Poisonwood Bible

Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
1998
Weight: 3.3 lbs
Method of Disposal: Lending Library

I finally got back around to the Poisonwood Bible.  I always swore I would, but I always picked up something else.  Reading The Bean Trees is what did me in.  I got a little addicted to that book, and I wanted to feel that way again.  Not to mention, you always hear about The Poisonwood Bible.  People love it, and it is likely Kingsolver's best known book. 

It did not give me the same feeling as The Bean Trees!  I am sure that is sacrilegious and says nothing good about me.  I know the other is the first in a series, and I have not yet read the others.  It is not as well rated.  I had never heard anyone talk about it.  I know. I know.  I just loved the characters. 

I was less in love with the character development in this one, but it was not because it was bad.  I loved how it developed, but it was slower and matured as the characters grew up.  Poisonwood spanned a longer period of time.  It allowed you to see the characters as a silhouette of themselves or a stereotype and then you grew to know them deeper over time without you even really noticing it at first.  You hated them, but then you understood them.  You maybe pitied them or grew to worry about them.  At some point, some of them even became likable.  With The Bean Trees, the character development almost whacks you in the face.  Here is your lead girl!  Isn't she strong?Isn't she rough and tumble?  What is she going to do?  No, really, what is she going to do??  Not to mention, now is the time to talk about immigration.  Just like it was all those years ago when Kingsolver wrote the book.

I suppose that now is also the time to talk about Evangelists--that scourge on humanity.  Oh, the world is a devolving and darkening place.  Sometimes it seems like we are all evolving and getting better together and sometimes it seems like we will never stop repeating our mistakes until we force ourselves into a position where we do not get the chance to try again.  That irrevocable line we cannot cross but are always getting closer to, according to The Scientists.  And when I say THE scientists, I mean the vast majority that see Global Warming happening all around us but are at a loss as to how to stop it.  That line.  There is a line in The Poisonwood Bible too--a different line.  You know from the start it is coming and there are times when you think it has arrived and you are wrong.  The tension builds and builds. 

If you have not read it, give it a shot.  I would love to know what you think.

This Woman's Work

This Woman's Work by Julie Delporte
2019
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: Giving Away

I also got this graphic novel at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur.  I love a good graphic novel, but I find the real gems that speak to me few and far between.  This was not particularly my cup of tea, but that is not to say it will not be yours.  I did so appreciate, "I thought to myself that's me, the unicorn-whale, the gentle feminist.  But you know what?  Female narwhals don't have horns."

The author and artist seems to be very smart, talented, and honest.  She is searching herself and her medium. I think it will be powerful to many in that she captures the memorable moments that occur when something happens to you or you experience something powerful.  Those moments are not always obvious to people who do not live that experience. I think many women will be able to relate.  This is another book worth sharing that may find even more strength with a new owner.

Southern Lady Code

Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis
2019
Weight: 16 oz
Method of Disposal: Lending Library

I have been feeling under the weather since Thursday.  I looked up a Southern way to say that and was reminded that "under the weather" IS a Southern way to say that.  As is, "Sick as a dawg."   One I apparently felt the need to use with animal rescue folk.  There were times when I considered, "On death's door"or "I'd have to feel better to die," but death gets closer each year and no longer seems like something to through out flippantly, though I can tell you I thought a lot about death.  Not, in that I thought I would die, but thinking of those we love and their deaths.  What is the most painful it gets?  Will I have to know?  Will my loved ones?  Do any of us mean anything in the continuum?  There are twenty year olds who die of the flu.  Thirty year olds that wake up next to a deceased spouse.  It is unbearable to dwell on and so we try not to.  I try not to, but for how long?

Anywho, that is enough of that dreariness for now.  I am sure it will return.  Today, I am giving away Southern Lady Code, which I bought at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA (which I love).  I have a love/hate thing for all things Southern, which is really the only way to love the South reasonably, I think.  We have a dark, sad history, but we also have a lot of really strong, amazing people that have overcome, fought peacefully and hard, worked hard, shown bright.  There is a lot to love.  Fried okra, Flannery O'Connor, Angela Davis, Y'all, peaches, waterfalls.  

Helen Ellis and I had a very different experience growing up in the South, but I could see elements in there.  She was from Alabama and ended up in New York.  I was in Georgia and ended up in Georgia.  It did not bring me all the joy I had hoped for, but I know there are many ladies out there (many of them that I went to college with at Agnes Scott) that would find much to laugh about and relate to here.  I hand it off and hope it finds one of them.  

Far From the Madding Crowd

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Weight: 16 oz
Method of Disposal: Lending Library

My honey's mother bought me this book on her last visit.  I had read and loved Tess of the D'Urbervilles in college, but I have had lingering concern about being in a classroom of women who did not think Tess was raped.  I guess that later in my college career, I would be judged by my same peers in the same way.  I did not know that at the time.

We had been discussing what books I enjoyed reading, and she was asking me about British authors.  She agreed that Tess was incredibly sad, which is why she did not like it.  A few days later, before she left, she handed my Far From the Madding Crowd because I had not read it before.  She said it was not nearly as sad, and I guess it wasn't maybe.

As I read Thomas Hardy, I find myself believing that Mr. Hardy was a sympathizer of women, and that he saw the unfairness of their situation.  Sometimes, I wonder if he really, truly saw it or if he just wrote it how it was and still, all these years, later the truth shines through and now it is at a time where we can better see it.

Bathsheba was at times a frustrating character and made some dumb decisions that stood in stark contrast of her better ones, but she always just seemed young and not vicious.  I guess we are to be happy that Gabriel and Bathsheba ended up together, but I almost am not sure it was the true ending to this book.  I thought it was misery watching this young woman get pressured and misguided by two persistent men in her life.  I am surprised that by the time she had matured enough to be with a man she still liked a man at all.  And why did she seem like such a good business woman sometimes--she had to be to be a woman in that position--and the worst business woman ever--reacting to everything like a teenage girl? 

Any who, I love my honey's mom, and I love that she thinks of me and gives me such thoughtful gifts.  She is truly an artist.  She will just tell you that she is teaching me about the greatness of the Brits and maybe she is.

Affinity

Affinity by Sarah Waters
2002
Weight: 13.6 oz
Method of Disposal: Giving to a friend

My coworker brought me a book about lesbian women in history and demanded a book in return.  I brought her The Line Becomes a River book because, if you read that post, you will know I was deeply moved by it.  I also gave her Affinity because she was recently chatting on about Gentleman Jack and lesbian period pieces, and I could not help but wonder if she would get into Sarah Waters.  I am interested to know what she thinks, though I am second guessing if giving her Affinity was the best place to start.

It is one of her more dark, depressing, no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel novels.  I anxiously await her news.  Let's hope she has more time to read than I do!