A Horrifying Realization

This is not a fun book to read. Nevertheless, it's one of the most important books I've ever read. It's well-written, painstakingly researched, and paints a vivid picture, but what a picture that is. Douglas Blackmon tells the story of dystopian proportions of the doomed lives of "emancipated" slaves and their progeny, because this hamster wheel of hell went on until WWII. Although it was so unbelievable, believe it I did, because the evidence is there, and cited. If you are not Black Lives Matter "woke", this will do it. There is no way anyone could take this book in and not see how a system has created the path to George Floyd, Sandra Bland, Botham Jean, Ahmaud Arbery, etc., etc., etc.

Everybody Needs a Friend

Kate Atkinson always comes through, and this book is no exception. The dual story line keeps one churning along, beckoning you to see what will be divulged on the next page. A teeny spoiler here: one hero picks up a dog in his travels and the other, a kid. Kate used good old flashbacks to tell the backstories, and we did learn a lot about when, why, and how. But who? I felt that one of the flashback personae kind of didn't match the current-day protagonist, and that was what nagged at me throughout. It was still a good book, and part of the plot was tied up with a bow at the end, but the giant elephant in the room, alas, was left standing there awkwardly. Maybe to be continued in a later book? That would be satisfying.

Heartbreaks and Hallelujahs

Many glowing reviews flank the guts of this book. John Grisham describes Bryan Stevenson as a real-life Atticus Finch. Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times compares him to Mandela. Apt and true. However, I'm convinced that in the future, great people will be compared to Mr. Stevenson. His heroic and unfailing work for the unjustly convicted combined with his brilliance make for a formidable opponent in the legal arena. The sad part is that there's so much work to do, and the unfairness and blatant racism just grinds on. Yes, as the cover of the book promises, it's a story of "justice and redemption", but also of a broken system built on thinly veiled hatred and apathy, and the lives that are irreparably broken because of these sins. Read it and literally weep.