porn is like learning how to drive from The Fast and The Furious.” Jameela Jamil
“Women hold up the whole world.” Akilah Hughes

Title: Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and other lies
Author: Scarlett Curtis
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9781984819178

Books, NonFiction

To Obama by Jeanne Marie Laskas

October 12, 2018October 14, 2018 RaeAnna

Read YESSS!!!
Length 352
Quick Review A snapshot into the hearts of America. Oh my goodness. I cried so much. Filled with real letters from real Americans with real joys, worries, sorrows, and more. It’s hard not to be affected by it.

Up until reading To Obama by Jeanne Marie Laskas, I had never even thought of writing to the president. I always was under the impression of “what’s the point?” Up until President Obama, there probably wasn’t much of a point. There was no system.

When Obama walked into the White House, he made sure the mail was a priority. It was a way for him to connect to his people. The mail room was a mess. He decided he wanted to read ten letters a day, which became known as 10LAD. Over time, everyone in the White House was reading the mail, and if they weren’t, they wanted to be. A system was quickly put in place to read and reply to the mail. Occasionally, Obama would reply to a letter writer himself. The letters people sent in would be read and would even affect policy.

The people in the mail room were important, and their job was not easy. They were on the receiving end of every feeling America was having. Their job was not only to process the mail but to process American emotions. They read, they filed, they reported, they responded, they bonded. The workers became close because their experience was a unique one. I wish I could describe it to you, but you should just read To Obama.

There are samples of letters throughout the book. They are so moving. They express feelings and opinions on all sides of the political spectrum. What you believed didn’t matter; what did matter was that Obama believed each and every person mattered. That was the driving force behind the mail room: you matter. It was evident. To Obama was a mantra for so many people. Small children wrote in asking for help on their homework. Partners wrote in expressing their gratitude for the ability to finally marry. Conservatives wrote with disgust. Democrats wrote out of disappointment. Families from 9/11 wrote out of exhaustion. People wrote for so many reasons. Why? Because they felt like they mattered.

Laskas focused on several letter writers from various backgrounds who wrote for different reasons. This cemented the mission of the mail room in reality, in how it touched people’s lives, in the ways it helped people. Laskas also focused on the people who ran the mail room because they were the ones who kept it going.

It was so well written. I rarely cry over books. I pretty much cried the entirety of To Obama. There is so much pain and happiness and success and failure within the pages. It takes snapshots of American flowing with so much raw emotions. It’s hard not to be overwhelmed taking it all in. I ended up having to read for an hour at a time, so I could take in what I just read. I’m an empath, as so many bookworms are, and it’s an intense read. Considering the outcome of the election, this was an interesting book to take in.

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Memorable Quotes
“Little hard data exists about constituent mail from previous administrations.”
“little by little, voice by voice, the mail could drive actual policy decisions.”

Title: To Obama, With love, joy, anger, and hope
Author: Jeanne Marie Laskas
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780525509387

Books, NonFiction

You Are A Mogul by Tiffany Pham

September 15, 2018 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 224
Quick Review The Founder of Mogul, Tiffany Pham, compiles her knowledge, experience, and desire to change the world in You Are A Mogul; it will leave you motivated and confident. The perfect book for every female entrepreneur finding her way!

Reading *You Are A Mogul* by Tiffany Pham || My friend has the cutest dog!!!

At the age of 27 (what am I doing with my life), Tiffany Pham had already graduated from Yale AND Harvard Business School, been a producer on movies, been on Forbes 30 under 30 list, worked in finance, a whole bunch of other stuff, and then launched a website, which she coded herself, that would become one of the most successful and influential communities of women. Yikes. She sets the bar so high! In her book You Are A Mogul, she talks about her life and all the hard work, time, and determination it took to become the mogul she is today.

Pham writes a book which cannot be described as self-help or memoir; it’s a combination. She uses her life as a basis to inform and help lift up other women. Her life and tips for success intertwine to create a portrait of who she is. She comes across as a beautiful, kind, hardworking soul. Honestly, as I read her book, I really want to be friends with her. The biggest pieces of her advice in succeeding in business and in life are incredibly similar to what I tell people. You’ll believe her more because she’s, well, successful, and I’m … working on it! The three things you should take from You Are A Mogul: 1) Be authentically you, always. 2) Don’t just make connections, create relationships. 3) Work as hard as you can on everything you do.

Cover of *You Are A Mogul* by Tiffany Pham.

I want you to read this book. Not because it’s groundbreaking information. It’s not. All the tips and advice and statistics in the book are not new if you are aware of the world and women’s place in it. What is beautiful about You Are A Mogul is Pham’s ability to seem like she’s chatting with a friend. So many women mention their accomplishments with humility if at all. Other’s go overboard trying to prove they are competent. Pham has confidence in who she is and what she created. She shares her accomplishments with a sense of pride, while also giving credit to everyone who helped her achieve her goals. More women need to have confidence and take pride in their accomplishments. She is an amazing role model.

