Shelley’s Comments (group member since Sep 29, 2020)

Shelley’s comments from the Challenging Perspectives group.

Not going to get to this one right now, but it will remain on my TBR list. Hopefully, I will get to this in 2023.

I took a deep dive into books by Native authors in October/November. Now I'm struggling to figure out what I am in the mood for, but it does not seem to be non-fiction at the moment.

Happy holidays and best wishes for 2023.

Not going to get to this one right now, but it will remain on my TBR list. Hopefully, I will get to this in 2023.

I took a deep dive into books by Native authors in October/November. Now I'm struggling to figure out what I am in the mood for, but it does not seem to be non-fiction at the moment.

Happy holidays and best wishes for 2023.

What was your reaction to this book? Did the book challenge your thoughts regarding race? Was there anything in particular that you liked or disliked about the book and/or its subject matter?

What was your reaction to this book? Did the book challenge your thoughts regarding race? Was there anything in particular that you liked or disliked about the book and/or its subject matter?

This book is a collection of stories by a variety of Native authors. The central theme that brings them together is a pow wow that all of the main characters attend.

Each story is told from a different character's perspective. Each character is dealing with real life issues. The book is full of resilience and hope.

This is collection of fictional works. I would recommend it to upper elementary and middle school readers.

I actually finished Braiding Sweetgrass a while back. This was a wonderful listen. You can hear the author's love for plants and animals, and people, as she reads. While we come from different belief systems, we share common values. So, it was fascinating for to listen to someone who actively tries to live out her values in ways that would seem absurd to many, if not most, of the people I know.

This book is written as a series of essays, which makes it great for someone who can read a chapter and reflect on it before moving on. Unfortunately, I am more of a binge reader at this point in my life. Hopefully, I will someday take the time to reread this book and consider its content more intentionally.

Kaitlin B. Curtice is the daughter of a Native American father and a white mother. The book tells how she grew up in the white Christian church without an understanding of what it meant to be native in America. In it, the author discusses what she has learned about the history of her native ancestors and their culture and the challenges she faces in embracing this identity in the US and in the Christian church. It is an interesting and challenging read.

This book pairs nicely with both of our October 2022 reads Firekeeper's Daughter and Braiding Sweetgrass.

This is a non-fiction book.

I just picked this one back up. My loan expired before I made it very far the first time. So far, it is very interesting.

I finished this about a month ago and really enjoyed it. The book contains quite a bit of dark subject matter (e.g. drug addiction, rape), but it does not leave the reader feeling hopeless. Having only read a few books dealing with the challenge of racial identity for a biracial person, I found it refreshing that the main character embraced both identities, even though there was more emphasis placed on her native identity in the book. Because of this emphasis, the book provided insight into a culture with which I am unfamiliar.

What was your reaction to this book? Did the book challenge your thoughts regarding Native Americans? Was there anything in particular that you liked or disliked about the book and/or its subject matter?

What was your reaction to this book? Did the book challenge your thoughts regarding Native Americans? Was there anything in particular that you liked or disliked about the book and/or its subject matter?

Shelley wrote: "

...this book did a great job of putting me in the position of the minority. It was very interesting to gain that perspective..."

If you loved this book, a sequel (The World We Make) is expected out in November 2022. Sci-fi is not my thing, but I may have to give this one a try due to the cultural insights gained from the first book.

As we have done in the past, our November reads will also be our December reads, giving everyone extra time during what for many is a busy and stressful season.

My schedule is very full for the rest of September and most of October, so instead of taking nominations and setting up polls, I will select two or three books for this period.

Finally, this group will be likely become inactive after 12/31/2022. While I do not plan to delete the group, I also do not anticipate continuing to moderate it in 2023 due to other commitments.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined this group, whether your participated actively or passively or just watched from afar. I have learned a lot from Moderating the group and have read a large number of books that have challenged my perspectives, sometimes in unexpected ways. I sincerely hope you have benefited as well.

This was an interesting and eye-opening read. I would not recommend it to anyone who struggles to read books containing violence, as there are multiple passages that are difficult to contend with.

The author's struggle to define her identity was educational. As someone with a pretty clear cultural identity, it is hard for me to understand how a person can be torn between two different identities and why they struggle to claim both. Other parts of her memoir, such as being a working mother, were much easier to relate to.

It was fascinating to hear about major events of my lifetime from the viewpoint of someone directly and significantly impacted by them. Many of the cultural and political events discussed in the book were familiar to me, but sadly, no more directly impactful than famines in Africa or earthquakes in Haiti. I regret the lack of understanding on my part.

I DNF'd this one. After reading a lot of difficult material lately, I just couldn't get into this one. Unfortunately, I seem to be looking for fiction that is lighter or more action oriented than this right now.

This is a book about what makes people successful. If you enjoy books about successful people, what they do, and why they do it, you may enjoy this book. It is a book I would have read regardless of the authors identity, simply because it is a subject I am drawn to.

I did not learn anything new about what it is like to be the child of immigrants or to be Asian in the US. While those types of insight are what started me down the road of reading books by non-white authors, they are not the only reason I continue on this path. Since beginning to intentionally read authors who are in some way different from me, I have heard from multiple sources that the majority of authors are white men and that it is much harder to get published if that is not your identity. Thus, I hope that reading and discussing books by non-white authors will demonstrate interest in a greater diversity of authors to the publishing industry.

This is a non-fiction book.

Clint Smith takes the reader on a tour of US monuments, landmarks, and historical sites, as well as to Senegal, to explore each location's relationship to slavery. The book is very much about how the author, a descendant of slaves, experienced these present-day locations. It describes the tours he took and conversations with people who work at the various locations and other visitors to those locations. Woven into the narrative is the author's research on the locations and key historical figures and events related to them.

Do not skip the epilogue to this book, where the author describes a visit to a national museum with his two remaining grandparents and the conversations he had with them afterward.

This is a non-fiction book.

This book has been on my radar for quite a while, but I was hesitant to read it, as I did not love the one other book I have read by this author. What I dreaded is essentially the summary of this book . . . it is a tragic story of two very different young girls who become best friends and are separated by life and marriage as they grow up.

Why I recommend this book is the great detail it contains regarding a culture I had never heard about. Jeju island is very different from any place I have been or read about. In addition, the book spans decades and provides a brief history of the island prior to the events of the story.

This book is fiction.

This book is a memoir by a Vietnamese immigrant who arrived in the US as a toddler. It reminded me of Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong and Everyday is a Gift by Tammy Duckworth. Those two books were quite different in tone, and House of Sticks falls somewhere in between.

This book is non-fiction.

This was a very worthwhile read. I had forgotten that John Lewis was a pastor. He spoke about his faith often throughout the book. I would definitely recommend this book to Christians, and others, who find themselves responding to other people (individuals or groups) with anger or hostility.

While Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America was published 10 years ago, its message is still relevant today. Although most of the examples are taken from the Civil Rights era, the author quotes a variety of world leaders and mentions events and other movements throughout the world. The book provides encouragement and guidance to readers wanting to take action to make real change in the world.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that I would recommend reading this book with a pen and paper (or other note taking tool) nearby. The author mentions a lot of people, places, and events, some of which I had not heard of and would like to learn more about.

Also, it is worth noting that the approach taken by many people involved in the Civil Rights movement was drastically different than the actions we commonly see modeled by leaders and activists in the news today.