I've been an avid reader most of my life. When I was younger, almost every extended family member gave me a Barnes & Noble gift card for birthdays and christmas, and I ate off that for yeeeeeeears! College came around and I was still reading lots of literature (I was an English major) but that meant reading was one of the last things I wanted to do in my free time. In 2019, I set out to return to my roots and read for pleasure with a goal of 12 books, and I read 8. And still, feeling optimistic about 2020, I set a goal for 15 books.
and then covid happened. As a privileged person who can work from home and has spent 98% of my time inside for the last nine months, reading has once again returned as one of my favorite past times.
I read 34 books in 2020... and I pretty much liked them all, and loved most! Even the few that I didn't love, I still see why others do.
If it's on this list, I think you might enjoy it. If I bolded it, than I HIGHLY recommend you read it. They're not all bolded for the same reasons (some I think are important so you understand more about the society we live in and how to change it, some are just fun), but I recommend you read it just the same. Enjoy this list:
Fiction
Caucasia by Danzy Senna
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Passing by Nella Larsen
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor
Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Paradise by Toni Morrison
Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker
Non-Fiction
Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown
Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Davis
Abolition Democracy by Angela Davis
Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center by bell hooks
This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color
All About Love by bell hooks
Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective edited by Keeanga-Yamahatta Taylor
Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect?: Police Violence and Resistance in the United States edited by Maya Schenwar, Joe Macare, and Alana Yu-lan Price foreword by Alicia Garza
When The Welfare People Come: Race and Class in the Child Protection System by Don Lash
Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement by Barbara Ransby
Making All Black Lives Matter by Barbara Ransby
Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement edited by Ejeris Dixon and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
We Will Not Cancel Us and Other Dreams of Transformative Justice by adrienne maree brown
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Poetry
My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter by Aja Monet
1919 by Eve L. Ewing
Spill by Alexis Pauline Gumbs
M-Archive by Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Bonus reading reflections:
When I read in my youth, I typically read my one book at a time, and then moved unto the next. This year, I was always reading at least two books at once (one fiction, one non fiction), and usually more than two. I loved this approach because even though I was reading different genres, I could always make a connection. It felt like the books were in conversation with each other simply by what I was able to see between them, even when they may have not usually been paired together. Also, if there was ever a book that was a little more dense and harder to get through, I was always able to switch to something light. If you've never tried to do multiple books at once, I'd recommend it to see how you like it!
Reading with others is a major key. That isn't a practice I've engaged in for most of my life, outside of class settings. A few of these books I read this year were a part of the Smart Brown Girls book club. Others I read in book clubs I organized, and some were just me and one other friend working it through together. Not only did I get more out of the book, drawing connections and realizing things I wouldn't have otherwise because my friends are so brilliant, but it was also just an amazing way to connect during Covid-19! I have friends that I didn't normally facetime or talk to much in between in person hang outs on a normal year, and now we are in weekly conversation because of this. And life is so much better that way.
Sometimes the best part of a read is the re-read. This year, I read Paradise by Toni Morrison with my friend. I loved it! And I know there was so much I missed as I tried to keep track of all the different characters and her detailed prose. I'm already hype for my second read where I know I'm going to understand so much more than the first. Similarly, I read Emergent Strategy on my own this year, then read it again in a book club (and am reading it again in another book club), and the same thing is happening with All About Love. Some books are so rich that the first read just feels like a primer-- getting me familiar with the concepts so that I'm really ready to soak it in the second read.
Shout out to the PDF providers! Pre-Covid, I had such a hard time reading on the screen and would frequently end up clicking over to another window after a couple sentences. But three weeks into quarantine, I knew I needed to get over that if I wanted to use the time to read. So, I did! Many of these books I read because of Bilphena Yahwon's amazing library, as well as many other people on twitter who were posting PDFs to aid people's political education. It's definitely not for everyone, but if you can read on a screen, there is so much free education out there.
Poetry is amazing. I didn't really read poetry collections before this year... and I regret that. But it's never too late! I look forward to reading more poetry next year.
Black women are unmatched when it comes to writing. These are just the facts.
I'm so grateful that 2020 was able to reignite my love of reading. I can say with certainty that all the books I read were so important in the way my mindset has shifted over the last nine months (more on that another time).
Let me know what books on this list you've read! And of course, hmu if you wanna read with me in 2021.
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