My #June2021BookHaul or, My First Attempt at BookTok

BookTokkers have taken the book world by storm. I’d like to join in on that. Be gentle with me.

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please follow, like, comment, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at thevoraciousbibliophile@yahoo.com or catch me on Twitter @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.

Book Review: Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema by Lindy West

***Note: I received a free digital review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Lindy West is one of our most incisive cultural commentators. Her previous books, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman and The Witches Are Coming (I own a signed copy) are seminal feminist texts.

However, if you’re looking for film commentary à la Leonard Maltin, Shit, Actually isn’t for you. Shit, Actually is sly, irreverent, bombastic, and an absolute freaking delight to behold. Highlights for me included West’s reviews (maybe takedowns is a more accurate word here?) of The Notebook, Forrest Gump, and most especially Titanic. Her Fabrizio bits are riotously funny and a master class in comedic snark.

My rating: 27/10 DVDs of The Fugitive.

To learn more about Lindy West and her work, as well as to find links where you can buy her books, visit her website.

Having this blog as a creative outlet has done wonders for my mental health. I love you all! See you next time.

From the Archives: Shameless: A Sexual Reformation by Nadia Bolz-Weber (Part 1)

My first introduction to Nadia Bolz-Weber was through her book Shameless: A Sexual Reformation. Now, because I was raised in the church, I am almost immediately skeptical of books or lectures or even tweets by people who claim to be speaking for [as representatives of] [in the place of] God. I was subjected to a lot of harmful and hateful ideology at an age where I was too young and too innocent to reject it.

I was subjected to a lot of harmful and hateful ideology at an age where I was too young and too innocent to reject it.

I still consider myself to be a person of faith, but I don’t go to church. I don’t attend services virtually. I do not have a spiritual community of like-minded people. I cannot hold space for the holiness of God’s love and the hatred of dogmatic theological teachings under the same roof. The dissonance is too strong. The wound is still too fresh. Every note rings hollow in a place where you are told about love and never shown it.

I cannot hold space for the holiness of God’s love and the hatred of dogmatic theological teachings under the same roof. The dissonance is too strong. The wound is still too fresh.

So in walks Nadia Bolz-Weber. Looking at her, she is the reason we have the identifier “biker chick”. She is tattooed and foul-mouthed and feminist and angry. She’s also a Lutheran minister and was the founding pastor of the House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado. She’s equally as likely to pray for you as she is to tell you to fuck off if she hears you spouting biblical untruths.

Needless to say, I had a feeling I could trust her. She would not fill my head with bullshit about what God supposedly thinks about me. I might finally hear the Truth. I was more than ready for it.

She would not fill my head with bullshit about what God supposedly thinks about me. I might finally hear the Truth.

I read Shameless in (nearly) a single sitting. Reading it helped me to vomit up so much of the filth I was forced to swallow about my body, my gender, and my sexuality. Inside, you’ll find a new sexual ethic based on individual care and attention (biblically-backed). Some readers will thrill and others will cower at what they find between the pages of Shameless, though if I’m being honest, I doubt that Nadia cares one whit what her detractors have to say.

Be warned before you begin: this book is not for the faint of heart or those who are overly-attached to dogma. It has to be approached with an open heart, mind, soul, and notebook (you will be writing things down, so keep a pen handy).

Note: As I started writing, I intended for this to be only one post long. However, being as there are several quotes from the book I’d like to share and explore, I decided to break it into two.

Moving Memoirs: Update

Dear Readers, I intended for Moving Memoirs to be possibly a ten post series, highlighting my all-time favorites in the genre.

Once I started my list, however, I realized that it’s going to be a much bigger project. I am still adding titles as I remember them (and comb through my Goodreads) and I’m currently at 34 individual titles.

That said, I really hoped you all liked the first installment where I talked about Wild because there’s going to be a lot more where that came from.

Book Review: The Undressing: Poems by Li-Young Lee

Every poem in this firebrand of a collection is worthy of its own celebration; taken together, they are a paean to the body and its wonders, an elegy for time lost and time regained in a lover’s arms. The Undressing will do just what it promises: undress you and remake you in your own image —purer, lighter, and free.

