 Zitkála-Ša, the author of "American Indian Stories," at age 22. (Photo credit: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.) By Anya Shukla Be warned: this review reads more like an English essay than my previous snarkfests. Zitkála-Ša’s writing feels more formal (probably because this book was published a century ago), and my analysis reflects her tone. Sorry if you miss my “fun” voice… hopefully, it’ll be back next week. Review: Born in 1876, Zitkála-Ša, a member of the Yankton Dakota Sioux, began writing and publishing work in her early 20s. An accomplished activist and lecturer, Zitkála-Ša spent her entire life advocating for Native American rights: hosting voter registration drives, authoring articles about the exploitation of Indigenous people, and preserving Native culture.
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 What if the only way to save your world was to precipitate global destruction? (Photo credit: Dave Goudreau on Unsplash.) By Anya Shukla This book centers around people who can start and quell earthquakes. As someone who lives in Seattle, home of the long-awaited Big Quake, this really got to me.
 This week, California sunshine won out over my love of literature. (Photo credit: Julian Myles on Unsplash.) By Anya Shukla Yeah, yeah, I know I was SUPPOSED to be reviewing “The Fifth Season” this week… but truthfully, I wasn’t in the mood. I went to California on vacation, and the 90 degree weather coaxed me outside, sunscreen in hand, book tossed carelessly on the hotel bed behind me. So instead, I decided to cobble together some short reviews of the BIPOC books not on my original list that I read these past few months.
 "Moth Smoke" explores elitism amongst the 1990s-era Lahore jet-set. (Photo credit: Syed Bilal Javaid on Unsplash.) By Anya Shukla I will confess that I always start a BIPOC book out with good intentions and a solid attention span. But as the week drags on and my Starbucks shifts pile up, I find myself less focused on understanding what I'm reading and a little more interested in churning through the last few chapters so I can hit my self-imposed deadline. This time, however, the elevated level of prose in “Moth Smoke” forced me to pay attention all the way through. This is an adult book for adult people. English nerds (myself included) would have a field day with this one.
 For most of her life, Homiera Qaderi lived in Afghanistan's third most populous city, Herat. (Photo credit: Ali Mosavi on Unsplash.) By Anya Shukla At some point in her life, every girl makes a list of the top ten reasons that she dislikes men. #1 on mine? The way most of them act in this book. (#2 is their ridicule of my beloved romance novels. Guess what, dude? I’m learning about healthy relationships, so you can just sit at home and cry because no one will go out with you.) Several times during this memoir, I wanted to scream and/or punch something. If you are a woman, or you care about women, I hope you do the same.
 In "The Marrow Thieves," nine Indigenous people travel north amidst fear and environmental destruction. (Photo credit: Colin Lloyd on Unsplash.) By Anya Shukla One of my favorite novels—a novel quoted in the epigraph of “The Marrow Thieves”—is Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road,” a brilliantly haunting, visceral read about a boy and his father traveling in a post-apocalyptic world. I am 95% sure that “The Marrow Thieves” alludes to “The Road” in several ways (though I’d need to re-read the two books to make sure). Both take place during the aftermath of environmental ruin and spotlight the moral failures induced by global destruction, both contain ragtag travelers and carts and bandannas. Just wanted to point that out so people know that I’m an intellectual :P
 "My art comes from and explores the truth: the ugly truth and the beauty of truth as well," says Lash O'Cain. By Anya Shukla Lash O’Cain is drawn to artwork that questions contemporary culture. The 20-year-old press operator is primarily a writer—she creates poetry, songs, short stories, and screenplays— and plans to pursue film at college in the future. Yet despite the diversity of disciplines, O’Cain’s pieces have a clear focus on our shared humanity, her personal identity, and the ways in which the two intersect.
 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.
 "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.
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