I read this book for a summer class I took on wrongful convictions. It was morbidly fascinating to learn to learn how unreliable the US justice system is and how big of a role human error, whether it be intentional and unintentional, plays into the process of our country's so called justice system. Picking Cotton is a book outlining just one of many wrongful convicts and their unlucky circumstances. 
 What I liked: 
 +Quick Read 
 I flew through the book in one sitting. I think it took me a little over two hours to get through, although I am admittedly a fast reader. The little amount of nonfiction books I've encountered before all shared the ability to turn even the most exciting events into dull, yawn-inducing paragraphs my brain usually froze out in favor of examining a stray ink mark on the book page. This book pleasantly surprised me by being a fast paced page turner. The reading level was fit for maybe even a middle schooler, if not for the explicitly described crime scene. 
 +Description of how Jennifer was affected by her rape 
 I was truly appreciative of how the book refused to shy away from the usually stigmatized topic of rape. The descriptions of the actual crime was frighteningly real, and the unfortunately common occurrence of victim blaming was included in Jennifer's chapters. (view spoiler)[When Jennifer was taken to the hospital, she was treated like an experimental animal to be poked and prodded at rather than a victim to be comforted. Her own mother asked her "Do you think he saw you in your leotard?" and her boyfriend, whom she once dreamed of getting married to, asked her if she enjoyed her rape. It was heartbreaking to read about Jennifer musing if she should have fought back harder to the point of sustaining physical injuries just so her unsupportive friends and family understood the extent of how hurt she was by her rape. It was also a realistic echo of how rape victims are treated in real life. (hide spoiler)] 
 What I didn't like: 
 -Ronald's problems were glossed over 
 I had been thrilled by the detailed and in-depth retelling of events from Jennifer's point of view as a rape victim, but I was severely disappointed by the total opposite from Ronald's point of view. It seemed like the book barely touched upon the hardships Ronald faced in prison, maintaining his innocence for 11 years before he was eventually released with a sheepish apology from the state and a measly amount of monetary compensation. I feel like the aftermath was too much along the lines of "and then we all held hands, sang kumbaya, and lived happily ever after". Perhaps it is just the cynic in me, but I really doubt that the events were as smooth sailing as the book made it out to be. After the grueling detail the book went through in the first two thirds of the book, I would have liked to see this trend continue in the last third as well. 
 -Technicalities of the crime were glossed over 
 Earlier, I listed the book's simplistic and easy writing style as a pro. And I really did enjoy that aspect of the book. However, I feel like this led to the book barely scratching the surface of the crime itself. Maybe it was because that summer class I took that I mentioned earlier, but I would definitely have enjoyed a more detailed description of the errors that occurred during the case. (view spoiler)[For example, before being shown a live line up, Jennifer was shown a photo lineup. Because Bobby Poole's image was not included in this lineup, Jennifer picked the picture of a man who most resembled Bobby--and unfortunately for Ronald, who's uncanny resemblance to the real culprit was mentioned frequently, Jennifer picked his photo. Now, Jennifer was already not the most reliable witness due to the emotional trauma she went through during and after crime. Not to mention the fact that she only saw her assailant's face under the dim moonlight and flashes of bright light she was smart enough to find. Her already iffy memory from the night's events would have been altered by picking Ronald's image from a photo lineup and being told she had done well by the police afterwards. This unintenional encouragement would have solidified Jennifer's altered memory. This, mixed with the fact that she simply wanted to get out of the room where the face-to-face lineup occured (yet another fault in this horrible train wreck of a crime investigation) as quickly as she could, Jennifer jumped the gun in trying to pick a man out of the lineup. Of course she picked the man she recognized from the photo lineup the other day. Perhaps this was obvious for some, but I didn't catch this fact until I finished my summer course on wrongful convictions. I feel like the book could have been better at pointing out these subtle but important technical errors which occurred during the investigation and led to Ronald's 11 years in prison. (hide spoiler)] 
 Overall, Picking Cotton was one of the rare nonfiction books I enjoyed reading. I would give the book 3.5 stars, but rounded down to 3 because the glossed over portions were just too disappointing to me. I'm not sure if I would have necessarily picked up the book on my own, but out of the books I've ever been required to read for a class, it was definitely one of my faorites. I am interested in checking out the 60 Minutes segment done on Jennifer and Ronald as well. 
 If you enjoyed reading Picking Cotton, I would also recommend Bloodsworth by Tim Junkin (view spoiler)[(not as much of a feel-good story as Picking Cotton. Unfortunately, not every wrongful conviction case sees a happy ending) (hide spoiler)] and The Innocent Killer by Michael Griesbach (view spoiler)[(yeah, not another happy ending, but it does have an amazing plot twist) (hide spoiler)].