Reading for Me

Reading has been slow this week again. I am finding a lot of relaxation in other activities. Plus, reading pulls me into my thoughts. With the unrest that has settled in our nation this week as well as saying goodbye to a high school colleague, spending time with my imagination was not a healthy place to be. So I’ve made limited progress in my reading. I’m hoping that will change in the new week.

I have continued to work through Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer. I have about 200 pages left to go as the adventure continues to center around mistaken identities in New York City and British POWs in Nazi Germany. It’s a fun read despite the settings and the era. I’m anxious to see how things are going to turn out for Harry Clifton and his friends.

I finally admitted to myself this week that reading The Grapes of Wrath was just not a good idea right now. There’s too much sadness and depression in society at the moment that I don’t need to contemplate more hopelessness in Steinbeck’s writing. Perhaps I’ll revisit it later, but for now it is going back on the shelf. When I finally made that decision, I knew I needed to add something else to my reading schedule.

Since I don’t have a large selection available at the moment, I decided to check out some YA novels as ebooks. That’s when I settled on The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I first, I was afraid that this novel would also be too heavy for the moment. I’ve read the first four chapters and I am totally engrossed. You will see why it is an important read for this day. It is the story of Starr Carter, a young African-American girl. While she and her friend, Khalil, are driving home from a local party in the ghetto, they are stopped by a white policeman. The officer becomes upset and forces the male driver from the car. The officer returns to his car to check Khalil’s license and registration but first tells the young black man not to move. Khalil opens the driver’s side door to check on Starr. Shots are fired and Khalil is dead on the pavement. The incident appears to have been unprovoked, but there are rumors that Khalil was selling drugs and may have been under suspicion of possession. Starr must now deal with the trauma of seeing her friend die and decide if she can trust the very ones who have sworn to protect and serve her community. As you can see, it is a riveting read in our current climate. I anticipate that this book will be a quick read because I am so eager to see what happens next. However, I also want to make sure that I maintain a pace where I can contemplate the ideas that Ms. Thomas is raising.

Keep a watch out on the blog this week. In addition to updating on my last two reads (still!), I hope to finish both books before the end of the week. We’ll see how that works out…

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