A lovely long weekend for reading=heaven. Hope you're enjoying your Labor Day weekend!
Recently Purchased
Zero. I'm really trying to curb my book buying this year and focusing on reading the stack I have. It's been pretty successful so far, but I do miss picking up new books on a regular basis.
Recently Finished
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
I am apparently in the minority on this one. Critics loved it, my book club overall loved it, I'm just. . . meh. It reminded me a lot of Villa America which I read a few weeks ago--filled with flat, stereotypical characters that I just didn't care about. I really had a problem with the female characters; they were just there as show pieces for the men in the novel and just didn't have much agency, even though one of them was the primary focus. I have much higher hopes for this month's pick.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Time of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Yes, I've finally finished this. And it was amazing. And terrifying. And heartbreaking. And disturbing. Reading this you realize how little the general public knows about the Drug War and police policy and court cases that have put more people of color behind bars than were enslaved prior to the Civil War. We've allowed this to happen. Our courts have allowed the Fourth Amendment to become basically empty. And this is why we finally have Black Lives Matter. It's necessary. I have a lot more to say on this book, but I'll save it for another post. Just read it. Now.
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
This book was a close-up of one Mississippi family in the days leading up to and the immediate aftermath of Katrina. It's filled with poverty and basketball and dog fighting and teen pregnancy and Greek mythology and hope and love and so many things rolled into one. Based loosely on Ward's own experiences during Katrina and her mother's during Hurricane Camille, it's a necessary perspective on what life was like for those most vulnerable. My only issue with the book was the dog fighting, but it was a part of Ward's life and those around her. She used what she knew, and it makes for a very successful read.
Currently Reading
March, Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
I so wish I could afford (or my school district could afford) to buy copies of all of the books in this series for all of my students. It's such a powerful look at the Civil Rights Movement from the inside and shows readers there was a lot more to the Movement than Selma and I Have a Dream (even though those are powerful and necessary to remember as well).
Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lai
I am only about 30 pages into this so far, but it's a fun read so far. I think the best part about this is having my Vietnamese students help me pronounce the words and phrases. They find it interesting, and I'm learning something new!
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Just started this last night, and from what I can tell, it's a dystopian future in London where people with special abilities such as telepathy are forced underground working for shadowy criminal elements. I don't know much more about it, other than it's supposedly the first in a planned seven book series. We'll see how this one goes before I decide to jump in further.
In the Wings
Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunée
I don't anticipate March taking that long, so I will probably get to this memoir this week as well.
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