A Family of Summer Reading Lists

So, every summer, I create a reading list for my girls (now ages 7 and 9) right along with my own, so this summer I thought, "Why don't I post their reading list right along with mine?!?" And then the hubby went and put together a reading list, so now behold! I give you a a family's worth of summer reading lists!!

The 7-year old's Reading List

1. Sugar Plum Ballerinas: Toe Shoe Trouble by Whoopi Goldberg
2. Ruby and the Booker Boys by Derrick Barnes
3. Keena Ford and the 2nd Grade Mixup by Melissa Thomson
4. The Clubhouse Mysteries: The Buried Bones Mystery by Sharon Draper

The 9-year old's Reading List

1. The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
2. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanha Lai
3. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page
4. Rain, Reign by Ann M. Martin

The Hubby's Reading List

1. The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg

2. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

3. The China Study, T. Colin Campbell

4. Tao Te Ching, Lao Szu

5. Navy SEAL, Dick Couch

6. Muscle Logic, Charles Staley

7. Framework, Nicholas A. DiNubile

8. The Vegetarian Flavor Bible, Karen Page

9. The Rise of Superman: Decoding The Science of Ultimate

Human Performance, Steven Kotler

10. Unbeatable Mind, Mark Divine

MY Reading List :)

1. Trigger Warnings by Neil Gaiman
2. The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O'Brien
3. Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley
4. Octavia's Brood : Science Fiction Stories from the Social Justice Movement edited by Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha

Bonus books will be added to this list as read them and noted with an asterisk (*). I will have my littles and hubby post as guests :) to tell you what they thought of their books. What are you reading this summer?

A Year in Books

Last summer was the first time I created a reading list (and subsequent reviews)  for every season, and with the close of this spring, it has officially been one year since I began. I thought it would be a good time to look back over all the books, and choose my top ten (though narrowing this list to just these was quite the feat I'll have you know, and I cheated a bit, as #2 is actually a trilogy). Here they are!

1. White Oleander by Janet Fitch The best way to describe this book would be, beautifully tragic. It follows the all-encompassing relationship between a single mother, Ingrid, and her adolescent daughter, Astrid, as well as Astrid's own rocky relationship with herself.
2. The Irin Chronicles (The Scribe, The Singer & The Secret) by Elizabeth Hunter If you have not heard of the amazing self-published author, Elizabeth Hunter, do yourself a favor and go to her website right this minute. This is a story of fallen angels, the children of forgiven angels and the battle between the two, but most of all this is a story about love. Despite it being a trilogy, when you come to the end, you know even three books, just weren't enough.
3. Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie You could easily finish Americanah in a single weekend, or a single evening if you had the time. It's just that compelling. But, something about it forces you to exercise restraint. The words beg to be drawn out and savored rather than chugged. Adichie bounces between past and present, America and Nigeria seamlessly. By  the end of the book you have the sense that you've known Ife and Obinze, the star crossed lovers that drive Americanah, for your entire life.
4. Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones Silver Sparrow broke my heart in the best way possible. I sat there with the book in my lap turned to the last page feeling like I was going to cry, but also feeling like I understood something about myself that I hadn't before. The book centers around a girl who grows up knowing she is a "secret," because her father is married with another family. This book explores love, and betrayal and the complexities of legitimacy. This is a book that lingers in the corners of your mind long after you've put it down.
5. (1)ne drop: Shifting the Lens on Race by Dr. Yaba Blay Every once in a while I'll read a piece of non-fiction that blows me away, but I am a fiction girl at heart. However, I stumbled upon the amazing Dr. Yaba Blay in an article about the Pretty Period project, a visual tribute to brown skin, and visional testimony of Black beauty, and I knew I needed to read her book. Nuances of identity and colorism are handled masterfully in this book. I devoured it like I would a fast-paced thriller, and found myself hoping there would be a second volume one day.
6. God Help the Child by Toni Morrison  Toni Morrison inspires me because she lives outside of any one particular genre in a space all her own that she has created, and she does it beautifully. One of the characters says "What you do to children matters," and it is amazing how that statement is carried throughout the entire book.
7. The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow  I think I knew I would love this book from the very first page. From that very first page I didn't want to put it down. The story of how this little girl fell from the sky, the lives her falling touched, and her own life post fall are incredibly intricate and interwoven.
8. Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez Wench explores the relationships between four slave women and each other , as well as their masters. The atrocities suffered by all of the women: Mawu, Reenie, Sweet and Lizzie seem too awful to bear, and caused me to wonder more than once at the resilience of not only their spirits, but the spirit of my own ancestors. Perkins-Valdez writes about these women as though she walked among them, and the result is a story that is truly captivating.
9. Balm by Dolen Perkins-Valdez Perkins-Valdez imagines America in the period immediately post-slavery and does so with a meticulous attention to detail. The world created in Balm is one where hope leaves alongside loss, and love co-mingles with despair.

