Review 734: The Trafficker Next Door

The Trafficker Next Door: How Household Employers Exploit Domestic Workers by Rhacel Salazar Parreñas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fairly short book on a topic that could certainly use a longer treatment. The book starts by discussing one case in depth, which was revealed in the magazine The Atlantic in 2017. Eudocia Pulido was given as a “gift” at the age of 18 to Alex Tizon’s mother. (Tizon is the author of the article.) Pulido was essentially a slave for over 45 years. Pulido’s parents in the Philippines never knew what happened to their daughter, as they died before she was given any freedom or money, which occurred after Tizon’s mother died. She worked for many decades without pay, unable to contact anyone, without control over her own life.

Another chapter focused on domestic migrant workers in Singapore, Dubai and UAE, and how employment agencies exploit these women, such as charging enormous fees to the worker. Coupled with very low wages they could go six months to a year before seeing any money. Some of the employers, rich households, would monitor how much their domestic worker would eat, many losing 10-15% of their body weight in the first few months of employment. Employers also monitor their movements and communication, not allowing them to call home, or leave their house whenever they would like, as their working hours are nearly round the clock. They cook, clean, do laundry, take care of the children, whatever their employers demand and in return get very little, a place to sleep and not much else.

The last chapter looked at the employers, or exploiters. Often, they used excuses for their own behavior for trafficking these women. Even some of the employers were expats from western countries, one would hope they would do better, such as the author herself. Parreñas was living temporarily in Singapore and was able to hire a domestic worker but did not go along with the agency agreements for pay. She paid off the worker’s agency fees immediately, gave her worker more pay than the agency’s suggestion, fed her well, and gave her set working hours that were not overly long nor egregious. Once off the clock the employee had freedom to do as she pleased. This is one of those books that makes you wonder about humanity; how we can be cruel to others over and over again.

Review 711: Cleanup on Aisle Five

Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View from Behind the Supermarket Register by Ann Larson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author, Ann Larson, found herself needing a job just as the pandemic began. Despite having several degrees no one was hiring, except at essential places like the grocery store. Larson was able to hire in at a supervisor level for the front-end, overseeing the cashiers.

What started as an article turned into this book. Which means the book is not quite the cohesive narrative with a driving force of a premise. Larson provides instead a retelling of her own experiences working at a grocery supermarket.

There are many interesting points in the book about how people are treated, how the job affects them physically, and the author's response to demands by management. Larson sides with the workers whenever possible. It's a low paying, high turnover job that's very demanding, particularly physically. One cannot help but sympathize with the employees trying to manage pain while doing a job that is physically demanding.

Larson ends the book with ways that grocery stores can do better for their employees. Better pay to start with, but also better health care would certainly help as well. It’s hard to say what customers can do to help, but perhaps not using the self-checkout machines? It’s worth reading this book just for her experiences with these machines. Unfortunately, they seem to be multiplying instead of diminishing.

Thanks to Atria-One Signal Publishers and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.

Review 680: Unbearable

Unbearable: Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America by Irin Carmon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book looks at being pregnant in the United States post revoking Roe v. Wade, where abortion is now nearly impossible in many states. Unfortunately, some state laws are going even further, which give more consideration to unborn, even when the woman's life is endanger.

The focus in this book is not about women being forced to carry to term babies they did not want. Instead it is about how these changing laws give preference to the babies in gestation over the mother’s health.

The book follows five women throughout multiple pregnancies and how the laws and being pregnant has effected each of them. Unfortunately, there is also a huge divide of care based on color of skin, and wealth (of course).

The book is shocking and appalling, to say the least. For these women profiled, and women in similar locations and situations, their life is endangered every time they get pregnant.

The book is too heavily centered on Alabama and New York City. It may have done better to expand to a couple other areas in the country.

Review 674: Poverty, by America

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


An excellent well written book. Perhaps I will return to say more, but for now, just go read this book.

