Carol Off

This book really depressed me. From this book, I learned that children/slaves mostly farm the cocoa for the chocolate we mostly eat.

The book itself was hard to digest. Perhaps, because I was stuck in a doctor's office waiting room for 3 hours, I found many of the chapters barely edible for my eyes. I got lost a number times in a world of names and events.

The rise of power of Hershey and Cadbury I found most interesting. That rise of power came with a rise of disgusting practices on their part (especially Cadbury). Cadbury has made some small steps toward a solution since then.

The ending of the book just left me bitter and confused. Author offers no real solution to the problem and I feel lacked a personal touch. But she did enough to make someone pause for a moment before just mindlessly stuffing a piece of chocolate in their face.… (mehr)

Thank you to the publisher and Goodreads for a free copy of All We Leave Behind!

I went into this book with a great deal of respect for Carol Off as a journalist -- I think she's fantastic on As It Happens -- but this book left me with an even greater sense of respect.

All We Leave Behind does a number of things as a book. Firstly, it provides detailed, but never confusing or bogged down, political background for the conflict in Afghanistan. It paints a portrait of one family in particular. It shows how challenging and sometimes overwhelming it can be to work as a journalist in a warzone. It illustrates how challenging, bureaucratic, and frustrating it can be to navigate the immigration and refugee systems in Canada.

And finally (most compellingly, in my opinion), it examines what it means to be a journalist and if it's possible or right to remain an un-interfering third party.

Compelling, timely, informative, and well-written, this is a book that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys Carol Off's journalism or is interested in Canada's refugee process.… (mehr)