Have you ever read a book and felt like everyone in the world show know this book? Everyone in the whole planet should read this book? Yeah? Me too. Here are three books that I will never stop recommending. The tree books that I will never shut up about and three books so important that everyone should read them.
1. Why I Am No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Loge
The book explores the links between gender, class and race in Britain and other countries. I have read this book back in 2018 and it changed everything for me. I discovered this amazing author thanks to Emma Watson's book club Our Shared Shelf and I am forever grateful. In her book, Reni Eddo-Lodge talks about racism in the past. She collected so many cases and put them in the bigger picture to the political or cultural and social happenings in the UK in that time. She doesn't force her or any opinion on the reader she simply states the facts and lets you make your own mind. The book is a powerful display of years and years of racism in the UK. But don't get fooled, whatever she describes in her book can be also applied to all countries.
What I got out of this book: Don't let our past form and impact our future. And if that is what we really want, then things have to change... NOW. We see the protests in the US but that is only a beginning.
2. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
This YA book just dropped in my lap, figuratively. After reading Reni's book, I decided that I need more POC books on my TBR. And THUG was very hyped up in that time. So I bought it right away. This is a classic (not so classic) young adult book. We follow a story of young girl Starr who's best friend is shot by a policeman. Doesn't it sound familiar to you? Despite the fact that this book is fiction, the events that Starr and her family go through are everyday struggles of black families in the US. The story shows the racism in a simple, raw and understandable way.
What I got out of this book: The world that is described seems to me like fantasy, like a sci-fi. I have to remind myself with every chapter, THIS IS REAL. It is shocking and scary and I can't imagine living the life the way Starr's family did. This book made me realised a lot, and made me want to change the world.
The full review is here.
3. Becoming by Michelle Obama
The autobiography of the former First Lady was a scary choice for me. I don't like biographies. But I knew before I picked up the book that Michelle is an extraordinary woman. Women like this come our way only once in a decade or 100 years... or maybe never. She is beautiful, smart, emotional, determined, loving and vocal. She is a true leader and inspiration not just to black people but also to white folks, like me. I loved reading her story. I loved how it was more about family and her own experience than politics. It was personal, it was emotional. The book itself doesn't talk about racism as a problem, but if you are paying enough attention, you will see it described there.
What I got out of this book: Even if you feel like you are no one, even if you feel like you are from a poor family, poor neighbourhood, that you can't make any change in the world, you are WRONG. You go after your dream and don't stop (even if people tell you otherwise), you work hard until you get there and you will not be in this journey alone, the most important allies are your family members and love.
My full review is here.
Have you read any of these? What other books by black authors have you read? Do you know any good books that talk about racism? Tell me, I want to expand my TBR. Thank you for reading all the way to the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment