Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen | 
pickI listened to this book and there are so many passages I wish I could go back and read. Everyone needs this book. Having the author narrate on the audio was an added bonus, and I have not gotten Vargas‘s story out of my head all week.
pick“Migration is the most natural thing people do, the root of how civilizations, nation-states, and countries were established. The difference, however, is that when white people move, then and now, it‘s seen as courageous and necessary, celebrated in history books. Yet when people of color move, legally or illegally, the migration itself is subjected to question of legality. Is it a crime? When will they assimilate? When will they stop?”
I'm really enjoying this book. It's a very honest account of what it's like to be undocumented in the U.S.
Have you heard of the 1946 Rescission act? During WW2, Filipino citizens were promised $3 billion in direct benefits for helping thr U.S. fight Japan. In 1946, however, Truman signed a bill that rescinded those benefits and paid a lump sum of $200 billion to the Filipino government instead. I never learned about this in school.
pickThis was the book I read for this month‘s #FoodAndLit selection for the #Philippines
This book is an excellent and personal look at immigration issues in the US. I‘m really glad I read it.
#DashingDecember book 5/5 #WinterCosy #AVeryMerryReadathon #WrapItUpReadathon #ChristmasMyWay #wintergames #MistletoeManiacs
DieAReader, Texreader, Clwojick, Andrew65, TheSpineView, Catsandbooks, Butterfinger, PuddleJumper, GHABI4ROSES
pickJose is Philippino who entered the country as a child, unknowingly illegal because his grandfather falsified papers. Too old for the Dream Act by 2 months, he‘s in a terrifying limbo, fearful of losing the only home he‘s ever known & no legal way to become a citizen. This is a factual, but sometimes emotional, explanation of what life is like for an “illegal” human being. Five stars plus. Should be required reading for every “American.” ⬇️
The author, an “illegal” from the Philippines, went to McAllen, TX not realizing he may not be able to leave without “papers” because as everyone in America must know, if you don‘t have “papers” you must be a national security risk.
#foodandlit #Philippines @butterfinger @catsandbooks
#readingasia2021 @librarybelle @barbarabb
#foodandlit #Philippines @butterfinger @catsandbooks
#readingasia2021 @librarybelle @barbarabb
In case you‘ve never driven it, it‘s hard to believe it‘s true. It is. Countless border patrol vehicles man the highways and I often wonder, if I weren‘t pasty white (which I am), would I get more than just a wave through the checkpoint? What must it feel like to have dark skin to drive through a checkpoint that cares about the color of your skin?
#foodandlit #Philippines @butterfinger @catsandbooks
#readingasia2021 @librarybelle @barbarabb
Putting a damper on my festive day, I decided to try to finish this book. It is heart-breaking.
#foodandlit #Philippines @butterfinger @catsandbooks #readingasia2021 @librarybelle @barbarabb
Both parties have it out for “illegals”! This book is a real eye-opener. See next post. Since 1996, there is almost no way for an illegal alien to become legal.
Needing another ebook to read, I opted for this one. It‘s nonfiction by a man from the #Philippines writing about his own illegal immigrant status during the Trump administration. This will be a head start for next month‘s #foodandlit, which I anticipate will be a harder month for me to finish challenges since my trial was moved to December. I anticipate it will be a very emotional read, especially as I am pro-immigration (I did marry one!).
#WondrousWednesday
1. Tagged book - Dear America
2. So-so 👉🏽 important book but I did not like the exposition parts
3. Literary fiction, horror, mystery, translated lit
Consider yourself tagged if you wish to join!
#CuriousCovers Day 26: For those of you who know me, you are already used to my sharing #Food with books. This time: speculoos crumble cake topped with crunchy lotus sauce and vanilla swirl. Needless to say, it is addicting and utterly satisfying.
pickJose Antonio Vargas gives readers an intimate perspective on what it‘s like to live in America with undocumented status and how the lack of a path to legal citizenship inhibits the most essential human rights. He shares his experience with a disarming honesty that seeks human compassion rather than detached political debate.🏮#mayreads2021
Ebook on sale. May work (with a stretch) for #Philippines #foodandlit in December and #readingasia2021
pickJose Antonio Vargas is an American journalist who has won the Pulitzer Prize. He is also undocumented, having arrived under false papers from the Philippines at age 12. He shares his story and challenges many prejudices and myths about immigration. I can‘t imagine living my life having to constantly look over my shoulder. I have so much respect for this man and hope many people will read his book.
