'Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.'
- Holocaust survivor Primo Levi
Dora Reads is the book blog of a Bookish Rebel, supporting the Diversity Movement, bringing you Queer views and mental health advocacy, slipping in a lot of non-bookish content, and spreading reading to the goddamn world! :) (All posts may contain Amazon links, which are affiliate, unless marked otherwise. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. USA ONLY - please do not make UK purchases with my links)
'Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.'
- Holocaust survivor Primo Levi
'The great fairy incident of 1822 was depicted in many paintings, the most famous of them being The Seelie Siege of London by an unknown painter with a penchant for alliteration.'
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke is a behemoth of a book.
It's over 1000 pages of alternate history, set in a world where the titular characters are bringing magic back to England, against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars.
Welcome back to Pride Fics Fest! That period in June where I stop pretending straight and fanfiction have anything to say to each other 😉
This post contains SPOILERS for Gentleman Jack, series 1
SPOILERS!!!! OK? SPOILERS
Gentleman Jack is a truly amazing BBC historical drama, based on the life and diaries of 18th/19th Century English Lesbian, landowner, and businesswoman, Anne Lister.
Anne left extensive, coded, diaries - many of which were fairly sexually explicit.
I love this series - a well-written, well-acted, period drama about Lesbians who are complex, flawed, genuine, people. It's so good!
Yes! It's here! The final part of 'I Watched Jojo Rabbit' aka Cee can't stop rabbiting on about this film!
If you want to catch up on Part 1 - which is a general look at the hope and humanity of the film Jojo Rabbit - you can do that here.
...Honestly I could've kept talking about this film and issues it brings up for the rest of my life, but let's hope 3 parts is enough!
Welcome to the next instalment of I Watched Jojo Rabbit, aka 'Cee rabbits on about Jojo Rabbit!*'
(And no, I could not resist the pun.)
While you don't need to have read Part 1 of this mini-post-series in order to understand this part, I do recommend reading it (which I would do, because I wrote it,) to get a more generalised view of Jojo Rabbit as a film.
Jojo Rabbit is a funny and heart-warming film, with a dark and deeply uncomfortable edge.
And this post? This post looks at that darker part of Jojo Rabbit - from the controversial premise to the dark nature of this darkest period of history.
We're gonna get uncomfortable, dearest nerdlets, fair warning.
* = commission link
(Warning: due to the subject matter of the film Jojo Rabbit, this post discusses: war, Nazis, Hitler, the Holocaust, bigotry, indoctrination)
I watched Jojo Rabbit...
Jojo Rabbit* is a 2019 film written, directed, and starring the legendary Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi.
(It's inspired by, rather than based on, the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens.)
It is a comedy about Nazis.
And yes, you read that right.
It is a comedy about Nazis.
* = commission link
***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US***
Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.
(Warning: this post references racism and police brutality)
***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US***
Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.
There are three important reasons for me writing this post:
1. Black Lives still Matter.
2. It's always a good time to highlight diverse books.
and 3. There are so many amazing Black creators out there, who don't always get the recognition they deserve.
So here's a small selection of some of the Young Adult (YA) and Middle Grade (MG) books on my TBR list that were written by Black authors.
For those of you who don't know the book-blog lingo - a TBR is a 'to-be-read' list. Mine is immortal and cannot be stopped. Send help.
For those of you who are British like me, and/or haven't heard the book blogging term, Middle Grade books are those aimed at (roughly) ages 8-12, or 8-14, depending who you ask.
(Quick disclaimer: obviously, I haven't read these books, just their synopses, so I don't know what they're like in terms of content, quality, etc.)
I hope you find something to add to your own TBR, and remember to support Black authors, and other Black creators.
There're so many talented Black authors out there who deserve our attention!
***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US***
Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.
'"What did they do to you?" he whispered. "What have you done to yourself?" he added without thinking. Words tumbling out of his mouth like the thoughts that used to tangle in his mind. "What did I do?"'