Author: Barbara

I recently read my first graphic novel, What Did You Eat Yesterday?, which is also a manga. That term was new to me. I discovered manga refers to comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. This particular story is the first in a series about a gay couple living in Tokyo. Shiro Kakei and Kenji

A retrospective of Dorothea Lange’s photography is currently on exhibit at the MOMA, although, sadly, the museum is still closed due to COVID 19. You can visit the MOMA to learn more about Lange and view photographs from the exhibit online at  https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5079.  “Migrant Mother,” an iconic image of the Great Depression, is one of

This is a beautifully written book translated from the French by Molly Ringwald.  The novel often seems more like a memoir; in fact, it does share threads from the author’s own life.  It is the tale of young gay love complicated by class and cultural differences. The two high school boys come from very different

I saw this play starring Pat Carroll years ago, and I loved it.  I was invited to a ModPo group to discuss one of Stein’s poems.  It brought back the memory of the play, so I decided to read it.  It is delightful.  The one-character play allows the audience to spend a rainy afternoon in

Here’s another book I learned about on this blog and just finished reading.  It is a complicated story that struggles with identity in terms of class, culture, education, gender, historical context and family.  It also explores the importance of the lens(es) one uses to reflect upon one’s experience.  The mother/daughter relationship is especially central to

This novel is based on an exceptional true story about the relationship between two men, Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian Muslim, and Rami Elhanan, an Israeli Jew.  The Aramins and the Elhanans suffer in the aftermath of the violent deaths of their daughters.  Rami’s daughter, Smadar, was killed when three young Palestinian men detonated suicide belts

I was first introduced to Rebecca Solnit in a “Democracy Now” interview.  My next encounter was a “Brain Pickings”  newsletter which featured Solnit’s book Hope in the Dark which was written at the height of the Bush administration’s power and the outset of the Iraq War–a very dark time.  Hope in the Dark is still

I am busy reading Apeirogon by Colum McCann–I think someone here recommended it before the pandemic.  The library is finally open here, so I checked out a copy.  I’ll write more on the novel when I finish. Meanwhile I thought this online event sounded fun.  I signed up and thought I’d share the information.  Here’s