By Anya Shukla Going forward, I’ve decided to stop rating the books I review. This is not a ploy to get out of doing more work, dear reader; I’ve put some thought into this decision. 1. My ratings are super subjective. I have no set rubric, meaning that I maintain no consistency between ratings: one book may get 1 point taken off for poor character development, while another may only lose .5 points. Plus, my idea of a “good book” has changed over the course of this challenge, meaning that my earlier ratings may not be accurately scaled.
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By Anya Shukla I recently read a description for a BIPOC-centered arts criticism workshop. It specified that the goal of a critic should not be to judge a book, but to serve as a medium between a novel and the reader. Clearly, I’m doing something wrong. I admit that these reviews are judgier than they “should be,” but that’s my style, and I’m sticking to it. I do try to save my choicest commentary for books that have received critical acclaim and gained a wide following—that way, my opinion is just a drop in the New York Times/Washington Post/Goodreads-infested waters that are arts criticism.
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.
By Anya Shukla I spent the bulk of this week using autocheck to complete the New York Times crossword puzzle rather than actually doing work. I now know that “bidets” is a term for “toilet,” so I am sure to impress at any dinner party. All this crosswording may result in these reviews utilizing an updated, thesaurus-like vocabulary. Don’t worry if you see a sudden increase in words like “erudite” and “egregious”: I’ve probably just completed another Monday puzzle.
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. My family is horrendously underprepared for an earthquake. Unlike those in “The Fifth Season,” we have not been storing food underground, nor do we have a hanging frame in our house (which is an earthquake-safe building structure, according to this novel). So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’ve been a little stressed out lately. 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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