This was such a good book! It was incredibly informative, while still being accessible to the average human who doesn't know all about sociology or infrastructures and how they play a huge role in society. I learned a lot, and realized how little I truly value the structures that are already in place in my life that make day-to-day community building easier for me and my family. This book was eye opening in so many ways, but especially about the true impacts poverty can have on communities physically and spiritually (while physically they may be in desperate need of TLC, it felt like communities of this nature pulled together for one another more fiercely than their affluent neighbors).

I heard about this book from a podcast called The Librarian Is In from the NYPL, and I'm so glad I did. I wish there had been more mention of libraries and their impact, as a librarian this was my main focus in picking up the book, but once I started reading I was so intrigued by the information I ended up reading through to the end regardless.

One of the only reasons this doesn't get 5 stars from me is from my own ignorance (there, I said it #selfaware). While this was relatively easy to follow along with the big picture topics, there was a good portion of the novel that felt too advanced for my background and understanding. So, because I couldn't fully grasp some of the authors finer details and I felt this book might be better off in the hands of a socioeconomic student, it receives a 4 star rating from me.