My rating system:
10 – life-changing, an all-time favorite
5 - average for what I read
1 – terrible; why did I finish it?
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez – This is a novel about a teenage Mexican-American girl growing up in Chicago, struggling because her “perfect” sister has just died and apparently had kept many secrets from them. My main reason for finishing the book was the setting since it was cool reading about places I knew, and the fact that the protagonist’s surroundings and background reminded me a bit of my spouse’s (who also grew up Mexican-American on Chicago’s south side in a place that had roaches scurrying away). The plot is just kind of okay but thankfully it moves along with enough speed to keep me engaged. Grade: 5
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas – This was a wonderful novel. It tells the story of five women whose lives intersect. The setting is the near-future, where abortion has been made illegal in the US again. The characters – each of whom is three-dimensional and vivid – are trying to live their lives, figure out what they want, and pursue it. One of them performs abortions, among other services for women, so you can guess where her storyline might be going. I felt the book had the perfect combination of a compelling plot, compelling characters, and compelling setting. My only nitpick is that the book is a bit sour at times, meaning there is a cynical and at times just irritating view of humanity woven throughout that sometimes makes the book harder to enjoy. But it was still excellent though. Grade: 9
A Moonless, Starless Sky by Alexis Okeowo - The journalist author provides four accounts of people who are swept up in war and extremism and are fighting back. One section tells us of a young Ugandan couple who were forced to be child soldiers, another tells of a Somalian girl who wants to play basketball despite fundamentalists who threaten violence, the third zeros in on victims of Boko Haram, and the fourth turns its attention to the country of Mauritania where slavery runs rampant (despite being illegal) and a small group of people is fighting it. Each section gave good, solid, in-depth looks into events and places that I might’ve read a little about but didn’t know well. It’s so well executed, giving just the right amount of detail. The book is a page-turner. Grade: 8
The Reluctant Communist by Charles Robert Jenkins with Jim Frederick – I guess I am fascinated by books about North Korea, and this one provides a very interesting perspective on it. In 1965, the author was a US solider stationed in South Korea, he feared that was going to soon die by either being sent on risky missions or to Vietnam, so he decided to flee to North Korea. He then spends 40 years inside “the hermit kingdom”, the country which basically is a giant prison. I was riveted to this tale and hearing about his life there. Equally compelling I found the stories of his wife and the three wives of the three other US soldiers who were held in North Korea with him. The women had either been kidnapped off the streets of Japan or Thailand or tricked into going to North Korea. Their families have never really known what happened to them, and even the small group of non-Korean prisoners inside North Korea knew very little about their fellow prisoners; there was no way to communicate within the country. I’m surprised this book wasn’t more of a best-seller (my library system has just three copies; that’s low) – very rarely do we get to see such an in-depth look at life in North Korea. I couldn’t put it down. Grade: 9
Paradise Lot by Eric Toensmeier with Jonathan Bates – I love the idea of this book. The authors tell their true story: they are two single, straight dudes who are obsessed with plants and gardening, particularly permaculture. (My attempt at a loose definitely of permaculture is working with nature to grow food in a way that benefits the ecosystem instead of disrupting it). They are on a quest to find an affordable house with a big enough yard that they can turn it into a permaculture paradise – but the place needs to be in or near a large city, as they’ve found that it’s hard to meet eligible women when you’re in the middle of a rural area. They also want to be able to find jobs that are in line with their passion for gardening and to not have to work day jobs. Those are the aspects of the book I enjoyed the most. To a non-gardener like me, some of the technical aspects of what they’re trying to do were less intriguing but I still enjoyed the book a lot. Grade: 6
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