Ready for another update? Here you go!
1 – This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life by Lyz Lenz
I’ve been a fan of this writer for awhile and was so excited to read her book. I think this is an important read for a number of reasons. This is a “deeply validating manifesto”!!
“Sometimes my husband would say, “If you want help just ask,” and I would wave my arms around me like someone drowning. “Just look!” I’d say. “This is all a cry for help.” But truthfully, I didn’t want help. I was grateful for it, sure. What I wanted was an equal partner.”
I think so many people could relate to this book, even if your marriage is good and you aren’t getting divorced. The author wove together personal stories of her own marriage and the breakdown with history, community, friendship, societal breakdowns, feminism, motherhood, faith…
“In 2020, when pandemic shutdowns kept children at home, the burden fell on mothers, who had no options, no childcare, no help, and were forced out of the workforce.”
There are no safety nets–there are women taking care of everything.
“The question is not why women break, it’s how they ever hold it together.”
Ooof sometimes I wonder this about myself! This book will fill you with rage. And maybe spark some good discussions with your partner?
“…men are human and relationships are good, but marriage? It’s a pyramid scheme.”
Worth a read!
2 – Weyward by Emilia Hart
I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked the three different story lines telling the story of “witches” in a family line.
“We never thought of ourselves as witches, my mother and I. For this was a word invented by men, a word that brings power to those who speak it, not those it describes. A word that builds gallows and pyres, turns breathing women into corpses.”
It starts in 1619, jumps to 1942, then 2019. Admittedly I enjoyed the current timeline more and wished that there was more of that but it was still a strong debut book and I look forward to reading more.
3 – Don’t Believe it by Charlie Donlea
I enjoyed this one, even though I did NOT like the ending! Grace is in medical school and goes to St. Lucia with a group of friends for a wedding. Her boyfriend is murdered, she’s accused and convicted and spends the next 10 years in a foreign prison. But she insists she’s innocent. Finally, someone listens–a documentary filmmaker. The way the story unfolds will keep you reading late into the night and you won’t guess the ending!
4 – Kindred by Octavia Butler
I finally read this iconic book. It does not disappoint. It’s a great read and also very hard to read.
It’s basically Back to the Future but with slavery. Dana goes back in time from the 1970s to the slave days of the south. She meets one of her ancestors (a white slave owner) and realizes she must keep him alive for him to eventually impregnant a slave otherwise Dana will never been born.
“This place is diseased.” He took my hand. “The kids are just imitating what they’ve seen adults doing,” he said. “They don’t understand …The ease. Us, the children … I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery.”
The book describes slavery, the abuses, rape, selling of black children, selling of slaves. So it’s hard to read. But, reality I guess.
“There was no shame in raping a black woman, but there could be shame in loving one.”
“That’s history. It happened whether it offends you or not.”
Happy reading!
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