This one really spoke to me. If you enjoyed Hillbilly Elegy, Educated, or Rising Out of Hatred, then you will devour this book.
Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope by Megan Phelps-Roper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars This memoir gave me the shivers and spoke to my heart and soul in ways that will forever cement it in a place of honor on my reading list. Megan Phelps-Roper grew up in the most notorious and hated religious sect in the nation - Westboro Baptist Church. Known for picketing soldiers' funerals and outrageous signs spouting homophobic and anti-Semitic slogans, church members also rejoiced at the AIDS epidemic, celebrity deaths, natural disasters, and all other manner of tragedy as proof that the rest of the country and world is doomed for a fate of Hell-fire and damnation simply for not being a Westboro believer. Megan left the church at the age of 27 in 2012, and was forced to sever ties with her family and the only life she ever knew. A seed of doubt grew slowly inside her until she couldn't rationalize the church's beliefs and intolerance any more. She grew to be incredibly brave, intelligent, and independent in thought. She's also remorseful for the ways in which her church's hatred has altered people's lives and hurt them in immeasurable ways. One of the most surprising things I learned about her grandfather and Westboro founder, Fred Phelps, was that before he started his crusade against gays, he was a highly respected and successful civil rights leader. In addition, the entire Phelps family is highly intelligent and many of them are lawyers. This part of the family history was fascinating to me. How can these intelligent people so blindly follow a religion so steeped in hatred? There's a certain type of child, very often female, who grows up to believe that she just has to be good and follow the rules. Even when logic defies this need, the desire to be good and tow the line trumps everything. When you combine that personality and the indoctrination of following orders and religious belief without question, you find a dangerous brew of power struggle and judgment. Megan does not look back with reciprocal hatred for the family and community that now shuns her. While her parents may not have been perfect, the family's love for one another was soft and authentic. She reveres those memories as they were comforting, special, and made her who she is. The other special part of this book is how the kindness of others is a part of what eventually lit the tiniest flames of doubt within Megan's mind. Megan was big into social media and arguing with non-Westboro people around the world. It was people who respectfully disagreed with her but still treated her with love online who made her question her church's vision. After leaving, she quickly discovers there are good people everywhere, and their religion doesn't define whether or not they deserve kindness and respect. People of all religions, or none at all, can and do have goodness and light. This theme reminded me of another big emotional book, Rising Out of Hatred by Saslow, where a white nationalist learns the error of his upbringing through the kindness of a Jewish college student and South American immigrant. The feel of Unfollow is also prevalent in Hillbilly Elegy and Educated. The quote Phelps-Roper used at the beginning is really the best way to end this review as it covers all of this book's vibe so perfectly. "Reserving judgment is a matter of infinite hope." F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. View all my reviews
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I heard about this case in the news when the story broke and was always interested to find out why this happened. How did these children find the bravery to endure and eventually escape?
The Family Next Door: The Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the Thirteen Turpin Siblings and Their Extraordinary Rescue by John Glatt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars The story of the Turpin family is bizarre and outrageously awful. Louise and David Turpin are selfish, sadistic, and despicable people. They chose to have tons of children and reveled in the facade of a happy family in staged photos and social media posts. Initially touting a pious devotion to religion and later just due to sheer self-interest, David and Louise subject their children to torture, starvation, extreme neglect, physical and mental abuse, humiliation, and various other forms of abuse. They deprived the children of an education under the guise of running a homeschool facility. Severe malnutrition would cause many serious lifelong effects for all of the Turpin children. Louise herself suffered childhood trauma that clearly had an impact on her mental health. One of the older girls eventually escapes and calls 911 leading to their rescue. The author explains many instance where neighbors or family could have tried harder to help the hidden Turpin children. There were lots of signs but no one wanted to interfere and try a little harder to figure out why the Turpin children were so thin and so pale. Their imprisonment could have been shortened if someone had just gotten involved. It's a terribly sad story but hopeful as the Turpin children - both adult and minor - are moving forward with their lives. The one thing that really bothers me about the writing in this book is the author's detailed explanations of what everyone is wearing. There are times when its vital to establish characterization or the scene in general and is fully appropriate, but other times when the descriptions are so tedious, they just become a distraction. View all my reviews
I love sad memoirs. I could read them one after another. I'm not a sad person; I'm just drawn to stories of people who face hardship. I love to learn about the human experience and hopefully take little pieces of them with me so that when I also face struggles, I'm just a little bit better equipped to get through them. These stories layer themselves inside me, softening the way I understand the world, and while I can't claim to comprehend their experiences, I can at the very least use them to frame my attempts.
