The novel's strengths for me
-Vividly drawn characters and relationships
-friends from different socio-economic backgrounds trying to honor the past and negotiate the harsh realities of the present.
-A rabbi accepting and responding to a temporary lapse of faith
-A thirty-year- …more old on the cusp of accepting responsibility for his actions and moving into his future
-A son responding to the expectations of his father and dealing with the father's end-of-life illness

I enjoyed the writing: meticulous, and descriptive.
I especially enjoyed the everyday moments; playing poker, football matches, remembrances of growing up together.
And the creativity and patience Teo needed to call upon to respond to the mundane needs of a two-year-old.
Well done!! (less)

The book is divided into topics each written by an expert in the subject being explored. The writing is concise and spares no details. As the book progresses many connections are made between the underlying economics of slavery, fear and humankind 's need for power and …more basic distrust of "otherness".

The 1619 Project made me aware of my limited knowledge of the history of race relations and how much that history has impacted our present-day social issues.
I appreciated the photos, the poems, and excerpts from essays pertinent to a specific incident in US history.

A grand undertaking and a must-read. (less)

All You Have to Do is Call took a while to get into; it felt light and a bit too much like chick-lit as the characters were first introduced. But the author carefully builds her characters and fleshes them out. The budding of women's liberation and the march forward on …more abortion rights are the frameworks of the novel. The characters are appealing and the drama and trauma are true to life. Halfway through I found it hard to put down.
The women-run abortion clinics in Chicago are a piece of history I was unaware of and was happy to be enlightened. Sadly, this country is headed backward on this issue, at least according to the Supreme Court.
By the way, Girl Scout is a troop, not a troupe. I found some of the sentences to be awkward.
Overall, an enjoyable and impactful book. (less)