Ask someone to name a Supreme Court Justice… 9 times out of 10 they won’t be able to. Yet, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has won over the internet and became ‘viral’, became ‘known’. I see her quotes in memes, on yard signs while walking my dog and still hear about her through social conversations.
Creators Carmon and Knizhnik put together this book in honor of Ginsburg’s accomplishments and life.
My book club chose this book to read and if they didn’t, there is no way I would have picked it up. Good that’s out of the way. Let’s dive in.
Clever title, I’ll admit. It grabbed my attention.
I wasn’t sure if I was a fan of Ruth due to how viral and built up others made her, especially after her death. I try to be weary of people putting those who died on a pedestal and wanted to stay away from this new-to-me viral sensation due to it being also so politicized. Yet, through this book I learned a little and found a special place for Ruth, as a woman, in my heart.
This review however is not on Ruth and all her accomplishments. This review is on the book. The execution of this book? Honestly, quite terrible. It was disjointed. Didn’t flow. Was bouncing around a timeline and I never quite knew where I was at. The pictures, although a nice touch, felt ‘shoved, randomly’ in places.
Even when explaining some of her cases, the presentation was dry. I got lost to the punch line every time.
All this to say, it was confusing as the author/creator introduction there was so much life and hype for Ruth that I was excited to dive in. Where were those two women at the beginning of the book throughout the rest? I didn’t feel the excitement? Why did we try to get so serious?
Overall, I wouldn’t ‘not recommend’ as the book is so short. I wouldn’t recommend either as you might get a little whiplash from the timeline and feel like you aren’t reading something very well put together.
Amazon Link – Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
cmacs paperbacks 
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