Category: Books Read-2008

TITLE: Where Am I Wearing? A Global Tour to The Countries, Factories and People That Make Our Clothes
AUTHOR: Kelsey Timmerman
PUB DATE: Nov 2008
ISBN:978-0-470-37654-6

Thank You to John Wiley & Sons Inc for sending me this book to read and review.

Before reading this book I have to admit I never really thought about where my clothes came from. I just went to the stores and bought them. I only looked at the labels to see how the items were to be washed. After reading Where Am I Wearing, I became more interested. I guess we take things for granted when we buy things that we don’t realize what goes into the making of them and who makes them.

Did you know that in Teva flip flops there is five people making a flip flop? The cutter, a sewer, a gluer, a buffer and a boxer. Teva makes in one day 2,000 to 3,000 pairs.

The book is a first hand account of Kelsey’s travels around the world to various countries to find out where is clothes were made. In the first part he mentions going to Honduras to see where is tshirt was made. He talks about the fact that the workers only get paid $50/month.

Its not until he gets to Bangladesh in search of the workers who made his boxers that the book starts to pick up. He starts to learn about the workers who work in the factories. Its there that he visits his first factory.

He goes to Cambodia in search of the Levi’s factory and then China for his Teva flip flops. Its in China that he manages to get into trouble with the VIP of Global Sourcing of Decker Outfitters. He claims that Kelsey has been using his name saying they are friends to get info. Its in China that he visits a Walmart. A Walmart that is much different from the ones here. Its the 10 largest retailer there and there is about 100 Walmarts in China.

I guess as a buyer of items we never think about the product or what goes into the product. Kelsey tells us that these workers work for next to nothing, live far from their families and perhaps even leaving kids with family so that they can work. They work long hours and do overtime and not get paid for it.

This book was an eye opener for me and it made me realize that these items aren’t mass produced at times and that actual people are making them and working for next to nothing.

Ann from Booklorn mentioned my review in her’s so I thought I would return the favor. Thanks Ann. You can see her review HERE

TITLE: The Ride
AUTHOR: Jane Kennedy Sutton
PUB DATE: Aug 2008
ISBN:978-159507-193-4

Thank you to Jane for sending me THE RIDE to read and review. I have to say that I really enjoyed reading it. It was fast paced, quick to read and suspenseful. A really page turner in my opinion.

Barbie is the main character in The Ride. She is a 40 something wife and mother. She is married to Ken. There is many references to Barbie and Ken in the book which I thought was quite funny. Barbie is very unhappy in the marriage. Ken is demanding, abusive physically, mentally and emotionally. Lately his moods are disturbing and dark. Barbie is worried as she is always on the receiving end of it. I am sure he has always been abusive in the past. As the reader we witness a few of his actions from throwing a cup of coffee at Barbie and it hitting her above her eyebrow to her falling down the stairs and him kicking her.

They have one daughter named Jessica who is estranged from them. Her father kicked her out when he found she was a lesbian. When Ken found out he went in a rage and blamed Barbie.

One day a lawyer contacts Barbie to inform her that her Aunt Pat is dead and that she must come down to his office. We find out that Barbie was raised by her aunt. She suddenly feels guilty for not visiting with her aunt more as the last time she saw her was a year ago.

During the meeting she finds out that she is the sole beneficiary to the estate. Barbie discovers her aunt was a wealthy lady from her home in LA to the condo in Chicago. Barbie is suddenly a wealthy lady and her life is about to change.

On her way home she becomes over whelmed and stops at a bar for a drink. While she is there she meets an attractive man named Michael. He is a charmer and the naive Barbie falls for it. He listens to Barbie’s problems.

Barbie is falling for Michael cause he says all the right things. Barbie decides she can’t stay with Ken when he almost kills her and makes a plan with Michael to leave Ken. She goes to the bank to withdraw a large sum of money. She trusts Michael to hold onto it. When they agree to meet up he never shows and Barbie realizes that he has taken off with the money. She is furious for being so stupid that she decides to kill herself. She is woken up during the night when Ken wants to test ride his ride he was making in the back yard. She manages to get him to wait till the morning. Thinkign this is the time to leave she attempts to but gets caught and is forced to ride the ride for Ken.

What will happen during this ride? Will Ken actually kill her? Will we ever see Michael again? If you want to know the answers then you have to read the book. Pick it up today.

Please note that Jane is going to do an interview with me. Check my blog it will be up soon. Thanks again Jane!