Quarantine Reads, Part 1

Current Read: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Current Listen: Sissy: A Coming of Gender Story by Jacob Tobia

Why hello there, fellow quarantine humans! Like everyone else, I have spent the past week and a half...adjusting. With varying degrees of success. As a teacher, being without my kids last week was really hard. My husband is a pharmacist and still working, so I've been home alone more than I'd like. But I've been reading and listening A LOT. I think I'm going to try to do an update every week or so, since I've been finishing a book every day or two. Here's what I've gotten up to so far.

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

This is my book club's black history month pick. I loved The Underground Railroad, so I was interested to see if I liked his take on a more modern story. The Nickel Boys is a fictionalized account of a real school, Dozier School. It chronicles the trauma that hundreds of black boys experienced and how it impacts one former "student" throughout his life. It was so, so beautifully written, as I've come to expect from Colson Whitehead. It was incredibly dark, though, and I don't know if I can recommend it if you're looking for something lighter for quarantine.

Click here to read more about Dozier School. 

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

This is the sequel to Skyward, my first ever Sanderson. It's not typical Sanderson, though. This series is YA sci-fi when he normally writes adult high fantasy. But the characters are likable, the story is unique, the writing and the world-building are top notch. This is the story of Spensa, the descendant of a group of humans who crash landed on the planet Detritus. She longs to join the planet's air force to help defeat the alien race keeping them prisoner. The sequel introduced new planets, new alien races, and fun new plot twists.

Bygone Badass Broads: 52 Forgotten Women Who Changed the World by Mackenzi Lee

This was SUCH a fun little book. It came up as an Audible daily deal, and I picked it up based on its good reviews on Goodreads. Of the 52 women written about, I had heard of 3 of them. Considering how many books like this I've read, that's quite an achievement. Mackenzi Lee writes with wit and intelligence, and it's definitely the most diverse book of its kind. Highly recommend.

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

This is book 5 of the Mortal Instruments series and book 8 in the order that Cassandra Clare recommends on her website. I was told by several people who have read them all not to binge them, so I pick one up every 6 months of so. At this point in the story, which involves demon hunters and vampires and werewolves and warlocks and ALL THAT FUN STUFF, it's less about the plot and more about the romances for me. But the romances are SO GOOD that I keep coming back.

Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg

This was another sequel, to the book Openly Straight. I thought the first book was just slightly above average (I didn't like the main character much), but on the last day that our library was open I found the sequel on the shelves and decided to give it a go. I liked this one MUCH better. It was from a different character's perspective, and was a very cute gay boy romance that also dealt with issues of gender fluidity and classism while still being fluffy and fun. I will read more Bill Konigsberg.

Notes From a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi

I am not a Food Network person. I love fine dining, but I wouldn't call it an interest or a hobby. This one intrigued me, though, since I saw it nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award. Onwuachi is cocky almost to the point of arrogance, but based on his life story that's almost admirable. He literally went from selling candy bars on the New York subway to being on Top Chef, and he's only a year older than me. What I found most interesting were his experiences with racism and microaggressions in fine dining kitchens, as well as his attempts to create opportunities for other chefs of color. He narrates the audiobook as well, which is always a plus for me with a memoir.

That's it so far. What have you been reading during quarantine? Is there a particular genre that's helping you with the covid-19 blues? What else have you been doing to pass the time? For now, that's all she read!

Black History Month Reads

Current read: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
Current listen: Bygone Badass Broads by Mackenzi Lee

Hey all! I'm pleased to report that so far 2020 has been a DOPE reading year for me. My goal this year was to have...fewer goals. At least fewer number-related goals. I have gotten a little bogged down for the past few years, first with wanting to read 100 books, then 125, then finally 150 last year. Now that I've proven that I can do it, I'm trying to think less about quantity and more about quality.

That being said, one goal I did strive for this year was to read only black authors during the month of February. Obviously one should not read them ONLY in February, but I thought it would help me stay mindful of black contributions in all book genres. Here is a run-down of the EXCELLENT black literature I read in February.

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

This was a short story collection that I saw on some 2018 best books lists. It was a WILD ride, let me tell you. Some masterful satire in here. Favorite stories were "The Finkelstein 5," a story about 5 black children who are brutally murdered "in self-defense" by a white man with a chainsaw; and "Zimmer Land," a story about a young black man who works in a theme park in which white people can live out prejudiced fantasies. Like I said, WILD.
Click here to read an interview with the author.

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

I had the privilege of seeing Elizabeth Acevedo speak last year, and she is just the fiercest slam poet and author.  This novel is about Emoni, a high school senior who wants to be a chef but finds herself balancing her dreams with the reality of raising her daughter. Acevedo writes with such incredible voice, and Emoni is a character you want to root for. Plus, every dish she makes sounds like MAGIC.

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

I picked this up in an Audible sale and had no idea what to expect. It was revelatory. It was an in-depth look at three individuals who migrated at different times and had vastly different experiences. Ida Mae, who left sharecropping in Mississippi and watched Chicago become more and more segregated; George Starling, who fled the threat of being lynched after organizing on behalf of black fruit pickers; and Robert Foster, who ends up as Ray Charles' personal physician. I CANNOT BELIEVE how little I learned about this part of American history. Everyone read this.

Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin

This was a fun little cli-fi short story that was free on Amazon. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and badly need to read more N.K. Jemisin.

Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

This was a lovely illustrated selection of poems describing Billie Holiday's early life and the beginning of her career. It was, as I said, lovely, but I wanted more. It ends before she even becomes famous. 

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles

This is the YA debut of Jay Coles, an Indy native. It was very well-written and EXTREMELY sad. Very similar to The Hate U Give in its discussion of police violence against black youth, but it was a little more brutal. Definitely worth the read, just be prepared. 

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

This will end up on my favorites of the year list. I liked it even more than The Hate U Give. This book takes place in the same fictional LA neighborhood as her previous novel and stars Bri, an up-and-coming battle rapper. Every character is well-developed and interesting, the plot was not at all predictable, and the audiobook performance by Bahni Turpin was EVERYTHING. Highly, highly recommend.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Most of ya'll know I LOVE me a good romance novel. So I obvi picked this one as my Book of the Month. Chloe Brown is a privileged girl with fibromyalgia who hasn't really lived since her illness was diagnosed. She moves out of her wealthy parents' home to make her way, so OF COURSE she has a super hot apartment supervisor with a mysterious past. LOVED EVERY MOMENT.

New Kid by Jerry Craft

Yay for graphic novels winning the Newbery! Also, yay for a black man winning the Newbery! I had never heard of this before it won, but I'm so, so glad I got my hands on it. An incredible middle-grade story about a black boy who ends up at a mostly white private school. It uses humor and honesty to discuss microaggressions and other issues of race and class in a way that kids will relate to.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

I read this article about fierce YA authors of color, and Akwaeke Emezi was the only one on the list I'd never read. This was a lovely allegory about a society in which all the "monsters" are gone. The main character, Jam, is a black transgender teen determined to protect her family and her best friend. The author is nonbinary, and I've never read an own voices story quite like this one.

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

I was saddened by the passing of Katherine Johnson, so I decided to move this one up in my TBR pile. I loved the stories of the women, but the author was clear that she had never written before, and it showed. It was just okay, especially after reading The Warmth of Other Suns, which was just so well-written.

To conclude, reading all black authors during February was an EXCELLENT experience that I highly recommend. I'll for sure continue to do this every year, and I'm hoping it makes me more aware of reading authors of color throughout the year. And for now, that's all she read!