 While Kiese Laymon hasn't always lived in the South, "Heavy" is an homage to his home state, Mississippi. Photo credit: USGS on Unsplash. By Anya Shukla I’m doing this text a disservice by reviewing it after only one read; “Heavy” is laden with layers, allusions, and double-meanings. (English teachers would have a field day with this memoir.) I desperately want to spend 2-3 weeks with this book and go through it carefully, underlining and cross-referencing until I get everything. But that is not the way I have set up this challenge. I plan to re-examine “Heavy” at the end of the BIPOC Book List. Consider this review provisional until I can uncover and understand this memoir in the ways that I would like to.
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 "If you love what you're doing, just keep doing it," says singer/songwriter Yukta Ramanan. (Photo credit: Yukta Ramanan.) By Anya Shukla “I guess all this is part of living out the American Dream,” Yukta Ramanan sings, her voice sliding smoothly between notes as she riffs. “It’s not what it seems.” These lyrics come from Ramanan’s most recent song, titled on YouTube as “I wrote a song about Black Lives Matter.” Released in 2020, the piece raised awareness for the BLM movement last summer.
 While America calls itself a land of immigrants, this sign isn't exactly accurate. Photo credit: Katie Moum on Unsplash. By Anya Shukla I am a child of documented immigrants. While I can relate to many aspects of “The Undocumented Americans,” obviously I cannot connect to this book like undocumented Latinx immigrants or relatives of undocumented Latinx immigrants might. I write this review as a reader with few personal connections to or knowledge of the undocumented community.
 "Hip-hop is such a beautiful outlet for expression," says rapper Aurelio Valdez-Barajas. (Photo credit by Kaysha on Unsplash.) By Anya Shukla Aurelio Valdez-Barajas values meaningful artistry. The Seattle-born rapper incorporates his passion for social justice with his music career: Valdez-Barajas’ verses are steeped in Mexican and Mexican American history. Even as he expands his skillset to include directing and education, Valdez-Barajas continues to use his artistic talents to make an impact.
 According to Amazon, “The Wedding Date” has been enthusiastically endorsed by Cosmopolitan, Elle, Harpers Bazaar, Bookriot, and nine other publications that I am too lazy to write out. Photo credit: Lucas George Wendt on Unsplash. By Anya Shukla As a romance connoisseur, I first started reading this much-hyped book several months ago… and got as far as the first 10 pages. But I knew I had to finish the novel for this list. If “The Wedding Date” was good, I could use my review to paint a hero’s-journey-style redemption arc; if it was bad, I’d employ my signature snark.
By Aaron Zhang As a biracial person, Chase Sterling (ze/hir) wants to use hir art to talk about hir identity. But noting hir privilege due to hir light skin, “I’m not sure if I should tell these stories,” ze said. “I think that’s the biggest barrier—my mind.”
 Fun fact: Priyanka Chopra Jonas was so attractive as a teenager that when she traveled to her tutoring sessions by rickshaw, a line of boys would follow behind her on bikes. Photo credit: Atharva Tulsi on Unsplash. By Anya Shukla Review: After her success as the leading lady in ABC’s “Quantico,” a string of superhit Bollywood movies, and her highly-publicized wedding, Priyanka Chopra Jonas has become a household name in both India and America. In “Unfinished,” her 2021 memoir, the former Miss World attempts to provide an insider’s look at her life.
 I'm going to be reading a lot of books this year. (Photo Credit: Robert Anasch on Unsplash.) By Anya Shukla When I applied for a gap year, I told my college that I would spend time “reading and thinking deeply about a list of 50 of the best books of all time.” So far, I have spent as much time “thinking deeply” as I have outside my house (I leave my room so infrequently that it takes several minutes for my eyes to adjust to the sun when I do). Yes, I have read more books by September (238, to be exact) than some people would read in a lifetime. But I wouldn’t exactly call books with shirtless men on the covers and titles like “Beautiful Bombshell” high-class literature. I need to get out of this semi-tragic state of affairs. Not the least because I am literally running out of moderate-to-well-written romance novels to read.
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