Stories Nobody Will Tell

I have just finished Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb and I blubbered like a baby as it was finishing. Not because it was particularly sad, but because it struck a chord with me during the 5th anniversary of my grandmother passing. Bess writes about her grandmother, but in a way…

That Time Oprah Didn’t Give Me Good Advice

The Water Dancer was about slavery and I don’t know why I didn’t expect a novel by Ta-Nahasi Cotes to not be about slavery. At least this book about slavery was written by someone black (read my qualms about slavery books by non-black people here). Books, fiction or nonfiction, about slavery just don’t do it…

You’re Story is Important (And Other Grammar Lessons)

Recently, I attended a conference where Tara Westover was one of the keynote speakers. Not as recently, I read her book Educated. So, I was absolutely fan-girling when I discovered that (my professor weeps to herself every time she senses me use the word that. She hated that world and instill in us students that…

There Will Be No Birthday Miracles

Yesterday was my birthday! As I was approaching 25, I have been reflecting on who I am and who I want to be; I have really been thinking about what my story is. There Will Be No Miracles Here was a fantastic memoir and Casey Gerald is an extraordinary storyteller. I first experienced him on…