BookOwl

      5/5 stars   *Spoiler alert!*   Our History Has Always Been Contraband is an interdisciplinary collection of contemporary and historical essays, edited by Colin Kaepernick, Robin D.G. Kelley, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. Its aim is to defend the importance of studying and including the Black experience in curricula all over the United States and world, in response to a series of book and curricula bans that brand Black studies as radical and racist (looking at you Florida though it’s not alone in this by any means).   “To talk about the importance of teaching Black History… we must be honest about ourselves and talk about values; values shape what one thinks is important to preserve. The history of Black people throughout the African diaspora has been riddled with stereotypes, myths, and miseducation… Marcus Garvey … who rallied for Black people to move back to Africa, had a mindset that Black Americans were going back to the Motherland to civilize...

    4/5 stars    *Spoiler alert!*   Things That Go Bump in the Universe by astronomer C. Renee James is one of my first nonfiction reads in quite a while. I happened upon the title while listening to one of my many science podcasts, where the podcast hosts interviewed the author herself to talk about her book, which spotlights the field of transient astronomy.   This field is concerned with the chaotic constituents of the universe, things that often explode, like stars into supernovae at the end of their lives, or black holes colliding and releasing enormous amount s o f energy. ( I’ m l istening!) A barbaric inner part of me was intrigued by the view of a universe that was a veritable demolition derby, albeit at a mostly safe distance from Earth.   “Before I knew it, I found myself working with more and more transient astronomers. I researched topics for a new article, a new class, and ultimately this book. Down the rabbit holes I went, dashing th...

4/5 stars *Spoiler alert!* “Why are we so eager to blame a woman rather than admit to the shortcomings of men?” Off With Her Head  by historian Eleanor Herman is a humorous, yet often infuriating romp through the annals of history to modern times about the ever-pervasive misogyny women face. Admittedly, it was a very difficult read, having almost thirty years of experience of being a woman in this world under my belt and seeing the patriarchy at work—on the outside and within my own thought processes. And yet, I learned even more crazy, depraved stories about men unable to compute that a woman are human beings as well. “In each woman’s story, I discovered organized smear operations churning out unfounded accusations of sexual improprieties and criticisms of her ambition, untrustworthiness, appearance, and unlikability, accusations rarely made about male leaders either in the first century BCE or today.” Of course, it all starts with Eve, who got humanity kicked out of the Garden of...