At the end of every chapter, another female mogul write a one to three page blurb giving her own advice and story. Even though women are vastly under represented as moguls, they do exist. It’s important to hear their stories and know their faces.

Pham writes You Are A Mogul for women. Her business is for women. It’s an important book to read as a female entrepreneur, if for no other reason than to support one another. Though, I think it is probably more important for men to read this book and ones like it. They need to see and understand the difficulties women face in the business world. More importantly, they need to see women killing it. When women win, men win.

Tiffany Pham, if you’re reading this, I would love to be friends! You’re amazing.

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Memorable Quotes
“Be flexible but strategic.”
“True failing is not doing, not trying.”
“Always trust that you have the willingness to learn.”

Title: You Are A Mogul; How to Do the Impossible, Do It Yourself, & Do It Now
Author: Tiffany Pham
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 978150119855

Books, NonFiction

I Should Have Honor by Khalida Brohi

September 7, 2018September 7, 2018 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 224
Quick Review As a little girl, her father wanted her to be a doctor, but she grew up to heal what doctor’s cannot: a healer of souls. A tragedy that began in love lead Khalida Brohi down a road that would help her change her family, change her country, change the world, and bring her love.

I Should Have Honor is Khalida Brohi’s memoir. Through her story, she also tells the story of her people. Before the age of 30, she has already accomplished so much good in her community and the world at large. She is the creator of the Sughar Foundation. With her husband, they founded the Chai Spot. Her life, from a very young age, has been dedicated to lifting women up and bringing an end to honor killings. Through her work, she has faced adversity, hostility, threats, and survived a bombing. Her resiliency allowed her to look passed these people’s actions, which stemmed from fear and ignorance, to continue her work helping women across Pakistan and the world.

Brohi grew up in tribal Pakistan. Her father had been lucky to have an education and believed his daughters should have one too. This was not common; it was hardly condoned. The combination of a progressive father, an education, a strong will, and a caring heart launched her on a mission to end honor killings in Pakistan and everywhere else. Her cousin was murdered in the name of honor at a very young age because she fell in love with someone she had not been betrothed to. This revelation rocked Brohi’s world setting her on the trajectory that led to her activism and social entrepreneurism.

This book came into my life as I renamed my blog. In my teen years, my life was irreversibly changed by a man taking what he thought he deserved. Brohi fights against honor killings in Pakistan. I have been speaking out against sexual and domestic violence in the United States for several years now. I don’t have the stage she does, but I want to start using my platform to advocate for women in my country struggling against a different kind of adversity. I found a kindred spirit in Khalida Brohi and I Should Have Honor.

Pakistan is drastically different than the United States and the Western world in many ways. I have had an interest in Southwestern Asia for several years now, so many things were not new to me. For those that have not read extensively about the region, Brohi does an incredible job providing background information on the politics, culture, religion, history, and even the clothes to help the reader understand and empathize with her people.

On of the things I admire so much about I Should Have Honor is her honesty in her early faults. In the beginning, she believed happiness and freedom looked a certain way for women. Through meeting and talking with and being challenged by women she was close to, she learned to accept women’s choices, and there is no one path to happiness or even equality. Change can be made through many routes. When she first began her advocacy journey, Brohi didn’t realize the need to change women’s minds about traditional practices as much if not more than she needed to change the men’s.

I Should Have Honor is not a very long book. The chapters are short, which makes it perfect for anyone who wants to read it, but can’t sit down for long sittings. There are so many personal touches and stories; it’s not a book you’ll want to speed read. I took my time with this one. Enjoying every word because this book, Khalida Brohi’s origin story, matters. It will continue to matter for many, many years to come.

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Memorable Quotes
“Two children, two stories, were becoming one.”
“I slowly learned that “honor” killings – a custom not ordained by religion, caste, or tradition but done solely to restore men’s egos – weren’t just my tribe’s issue but took place all across Pakistan and all over the world.”
“They couldn’t see the wrongs in the cultural restrictions that I was trying to describe, or the physical and emotional harm some traditional inflicted on women.”
“Women’s mind-sets were also part of the problem.”

Title: I Should Have Honor; A Memoir of Hope and Pride in Pakistan
Author: Khalida Brohi
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780399588013

Books, NonFiction

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

September 1, 2018September 27, 2018 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 400
Quick Review Harari looks into the future that could be with the evolution of technology.

Reading *21 Lessons for the 21st Century* by Yuval Noah Harari in the Heights.