Review 621: There Are No Children Here

There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America by Alex Kotlowitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was devastating to read how these young children grew up in the Chicago projects. The book is a very close look at the lives of two brothers Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, 9 and 12 at the start of the book. Journalist Kotlowitz was embedded into the Rivers family life for two years, Summer of 1987 to September 1989.

The family lived in the projects in Chicago. LaJoe Rivers had eight children with Paul Rivers and still remained married to her husband, which was somewhat unusual circumstance for their background. The kids father sometimes was around, but didn’t really live with them. The three older kids were nearly adults, Lafeyette and Pharoah were the middle kids, then a set of triplets were their younger siblings. LaJoe was on welfare, had food stamps, and had the constant hope of being able to move out of the projects.

Gun violence, drugs, and gangs dominated their lives, along with poor living conditions. The bathroom tub faucet constantly ran, doors wouldn’t shut properly, the stove oven barely worked, among other problems. And the apartment was overly crowded. Each of the older children had succumbed to either drugs or crime. LaJoe hoped at least one of her children would make it by getting a high school diploma.

Pharoah developed a stutter due to all the trauma he experienced. The summers were the worst, as gang activity picked up, shootings became an almost every day occurrence. The Rivers boys lost several friends due to all the violence, one an accidental police shooting. Their older brother Terrance was picked up an charged with a shooting he had nothing to do with, the charged ended up being dropped after the eye witness admitted he didn’t do it. Later Terrance was again charged with a crime he didn’t commit, but was now 18 so he was in adult court this time. Lafeyette also ended up in juvenile court over a crime he didn’t commit either. Just being black and nearby seemed to make you guilty.

The book was written very well, read like a fiction book. The author’s note explains how he conduced his research, verifying everything with multiple accounts, if he wasn’t there. Since this took place several decades ago, one can hope the environment has improved, although I fear not enough.

I was amazed to find an audiobook at my public library, and that got me to finally read this book. I bought this book back around when it came out, so it’s been lingering very long on my bookshelves unread.

Review 547: Beyond the White House

Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope by Jimmy Carter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With the recent passing of former President Jimmy Carter I figured it was a good time to read one of the books I’ve had sitting on my shelf for awhile unread. This book was a good introduction to the work Carter and his wife Rosaylnn has been doing through the past several decades, and it is remarkable work.

The first chapter is a bit of an eye opener at the state of the Carter’s affairs after leaving the President’s office. They had to remove themselves from his farming business during his term and what had been a lucrative business free of debt was now over $1million dollars in debt. So he was broke. Plus needed to raise funds for a Presidential library, and left the office as an unpopular person. He decided to not use his experience for an monetary gain, but instead to be benevolent or work in some non-profit way. This became the impetus for starting The Carter Center.

The Carter Center has several aims and goals, which basically come down to improving people’s lives, particularly in impoverished areas. The book covers some of the work they have been involved in since the founding of the center. It’s quite impressive.

The list is long: such as being mediators in war zone areas, preventing or stopping wars, overseeing and helping democracy in areas previously run by dictators, trying to eradicate the overlooked diseases in poor nations, not to mention human rights, women’s equality and much more. Due to the amount of work and the many different countries Carter has worked in, the book feels more like a summary instead of a detailed account.

Or course, this work was not done by Jimmy Carter alone. There were many people that helped, interns at the Center, doctors that lead the charge in helping with the diseases, and partnering with Emory University. But his name and position has helped tremendously in some areas and places, allowing him access where others would be denied, or it would take much longer to get to a point of talking with other leaders.

An informative book about a remarkable man. Too bad more ex-Presidents would take his lead as an example of what that clout can do. Thankfully Carter had a long life and was able to make a lasting change in many people’s lives.

Review 494: The Twenty Something American Dream

The Twenty Something American Dream: A Cross Country Quest for a Generation by Michael Lee Cohen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



What do you think of when you hear the phrase “The American Dream”? This book is finding out what young Americans thought about that.

