 Icelandic cafe decor. These are color coordinated books that look cool, but the books have been cut away about 3 inches from the spine so that they can be displayed. The bookshelves don't need to be full sized this way, but the books are unreadable.
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 What is a Girl Worth? Rachel Denhollander. 2019. What is a Girl Worth? This is the memoir of Rachael Denhollander, who is the mastermind and driving force behind the finally successful prosecution of Larry Nasser. There is a lot to love about this book. The description of her sexual abuse is explicit, but given the circumstances, it had to be for the reader to really understand the level of sophistication that this pedophile had. On the down side, I was disappointed about how little she talked about her own healing. She comes from an evangelical Christian perspective and, despite a prior history of sex abuse within her church, she found solace in the church and scripture pretty much just skims over any complexity from this respect. There are a couple of places where she alludes to more complexity around her relationships and her sexuality, but for the most part she dodges these questions. It makes the book feel like it is written more to raise awareness about grooming and the problematic access that is given to powerful men over young girls in athletics, which of course is an important theme for a particular audience. I was disappointed she wasn't more open about her own healing because I think there is dearth of literature out there providing guidance about how to heal from child sex abuse and I see this as a missed opportunity for survivors to get a glimpse of one way that can be done. That said, if you can get by the trite religious messaging that occasionally crops up, I high recommend that everyone read this. If you ever wondering how a serial pedophile can get away with decades of abuse with hundreds of targets, you won't wonder after reading this. RECOMMEND.
 We are Out Mothers' Daughters. Cokie Roberts. 1998. We are Our Mothers. Following Cokie Robert's death this month, I read what I thought was going to be her memoir. It was, indeed, a memoir, but at least half of the book seemed to be a summary of general American women's history. This was interesting, but because it was basically a survey, I found those parts a distraction from learning about her life. I tried to be mindful that it was written in 1998, but alas even this did not save it for me. Skip.
Up next, What is a Girl Worth by Rachel Denhollander who is the attorney who broke open the Larry Nasser/USA Gymnastic scandal. Yes, I know this is two non-fiction in a row and, even worse, two memoirs in a row, but so be it. If anyone has a good suggestion for a novel for next, I am open to that.  The Peripheral. Williams Gibson. 2014. The Peripheral. This book came highly recommended from several sources. It's a time travel, alternative universal story line that does not fall into many of the common plotting traps that occur in this genre. But I did not love it. The post-apocalyptic future was of course dark and depressing, as one might expect, but the generic future might have been worse in terms of dismal outlook. The whole thing made me want to get the poor author on some anti-depressants pronto and give him a big hug. To the extent that there was supposed to be a happy ending that tied things together, it was too little too late for me. Not recommended.
Tess: I follow the author on Twitter (the fabulous William Gibson), and he in fact does call himself @greatdismal  The Path Made Clear. Oprah Winfrey. 2019. The Path Made Clear. Oprah's new book, which she reads, is short and an easy read for sure. It is very self-helpy and in some areas kind of falls into triteness, but other parts were actually inspiring and reflect on what makes life worth living and what makes one worthy to live. What makes a life that has meaning and how do we find that meaning and stay on a path we are called to follow? A nice, light read if you are looking for that. Soft recommend.
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AuthorI'll read anything a friend recommends & I love telling people what I think about it. Every year, I read 50 books recommended by 50 different friends. Welcome to My 50 Bookish Friends Blog. SearchCategories
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