Celeste's Reviews

White supremacists are monsters. No really, watch out! There’s a monster behind you! Only some people can see them, and they have formed a motley group of Black resistance fighters, including our heroine, who is armed with a sword embodied by spirits of her ancestors. This book is a mixing pot of Deep South folk tales and fantasy set in the post–WWI Jim Crow South. — Celeste

If, like me, memories of math tests make you want to cry, know that this book will interest even the most math-adverse, humanities- oriented of brains. Cheng uses principles from her studies of high-level theoretical math to imagine a new, ungendered world, based on character rather than on arbitrary feminine or masculine traits. A must-read for STEM majors and feminists looking for perspectives outside of the humanities. — Celeste
 

Afi is a young seamstress in a small town who is whisked away to the big city of Accra, Ghana, in an arranged marriage to a wealthy developer. But everything is not peaceful in her brand-new luxury condo. Her husband has a girlfriend whom his family doesn’t approve of, and the marriage to Afi was supposed to push him out of his relationship with his girlfriend. At times triumphant and at other times frustrating, this book is about the complications of family expectations, love, and fidelity.  — Celeste

Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing) tracks her family’s genealogy from the Deep South to New Jersey but along her journey she unravels traditions of food, spirituality, labor and social life by deep diving into African American history by way of family trees. It excellently balances intimate field research with insightful personal revelations. A must read for those interested in genealogy, American history, and the multilayered bonds of kinship, familiar and otherwise.  —Celeste 

This book is part of our Fall Reading Challenge. Read more here.

Part memoir, part manifesto, Sitting Pretty challenges all of us to imagine a world that is accessible and that invites disabled people to be a part of our most important communications. Rebekah Taussig addresses sticky situations of exclusion and ableism with humor and tact. This book truly made me laugh out loud and made me hopeful for a future that considers all bodies—not for some inclusion award, but because when everyone is included in the conversation we all win. —Celeste

This book has fangs. They sink in unapologetically. Our heroine tumbles into an open marriage where she stumbles through conventions but finds comfort in the in-between spaces. Luster is a tangle of relationships, teetering and swaying held by unstable threads. It meditates on how to form and hold connections while it fills and pours out the heart simultaneously. —Celeste

This book is part of our Fall Reading Challenge. Read more here.

In the Nigeria of this story, to be one’s true self can be ostracizing. The story itself is simple but the implications of Vivek’s death are the real tragedy. It is about family, friendship, and authenticity. This book asks us to question what we assume are infallible beliefs, and embrace the beauty of the true self. —Celeste

This immersive dive into our autistic protagonist’s psyche reveals a judgmental, self-aware, and acerbically observant woman over the course of the night at a party. By turns profound and naive, this book of contradictions pulls you into its orbit and alters your awareness. A Room Called Earth pushed the margins of my comfort zone and left its impression in my mind for days afterwards. —Celeste

In a world eerily similar to our own, kentukis live in nearly everyone's home. Little stuffed animals on wheels with cameras for eyes, you can adopt one and be its "keeper," or you can live in one and be its "dweller." The locales are international and the inhabitants lonely geriatrics, hyperactive kindergarteners, or heroic scammers. Confronting the morality of voyeurism, anonymity behind technology, and intimacy, this smart book asks all the rigjht questions and leaves the readers to other answers. -Celeste

I love most things with farm animals—and if they feature an odd-couple animal relationship, I’m completely sold. This book fits the bill! The pastoral illustrations capture the personality of grumpy, aloof goat, Jack, and the gentle giant of a horse, Charlie. Their friendship shows that anyone can be friends, regardless of differing abilities, and also highlights how friendship, animal and otherwise, enriches our lives. A heartwarming read for animal lovers.