pick...beautiful, tragic, funny,...There's even a plot twist -- handled deftly by Akbar, without resorting to clichéd sentimentality. ... lays bare themes of addiction, abandonment, artistic impulse, religiosity, media filters, racism, sexuality, and yes-- martyrdom-... like one of those rare honest conversations one might have with a close friend #TOB2025
Full review: https://readingrantsandraves.blogspot.com/2025/10/2025-43-martyr-akbar.html
I gave myself one day to read this before it's due back at the library. ? I just spent 6 hours grading 8th grade writing, so I'm very excited to have some "me time" for the rest of the night.
pickAnother banned/challenged book for our local library‘s “Read for Your Rights” book club. This is a graphic memoir of the author‘s life growing up in Tehran until age 14, during the late 1970s/early 1980s —a period that covered the fall of the Shah, the rise of the Islamic state and Iran‘s war with Iraq. I don‘t read a lot of graphic novels; I‘m glad I read this one. It was the perfect format for Satrapi‘s story.
pickFinished this one earlier this week, just in time to attend an author signing on Tuesday.
The book itself was phenomenal. Hearing Kaveh Akbar (who is an absolute delight) speak made me love it even more.
Book mail is the best kind of mail. Who has read it? What did you think of it?
Top row: books that I've had on hold FOREVER.
Bottom row: this week's assigned reading for my Materials for Youth class. 🤓
