#the random things

181. Zhuan Falun by Li Hongzhi (Nonfiction/Philosophy/Spirituality/Qigong/Self-Cultivation/Enlightenment/Healing/Challenged Book)

182. Malinalli by Veronica Chapa (Fantasy/Historical Fiction/Mythology/Adult/Magical Realism/Indigenous/Southern Lit.)

183. Unsub by Meg Gardiner (Psychological Thriller/Mystery/Inspired by Zodiac Killer/Challenged Book/Personal Relationships)

184. Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman (Social Horror/Political Satire/Identity/Perception/Division/Reality/Sexual Content/Unsettling but Thought Provoking/Morality)

185. The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door by Karen Finneyfrock (Banned Book/YA/Fiction/Contemporary/LGBT/Teen/Poetry/Coming of Age)

186. Crisis and Care: Queer Activist Responses to a Global Pandemic by Adrian Shanker (Radical Change/Modern History/Queer Activists/Health Equity/Prison Abolition/Racial Justice/Etc.)

187. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (YA/Novel in Verse/Identity/Religion/Sexuality/Teen Lead/Family Dynamics/Power of Words/Challenged Book)

188. All About Love by Bell Hooks (Nonfiction/Feminist Theory/Exploration of Love/Familial Love/Romantic Love/Societal Love/Love Myths/Self Love/Social Justice/Community)

189. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Banned Book/Fiction/Historical Fiction/Redemption/Bildungsroman/Family/Friendship/Betrayal/Political Events/Guilt/Violence/SA)

I often wonder if I am a woman of two personalities, for though I crave love & pomegranates, I also crave the solitude of trees; I fire arrows & write poetry - I am a woman’s woman yet I still believe in equality.

I want to be enraptured in hellfire for half the year & bathe in rivers six months after, but I feel as though I’d rather build a cottage in the woods & add lyrics to all the bird songs I hear.

I wish to bring life, protect, & to punish myself for all of the time I have wasted not doing what I loved, yet the only reason I have yet to decide is I fear who I may become.

A fruit & a weapon lie before me tempting me to choose; both Persephone & Artemis call upon me & so, I fear, does the noose.

For both the goddesses I bear inside are pulling me apart, for I have a tragic purpose & a constant pull of heart; I do not know that I could ever choose between the archer & the dark.

I wish to be both cold as winter & as warm as sun, & yet I also wish to be as wild as they come. I want the freedom, the mountain calls, but also to feel wanted, loved, & anchored to the ground.

I want the lover in the stars too soon taken away, yet I also want the one below doomed in the darkness to stay. Hades & Orion were both a pretty match, yet I could never have either, since decisiveness I lack.

Would I rather risk my soul for a love too powerful to bear, or would I rather, in the forest linger, stargazing all alone? Both a bow & a fruit can offer many meals, I need only plant the seeds or scrape the meat from bones.

Although I’m called, I found I shall never be a deity. For all my wants & needs are not bound within propriety.

131. There There by Tommy Orange (Contemporary Literary Fiction/Urban Native Identity/Generational Trauma/Historical Trauma/Storytelling/Interconnectedness/Addiction/Mental Health Struggles/Identity & Authenticity)

132. Night by Elie Wiesel (Halocaust Literature/Loss of Faith in Face of Suffering/Dehumanization/Family Bonds/Survival Instinct)

132. The Shack by William P. Young (Fiction/Love/Relationships/Grief/The Nature of God/Forgiveness/Eternal Life)

133. Rules For Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell (YA/Coming of Age/Feminism/Sexism/Sexual Harrassment/Double Standards/Internalized Misogyny)

134. The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo (Romance/Fiction/Contemporary/Chick Lit/Adult)

135. The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey (Philosophical & Religious/Satan as a Symbol/Critique of Established Religion/Individualism/Rationalism & Science/Self-Indulgance)

136. The Circuit by Francisco Jiménez (Autobiographical Fiction/Coming of Age/Immigrant Struggles/Descrimination/Family Unity/Childhood Immigration Impact/The "Circuit" Concept)

137. The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (Dystopian Novel/Contemporary American Society/Expectations of Mothers/Intersectionality/"Perfect" Parenting Perils/Surveillance State)

138. Rule by Secrecy by Jim Marrs (Journalism/Conspiracy/Insight to Hidden History/Controversial)

139. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Miguel Ruiz & Janet Mills (Toltec Wisdom/Transformative/Advice & Positivity/Personal Growth)

281. Beloved by Toni Morrison (Historical Fiction/Magical Realism/Slavery/Memory/Trauma/Motherhood/Ghost Story/Challenged Book)

282. Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy by Judith C. Brown (Gender Studies/Religious History/Sexuality & Religion/Women's Power & Agency/Social & Cultural Context/Historical Investigation)

283. Diana: In Pursuit of Love by Andrew Morton (Challenged Book/Nonfiction/Biography/Memoir)

284. The Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser (Nonfiction/History/Biography/Feminism/European History/War/Medieval)

285. Fool's Crow by James Welch (Banned Book/Historical Fiction/Cultural Loss/Colonialism/Spirituality/Connection to the Natural World/Coming of Age/Impact of Westward Expansion on Native American Tribes/Blackfeet Nation/Individual v Community)

286. When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain (Suspense/Psychological Thriller/Crime Fiction/Trauma)

287. Go the F* to Sleep by Adam Mansbach (Bedtime Book for Parents/Challenged Book/Humor)

288. The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister (Appalachian/Folk/Gothic/Horror/Fantasy/Magical Realism/Adult)

289. How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran (Challenged Book/Nonfiction Memoir/British Writer/Views on Feminism/Humor)