A sobering truth about the inherent racism present in the immigration conversation.
Updating my planner while listening to #audiobook
pick#NonFiction2021 @Riveted_Reader_Melissa #ReadingAsia2021 @BarbaraBB @Librarybelle
I really enjoyed this heartfelt read by an undocumented citizen, originally from the Philippines. Vargas comes to the US as a child and until he's old enough to drive doesn't know he's in the country illegally. He spends the rest of his life in constant fear of someone finding out the truth.
I appreciate him writing his story so others can learn from it.
pickA little uneven in places, but a great look at what it‘s like to grow up in America as an undocumented immigrant. Plus, the constant fear once he learned that he was undocumented that continues to this day, even as he wrote this book.
#memoir
pickA really interesting listen, read by the author himself, who is undocumented in the US. He arrived as a 12 year old from the Philippines, without his Mum, to stay with his grandparents and was unaware he was undocumented until he applied for a driving licence.
At the age of 30 he ‘came out‘ as undocumented and this is his story, from which I learnt a lot about the immigration situation in the US.
pickA quick read that explains from the perspective of an actual person, the brokenness of our immigration system. And it hasn‘t just been broken under Trump. Clinton, W, and even Obama have done a terrible job making any kind of sensible policy.
Jose has lived in the US since he was twelve in 1993. After years as working as a reporter at major US papers, he outed himself as undocumented. This is his life story. 4⭐️ #audiobook #bookspinbingo
pickJust finished this on audio and for me that was the perfect way to go. He reads it himself and in this case it really works. A lot to think about here.
1. A virtual summer program on theme of immigration--six different books, you read as many as you want, with zoom discussions and author interviews, i can't wait! One of the books is tagged here.
2. Nope!
3. Packing--we bought a house and are moving in on Thursday!
4. Elotes 🤤
#friyayintro @4thhouseontheleft @howjessreads
pickIt's one thing to have some knowledge of immigration issues, in theory. It's another thing to hear about their actual effects from someone experiencing them firsthand.
Lots of people have opinions about immigration, without having even the most cursory knowledge or understanding of the laws. [Infuriating!] Would they rethink their positions at all if they sought out/were given facts about the law? If they listened to an immigrant? [more below]
pickI got this as an #audiobook on sale at Audible along with a bunch of others (I‘m slowly accruing a shit ton of #audiobooks) I gotta tell you that I feel like this could definitely give some good perspective on #immigrationpolitics so if you‘ve got that one reeeeeally conservative relative always talking about “THEY TOOK ‘ER JERBS!” Let them hear this. #highlysuggest #loanoutlist #suggestionlist
My fiancé got me these for Christmas. I‘ve been wanting to read these for a while so I‘m excited to get started on them in the new year.
pickBorn in the Philippines, sent at the age of 12 to live with his grandparents in California, two decades later he is still in the US illegally with no clear path to US citizenship. A deeply personal story about what it means to be in an in between space - this courageous memoir gives voice to what it means to live, hide, work, and survive in the United States. I found it to be a total page turner.
pickThis is heart wrenching. The people who NEED to read it won‘t. But it‘s a good reminder what is happening, how little people understand immigration and that America has a long history of being unkind. #diversebooks #librarybook
pickWow!! This book changed my way of thinking. This book is heartbreaking , tells it like it is. Eye opening. A must read.
Sitting on my back porch, going to start this book, with Ziggy my book buddy 📚📖😍
pickThis book was an interesting take on what it means to be undocumented in this country during this administration. I dare those who are anti-undocumented to read this and not come to a different understanding! It's not really written as a memoir, though - it's more of a series of disjointed stories about his experiences than a cohesive story. But still, his points and emotions are strong. Listened to the #audiobook via #Scribd
pickImportant reading in a time when we consider a person‘s existence “illegal”.
“Language itself is a barrier to information, a fortress against understanding the inalienable instinct of human beings to move.”
pickVargas came to the US from the Philippines when he was 12 to live with his grandparents and uncle. At 16, he found out that he was here illegally. Despite numerous obstacles, he became a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. When he came out as undocumented, he risked everything. In this memoir he explores what it is like to be "homeless " in the country you consider to be your home. Excellent and timely read. #nonfictionNovember
“I feel like a thing. A thing to be explained and understood, tolerated and accepted. A thing that spends too much time educating people so it doesn‘t have to educate itself on what it has become. I feel like a thing that just can‘t be.”
#litsyatoz
Just started this. It doesn't come out til sept 18th. Found in a free little library kiosk
