Where Is Your Bookmark: Quick Peek into We Carry Their Bones (& Other Friday Discussion Fun)

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the amazing Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.

Before the lawsuits and protests, before the ground-penetrating radar and DNA testing, before we stalked and before the citizens of Jackson County tried to have me arrested, before we ever stuck a shovel in the red dirt of North Florida to exhume bodies, I stood in the women's restroom as the news media gathered in the large room outside and began setting up their cameras and checking their microphones and waiting for me to step before them and tell them what I had learned about the dead boys. 

I did not want to do this. [opening of We Carry Their Bones]

This is such an effective start to a book. The author is letting me know what to expect, preparing me for an emotional, at times tense, read, and also adding a hint of a more personal nuance to the story about her own experiences and thoughts in how it relates to the events she is about to share with the reader. 

A weekly meme in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading. Hosted by the wonderful Freda of Freda's Voice. NOTE: Friday 56 is currently on an indefinite hiatus.

A few hours after noon on the first day, with thunderstorms rolling in, we found the first signs of a burial at the bottom of our first shallow hole about thirty meters north of those rows of crooked pipe crosses. [excerpt from 56% of We Carry Their Bones]

I am only about 20% into We Carry Their Bones, and have not yet reached the chapter with the above excerpt. What these boys and their families went through . . . There are no words.

One of my reading goals this year was to pair a fiction and nonfiction book together, and read them back to back. I recently read Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys and intentionally am following it up with this book. While the subject matter may be heavy, these are important stories, a part of America's history (and frankly, present) that we cannot afford to hide or ignore. 

We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys by Erin Kimmerle

Forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle investigates of the notorious Dozier Boys School--the true story behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys--and the contentious process to exhume the graves of the boys buried there in order to reunite them with their families.

The Arthur G. Dozier Boys School was a well-guarded secret in Florida for over a century, until reports of cruelty, abuse, and "mysterious" deaths shut the institution down in 2011. Established in 1900, the juvenile reform school accepted children as young as six years of age for crimes as harmless as truancy or trespassing. The boys sent there, many of whom were Black, were subject to brutal abuse, routinely hired out to local farmers by the school's management as indentured labor, and died either at the school or attempting to escape its brutal conditions.

In the wake of the school's shutdown, Erin Kimmerle, a leading forensic anthropologist, stepped in to locate the school's graveyard to determine the number of graves and who was buried there, thus beginning the process of reuniting the boys with their families through forensic and DNA testing. The school's poorly kept accounting suggested some thirty-one boys were buried in unmarked graves in a remote field on the school's property. The real number was at least twice that. Kimmerle's work did not go unnoticed; residents and local law enforcement threatened and harassed her team in their eagerness to control the truth she was uncovering--one she continues to investigate to this day.

We Carry Their Bones is a detailed account of Jim Crow America and an indictment of the reform school system as we know it. It's also a fascinating dive into the science of forensic anthropology and an important retelling of the extraordinary efforts taken to bring these lost children home to their families--an endeavor that created a political firestorm and a dramatic reckoning with racism and shame in the legacy of America. [Goodreads Summary]

Does this sound like something you would want to read? What book is your bookmark in right now?  

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. It is co-hosted by Linda Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell, Roberta from Offbeat YA, Jen from That’s What I’m Talking About, Berl's from Because Reading is Better than Real Life, and Karen from For What It’s Worth. Join in by answering this week's question in the comments or on your own blog.

Libraries: do you prefer to visit in person or check out on-line?

Some of my fondest memories of the library are the weekly summer children's hour at the small library my brother, mother, and I frequented when I was a child. Entertainers and educators would share books and knowledge, sometimes we would do crafts, and always my brother and I would browse the shelves looking for our next books to check out and read. As I got older, the library, both the public and school libraries, became more a source for material for papers, research, studying, and access to computers. My favorite job was working in the university library as part of the work study program when I was doing my undergraduate studies. It was home away from home. 

When my daughter was younger, Saturdays were designated for soccer class, park time, and the library. We always looked forward to going to the library, picking out books to check out and other books to read right there. My husband and I took turns sitting on the little couch in the children's section with Mouse, reading to and with her. We would always stop at the craft table if there was a project set out, whether coloring or cutting and gluing, or what have you. 

Visits to the library are less common for us now, but there's still something almost magical about being inside one: being surrounded by all those books, reaching out to touch or hold them, flipping through the pages, and randomly reading pages to see if the book is a good fit. The library is a great place to stop in for some quiet time, to read or rest--even to use the restroom in a pinch. It is a sanctuary. 

I haven't really explored all the online options the library offers, other than seeing if the local library has a particular book Mouse or I need (sadly, I'm often left disappointed). I have tried a couple of times to figure out and explore the city's library system for e-books, but have not had much success with it so far. My personal shelves (both physical and electronic) are full of TBR books already, and so it has not been a priority to figure out. 

So, the short answer to today's question is that I much prefer to visit libraries in person. 

Do you prefer to visit libraries in person or do you prefer their online services?

Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

How long does it usually take you to finish a book? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

It depends on a multitude of factors: writing style, length, genre, how engaged I am with the book, access to the book, how many other books I am reading at the time, life and work commitments and responsibilities, my mood and emotional state, non-bookish distractions, my attention span at any given moment, and other reasons I am sure I am forgetting. And honestly, I am all over the map when it comes to the amount of time it takes me to finish a book. It could be one day to over a hundred days. Poetry, manga and graphic novels are often the ones that I can fit in within a day or so. Short story anthologies and audiobooks take the longest for me to get through. The first I stretch out over months, reading a story here and there in between other books; and the latter because fitting in listening time is a challenge for me. I am not as fast as many book bloggers seem to be at finishing books, but I am definitely a faster reader compared to the average person. That is, if you consider the average person reads about twelve to fifteen books a year (at least according to one source). 

How long, on average, does it take you to finish a book?

 I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and tell me what you are reading and are up to!

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