Collegedale Public Library discussion

I really have no inspiration as to what to read this month.

I was thinking I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban or maybe Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.

I think nonfiction should be easy to come up with. Fiction might be a little harder. I'm thinking anything with a "ripped from the headlines" type premis or something that deals with current events themes like race relations, women in the workplace, and lots of others.

I am reading Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge.

Finished Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson today. Touched on issues of race, class, privilege, and micro aggressions. Also art, mentorship, friendships. There’s a reason this has won honors & awards. Wonderful read.

I missed this one. Didn't read the books I intended to.

I ended up reading I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown. Everyone should read this book. 5*

I read Krakatoa, a book ostensibly about how the eruption of the volcano in the late 1800s helped to shape or world today. While it did include information on that, it was very limited and seemed more of an afterthought, possibly an addition by the author at the publisher's behest to make the book more relevant and saleable. In fact, while there was a good bit that did apply to the modern world, most of it was found in the (exceedingly thorough) history of the European involvement in the South Pacific rather than as a result of the eruption. Overall, the book was good, just not what the title and summary lead you to believe.

I read The Line Becomes A River, which is an autobiography of a former border patrol agent. The ending felt a bit cliche, like an INSPIRING movie on Lifetime, but since it was a true story I can't fault it too much.