A is a teenager living a most unusual life. A grows and learns and ages, but has no actual body of their own. Instead, they spend each day in a new host body. A does their best not to disturb the lives of those they “borrow” for the day, and generally A’s presence goes unnoticed, with memories of the borrowed day somewhat blurry. A always inhabits someone their own age and in the same geographical area as the day before, but otherwise circumstances vary wildly. A has been different genders, races, social classes, and states of health. Though A learns a lot about people through all these experiences, it is a very lonely life. Despite this, they are fairly happy. But then A meets Rhiannon and falls in love. Determined to continue seeing her, A starts taking risks and spilling secrets that may change everything.
This is a nice romance that explores the broader concepts of identity and the consequences of our actions in the lives of others. Wondering who A would be the next morning and how that would affect the story added an interesting twist to the reading. This is the first book in a set of three. A companion book, Another Day, examines this same story from Rhiannon’s point of view and the sequel, Someday, reveals that A is not the only body-traveler out there. The book was also adapted into a movie in 2018.
#Imomsohard ("I Mom So Hard") is a book written by two moms and YouTube sensations, Kristen Hensley and Jen Smedley, who "tell it like it is” in their videos about parenting. Meaning, they are completely truthful about everything-- not just the good, but the bad and the ugly, too! Using humor and wit, they recount some of their personal stories raising their sons and daughters. Not limited to just funny stories about labor and school lunches, they also speak directly to moms, encouraging them to call for help, to help one another, and-- more importantly-- to never judge a mom, because you just never know what they are going through.
The audiobook is read by the two authors and they are so fantastic to listen to! They bring their own personality and flare to the pages (or in this case discs) and talk to their readers/listeners as if we were all hanging out at dinner over appetizers. Listening to them talk about their life stories brings relief and humor to your own life, knowing that they’ve been through it all, too, and that moms are not alone in this journey.
Every day, in cities across the country, thousands of people are evicted from their homes. Eviction is traumatic for everyone, but for the extremely poor, it's a waking nightmare that runs on repeat. Evictions can make you lose your job (as you're forced to spend your day moving your belongings or trying to find a place to stay), they can make you ineligible for public housing, they can get you rejected by private landlords, they can force you to move into unsafe locations, they can make you impose on friends and family, they can force you to stay in homeless shelters, and on and on and on. The home is supposed to be the stable foundation of a person's life, and when they're forced out of it, it can uproot everything else along with it. This book delves into the lives of several Milwaukee residents, across a surprisingly wide spectrum of life experiences, who had their lives changed by eviction.
This book won its author a slew of prizes, including a Pulitzer, and with good reason. It's an intense collection of stories, many of them intertwined, giving you a heartfelt and crushing view of its subjects. If you're a fan of narrative nonfiction, this deep dive into the world of deep poverty and housing insecurity is one that will stick with you for a long time.
Herschel Grynszpan (pronounced "Greenspan") was a German-born Polish Jew living in Hanover with his family until, following the Nazis rise to power, his parents sent him to live with his aunt and uncle in Paris in 1935. Following his family’s forced deportation in 1938, and a deterioration of his relationship with his aunt and uncle, Grynszpan decided to act. On the morning of November 7th, 1938, Grynszpan purchased a gun and walked to the German Embassy, where he shot and killed a German official. Grynszpan was arrested, putting up no fight. The act was used as a pretext by the Nazis to launch Kristallnacht, their most vicious pogrom against the Jewish people. Grynszpan himself spent the entirety of World War II in enemy hands, awaiting a massive trial that never happened. The exact reasons why are the subject of theories and conspiracies, all of which are debated.
Grynszpan is something of an anomaly in history as, in spite of his importance, he is not well known. Hitler’s Pawn does a fantastic job of detailing his life, and the legacy which he left behind. Stephen Koch’s detail regarding the time Grynszpan spent in Nazi hands is particularly incredible, as is the reaction by Nazi officials to the assassination he perpetrated. The book reads, by and large, like a work of fiction following a central character, though that does call into question whether or not some portions are dramatized or guesswork by the author. If you are looking for something fresh about World War II, though, this book is definitely for you.