This book came out in the mid-1990’s, and the young adults interviewed were in their twenties. The author himself as well. This book is about the Generation X coming of age and finding out what they think the about American Dream, and if they can achieve it.

The author traveled around the country just a few months after the Los Angeles riots in April 1992. This was an important moment in time and the author did want to see what his peers thought about this as well, but not that many included in the book mentioned it.

Each entry started with the name of the person. A brief history of the person with their parents and upbringing was included and often what the parents did for work. Other important biography of the interviewed person was included then it would continue sometimes in the person’s own words, other times summarized by the author, and occasionally with the author’s questions to prompt more information. Each entry was several pages long.

The organization of the book was broken into two main parts, those who believed the American Dream still existed and was possibly attainable, and those no longer believed in the American Dream. Further chapters were organized loosely on some beliefs, such as what the dream contains: The House, the Car, the Kids. Or other chapters were Same City, Different Worlds so taking several people who lived geographically close together but had entirely different upbringing and view of the world.

Overall it should have been an interesting book, but I found it just mediocre. Not sure if it was the editing of the interviews not being well done, what. I kept thinking of Studs Terkel and his work how fascinating those interviews were and this was well short of that quality. Or perhaps the problem was just in timing. Perhaps if read in the mid-90s when the book came out it might have felt more propitious.

Review 487: The Forest People

The Forest People: A Study of the Pygmies of the Congo by Colin M. Turnbull
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has been in my life since I can remember, sitting on a bookshelf. When I was very young my parents took some classes at the local college and this was required reading. When I got older the book somehow migrated to my personal bookshelves. Safe to say this will be the oldest book I owned unread until now.

I expected this to be a dry academic book but was pleasantly surprised that is not the case. This is a very readable, well written book.

The author, Colin Turnbull, lives with the Pygmies in Congo for many years. They are his friends, they accept him as one of them, and let him observe all of their rituals and ways of living, even sometimes going outside of tradition. This book is of how they lived their lives and how they interact with the villagers nearby that work plantations.

They are called Forest People, as that is their home, their life and it contrasts to the villagers who are afraid of the forest, who would rather cut it down than live within it. The people Turnbull lives with are the BaMbuti who live in the Ituri Forest. The villagers and BaMbuti live symbiotic lives, the villagers tend to believe they “own” certain Pygmies, but this is truly not the case. The relationship is more complicated. The BaMbuti know how to hunt and get meat, which the villagers are not skilled at, so the rely on the BaMbuti for this and in return they are given other types of food that is grown on the plantations. Sometimes the villagers need extra labor to help with he planation and if willing some BaMbuti will help out his “master”, but he cannot be forced to do so. There are some rituals the villagers want the BaMbuti to carry out in certain times, such as in marriages, for a death, or for the ceremonies when the children are adults. If it suits the BaMbuti they will go along with these rituals, but a village wedding is not accepted until the man gives meat to his in-law family.

The BaMbuti are generally a happy people, and sing seemingly all the time. Of course certain songs are sung for particular ceremonies. One of the strangest ceremony is the with the molimo, an trumpet but also a ceremony to the forest. The molimo cannot be seen by women, so it comes out of hiding from the forest and played when all the women and children are inside their huts for the night. The men dance and sing all night, or nearly, until the early hours when they get a few hours sleep before being awaken by the molimo from the younger bachelors. This ceremony goes on for weeks or months, until the elders believe the forest is happy again and they can hide the molimo away. The one used here ends up being a long steel pipe about fifteen feet long. Turnbull is surprised by this, thought it would be a bamboo trumpet elaborately carved but was told this one sounded good. Besides wood rots and then you’d need to make another one. What counted was the sound it made.

There’s so much more to say, but these notes are getting long. It was a fascinating book, glad I finally took the time to read it after all these years.

