A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith x 2

1998

Weight: 15 oz

Method of Disposal: Giving one to a friend and one to my Mom

This book was recommended to me by a dear friend who I used to work with at Waldenbooks.  I ended up with more than one copy, and I decided to read it while home sick with COVID.  Many years after I was told to read it.  It was great, and I recommend it.  I can see why it is a classic.  It is the story of a working class  Irish American family surviving and living in the city, and it focuses on the young girl, Frankie, who we watch grow up.  Frankie is incredibly lovable, and all the characters in the book are complex and interesting because of it.  Her dad is an alcoholic, but he is not someone we hate, because how could we? Frankie loves him so much, as does his wife and her mom.  They have no money, but the mom has a strong determination and work ethic and moral compass, which she shares with her children.  It is good.  You should try it.

The Sirens of Titan

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
1998
Weight: 9.6 oz
Method of Disposal: Lending Library

Did I mention I love Kurt Vonnegut?  He nailed it every single time.  I love the way he thought and makes us think.  Timeless can sound trite but, in his case, it is just the truth.  I am grateful,all the time, that he was so prolific.  This book includes a large mastiff, space travel, and a drum roll that sounds like,

"Rented a tent, a tent, a tent;
Rented a tent, a tent
Rented a tent!
Rented a tent!
Rented a , rented a tent!"

I suggest you read it and everything else Vonnegut wrote.

Do Not Deny Me

Do Not Deny Me: Stories Jean Thompson
2009
Weight:9.6 oz
Method of Disposal: Left on Bainbridge Island in front of the grocery store

I want to write this whole blog about how amazing Do Not Deny me is, because it is so very amazing.  The first story brings you in strong and the last story ends strong.  You are not flipping any pages trying to see when it will end.  I am in love with the way she presents American dysfunction, and I cannot wait to get my hands on her book, Throw Like a Girl.

Unfortunately, that is all I can say on that right now.  I am far more focused on the fact that two black men were shot dead in the United States in the past two days.  Philando Castile and Alton Sterling.  Two more names to add to an incredibly long list of black people killed in this country unjustly.  Two more human beings with family, friends, loved ones who are most likely mourning, scared, and confused right now.  How do you make sense of a death like that?  Some of us can turn it into a cause or movement, some of us will be debilitated from it for some time, and some people cannot risk doing either of those things.  Some people have lost the people they love and they should not have to fight this fight.   We need to stand behind them, support them, affirm that black lives matter.  Don't be quiet in your discomfort.  This has got to change.