amarisafloria

Growing up, I rarely had issues with my skin. I would get an occasional small pimple or raised bump every year or two, but nothing worth stressing over. Until last year, when all hell broke loose and my skin betrayed me. Okay, it's not that dramatic 😬 But it was pretty bad, and I knew nothing about skincare. So I looked up some YouTube videos, as one does in this day and age when one needs information quickly, and now I am obsessed!!! My wallet is definitely hurting a little, but my skin has thankfully been on the road to recovery and she's doing very well!

Basically, I say all this because I am no expert but I still wanted to talk about what has been working for me. Hopefully this will be helpful if you are figuring out what to try next!

The Vanishing Half begins with two twin sisters who run away from their small town to find freedom and make something more of their lives. After fourteen years, one returns with her "blueblack" daughter and the other has left all she knows behind to pass and live as a white woman.

Brit Bennett does an excellent job at exploring how something as unimportant as skin color alone dictates the way people think. Everyone in Mallard, the small town that Desiree and Stella grew up in, favors fair skin. This community knows they would "never be accepted as white" but they refuse "to be treated like Negroes." So when Desiree brings her dark baby back with her, they have a lot to say. And even before Stella encounters the Black family that moves in across the street from her, she has already formed an opinion about them.

With the choices that each twin makes about how they want to live, we see how it impacts their well-being and relationships with everyone around them, especially their daughters. For Stella, did hiding the thing she thought would cage her grant the freedom she dreamed of?

Because it is a character-driven novel, it does read a little slow—but it was worth it! I do wish we could've learned a little more about Desiree and what she was thinking during the later time periods, but maybe that comes out in how her daughter Jude views herself.

I just love the way Brit Bennett wove this story through two people who look exactly the same and were raised with the same experiences, but had such different thoughts about being Black.

Hi friends. I've been overcomplicating how I want to share my book reviews and such on this blog. So instead of worrying about how it all looks as a whole, I thought I would stop fixating on that and just share SOMETHING.

Since I was required to read 35+ books earlier this year for my controversial literature course in grad school, my interest in reading has developed into something more regular and frequent. I point to my class as the reason for this because I still "forced" myself to pick up a book even though I didn't feel like reading. Of course, I didn't want to stop once I started. It wasn't that I didn't want to read before, but more so that I ... did not have the discipline to sit myself down and struggle for the first five minutes. It's that first five minutes, not reading, that I didn't want to encounter. It was like this before, which I'm sure you may be familiar with: I sit down with my book, ready to read for hours. Then I pick up my phone and scroll through Instagram to share what I'm reading. Then I go to Twitter to see what other people are up to, and Instagram again ... until I realize I'm supposed to be reading—but oops, now it's time to go to bed. Only ten pages read. I definitely still have those days, don't get me wrong! But now I'm better at facing that initial five-minute struggle because I've built a tolerance for it and removed distractions. If I don't scroll for the first five minutes and, instead, focus only on reading, I am much more likely to keep at it and forget about everything else!

Anyway, I say all that to preface the fact that I've been reading a lot. Much more than I have in the past couple of years. But sitting down with my notes and organizing all my thoughts is a different story. So let me warm up and just start by talking about what I'm currently reading 🤣

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid (18%)
In an attempt to read more from my physical TBR, I picked up my fourth Taylor Jenkins Reid book last night. I've loved everything I've read from TJR so far, so I know this one won't disappoint. One True Loves follows a woman named Emma, who loses her husband after his helicopter goes missing. Years later, she is engaged to Sam (somewhat of a second-chance romance) and finds out her husband is actually alive. All of TJR's stories seem to explore difficult relational topics—which I really love, even though they make my heart hurt. Before starting One True Loves, just thinking about the synopsis made me sweat (how could Emma choose between two guys she loves so much???) but I kind of have a good idea of where this is going already! There is a guy I prefer for Emma, so consider my anxiety slightly relieved lol.

Circe by Madeline Miller (24%)
My plan was to start this at the beginning of July and finish by the end of the month for Curl Up Club, but neither of those things happened 😬 I knew it would take me a long time to read, which is why I delayed starting it, but now it's become one of those books I've abandoned because I wanted to read something quick instead. My new plan now is to take small bites and read one chapter a day. That's very doable. Anyway, it's not a bad book! I love how Madeline Miller illustrates the story with her words. The style and subject matter is just foreign to me, so I have to discipline myself to be okay with reading something different. I really do see the appeal and completely understand why so many people say excellent things about it.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You by Jason Reynolds (37%)
Another book that I've been sitting with for a while now. HOWEVER! I didn't get to finish it within the three weeks I had it checked out in June, but my hold just came in again so I can continue on and hopefully finish very soon. I love the conversational tone that Jason Reynolds writes in—perfect for a younger audience to stay interested in, because it sounds like it's coming more from an older brother than a teacher. One overarching theme I constantly think about and want to share: We need to be working toward transforming racism, not transforming Black people. There is nothing wrong with Black people. "There are lazy, hardworking, wise, unwise, harmless, and harmful individuals of every race, but no racial group is better or worse than another racial group in any way."

The Silence of Bones follows a 16-year-old girl named Seol, who is indentured to the police bureau and assigned to work with one of their inspectors regarding the murder of a noblewoman. It takes place during the 1800s in Joseon (Korea), when many were persecuted for practicing and spreading Catholicism.

If you are able to choose between reading The Silence of Bones in a physical format or on audiobook, I would highly suggest going with the former. Although listening to this story did not detract from my enjoyment, it was hard to follow at times because of the large cast of characters involved. Every single person, however, is important to the story's development—as time went on, their secrets unraveled bit by bit and revealed underlying layers of the big mystery. Reading The Silence of Bones with my eyes would've better solidified each character in my mind. (Of course, that's no fault of the audiobook—it's 100% a "me" problem 😬)

You should read The Silence of Bones if you're looking for a story that contains:

• An excellent atmospheric setting
• A mystery that is heavily influenced by what's happening during that time in history
• Characters who have detailed backstories, as well as lives that intertwine with each other