PenPal Readers discussion

March theme: Social Struggles: any book about an individual, group, or character dealing with social struggles, such as: LGBTQ, racial/native discrimination, immigrant experience, government oppression, mental health, gender equality, physical disability, (or however broadly you wish to define 'social struggle' is just fine :))

You have TWO options for participation:
1) Read the BOTM chosen by poll: The Hate U Give.
2) Read ANY 'Social Struggles' themed book

You can do either or both option, and then post comments below, to:
- log your 'social struggles' reads for the month (or year to date)
- talk everything related to 'social struggles': authors, books, themes etc
- share any thoughts on the themed books you're reading (no spoilers)
- connect with other members who enjoy reading books about social struggles

This activity runs March 1 - March 30
Minimum participation to complete is: read ONE 'social struggles' themed book, and share ONE comment in the thread!

Happy reading and chatting in the land of struggles!
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As an aside note for interest: the Official BOTM (The Hate U Give) is part of an #OwnVoices movement - which focuses on authors who face a social struggle, and write a book with a protagonist character sharing the same struggle. If you're interested, Goodreads has a list of popular #ownvoices books.. but please note that this list is generated by readers and is entirely their own individual interpretation of what constitutes an #ownvoices read!

We hope there's lots of you beginning to read The Hate U Give this month, and will join in on some shared discussion along the way.

Here's what some of our group members who've already read this book have to say: [excerpts from member's reviews]

" I fell in love with the characters, community and story. Definitely one of my faves this year (2017)"

"A Must Read. An intriguing, realistic, emotional portrayal of one of Americas most pressing societal issues as of current day."

"It's a moving and sometimes painful book which, though intended for a young adult audience, could have a powerful impact on a reader from any age or any race. It's insightful and loving with a main character worth emulating. "

"Whilst the topic covered in this book is important and the story felt very realistic I found parts of this to be a little too slow for my liking. I am interested to see what the author will bring out next"

"In the books I’ve come across – or any storytelling for that matter – none of them have evoked such an emotional response from me as The Hate U Give did."

We can't wait to hear what even more of you thought of this book!

Hey Anne! I wasn't sure about being able to take part in the monthly read, but I am having so much participating in every challenge that I will be picking this up very soon as well. :)

Mishika wrote: "Hey Anne! I wasn't sure about being able to take part in the monthly read, but I am having so much participating in every challenge that I will be picking this up very soon as well. :)"

That's great Mishika!! I've read this book and found it to be a very engaging YA story while at the same time offering insightful commentary on difficult social issues here in the US around race, poverty, and police bias.

I hope you enjoy it, and look forward to seeing your thoughts as you read!

Anne wrote: "Mishika wrote: "Hey Anne! I wasn't sure about being able to take part in the monthly read, but I am having so much participating in every challenge that I will be picking this up very soon as well...."

Looks like I certainly will! :)

With input from members, we're expanding the monthly reading challenge to include an option to read "ANY" book from the specified theme of the month. This should make it easier for more members to participate!

There's two weeks remaining in March, if you wanted to choose any #ownvoices* book to read and share a comment here to complete this challenge.

* Definition of #OwnVoices: diverse characters written by authors from that same diverse group. Here's a link to a Goodreads list of popular #ownvoices books

Anne wrote: "Definition of #OwnVoices: diverse characters written by authors from that same diverse group. Here's a link to a Goodreads list of popular #ownvoices books "

I can't for the live of me figure out what you're trying to say. Do you mean books written in the first person, instead of, say, the third person? Diverse means many, various, and different.

Are you looking for a first person narrative from many, various, and different groups?

I worked in libraries for over 20 years and I never heard of such a thing.

I think it means something like LGBTQ literature and minority groups. Does ethnical diversity fall under the category as well? How about cultural diversity?

And does it mean I could read a book by Estonian author (because there are roughly 1.3 million Estonians in the world)? Or does it only mean books of racial diversity (which I personally would find a bit discriminating). Or if it's from a minority group in your particular region? (Which would make any american literature diverse in Estonia, because you don't really run into anyone from USA here)

From that list, at first glance, I've read before To All the Boys I've Loved Before (diverse because a main character with Korean roots?, I was rather disappointed in it), Everything, Everything (absolutely loved this one; diverse because people of color?), Will Grayson, Will Grayson (it was okay; diverse because a gay character?) and The Bell Jar (possibly one of my favourites; diverse because of the time period?) It's relatively confusing for me.

