Novel recommendation

1.

Upstate : A Novel

I was up until 3 am this morning finishing this book...and crying all the way through, which is unusual for me...maybe I was just tired, but this book (listened to on audible) was hauntingly beautiful. It had a good ending, but not a fairy tale ending, which always is more credible to me...life just isn't usually a fairy tale, so stories that end with somethings unresolved always seem more relevant to me.

At first the novel was a little too edgy, lots of language to get through, but it is about a couple of Harlem teenagers, so it is "real"...but don't read it if you are easily offended by the antics of teenagers in love.

Something that I think the book does a good job of is showing how lives that intersect -- though may not always stay in sync, still can profoundly influence. I also like the idea that the most broken in our society still have something--sometimes more -- to give to more "healthy" members. In fact, that theme has struck me several times in some other readings so I'm going to think on it more...

I have a friend in KC who is a theologian who is offering me a helping hand on some heavier, weightier things and I'm so thankful for his guidance. I have some gnarly questions that are tugging at the edge of my mind -- specifically the ideas of wealth in America and how that works -- or doesn't work -- with so many in the world living such poverty ridden lives, I've starting rethinking some things.

Tomorrow, road trip to Dallas -- really quick, and I'll be jammin to my new CD's...