Book Report

 

I feel horrible that it's been so long since I posted a book report. I've been reading and writing a ton of fanfic, and that really has taken care of my need for books lately. 

My rating system:

10 – life-changing, an all-time favorite

5 - average for what I read

1 – terrible; why did I finish it?

 

With These Hands by Joan M. Jensen – A bit of backstory on this. I rarely shop at used bookstores (or any bookstores) anymore. I like them, but since the library can ship almost any book to the branch that is 4 blocks from my house, I just don’t see the point to buying too many of them. But I had time to kill one Saturday, waiting for Doris’s hair appointment to be done, so I wandered into the used bookstore across the street. This anthology from 1981 looked like it’d either be a snooze or a glimpse into an intriguing world. It turned out be the latter! So what is it? It’s an anthology centered around American woman who worked the land. Farmers, migrant workers, slaves. Women of all races and backgrounds, going back a couple centuries. Their stories are all told in brief, through their letters, diaries, and essays. It was full of variety I loved this look at American women’s lives. Grade: 8

 

Happily Ever Esther by Jenkins, Walter, and Crane – This is the follow up to the book “Esther the Wonder Pig”, which tells the true story of two men who are given a “toy pig” to adopt. Turns out the “toy pig” is a regular sized sow who grows to over 600 lbs and yet becomes the couple’s baby. This memoir starts from where the first one ends – the guys have just purchased a farm and turned it into an animal sanctuary. As with the other book, the tone is light-hearted and breezy. They’re vegans but they’re not going to preach at you. We get a few snippets of the challenges they face such as funding, dealing with bad volunteers, people who just dump animals on them, and vets who don’t know how to take care of adult pigs (most pigs are slaughtered so young that it’s a rare vet who has any experience with one who’s older than two years). The writing could’ve been better; there are more “amazing’s” and “literally’s” than a 13 year old’s Tumblr – but still I needed a fun read. Grade: 7

 

We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates – A series of essays by the renowned writer. People who think racism is gone really need to read this book. With facts and figures, anecdotes, and moving words – and then more facts and figures – Coates shows what it’s like to be Black in America today and to deal with an onslaught of racism. I was reminded about how some people think that there is a “battle of the sexes” when historically we’ve really had a war against women. American history is like that with African-Americans – unrelenting attacks, state-sanctioned violence, mass incarceration. Unlike with the previous book, there was nothing fun or light about this one but it felt necessary to read. Grade: 8

 

Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas – Mediocre historical fiction, about a friendship between two women (one in her 80’s, one in her 20’s) in a Colorado mining town about 100 years ago. There are some good stories in here and good moments, but overall it was pretty blah. Grade: 3

 

The Desert and the Sea by Michael Scott Moore – A non-fiction account of the journalist’s time (almost 3 years) as a hostage of Somali pirates. It was gripping and had me glued to the page. A heartbreaking look into an area of the world that is so bad right now. Grade: 8