Books read in June

17. The Mating Rituals of the North American WASP – Lauren Lipton (Hilarious, would recommend it)
18. Hot and Bothered: a novel – Annie Downey (also funny would recommend..)
19. The 19th Wife – David Ebershoff (very intriguing, would recommend..)
20. Midwives – Chris Bohjalian (excellently written.. would recommend...)
21. Escape – Carolyn Jessop (intereesting prospective.. would recommend..)
22. The Midwife’s Tale – Gretchen Moran Laskas ( was not a fan..)
23. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen – Janet Evanovich (HILARIOUS... I love this series and after reading this last night I am contemplating re-reading some of them..i wish she had a new book once a month!)

This was a really great reading month and it helped move me along a little towards my goal, but I have a lot of catching up to make it even to where I was last year!

Escape and Midwife's Tale..

I finished Escape by Carolyn Jessop and The Midwife's Tale by Gretchen Moran Laskas. I kept starting an entry on Escape but never got around to figuring out what to say. I wasn't sure I wanted to, or what I would say, but here is my attempt.

Escape made me angry. It detailed abuse (emotional and physical) of women, children and men, actually, in a polygamous sect by a former member. After, I finished reading it I tried googling different things about it to find out more details. I am torn on deciding what to believe besides what I already thought after just reading the book. Yes, the treatment of the people is TERRIBLE and I am sooo glad that I have never be subjected to a life like that. However, Carolyn makes it sounds like she was a saint and did nothing like some of what her sister wife's did to each other. I find it hard to believe that in a "survival" mode you would not also act that way to survive. However, nothing in her book points much negativity towards her, except in my mind, her ignoring the abuse her children were put through. While, I applaud her for leaving and taking her children away from that lifestyle, I wish she would have been a little more honest, because I don't think she was exactly, and it takes away a bit from what her message was. (Giving one man soo much power is not good and the women and children need help.)

Don't get me wrong, I disagree with polygamy and think the way women and children are treated in the polygamous sect written about are terrible and wrong, I just wish the book had been a bit less about how "good" Carolyn was.

I also read The Midwife's Tale, and I was not really impressed. It was set in the early 1900s about a girl whose great-granny, grandma, ma and her were all midwife's in rural West Virginia. It just did not do much for me. Almost seemed too young adult and wishy washy to me. Some of it was just not realistic and did nothing for me.

This was kind of a negative entry. Yikes. I am taking Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult up camping with me, and hope I can put a dent in it. I am debating bringing two books, but don't know if I will actually have the time to read that much!

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

Wow, this book was amazing. The sheer fact that a man wrote this book in the perspective of a teenage girl/woman and did it well is impressive enough. It brought up fascinating questions that I kept asking myself what I thought throughout my reading, and I am still not sure what to think exactly. The book is written from the perspective of her daughter Connie, many years later. The author brings to play a lot of foreshadowing that can keep you guessing which way the story will play out, which I really enjoyed.

Sybil Danworth is a midwife practicing in Vermont when one of her patients, Charlotte Fuget Bedford dies during childbirth. Sybil is a midwife with no medical training and unlicensed by the state. This is key to the State after Charlotte dies when/after Sybil performs a c-section on Charlotte to save her baby after Charlotte dies in labor. The state argues that Charlotte was NOT dead and that Sybil killed her when she performed the c-section.

That's all I will say about it, because I am afraid if I write anymore, I will give away more details. But the main questioning of the book is, "Are home births more risky than hospital births?" "Should home births be illegal?" and so forth.. To that end, I say those are some tough questions. While I can see the appeal of a home birth and the fact that the child is born into a quiet peaceful environment, without the unnecessary interventions of doctors, I feel that the only way I could relax and not be too anxious, would be to have a hospital birth. But I also think that hospitals and doctors sometimes push women towards unnecessary procedures, episiotomies and c-sections. Home birth or hospital is a very serious choice that people have to make and neither one is ever made lightly.

Would you rather have a home birth or a hospital birth? Have you had a home birth? Have you had a hospital birth? What were your experiences?

Hot and Bothered: a novel by Annie Downey

I read Hot and Bothered yesterday, all of it, yep. It started out a little iffy to me, but I just had to get used to the style it was written. It's almost like blog speak, as if you are reading/hearing the narrator's thoughts. It's definitely a different type of writing style and I found myself really enjoying it. It was super funny, kinda frustrating, and hard to put down.

The main character whose name I do not believe is revealed until the very end is a recently divorced woman who hates her ex-husband known as Ex-Rat. He cheated on her for probably their entire marriage and then asked her for a divorce, got engaged to a much younger lady, and is pretty much an ass in general. She has two kids, Brendan and Demon Princess aka Lucy. The discriptions of Demon Princess made me want to smack her and teach the narrartor how to parent. But then you must realize the narrator is depressed and her daughter is dealing with her parent's divorce. Brendan is a typical teenage boy trying to fnd his way, which sometimes means his mother and him disagree, a lot.

The narrator has a lot of funny experiences with men and usually when she is dealing with said men, is when I wanted to throttle her. She is very neurotic and goes through at least two therapists that the reader is aware of. The Christmas day scene at her house where her Ex shows up (sans fiancee who keeps calling), an old crush from Alaska and her Perfect Guy/semi-employer and her hilarious family is quite entertaining.

Her best-friend Pip, could be a story in itself. She is a meat-eater, dominantrix who works for the Bruins and dating a vegan guy 14 years younger than herself.

Basically, this was a hilarious quick read that was quite entertaining. And I got it for $4.98 at B&N!