Pine Cottage Book Club | April Pick | Book Discussion | Book Review

[@nancyistenes7643]

I’m really enjoying your book selections and discussion. I wasn’t going to read digital minimalism when you first announced it. Then I watched the February discussion and realized that the topic had come up with my husband and I in the prior week. I suggested that he and I read it together. We divided it into sections and discussed it along the way. While not everything in the book pertained to us, we were able to find some areas where screen time does get in the way of our life goals. Times when it sucks time out of our day without adding benefit or keeps us from connecting with each other. We have taken some steps to limit that and reduce our screen time. I think he and I will be talking about this and encouraging others for awhile to really cement these habits into our lives. I read Take My Hand. I loved it! So engaging, thought provoking and mind opening. it reminded me of a few other books I have read. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: The Real Story and Beyond. So many horrific things in history that we have to learn about to ensure they don’t happen again. Thanks again for your book discussions.

[@juliekraft6429]

I am really enjoying the book club side of your channel. My husband and I are both reading this month's book based on your selection.

[@ThePineCottage]

I’m so glad, Julie!🥰 Thank you for being here!

[@debbuckingham2313]

Eloquently written. Honest story behind events that are uncomfortable to read at times, yet the reality behind these events kept me turning the pages. This author created believable characters, characters we loved and adored. Heartbreaking, yet inspirational. Great book, Nikol!

[@maureenlehman139]

Nikol, I absolutely loved this book. The story grabbed me right from the first few pages. I was a young girl when Roe versus Wade passed. I remember it being a very hot topic in my family of Irish Catholic women. I had read about forced sterilization in institutions, and during the war. But I did not realize that was going on in the 70s. I'm looking forward to reading the link. You are sharing about the story of the sisters. I just thought this was a really great book. I just recommended it to one of my customers a few minutes ago while doing a haircut we were talking about it. you did such a fantastic job discussing the book. I am about halfway through this month selection of The Wave. Again, this story grabbed me from the opening page. I am having difficulty right now in the middle of this book but I do plan on finishing it.

[@ThePineCottage]

Thanks, Maureen!❤️

[@caseywagner9484]

I loved the book for the same reasons you did: real life issues presented in a compelling but sensitive way. It opened my eyes to something that I had not heard much about - forced sterilization practices. Made me wonder what we might be doing now that's well-intentioned but with fuller perspective may prove to be wrong. Loved getting introduced to this author!

[@kaeherman4357]

The book was well written and the storyline well developed. It was so hard to be a witness to the unforeseen consequences and cost of a plan to improve the living conditions of a family giving them a chance to build an improved potential future . The story highlighted how even those who are truly trying to help others improve their lives can have a blind spot regarding the effect their actions can have on the future. Each character had remarkable strength allowing them to continue in their lives .

[@mama.december]

I appreciate your neutral presentation of sensitive topics.

[@Dmjones0701]

I thought the author did a beautiful job of informing the reader about historical concepts through her characters. Sometimes when information needs to be conveyed for context or historical reference, passages like that can take the reader out of the story. When Civil is shocked or devasted by what she is learning and experiencing, we are right there with her feeling those same things.

[@Yarnathologist]

I absolutely loved the March book!!! That is my type of a perfect book, it has enough valid history that it made me want to seek more information but in an educated , let’s not let something like this ever happen again way vs a feeling of being judged or punished by not being of the same ethnicity or circumstances. This rang my historical fiction bell similar to how “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” did!! Thank you I am choosing to skip April’s selection because it just seems more intense than I am ready for, I hope you all enjoy it!! Thank you again for the social book club!!!

[@auntbella2]

The topics in ‘Take My Hand’ reminded me of Daniel Okrent’s book ‘The Guarded Gate’. The author focuses on that very forgotten dark history of America you mentioned that spanned the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. Immigration was an extremely volatile subject during this period. So much so that many of our nation’s leaders were supportive of biological laws, literacy tests given to immigrants - in English, assessing the shape of a person’s head, and so many other so called scientific methods being used to determine whether an adult or child was feeble-minded and therefore a candidate for forced sterilization. All of this strongly influenced “a 35-year-old inmate in Landsberg Prison in Bavaria, Adolf Hitler.” I will never understand how humans can be so unbelievably cruel towards each other. And I agree with another viewer. You do a great job of presenting sensitive topics in a balanced and neutral way.

[@ThePineCottage]

Thank you so much for saying that…and for the book recommendation!❤️

[@sarahparker5538]

This story sucked me in from the beginning. The author really did do a beautiful job of enlightening the reader through the experiences of the main character, forcing us to take a hard look at how we “help” others and what that help may feel like from the other perspective. I feel angry that forced/uninformed sterilization is still happening quietly around our country. So many of us - regardless of background- put our whole and completely trust in medical professionals because that’s what we’re supposed to do. A powerful read for sure!

[@noreenlou]

So sad to read about forced sterilization.