Favorite Quotes

It’s really difficult to pull favorite quotes from a collection this breathtaking, but nonetheless I’ve done so. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

“There are stories we tell ourselves, she says. There are stories we tell others. Then there’s the sum of our hours death will render legible.”

“The initiating word embarks, fixed between sighted wings, and said, says, saying, none are the bird, each just moments of the flying.”

“Bodies have circled bodies from the beginning, she says, but the voices of lovers are Creation’s most recent flowers, mere buds of fire nodding on their stalks.”

The Undressing: Poems is available wherever books are sold.

Moving Memoirs: Wild by Cheryl Strayed

“There’s no way to know what makes one thing happen and not another. What leads to what. What destroys what. What causes what to flourish or die or take another course.”
— Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed

Wild is without a doubt my favorite memoir. I love its grittiness, its recklessness. I love that it doesn’t give simple explanations for complex truths.

Sometimes people die. Sometimes our marriages end in divorce. Sometimes it’s our fault. Sometimes the road not taken is the road that would lead you home. Sometimes home is the open road. Sometimes home is nowhere. Sometimes it’s a place deep inside you: dark and irrevocable and mysterious.

Sometimes home is the open road. Sometimes home is nowhere. Sometimes it’s a place deep inside you: dark and irrevocable and mysterious.

Cheryl Strayed writes unapologetically about the worst (and arguably the best) time in her life. After losing her mother less than a month after her lung cancer diagnosis, she becomes unmoored. Her mother was her anchor. Her marriage ends and her life as it exists doesn’t give her the space she needs to grieve.

Having no clear path forward, she forges one herself. This may sound corny, but sometimes you have to have a clean break to let the light in. She decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, alone. 1,100 miles from the Mojave Desert to the Bridge of the Gods into Washington State. She had never hiked before. We can probably alter the idiom “Go big or go home in Cheryl’s case to “Go big to go home,” home being the place where you can finally breathe free.

This may sound corny, but sometimes you have to have a clean break to let the light in.

Wild was Oprah’s first pick for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 and spent 52 weeks on the NPR Hardcover Nonfiction Bestseller List. In 2014, through her production company Pacific Standard, Reese Witherspoon produced the film adaptation of Wild with Jean-Marc Vallée as the director and Nick Horby, the novelist, as the screenwriter. Her mother was played by Academy Award-winning actress Laura Dern. Both Witherspoon and Dern received Oscar nominations for their roles in the film.

Since Cheryl Strayed is one of the most quotable writers on the planet, I feel like it’s only appropriate to end with a (longer) quote of hers that’s imprinted itself indelibly on my soul.

“What if I forgave myself? I thought. What if I forgave myself even though I’d done something I shouldn’t have? What if I was a liar and a cheat and there was no excuse for what I’d done other than because it was what I wanted and needed to do? What if I was sorry, but if I could go back in time I wouldn’t do anything differently than I had done? What if I’d actually wanted to fuck every one of those men? What if heroin taught me something? What if yes was the right answer instead of no? What if what made me do all those things everyone thought I shouldn’t have done was what also had got me here? What if I was never redeemed? What if I already was?”
— Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed

God, those last two sentences just speak to me: What if I was never redeemed? What if I already was? Our culture has such an unhealthy obsession with redemption narratives, redemption arcs. Like we’re all a bunch of derelicts needing to be scolded into submission. Submission is just a word that means you’ve relinquished your power to someone else. And no one else can guard your power like you can. Own it.

Submission is just a word that means you’ve relinquished your power to someone else. And no one else can guard your power like you can. Own it.

I’m such a liar, saying I was going to end on that quote. Oh well. This is my blog and I’ll do what I like. Wild is available to purchase wherever books are sold.

My Favorite Book Dads

Great fathers make for good books, and these five strapping papas are my top picks for the world’s best book dads.

