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June2024. 5/10 somewhat repetitive….good read for teens … eye opener for how difficult life can be…. Not to take things for granted!

I was going through my reading challenge records today and realized I forgot to review this on all of my logging sites. This is an interesting look at life below the poverty line. I think it's easy for those of us who do not have this lived experience to judge Land and people like her but I doubt we would honestly do any better if we found ourselves in similar circumstances.

A thought provoking book that provides a glimpse into the life of a mom and how she survives. We need more books just like this.

This is the first book I read of 2024 & shortly after I started the Netflix series because I couldn‘t get this book out of my head. This is an incredible, raw tale of a mother who never gave up. A real look of poverty in America. I recommend this book 100%!!

What a great nonfiction book! It‘s an unflinching look at what it is to be a poor, single mother in America today. Land somehow keeps it together when most would have crashed and burned. Her love for her daughter shines. The book is nothing like the tv series. This is a book everyone should read! It will open your eyes.

I read this after watching the Netflix show. I couldn't put it down, and finished it in a couple of days. All I can say is this is a must read!

Rereading (well listening) to the tagged and making a quick pita bread pizza for dinner.

I‘ve been wanting to read this one for a long time, and the new Netflix adaptation spurred me to jump on it before I watched.

Extremely well written memoir by a struggling single mom. I‘m so glad she was able to write this and I hope she‘ll write more books. I will read them!

I‘ve watched the first two episodes of the series and they changed a ton of stuff! Wonder how the author feels about that.

I'm so glad I watched the show first and then read the book, because it allowed me to be amazed at how much richer the story is through the author's own words. I finished it in just 2 days.

"I‘d sunk to a new low, but I wouldn‘t let it sink."

I came to this book after watching, and loving, the series in Netflix. When I first started reading, I was taken aback by how different Land's life story was to the life depicted in the series. It started feeling like the book and the series followed two different narratives.
I think the book is a lot more real than the series. I read that people, specifically mothers, felt that the Stephanie in the series was almost too good of a mom. (cont)

It is hard to review Maid because on one hand I respect Stephanie Land for telling her story, but on the other hand, I just didn‘t love the book. 3⭐️

I did watch the Netflix adaptation though, which I enjoyed more than the book. The adaptation is only very loosely inspired by the book – a lot was changed to make it a more TV-friendly story.

The first book I thought of pertaining to #gloves 🧤

#WishesandBlessings

#gloves #wishesandblessings @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Another read making it to the top of my recommendation list. An honest, well-written memoir that is eye opening and promotes a need for critical reflection. Now, time to tune into Maid on Netflix!

This is easily one of the most interesting memoirs I've ever read. Stephanie Land really highlighted the challenges and utter bullshit that she went through as a single mom who did everything in her power to escape an abusive relationship and protect her young daughter. It also made me realize what my life could have been if my grandma wasn't around when my mom left my father. I'm very grateful that many of the challenges were hidden from me.

I'm just going to have a reading marathon of one until I can watch Taylor Swift on SNL tonight. ❤ Up next: Maid - Stephanie Land.

The Netflix series of this is very different and actually much better. I was v poor growing up, my parents both worked two jobs. Some of this is really poignant but other parts she comes across as whiney (esp as she‘s nearly 30) and she makes some bad decisions, like she can‘t afford food but then spends $200 on a diamond ring to prove to herself she‘s worth it?! A lot of this didn‘t sit well with me….

My book order came in today. 😍

Super excited about my November TBR pile. 😀 Hoping I can get more reading time this month. #novembertbr

A quick but often disjointed read about one white single mother‘s struggles and resilience. She has a fierce love for her child that really shines through.

Anyone else watching??

Finally getting back to reading. Diving into this one before watching it on Netflix

Stephanie outlines the struggles of single parenthood and the will to survive in poverty.

Even though this is a memoir about the struggles faced by one mom, it‘s hard to read and not think about injustices faced by all working poor. This story makes a good argument for a more robust social safety net. It also serves as reminder to treat all people with kindness and respect. Sometimes the book felt a bit disjointed but Land did a good job of conveying the anxiety, frustration and exhaustion she felt while striving for a better life.

Just finished this wonderful memoir by Stephanie Land. A memoir that, as far as I‘m concerned, serves as a definitive argument that sometimes, a heavy-handed dose of Marxism is exactly what we need. It‘s hard to imagine a surer sign of this than this book.

Good.

