"His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother's unconventional, unconditional love. " Bookcover
Honest, unbelievable, humorous, terrifying. It's hard to fathom that one book can be so emotionally contradictory but comedian Trevor Noah is a great storyteller and his journey as a young boy in South African apartheid is compelling. I enjoyed so much of this memoir. The complicated and intense love between he and his mother, the difficult position of being "colored" on the outside but black on the inside which made his life unbearably lonely, the mischief he created, the faith of a mother that repeatedly exasperated the son, but in extreme circumstances brought forth some true miracles.
Glimpsing racism in another country, from the top levels down, gave me another broader picture of our world and the ways that humans fight the same types of battles no matter where they live. This book touched on some of the same themes as "A $500 House in Detroit": governments which usually take advantage of the little guy, rather than helping. After apartheid was lifted, all manner of people who had been living under slave labor found themselves with no job and no skills. Most men found their way to Johannesburg to look for work, but with no education he becomes a petty thief and finds himself in and out of jail. As Noah muses," The more time I spent in jail the more I realized that the law isn't rational at all. It's a lottery. What color is your skin? How much money do you have? Who's your lawyer? Who's the judge? ....He had committed a crime but he was no more a criminal than I was. The difference was that he didn't have any friends or family to help him out." So many people fall through the cracks of the government systems, and they just need some education and a skill set.
This book was an interesting cultural and political experience for me. Thumbs up.
"At the end of World War II, more American women worked outside the home than ever before. Yet the culture, from politicians to corporations to television shows, portrayed the ideal woman as a housewife. Many women happily assumed that role, but a small segment bucked the tide---women who wanted to use their talents differently, especially in jobs that had always been reserved for men." Cynren Press
After my most recent night of binge watching interesting films of my choice, I was captivated with "On the Basis of Sex", a fascinating look at the early years of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. She was driven to pursue a "man's career" as an attorney at Harvard in 1955, where she did in fact encounter a very male dominated hostile environment with only eight females in her class of 500. Ginsberg personally faced gender equality setbacks in countless job searches, which motivated her to eventually argue six landmark cases on gender equality before the Supreme Court for the ACLU.
Having just finished "They Called Us Girls", I was struck by the resemblances in Ginsberg's life to the seven remarkable women that Stone featured in her book: all born before 1935, all chose professional careers, all attended respected universities in America, all faced discrimination - sometimes due to gender, sometimes due to race. The author was interested in discovering why some women willingly took on the opposition in their attainment of a career that, for many others was not worth the agony of pursuit. She questions, " How did they find the ambition, confidence, sense of self--whatever it was -- to have a professional career when the culture said not to, and most of their contemporaries agreed? To find out, I would need to talk to women themselves."
And so, she did. A Lithuanian-Jewish free spirited artist named Dahlov Ipcar who lived on a Maine farm and created heartwarming children's books. She was asked to host her first exhibition at the Portland Museum of Art when she was 84. A Trinidadian physician named Muriel Petioni refused to let the color line defeat her even though hospitals were segregated when she began her internship in 1937. A violin playing Eastern European physicist named Mildred Dresselhaus was invited to the White House multiple times, meeting presidential families from the Roosevelts to the Obamas. Born in the Dominican Republic, Frieda Garcia fought to have her dual US citizenship re-instated (for voting in a Dominican election on a family trip back to the island); and then chased her dream to become a non-profit leader and activist here. German born Rya Zobel finished law school only to discover that she could not land a job with a law firm. "Law firms were not hiring girls", she said. "And we were not women. We were 'girls'." Zobel became a federal judge!
These inspiring stories reminded me of my homemaker mother who was born in 1923. She had none of the similarities that Stone discovered among her seven characters, but I believe she omitted one: Grit. My mother's grit propelled her into the Navy Waves in 1943 when the program was just beginning, playing on the first Wave softball team at Cecil Field, FL. For 70 years she believed that she had not contributed much to the war effort because she served stateside. However, at the age of 90 while conversing with young military women at the World War II exhibit in Washington DC, she was repeatedly thanked for her historic contribution to servicewomen...because she "paved the way" for their careers.
Kudos to the women who have gone before us and paved the way! March is Women's History Month and Stone's book is an excellent reading choice to strengthen our understanding of how the past can greatly impact the future for our daughters and grand-daughters.
