I have read several books lately that, yes, have been compelling reads, but more than that have made me think about them after I finish reading them. These are books of substance with thought provoking themes that would make great discussions for book clubs! These books were not light reads, but were still ones that I was glad to have picked up and that I look forward to discussing with others who have read them.

The Yellow Wife

by Sdeqa Johnson

This one had some disturbing content. It is one thing to know about the atrocities committed from one race to another, but it is another thing to read about these experiences in the firsthand narrative. That disclaimer aside, I was glad I read this book! My attention was held the whole way through it!

The main character of this book, Pheby Delores Brown, was based loosely on the story of a woman who really lived. Pheby is the illegitimate daughter of a plantation owner and as such has been afforded certain rights not usually granted to a slave; she has also been promised her whole life that she will be freed on her 18th birthday, a date she eagerly awaits. Then without warning Pheby is sold, ripped away from the life she knows and is sold to a man known as the Jailer, who has gained his wealth selling people into slavery and disciplining any slave who attempt to run away. Pheby becomes his unofficial wife—the mother of children who he claims. As the mother of these children she is treated better than other slaves but a slave she still is. She is forced to ready young slave girls who come ready for auction; Pheby must help these girls to look their best so they can fetch the best prices before the auction where they will be sold into a life of prostitution. Pheby despises the roll she plays in these girls lives, but what would happen should she refuse?

The Children’s Blizzard

by Melanie Benjamin

It was an unusually warm day in the middle of winter 1888, after a long stretch of bitter cold, spirits were light as people in the territories of Nebraska and Montana went about their daily lives. Most were dressed lighter than they normally would be that fateful day. It was nearly time for school to dismiss when the air started to change and a blizzard began. Many of the teachers in these schools were young women—barely 18 years in many cases—that had to make what they didn’t know at the time to be life and death decisions. Should these teachers send the children home from school early or wait it out in the school house? The children could be caught and perish in the cold, but how long would the blizzard last? Would the flimsy school houses stand up against the blizzard?

We follow mainly three characters, fictional though somewhat inspired by people who really lived, as they face these fateful days. Who would survive and who wouldn’t? And how will the others live with the decisions they made?

Ribbons of Scarlet

by Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, E. Knight, Sophie Perinot, Heather Webb

The French Revolution was inspired in part by the success of the American Revolution but went far differently than the American Revolution did. Through the pages of this book we follow six different women who all hail from different stations in life and have different outlooks on the Revolution. This book is a collection of six stories interwoven by six different authors (one author assigned to each story) which gives this book depth and character as each author uses their expertise to depict the circumstances surrounding their character. I greatly enjoyed learning more about the French Revolution and enjoyed the differing perspectives this book offered, but I confess, books of this nature are not my favorite from a purely enjoyment-focused point of view as I just start to really get into one character’s story when it’s time to switch characters! Still this book offers a lot of topics for consideration that we might think to be contemporary in nature but which were, in fact, still being fought for over 250 years ago!

Being Mortal

by Awtul Gwande

This book is non-fiction but deals with themes we all have to think about sooner or later. Gwande is a physician and has taken a close look at the aging process and how the elderly are treated in this country (America). Being of Indian descent, he saw the aging process of his grandfather in a country where the elderly live at home among the different generations. Living out one’s old age at home among family has long been regarded as the paragon to which it would be nice for us all to aspire, but Gwande points out the difficulties with this style of living also. Gwande goes on to discuss the pluses and minuses of assisted living centers and nursing homes; the last part of this book discusses medical treatment in the end stages of life. If doctors discussed more straightforwardly the prognosis of the terminally ill would it allow patients to make the discussion of ending treatment sooner in exchange for fewer higher quality months or years, rather than perhaps living for an extra year that depletes the patient so much then cannot enjoy it? As you may have gathered, Being Mortal is not a light read but if you pick this one up I think that you will be glad that you did!

P.S. If you know of a friend who enjoys a thought provoking read please share this post with them!