Bustle Reads 2016 discussion

The Lesser Blessed: A Novel, Love Medicine, and Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence are on the Bustle website. Does anyone have any good non fiction recommendations? (More fiction, too!)

I'm reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. It's an autobiographical YA novel about his teenage years on the Spokane reservation. I'm really enjoying the audiobook, which is read by the author and is pretty great.

True Diary is one of my favorite books of all time! I have recommended it to countless students and it's been a real "hook" for some of my most reluctant readers.

It sounds really good! I'm always looking for books to read with my niece, other than the Dork Diaries of course;-)

I also read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I previously read The Toughest Indian in the World by Sherman Alexie and really enjoyed both.

I just finished reading River Thieves by Michael Crummey. I didn't love it, but it was interesting. I've also read Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, several years ago and loved it.

I read The Girl from the Coast and gave it 4 stars. It takes place in Java, Indonesia from about 1900 to 1930. It includes indigenous culture and the Dutch colonial culture.

I went ahead with Rabbit-Proof Fence: The True Story of One of the Greatest Escapes of All Time because I have an Australian student who recommended it. It's a quick little read and I liked Pilkington's writing style.

Island of the Blue DolphinsI know that this might be completely Random but what about Island of the Blue Dolphins?

Island of the Blue Dolphins counts. It's about Native Americans. One of my childhood favs! I thought of that one too! Almost read it again.

I'm counting Half of a Yellow Sun for this. There is a lot about the indigenous tribes of Nigeria and how their lives pre- and post- civil war. If I read something in addition to this, I'll add it.

Also, The Round House

I'm not sure what i'm going to read yet, but I recommend anything byLeslie Marmon Silko, I read Almanac of the Dead at the beginning of the year and destroyed me. Her books are a little bit long, but totally worth it.

I read An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and it was really fantastic. The book basically looks at the events that we consider to be seminal events in American history and unpacks the way that these events were shaped by the co-existence or fighting with the Native peoples of America.

One of the most interesting things that I learned is that the formation of the United States Military grew out of conflicts with Native American Tribes over land disputes (a.k.a. the theft of land from Indigenous ppls by Eurpean settlers).

Anyways, while it is by no means an exhaustive history of the United States through the lens of Indigenous American Cultures, I still highly recommend this book.

I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I also started a couple of others, Almanac of the Dead and Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liars' Club: Dakasi Elohi Anigagoga Junilawisdii, but I won't finish them until next year.