Isaiah Roby's Blog: MI Book Reviews, page 125
April 23, 2018
My Brother’s Husband, Vol 1-2
“Yaichi is a work-at-home suburban dad in contemporary Tokyo; formerly married to Natsuki, father to their young daughter, Kana. Their lives suddenly change with the arrival at their doorstep of a hulking, affable Canadian named Mike Flanagan, who declares himself the widower of Yaichi’s estranged gay twin, Ryoji. Mike is on a quest to explore Ryoji’s past, and the family reluctantly but dutifully takes him in. What follows is an unprecedented and heartbreaking look at the state of a largely...
April 22, 2018
The Handmaid’s Tale
By Margaret Atwood
“Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she li...
April 18, 2018
In the Time of the Butterflies
“Set during the waning days of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic in 1960, this extraordinary novel tells the story of the Mirabal sisters, three young wives and mothers who are assassinated after visiting their jailed husbands.
From the author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents comes this tale of courage and sisterhood set in the Dominican Republic during the rise of the Trujillo dictatorship. A skillful blend of fact and fiction, In the Time of the Butterflies is in...
April 16, 2018
Burn the Binary! – Selected Writings on the Politics of Trans, Genderqueer and Nonbinary
“An icon of transgender activism for three decades, Riki Wilchins is the author of four influential books on genderqueer, trans politics, and queer theory. Riki Wilchins has been a pioneering and influential thinker and writer for a quarter of a century. Now this single volume offers a selection of Riki’s most penetrating and insightful pieces, as well as the best of two decades of Riki’s online columns for The Advocate never before collected. Think of this as Riki Wilchin’s greatest hits!”
The Prince and the Dressmaker
“Paris, at the dawn of the modern age:
Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia―the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion!
Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances―one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses....
April 15, 2018
The Sealed Letter
By Emma Donoghue
“Miss Emily “Fido” Faithfull is a “woman of business” and a spinster pioneer in the British women’s movement, independent of mind but naively trusting of heart. Distracted from her cause by the sudden return of her once-dear friend, the unhappily wed Helen Codrington, Fido is swept up in the intimate details of Helen’s failing marriage and obsessive affair with a young army officer. What begins as a loyal effort to help a friend explodes into a courtroom drama that rivals the...
The Fragile Ordinary
By Samantha Young
“From New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young comes a riveting new contemporary YA tale set in the author’s homeland of Scotland, about an American boy in need of a fresh start and a Scottish girl who believes in second chances—perfect for fans of Julie Buxbaum, Stephanie Perkins and Jenna Evans Welch.
Tobias King has it all. He’s a straight-A student, youngest starting quarterback at his high school in a decade, dating the head cheerleader and has more friends than...
April 12, 2018
TRANS/gressive: How Transgender Activists Took on Gay Rights, Feminism, the Media & Congress … and Won!
“In the early 1990s, no one talked about transgender people, and no one knew one. We were not on TV or in movies. What formed the visible part of the transcommunity – overwhelmingly white, urban, and middle class – was also overwhelmingly focused on conferences, surgery or hormones, and cisgender acceptance.
This was still a determinedly non-political population, often in defensive crouch because it was also constantly under attack by the media, police, local legislatures, feminists, and even...
April 9, 2018
Under a Kansas Sky: True Stories of a Sanctuary for Abused and Abandoned Dogs
“You must live for a cause greater than yourself ~ Our father, Edward Michael Luby, Captain, USN, was guided by these words taught to young midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy which he later passed down to my sister and me. I found my cause 40 years ago when I brought two abandoned dogs from the streets of Puerto Rico to the states and began my journey in animal welfare. The Second Chance Animal Refuge Society (SCARS) is a 501 (c) (3) no kill dog shelter located on 50 acres on the e...
A Wrinkle in Time
“Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg’s father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.”
I was in sixth grade when this was one of the reading groups offered in my English class. I got put in The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury instead because it was based on preference and reading level. I have to say, I probably made a huge mistake trying to get into that group. I can’t believe I waited fourteen years to rea...
