Meredith College Book Club

I don't often feel the need to write like I did when I was a child/teenager. I'm not positive that I will stick with the blog... we'll see how it goes. Mostly I prefer to read. I'm going to be in a book club for the first time this year. It is for Meredith College alumni and I am SO excited. I love being able to discuss what I have read with someone. Mom always listens to me (yay!) but I don't often meet people who enjoy the same books as I do. Right now the book club is reading Unbowed by Wangari Maathai. I was a little skeptical about the book (I have no idea why) but it is a really good book. I'm over half way through and so far it has been very interesting. She suffers discrimination because she is an educated woman, because she is a member of a certain tribe in Kenya, and because she dared to take on corruption and discrimination in the government. However, nothing ever stopped her from standing up for what she believed in. What an example for women everywhere. (And I don't even consider myself a feminist.) Along with doing all this, she supported her husband who eventually left her and she raised three children with the knowledge that their emotional, physical, and spiritual welfare depended on her. A woman who could do it all and do it perfectly? Probably not. But she did not toss her family aside to become an activist. To me she is a great example of an intelligent woman who knew that family, community, and respect are necessary parts of life. Sometimes nowadays, we get that all mixed up.