Fall Reading List 2018

Hey guys! It’s been a MINUTE since my last book review, and I have a bunch of books I am dying to tell y’all about! I decided to switch how I do them though: instead of a book review once a month, I’ll compile my fave books from the previous few months into a list of reading recommendations with personalized reviews about each one! Read on to find your new fave.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

This novel starts out normally enough, with a young newlywed black couple spending a night in a hotel room before visiting the husband’s parents the next day. Suddenly, they are ripped apart when the husband is arrested for assaulting a lady in another hotel room, a crime he was falsely accused of, and sent to jail for twelve years. Bitterly reminiscent of our reality with a crippled and deeply flawed justice system, this story travels through the very real circumstances these lovers find themselves in of having to work through the separation – physical and emotional – and growing apart in ways they never planned to. There are so many twists and turns to this story that you won’t know who to root for!

The Circle by Dave Eggers

I picked this book up at one of those free library bird house things you see on the sidewalk, where ironically I always seem to find the best books! *Serendipity* Anyway, this is a cross between an Orwellian dystopian novel and an aggressively long episode of Black Mirror, based in San Francisco/the Bay area. I am not sure what time period it is supposed to be set in, but the story line hits a LITTLE too close to home: the main character goes to work for a huge tech company, and quickly discovers how insulated and cultish the “campus” culture is. As the story progresses, the company grows bigger and bigger, until it seems as though it will take over the entire country and government with its monopoly on technology and security, which veers far too close to the edge of total surveillance. This book had an endless amount of “oh shit” moments, and at one point I thought I would have to delete all my social media apps and throw away my phone!! You will not be able to put this book down – trust me!

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

This book follows the story line of an escaped slave, through the perspective of multiple story tellers over the span of a few generations. This poor girl can’t seem to catch a break – every time she escapes and thinks she can breathe again, somebody comes for her and she has to pack up and keep it moving! Heartache, trauma and struggle follow her at every turn, and she somehow manages to get through it all (as far as we know). You will be holding your breath the whole time, but will be too invested to put the book down!

The Defining Decade by Meg Jay

My cousin lent me this book while I was staying at his house for a MUCH needed week long break from home, and it could not have been a better read at a better time! As the tagline says, this book is about “why your twenties matter – and how to make them count”. The writer urges us the audience – twentysomething millenials – to stop seeing our twenties as a “throwaway” decade, where we can fuck around and do whatever we want, then suddenly get serious and start our “real” adult lives at age 30. She insists that if we don’t set ourselves up for success with strategic decisions during our twenties, and taking small steps toward the lives we want to live, we will be in for a shock when we turn 30 and find it is too late to start the things we want to do, or do them at all! The book is broken down into three parts – work, love and mind & body – and includes real stories from her twentysomething therapy clients, plus helpful tips on how to address some of the most common ailments of this decade. After reading it, not only did I feel reassured that I was not alone in my struggles, but I realized I was actually a lot further along in my life than I thought and further than some other people my age! I am still in the midst of a job search, so this gave me just a little extra push of motivation and encouragement to keep going. I highly recommend this to anyone in their twenties!!!

She Would Be King by Wayetu Moore

This book was generously sent to me by Tembe Denton-Hurst, a fellow book queen (and just all around fab lady), so we could both read it and discuss after. The book is a collection of stories about three seemingly unrelated characters, all living in different parts of the world with very different circumstances. They all have strange “gifts”, and their stories are as gritty and real as they are magical and fantastical. Though the stories seem disjointed at first, in the second part of the book, they come together and converge into one story about the founding of Liberia, and you finally understand how they are all interrelated. It is easy to get hooked on this book if you read it for long enough chunks, but I can see how if you are the type to pick up a book for twenty minutes every few days, you might get lost by this book and discard it. But don’t do that!! I promise it is worth reading until the end. It has a very Luke Cage and Black Panther feel to the story. Read to the end and tell me I was wrong 😉

I hope you guys enjoyed this long overdue book review/reading list! Please let me know what you think if you have read any of these or plan to read any of them. Until next time bbs 💕