Welcome to Litsy!

Book club read this month! Really engaging and thoughtful exploration about choices, opportunities and poverty. I did feel like the conclusion was a little abrupt, but overall a pretty quick and interesting listen. #audiobooks #biography #autobiography

I wanted this to be more. It was an interesting biography/ autobiography of two men with the same name and growing up in similar circumstances. But it he doesn‘t hypothesize or comment on why one ends up a Rhode scholar and the other in prison.

I‘m a little verklempt

#2022Book114
This book does a great job showing how much of an effect the choices you make and the support system you have around you have on the person you ultimately become.

In December 2000, the Baltimore Sun ran a small piece about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper also ran a series of articles about four young men who had allegedly killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One was named Wes Moore.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ He is the Governor-elect of Maryland

This has been on my TBR forever, but Moore's victory in the MD governor election last week finally got me to pick it up! I can see why this book is loved by many - heartbreaking/inspiring parallel stories, well-written and thoughtfully told. I'm really interested in reading his follow-up The Work now, both to see what happened in the next parts of his life and also to learn if/how his perspectives grew/changed over time. (This was great on audio.)

This book is so absorbing. It makes me feel as if I really need to pay more attention to the many small things that can affect the life of an individual. I‘m reading this book to learn more about the author who just won the #Democratic primary election for governor of #Maryland, although this biography is actually about two different individuals, both named Wes Moore.

As you can see, I got this book from #BookCrossing. I‘d never heard of Wes Moore until he recently ran and won in the #Democratic primary #elections as candidate for #Governor of #Maryland. I want to learn more about him before it‘s time here for the general elections so I was happy to get hold of this book.

💜💜💜💜

1. It‘s been a few years since I read the tagged book, and I probably wouldn‘t have read it if it wasn‘t for my book club!

2. I think Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters would make an excellent book club pick. There is lots of themes ripe for discussion.

#Two4Tuesday

Fascinating story of two people who grew up in the same area with the same name

What made the difference? Two boys with the same name growing up in the same neighborhood who lived two different lives in the end. The true story explores the power of circumstance and the importance of mentors.

Lunch time sunshine reads. ☀️

After seeing Oprah interview Wes Moore, I pushed this book to the top of my TBR. If you‘ve recently read Just Mercy, I recommend this is a complimentary read.

“The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” Wes Moore

#ReadTheUSA2020 Maryland

Well, this is eerie.

I am so glad I finally read this one. I see so much of my students in both Weses (sp?). By the time most of my kids make it to 9th grade, they are at a fork in the road that will determine the rest of their lives. I wish I could make this mandatory reading for every person in my building- kids and adults. I think this is an important read for everyone.

A memoir about two African–American boys with the same name from the same city. One of them became a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. It's told in alternating chapters of each boy‘s childhood, schooling, family situations. It‘s a story of choices and what we make of what we are given. What decisions do we make that lead us down a path with no return?

Well written book on how 2 men with the same name in the same neighborhood lead different lives.
#nfnov
@Clwojick @rsteve388

My first pick for #NFnov
Had this one for ages!
@Clwojick @rsteve388

A good memoir about two men who share a name and similarities in their upbringing and the very different results. #audiobook

Next up in audiobook land! I‘m desperate for more time to read actual books with my eyes but I‘m busy so at least I have time for audiobooks! The problem is I only really like non-fiction audiobooks. So I‘ve been reading a lot of non-fiction but I miss novels so much. This week my goal is to put down my phone before bed and try to read a novel instead. I‘ll keep you posted on that 😬

"The Other Wes Moore" is about 2 men who grew up in the same neighborhood, with the same name, even though the 2 boys never met. The book follows how both of their lives took 2 very different paths and how the author could have ended up in the same place. Engaging read and one I highly reccommend!

The words of the author Samuel Beckett summarize the central message of this text: "Try again. Fail again. Fail better." In fact, I believe that this describes the ebb and flow of life itself--try again, fail again, fail better. Failing doesn't make us a failure. But not trying to do better, to be better, does make us fools.

--Tavis Smiley, in the afterword

The writing is VERY good. However, the stories in this book are neither unique or surprising, and while exploring the question of why the other Wes Moore is in prison, the author disappointingly seems too ashamed to point out what is glaringly obvious: he's in prison due to laziness.

Loved this book. The writing was good, but the story itself wouldn‘t let go.

"The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his. " -Wes Moore

We started reading this in my English classes today. My students always really like this sad but thought-provoking book. It's the true story of two young men named Wes Moore, who grew up at the same time and in the same city in the 90s. They don't know eachother until they've taken very different paths in life.