Phillip Troy Linger as Mr. Everdeen in the 2012 film adaptation of *The Hunger Games*

#1: Mr. Everdeen

Creator: Suzanne Collins

Book Appearances (mentioned): The Hunger Games (trilogy)

Why I Love Him: Although he’s deceased by the start of the first book, Mr. Everdeen (who was never given a first name by author Suzanne Collins) is an incredibly strong presence throughout the entire series.

He is the father of Katniss and Primrose Everdeen. A coal miner from the Seam, Mr. Everdeen was killed in a mining accident that left Katniss as the head of the household. Following his death, Mrs. Everdeen was rendered catatonic by grief and an impenetrable sadness.

To keep her family from starving, Katniss uses skills she gleaned from her father to hunt and gather in the woods, and signs up for tesserae (grain ration) to supplement what she can’t acquire from the woods.

Throughout the series, we learn that most of Katniss’s philosophies on life, not to mention her affinity with a bow and arrow, were acquired from her father. Her fierce devotion to her sister Prim, her protective nature, and her courage are also qualities she got from him. So, it is not too far of a stretch to say that Katniss’s original decision to volunteer as tribute in Prim’s place at the Reaping was a direct result of the ethos given to her by her father.

The love of a father was instrumental in taking down a despotic Capitol.

May the odds be ever in your favor, Mr. Everdeen.

Russell Hornsby as Maverick “Big Mav” Carter in the 2018 film adaptation of *The Hate U Give*

#2: Maverick “Big Mav” Carter

Creator: Angie Thomas

Book Appearances: The Hate U Give and Concrete Rose

Why I Love Him: Maverick “Big Mav” Carter is the definition of fatherly devotion. His children include Starr (the main character and protagonist of THUG), Seven, and Sekani.

Maverick has experienced more trauma than any one person should have to endure. Despite that, as patriarch of the Carter family and a leader in the Garden Heights community, he is able to transcend that trauma and create a beautiful legacy for his family. He makes sacrifices so his children have more opportunities for advancement than he himself was given. He teaches them about their cultural heritage, about Black history, and how to survive in a world that makes harmful assignations against them because of their skin color.

“When the Khalils get arrested for selling drugs, they either spend most of their life in prison, another billion-dollar industry, or they have a hard time getting a real job and probably start selling drugs again. That’s the hate they’re giving us, baby, a system designed against us. That’s Thug Life.
— Maverick “Big Mav” Carter, The Hate U Give

The above quote is from a conversation Maverick has with his daughter, Starr, in chapter ten of the book. In it, he quickly summarizes for Starr the reason why so many Black communities are kept disenfranchised: a prison industrial complex that disproportionately incarcerates Black people and incentivizes a system that perpetuates white supremacy at the expense of Black people and their communities.

For more on the prison industrial complex, check out this lecture by Dr. Angela Y. Davis, a longtime activist, author, academic, and revolutionary.

#3: Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark

Sean Bean as Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark in HBO’s *Game of Thrones,* the television series based on George R.R. Martin’s high fantasy series *A Song of Ice and Fire*

“When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.”
— Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark, Hand of the King, Warden of the North, and Lord of Winterfell, A Game of Thrones

Creator: George R.R. Martin

Book Appearances: A Song of Ice and Fire (series)

Ah, poor Ned. Poor headless Ned. A virtuous man if ever one lived. Gritty yet gracious. Stern yet solid. Courageous yet kind. Husband of Lady Catelyn Stark and father to Robb, Jon, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon. Loyal to the core. Willing to get his hands dirty but unwilling to engage in dirty Westerosi politics. His idealism and his sense of fidelity are what lead him to travel south with King Robert in the first place, and are both inextricably tied up in his downfall.

Why I Love Him: Ned Stark lives by a code of honor going back hundreds of years. This code is based on familial piety, stewardship, and justice. Our way is the old way. The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. He passes this code onto his children, whom he guides with a firmness grounded in love.

