I just finished reading Grandma Gatewood’s Walk about a  67 year old grandmother who was the first woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. I love the outdoors and have walked 1800+ miles of the Pacific Crest Trail and pieces of the AT but was blown away and inspired at the same time with this woman who walked the AT at 67 years old, then again as a thru-hike, AND again in sections. Oh yeah, she also walked the Oregon Trail from Missouri to Portland Oregon, and the Long Trail in Vermont. Ben … [Read more...]

This is my second John Irving book in 2019...there was a sale at a bookstore. The author is an edgy guy and not afraid to write about sex :)  Not dirty sex or porn, just the struggles of sex and the complications of it at times. One of the two main characters is a 16 year old boy, Eddie, who ends up fooling around with an older distraught woman on his summer job. Distraught because her two sons were killed in a car accident and she just can't deal with it. The woman's daughter, Ruth,  is … [Read more...]

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. By Robin Diangelo I grew up outside of Detroit Michigan and was 11 years old when the riots happened and I have worked hard to question my view on race over the years. Living in Maine where 95% of the people identify as white, I seldom find my beliefs, attitudes, and values on race challenged. This book challenged me. Most of our American culture is run by whites. (from page 31) 10 richest Americans - 100% … [Read more...]

Very provocative book. At times it was hard to come to grips with the savagery of slavery. The cruelty. The idea that people were property. I had a hard time with moving from the truth of the slavery story and the fiction of his underground railroad as being real. I had a hard time getting past that. Unfortunately, I also started this book before I hiked the PCT in early August and then stopped reading it for about 3 weeks, and only now finishing weeks after I started. I feel like I lost … [Read more...]