Baby vs blog

Where has the time gone? Months ago, I over-optimistically promised I'd post several books before transforming into Gramma. But it turned out that even a gramma-in-waiting can be inexplicably busy. And once baby was born, holding a book was not my first choice!

Baby or books?

• Change Image

  GrandBaby
• Change Image

  GreatBooks

But better late than never, here is what I remember from several books I read before November 2024. A common thread in these books is RESISTANCE.

The Past is Myself

by Christabel Bielenberg

1968, Chatto & Windus

Reflection: Understanding history can help us avoid repeating the past.

It's Autumn 1939, and Christabel Bielenberg, the daughter of an English Lord, is in Germany where she lives with her German husband, Peter Bielenberg. She's having a cheerful telephone conversation with her family in England who will be coming to visit her soon, bringing items forgotten during her last visit home, like her Burberry coat.

But two days later, Hitler marches his troops into Poland, saying he has "lost patience."

War took place of Christabel's family visit, a war with her husband on one side (although opposed to Hitler) and her brothers on the other.

As an English woman who lived in Germany during WWII, Bielenberg's perspective is unique. Recounting her life from 1934 through the Spring of 1945, The Past is Myself can be seen partly as a memoir of ways to resist injustice. The book is well written, intriguing, and easy to follow. I'd like to read the sequel The Road Ahead, published in 1992, about the author's post-war years.

Paradise of the Blind 

by Duong Thu Huong

1988, The Women's Publishing House, Vietnam

Reflection: Being aware of the suffering of others can help us improve our own lives and those of others.

First published in Vietnam in 1988, before being banned due to its criticism of Communism, Paradise of the Blind was the first Vietnamese novel to be published in the USA (1993). The story, which takes place in the 1980s, paints an excoriating picture of Vietnamese Communism while also portraying the plight of women in a traditionally patriarchal society.

More information on the story here,

and on the author Duong Thu Huong here.

A sentence I liked:

"...I...don't believe in the cults and rites. But the affection between two human beings is something I will always hold sacred." p 250

All American Boys

by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

2015, Atheneum Books

Reflection: We can be courageous and fight injustice.

A book for young adults but not only, All American Boys beats out a strong message against brutality and racism and for standing up for what is right, even when your friends and family don't agree with you. One of the main characters must grapple with the racist, violent behavior of someone he loves.

I became interested in Jason Reynolds when I saw him in the 2023 documentary Judy Blume Forever. He seemed to really care about being truthful. He says Blume's book about teenage sexuality, Forever (1975), was probably the biggest influence on him becoming a writer, but doubts it could even be published today, saying, “No publisher would take that kind of risk.” He decided to try anyway, and wrote Twenty-Four Seconds from Now, which also deals with teenage sexuality, but unlike in Forever, from a male perspective. It was published in October 2024. I'm not sure if it's less "risky" than Forever or if a publisher ended up taking the risk after all.

Let's RESIST injustice in any way we can and make a better world for ourselves and future generations. Including my little grandson.