Initial quick review:

Was quite surprised at how readable this book is. This book has been in my life since I can remember, sitting on a bookshelf. When very young my parents took some classes at the local college and this was required reading. When I got older the book somehow migrated to my personal bookshelves. I expected it to be a dry academic book but it is entirely not that.

I will like to say more about this book, but going to leave it here for a moment.

Review 398: Without Children

Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother by Peggy O'Donnell Heffington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a close and deep look at why some women have not borne children through history. The book doesn’t cover the entire world, it is focused on the United States, although occasionally other areas are mentioned.

Coverage includes ways that women have prevented having children, such as contraceptives and abortion. Here the history is as up to date as possible, with the ever-changing landscape. As the author states, getting rid of a pregnancy began around the time of children being born, it is nothing new. The legality of it being merely religion and politics.

While there tends to be a stronger lean on why not to have children, there is coverage on women who want to conceive but cannot. And how through the years this has changed in providing more options available to women.

There are a few short biographies of women who have championed not having children, which has always been a bit shocking.

This isn’t the type of book one would read if trying to decide if they should or not have children, unless history helps. This is a book about what has happened in the past and covers the many reasons women are childfree.

Thanks to Basic Books/Seal Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to the audiobook version of the book and the narration was well done.

Thoughts before reading:

There are many reasons why I did not have children, and sometimes have been felt to believe that I am less than because of that. With the world just surpassing another billion mark, the option to not have kids should be seen as a valid and embraced decision.

I'm looking forward to what this book holds forth.

Review 341: My Time Will Come

My Time Will Come: A Memoir of Crime, Punishment, Hope, and Redemption by Ian Manuel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This was a heart-breaking book, but unfortunately not all that well written. Occasionally the time line is confusing, although generally it is a linear account of his life in prison. Ian Manuel committed a crime, a robbery with a gun and shot a woman in the face, although she did not die, when he was 13 years old. He wasn't alone, but his sentence was beyond the pale for someone so young. Worse yet is the treatment in prison, being in solitary confinement or CM, close management.

One positive note, the US Supreme Court ruled that giving life without parole sentences to juveniles that commit crimes without homicide is illegal.

Manuel intersperses some of his writing with his poetry, and his words to the court are more polished than the book. His story would be better served with more editing, or someone to help with the writing. Nonetheless, an important book to learn about life behind bars in Florida.

Review 308: Lost Memory of Skin

Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I finished this book two weeks ago, but wanted to leave some thoughts on the book, as it still hasn’t left me and likely won’t for a long while.

Parts of this book may not be an easy to read, fair warning. We have, an unnamed character who goes by the Kid, a fitting nomenclature. He’s young, early 20’s but looks even younger and despite his age also seems to know very little about the world. He was stunted, some said he was slow to learn, didn’t have the right circumstances growing up. A single parent, left alone too much, and he found porn early and way too often. Once out of school he signs up for the military but was discharged, due to a misunderstanding. Then he quickly found himself in a situation he should have known better, a mistake is what he calls it, and now he is a convicted sex offender.

The Kid is homeless, living under a bridge, a causeway along with other sex offenders, as there aren’t many places to live that is far enough away from where children may congregate. The police and politicians want to look like they are doing something, randomly clear out the place, arrest those who don’t leave. The kid considers jail as an option, where else can he go?

The story of Kid’s conviction takes a long while to be explained. This eventually is drawn out by a man who is known as The Professor, is an extremely large man, a genius that wants to interview the Kid for research on homelessness and sex offenders. The Kid doesn’t understand but goes along with it. They become friends of a sort, perhaps because the Kid has never had a friend before. He was a loner growing up. The Professor’s story becomes a large part of this novel as well.

These two are juxtaposed, one that seemingly had a perfect life growing up, except for his large size, and the other with a single mom who practically ignored him. These two are nearly opposites, one with everything and the other with nothing.

The ending of the book is amazing. There is so much more to say about this book, such as how it reflects on society as there are people in situations where we consider them as throwaway people, without delving into more of their story, we look at them as monsters. How did these people get to that point? There are rough spots in the book, taken overall this book is one of the better ones, making the journey very worthwhile.

