February Reading Wrap Up

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February 29

Black History Month is a great time to focus on reading books by and about Black History. I wish that I had planned this month better so that I had more available on my kindle for night time reading. To offset this I will be looking for fiction books written by black authors to read through the rest of the year. Still, a lack of planning combined with my returning to work meant I read a lot less books in February than in January.

BLACK HISTORY BOOKS THIS MONTH

Every time I read about black history I feel like I am barely scratching the surface of both what I need to read and what is available out there. As I said, this month I failed wildly in stocking my kindle with fiction books written by black authors. I looked - I really did! But I didn't organize things in advance and that meant nothing was available to borrow. Happily, this is likely because so many other people are using the library to read books by black authors.

I did finally finished The Dark Fantastic which was worth the wait. This book nails home the inherent racism in fantasy stories and the important of representation in film and fiction for everyone.

Race to Incarceration and Stamped are both nonfiction graphic novels of books. Stamped, especially, drove home the depth of racism in America. I have read reviews of the book Stamped from the Beginning and many say that the book is uncomfortably crammed full of information. This graphic novel is even more intensely so - I made a list of things I need to learn more about and it was pages long.

I finally listened to Michelle Obama's Becoming and, sigh, it was wonderful. She is my best friend, we just haven't met yet.

Ghosts in the Schoolyard hit close to home as the author Eve Ewing is Chicago born and raised. She attended CPS schools and taught at them. Her knowledge of the system inside and out shows in her writing. And her insight has convinced me that we are guilty of taking everything from some people and then blaming them for having nothing (a paraphrased quote from the book).

Black Fortunes was supposed to be my uplifting book of the month about the first 6 black millionaires in the US but seeing what so many of them came up against in amassing and keeping their fortress was difficult.

By far, the most important book I read this month was White Tears / Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color. I loved that the author highlighted history and experiences from both the US and Australia. Understanding the one up / one down position that white women occupy between white patriarchy and people of color was not new to me but the plethora of ways this impact the lives of people of color was necessary for me to hear. For my fellow white women out there, read it.

BOOKS OUTSIDE THE MONTHLY THEME

I gobbled up the second book in the Emily Wilde series, Map of the Otherlands and I loved every page. This series gave me great character and plot development from the first book and left me desperate for the third book.

I also picked up Charlotte Isles is not a Detective which was a cute murder mystery to keep me company at night.

Next month is Women's History Month and I have done a better job of putting together my stack. Now, I just need to have a bunch of great books to read at night.

Tell me, please. What did you read this month?