Msmiz - I read almost anything!
What a Blog you say? Really you shouldn't have, no I am serious, you shouldn't.
I love that I have a place for a blog description. I am not creative enough to blog, hence never blogging before. I absolutely stink at well thought out reviews, but I read. I read A LOT. It used to be more, I could average 800+ books a year. But then the EDJ started asking me to put forth more effort for pay. Bastards.
Written in the Stars
Most important here though is my rating scale. I put forth a lot of 3 stars. I would prefer a scale of 7 points measurement, hence my 3s are more like 3, 4, and 5 respectively. In fact, most books that fall within the 3, I would like to take out to the 3rd, if not 4th decimal. With that said, here is the basic summary of scale.
5- Beyond brilliant, would read again without question
4- Better than your average bear. Would not hesitate to recommend
3- Do not be fooled. These are books I liked but the fall into the category of:
Cotton Candy for the brain
Great story, needs editing
Great characters, needs editing
Hit the right spot, needs editing
Could not quite get me there. The story was just short of a home run.
Short stories. While I do love a good Novella/short story, etc, it has to be AMAZING
to the Nth degree to knock it up to a 4.
2- Story, characters, and/or editing were not enough to pull it out. My head popped up
and out of the story too often
1- Are you kidding me with this shit?
What I read
As the title professes, just about anything. I prefer stories that take me out of real life. I get enough of that at home. Thus, I tend to stay away from self help or theory based books. I am a very character driven reader. I like a good plot just like any reader, but for me, a story really wins if I can fall into the stories and feel the characters.
Enough out of me for now!
Let Their Voices Be Heard
Bullet Review:
Do not read this book if you are faint of heart. This book will make you want to cry, to tear your hair out in rage, to raise a fist to the hundreds of politicians sitting in cozy offices, ignoring the plea of these commercially sexually exploited girls. Because when you are a 15 year-old African-American runaway from the bad end of town, you aren't a "prostitute". If that girl were a pretty white girl in a middle- or upper-class home in a white neighborhood, you can sure as bet your boots that it would be called statutory rape. But that same girl who can't legally drive, drink or vote can still get charged as an adult for being forced into prostitution? Does no one see the discrepancy here??
At first, I wasn't sure about the style, as Lloyd switches back and forth from her personal story to a non-fiction narrative filled with statistics and details to the stories of girls she's met. But after a bit, I felt the flow. And it was good. Lloyd is a great writer, and her story (and the stories of the girls who have come into her care through GEMS) is a stirring one, one telling those of us in positions of privilege and power to wake up, get off our @$$es and DO something. Again, this is not an easy book to read, but the message is an important one. These girls' voices need to be heard, and we need to work together to do something for them.
P.S. I'm going to be checking out the website, and I suggest you do the same!
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Currently reading
