The Blog
Are these book reviews or piles of sand?
January 16, 2024
How to Think Like a Woman by Regan Penaluna is a new examination of sexism in academia, specifically how female philosophers have been written out of history. It examines the life and works of feminist philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft and her predecessors. This librarian is glad someone is addressing this because I took three philosophy classes over my academic career and only one had any female philosophers in it!
Donna Tartt’s The Secret History is a “why done it,” asking why a group of college classics students would murder their friend Bunny Corcoran and what happened in the years after. Published in 1992 but I thought our collection needed it as it is set in a fictional Vermont liberal arts college based on Tartt’s experiences as a student at Bennington College. No one in this book is a good person and that’s why you should read it.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the story of debutante Noemí Taboada traveling from her glamorous life in 50s Mexico City to a mysterious mansion in the Mexican countryside to investigate a concerning letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from an unknown doom. Super creepy and you will want to clean your house after. If you like themes of anti-colonialism and suspicious in-laws you will enjoy this book!