Charity's Reading Log

People of the Book by Gwendolyn Brooks - Our last Rival Reader selection of the year and another New York Times Bestseller, I was ensnared in the web the author so vividly creates as she tells the story of one small book over the course of the history of an entire people. A little known book, a little known culture, and a well-known people combine in a story of historical fiction that had me learning a lot more than I had expected.

The Haggadah, a Jewish prayer book, is the piece of art we follow across Europe through the eyes of Hannah, the Austrailian book perserver hired to document its history, as well as each person the book came into contact with during its long and vivid history traveling through Europe. Each item and stain Hannah finds then results in the story of how that particular item came to be a part of the book. From Italy to Sarajevo, the book traveled with its people, following them through the persecution in each place the settled.

Brooks took a little known subject and made it come alive for me. Although the persecution of the Jewish people has been well-documented, their persecution outside of Germany has not been. It was incredibly enlightening to learn more about how the Jews have always been an outcast people, not just in Germany.


Three Little Words: a memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter - Finally! A book I've been waiting to read since I purchased it! Having read my last book club selection for the year, I devoured this memoir in just one day. The story of a young girl who is shuffled through the foster system in Florida, this is a compelling story of her overcoming the incompetence of the system to become a successful and well-adjusted individual. Not all stories wind up like hers, and over and over again she points that out through the stories of others she met along the way, even through the story of her brother. Ashely finds a home and is adopted by a loving and nurtering family. With their help and love, she fights back against the system and those who harmed her most, and became a positive role-model for other foster children. Through her deft ablitity to write and speak, she gained a forum to reach many across the nation to inspire them to take action and find children homes instead of just shuttling them in and out of unqualified foster homes.