My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward by Mark Lukach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars Mark and Giulia had a fairytale romance and marriage. Seemingly out of the blue, Giulia suffers a psychotic break characterized by religions delusions and suicidal ideations that lands her in a psychiatric ward for nearly a month. Mark's account of Giulia's initial breakdown, diagnoses, and subsequent hospital stays is heartbreaking and honest. Mark talks about how it impacts Giulia's job, family, personality, and their marriage. Mark also talks candidly about his own selfishness and how Giulia's mental health impacts his ability to lead a normal life. Giulia's hospital stays affect his ability to work, his own mental health, and his ability to lead a productive, fulfilling life. Not only does Giulia suffer, but their marriage and love for each other is constantly put to the test. I found this book to be incredibly sad, but it also gave me perspectives on mental health that I didn't full understand before. I particularly liked when Mark was inspired to create a plan with Giulia when she was feeling well so that they each had limits and wants clearly outlined before the psychosis took away Giulia's ability to make those calls on her own. This book certainly gave me pause to think more about those suffering within the shell of psychosis and how terrifying and helpless everyone around them must feel. View all my reviews Prologue
I promised the girls we would go do something special together this weekend, and we settled on glow bowling. I ended up getting a mild stomach virus on Friday and spent the evening curled up in the fetal position on the couch with cramps. I had booked a lane for Saturday evening and knew they would be really disappointed if we didn't go. So I felt mostly better Saturday afternoon and decided to chance it. I packed a trusty box of Immodium and got through the evening feeling relieved that if I crapped my pants, at least the place was dark, and I could slink out of there without anyone knowing. I'm happy to report that I walked out with clean clothes and a memory of a fun night unmarred by the stomach bug's vengeance.
Turning Pages
Rocky Springs is located in Lancaster on Millport Road. In addition to bowling lanes, they have laser tag and an arcade. They also have a restaurant and bar called Red Pin Bar & Grill. I had drinks there before with friends but didn't try the food. It's a nice, small restaurant and much nicer than what you would normally expect for a bowling alley.
They have glow bowling every weekend evening from 4pm to close. The girls loved the atmosphere. They have giant TV screens with music videos playing and loud music thumping through the building. My youngest was baffled by the big hair in the 80s music videos. You can have food delivered directly to your lane, but we didn't get anything this time. This place is clean and had a steady stream of people coming in to enjoy a fun night out. This is a perfect family fun night or a different kind of place to hang with friends for some drinks and laughs.
I can't think of anything glowing without immediately thinking of both the historical fiction YA book, Glow, and the nonfiction Radium Girls that follows below. I enjoyed both of these books so much and couldn't stop thinking about the brave women who worked for these companies who cared nothing for their well-being. Company owners were presented with evidence time and time again of the harm that radium was causing their employees, and they choose to do nothing except cover it up and continue to deceive their workers and the public. It's a shameful time in history but one full of lessons and the courageous bravery of so many women who stood up to save those that followed in their footsteps.
Glow by Megan E. Bryant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Glow made me so interested to learn more about the Radium Girls who were exposed to toxic amounts of radium while painting watch dials in a factory. The horrific ways these women died and the disgusting, shameful way the radium companies tried to hide the dangers by blaming the women’s health problems on syphillis is incredibly sad. This historical fiction book did exactly what it set it to do by sucking me in and making me want to learn more. I appreciated the author’s note at the end as well. View all my reviews
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars The horrifying story of the women who worked in the radium dial factories captivated me from page one. These women were told that everything was safe. They continued painting watch dials with radium paint, twirling the bristles in their mouths, and went home each night with the luminous material shining in their hair and on their clothing and bodies. They were repeatedly lied to and the dangers of radium were concealed as more and more women complained of aches and pains, loose teeth, and rotting jawbones. Even as doctors, dentists, and lawyers began to fight for these women, the radium companies still did not admit their wrongs or ever offer help as a sense of humane obligation. The radium girls lived in constant agony - miscarriages, tumors, amputations, etc. - but still they fought the companies and the radium eating holes in their bones. Many women died with no knowledge of what caused their gruesome suffering, and families were told it was caused by STDs or women's hysteria. Just as a reader, I was endlessly frustrated with the years of litigation and legal technicalities so I can't even begin to imagine what these families suffered as they watched their mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters wither away with no one taking responsibility for their poisoning. Highly recommend. View all my reviews |
AuthorTravel All the Pages is inspired by my two loves - travel and reading, a combo I can't resist. Enjoy these little pairings. Archives
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