Girls Like Us

Reading The Rainbow: Book 10
Title: Girls Like Us
Author: Rachel Lloyd
Medium: Book

Girls Like Us is a poignant look into the commercial sexual exploitation of youth in the United States. It doesn’t come across as a “woe is me, look at how difficult my life is/was” instead it presents facts intermixed with personal stories of Rachel Lloyd and other young women (really girls) who have been commercially sexually exploited.

It’s a heartbreaking book when you realize how young most of the girls that Lloyd’s non-profit GEMS deals with, how so many fall into a life of prostitution and drugs simply because they are seeking something that everyone should have, love. One of the reason this book was so effective is that Lloyd herself was in the sex industry, working as an exotic dancer and later as a prostitute, it’s not written as a sterile, clinical work that distances itself from the subjects and the subject matter. Lloyd’s book is in your face, gritty and often ugly. It makes you want to cry, to hope and to do something all at the same time.

Overall Rating: 4/5

Then They Came For Me

Reading The Rainbow: Book 9
Title: Then They Came For Me
Author: Maziar Bahari
Medium: Audiobook

Readers, I’m a terrible blogger, I did not mean to abandon you for almost three months! A lot has been going on in my life. But rest assured, I’ve actually been reading quite a bit.

When Maziar Bahari left for Iran in 2009 to cover the elections he didn’t expect to be arrested, jailed, tortured and accused of being a spy for the CIA and Newsweek. Bahari was just an Iranian born journalist trying to cover what he felt would be an important time for his country.

Honestly, I read this book way back in February and hadn’t wanted to post about it because while I feel horrible for Mr. Bahari and what he went through, this book really just didn’t do it for me. I understand that in a stressful situation you’d think a lot about your pregnant wife and your future baby and if you’ll see them or not, but the book could have been a lot shorter if he hadn’t gone on about it so much.

It gets bonus points for having a lot of good Iranian history about the Ayatollah and Western influence.

Overall Rating: 3/5