Book Review: Open for Interpretation

Editor's Note:This review was originally published in San Francisco Book Review.

Author Alicia Blando, M.D.

Healing wisdom and traditions expand outside the confines of scientific knowledge. With her training in Western medicine, Alicia Blando, M.D., shares her journey in exploring the divination arts to find meaning in her personal life and service to her patients. The physician was a young trainee in New York during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Blando, who emigrated as a child with her family from the Philippines, discusses her Catholic upbringing and singular focus on academic success in telling the story of using astrology to make sense of one’s past and predicting life circumstances. In addition to astrology, Blando also explored the practices of shamanism, numerology, psychic reading, tarot reading, channeling psychic energies, palmistry, and more.

This memoir is enlightening for anyone curious about a medical doctor’s inquiry about divination practices. Blando relays her triumphs and challenges in clinical care, meaningful serendipitous interactions, and life-changing friendships. In investigating different types of knowledge, Blando applies a rational approach to understanding the psychic or medium’s intuitive skills and offers tangible concepts and rules related to astrology. As a fellow Filipino-American, I appreciated Blando’s candid musings about our shared cultural backgrounds, particularly her discussion about unyielding gender expectations. Her story proves that one can cultivate varied interests while maintaining the integrity of one’s life purpose.

Buy from Capital Books

Minding the Wealth Gap

As a Black investor and startup founder, Cliff Goins IV brings firsthand experience and sharp insight to one of America’s most urgent issues: the racial wealth gap. Having navigated the worlds of finance and entrepreneurship, Goins has seen up close the systemic disparities in wealth creation, access to capital, and asset management. From unequal opportunities in homeownership and education to persistent challenges in business funding and employment, the historical gaps are perpetuated in present-day practices. In "Minding the Wealth Gap," Goins skillfully blends data, lived experience, and the insights of experts to illuminate the deep-rooted economic disparities facing Black Americans. More importantly, he highlights the power of collective uplift. Through the voices of nine dynamic “gap closers,” Goins shows how real change happens when Black investors and leaders open doors for others. Each success “play” or strategy underscores the ripple effect of support. Selena Cu...

A Beginner’s Guide to the Roots of Yoga

The modern practice of yoga in Western culture is often criticized for disconnecting from its cultural, historical, and spiritual roots. In many studios and gyms, yoga is reduced to a fitness routine—focused on stretching rather than its original purpose of enlightening the mind. In "A Beginner’s Guide to the Roots of Yoga," celebrated practitioner Nikita Desai reconnects readers with yoga’s ancient Indian origins. Drawing on her Indian heritage, Desai explores the deeper meanings behind yoga’s forms, postures, and intentions, offering a rich historical and philosophical context for those seeking a more authentic practice. Desai shares her personal journey of reclaiming yoga’s essence, inviting readers to do the same by integrating cultural awareness into their practice. Her tone is welcoming and nonjudgmental, making the book accessible to readers of all backgrounds. Although I do not practice yoga, my meditation roots lie in Zen Buddhism. Through conversations with prac...

Wash

Ebony Stewart’s "Wash" is a powerful, unflinching poetry collection that draws the reader into a world of raw emotion, deep introspection, and lyrical brilliance. As I read through the poems, I found myself captivated by Stewart’s honest reflections on identity, love, loss, and healing. Her voice is unapologetically bold, revealing the complexities of being a Black womxn navigating relationships, societal expectations, and hard-fought victories toward self-worth. Yet, her themes are universal, resonating with anyone who has grappled with their own identity and relationships. What struck me most was Stewart’s emotional transparency: each poem feels like a cleansing, a shedding of shame, doubt, and grief, revealing the triumph of knowing one’s value in a world that often seeks to diminish it. Stewart doesn’t shy away from exploring the pain of extractive love or the vulnerability of desire, but she also leaves room for empowerment and resilience. As a celebrated spoken word ...

Colors of Influence Reviews

Search This Blog