Hello fellow bibliophiles,
What are y’all up to?! 😊
Me … I guess I am slowly getting out of some sort of reading slump. This wasn’t a regular slump though and probably quarantine and/or black lives matter related. That being said … now feels like the best time to start doing whatever needs to be done to become whole again. For the month of July this means that I will carve out a substantial amount of time for reading.
Since 2020 started, I have only managed to finish 14 books and none of those I read in June. So I decided to be strict and give myself a stern talking to …. and this resulted in me being 81 pages into “Genesis Begins Again”, an emotional coming of age story about 13 year old Genesis. Through her lens we examine some heavy subject matter of which colorism is the most important one. The most remarkable thing is the way the author, Alicia D. Williams, handles the issue of internalized racism. She writes just enough details in order for you to grasp the impact colorism has on Genesis’ self-image and it’s very impressive.
Furthermore I decided to enter into my very 1st Readathon, simply because this is the one I can actually handle. The Octavia Butler slow-read-a-long started on the 22 of June and is hosted by Njeri of @ONYXpages, Isis of @sistahscifi and Tatiana of @MusicalTati. The idea is to take your sweet time to read most of, if not all of Octavia Butlers novels. The slow-read-a-long dates are planned all the way up to 2022. The first novel in line is KINDRED and although this is a re-read for me, I still have to buckle up. Anyways for more info visit one of the aforementioned IG accounts.
To keep this momentum going I decided to join yet another Readathon. This one is not so slow but it’s essential. The #Letsgetstamped Readathon is hosted by @melanatedreader and is just the incentive I needed to finally pick up and finish Ibram X. Kendi’s “Stamped from the Beginning”. You’ll find more info on this readathon via the aforementioned IG account.
To counter all the “essential reading” on my July TBR list, I decided to throw in “Slay” just to be able to escape into a world where an online role playing game populated by Nubian avatars exists!! This YA sci-fi adventure by Brittney Morris is one of the books purchased to participate in the #blackoutbestsellerlist challenge.
Being a slow reader means that this is pretty much all I can handle for the month of July. And now I am wondering what your TBR looks like? 🤔 … Feel free to let me know in the comments.
IkBenNorine 