The Kidney Book

Looking for a new book but don't want to commit? Check out my latest BooktTube Video: One & Done - all about fabulous standalones!

Now that you know this one made the list - check out the video to see the rest!

The Written Review :

If you haven't read this as an adult - pick it up today I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks. I (along with millions of other kids) first read this in grade-school. And I (along with those millions) didn't really get the point.

I remember thinking, Well... I already know discrimination is wrong. I don't get why I have to read a book about it...

Oh Lordy, if I could go back in time...

Rereading led to a (unsurprisingly) wholly different interpretation of this novel. I am in awe of Harper Lee and what she's written.

How could I have so completely missed the point back in fifth grade? People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for. We follow Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, the daughter of Atticus Finch - a prominent lawyer. Scout narrates the great and terrible tragedies of her life - namely the trial of Tom - an upstanding "colored" man accused of raping a white woman.

Atticus is appointed to defend Tom and soon, nearly the whole town turns against the Finch Family. I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. Much like Scout, I was simply too young to understand much of what was going on the first time through.

I tell you, there were so, so many moments this time through where the light bulb turned on and everything just clicked. As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash My entire life, I never truly understood why this was such a classic, why people read it over and over, and why this (of all books) is forced upon kids year after year. I get it now. And I'm disappointed that I hadn't reread it sooner.

P.s. Sorry to my teachers for being such a sulky kid - they sure picked a great one. I was just so enthralled with reading other things that I didn't read this one as well as I should've. Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.

Audiobook Comments
Exceptionally well-read by Sissy Spacek. I felt like I was in the story. If you are itching for a reread - pick up the audio!

YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads