Dreams From my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

I'm so sorry for the delay in updating, everyone! It's been a crazy busy week and an extraordinarily dense book, but I did it, I made it through!

reading next: Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty

Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
written by Barack Obama



While the writing style was very honest and quite powerful at points, at times it just got unnecessarily wordy and unbelievably dense. I was looking for more of a lifetime memoir, more personal thoughts, rather than what is essentially one long essay on his family roots. I wanted to hear about him, not his slightly distant family. Auma was the only one I could really tolerate. I wonder if any, if not all, of the fake names have been revealed since his presidency became a reality. I also wonder what happened to the people who at any point doubted his abilities. What are they thinking of him now? This really is the part of his story that you will definitely not get in the news. I didn't know any of this about him, other than the whole "abandoned father" bit, so this was, in that way, really enlightening. I was glad to hear his idea about having "sacred stories", life events that make us tick and provide better understanding of a person--but I don't think those were the focus of the book, as they should have been. I did enjoy reading the "six years later" bit at the end, but overall, I think maybe I should go read The Audacity of Hope and find a better story there.

Rating: 4/5

I got this book from...:Chatham University's library

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University
written by Kevin Roose



I'm quite certain that if anyone was to ever ask me what the scariest book I've ever read was, this will be my answer. The ideas contained inside this book are not for the faint-hearted (or maybe, the liberal-minded). The book is one surprise after another, terrifying ones for the most part. First shock--at the time of his experience at Liberty, Kevin Roose was only 19 years old. That takes guts. The idea of an evangelical university is scary enough to think about, but actually reading about what goes on behind the scenes is mind-numbing. It is difficult to believe that this stuff is real. Liberty University is a training ground for ignorance and misjudgment. While some of the material is presented by Roose in a comical way, it's a grave mistake to take this book lightly. Shallow friendships with his classmates make sense. Deeper connections do not. It was reassuring to learn that there are some Democrats and closeted gays attending Liberty, but they are still in a great minority position. I have so much that I morally cannot condone that goes on in this book, and you probably don't want to hear that ranting, but suffice to say, this was a highly frightening but very eye-opening book for me. It was interesting to see Roose's thoughts and beliefs evolve throughout the book, although I was very glad he didn't end up converting or anything. It's an amazing concept behind the experiment, and definitely worth the read if you're ever interested in the horrifying world of evangelical Christianity.

Rating: 4.5/5

A Rip in Heaven

A Rip in Heaven
written by Jeanine "Tink" Cummins



I'm so glad this wasn't one of those books where a murder occurs and it tears the family apart. The Cumminses are a great group, you can tell, the way their family only grew stronger through everything. The book reads like a mystery and memoir simultaneously, and the emotions felt by all the characters are very powerful--and absolutely interesting. The courtroom drama to it all was pretty neat, again, I was really glad it was courtroom drama and not family drama. It slightly ticked me off that it wasn't until the trial that we learned that Julie had a best friend--way to not focus on someone else this directly affected. The other thing that weirded me out was that Tink, the author, referred to herself in the third person. This would be slightly bearable, except whenever something happens that directly affected her in the story, she interjects her thoughts and draws attention to the fact that she is the one writing this, which made reading the book a little awkward and annoying at times. Tink was extremely brave to actually take the time to write this, not as a publicity stunt, but for her own personal healing as well as justice to Robin and Julie. The last two paragraphs of the book are some of the best, most powerfully honest, pieces of writing I have ever had the pleasure to read. It's a fantastic memoir that, at times, moves along a little slowly, but is well worth the read.

Rating: 4/5

(And the other thing that creeped me out? The murders, they happened on my birthday, the exact date and year.)