Two-Sentence Reviews | Ten Most Recent Reads
Hello all! Lately my attention has been focused on my #bookstagram (find me @booksandbark!), but today I’m linking up with Top Ten Tuesday to review my ten latest reads. I’ve […]
Author Archives: booksandbark
Required Reading: Reflections on 3.5 Years of College
I attended my college’s commencement ceremony this week. A combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and my school’s lack of emphasis on winter grads (I officially earned my diploma back in […]
6 Books to Read in 2021
I know I say this every year, but: I really never thought I’d be writing this post for 2021. For newcomers, my “6 Books to Read in [Insert Next Year]” has […]
5 Books I’ll Be Thinking of to Get Me Through Finals
It’s getting colder, holiday lights are coming up, and I’m scrolling through gift lists online, which can only mean one thing: finals are coming up. For me, a social science […]
Once I Was You // A Latina Journalist Fights for Her Voice
María Hinojosa knows that storytelling is political. She often writes that she wants to tell human stories, stories featuring the lives and struggles of real people. And that’s exactly what […]
Unpopular Book Opinions // Turtles, Caraval, Invisible Women, & more
Coming up on the 2020 election, I’ll be including an action that you can take to make a difference at the top of every post. Today, I encourage you to […]
Ten Books I Loved But Never Reviewed (On This Blog)
On August 3, an explosion in Beirut killed at least fifty and injured thousands. If you have the ability, donate to the Lebanese Red Cross to help with relief efforts. —In […]
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing // Not My Cup of Tea, But Maybe Yours?
Coming up on the 2020 election, I’ll be including an action that you can take to make a difference at the top of every post. Today, I encourage all eligible […]
Good Talk // A South Asian-American Mixed-Media Memoir
Coming up on the 2020 election, I’ll be including an action that you can take to make a difference at the top of every post. Today, I encourage you all […]
“New York Is On Fire”
It was early April and I was on a Zoom call with my former RA and a few former floormates. Like so many other college students across the world, we […]
6 Stories to Tuck Into in 2020
New decade, same six-story feature. Well, not quite. The past ten years have seen my taste in literature transform itself in myriad ways. I’ve been writing these posts for the […]
Yearly Recap, 2019 & The 2010s.
Since I didn’t blog nearly as much I would’ve liked to this year, I thought I’d use my yearly wrap-up to talk a bit about the last decade. This’ll be […]
Looking Ahead, The 2020s
2019 has come and gone with barely a post on the blog. I spent much of this year living offline, and it turned out rather well. I’m a full-time student, […]
6 Books To Read in 2019
I started this feature back in 2017 and have always had fun writing it. Since I discovered a lot of favorite books and authors in 2018, I decided to write yet […]
Yearly Recap, 2018
It’s almost 2019. Wow, it feels weird saying that (and yes, I do know I say this every single year). READING RECAP I read a lot in 2018 (more than any other […]
Reasons to Visit “The Anti-Museum”
Ah, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Known around the world for its glorious art collection, which features everything from Hellenistic vases to modern-day canvases, The Met–located on a part of Fifth […]
VOTE!
I interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to remind my US-based readers to VOTE! Election day is TODAY, November 6, and voting is the most important thing you can do to make […]
Bookstore Reviews // Lower Manhattan
Introducing a new feature: bookstore reviews! Book reviewing slows down quite a bit for me during the school year, since I don’t really have time to read (I’ve been perusing The Godfather since […]
Mini-Reviews // Summer 2018 (Part Two)
I got a lot of reading done this summer (almost 30 books!) so while that means I won’t be writing in-depth reviews of all the books I read, I’m choosing […]
One-Sentence Reviews // Summer 2018
I read a lot of books this summer. By that, I mean nearly thirty books in a little over three months (a record for me!). This summer, I’ve both discovered more […]
Book Review // The Secret History
I only picked this book up because a large number of people (my bookstagram followers, my Goodreads friends, and a woman at the bookstore) recommended it to me. I didn’t think […]
Lady Bird // I Didn’t Love It
I was told by friends and family that I would love the female-directed, female-led Lady Bird. I finally got around to watching it, and was, unfortunately, extremely disappointed. Lady Bird is sold as […]
5 Ways Nonwhite Characters Are Exoticized
As a brown woman, I’m constantly struck by the ways in which nonwhite characters are exoticized and othered in works of writing. It’s really, really difficult to read a supposedly #diverse […]
Book Review // The Witch Elm
This book is brilliant. I’m a huge fan of Irish mystery writer Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad books, which each center on a different murder detective’s journey to solve a mystery […]
Mini-Reviews // Summer 2018 (Part One)
I’ve been reading a lot this summer, and I love it. I don’t get the chance to read a lot during the academic year, and many times, that carries over into […]
I Started A #Bookstagram
Hello friends! I know I’ve been absent from this blog for quite a while now. I’ve been out of school since the end of May, but I’ve been spending my time […]
Knowing New York
Wee-woo-wee-woo. The familiar sound of an ambulance hurtling down the street below my dorm room window at two o’ clock in the morning. It’s loud, and you can hear it, clearly, […]
Molly’s Game // I Want More Molly Blooms
One thing that has always bothered me about Hermione Granger is how little ambition she has for herself. Sure, we’re told that she becomes Minster for Magic in The Cursed […]
Mini-Reviews // War and Spies
I’ve been reading a lot during the break! Specifically, it seems, books about war and spies. Reading more of these books is one of my goals for 2018, since I love […]
6 Books To Read in 2018
It’s 2018. Wow, it feels weird to say that. Last year I did a post of 6 books to read in 2017, and according to magical blog stats, you liked […]
2017.
