Dear Readers,
I hope you all had lovely holidays.
Now is that time of the year, where we reflect, look back, and dream and plan ahead. While 2021 was at times a frustrating year, I am happy that some gatherings took place and that this newsletter allowed me to trade messages about books and life in general with many of you. I would like to thank you for your continued support in this endeavor.
From a reading perspective, it has been an exciting year with many recommendations, books borrowed and lent, book club meetings, new authors and old authors, conversations about books, and learning. As previously (2019 book review and 2020 book review), I would like to share the books that stood out to me most. This year all three are fiction stories tackling the subject of race and racism in different ways. I gained so much from these three books.
2021 Review
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (2017)
Description: This fast-paced young adult novel centers around the experiences of a teenager who witnesses her best friend’s murder at the hands of a police officer. She is struggling with the aftermath of this event and to continue living in the diverse neighborhood where it took place, while attending a mostly white private school.
My take: Thomas is both a musician and an author. The lyricism of her writing pulled me in to this story that transformed my understanding of police violence, the fear of the police that people of color face, and the emotions that come along with it. I could not put this book down and felt I learned more from this emotionally intense storytelling than from the factual non-fiction books I have read about racism. I also loved discussing the book with my 16-year old cousin Basil, who also thought it was great.
Bonus tip: I do also recommend reading those non-fiction books, here some books that I shared in issue 31 earlier in the year as part of my journey to better understand and tackle racism.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (2019)
Description: Each of the 12 chapters tells the story of a character grappling with womanhood, race, or the intersection of different identities in different times periods, at vastly different ages, and in different locales mostly in Britain, but also beyond.
My take: Shockingly tragic at times, these stories also feel like a celebration of the strength of the protagonists. I was enamored by the loosely related characters and recurrence of some of these characters, occasionally pitting us on different sides of a story or even a conflict. The jumps in time also allow for examination of the differences and evolution of experiences.
Bonus tip: The book is a Booker Prize winner and was recommended by Barack Obama in his Top 19 books for 2019. Speaking of, Obama recently shared his favorite reads for 2021.
Identitti by Mithu S. Sanyal (2021 in German)
Description: The story is told mostly from the perspective of Nivedita, a German student of a South Asian and Polish background faced with coming to terms with her own identity and the shocking revelations that her beloved mentor and Post-colonial Studies professor Saraswati has been lying about her identity as a woman of color and is in fact white. Nivedita now tries to grapple with Saraswati’s motives and confronts her directly, while also seeking more clarity on her own identity and beliefs.
My take: I have immense respect for how deeply researched this book is, drawing significant inspiration from the true events of the scandal of Rachel Dolezal in the US. I also enjoyed how modern the story telling mechanisms felt; while most of the novel uses prose, it is interspersed with blog posts, radio interviews, TedX style talks, and tweets. The tweets themselves are closely based on real tweets from important political and intellectual figures. But most importantly this book sucked me in with a plot that debates and confronts the challenges of race, identity, inclusion, and the difficulty of coming to terms with all this.
Upcoming tip: Unfortunately, the book has not yet been translated into English, but rumors say it will be soon. I will definitely share an update for English-speaking readers when it comes out.
Currently reading: La Vérité sur l'affaire Harry Quebert (The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair) by Swiss author Joël Dicker.
I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. May it be filled with love and laughter, time with friends and family, and maybe a bit more certainty and normalcy, but most importantly with good health and good books. I am sending you all many hugs and cannot wait to hear what you are planning to read in 2022. All the best!