She Rides, by Alenka Vrecek, is a memoir sent to me by my dear friend and bookologist, Stephanie Affinito. Stephanie is amazing at curating book lists for people to help them live their best life, discover something new about themselves, work through personal issues, or simply learn new things. She read this book and immediately thought of me because of my epic adventure riding across the US on a tandem bicycle. (If you didn't know about this adventure, you can read my blog here: http://doublebuttedadventures.wordpress.com)
Alenka's decision to ride from Lake Tahoe to her property in Mexico was different from my own reasons for riding. However, we were both looking to heal ourselves from trauma and make sense of a world that didn't make a lot of sense. Just as importantly, we both succeeded and came out the other side with a greater understanding. Because I have been on an adventure like this, I spoke to Alenka out loud on many occasions. "NO! Don't ride in the dark!" or "Are you crazy??? You have to take more water than that!" I also laughed with her, cried with her, and agreed with so many of her "ah-ha" moments, especially when she comes to understand that people are generally good. That was one of my biggest takeaways from our trip. Even if you are not a cyclist or even an adventure seeker, I think you will get a lot from her words. We all need to heal, explore, and understand. She Rides will help you do all three.
0 Comments
Libertie, written by Katilyn Greenidge, is a book suggested to me as a way to honor Juneteenth. Because of my crazy schedule, I wasn't able to read it prior to the holiday, but I did want to read it for a variety of reasons, including supporting a black author and seeing the time period during and after slavery from a different point of view.
The story takes place outside of Brooklyn in a free-black community prior to, during, and shortly after the Civil War. I learned quite a lot about what "free" meant and didn't mean to those of color. I had always assumed that free blacks in the North were treated no differently than anyone else. However, this was not true. And because Libertie was a girl, soon to be woman, the lack of freedom was considerably less. I will be frank and say that I had trouble relating to Libertie and her mama, as well as the angst between them, though the author painted the picture beautifully with her words. I wanted Libertie to stop being a whiner. I wanted her mama to stop being so controlling. On the other hand, isn't that often the way it seems to be between a teenager and her mother? I loved the ending - and who Libertie becomes in the end. I'm glad I read the book and will look for others that look at this time period, especially those written from various points of view. If you read Libertie, I'd love to hear your thoughts. |
AuthorTeri M Brown, author of An Enemy Like Me and Sunflowers Beneath the Snow connects readers with characters they'd love to invite to lunch. Follow the Blog Using the RSS Feed link below:
Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|