This story resonated with me because there is a place inside me that would like to be this radical, that would like to care enough about the "throwaway mentality" of our society to really do something like Philp's did...re-building with scraps and re-purposed items, buying from locals rather than "big box" stores, facing his fears of living in a poverty stricken crime area so that he can help make changes. His passion is huge, even though most of us would think his perspective was a bit unrealistic at the outset.
Aside from the house-building, the other story he clarifies is the planned agenda of the corrupt city over the years; how time and time again, the City of Detroit gave big bucks to the rich who wanted to build huge stadiums, hotels, corporations but they evicted the few residents who had stayed... because they were behind on their $150 water bills, and "someone" wanted the land. A travesty. I cheered Drew on when he "saved" his elderly neighbor's home in an online auction. He became one with his neighborhood because he cared deeply.
"Dear children, our love should not be just words and talk, it must be true love which shows itself in action." I John 3:18
This was a well written page turning young adult novel based on the true story of the 1945 horrendous
Told from the perspectives of four members of this group of travelers, the book's very short chapters make it a quick read as it jumps from Joana to Florian to Emilia to Alfred. Sepetys is a descriptive writer who brings the reader into an emotional bond with each of the characters who have lost parents, siblings, homes..and innocence, at the hands of Hitler's and Stalin's henchman.
Every time I read a war story, I am once again outraged and sorrowful at the atrocities of war and how it can turn common men into greedy, debased humans who blindly follow a misguided, mentally deranged leader. At the same time, I am thankful for the countless numbers of military men and women who were able to keep their humanity, their integrity and their kindness in their fights for the freedoms of others.
This novel brought to life yet another piece of World War II that I knew nothing about. It was well worth the read.
It was 1961 in a small Minnesota town, when the body of a young boy was found after being run over by a train. What follows is the subsequent deaths of four other people that summer and the pain and wounding of a community and of Frank's family. Frank is curious, adventuresome, courageous and prone to lie easily. His brother Jake is quiet, perceptive and serves as Frank's conscience. Their father is a man of faith, never doubting God's goodness and "awful grace"; always choosing to embrace people rather than to accuse. Not a perfect pastor's family, but perfectly imperfect. Once again, this story will stay with me because the characters embody faults, weaknesses and sin...but they are quick to show kindness, grace and love in action. A good read.
Having been powerfully moved by "The Invention of Wings" and "The Secret Life of Bees", I knew Kidd to be a thorough researcher of her books. That holds true for this most recent work. Her premise is: What if the Scriptures are silent about Jesus being married? As I have matured, I have often wrestled with many of the mysteries of God and His Word. Believing that it is inspired and fully relevant today, I read it with an eye to what I need to act upon. However, I have also wondered and questioned about the missing details. There is a gap of time in the Gospels between Jesus speaking as a 12 year old to the religious leaders in the temple, and his public ministry beginning at age 30. What happened? What kind of a young man was he? Who were his friends? What kind of relationship did he have with his family?
In her Author's Note, Kidd states "The story is imagined, but I have tried through extensive research to be true to its historical, cultural, political, and religious backdrop." She further explains that this wasn't written about Jesus, but Ana. Ana captured her mind and heart, and she developed her story around this young girl who had a dream to write, when the culture said that she shouldn't and couldn't. I liked Ana's spirit, her courage, her "rebel" heart. No, Kidd did not persuade me to believe Jesus was married; but she writes about the possibility with passion and purpose....and the story line is fascinating.
"The holidays wouldn't be complete without a little family dysfunction, and Hilderbrand writes it well."―Library Journal
After a rather rough November, I was searching for a light read for the busy Christmas season, something that would cause smiles and laughter rather than an overstimulated brain. One of my Goodreads' friends had just finished Elin Hilderbrand's four book Winter Street series. Having read several of Hilderbrand's popular Nantucket beach reads, I grabbed at this idea with gusto! I pursued multiple libraries online to gather all four in my grubby little hands, so as not to delay the anticipated month-long reading fest!
And the author did not disappoint, these were exactly the type of reads that I desired as my calendar filled with concerts, special luncheons, and preparation for out of town guests.