Wench and Balm - Reviews

I am sorry to say that a couple of weeks ago, I didn't know who Dolen Perkins-Valdez was, and it was entirely by accident that I stumbled upon her. I'd long since finished all 3 of the books on my Spring Reading List, and was trying to decide on a bonus book or two to tide me over until summer, when I came across this list 12 Books by Black Women that Will Keep You Turning Pages All Summer Long on For Harriet. Perkins-Valdez's sophomore novel, Balm, was number 12 on that list, and after reading the premise for both Balm and Wench, I knew I had to read them. I completed both books in barely over a week.

Wench explores the relationships between four slave women and each other , as well as their masters. In particular it looks at the relationship between Lizzie and her master Drayle. For the better portion of the book, Lizzie is in love with Drayle and believes Drayle reciprocates that love, and that love colors the way she looks at her circumstances and the circumstances of those around her. Lizzie's mindset allows for a whole new level of understanding of the horrifying predicament of the slave. The atrocities suffered by all of the women: Mawu, Reenie, Sweet and Lizzie seem too awful to bear, and caused me to wonder more than once at the resilience of not only their spirits, but the spirit of my own ancestors. Perkins-Valdez writes about these women as though she walked among them, and the result is a story that is truly captivating.

When I began reading Balm, part of me was yearning for a sequel to the stories of the women left behind in Wench and while I was initially sad to realize that was not the case, that disappointment lasted but a second before I was swept up by a whole new host of characters: Sadie, Madge and Hemp. I don't think I've ever read a book set immediately post slavery before. I have often wondered how America made that transition, and what that transition looked like for people, particularly former slaves in their daily lives. Perkins-Valdez imagines that time, and does so with a meticulous attention to detail. She weaves in supernatural elements so seamlessly, that you barely raise an eyebrow. Sadie communing with the dead and Madge's magical hands feel natural within the world Perkins-Valdez has created. The world created in Balm is one where hope leaves alongside loss, and love co-mingles with despair.

If you are new to Dolen Perkins-Valdez as I was, remedy yourself of that immediately and pick up both of her books. I can't wait to see what she writes next.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky - A Review

I think I knew I would love this book from the very first page. From that very first page I didn't want to put it down. Its characters and plot lines occupied my mind even when I was away from them, and I did something with my reading of this book that I haven't done in a while. I dragged it out on purpose. I could easily have finished this book in a couple of days, possible in mere hours if I had been able to dedicate the uninterrupted time, but I didn't want to. I felt that if I were to take longer reading the book, the story would feel longer, and give me more time with it.

There were moments when I wanted to abandon my resolve to read the book this way, but I'm glad I stuck with it. The chunks I read each day became like a meditation. I had time to think on them, and pull back their layers.

The question "What are you?" that Rachel (the girl who fell from the sky) hears over and over is one that resonated with me, as it was a question I heard often while growing up as well. Rachel has a Danish mother and a Black father, so something about her appearance shouts "other" to people around her. But that question is also one that Rachel must sort through on her own post-fall, both inclusive of and separate from the way she looks. Who she is before the fall and after the fall are related, but distinctly different, and part of this amazing book explores that.

The story of how this little girl fell from the sky, the lives her falling touched, and her own life post fall are incredibly intricate and interwoven. Even with my deliberately drawn out reading of the story, I know that this book is one I will read again and again, finding new complexities each time.

God Help the Child- A Review

While still well ahead of schedule, this review is coming in a bit late, because I actually finished the book weeks ago. I devoured it while on vacation, but in trying to get back into the swing of things post-vacation, I neglected to collect my thoughts on this masterful work by Toni Morrison in words until now.

Toni Morrison inspires me because she lives outside of any one particular genre in a space all her own that she has created, and she does it beautifully. She crafts concise tales that offer deep, rich views into the lives of the characters she creates. Whenever I read something she's written, I feel so sure that what she is writing about surely must have happened, word for word, just as she's written it. God Help the Child is no different.

Each narrator has such a distinct voice, and each of them help us to piece together the patchwork quilt that is Bride's (our main character's) life. It is interesting though, because each narrator is telling their own story, but somehow knowing their story, offers us further insight into who Bride is, so that she becomes this omnipresence throughout the novel.

One of the characters says "What you do to children matters," and it is amazing how that statement is carried throughout the entire book. You are able to trace the mannerisms, thoughts and ways of being of both Bride and Booker, back to specific instances in their childhood. You see how these events evolve into their perceptions and belief systems creating the adults they are in the present. Who we are as adults, stems from who we were as children. The way we process our childhoods determines the people we become, and Morrison illustrates this exceptionally well. 

Finally, I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, but I have not been as intrigued by Morrison's use of magical realism as I was while reading God Help the Child, since I read Beloved. I won't go into any more detail than that, but suffice to say it is incredible.