While they won't accomplish physical needs like restoring electricity or bringing clean water, books can help. They can change hearts and minds, encourage empathy, and bring us closer together. That's why I'm thankful for books in 2017. In particular, I'm thankful for fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. I've selected three books that encapsulate my reading life this year, all of which I read for the first time in 2017.
Thankful for Fiction
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
While most people read Jane Eyre in their childhood years, I came to it as an adult. Charlotte's nineteenth century novel reads as surprisingly feminist for the time, and is as relevant today as it was when it was first published. Jane's story of growth and staying true to herself amidst the horribleness of her step-mother and step-sisters, the brutal school where she is sent to be educated, the family she and her time spent at Thornfield Hall and with the Rivers' clan made an impression on me. So much so that Jane Eyre has acquired a place amidst my Favorite Books of All Time.
Thankful for Non-Fiction
Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
This amazing work of scholarship (which the author told me took him 3 years just to do the research!) has won just about every award out there. In order to fully tell the story of racist ideas in America, Kendi chose to focus on five specific individuals whose lifespans extended across major points in America's history - Puritan minister Cotton Mather, US President Thomas Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, scholar W.E.B. DuBois, and activist Angela Y. Davis. He demonstrates how and why racist ideas were created, how they have proliferated and mutated over time, and how they continue to exist today. To better understand the world we're living in, especially as Americans, we should all read this incredible book.
Thankful for Poetry
My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter, by Aja Monet
2016 was the beginning of my re-discovery of poetry, and it has continued into this year. While I've read some incredible poetry collections so far in 2017, the one that stands out as one I'm especially thankful for is Aja Monet's My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter. The way she employs language to tell stories of women - Palestinian, American, enslaved...all women - will leave you gobsmacked. There's so much passion, fury, wonderment, and insight shining through each poem that you might find yourself swept up in emotion. I certainly did. If you'd like a taste of her work, check out this video of her reading the title poem in the collection. I'm thankful and grateful for this magnum opus.
I'm giving thanks and raising a glass to books, and to these three in particular. There'll be no post this Thursday, so I hope everyone who's celebrating enjoys their Thanksgiving!
Librorum annis,
