Welcome or welcome back! I realize this post is a bit late, but it was a busy weekend. Also, please skip my music if you’re a fan of Beyoncé.
Below are my reviews:
Album: Renaissance by Beyoncé
2/5 stars
Please forgive me! This is a great dance album and it’s got so many great in-depth reviews that talk at length about the reasons it’s good, but simply said, this album is not for me.
I’ve seen Beyoncé perform live in the past, and I know she is an amazing artist. I know objectively this album is good and deserves all the accolades it got, but it’s not for me.
I also want to say again that my rating system is pretty subjective. In my “Welcome to My Blog” post I said that a 2/5 for me is “I did not enjoy it, but I didn’t hate it completely! (For albums, this could mean I enjoyed at least one song.)” Which in this case is true because I did like at least one song! My favorites were “Cuff It” and “Break My Soul.”
Maybe I’m just a prude…? It’s a very sensual album for sure. I’m all for being proud of who you are and celebrating yourself, but I guess it’s bit much for me.
So, yeah. Ignore me on this one.
Book: Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead, and Live Without Barriers by Dr. Jo Boaler
3.5/5 stars
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this yet, but I’m a high school teacher. We have a sort of advisory class every Friday that focuses mainly on the “7 mindsets.” This book was recommended to our students during class a few weeks ago, so I decided to give it a read. I was able to find the audiobook version on Hoopla!
If you are not familiar with the idea of having a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset, I think this book could be a good introduction to the concept. However, the reason I’m not rating it more highly is because it seems that it’s supposed to be written for a general audience, but in reality it feels like it’s mostly aimed at educators – specifically math teachers.
There’s nothing wrong with there being more books about education reform and improving the way math is taught, but I just feel that a general book on the topic of unlocking your brain so you can live without barriers should have a variety of examples and not predominantly examples that have to do with math. I get that many people struggle with math, myself included, and that we often tell ourselves we can’t do math and that our brain just isn’t capable of being good at it, but I wish there had been more examples of how people limit themselves in other areas. I understand the reason Dr. Boaler talks about math so much is probably because she is a scholar in mathematics education, but again I think the book would have been better if it had been more broad.
Like I said earlier, this book was recommended to the students at my school, but I personally wouldn’t recommend it to them. Maybe I would recommend it to other adults, or at least recommend certain portions of it to others. Dr. Boaler does do a good job of explaining brain and math research, but I would prefer a book that breaks things down even further and that gives practical tips. Essentially, I want to find a “self-help” book on this topic, but I’m yet to find one.
Teacher friends – do give this a read! Anyone else, maybe give this a read, but you could also read an article or watch YouTube videos about the growth mindset.
Movie: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Directed by Ryan Coogler; Screenplay by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole
4/5 stars
Rest in peace, Chadwick Boseman.
I am not a die-hard fan of Marvel or DC movies. I think most of them are entertaining and some of them are hilarious (Ant-Man), but I never have high expectations for them. I also don’t really keep up with the whole MCU storyline. Basically, I just watch whatever movie I think looks good.
I decided to watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever because my parents said they liked it (my mom liked the music too) and because it’s on HBO Max. Again, I didn’t go into it expecting anything other than watching something entertaining, but I came out of this experience thinking that this was one of the best superhero movies I’ve seen in a while. I was a crying mess at the end.
I love that this movie brought in Mesoamerican culture and changed Atlantis to Talokan. I’m Mexican, so it was very cool to see part of my heritage being shown in the MCU. I love its depiction of grief. I also love the whole political aspect of it. I think it’s very cool that the movie explores how two countries might ultimately have a common goal, but that sometimes people lose sight of the big picture and end up fighting one another instead. It made me think a lot about racial unrest and the issues that can occur even between marginalized groups.
This movie just has so many interesting things to discuss!
I’m only giving this a 4/5 because I wish it weren’t part of the MCU, if that makes any sense. There’s several scenes and characters that could be completely cut out because it seems like they’re just there to set up whatever movie comes next. I mean mostly the scenes with CIA agent Ross and director de Fontaine; they kind of mess with the pacing of the movie.
All in all, this movie is awesome and it’s great to watch as if it were a standalone film. I definitely plan on watching it again at some point this year!
One Per Week 
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