It’s pitiable that his best character traits are the very reason he is unable to overcome the machinations of Queen Cersei (The Original Evil Wine Mom) and her spoiled brat of a tyrant, Joffrey. I guess one could say that it is better to die with dignity than live with regret. Rest In Peace, Ned. We’ll never forget you.

#4: Don Vito Corleone (referred to as Godfather by everyone)

Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone in the 1972 film adaptation of *The Godfather*

Creator: Mario Puzo

Book Appearances: The Godfather, The Godfather Returns, and The Family Corleone

Why I Love Him: Sure, ol’ Vito is a ruthless killer. Sure, he emotionally damages all of his children in different yet equally debilitating ways. Sure, he mumbles a lot and is very demanding. None of these facts make me love him any less.

Vito is the personification of the American Dream. He was an orphan, a penniless immigrant who came to America’s shores with nothing. And he created an empire. Despite his penchant for killing his enemies in business, he is very loving toward his family and his colleagues who don’t cross him.

“I don’t trust society to protect us, I have no intention of placing my fate in the hands of men whose only qualification is that they managed to con a block of people to vote for them.”
— Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather

#5: Horton the Elephant

Creator: Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

Book Appearances: Horton Hatches the Egg, Horton Hears a Who!, Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories , and I Am Horton

Why I Love Him: First of all, hats off to Horton. We stan a king in this house. Horton the Elephant is probably the finest example of a devoted single father in all of literature. He’s tricked into keeping an egg warm while the mother, a derelict bird named Mayzie, decides she wants her freedom and absconds to Palm Beach, ostensibly for the remainder of her life.

“I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent!”
— Horton the Elephant, Horton Hatches the Egg

When the going gets tough, a lot of folks get going. Not Horton. Even though he was a victim of deception, he takes up his mantle as surrogate father with pride and panache.

“Even though he was a victim of deception, he [Horton] takes up his mantle as surrogate father with pride and panache.”

When the egg hatches to reveal a creature with features of both an elephant and a bird, we the readers see that nurture beats nature every time, even when it comes to breaking the laws of biology and genetics.

Who are your favorite fictional fathers? Let me know!

New Blog Series: Moving Memoirs

There is nothing like a good memoir. Whether it’s a trashy tell-all from a Real Housewife of Wherever or a story of someone who beat seemingly insurmountable odds to come through victorious on the other side, there’s just something really powerful about someone telling their own story.

That said, I’m starting a new series of posts here on The Voracious Bibliophile called Moving Memoirs. I’ve already got a list started of some of my favorites so you can expect the first installment soon. Have a great weekend.

Favorite Quotes: Hybrida: Poems by Tina Chang

I come from the broad birds and the day demons, the ash from a childhood burn, tin cans of dried pens, newspaper, seashells, a phoenix fixed in a souvenir bottle. Every bit saved as if discard were memory itself.

Cheryl Strayed says that quotes are like “mini instruction manuals for the soul”. I love that. It’s always rang true for me. If I’m feeling morose, despondent, angry, or even hopeless, coming across the right quote at the right time can make all the difference.

I keep a series of Google documents filled with quotes from not only the books I read, but the films I watch, articles I read in newspapers and magazines, and even profound things I hear people I know in real life say when I’m with them.

Hybrida: Poems is available wherever books are sold.

Currently Reading: With Teeth: A Novel by Kristen Arnett

While reviewing books is fun, I also derive a considerable amount of joy from talking about the books on my #CurrentlyReading shelf.

Right now, the book I can’t put down is Kristen Arnett’s new novel, With Teeth. Domestic fiction has been all the rage since Gillian Flynn stormed onto the scene with Gone Girl, and Kristen Arnett gives a deliciously queer twist on the traditional marriage-gone-sour tale.

The best part of this book is I can’t figure out what’s going to happen. I’m avoiding spoilers online and even trying to be careful with what I see on Kristen’s Twitter page (@Kristen_Arnett) because it is rare that I’ve made it this far in a novel without figuring out the dark secret(s) gurgling beneath the surface.

What are you #CurrentlyReading? Let me know!

With Teeth is now available to buy in hardcover wherever books are sold.