Yuval Noah Harari is the #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Sapiens, he returns with his latest work 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. The future is an unknown, but Harari uses his knowledge of history to look into the possibilities of tomorrow.

I am a person who is always on the brink of an existential crisis. This was a hard book to read because so much of it ran along the lines of humans may become irrelevant. Among all the other topics Harari discusses, there was a lot of pausing of the reading to collect my thoughts, have a cup of tea, and remind myself anarchy would be worse… probably.

21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a really interesting read. I can’t speak on the accuracy of everything because, well, I was battling my existential tendencies too much to research the things I don’t know. Technology, biotech, and the foundations of our society are the main concepts the book revolves around. Through these, Harari explores the meaning of how we as a civilization functions today, and how that will change as technology evolves and becomes ever more important in our daily lives, careers, medicine, government, and more.

Harari discusses everything from the job crisis to the algorithm taking over free will to the importance of AI and so much more. He uses historical references from many different cultures and times to support his opinion. Irrelevance and inequality kept cropping up throughout the text. The writing is very engaging and interesting. He writes clearly. Many books by scholars can get muddled with complicated text and references. Harari doesn’t fall into that trap. His writing appeals to the masses with a strong voice, clear message, and enough backstory to his references that they make sense.

There is a sense of humor to Harari’s writing. It usually has a dark twist, which I personally appreciate. The book is split into five parts with several chapters each. The chapters have several sections. I really enjoyed the names of these sections; they were quippy like “Germans and Gorillas” and “Artificial Intelligence and Natural Stupidity.”

I have a feeling this is going to be another highly talked about book, when 21 Lessons for the 21st Century comes out on September 4, 2018. You should definitely check it out, unless you’re hyper prone to existential crisis, then limit yourself to a few pages a day.

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Memorable Quotes
“It is much harder to struggle against irrelevance than against exploitation.”

Title: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Author: Yuval Noah Harari
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau (Random House)
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780525512172

Books, NonFiction

Year of Yes

February 18, 2018 RaeAnna

Read: Yes
Length:
Quick Review: Shonda Rhimes owns Thursday night and lives in Shondaland. But she wasn’t happy, so she embarked on a year of saying yes.

Shonda Rhimes grew up in Chicago, graduated from Dartmouth then USC School of Cinematic Arts, and went on to write movies in Hollywood. In 2005, she launched her first show: Grey’s Anatomy. She went on to create several more shows. Today, every show on ABC on Thursday nights she has brought to life.

Rhimes begins her memoir with a disclaimer, which states she is old and a liar. She loves lying. She’s a professional liar. Because… it’s her job! She’s a writer. Playing make believe is her job. No matter how much she loves lying, she’s keeping it real in her memoir. She then has a prologue about the events leading her to her year of yes. Then her book begins.

Rhimes is a successful woman of color in Hollywood, which is still rare. She was unhappy even though she seemed to have everything: a job, money, TV shows, success, power, family, friends, and three beautiful daughters. She decided to spend a year saying yes to the opportunities that came her way. As the year progressed, she began to notice her quality of life changing.

I can personally identify with her childhood as a bookworm and potential, future writer. As a child, she used to shove books down the back of her pants, so she could sneak off and read. When I was little, I couldn’t wait to own a purse. At 10, I bought my first purse; it was big enough to hold a book, and that’s all I ever carried in it. I now carry huge purses because I still bring a book everywhere.

The thing I loved most about Year of Yes, is how real Rhimes kept it. I want to be her friend, quite honestly. She cut the crap. She let people in showing her fragility. She’s a single mom. How does she do it? With help. She is incredibly shy and has stage fright. How did she get over it? She said yes to Jimmy Kimmel.

Year of Yes is her memoir, but I found it so empowering. I don’t want to mom, but her words on motherhood were beyond touching. I wish I could memorize her pseudo-rant because it was perfect. She’s inspiring as a F.O.D. First. Only. Different.

Shonda Rhimes is a remarkable woman with so much ahead of her. An entire generation grew up with her TV shows. I still remember the very first night Grey’s Anatomy aired. She has impacted a shift in television and the way we see the world. She is an inspiration even before reading her book. It’s important for our role models to be something other than perfect. Rhimes tears down the walls of her perfection revealing a woman with faults and imperfections. She’s allowing a whole generation of young women, who look up to her, to be human with bumps in their personalities realize they too can be an F.O.D.

Memorable Quotes
“Sometimes the toilet paper does not win.”
“I am never more sure of myself about a topic than when I have absolutely no experience with it.”
“We’ve all been taught to shame and be shamed.”

Title: Year of Yes; How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person
Author: Shonda Rhimes
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2015
ISBN: 9781476777122