Finished a book on the plane Monday, and it reminded me to get these other book posts up on the blog so I can share about the books I've read in January - some really good ones folks!
Anyhow, in November I read 3 books. And I'm trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I didn't read that many books this month. I just went back and looked over my kindle yet again to see if I missed a book, but I don't think I did. This was just a busy month for us, my in-laws were in town and with the holidays and that Evicted book took me like 2 weeks, or maybe even longer, to finish!
Surprised by Motherhood by Lisa-Jo Baker
I loved this book, and yes, it's another memoir. This book was like manna for my soul. It was another one I wished I owned as I kept marking up my library copy, and yes, it was an actual book with actual pages. I couldn't get it in the ebook version, so alas, I opted for the alternative. Took me a whole lot longer to read it, but that was okay as I cherished each little piece of wisdom I read. And it inspired me to write a love letter to my boys. This book warrants a whole blog post, but who knows when and if I'll even get to that. Read it. You just might be surprised by how much it moves your soul.
Goodreads blurb - "A lawyer with a well-stamped passport and a passion for human rights, Lisa-Jo Baker never wanted to be a mom. And then she had kids. Having lost her own mother to cancer as a teenager, Lisa-Jo felt lost on her journey to womanhood and wholly unprepared to raise children. Surprised by Motherhood is Lisa-Jo's story of becoming and being a mom, and in the process, discovering that all the "what to expect" and "how to" books in the world can never truly prepare you for the sheer exhilaration, joy, and terrifying love that accompanies motherhood.Set partly in South Africa and partly in the US (with a slight detour to Ukraine along the way), Surprised by Motherhood is a poignant memoir of one woman's dawning realization that being a mom isn't about being perfect—it's about being present."
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
I really wanted to love this book, but I found myself skipping through pages and feeling like it was never going to end! I learned alot about the issue of eviction and housing and housing benefits and how so many factors play a part in poverty and eviction. And it just broke my heart as it felt like a domino effect - one thing happens, another thing happens, another thing happens, and people are living in fear that they'll be evicted so they put up with the most dreadful living conditions just to keep a roof over their heads. And as soon as they're evicted, then what happens to all of their stuff? They either have to put it in a storage unit, which costs money, or just put it out on the street, but what do they do with it then?? They can't take it to the homeless shelter with them! Just a beautiful reminder that we can't take our stuff with us when we die! So it was really enlightening, but it just felt really long. I think I finally started to read another book when I was like 3/4 of the way done with this one just to take a break from it before coming back and finishing it. And it probably didn't help that I had chosen this as my vacation/beach read! I normally love these types of books where I learn about the inequalities within our systems, whether in the housing market or in the education or just the inequalities in our world as a whole. The author had definitely done his field research and he developed real relationships with all of these folks.
Goodreads blurb - "From Harvard sociologist and MacArthur "Genius" Matthew Desmond, a landmark work of scholarship and reportage that will forever change the way we look at poverty in America. In this brilliant, heartbreaking book, Matthew Desmond takes us into the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee to tell the story of eight families on the edge. Arleen is a single mother trying to raise her two sons on the $20 a month she has left after paying for their rundown apartment. Scott is a gentle nurse consumed by a heroin addiction. Lamar, a man with no legs and a neighborhood full of boys to look after, tries to work his way out of debt. Vanetta participates in a botched stickup after her hours are cut. All are spending almost everything they have on rent, and all have fallen behind...Even in the most desolate areas of American cities, evictions used to be rare. But today, most poor renting families are spending more than half of their income on housing, and eviction has become ordinary, especially for single mothers. In vivid, intimate prose, Desmond provides a ground-level view of one of the most urgent issues facing America today. As we see families forced into shelters, squalid apartments, or more dangerous neighborhoods, we bear witness to the human cost of America’s vast inequality—and to people’s determination and intelligence in the face of hardship."
I let you go by Clare Mackintosh
I really liked this! Best book this month, hands down. Again, if you liked Gone girl, you'd probably like this, but I definitely didn't think this was as dark as Gone girl or the one I read the month before. Suspense, mystery, a love story, a story of running away from a previous life, starting over and beginning again.
Goodreads blurb - "In a split second, Jenna Gray's world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life forever. Slowly, Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating . . ."
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