Why I Devoured Hunger

“Unruly bodies” have been the talk of much cultural criticism these days (even here on Eleventh Stack), as the the body-positive movement gains more traction. The body-positive movement means a lot of things to a lot of different people, but is probably most easily understood as an umbrella term for activism which seeks to celebrate bodily autonomy and accessibility. Body-positivity can apply to small, individual decisions like body hair removal or decisions about wearing makeup, and to larger, more systemic concerns; large wings of the movement are focused on disability activism, awareness for trans rights and fat-activism.  



Growing Readers, Growing Leaders

In late June, LBPH hosted the BELL Academy’s 2017 Growing Readers and Growing Leaders program. Short for Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning, the BELL Academy is a program facilitated by the … Continued


Music to Our Ears

Fans of traditional Appalachian folk music are in for a special treat this upcoming Friday, July 14th when the North Carolina two piece House and Land roll into Pittsburgh for a free lunchtime concert.


Giant Days for Summer Reading

When I feel like I’m falling behind on my reading goals (say, maybe, for summer reading?), I find that a graphic novel can provide a nice boost. One, they’re generally quick reads. Two, you can usually find something that is either right in your genre wheelhouse or something to really shake things up with minimal commitment. Volume One of Giant Days really hit the mark for me in the “genre wheelhouse” kind of way.


Two Great YA Novels Released This Year

Within the last couple of years, I’ve shied away from reading young adult novels because that’s all that I used to read. I wanted to expand my horizons, and also I felt that a lot of the young adult novels were the same. Recently, I read one of the best young adult novels that I’ve ever come across, and it’s called The Hate U Give. Another great young adult novel that I read recently was When Dimple Met Rishi.


Three Must-Read Memoirs by Fierce Black Women

I’ve been reading a lot of memoirs lately, primarily by women. There are other posts about these memoirs waiting in the wings, like “memoirs about mental illness,” but for now I want to focus on three excellent memoirs written by amazing, inspiring Black women.


A Literary Perspective on Loneliness

In her latest book, The Lonely City, Olivia Laing writes a brilliant exposition on solitude, art, and the bridge between the two. She expertly profiles artists and philosophers known for … Continued



#PGHReads: The Great American Whatever

After Quinn’s sister, Annabeth, dies in a car accident, he stops going to classes and retreats from society. When summer arrives, all he’s accomplished is stacking up a ton pizza boxes and running out of clean shirts. Dreams of filmmaking classes with his sister have evaporated, but he’s kept the half-finished application. Just as his mother can’t get rid of Annabeth’s expired snacks, he can’t bring himself to part with this last memory.