Review 197: Working: People Talk about What They Do All Day and How They Feel about What They Do

Working: People Talk about What They Do All Day and How They Feel about What They Do by Studs Terkel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I could write a very long review for this book, but I’ll leave that for my notes. Going in I expected this would be a tad boring at times, and would take me a while (months) to read this. Instead I was quite fascinated by all of the different stories and found myself not wanting to put it down.

Despite the age, this book is still timely and worth reading. A few entries show their age, such as jobs that no longer exist (see: Harold Patrick - elevator operator), or talk about their pay in 1970s value. Some entries show the age as a surprising statement at how things have changed in the workplace, particularly for women. Attitudes towards people of color have also advanced, but not quite as noticeably. A couple of jaw dropping entries will prove things do change (see: Barbara Herrick – writer/producer in advertising). There's also one or two I never heard of before (see: Richard Mann - Installment Dealer). And then there's the entries reminding me of jobs I had and why I didn’t like them (see: Nancy Rogers - Bank Teller).

There is a lot of craft in this book as well, that may not seem obvious. The entries are not directly from the people’s mouth, but edited down. You still get their words and personality, but it is modified. Also the placement of the entries, they could lead you towards a certain emotional response, which could be different if read in a different order.

I’ve known about this book since college, read a few of the passages back then for a class I ended up not taking. I’ve always wanted to go back and read the entirety and glad I finally did. This is a book that could spark a lot of book discussions about life and especially about work.

I’d love to see an updated version of this book, as it’s been 50 years now. There is this book: Gig: Americans Talk about Their Jobs. Sounds so similar, like an update, and already 10 years old. Moving it up the reading list.

Review 191: At the Edge of the Haight

At the Edge of the Haight by Katherine Seligman
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Having visited San Francisco countless number of times over the years (I call it my favorite city in California) I’ve seen the homeless youth that congregate in the Haight-Ashbury area, near massive Golden Gate park. I’ve always wondered what brought them here, what were their stories? And here is one book attempting to answer that question as fictional characters of Maddy Donaldo and her friends, and her dog Root. Root is definitely a character!

While this book is fiction it had truth. The descriptions of the area are accurate, and while reading you feel the cold that Maddy and her friends do. You feel the sleep deprivation and hope that this night, this one time, she can get a full night’s rest. Yet how can you sleep when the cops will rouse you before 4am and cite you or arrest for sleeping in the park? And shelters aren’t much better with everyone crammed into open rooms, the noise and smells. Yet some of these people chose this life, and many, most, do not.

I quickly read this book, ripped through the pages. While the murder aspect gave the book a bit of a plot, it isn’t like a formula mystery or thriller, it’s more of the backdrop.

I liked how Maddy was portrayed, she didn’t seem to know things herself, but was open enough to start to question things, and acted as she needed to. Maddy lived life on her terms, not her friends, not her “boyfriend”, or as anyone else would tell her.

Certainly there are many more stories about the lives people are living outside on the streets. I’m happy to see this book, applaud the author for this topic and hope she writes another book, with other characters or continue the journey of Maddy and her friends.

Thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 145: Roadside Americans

Roadside Americans: The Rise and Fall of Hitchhiking in a Changing Nation by Jack Reid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book provides an insight to economic conditions and sentiments towards self-reliance, leisure, community versus individualism, within the context of hitchhiking.

I must admit I was surprised at how the author connected the overall sentiments of the country with hitchhiking, but the premise is valid and certainly explains the rise and fall of the popularity.

During times of economic scarcity, many people relied on hitchhiking as a valid mode of transportation. Drivers understood the need of hitching and in the cooperation of social good, picked up strangers standing by the side of the road. During WWII some towns built stations for soldiers looking for rides to and from base, so they could get rides without violating the military policy of not hitchhiking.

