I lost interest in this. It skips around a lot, and combined with that and all the many names dropped it was exhausting to follow along. I also wanted more. She tells a story about coming in contact with the queen and the pope, but both stories center more around her being nervous and sick to her stomach. I wish there were more stories like the one about not cancelling one of Obama's last speeches in the run up to the 2008 election even though there was a blizzard and the event was outside. That was funny and I felt like she really delivered there. Not so with the other stories.

Eh. This felt like a bunch of short articles that she tried to stretch into a story. I lost interest pretty quickly.

This is powerful. Why can't poor people just work harder and budget better? This is the answer to that question. I've been poor, but I've never been this poor. I've always been lucky to have reliable transportation, a good job or two, and a supportive family. I'm aware how lucky I am, but this reinforces that. I had no idea how horrible the housing crisis is for people living in poverty or what a big impact housing is on keeping people in a near hopeless, never-ending cycle of poverty.

A few years ago while waiting in a grocery story check out, I witnessed a young woman who had to choose what items to leave out because she didn't have enough to buy what had been rung up. She choose milk and bread and left out the lettuce. I wish I had been paying more attention and bought all of it for her. It all happened quickly because of course she was embarrassed. That was several years ago, and I can only remember bits and pieces, but it's stuck with me. Books like this are important because it's easy to live in ignorance of how people are struggling daily.

Desmond offers some solutions at the end, and I agree there isn't one magical answer. However, better public transportation, access to affordable health care, and a higher minimum wage are desperately needed. Just as important are a better staffed court system and more social workers to help meet the need. These are two industries that are completely overwhelmed, which hurts the people they are supposed to serve.

Don't skip the last bit where he explains how he investigated and conducted research for this book. Not only is it interesting, it's heartbreaking how much even his slight involvement improved these people's lives when they needed a helping hand. He didn't do much because he couldn't make much of an impact without skewing the data, but he obviously couldn't just stand by unaffected and unwilling to help what little he did.

This is a quick read though not much of it is new or enlightening material, but there were some interesting points made. He discusses Michael Brown, Eric Gardner and Tamir Rice and how these deadly and heartbreaking incidents are common and often unreported or noted by many. Comparing the social and racial unrest to the revolution was interesting, and I liked the comparisons to how white neighborhoods are policed to how black and brown neighborhoods are and then how he linked it to how college campuses are policed. I don't think it would have been excessive to also discuss Philando Castile and his unfair and lengthy list of traffic stops. I wish he had also discussed Trayvon Martin and citizen policing.

I haven't watched Precious or Empire, but this sounded and looked like such a fun read and I wasn't disappointed. Gabourey (rhymes with cabaret) is a great writer who has struggled with family, weight issues, eating disorders and bullying. She does a great job imparting the seriousness of these heavy issues. While the topics are heavy, the writing is not. She finds a perfect balance between the subjects and her tone, which probably stems directly from her confidence in overcoming them in a healthy way. There's not much for Hollywood gossip or details, but her life has been so interesting that it was a great read without touching on much of that.

I'm disappointed this couldn't keep me interested and reading. I learned a lot and really enjoyed parts of it (like the story of the large man who had to special order overalls which led to the woman making them to contact him via a note pinned to a new pair), but overall it felt really repetitive. I stopped about halfway through. There are too many other books demanding my attention.

Full of good stories about his life. I especially liked when he talked about how people's conceptions of autism differ greatly from the reality. "Many descriptions of autism and Asperger's describe people like me as 'not wanting contact with others' or 'preferring to play alone.' I can't speak for other kids, but I'd like to be very clear about my own feelings: I did not ever want to be alone." Good read!

The timing of this was perfect for me. The story follows Jade, a young black girl attending high school at a private school across town. She has to navigate a student body that can't relate to her, balance her life at an elite school with her life in a poor neighborhood, and work her hardest to get out of her economic situation. Central to the story was her participation in a mentoring program targeting "at risk" young black women. Her mentor only recently graduated from college and is constantly distracted by her own drama, constantly flaking on Jade. We get to see how this impacts Jade and how she feels about it. Since I just got involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters, this was a great look at how the little views the actions of the big and how important it is to value that commitment and relationship.