I'm even more confused than before. The Bell Jar? Sylvia Plath was American. There are so many of them, is this why she is diverse?

I suppose there are less English people than Americans. Are we diverse and many? We do have people of many nationalities here, in fact I practically live in Chinatown.

I get the feeling what they're looking for is a first person narrative. But unclear on the next part.

Jazzy wrote: "I'm even more confused than before. The Bell Jar? Sylvia Plath is diverse and many and minority? how is that possible. And yes, here we know there are lots of Americans but they're over there and w..."

Well, I suppose Plath could have been diverse because of representation of mental health problems. Or maybe because she's a woman?

I can't think of why The Picture of Dorian Gray would be on that list

Mion wrote: Well, I suppose Plath could have been diverse because of representation of mental health problems. Or maybe because she's a woman?

Surely there are more women than men. Everywhere I go I see women. And mental health problems are so common, especially among artists, musicians, etc that it seems pretty normal to me.

Do you think they're looking for something/someone 'different to what you're used to'?

Jazzy wrote: "Mion wrote: "Jazzy wrote: "I'm even more confused than before. The Bell Jar? Sylvia Plath is diverse and many and minority? how is that possible. And yes, here we know there are lots of Americans b..."

I hope so!

I discovered that the book I'm reading right now, Human Acts is also on the list and while I'm only 1/4 into the book, it seems that the only reason it would be diverse is because it takes place in Korea and has a Korean author.

That seems kind of ....strange.

So i could read a book from France that has a French author I guess.

Re: Dorian Gray...

Oscar Wilde was an English man writing about a man in England. Although he was gay, but Dorian Gray wasn't.

I think own voices must mean 'first person narrative'.

Jazzy wrote: "Re: Dorian Gray...

Oscar Wilde was an English man writing about a man in England. Although he was gay, but Dorian Gray wasn't.

I think own voices must mean 'first person narrative'."

I may be mistaken but Dorian Gray was probably in third person, as well as Cinder, although I may be mistaken

oh you're right Mion. I have no idea what it means at all.

I'm currently reading SymmetryBreakfast: Cook-Love-Share by Michael Zee and he's Scottish and Chinese, and gay, so that should work. I think.

The Picture of Dorian Gray can be seen as an LGBT book, because there are references to Dorian being bisexual and another character being gay. (Also Wilde is an Irishman who got exiled from the UK after 2 years of imprisonment because he was gay) As this book was written during the Victorian Era, Wilde couldn’t make the references explicit.. although people still used the book against Wilde in his trials. (I may be a tad bit enthusiastic about this writer so..)

Own Voices just refers, indeed, to minority groups. LGBT, disorders, POC, etc. It’s the idea that a voice is given to a minority group.

Yikes! Sorry for all the confusion. As I understood it, the idea of the #ownvoices movement is to give a voice to the social issues of diversity. So the author is facing a social issues, and uses their #ownvoice to write a book (either non-fiction/memoir, or a novel with a main character who faces the same social struggle). I think it generally relates to diversity groups such as lgbtq, racial, immigrants, etc..

If this is too narrow we can broaden it. I was just working backwards for March because book was already chosen but it is an #ownvoices book where author and character both face the issues of police brutality against African Americans living in poverty.

But generally you could choose books about:

- LGBTQ, racial/native discrimination, immigrant experience, eating disorder, government oppression, mental illness, feminism, people w/ disability, etc

If the author faces social struggle writes a book with a character (or himself if memoir) dealing with the struggle, that’s the narrow definition of #ownvoice, but feel free to broaden to any book on these social struggle!

Hope that's ok!

Femke wrote: "The Picture of Dorian Gray can be seen as an LGBT book, because there are references to Dorian being bisexual and another character being gay. (Also Wilde is an Irishman who got exiled from the UK ..."

Ah, so it's NOT diversity, but MINORITY we're looking for. Of course that will change depending on where you live I suppose. I think if you were a Korean living in Korea then that book by a Korean author about people living in Korea would not fit the category as it would not be in the minority.

And I learnt I am a minority. I am a woman, an immigrant, have (mental?) health issues, am struggling against the government, am a long-term single parent with no partner, and my son has a disability. YAY


Now...What does POC mean?