A lot of things happened in 2017! So, as per my usual yearly recap, I’d like to share some of the exciting stuff that happened in 2017 with you guys, and […]
Exploring NYC // Bryant Park and the Subway
Every year, Bryant Park puts on a holiday winter market. I went on November 12 and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before. Because of my hometown’s ideal […]
July, August, September
I recently realized that it’s been over two months since I’ve written for this blog(!!). That is possibly the longest I’ve ever gone without hitting the “Publish” button on Books and […]
I Love Anti-Feminist Fiction
I’m a feminist, and I love anti-feminist fiction. The television shows I watch and the books I read are rarely politically correct, and none of my favorites would pass the Bechdel Test. […]
La La Land // Race + Jazz + Color Theory
If you live anywhere on this Earth, you know that La La Land was a big deal this past year. It received a remarkable six OSCARs: Damien Chazelle for Best Director Emma Stone for […]
Book Review // These Broken Stars
“Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive – alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. […]
Broadchurch // 16 Hours Well Spent
I spent around half of my Memorial Day weekend absorbed in Broadchurch, and it was TIME WELL SPENT. Broadchurch follows DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Coleman) […]
Book Review // The Inexplicable Logic of Long Book Titles
Sal used to know his place with his adoptive gay father, their loving Mexican-American family, and his best friend, Samantha. But it’s senior year, and suddenly Sal is throwing punches, […]
Book Review // Illuminae
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. With enemy fire […]
End-Of-High-School TBR
In a little over five months, I’ll be headed off to college, probably with under five physical books and a Kindle in tow. Looking at my bookshelf (or my entire […]
6 Books to Read in 2017
I didn’t blog a lot about reading in 2016, but I did read 28 books! Here are some of my favorite books of the past year (that you should read, too). […]
Why I Blog
This blog was never supposed to be a book blog, but somehow, it turned into one. Because of this, I know a majority of my readers are book nerds, who […]
Un-American, Unconstitutional
This is the Executive Order issued by President Trump banning or making it more difficult for immigrants, refugees, and religious minorities to enter the United States. The scary thing about […]
It’s Inauguration Day
I’ve been dreading today for months. If you, like me, like the 65 million people that make up a little over half of the voting population of this country, supported Hillary, […]
Book Review // Invisible Man
Invisible Man follows the story of an unnamed African American boy from his teenage years in school in the deep South to his days as an organizer and activist in 1930s […]
2016.
2016 was an unusual, unexpected year. Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. Icons in art, music, and film unexpectedly passed away from the first days of January to […]
Represented and Proud.
In the aftermath of this historic yet disappointing election, all we liberals seem to be able to do is finger-point, rant, and denounce the reality of Donald Trump as our […]
No, I Do Not Want to Hold Your Baby
Dear Parents, You know when I say hi to you and your infant child and then proceed to either move on or act slightly squeamish when your child spits up […]
Senior Suppositions
This has been year 200th B&B post. Have three years really gone by so fast?
Here Is What I Know
I was one year old on September 11, 2001. I have heard the horror stories of the people who can remember it, and I can claim being alive that day. Today, the New […]
Books and Bark 