aishaayoosh's reviews
127 reviews

I do not think I could easily describe exactly what this book is. It’s everything! This is a book black people need to read. This is a book white people need to read. It’s a book that tells Ta Nehisi’s story via a letter to his son of how he achieved his social consciousness and the impact that had on how he views this world. Deeply poetic, well articulated and really challenges your thinking.

I thought the way Coates laid out that race was a social construct was one of the best explanations I’ve read of why humans are divided. People who believe they are white divided people into different races because they wanted and needed to have power over other groups of people and skin color was the easiest way to make that division.
This isn’t meant to be a guilt trip on white people, but an insight into the black experience. I think every race needs to read this!

This is hands down the best book on race relations I have read! I definitely need to read it again. It’s only 150 pages but packs a punch with its lyrical and poetic style of writing.

One thing I will take with me is that throughout the book Coates encourages his son to do what we all should be doing: to question what we see. And then to question what we see after that. "…because the questions matter as much, perhaps more than, the answers," as he wrote.

I wasn’t sure where this book was going... but I wanted a light hearted read whilst I was studying and that’s what I got.

On November 12, 2001 flight AA587 crashed to the ground in Queens New York. It was on its way to Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. 260 people and five people on the ground died. More than 90% of the passengers were of Dominican descent and many were returning home. It completely rocked the New York Dominican community and it is the second deadliest aviation crash in United States history.

This is the set up for a story that emerges of two sisters, unbeknown to each other from two separate mothers and a father in common, who is a victim of the plane crash.

What made me really like this book was the note the author made at the end.
She wanted to write a story that considered a matter that deserved more attention in the media than it got, as well as a more intimate portrayal of what it means to discover secrets, to discover family and to discover the depths of your own character in the face of great loss and gain.

As for the title of the book; “Clap when you land”, it is a praise for a higher being for allowing a safe arrival, a reaction to the pilots performance, applause for having finally returned, touching down onto the island

I found this book sad, funny, moving, rage-inducing and uplifting.

Candice has explored many critical themes in the book. The one that stood out for me was the mental health issues covered in her writing, and how she addresses women’s low self-esteem, especially Queenie’s as a young, black woman.

Although the book mainly focuses on Queenie’s personal life, it does address the Black Lives Matter movement. It was sad to read when she tried to use her position in journalism as a way to support the movement and is pushed aside as unimportant. ⁣Not only is this theme brought up then, the casual racism and comments like “chocolate skin, big bum, exotic, juicy lips and curves” were dropped in so casually by white male characters, it sent me into a cringe fest!!

“We have an irrational compulsion to keep doors open. It's just the way we're wired. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to close them.”

“We need to drop out of committees that are a waste of our time and stop sending holiday cards to people who have moved on to other lives and friends. We ought to shut them because they draw energy and commitment away from the doors that should be left open—and because they drive us crazy.”

I really enjoyed the conclusions conveyed from each chapter of this book. The examples were tiresome and long winded for my liking so I skimmed through most of it.
I think this is perfect reading for anyone into behavioural economics, marketing or anyone looking to know why we behave so irrationally in the face of making decisions.


The above quote stuck with me; less doors open = mental peace ✌

My first book by Jesmyn Ward and what a beautiful writer. Her lyrical prose takes on, alternately, the tones of a road novel and a ghost story.

It starts off a little slow, with no sign of a story line but after the first couple of chapters, the amazing writing and deep characters really sink you in.

The novel journeys through Mississippi’s past and present providing a portrait of family and a story of hope and struggle narrated through the voices of 13 year old JoJo, Leonie and Richie (taking the form of a disturbed spirit).

Set post–Hurricane Katrina, the novel resonates at a time when the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and the protests and violence in Charlottesville see many Americans returning to missed lessons about racial identity and the Old South.

Throughout, there’s no escaping Ward’s political rendering of American history. She uses a haunting, magical-realist style to masterfully warp two of life’s most inflexible realities: time and death.
Her book seems to ask whether a family or a nation can atone for inequities that remain well and alive.

A lyrical masterpiece

This book started off a little over dramatic for my liking and I thought to myself, “I hope this book will not be a huge Muslim / Islamic bashing monologue”.

Turns out it wasn’t. Reading Amrou’s painful journey of trying to find a sense of belonging is something I’m sure we all can reflect on at some point in our lives.

What I enjoyed most about this book was finding solace in being Muslim and living it on your terms.

Islam is supposed to be diverse, diverse in people, culture and in thinking. Yet we are made to believe (mainly growing up from my mother, my father was of the total opposite opinion) that it’s regressive, subjugating and difficult. Any institution that comes off this way can only chase you away.
Is it unsurprising people often rebel in the worst ways when you’re made to feel chained up physically and mentally?

I’ve had to realise by myself and conversations with my father (RIP) that Islam is really easy. It’s a way of life. Make it what you want, you can make it fit you. It always will.

This really resonates with what Amrou was going through, (he has been through much worse tbh) you can belong... and belong on your terms!!

Faith is personal! I repeat that over and over again. We are not in this world to police over one another, but support each other.

I read this whilst studying for an extremely wordy exam ... perhaps I should wait for the results and then update this

Not enough substance to keep me interested. I just don’t think this is my genre.

It’s cute but I don’t like cute. And lots of sex...nice, fun, not super wild ... but still not my scene

“So it was ...

A little black girl yarns for the blue eyes of a little white girl, and the horror at the heart of her yearning is exceeded only by the evil of fulfilment.”

The Bluest Eye is not only a story but an awe-inspiring poem that confronts beauty itself and the consequences of beauty standards on individuals that do not meet them. Beauty is an obsession that has been present throughout history, which is why this novel, set in the 1940s, continues to awe readers today.

The title is taken from the protagonist’s desire to have blue eyes. “Whiteness” is the beauty standard that Pecola Breedlove cannot fit in with, and from this her obsession with having blue eyes stems.

Toni Morrison really makes the reader question beauty, the pressure put on people to fit in with untrue ideas. This novel will not leave the reader without making them evaluate the dangers of social standards and changing the way you look at how society works. /The Guardian


“Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do”

I’ve always loved the idea of getting up early ...definitely a morning person!!! So when I came across this book, I wanted to see what someone else did with their morning and why all the hype?

Well I am reading this again and have already downloaded the resources from the morning miracle website. As much as I thought I was hitting my potential in the morning...I could be on a constant 10 instead of hitting 10 some days and 1 on others.

I look forward to mornings more now and trying to get up earlier ....bring on 5am haha!

Ps I skimmed past the bit about the authors life etc ...and went for the juicy bit. I suggest you do the same else it’s a bit of a drag!!



I’ve read it twice now so I’m coming back harder with the implementation for Tax exam Dec 2020.

It’s a book you sorta gotta keep at the top of your pile and keep going back for a cheeky refresh ❤️