What I’m Reading (12.19.22)

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Fiction • 2022

Oh, I had such high expectations for this book! I expected to love it because many of my most trusted sources loved this book. But it was just not for me. This novel is about Sadie and Sam, who meet as children and then fall out of touch, only to find each other many years later on a crowded subway platform. It’s through this chance encounter that they set on a course that will change their lives: to make a video game together which may be just as appealing as 비트코인 카지노. This video game catapults them to stardom and fame, and we follow the reverberations of this decision to collaborate through the rest of the novel. There were times when I thought this book was brilliant. The way Zevin played with literary tropes and used the nuances of video games to tell a story was genius. But mostly, I was bored by the novel. I don’t care about video games and there was just so much to slog through when it came to that. Yes, the book is about way more than video games, and I appreciated the exploration of characters and their relationships, but man, there was still a lot of video game talk and I was so bored by it. It also seemed like a lot of the issues that arose between the characters centered around miscommunication and not fully expressing what they needed, and it was so frustrating to witness scene after scene of these characters just not communicating. Tell people what you want! It’s just hard for me to really engage with characters who are being obtuse like that. All in all, not the book I was hoping it would be, but I’m glad this book is resonating with other people!

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

Audiobook• Libby • Nonfiction • 2017

Every time I think I’ve dug to the bottom of the well that is the United States’ racist history, something else comes along to remind me that there is so much more I have to learn and so much that has been buried. In this book, Richard Rothstein outlines all of the ways that our government intervened to make sure housing was segregated. Ever wonder why it seems like there’s the “good” part of a city where all the white people live and the “ghetto” where the Black people live? It’s not because Black people can’t afford to live in the other part of the city. It’s not because that’s where they want to live. It’s because they have been systematically disenfranchised by our government. It is because our government enacted laws and ordinances to keep Black people segregated. I took a ton of notes as I listened to this audiobook. I was truly astonished by some of these facts (and not surprising; at the end of the book, Rothstein discusses how this part of our history was hidden in school textbooks):

• If a white person had an address located in a majority-Black neighborhood, life insurance companies would refuse to sell them policies, forcing them to move to majority-white neighborhoods.
• Some county laws would prohibit builders from building houses if they weren’t specifically stated to be for whites only. There were many builders who wanted to build integrated housing but they routinely found themselves unable to get the permits they needed and new laws would be enacted that prohibited them from building integrated housing.
• Let’s talk about our interstate highway system for a minute! Did you know that these highways demolished homes in Black neighborhoods? Black people would find themselves without a home, and the government enacted no laws or programs to help people whose homes were destroyed so that highways could be built where they used to stand. And, of course, these highways largely benefitted white people, giving them an easier way to get to and from work.
• When Black people moved into majority-white neighborhoods, they were harassed repeatedly by mobs and even police officers. They would graffiti their property, throw rocks through their windows, break into their homes, and much worse. This was happening as recently as the 1980s.
• The GI bill was supposed to help men coming home from the war find jobs and find homes. Unfortunately, most Black men coming home didn’t benefit from the GI bill as anyone with a dishonorable discharge was excluded. Black people were given dishonorable discharges at twice the rate of white men.
• From 1973-1980, Black people’s incomes decreased by 1% while home prices increased by 43%. Over the next decade, wages again fell by 1% while home prices again increased by 8%. And since Black people are routinely passed over for skilled, higher-paying jobs, their earning potential has been greatly limited when compared to white people.

I grew up poor. I grew up being evicted from apartment homes, mostly due to my father’s addiction issues and inability to contribute to the family’s finances. But one thing I never had to worry about: Being excluded from certain areas of town because of our skin color. We were able to find new apartments easily because we were white. That was our privilege.

Three Nights with a Scoundrel by Tessa Dare

E-Book • Libby • Historical Romance • 2010

This book was a satisfying conclusion to Dare’s Stud Club trilogy. Julian has been a bit of a villain in previous novels, but I loved the way Dare brought his character full circle in this novel. The heroine of this novel, Lily, is the sister of a former Stud Club member who was murdered at the beginning of the series, a murder that was intended for Julian. For Julian, even though he has feelings for Lily, it’s more important to keep her protected. But Lily, who also fell in love with Julian a long time ago, just wants him to come home to her. It’s a beautiful love story and was just one of those easy, fun romances that doesn’t require too much brainpower but makes me feel good while I’m reading it.

What are you reading?