Book 13 Everything Everything

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon fulfills the category “Book Set in a City that Hosted the Olympics” for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. Honestly, the city setting for the story turned out to be irrelevant. So, perhaps not the best choice for the category. BUT it is a great choice for the world situation of March 27, 2020. The main character has SCID, an immune deficiency that leaves her quarantined to her home for her entire eighteen years.

Quarantine? Sound familiar?

The book is Young Adult, so the story is filled with angst, young love, and learning to grow up. I love that. Madeline Whittier has spent her whole life in her home, in her white room, unable to go outside. She has a rare immune disease that leaves her vulnerable to everything. Her mother, who is a doctor, cares for her along with one nurse. Maddy knows no different. She lives her days with online schooling, reading, and gazing out the window. And of course, a cute, interesting boy moves in next door.

Let the romance begin.

I enjoyed the book and sympathized with the principal character. Even not being a super social person, I felt the heartbreak of not being able to go outside. And now basically under house arrest here… (I have some health issues and am practicing some HUGE social distancing practices)…I feel it even harder. Though for my teens, it’s one thing to live without your entire life, another to have it taken away. My girls are doing well in our first week home, but the oldest feels the loss of social interaction the hardest. Thank goodness for video calls. Maddy, like many people now, can’t go out lest she get sick and die. Her mother is adamant about that one.

When the new boy moves in, Maddy tries hard not to notice him, not to watch, not to get interested. There’s a hint of another family living next door previously and Maddy’s heart being broken over the interaction with someone, a foreshadow, for sure. The story becomes one of forbidden love, and what love can do to a person, what it gives you the strength to do. Love gets Maddy out of her house, and all the way to Hawaii to share some intimate time with Olly, the boy of her dreams. And of course, she gets very sick.

I’ll leave the plot summary there as I do not wish to spoil the ending. Other books I have no problem ruining for you. (Evil laugh) But this one needs it’s finale undisclosed. (Yes, someone spoiled it for me. It didn’t upset me, but it changed how I read the rest of the book.)

Anyway, let’s talk about social isolation and quarantine. Many people are having a tough time with the lockdown for Covid-19. I, myself, am struggling with how to get through a few weeks at home with teens. But the country is not at war, people seem helpful, considerate, and accommodating. I have hope and a little cabin fever, as most of you do as well. But there are things we can do. Outside is not closed. Books, movies, museums, and zoos are available virtually. The phone works, and we can teleconference. We can see the faces of loved ones.

      On my other blog, Apps for Writers, I post on Tuesday about book resources and other things available for everyone.
https://appsforwriters.blogspot.com/2020/03/covid-19-survival-getting-books.html
      Please use these resources to keep your mind and body occupied during this tough time. Stay home. Stay safe. Read a good novel.
     I give Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon Four humuhumunukunukuapuaa fish.

Book 12 Becoming by Michelle Obama

Becoming by Michelle Obama fulfills the “Book about a World Leader” prompt for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. Some may question my choice on this prompt. As First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Obama labored to create new programs for healthy living for children. She worked very hard to be a mother, wife, and world leader in her eight years at the White House. She’s a leader.

Believe me.

I listened to the book on audio over the past week. Being home for social distancing gave me the time to work through the narrative faster than I normally would have. I also wanted to make sure I finished the book for March, which is Women in History Month. I planned to use it in February for Black History Month, but I believe as a world leader, it fits better here in March.

I’m getting political and wanted to warn my conservative readers first. Today March 20, 2020, we are in the middle of a pandemic because of the widespread outbreak of Covid-19. I’m home from work because the library closed and am socially distancing myself because of health issues. I’m doing the best I can given the situation—two teens home and eating ALL the food and Husband ready to be sequestered at work due to his job. I’m okay. My family is okay. The country is not okay.

So, here’s the political. Listening to Mrs. Obama speak about how she and her husband worked for health care for all. Obama Care, as it was named, helped so many people throughout the country. Yes, it wasn’t perfect. But it existed. It was a step forward our country needed to take. Many other First-World countries have already instituted free health care. We needed it. And now that it’s dismantled and we are in a health crisis, we need it. Under other leadership, we would not be seeing the devastation of Covid-19. I have little hope for the near future about the disease. Unless state governments get going (I’m looking at you, Florida), we will see millions of deaths. I’m glad to live in New York, where our Governor has done some good things to help stop the spread.

End of political rant.

So the actual book.

I’m not a lover of biographies or autobiographies, but I felt this was a book I needed to read. (I try to do a few non-fiction and popular books every year to keep myself grounded in reality.) I enjoyed it for the most part. Mrs. Obama had a great speaking voice for the book. Honestly, the sections that bored me were in the White House. I wasn’t into the details of her programs and as I hoped, she did not make the book about her husband. It was a great glimpse into the political machine of the United States. How did it the woman all?

My favorite part of the book was during Barack Obama’s stint in the Illinois State Congress. Mrs. Obama had two small children and her husband was away for much of the week in Springfield. (They lived in Chicago at the time.) She struggled to raise her girls, get them to all their sports and programs, work, and still have time with her husband.

I felt that hard. Early in our marriage, well hell, our whole marriage, my husband has worked rotating shift work. He’d do twelve-hour shifts, four or five a week, usually shifting between days and nights within those sets. So two days of days, two days off, three days of nights, ad nauseam. Raising two little girls that way wasn’t easy. We discovered early, and he agreed: don’t wait for Daddy. We got through; we still get through. But it was nice to hear that I wasn’t alone. That even women who seem perfect on the outside struggle with these things. I got all the feels in that section. 

Long and short, I recommend the autobiography, if only to glimpse into an amazing woman. 

I give Becoming by Michelle Obama Five American Flags.