By Annie Dillard
A story of a family of sorts, connected to the water and the sand dunes off the shores of Massachusetts. It took me a while to get into this book. I think it's because the writing is very lyrical, and not always clear-cut. I'm not even sure of all the things that happen in there. Did I really get what I was reading? Retelling the story would probably add too much of my own interpretation of it. Was that what the author intended? [fiction, 216pp.]
By Hannah Stowe
A memoir that's combines life experience with scientific knowledge and research of the oceans and the in them. The author weaves anecdotes from her life with the life history of specific organisms, providing information and lessons she learned from them, as well as what we can do to help save them from the damage we are causing them. [non fiction, 288 pp.]
By Nella Larsen
Story about race and living in Harlem in the 1920s. The reading flows effortlessly and the historical background is very interesting.
[Fiction; 160 pp. including notes and introduction]
By Willa Cather
Another repeat. Probably my least favorite of this great author.
By Sue Roe
Reading this for the second time, and being more familiar with names compared to two years ago, made it much easier to follow the numerous lives told about in this book.
Link to first post on this book
The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
By Isabel Wilkerson
Amazing writing and organizing of this book. It focuses on the stories of three people who have migrated from the Jim Crow South to the North and West. These people migrated in different decades, to different cities, and were from completely different backgrounds. One gets to see their personal thoughts and motives for moving away from their places of birth, from their families, their lives, the hardships they faced along the way, the adjustments and disillusions they went through when they got to their respective promised lands. In between their stories, Wilkerson gives big-picture reports to put the personal accounts in context. I am totally in awe with how well-done this book is. I think it is important for everyone living in the United States to read this book. [non-fiction, 622 pp.]
By Prachi Gupta
A memoir of a childhood and early adulthood of the writer and her brother, growing up in a family with a controlling father in a culture that breeds exceptionalism amidst a systemically racist society. It's hard to imagine a young sensitive person having to go through such a life, and the book definitely provides a lot of food for thought. [275 pp.]