Book One,"Winter Street", gave me pause to ponder my initial enthusiasm because the dysfunctional Quinn family had decided quirks which I felt were mostly due to immature and impulsive decisions. This rash behavior began in chapter one with the patriarch and Winter Street Inn owner, Kelley Quinn. The reader is immediately thrust into the fray as the rest of the main characters are introduced: his current wife, his previous wife, four adult children with various spouses/partners and children...all of which contribute to the chaos of that first Christmas which the author so thoroughly details. Many reviewers complained that the first novel in this series ended abruptly, and had I not been prepared with the entire series; I may have been one of those disgruntled readers. But diving in to "Winter Stroll" gave me the great satisfaction of putting together the missing threads that had been left dangling. The same was true of picking up the third book, "Winter Storms", which had originally been cast as the final in a trilogy. But Hilderbrand was asked by her editor to consider a fourth book, "Winter Solstice", the sequel to the sequel! And it was such a satisfying ending, putting to rights all of the misfortunes and mishaps that had upended the Quinn family over the four years of Christmases at Winter Inn.
As February's dull skies roll across Michigan, what types of books feed your soul? Picking up this Hilderbrand series might be the best solution for the doldrums. If February brings contemplation and reflection, stories by authors such as Leif Erickson or William Kent Krueger, are more descriptive in both setting and characters. If real life inspiration is needed, biographies or memoirs could be just the ticket. Quian Julie Wang's "Beautiful Country", Michelle Obama's "Becoming", Cicely Tyson's "Just as I Am", or Philip Yancey's "Where the Light Fell" all contain messages of resilience and hope.
Whether it be light reading that is needed or weightier topics explored, books open avenues to stimulate and refresh...a necessity for a Michigan winter.
The pain of her continual hunger, the shunning by students and teachers because of her dirty clothing, the harshness of squalid apartment living and bathroom/kitchen sharing with strangers, the disappointments of her parents who take menial jobs in a sweatshop and cleaners, the blatant racism...all of this made me ashamed of our government systems that cannot seem to find a solution to assist immigrants in gaining citizenship more easily.
We are so quick to judge the immigrants who are fleeing to our country in order to raise their families in a safer environment, thinking they are taking advantage of our healthcare system and draining our tax dollars...Wang tells a different story of fear and loneliness and poverty. But her perseverance is inspiring as she uses education to crawl out of this oppression. She is a survivor, now serving as an attorney advocating for education and civil rights, but still affected by the deep scars inflicted during her childhood.
"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness". Desmond Tutu
Enter Chris Whitaker's novel, highly recommended by my daughter, which happens to be a continuing saga of disrupted plans. It was my lifesaver, in between lonely neighborhood walks in the California sunshine and watching the star studded sky from the hot tub in the evenings. As the book synopsis states, "Chris Whitaker has written an extraordinary novel about people who deserve so much more than life serves them. At times devastating, with flashes of humor and hope throughout, it is ultimately an inspiring tale of how the human spirit prevails and how, in the end, love - in all its different guises- wins."
Unaware that it was billed a mystery-thriller by some, I fell in love with the unusual characters before the ever-unraveling plot sucked me in. Foul mouthed Duchess, the thirteen year old protagonist, lashes out at everyone except her six year old brother, Robin, whom she ferociously defends and protects. Beautiful, fragile mother Star is desperately loved by the two; but has never recovered from her deep losses so she is unable to provide the love and security they crave and require. Robin turns inward while Duchess proclaims herself an "Outlaw" and builds a deep wall of distrust around her heart.
After reading a personal article in The Guardian by Whitaker, I have a greater understanding of the depth of pain he has lived through...and that transferral of pain to his characters jumped off the pages and into my heart, many times causing tears of empathy for these wounded individuals. As I turned the final page feeling depleted and wrung out because of the complicated twists and turns of the narrative, I realized that Whitaker managed to keep me hopeful in the midst of disastrous circumstances. Hope came, as it usually does, in the form of loving folks who allow Duchess the space she needs to grieve, to heal, to let go. Grandpa Hal offers a second chance to the family he had long ago deserted. Spirited Dolly doesn't allow Duchess's crusty exterior to chase her away. Police Chief Walk overlooks flaws in the community members as he serves them tirelessly and gives much grace to Star's family over the years. And tenacious Thomas Noble "sees" the real Duchess the first time he sets eyes on her...and loves her anyway.
I believe that God uses the caring people in our lives to bring hope when we have lost ours. It took a while for my hopelessness over Thanksgiving to dissolve. I blame that on my daughter. She reassured me that it was still good to see us even without hugs; that our Turkey Day celebration was still a celebration without the bigger table of people that we had anticipated; and that my milder symptoms of the virus gave cause for us to be grateful. All true. She elicited hopefulness in my spirit with her loving words.
In these topsy-turvy times, I pray an inordinate infusion of Hope be granted to you in 2022.
