The Bone Thief by Vanessa Lillie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“You can give me back my people’s bones and you can quit digging them up.”
“The most pathetic lies are the ones we tell ourselves.”
“Some places might be close on a map, but they are still a world away.”
“I realize kids aren’t rational, but then again, adults aren’t really either.”
The Bone Thief takes place in New England, specifically the state of Rhode Island. BIA archeologist Syd is the main character. Her boss has recently retired and she is now the go-to-person. She works closely with this local camp and especially with this group of kids to teach them about archeology. A country club and secret society type place owns it. There are some shady things going on including native bones, artifacts, and children going missing. The group wants to open a center that displays items and talks about history but to benefit whom? What is the reason behind it? Will Syd solve what is going on and will people get what they deserve?
Vanessa Lillie is the author and is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. This book was angering and frustrating. What the Indigenous People went through since Europeans landed on the shores (“as if the tribe wasn’t here from the first colonial boot on the ground stomping toward Independence Day”) is despicable and disturbing. I cannot believe it is something that is still going on. This novel sheds light on the desecration of native lands and belongings. “Power is power. People who have it think the way to keep it is by never giving an inch of what they’ve taken.” Firstly, I love that there are queer characters. I love the representation and how attention wasn’t drawn to the queerness. I also learned a lot reading this book including about the oldest powwow in the United States and the struggles that still exist today. When a girl goes missing, the person making signs asked if they should have put the race as white so maybe “people would care more.” This aspect plus the abuse of power is infuriating. There was a scene where cops were being bullies and assholes. It made my blood boil. And white people thinking that have a right to native babies? Unreal. “Lord, give me the confidence of a white man.” The words elucidate, immemorial, and desultory are the ones I captured and liked. So, I am currently watching this show, as part of my friends and my weekly show, that has this technique they utilize involving hallucinations and dreams without informing the audience. There was a little bit of this in the book as well. I am not a fan. I don’t like it and it annoys me so that put me off a little bit. There was also a scene that didn’t quite make sense logistically either. This is exactly the type of book you should read if you want to get a little more insight into the struggles of Indigenous People in a story setting. It was an ok book with some good messages.
View all my reviews
Tag: money
Egyptian Corruption And Sexy Secrets Surrounding A Single Address
The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“It may happen that you will hate a thing which is better for you.”
The Yacoubian Building is about a residential building in Cairo and the people connected with it. We rotate through different stories focused on one or more of these characters and sometimes they interweave with other storylines. There is a list of main characters in the front of the book, which I found myself utilizing quite a bit. It is told from the 3rd person perspective, and we get to know all that is going on internally and externally. It takes place around the 1990s and there is a lot going on. In this book you will find religion, sex, greed, family, homosexuality, and many other divergent topics. It encompasses a wide array of things and gives us a glimpse into what life might have looked like. It is a real time piece.
Alaa Al Aswany is the author of this novel and he is quite the writer. His detailed descriptions really allow you to paint a vivid image in your head. He has some real talent with this. And it doesn’t go on for days either like Hemingway. Everything he puts down on paper has relevance and allows the reader to get to know the characters in depth. It shows the environment they are living in and their history and motives and why they are the way they are. He can create an amazing sense of place and mood. There is a lot of sex in this book and a lot of describing people in sexual terms. The way the bodies are detailed, the words people use, or the actual sex scenes are numerous. I liked the words he chose to use too. There were just enough words that I had to look up and ones that I loved pronouncing out loud like, abrogate and disputatiousness. I enjoyed how they sounded on my tongue and learning new words. It was sad what people had to go through and how they treated each other. People suffered…”This country doesn’t belong to us, Taha. It belongs to the people who have money.” Unfortunately, this is still true in a lot of ways and places. It really touches on corruption within people and institutions and society. It really showed the worst of people. This had a direct impact on my views of characters. At one point I would be on their side and then later I would totally despise them. One thing I didn’t enjoy was trying to keep track of everyone and where we were in their stories. I had to rely on the list of characters at the front to remember who was who and what was previously revealed about them. This book also talked a lot about religion and it got to be too much for me. I cannot relate at all and I just did not get it. I enjoyed this novel and I think others will as well. It is very well written and it is truly thoughtful. This is exactly the type of book that I would love to look back on for inspiration on writing descriptions.
Affiliate Link:
https://amzn.to/3TAn1uL
View all my reviews
The Cost of Passion
Where do people get the money to pursue their passions?
I have come across numerous times where people are discussing the pursuit of their passion. Be it in talks, books, videos, or in person. One thought that always comes up in my mind is how can they afford to do that. Well, another thought is discovering passion in general, but I will leave that to another post. Where does the money come from?
It seems like a very select group has the privilege to be able to pursue their passion. Do they not have credit card bills or loans that they must pay. Do they not have a cell phone bill or insurance? Did they inherit a ton of money? Do they not have other obligations that suck the money out of their accounts? This has always baffled me. For example, in the book The Happiness of Pursuit, there are a bunch of stories where people are on “quests”. They are traveling to see every country or biking the whole of North/South America or trying to see as many bird species as they can. In the book they do not address the elephant in the room. How did these people afford to go on these “quests”? Did they save up for 20 years? Do they not have jobs to report to? Did they win the lottery? How do they pay the day-to-day costs? If anyone has an answer, please let me know.
I wish I had the luxury to just up and quit my life to pursue something I love like traveling or playing D&D. That would be the dream, but I would not be able to afford it. I have too many bills to take care of. Thousands of dollars a month right now is attacking my monthly income. I have student and personal loans. I have internet and a phone to pay for. I must pay for a place to live. I have credit cards. These are not cheap, and it will be a long time before I would be able to be flexible with my daily life. This is the new dream though, isn’t it? Financial freedom. Not owning a bunch of things but not being tied to a day-to-day job. That is the goal.