Week 24: Hillbilly Elegy

This week's book:
Hillbilly Elegy
By J. D. Vance

Oh my flipping gosh. This week's book is so stinking depressing that I can't even put it into words. I have read some pretty depressing books in my time, by my own choosing, but I always had the option to stop if I felt like it. (Push by Sapphire and A child Called It are two that just spring to my mind.) I had done a reading challenge and one of the books that was listed was “a book that made you cry”. All of the books that were listed haven't made me cry yet, by the way. I don't think I am dead inside, but books just don't seem to be able invoke that spectrum of emotion in me.

Well this week's book is the first book of the new year for my book group. The book group is through my church, but the books don't have to be connected to religion whatsoever. We picked the upcoming year's books in November or October I can't remember. I am the “leader” aka the person that emails everyone reminding people when and what we are reading. Well I'm not afraid to say that while the people were suggesting their books, I straight up didn't want to read any of the picks. I mean, I read a wide variety of books, but all of the books suggested seems like something I would never want to read. They all sounded so flipping depressing that I had no intention of reading any of them. I was heartbroken when I came home after the meeting where we were discussing the picks for the upcoming year. I want to also have it noted that I am the youngest person in the group by at least fifteen but probably more like thirty years.

This week's book is the autobiography of a self proclaimed hillbilly who lives in Kentucky and Ohio. He has made a life for himself and might run for office soon. He was raised in a poor town and had a horrible home life. His grandparents pretty much raised him along with his older sister. He ended up going into the military and going to Yale’s law school.

The story shows that if a person from a dire situation has people who love them, or the individual has the drive, they will be able to break the cycle of what most people in these circumstances are forced to do. Parents treat their children and significant others like garbage. They didn't make much money at their job and a lot of time, according to this book, the people don't have any work ethic. They aren't paid well and are fired a lot for not showing up for work. When it comes to their children they don't have enough time or love for them. The children end up following in the footsteps of the people that they are around the most and are destined to make the same mistakes.

I want to state my feelings are not at all what I was just explaining, these were the facts that were laid out in the book. The author speaks of  "welfare queens" and the people all only eating fast food. Almost every person the author talks about has drinking or drug problems. But the fact that broke my heart was that after reading this book I was hopeful that the author would have some inside knowledge of how to help this demographic, being the fact that these were his people. But he doesn't, not one helpful way this whole group of people could better themselves. It was just flipping depressing as all get out. One woman in my group said she thought he was just telling us about his story to get the information out so people would be better educated about what is going on.

The book was well written and well researched. I hope the author goes on to make a difference in the world someday, but for this moment I am super bummed that I had to buy this book and read it. (The library called two days after I was forced to buy the book on my Nook, telling me I could check the book out now, such is life). Maybe someday this guy will write a better book that I would enjoy more. I don't recommend this book.

Week 23: The BFG

This week's book:
The BFG
By Roald Dahl

Okay guys, I promise I have been reading non-kids books, but this week's book is kiddish again. This past week was the first week back to school for little since break. He ended up having 3.5 days extra due to the weather being so flipping cold, icy and so much snow. I was also out of town for a long weekend due a death in the family. I always think I will be able to read when I go on vacation or out of town, what have you. But it's never the case anymore. Normally I am chasing little humans and make sure everything is packed for four people, and if I'm not doing that I'm trying to be social because really normally if we go out if town it's to see family.

Well this past weekend it was just my sister and I driving back to Iowa and both of our respective families didn't come with us due to kids' school and due to the funeral. I still got no reading done, andI have literally no problem with it. We were where we wanted and needed to be for our family in a very difficult time in their life.

Back to the book at hand. We had started The BFG forever ago and ended up having to stop because between all of the weird made up words and the bigger giants eating kids our little guy was not really enjoying the story. I think those giants that were being to the BFG really scared the poop out of him to be honest.

Flash forward to early last week and little man got a bee in his bonnet that he wanted to watch the movie on Netflix. Mind you the movie adaptation has been on Netflix for what a year? Anyway he really wanted to watch it, but we explained that we had to finish the book before we watched the movie. Well every night at bedtime he wanted to read a few chapters and would become tearful when we had to stop for the night.

We finished the book on Friday and because I knew I would most likely be away from the family for a few days my husband came up with the idea we all could watch the movie in our jammies and stay up late. The kids really liked it and didn't really seem too scared of the really big giants. Our son turned off all the lights so it would be more like his beloved movie theater. I can honestly say I enjoyed the movie better than the book. I don't know if it was because we read it over such a long time or because all of the made up words but it just isn't my favorite of Dahl’s books. I loved Danny Champion of the World and James and the Giant Peach, which are both Dahl's books. I would recommend one of those books instead, but I'll probably be beaten up for this point of view.

Week 22: Paddington Goes to Town

This week's book:
Paddington goes to Town
By Michael Bond

This week's book was a book the hubby and I read to the kids in the car over the holidays. We have a lot of people and places we need to get to over the holidays. All but one of our Christmas celebrations are at least an hour away, and the farthest is over eight hours away in Iowa.

I wanted to start the trend of reading to the kids during long trips in the car, like my mother did to my sister and I when we were little. Our mom would read from the second we got on the highway, never before, until we got to my grandparents house. We would be in Iowa the full two weeks over Christmas break, with my parents' families both living in Hawkeye land. She would read until she lost her voice.

Our son picked Paddington Goes to Town to read in the in the car. This installment of Paddington was the eighth book in the series. But each book or even chapter of Paddington really doesn't correlate with the previous installment, so there wasn't any feeling of being lost during this book. In fact, I didn't realize that this book was the eighth book in the series until we were two-thirds of the way through.

I will be honest that I may have liked this book better than the original Paddington book. I have a tendency of becoming nervous when the main character gets into trouble; I didn't like the curious George books when I was little because he never got his comeuppance. The same is true about Paddington, I think. But this week's book was much funnier and much less stressful than the original. Paddington still gets himself into some sticky situations, but they are more enjoyable.

I would recommend this book if your child enjoys this marmalade loving bear. I think the new movie is coming out soon as well. I know the film will have nothing to do with this book, but I just wanted to mention that the movie will be out shortly.

Week 21: Getting Real

This week's book:
Getting Real
By Vicki Lewis Thompson and two other broads that don't hold a candle to her

This is going to be short. This week's book is late and not that great. The book is a set of three novellas that are of the romance type. I picked it up at the good old GW months ago and I thought what the hay.

The first of the three novellas was written by my favorite romance novelist: Vicki Lewis Thompson. I will say without the slightest bit of shame that she is my favorite, because she has a whole series all about loving nerds. (Right up my alley) She has a set that are about geeks too, and now that the hubby brought us into the twenty first century and we have Amazon prime, I will be able to read it on their Kindle service. But back to the topic on hand. I had only planned on reading the first story and then tossing it into our free library but come to find out all three stories are tied together. Well I am sick with a cold and these stories are easy reading and trash (just like the reality TV that the three shows are about) so I read the whole book.

I had a hard time with it for the simple fact that the author is forced to have the people fall in love fast which normally is what happens in romance novels but when they are forced to do it in one hundred to one hundred and fifty pages then it doesn't work for me. There is just no back story or any filler, just quick, quick, quick. Don't read the book. But definitely check out the other nerd books because I am particularly fond of nerds.