MAD HONEY - Jodi Picoult

I haven't been reading much. Our book club broke up because none of us wanted to read the others' book selections. We were in our eighties mostly and eye problems, etc. slowed us down. However, a group of younger women I spend time with almost pushed me into reading Mad Honey. I have never read Jodi Picoult before and thought, having seen her books around for years, that she was probably one of those writers that writes for young women and their book clubs. I soldiered in until I reached just about half way when I was hit hard and the book became a grabber of interest and a learning experience. I can only say Read It. Don't study up on it beforehand....just dive in. Some of the writing was a little disjointed and that might have been because it was a two person collaboration. There were chances to nitpick characters and plot development, but it was a beautiful thing and I heartily recommend reading it right away. Our local library has 19 copies and they are all out.....similarly with the other forms of reading they offer.

INVISIBLE STORM

I started to read this book and began to actively dislike Jason Kander and his story. Then I set it aside and picked it up the other night and picked up at the point where he turned himself over to therapists at the Veteran's Administration for PTSD therapy. From an abject, suicidal mess he (and his wife) worked diligently to deal with his mental trauma. This part of the book was almost beyond fascinating and I felt that I learned a lot about how much pain we can control without understanding why it needs to be faced and dealt with.

 

The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide, Eric Selland (Translator)

 A delicately beautiful and deceptively simple story. The cat is a unifying theme involving two young Japanese writers renting a home in a beautiful location in Tokyo. It gives you a sense of what daily life in Tokyo might be like. The writing is unfussy and straightforward and in places incredibly beautiful and vivid.

Ladyparts is a good read!

I enjoyed this book and read it in measured chunks. Her humor and complete honesty kept me engaged through some difficult reading about her sad divorce, her serious medical problems, and probably worst of all for me, the financial and job problems that compounded misery for her and for her children. The parts of the book detailing the problems with health insurance were especially well written and instructive as she tried to deal with COBRA, jobs that included insurance only if she worked a certain period of time and made a certain threshold of salary. And then when she listed her mountains of debt..... At these points I felt my blood pressure going up big time and had to stop reading a while.

 Through it all I loved the amusing stories, insights on loving and close friends. I loved her ability to create a vivid image of all her thoughts and actions. I enjoyed hearing about her jobs and the people she worked with. Her adventures in locating a companion with empathy was a bit rocky too at times. The last part of the book detailing some of the abuse she suffered from male work associates brought home to me more of what the Me Too Movement is all about....more than sexual abuse it is treating a woman as a "game piece", dangling and removing job offers and opportunities....spreading misinformation about her and blocking any forward advancement. It was a great pleasure to see evidence of her strength, staying power and sense of self emerge victorious.

 

 

 

HIS TRUTH IS MARCHING ON: JOHN LEWIS by John Meachum

In this book recently loaned to me by a friend, a lot of new and deeper information about John Lewis and the Southern United States was revealed. John Meachum writes beautifully about religious teachings and the call that Lewis felt to improve the lives of the people he knew. He simply could not as his family would, stand back and let the cruelty of segregation stand. He was called to be a minister from a very early age and his steadfastness over the years began to enthrall me. He felt called to put his life on the line in the service of what Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature”. Arrested 45 times in his life, Lewis was a strong proponent of the nonviolent approach to political change. Even as times and opinions changed, he stood by his creed of nonviolence and a faith in a “beloved community”.
I have read so much over the years about this time, but this was an almost new eye-opening experience. Time and again the leadership above him pleaded with him and his followers to desist and he (and they) said, no, we’ve made out our wills, we are going on.
He became head of SNCC and after a few years was deposed by Stokely Carmichael as the fight for Civil Rights moved from the Deep South to the entire US and non-violence was cast aside for Black Power. He met JFK, LBJ and many leaders, he spoke at the March on Washington, his proudest moment was pushing to get the Voting Rights Act passed….but he never lost his humility and sense of self. I would have liked to know what his many years in the House of Representatives was like.
Sad that we have lost both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Lewis in these recent days.

There are so many good reviews here on Goodreads that I don't want to duplicate them. I agree with all the high praise. I suspect when I think back on this wonderful book I will remember Junia the mule and feel the ache of sadness for the hard lives of so many people living in the Kentucky mountains....many so hungry, whole families dying....children with pellegra.....I'll think of the recipes in the scrapbooks, trying to live on nettle soup....reading National Geographic Magazine, months old newspapers, the lucky find of a copy of The Good Earth.....the fact that Brave New World was banned and Cussy Mary's mother had a cherished copy.....the horrible working conditions of the miners...the racism and hatred, the lack of medical care....I think that will stay with me. Cussy Mary and her good friends warmed the story enough to make it sing for me. (less)