Even during times of prosperity college students and well dressed men were the most likely to be picked up. During the turbulent 60s more women attempted to get rides, but frequently found unwanted sexual advances, particularly when travelling alone. The 60s also brought in a new style of dress from the younger aged hitchhikers that resembled the itinerant travelers that a typical driver would avoid picking up. But the thumb trippers often found rides from fellow hippies, so the practice was common.

The 1980s brought in more self-reliance and individualism with a strong focus on materialism, which meant young people were more interested in owning their own car than the unreliability of hitching rides. Combining law enforcement curtailing the practice with new laws against hitchhiking, and a strong focus on the danger aspect of strangers, hitchhiking was nearly stamped out.

This was a good book on the rise and decline of hitchhiking. There are personal stories along with newspaper accounts of individual’s experience of getting around for free. The chapters were arranged by time periods, starting out with the Great Depression era of 1928–1940. The epilogue dealt with today, comparing ride sharing with hitchhiking as people jump into cars driven by strangers.

The biggest disappointment for the book was the repetition. The introduction could almost have stood for the entire book, while each chapter goes into more depth. The book is an academic overview of a nearly lost mode of transportation. If anyone has any interest in the topic, the book is recommended.

3.5 stars, rounded down for all the repetition.

Thanks to University of North Carolina Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 120: A Strange Stirring

A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s by Stephanie Coontz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A good follow-up to The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. This book looks as the response to Friedan's book at the time, and a few of the changes since then. It is also a critique of the book, such as Friedan was just writing to white middle-class women, that left many women out. There was some background on Friedan that was interesting as well.

Review 103: Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis

Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis by Ada Calhoun
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In preparing to write this review I made some notes, three pages of notes. It got out of hand. The main take away in my note taking was how much I saw myself in the book, and how much I did not. Yes, I’m a woman of Generation X and do have trouble sleeping sometimes. This book is not about how to find solutions to that problem. Instead it gives us many reasons why mid-life women of GenX are having difficulties. There’s a lot of comparison to other generations: previous one, Boomers as parents, and the kids, as Millennials. We also have some comparisons on how male mid-life crises differ from women.

For the most part, I did enjoy reading the book, as it brought up reasons why this generation did things as they have so far, with parenting, or choosing not to have kids. The delays in marriage and how our prospects, in general, were the first to be expected to be worse than the parents. Some topics seemed to have never been mentioned before (or at least in mainstream consciousness). Yet this book doesn’t cover everything for all women born in the years of roughly 1967-1980. One of the most glaring to me was this book is mostly about middle class women, especially those who graduated college. There are a few nods to people outside that area, but not much.

The last chapter was one that tried to sum up and find personal solutions. I think for the author, she did find ways to cope better and enjoy life more. Hopefully the book will help other women of this era, and maybe a few outside of the targeted demographic.


Thanks to Grove Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 100: Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A.

Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A. by Danielle S. Allen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a biography about the author's cousin Michael, and a little bit about herself Danielle as well, but the focus is on Michael. How did her smart cousin end up murdered shortly after being released from prison? The potential was there for his life to be so much more, so why did it go the way that it did?

What I liked about this book is this how it takes this life story and places it firmly into the broader story of society. Danielle Allen looks at the underlying causes that affect someone, in that point and time, in that particular place. I like this type of book, that brings in both, the personal and the whole of society. Most books don't do it as well as Allen's book does.

It is obvious from the beginning that Danielle Allen is highly educated, a professor and can write well. She was also the one who helped her cousin Michael get back on his feet once he was released from prison.

So what happened, why did it go so badly for him? We do find the answers in this book. It isn't glossed over one bit, despite the moments where one wouldn't want their family history shown. And it's not surprising that family history is not the only cause of Michael's life being too short and down the wrong path. The answers are not obvious, yet there can be understanding when given the full picture.



I received a free copy of this book at a library conference. I was not required to write a review, but felt like it and, of course, the above opinions are my own.

