Book Review: Dreaming of Home: How We Turn Fear into Pride, Power, and Real Change by Cristina Jimenez-Memoir

Hello, dear Readers,

Below is my book review of Dreaming of Home: How We Turn Fear into Pride, Power, and Real Change by Vicky Cristina Jimenez.

Title: Dreaming of Home: How We Turn Fear into Pride, Power, and Real Change 

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Memoir

Author: Cristina Jimenez

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: May 27, 2025

Language: English

Hardcover: 320 pages

Meet the Author: Cristina Jimenez

Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

A MacArthur “Genius” shares her inspiring story, from undocumented newcomer to leader in a powerful immigrant youth movement.

Dreaming of Home is a coming-of-age story for both a young woman finding her true self and a social movement of immigrant youth trailblazers who inspired the world and changed the lives of millions.

Cristina Jiménez’s family fought to stay afloat as Ecuador fell into a political and economic crisis. When she was thirteen, her family came to the US seeking a better life, landing in an overcrowded one-bedroom apartment in Queens, New York. She lived in fear of deportation and ashamed of being undocumented, but eventually, Cristina discovered she was not alone. She made it into college when students and advocates won a change in the law, allowing undocumented students to access higher education. She was proud to be the first one in her family to go to college, but she felt out of place until she met professors and student activists who opened a new world where she found her calling within a community of social justice organizers.

With deep candor and humor, Cristina shows us what it’s like to grow up undocumented and the reality that being a “good” immigrant doesn’t shield you from systemic racism, danger―or even the confusion of falling in love. She invites us to acknowledge the America that never was and to imagine the America that could be when everyday people come together, build power, and fight for change, even when the world around us seems to be crumbling.

My Thoughts

I LOVED LOVED this Memoir. I devoured it in a few days. 

One of the things I loved was how the author delivered a beautifully written story, as well as all the information we get to absorb in the process of her telling us her story. About immigrants, immigration, the American dream, the difficulties many immigrants experience in this country, but also all the ways that they fight for their rights, and the very thing to exist in this country, although heartbreaking and sad, but an essential and important book, especially in the times we are living in. 

It is also a source of inspiration and of hope, and to encourage others to help in this fight that can feel like a never-ending cycle. 

Overall, I loved this book.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Wendy

Book Review: Out-Classed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back by Joan C. Williams-Non-Fiction

Hello, dear Readers,

Below is my book review of Out-Classed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back by Joan C. Williams.

Title: Out-Classed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back 

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Non-Fiction/Economic Conditions

Author: Joan C. Williams

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: May 20, 2025

Language: English

Hardcover: 368 pages

Meet the Author: Joan C. Williams

Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

An eye-opening, urgent call to mend the broken relationship between college and non-college grads of all races that is driving politics to the far right in the US.

Is there a single change that could simultaneously protect democracy, spur progress on climate change, enact sane gun policies, and improve our response to the next pandemic? Yes: changing the class dynamics driving American politics.

The far right manipulates class anger to undercut progressive goals and liberals often inadvertently play into their hands. In Outclassed, Joan C. Williams explains how to reverse that process by bridging the “diploma divide”, while maintaining core progressive values. She offers college-educated Americans insights into how their values reflect their lives and their lives reflect their privilege. With illuminating stories ―from the Portuguese admiral who led that country’s COVID response to the lawyer who led the ACLU’s gay marriage response (and more)― Williams demonstrates how working-class values reflect working-class lives. Then she explains how the far right connects culturally with the working-class, deftly manipulating racism and masculine anxieties to deflect attention from the ways far-right policies produce the economic conditions disadvantaging the working-class. Whether you are a concerned citizen committed to saving democracy or a politician or social justice warrior in need of messaging advice, Outclassed offers concrete guidance on how liberals can forge a multi-racial cross-class coalition capable of delivering on progressive goals.

My Thoughts

A lot of information, but well-organized and well-explained. Fascinating and very informative. 

I appreciate the author's effort to put together all the information, specially in the times we are living in, very relevant book. In an America so divided politics wise, it is always good to be informed and well-educated on topics that affect all of us one way or another. 

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Wendy

Book Review: Poetry Is Not A Luxury: Poems For All Seasons by Anonymous-Poetry

Hello, dear Readers,

Below is my book review of Poetry Is Not A Luxury: Poems For All Seasons by Anonymous.

Title: Poetry Is Not A Luxury: Poems For All Seasons

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Poetry

Author: Anonymous

Publisher: Washington Square Press
Publication Date: May 06, 2025

Language: English

Hardcover: 176 Pages

Meet the Author: Anonymous

Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

From the creator of the beloved @PoetryIsNotaLuxury Instagram account, a gorgeously wrought poetry anthology that is a gift and a guide for readers through every season of life.

Inspired by writer and philosopher Audre Lorde’s famous claim: “Poetry is not a luxury,” this anthology proves the vitality of poetry as a crucial source of inspiration, comfort, and delight.

In a first section, “Summer,” you’ll find lush landscapes and love poems for weddings and anniversaries, alongside poems on travel, protest, and expressions of sheer joy and exhilaration. “Autumn” ushers in nostalgic poems about home and family and friendship, fall leaves, nesting and gratitude. You may turn to “Winter” should you require a poem for mourning, some lyrics for loneliness, or an ode to comfort. Rounding out a year’s worth of verse is “Spring,” in which you’ll discover celebratory poems, in the form of praise for rain and flowers, new beginnings, and all that the future might hold.

Each poem within has been chosen from centuries of verse from around the world, with an emphasis on living poets. Friends old and new await, with selections from Rita Dove, Victoria Chang, Ross Gay, Naomi Shihab Nye, C.D. Wright, Eileen Myles, Ada Limón,Ross Gay, Ilya Kaminsky, Jos Charles, and more.

From love poems to elegies, from the heights of new love to the furrows of anxiety, from special occasions to a morning pick-me-up, there is something here for longtime poetry lovers and novices, in any season of need.

My Thoughts

Poetry Is Not A Luxury is one of the best poetry books I have ever read.

I love how the book is divided by the seasons of the year, and how each season is represent so well with each poem. 

There were poems that made cried, so deep and understanding of the feelings we all experience at some point in our lives. Other poems, though short ones but very powerful.

It makes my heart happy to have access to these type of books. I love poetry, reading it and writing it. Having a book like this as a reference, as an inspiration to my mind, heart and soul, fills me with hope, and makes me want to continue writing poetry and give my feelings and thoughts a voice. 

Thank you, Washington Square Press and NetGalley, for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Wendy