A review by katzreads
Taking Hold: From Migrant Childhood to Columbia University by Francisco Jiménez

3.0

This is not really a Spanish language book, but I put it in this category because it is the final book in a series, and the first three books (of which I read two) were written in Spanish. I did not enjoy this one as much as the others. Perhaps the reason I didn't enjoy this book is the same reason I did enjoy the Spanish memoirs: the language was very simplistic! It was basically, first I did this, then I did this, then I did this. It told the story of his years at Columbia University earning his master's and doctoral degrees, and included a very brief description of his wedding to Laura, her job teaching high school on Staten Island, and the births of their two children. There was very little emotion in the book, other than to say "we were sad that my father couldn't come to the wedding" or "we were excited to learn that we were going to have a baby." He mentions his father a few times, but he does not see him at all during these years. By the end of the book he has accepted a job at the University of Santa Clara and he and Laura and their two children have moved back to California.