Book Club Selections #WeNeedDiverseBooks #BookClub
The annual meeting of the Community for Understanding and Hope book group was this week. We have read 150 books since 2008. These are the ten books that we’ll read in the coming year.
Solito: A Memoir by Javier Zamora- There, There by Tommy Orange
- Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
- Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
- The Guncle by Steven Rowley
- The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle
- We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson
- On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
- Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement by Ashley Shew
- James by Percival Everett
We have more than our usual number of novels: James, The Guncle, and There, There.
We also managed to honor several observances in our reading schedule:
- Solito (a memoir about crossing the US’s southern border) in Hispanic Heritage Month
- There, There (a novel set at the Big Oakland Powwow) during Native American Heritage Month
- Master Slave Husband Wife (a true story about an escape from slavery) during Black History Month
- The Great Displacement (a look into how migration due to climate change will disproportionately impact people of color and the poor) just before Earth Day
- On Juneteenth (a history and reflection on the holiday) on June 19th
- Against Technoableism (a look at how technology helps and harms the disability movement) during Disability Pride Month
Here were the other books that we considered.
All We Can Save edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson- By the Fire We Carry by Rebecca Nagle
- Colored Television by Danzy Senna
- Doppelganger by Naomi Klein
- The Quaking of America by Resmaa Menakem
- Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman
- Our Hidden Conversations by Michele Norris
- The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
- Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class by Sarah Smarsh
- The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson
- Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People by Tiya Miles
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
- Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party by Joshua Bloom
- Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Do you want to see what we selected in previous years? Here are my September posts about our annual book selection meeting:
I’ll start now collecting titles to consider next year. Let me know of any books that you think my book club would like.