The Girl's Guide to Homelessness

Let me tell you a little story:

When I realized it was my turn to pick the ol’ BC book, I decided I really wanted to read a book about something I was interested in. So naturally, I picked a book about running! Born To Run, by Christopher McDougall – it was SOOOO good! I was super pumped to share this treat with my sweet sisters of soul, to give them some insight into what makes my little runner’s heart beat slightly faster than it probably should (I just like running, I’m not necessarily good at it). Then I thought, hey…maybe I’ll give them choices, just to be nice. So I did, and much to my surprise (not really), my fun and exciting running book was unceremoniously cast aside. And mocked. I’d like to take a moment to thank my sole soul sister who voted for this great read, Sarah. Even though I’m pretty sure she voted for it as a joke, or simply because she knew she wouldn’t have to read it – I still appreciate the gesture, all these many months later!

We ended up reading another wonderful book, The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness by Brianna Karp. This book is a memoir written by an intelligent, witty, and brave woman (girl? Am I old enough to call her a girl?) who shares her story of transitioning from a life most of us call “normal” to living out of a trailer in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Brianna brings the reader along as she scrambles to keep herself above water, and opens the reader’s eyes to a world we often try to shut out. While the majority of us would not care to admit this, most of us are only a couple/few paychecks away from losing the things we hold onto so dearly: homes, cars, and other things that make us feel secure and safe.  The author reveals the reality of living out this nightmare, only to show us that circumstances don’t necessarily define us, and that experiencing the things we fear the most often reveal and refine our character. The book is full of tid-bits about Brianna’s childhood, family, experiences, and many times of grief and loss. We all, through reading her book, experienced a taste of the author’s anguish, frustration, and eventually her joy and triumph as well. And, we learned SO much about the way we view people experiencing homelessness, the stereotypes we hold, and the judgments we often pass on people. For me, it was truly convicting, and I’m so grateful for Brianna’s willingness to share so openly about her experiences.

I should also note that, just as I finished reading this book (I read it on two flights because it was so engrossing), I found the author on twitter, started following her, and mentioned her in a tweet. Not 5 minutes later, she thanked me for mentioning it! AND said that if our book club wanted to interview her, she would try to make that happen!!! I, of course, freaked out, because she is totally famous, and I cannot handle having contact with famous people. But I’m sure it would have been so great and insightful to hear from her directly regarding her book. Sorry, book club, for my weird quirks that keep you from being able to experience things like this! However, you (blog readers) should check out her blog at  http://girlsguidetohomelessness.com/ or on twitter (@tGGtH), a she is continuing to advocate for people who are homeless! Yaya!

Here are our ratings:

Allison: 6.9

Stacey: 7.5

Kristin: 8.5

Erin: 8.35

Camille: 8

For our book club, I fired up our grill (the one we couldn't use for the first 2 years of being the Adams Family because we lived in an apartment) and made hot dogs. I think they were kind of gross, sorry friends! But I did make a twinkie cake thing, which consisted of halved twinkies, chocolate pudding, the top half of the twinkies, whipped cream, and crushed peanut butter cups. Very sweet, but I think pretty good.

As a side note, you should read Born to Run in addition to this book - it really is a great story about some fun people who share a love of running. And it paints a good picture of the Tarahumara culture!

Love, Ladybugs, and Literary Liberty,

Camille