The Story of Solomon Northrop, TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE

Solomon Northrop's memoir TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE is heartbreaking. The fact that his story is based on real life events makes it all the more difficult to read. The abuse he endures in the South after being kidnapped from the North is dehumanizing and will shock any rational reader's sense of justice.

Anyone who's read Emma Donohue's ROOM will know what I mean when I say that the last act of the book evokes similar feelings of desperation. The reader knows that he's rescued from the beginning, but it's the unpredictable and cruel nature of his last owner, Epps, that stresses the reader. Anything could happen.

I saw the Steve McQueen's film adaptation over the weekend. It's unlike any other movie I've ever seen about slavery in that it doesn't "make-nice" on the topic to make it more palatable for the mainstream. It's unflinchingly honest and well-done, albeit, tough to watch at times and is true to the memoir in its depiction of events and description characters

There's nothing romantic about the institution of slavery as some of our citizens would have us think. It's not something to be "gotten over," either.

ONE DOCTOR Examines The State Of Healthcare In The U.S.

As a  member of Simon & Schuster's Galley Alley, I receive promotional copies of books I've chosen to read. I'm not required to write a review. I write and share what I wish. Opinions expressed herein are my own.

Healthcare delivery in the United States is a disaster. Inflated costs by healthcare providers, incentives for non-delivery of services by insurance companies, and the  waning of medical students choosing internal medicine as their specialty contribute to a disjointed system that endangers patients' lives, rations services, and provides the greatest care to a fortunate and wealthy few. Dr. Brendan Reilly's first person account in ONE DOCTOR: Close Calls, Cold Cases, And The Mysteries Of Medicine is an empathetic and disturbing read.

It's empathetic for the medically near-impossible cases Dr. Reilly presents as he rounds with his  students. The reader doesn't meet patients and their families in a detached clinical sense, but as humans, grappling with decisions that no one should have to make. Between these cases, the author discusses his personal struggles in the profession, while sharing family history, as he decides how to manage his own elderly parents' end of life planning. What defines quality of life and when is "enough" enough? 

The disturbing nature of the book has to do with all the mishaps that occur when there's little or no continuity of care. As I read, I started making a list of the things I'll be doing differently moving forward. I learned more than I wanted to know about medical reimbursement, the dying autopsy, the unreliability of diagnostic tests, both positive and negative, the insidious nature of undetectable breast cancer, and the importance of having an advanced directive in place so that my loved ones aren't burdened with making the kinds of decisions presented in this book. Anyone who doesn't have a primary doctor should get one, now.

Platicamos de Esperanza Renace [Aguascalientes y Las Uvas]

Que cuento tan tierno y agridulce.

ESPERANZA RENACE no es solo para jovenes.

Me enamoré desde el principio con la inocencia de Esperanza, la hija de Ramona y Sixto Ortega, que cuando abre el capítulo Aguascalientes, México, 1924 en El Rancho de las Rosas, solo tiene seis años. La conocemos al momento que su papa le enseña como sentir el latido de la tierra y entendemos en ese momento que para su familia los vides son una extensión de ellos mismos.

En el siguiente capitulo UVAS, le toca a Esperanza, como hija única de sus padres cortar el primer racimo de uvas para señalar el comienzo de la cosecha, y espera con expectación sus amigas que vienen a celebrar su quinceañera. Otros personajes importantes que conocemos son:

• La Abuelita de Esperanza, una señora elegante que le gusta leerles poemas a los pajaritos;
• Hortensia, el ama de llaves y su esposo Alfonso, el capataz de los trabajadores y el mejor amigo del papa de Esperanza;
• Miguel, el hijo de Hortensia y Alfonso, con quien Esperanza se quería casar cuando era niña, pero que después dice que "entre ellos corría un profundo río";
• Los hermanos mayores del papa de Esperanza que no me cayeron muy bien: Luis y Marco, hombres que "amaban el dinero y el poder más que la gente."

Me quede con ganas de llorar cuando terminé de leer LAS UVAS. Todo va cambiar para esta niña. A ver como se desarrollan las cosas.

¿Que pensaron ustedes cuando Esperanza se pinchó el pulgar? Predico la muerte de su papa? Que les gusto más de los dos primeros capítulos? Menos? Se les dificulto leerlo? A mi si! Pero aprendí muchas palabras ...

Algunas palabras nuevas...

vides = vine

zarcillo = tendril

oruga (not to be mistaken with arruga-wrinkle!) = caterpillar

adinerado = wealthy

paja = straw

cuyos = whose/which

lagar = winepress

sin embargo = however

pulgar = thumb

cesta = basket (yo solo conocia la palabra "canasta")

baúl = trunk

cosecha = crop/harvest

crepúscolo (my new favorite word!) = twilight/dusk

Leemos y discutimos ESPERANZA RENACE por capítulo. La siguiente semana discutiremos LAS PAPAYAS. : )