We Cast a Shadow

 

We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ruffin does an ingenious job of talking about race in a way that transcends it in a remarkable way. First of all, by setting the book in a future time, Ruffin is able to manipulate the situation without blame, shame, defensiveness, or justification because the offenders don't exist (yet)--yet the circumstances are familiar enough that it allows for contemplation of how we are presently doing as a society (and individuals). Then, to drive home the ramifications of the result of subtle/ not so-subtle racism, he brings in the possibility of demelanization--an expensive medical procedure that removes pigment from the skin. The question of whether the narrator should subject his son to this and why lets the reader really empathize and question race in a new and personal way. I found this book under the category of funny stuff- and while there is humor, it was a profound, moving and tragic story. I thought it was brilliant.

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The act of observing rewrites reality.

A dark-skinned child can expect a life of diminished light.  This is truth anywhere in the world and throughout most of history. 

The Education of an Idealist

The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir by Samantha Power
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting reading experience for me. While well-written, I found Power to be intense, supercilious, and haughty. Yet she is fully aware of this--she corners influential people in audacious fashion to promote her agendas, she won't back down or curb her remonstrations, she never seemed to be able to just hang out--always debating issues or pushing a cause. I thought man, she would be hard to be friends with. But the more I read, the more I respected Power for her commitment, her desire to make a difference, and her laser-like focus to try to make the world better. Then I grew to admire her. I still think she would be a lot to handle--but we need people who are willing to look at hard issues and to do their best to understand them, and then do something about them. She is courageous, indomitable, and persistent and she encouraged me to look around and see how I can try to make the world within my sphere of influence better.

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If I end up not making it as a journalist, will something else I learn in the process make it worth trying?

The Strange Journey of Alice Pendlbury

The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury by Marc Levy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A thoroughly entertaining book. I felt as though I was watching an undiscovered Humphrey Bogart/ Audrey Hepburn classic--The setting of Turkey was fun, and just when you think you've got the ending figured out, there's more. Fun, light read.

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The Whisper Network

 

Whisper Network by Chandler Baker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A workplace drama that highlights the difficulties of working women, from being ignored and under appreciated, to double standards for behavior, to sexual harassment. This isn't a perfect book and it only identifies with women working in defined jobs, but I did love the way these women looked out and supported each other despite the ways they also let each other down. I loved that several perspectives were portrayed: a new mother, a single mother, wife as main wage-earner, woman working in manual labor job, etc. For the most part they were portrayed as liking their jobs, being competent, and professional, moral people, and still having to struggle for recognition, validation, and respect. The chorus that starts out several chapters was genius. It included us in the frustrations we experience, the unfairness we witness, the demands that are unique to females (including demands by other females) helping us to see how we are all in this together--helping and hurting each other. At one point one character tells another "When another woman offers to help you, you take it. You understand?" --underscoring Baker's point that when we as women help each other, we help ourselves. (Although this a working woman's issue book, I think working men should also read it, to help understand and empathize with their working women colleagues).

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There, There

 

There There by Tommy Orange
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A beautiful exploration into what it means to be Native American in a modern setting. At first I didn't realize that the individual stories were going to be tied together and characters were going to be followed throughout the book, since each chapter felt like a complete short story so I didn't track the characters like I should have to get the full complexity, and the relationships between the characters. Having so many characters allowed us to see so many different perspectives and histories--some grew up in the indigenous culture, others realized their roots later, others abandoned their culture, and others came to celebrate it. Perhaps with a re-read I will feel different, but I felt like maybe there were too many perspectives, and the focus got diluted. You see the ending coming, but it still is shocking, yet I wished for a bit more clarity in the end.

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Bad luck or just bad shit happening to you in life can make you secretly superstitious, can make you want to take back some sense of control.

Something was in her that came out, that seemed so creaturely, so grotesque yet magical, that the only readily available emotion she had for both occasions was shame, which led to secrecy in both cases.  Secrets lie through omission just like shame lies through secrecy. 

The Downstairs Girl

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jo is an unusual heroine--a Chinese-American living in Atlanta at the cusp of the women's vote and Jim Crow laws. She is resourceful and observant, courageous and intelligent. During the course of the book she discovers hidden talents, hidden roots, and hidden love. Its a YA romance that also encourages standing up for what's right, and for others, and for yourself.

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It is better to look out a window than into a looking glass; otherwise all you see is yourself and what's behind you.

An American Marriage

 

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although this book was borne out of a desire to expose the racial injustice that is still prevalent in America, it also does a good job of exposing the precarious nature of marriage, especially in a country where people choose their partners based on "love". Can love really transcend differences in traditions, social class, and value systems? Can it withstand distance, trauma, and tragedy? What do we withhold from our partners--is there room for any secrets both in the present and in the past? I enjoyed how Jones broke the narrative into the three main character's voices--each one pleading their case for the reader, the truth both ambiguous and changeable, each motivation justified and faulty.

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