Reading in urgent care, bae cut his finger on broken glass 😑

I got these two very different memoirs from Audible‘s 2-for-1 sale. Both are read by the author, which I love for memoirs.

A tale of two people with the same name who started life in a similar way but ended up in very different places. Although the blurb says that the author tries to explain how this happened, I don‘t think he did, or certainly not in a ‘preachy‘ way. He leaves the reader to their own conclusions but, goodness me, you want to shout at some of the decisions made and pathways followed by the ‘other‘ Wes Moore and his friends and family. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Great book really get to see how a persons situation growing up can have so much affect on them throughout their life. It also shows a lot about the difference we place on education depending on a persons economic standings.

June was a slow reading month for me. Between work (it was county fair time) and just not reading anything that captured my attention, I didnt get very far in my reading.

Still reading book 4 of GoT and the 1st book of The Gunslinger. Started reading The Other Wes Moore and The Man From the Train. Both are really good and have brought me out of my slump.

Here's to a better July! #readharder

This book is amazing! It's very engaging, my students always really like it, and it leads to a tremendous amount of discussion. It's about two young men, both named Wes Moore, who grew up in the same community but didn't know each other. One became a Rhodes Scholar, the other ended up in prison for murder. The book starts by telling the reader this information, then proceeds to explain how it happened.
@TheFunkyBookworm #YAWednesday #nonfiction

This is our next book club book and it will make a great discussion! I decided to listen to it on audio and I thought it was fantastic! Two men with the same name, born in the same city with two VERY different outcomes in life. Moore narrates the book and he was great; sounded more like a telling than a reading. I also enjoyed hearing about places I‘m familiar with living in the Baltimore burbs.

Two AA boys, same name, generation, & urban challenges, but their adult lives take divergent paths. The ultimate question is why. I won‘t give it away, but I will say Wes isn‘t certain, though he has some ideas. Ultimately I think this would have been better as a less detailed essay because it‘s predictable and I can‘t recommend his narration. There are some startling stats, facts, and events that give the reader pause for thought.

Instead of walking on my lunch break, I walked at Goodwill! Got a couple of hardcover Nicholas Sparks for my daughter. The rest will have to go on my TBR list!

🛑 Kindle Deal Alert 🛑 #TheOtherWesMoore is only $2.99! This book was recommended at our #CincinnatiLitsyMeetUp yesterday and I can‘t wait to read it. It tells the story of “two kids named Wes Moore, born blocks apart within a year of each other. Both grew up fatherless and had difficult childhoods... So how did one grow up to be a Rhodes Scholar... while the other ended up a convicted murderer serving a life sentence?” #TBR #KindleDeal

This was my school‘s common read a few years back but I‘m just getting around to reading it. Very interesting take of how two men with the same name ending up on two very different life paths. This is something that I think about often. I didn‘t come from much but was fortunate enough to stay out of trouble and harm‘s way. Many friends weren‘t so lucky. I‘ll never know how much was luck, destiny, hard work, or the stars aligning.

Latest #audiobook hold came in today. This our college‘s campus read a few years back but I‘m just getting to it. Off to a great start. Shame on me for waiting so long to read it.

"The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his."

#riotgrams Day 10. Book and a beverage. Enjoying some cocoa this cold and snowy evening.

1. Hope my fur babies help you feel a little better @TricksyTails Yeta on the left, Bella on the right sending cuddles your way.
2. iPhone
3. No nuts
4. Tagged book-two boys with the same name born a year apart, and living a few blocks apart, grow up to lead very different lives. Not far enough in to not recommend but the writing style has made for a slow start.
5. Basketball
#LetsMakeTricksySmile #tricksytails #humpdaypost

#Riotgrams Day 7. #blackwriters

Starting this now. I‘ve had it on my TBR for a long time.

This might sound odd, but the book reminds me of Hillbilly Elegy and I am similarly underwhelmed. The author has an interesting life story, but I don‘t think that these two man had much in common beyond their shared name, therefore trying to compare the two life‘s outcome as random doesn‘t make sense to me.

what a thrill to host Wes Moore as our Common Read author for the UMass Amherst class of 2022.

I heard a radio bit on this book years ago. I finally read it and am underwhelmed. The true story of two boys from same neighborhood and with same name... one incredibly successful and one serving a life sentence. The author had the advantages of a supportive mother/grandparents and military school...so really, less in common than the book synopsis indicated. My first pull from my TBR jar 🙂 #LitsyAtoZ

Wow! Great book.