The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
poojakishinani's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5
personal & political, bell hooks investigates what it means to spiritually belong to a geographical place, to heal with land, to return to our native place. I love the questions and sentiments she explores in this collection of essays. hooks' words as always are a source of nourishment and insight - they nudge you towards better understanding your place in the world.
would recommend to everyone!
personal & political, bell hooks investigates what it means to spiritually belong to a geographical place, to heal with land, to return to our native place. I love the questions and sentiments she explores in this collection of essays. hooks' words as always are a source of nourishment and insight - they nudge you towards better understanding your place in the world.
would recommend to everyone!
emmajane99's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
forestleen's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
i’d give it more stars if i could
morgan_akers3's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
akingston5's review against another edition
5.0
“Every night I would lie in the stillness of the dark and listen to trains coming and going imagining my own life journey, the places I would go, the people I would meet... I have returned to the world of my childhood, the world in which I first sowed the seeds of my belonging and becoming, a seeker on the path, the contemplative intellectual choosing solitude, ideas, choosing critical thinking. Here in my native place I embrace the circularity of the sacred, that where I begin is also where I will end. I belong here.”
•••
Friends, if you haven’t read bell hooks, I highly recommend basically any essay she writes. In this collection she explores the relationships of environment and place to class, race, gender, identity, and community, and I want to swim in so many of these essays they’re just so, so good. If you like essay collections with lots of life wisdom that you can look through to your own life, this is for you!
•••
Friends, if you haven’t read bell hooks, I highly recommend basically any essay she writes. In this collection she explores the relationships of environment and place to class, race, gender, identity, and community, and I want to swim in so many of these essays they’re just so, so good. If you like essay collections with lots of life wisdom that you can look through to your own life, this is for you!
ebony_renaissance's review against another edition
5.0
I was assigned this book through class. Naturally, I knew I was probably not going to enjoy this book. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed everything about this book. If I had to summarize what Bell Hooks does well, it would be that she has a skill to put the precise language to issues that affect my community. Bell Hooks will be a mainstay in my library.
jigglydelight's review against another edition
3.5
I have been reflecting on my current city of residence and and wondering whether the amount of work and money I have to put in to stay here is worth it for the minimal belonging and community I have after 2 years of being here. I went to my home state this summer and it really has me considering what it is to belong. I am trying to decide if it would be worth it to move back, even if that means starting over again.
Belonging is a collection of essays by bell hooks (intentional lowercasing) that describes hooks' journey with Kentucky, racism, and sense of purpose. This is my first bell hooks books and I liked it enough. However, I found it to be quite repetitive after awhile. And while I agree that rural, agricultural life provides sustenance, it was given as too much of a cure all. I think there are healthy ways to build community and heal our relationship to the earth within cities as well.
With all this to say, these essays did punch me in the gut several times. I'd recommend picking it up and reading an essay or two, but a straight through read may diminish enjoyment.
Brooke's Star Rankings (2023):
⭐: DNFd after reading 50%
⭐⭐: finished the book, probably out of spite. Did not like it.
⭐⭐⭐: Fine!
⭐⭐⭐⭐: pretty good book
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Book that has stuck with me for some time after reading it/shifted my perspective
Belonging is a collection of essays by bell hooks (intentional lowercasing) that describes hooks' journey with Kentucky, racism, and sense of purpose. This is my first bell hooks books and I liked it enough. However, I found it to be quite repetitive after awhile. And while I agree that rural, agricultural life provides sustenance, it was given as too much of a cure all. I think there are healthy ways to build community and heal our relationship to the earth within cities as well.
With all this to say, these essays did punch me in the gut several times. I'd recommend picking it up and reading an essay or two, but a straight through read may diminish enjoyment.
Brooke's Star Rankings (2023):
⭐: DNFd after reading 50%
⭐⭐: finished the book, probably out of spite. Did not like it.
⭐⭐⭐: Fine!
⭐⭐⭐⭐: pretty good book
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Book that has stuck with me for some time after reading it/shifted my perspective
scrow1022's review against another edition
4.0
Lots to contemplate here (lots of underlining). Great historical stuff, also it reminds me of Ibram Kendi's analysis of racism/anti-racism. Not wild about her blanket condemnation of urban life (in her praise of the rural), even though it's a book of personal essays I felt she could have been more nuanced in the interrogation of the differences. But there are other authors for that.