Review 98: Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale

Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, this book may really change my life. It has opened my eyes to stuff, especially clothing. This was a fascinating look at where used goods go throughout the world. One of the eye-openers is how the quality has decreased in manufacturing. Which industry you may ask, just about all. There are still companies, and exceptions, where things are made to last, but that is no longer the norm. What I found particularly distressing to read is how "fast fashion" has replaced reasonably made clothes to ones that last no more than a few washings. Then there's how quickly a washer or dryer may last, not too long. Sigh.

This is a book that will change your life, or at least your viewpoint on stuff.
Excellent read! Highly recommended.



Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 58: Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy

Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy by Alexandrea J. Ravenelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is more a sociological text than a popular reader such as Ehrenreich’s books, like Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, but the book is along the same vein. It’s a look into how are trying to make it work in this “new” gig economy.

The book looks at four app based services and how well they do for the workers: Uber, AirBnB, Kitchensurfing and TaskRabbit. Other app based services are mentioned but not in the detail and the interviews were done with people who worked with one of those four services. Ravenelle uses sociological methods of a standard interview and elicits the information which is detailed and summarized in this book.

There are parts that are very readable, and a few sections that feel more like a text book, overall it’s fine. I found myself highlighting a lot in this book, because there was so much that seemed to define the work.

There are some interesting stories in here. It definitely opened my eyes up to some of these services, even though I’ve used very few. I can understand what it is like to be on the worker side instead of the consumer, or client.

The stories of the people trying to make it, to have the flexibility, and still earn a living, the personal aspect made this book remarkable.


Thanks to University of California Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Reissue Review 19: Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century

Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reissue Review #2: On occasion revisiting and reissuing reviews from the days before my blog postings. This is one to not miss.

A recent read: finished on September 24, 2018.


My reaction to this book surprised me. The book is about people who are in their retirement years who still need to do some work to supplement their income. Not only that, but their house is not a fixed four walls, but something with wheels, that they do move around. They are nomads or work campers "workampers" and rubber wheel tramps.

Most of the people came to the solution of living out of a van or RV out of necessity, but there are a few who have chosen this life. And we meet a few people who advocate it, and help out those new to the camper living. The author Jessica Bruder is a reporter and saw this story about the growing number of seniors living this life just to get by. In the several years of gathering their personal stories, she also bought a van and lived it and tried out a few of the jobs, such as the amazon warehouse temporary workers and on the sugar beet farm. They are not easy jobs, physically demanding and Bruder didn't stay long at them, just enough to know how tough these jobs really are. And it makes you wonder how long these seniors can continue in this way.

Despite the books fairly depressing state for many nomadic seniors, these are mostly positive and upbeat portrayals. Most of these people described are more optimistic and happy than one might expect. They love to name their traveling homes with cute pun names like the "Squeeze inn" and the author's van "Halen" named after the band. They are helpful and friendly to each other and quickly develop friendships that feel more like family.

So this is where I was surprised because the freedom they enjoy and camping for months as camp hosts sounded like fun. Since I haven't been camping in a few years, I do miss it, so yeah, being out in nature for months at a time sounds great. Then touring around the country, your home with you as you explore, wow. But for me that would be a vacation, not a life. No, definitely not what I'd like to do when I'm of retirement age; and no, don't sign me up to work in a warehouse or picking beets or any other fruit or vegetable.

I'm sure this book wasn't to "inspire" people to the lifestyle. Instead it is to report on part of the fallout from the great recession, what it did to those who lost their retirement savings and now have to rely on a small check of social security. It doesn't often cut it. Some of these people were college professors, business owners and construction workers. It isn't just people who worked in low wage jobs all their life, although there are a few of those as well.

It feels like there's a little more to say...but really, just read the book. Interesting take on those who don't consider themselves homeless, but houseless.



I received a free copy of this book at a library conference. I was not required to write a review, but felt like it and, of course, the above opinions are my own.