And yes I'm going for SymmetryBreakfast as Michael tells about how he makes breakfast every morning for his partner, Mark.

PS. VERY DELICIOUS breakfasts, I might add.

POC = people of colour.

Yeah, I'll stick to Human Acts for now. Hopefully I will finish it this weekend.

I probably should have expected the brutality from this book, after reading some reviews. So far, everything weighs heavy on my heart and so I'd like to be done with it soon.

I'm currently on the third chapter, which is told from an editor's point of view and there's abuse/violence against women, not to mention a lot of this book is about government oppression. I don't enjoy it, but at the same time I like it that I don't.

Femke wrote: "POC = people of colour."

Cheers, Femke :)

I'm currently reading The Song of Achilles and Oscar Wilde. I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish the latter though since it's big, and I have exams coming up.. It is an interesting read though.

And the Song of Achilles is killing me; I find the writing delightful, but knowing about the inevitable end of Achilles is hard - especially because Miller portrays him as a young man who is very energetic and enjoying life.

I'm looking forward to starting The Kite Runner tonight (as much as you can look forward to reading such a book anyway). I'm fully prepared for it to tear my heart asunder!

Robert wrote: "I'm looking forward to starting The Kite Runner tonight (as much as you can look forward to reading such a book anyway). I'm fully prepared for it to tear my heart asunder!"

I read that for a book club at work once. Let me know what you think!

Will do, Jazzy!

I finished Human Acts and god, my soul is suffering.

Mion wrote: "I finished Human Acts and god, my soul is suffering."

Yay, Mion, you got through it! Phew! Ugh 'social struggle' books can be so draining! Thankfully, next month's theme, "Fantastical World", should be MUCH lighter in tone for everyone!!

Jazzy wrote: "I read that for a book club at work once. Let me know what you think! "

Just finished The Kite Runner.

I found the book to be very depressing. One bad event after another. That being said, I did keep reading and was interested in what was going to happen next; largely hoping that the main character would actually redeem themselves somewhat because he was utterly abhorrent for the first half of the book.

I was emotionally invested in the story and the characters, which is worth commending, although some parts of the story were quite far-fetched.

It was wonderful to see that the author, Khaled Hosseini, runs a charity that helps rebuild houses for displaced and poverty stricken families in Afghanistan due to the conflicts outlined the book.

Now to read something that will make me smile!

Robert wrote: "Just finished The Kite Runner.

I found the book to be very depressing. One bad event after anoth..."

This book seemed to be written in two separate parts, like two different stories, almost, and I found you needed a suspension of disbelief in the second half of the book, which I couldn't really do. The second half seemed rushed and was tied up too sloppily. I had the feeling the story was being written with leisure and due care and then it was like someone said, 'finish it now' and it got all thrown together in a bit of a mishmash.

I was going to suggest a happy book for you when I realised, I don't think I have any! :)

I listened to the audiobook of The Hate U Give and I absolutely loved it. The novel itself was so relevant to the current social atmosphere in the US and the struggles of minorities and those in lower socio-economic classes.
I think it had a powerful message, one that may open the eyes to people who are sheltered and unaware of the struggles others face.
The narration on the audiobook was fantastic and I'm not sure if I would've rated the novel so high if I had read it instead of listened to it. Bahni Turpin's performance was brilliant!

Ann wrote: "I listened to the audiobook of The Hate U Give and I absolutely loved it. The novel itself was so relevant to the current social atmosphere in the US and the struggles of minorities..."

Yes! I totally agree with everything you've said!!! I listened to it on audio and loved it too! Bahni Turpin's performance was amazing :)

I read Dear Evan Hansen
The main character struggles with social anxiety and depression throughout the story.

Lissette wrote: "I read Dear Evan Hansen
The main character struggles with social anxiety and depression throughout the story."

How interesting, Lissette, I didn't realize one could read the screenplay, and while listening to the soundtrack for an immersive experience! Next best thing to seeing the musical, I guess :)

- I'm adding this to my TBR, thanks for posting about it :)

I'm a bit late with posting here but I finished The Song of Achilles just in time (31st March). I highly recommend this book (it would also fit in with the Mythology theme for next year, although that is a long time away ;D). It is beautifully written, and according to some people it sticks quite closely to the original. I must admit I have not read the iliad so I cannot confirm it.