ilpreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
clementinereads's review against another edition
5.0
If only I could give this ten stars. I love Megan Stielstra. I took my time reading this because every essay left me thinking and inspired. One of my favorite books I’ve read this year.
the_reading_machine's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
3.5
yetilibrary's review against another edition
5.0
It's not perfect, but it's still pretty great.
We got off to a rough start, Megan Stielstra and I. There were some brilliant essays but also some clunky lines that dragged the book out of "relatable essay" land and into "pretentious academic" territory. And the chapter "Stand Here to Save Lives," which starts out so promising (full disclosure: I'm a big fan of Jennifer Peepas), doesn't work at all. Instead of telling stories--personal stories--that chapter is mostly an op-ed piece that really belongs in a newspaper and not in this book of personal, involved essays. Stielstra wants to talk about privilege, and she talks about privilege a lot throughout the book, but for some reason this op-ed is crammed in as its own chapter and her personal stories about her own growth and her experience of her privileges are in other chapters. Having ~A Chapter About Privilege~ may have worked if she had talked about it through her own stories, the way she treats every other subject in the book, and I am at a loss to explain why this chapter made it into this book in this form.
Fortunately, after that chapter, Stielstra seems to hit her stride. The clunky lines don't return. The essays get back on track. And this book, which was waffling between 3 and 4 stars, shot straight up to 5 stars. These are some great essays, man. I'm glad I got to know Megan Stielstra & I enjoyed her writing style immensely. I also learned from it!
We got off to a rough start, Megan Stielstra and I. There were some brilliant essays but also some clunky lines that dragged the book out of "relatable essay" land and into "pretentious academic" territory. And the chapter "Stand Here to Save Lives," which starts out so promising (full disclosure: I'm a big fan of Jennifer Peepas), doesn't work at all. Instead of telling stories--personal stories--that chapter is mostly an op-ed piece that really belongs in a newspaper and not in this book of personal, involved essays. Stielstra wants to talk about privilege, and she talks about privilege a lot throughout the book, but for some reason this op-ed is crammed in as its own chapter and her personal stories about her own growth and her experience of her privileges are in other chapters. Having ~A Chapter About Privilege~ may have worked if she had talked about it through her own stories, the way she treats every other subject in the book, and I am at a loss to explain why this chapter made it into this book in this form.
Fortunately, after that chapter, Stielstra seems to hit her stride. The clunky lines don't return. The essays get back on track. And this book, which was waffling between 3 and 4 stars, shot straight up to 5 stars. These are some great essays, man. I'm glad I got to know Megan Stielstra & I enjoyed her writing style immensely. I also learned from it!
amymelissaestes's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely adored this book. Smart & funny. It’s wonderful.
seattleserina's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those books that as soon as I've finished it, I want to read everything else the author has written. <3