Recent Reads -- Falling Into Place

[Niceguymike]

I was asked to review this in advance of release. Admittedly, not the kind of book I'd normally choose for myself, this is national news anchor Hattie Kaufman's memoir of overcoming.

And by that I mean overcoming a profoundly impoverished upbringing (mostly in Washington State, which is a really bad place to be poor), a minority identification that has rarely gained a national stage (Native American), and a divorce that came as a complete surprise (in her early 50s).

Her way of overcoming would resonate easily with Southern Christians, but very poorly with news anchors on the left coast: She took up Christianity. On the one hand, I found her journey fascinating. On the other, I found it oddly embarrassing.

It is not that I disagree with her journey. It is that the thing I have the most difficulty with in the South is that religious beliefs are expected to be discussed loudly and often, and I was not taught that way.

For that reason, I can say I enjoyed the book, which moved in time between her childhood and her adulthood. She is well-spoken and intelligent and a really good writer. Despite living in Seattle, where she got her start, I don't recall her from the news there. I wish I did.