Category Archives: Books

The Book of You

by Claire Kendal

This book follows a short period of time in a woman’s life. It begins with several of her journal entries. You learn that she is actually writing in her stalker journal – something she was told to do by the abuse hotlines she has called for help. The police won’t do anything to help her because there is no evidence of harassment. She reads the pamphlets and makes meticulously notes on a daily basis of her encounters with the stalker.

Her journal sets a different tone than what you would expect from a victim. She feels the hotline would disagree with her perspective, but she writes each journal entry to her stalker, hence “The Book of You”. It is a fascinating and frightening look at unwanted attention. This book puts you directly in the woman’s head. When the creeper surprises her or begins walking beside her on the way to the train station there is an irresistible urge to shudder and go wash your hands.

This book is creepy without entering fully into Stephen King territory. It gave me a perspective that I hope to never have in real life. Being inside this victim’s head for just a few months of her ordeal is plenty for me.

Book Challenge!

Last month I started a book challenge that I wasn’t sure was possible. It was supposed to last a year, but I decided a one month stint was more my style. Always set yourself up for success!

The challenge? Only read books written by women, people of color, non-Americans, or who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender. Basically, don’t read any books by straight, white, American men. Why? To introduce myself to different styles of writing. Books that are written by the same type of people start to sound the same. No matter how much plotting and planning goes into a book, authors still brings a large portion of themselves into the story.

By exposing myself to different types of authors I get to hear different voices. My first book was written by a woman. My second book was translated from another language. The writing is completely different from the typical best seller. I’m loving the challenge. It means that I have to do a bit more research before picking up the next good read, but that is also part of the fun.

Soon, I’ll post my first book review!