This week I read a few new books and also revisited some of my favorites by black authors. Having a diverse reading list has always been a priority for me, but I’ve found rereading some of my favorite black stories to be bolstering during the fight for racial justice. Thank you Random House for gifting me these books, noted with a star!
Precious You*
Helen Monks Takhar
In this thriller a 40-something editor at a magazine is forced to hire a millennial intern who has connections to an executive. She’s annoyed by what she considers a fragile, self centered generation and the intern thinks her practices are outdated and offensive. Things turn dark when it’s revealed that the intern isn’t there to learn from the editor, she’s there to overthrow her. This was a good read! I couldn’t put it down and the tension between older and younger women in the workplace is something I experience frequently.
Becoming*
Michelle Obama
It’s very important to read books about race and racism during this time and to learn how to be a good ally. But it’s also important to read other black stories. Fiction, nonfiction, thriller, sci-fi, it’s all important. Michelle Obama’s memoir is an accessible way to dive into that. She’s a beloved public figure but also talks openly about how racism shaped her own life and the Obama presidency. It’s sort of the best of both worlds, a story about black success and a window into how racism impacts people of color.
Untamed
Glennon Doyle
I picked this up at my Little Free Library because it’s been all over Instagram during quarantine and I was curious. It’s a memoir/self help book about freeing yourself from society’s expectations and from what women are “supposed” to do and be. I enjoyed the parts about Doyle’s personal experiences and I’m all on board with the book’s message. But I wasn’t crazy about the self help type parts (I’m not partial to that genre) and I felt it got a little repetitive. It felt like Doyle had written all the essays individually and then added a few threads to make it into a book.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
This stunning coming of age story based on Angelou’s own childhood follows a young girl who groups up amidst racism and trauma and has to learn to overcome those obstacles. It’s a beautifully written book and part of the classical black canon. It’s a small book but packed with powerful writing and (for non-black people) an important new perspective.
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death
Caitlin Doughty
Caitlin Doughty is a mortician who runs a funeral home in LA and she’s written a few books about changing the harmful death culture here in the U.S. In this piece she travels around the world observing how different cultures deal with death, burial, and mourning. It’s a really interesting piece. I’ve always felt it’s best to think about and discuss death often. It’s a big part of our existence and denying it is unhealthy. This is an excellent read and very funny for a book about death.
So You Want to Talk About Race
Ijeoma Oluo
This was one of the first books about race that I read a few years ago and I often come back to it. It’s a great intro to the dynamics at play and how it’s best for white people to approach these issues. It can be really tricky to have these discussions and I found this book to be a really helpful guide to the issues and conversations at play.
Beloved
Toni Morrison
This has been one of my favorite Morrison’s since high school. It’s a powerful piece about an enslaved woman who murders her infant daughter so she doesn’t have to go through the abuses of slavery. The daughter then haunts her for as a ghostlike presence. It’s been controversial but that was something that really happened during enslavement in the U.S. and it’s incredibly beautifully written.