I finished reading Joan (novel about Joan of Arc) on Saturday. Great book but boy oh boy do I wish I was better versed in history. I picked up The Rabbit Hutch after that and loved it. Foster care system young adults trying to live together in a fictional rust belt mid-west city. Beware that there is a sub-theme about animal sacrifice albeit not in gory detail.

What to read next? Hmmm. In the end, I didn’t start another book today. Instead, I watched the first two episodes of season five of the Handmaid’s Tale. On my phone.

Dum de dum de dum de dum. I recently had a conversation with a relative who thinks the handmaid’s tale is, uh, HISTORY? Whut? Where in the hell this person got THAT IDEA, I do NOT KNOW! As far as I know, a separate nation, The Republic of Gilead, has not EVER formed and seceded from the United States of America. So nope. BUT. It is very discouraging that our country has taken a disturbing turn down a path where women cannot control their own reproductive systems. And don’t give me that states’ rights shitola. That is NOT A REASON for overturning Roe v. Wade. There was NO reason to do that at this point in time except to try to exercise control over women’s reproductive rights. If you agreed with that decision, you are NOT pro-choice.

So I read the original Handmaid’s Tale around the time it was written. I looked that up recently during a convo with my older daughter about the books she was “allowed” to read as a child. Basically I never banned ANY books from my children. She knows that and hey, have you ever read Roald Dahl? As I suspected, at the age she was when the book was published, she was probably more interested in Charlotte’s Web and Wind in the Willows and not thinking about reproductive rights. I mean, once when my daughters were very young, they asked about the tampon supply in the bathroom closet. Trying to do my best to be open with my children, I started to explain and one of them almost immediately dismissed me with, “Moom, you take care of your own problems!” Okay then! Whew!

I could go on and on about reproductive rights but I won’t for now because I’d likely be more or less incoherent. I like Margaret Atwood but enjoy some of her books better than others. I LOVED the Handmaid’s Tale. I read The Testaments (belated sequel to Handmaid’s Tale) and although I liked it a lot, I felt the ending to be a bit, I dunno, rushed, maybe? I have been following the TV series for years. I love it although it is a bit flawed. For one thing, as many others have pointed out, there is too much emphasis on the main character’s face (who is also the director). I love her but sometimes I am thinking something like JUST GET ON WITH IT.

I do NOT understand how ANYONE could think the books or TV series are history, at least not history of the United States. As disturbing as the story is, especially as it evokes recent politics, I enjoy it because it is a STORY and a very good one.

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