The book was a good, quick read. As a teenage single-mother, her story hit close to home. I remember the struggle and the exhaustion. I remember that it is always a lurking potential. The book was an effective way to call attention to our social support programs by putting the reader in the shoes of any 'public aid' recipient. Absolutely relatable and a good reminder how much I take for granted.

Beautifully written account of being poor in America. Highly recommend the audiobook, which the author reads.

I really enjoyed listening to this book. I highly recommend this book. I am looking forward to the Netflix adaptation. This book was a story of resilience.

For fifteen years, I raised my children on my own while living in abject poverty after escaping an abusive marriage. Because of this, many of the battles and resulting emotions expressed by Stephanie Land in her memoir about being a low income single mom were very relatable. The dehumanizing experiences she relayed especially resonated with me. While the bulk of her story didn‘t mirror my own, I found it easy to empathize with her struggle.

Continuing with the same podcast series and documentary on Netflix today, I learned so much from the tagged book about the painful process of applying for different types of public assistance in the US. A very sobering read particularly while waiting for the results of the election

#nfn2020 @Clwojick +20

This was a really moving account of a single mother getting by on public assistance and working as a cleaner. A meaningful book to be reading during the wait for the outcome of the American election. I agree with some criticism I‘ve seen about how a woman of colour‘s opinion on these issues might be more illuminating for modern America than a white woman, but I loved it all the same.
#nfn2020 @Clwojick +20
#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks one more!

Listened to this one and just felt okay about it. I‘m glad there‘s a popular memoir that highlights how difficult all of the systems are that are supposed to help people living below the poverty line, but I also didn‘t super enjoy her story. Couldn‘t help but wonder how different this story would be from a woman of color.

Day 26 - #3Books #IDNFed

Just could not finished these books!

Very interesting and well-written. I think the book is important to read and understand the many challenges of poverty.

Reached my goal of 75 books read this year. I‘m glad the challenge ended on such a high note.

Currently reading

Good read. I mean she‘s not reinventing the wheel or anything it‘s a story heard before. It‘s in the way she tells it. I feel a lot of main parts how she got her Pearl or the ending where not discussed how she got there. To me that would have made the story better more so then the individual homes she cleaned. All and all a good book. After 20 years doing social work books like these show how the system really needs to be fixed.

Not as good as some of the other memoirs I‘ve read in the last couple years, but still interesting. 😊📖📚

Given the state of disarray in my house, this book seems comical.

I have to admire a person who will readily share all her flaws without any apologies. Stephanie Land isn‘t always likeable, but I respect her relentless pursuit in providing for her daughter. I found parts of this book really insightful; equal parts infuriating & empowering. Additionally, I had not considered the “intimacy” between homeowner and housecleaner, a little unsettling. This was my last book for #NonfictionChallenge2020

I started this audiobook back in February but it wasn‘t holding my attention. I restarted listening today and I‘m already on chapter 5. I‘m having mixed “reactions” to Stephanie but I‘m now engaged in learning more of her story.

“Every single parent teetering on poverty does this. We work, we love, we do. And the stress of it all, the exhaustion, leaves us hollowed. Scraped out. Ghosts of our former selves. That‘s how I felt for those few days after the accident, like I wasn‘t fully connected to the ground when I walked. I knew that at any moment, a breeze could come and blow me away.”
― Stephanie Land, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother‘s Will to Survive

The timing of this read was interesting. I worked as a hotel maid in college, and easily relate to the physically demanding yet ridiculously low pay of this line of work. In the wake of the coronavirus and it‘s impact on hourly and service workers, it definitely touched on some aspects of the “hidden” population. Child care can be cost prohibitive to working and this book explained through the author‘s life just how hard poor people work.

Stephanie Land is from a working class background who, shortly after the birth of her daughter, found herself as a homeless, single mother. In this ultimately unsatisfying memoir she describes working as a cleaner for a middle class oblivious to her problems and is very good at describing how she had to navigate the byzantine US welfare and food stamps system but I never felt that I knew who she was or why she was in this situation.

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 I had a few issues with this one but overall I enjoyed it. I think it brings up some important issues but there were a couple things that were a little cringe-y. I think she really is a good writer and the audiobook flowed well.

Despite reading a lot of mixed reviews for this one, I ultimately really liked this book. Yes, I agree she didn‘t always make the best decisions and yes, she only partially acknowledges this, but overall I found the book to be interesting and uplifting. I recommend it!

“I had stopped believing Home was a fancy house on a hill. Home was a place that embraced us, a community, a knowing.”

#jpbookreview #thegreeneyedreader #maid #stephanieland