This book kind of like a creative writing exercise in how to take a single prompt in a myriad of directions. It is kind of like a series of stories that never get off the ground. It is a bizarre collection of chapters. This book is and is not about trout fishing in America. A friend recommended this book to me and then handed it to me a week later, so I figured I would give it a read. I knew that it would be odd from the get-go, but it is tough to even compare this to any other piece I have read. I recommend this book to you if you enjoy nonsense, silliness, and bits of (what might be) fiction.
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In Where the Crawdads Sing, little Kya is left by one family member after the other until she is alone at 10 years old in the marshes of North Carolina. She learns how to survive and eventually gets close to thriving, despite deeply-rooted classism of the townsfolk. Then, when a hometown hero is found dead and foul play is suspected, all eyes turn to Kya. So, I've recently been asked to join a book club. A couple of my friends are starting it and they invited me, and clearly Where the Crawdads Sing is the first book. I feel like I am entering a new phase of my identity: book club years. This book is gripping and had a creative plot, which was all enjoyable. The setting was spectacular and the mystery kept me on edge. The book club meeting is in a couple weeks and I hope that discussion will increase my investment in the book. In this memoir from Walter Dean Myers, he remembers his childhood spent mostly in Harlem, New York. Myers refers to himself as a "bad boy" for his reluctance in school (despite being placed in a special class for advanced students) and his propensity for fighting, talking back, and being privy to drug deals. A dedicated writer as a child, Myers fondly remembers his teacher who encouraged him to stick with the hobby, later of course turning it into a career. I read this book because Walter Dean Myers is a renowned author and this memoir has been on my book cart for years. It was finally time to give it a go. However, I did not enjoy this book tremendously. I found his storytelling to be a bit bland and without the kind of action and dialogue that I find gripping. On the other hand, having visited New York City and Harlem just last summer, I enjoyed how much Myers includes his neighborhood and greater Manhattan in the book. This collection of "notes" from Jose Antonio Vargas tells his story as an undocumented citizen in the United States. Vargas' mother organized for him to fly to the United States from the Phillippines when he was eleven years old. It wasn't until years later when he went to get his driver's license that he learned that his mother and grandparents had used fake documentation for Jose to get into the U.S. and that he was technically undocumented. Vargas goes on to become a successful and high profile journalist in the United States, but he trusted only a few people with his status along the way. Clearly, Vargas has revealed his status to the world now and lives with a great uncertainty. My mom recommended this book to me. I found it easy to read and a really important story to hear. Coincidentally, I am learning about the immigration process through a few avenues right now, and Vargas' voice is central to that learning. He quite clearly articulates what it like to feel American yet be denied American-ness. While some parts of Vargas' story were more tense and intriguing than others, they are all essential to his narrative. Highly recommend. |
J. HiEBERBibliophile Archives
June 2020
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