Somewhat fitting that my last book of 2019 was about the exploitation of native people.  This was a difficult reading, even knowing that not all of the story was Rigoberta's personal story.   I could probably find similar stories of American colonists taking over native lands here and we're still doing it.

The book was a bit difficult to read due to the language.  Rigoberta does not have a standard education and her word choice and story telling can occasionally be repetitive and hard to follow.  It still added to my understanding of how native people's view the world very differently from western European capitalists.   It was also interesting having her explain how they merged Catholicism/Christianity in with their own beliefs.  Ending up rejecting the "accept suffering here because you're going to a better place" line of reasoning and replacing it with "God would want us to alleviate suffering here and now".  Then taking their own lessons from the bible, especially the underdog defending our territory lessons.   

Rigoberta is still alive and still fighting.

Written as a stream of consciousness, Nadya shares her experiences and thoughts on the state of things and how we as individuals can still have our say and try to make a difference in the world.

It's a fast read and easy to digest, with each chapter (aka Rules) broken into three segments: Words, Deeds & Heroes.

Words covers various topics like Questioning the Status Quo, the Prison Industrial Complex and What Putin Has to Do with Trump.

Deeds encompasses things we can all do- Dadaism, If the Kids are United, Art in Action and Pussy Riot Church (a Russian church that was more like a mini-mart or a venue hall).

Heroes explores the figures who've influenced Nadya's life and outlook- King, the Berrigan Brothers, Bell Hooks, Emmeline Pankhurst and Aleksandra Kollontai.

Equally intriguing is the recommended reading list at the end of the book, which offers up some pretty good stuff to feed your head and free your mind.  If nothing else, you'll end up with a crash course on activist ideas and a view from the front lines delivered by a person who's still there.

I have found my challenge for the year. Aside from reading 90 books in 2015, that is.

I'm going to do Book Riot's 2015 Read Harder Challenge. Here are the details:

There are 24 tasks in the Read Harder Challenge (or roughly two per month). You can tackle them in any order, make any changes, do them all in a month or spread them out over the year. Make the challenge yours!

A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25

A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65

A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people)

A book published by an indie press

A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ

A book by a person whose gender is different from your own

A book that takes place in Asia

A book by an author from Africa

A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans, Aboriginals, etc.)

A microhistory

A YA novel

A sci-fi novel

A romance novel

A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade

A book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.)

An audiobook

A collection of poetry

A book that someone else has recommended to you

A book that was originally published in another language

A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind (Hi, have you met Panels?)

A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure (Read, and then realize that good entertainment is nothing to feel guilty over)

A book published before 1850

A book published this year

A self-improvement book (can be traditionally or non-traditionally considered “self-improvement”)