Lately, I’ve decided to slow down on the “have to read” lists and started reading more for pleasure.

A few weeks ago I picked up Cupcake Brown’s memoir A Piece of Cake. I started reading it last week and OMG this woman had a hard life and I’m not even past age 13. I don’t know if I can continue reading. I like the prose a lot but the rape and child abuse scenes are hard to read. This is nothing but a compliment to Ms. Brown’s writing. Maybe I should read it so I know and understand what society does to a small child lost in the shuffle. But I can barely keep it together while reading it. We’ll see.

The sad thing is this book is just one example of a beyond hard life one experiences when they’re kicked around between foster homes. But she did persevere. Says a lot about the human spirit and resilience.