My 2020 Reading List

This was a good year for reading. There was the pandemic of course and the heightened awareness that we don’t really know a whole lot about each other and about our country’s history, which prompted even more reading. Then about a month ago I tore my Achilles tendon which resulted in surgery and forced confinement on a couch. I’ve read 96 books so far (my goal is 100 before the year),  from a 622 page tome on the Great Migration to 32 page picture books. I’ve travelled back to Venezuela,  Iran and Texas -  places intimately connected to who I am. I read to understand and be understood. I also read to escape the news, even if for just a few hours. Here is a list of my top ten:

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson - Over the past twenty years, I’ve read as many books as I could about the Black experience in America. As an immigrant, I realized a long time ago that I know very little about this part of America and even less about how it has impacted the rest of American history. If I were to recommend just one book, it would be Caste. It explains everything one needs to know about how our society is structured and why and even gives a hint at how to dismantle it. 

Before She was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome - We are so lucky that so many beautifully written and illustrated biographies are now written for children. This soul stirring book is written in reverse chronological order and gives just enough information about Harriet Tubman’s life to entice young and old readers to want to know more.

Blue Bird, Blue Bird (and four other books) by Attica Locke - I’ve lived in Texas for 42 years, 8 of those in Houston. These books took me deep into the heart of Black communities in East Texas and Houston where I learned about how life is experienced on both sides of the law when you are a person of color in America. Attica Locke is my new best friend. 

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez - I’ve been friends with Julia (through her books) for years now. I loved her historical fiction In the Time of Butterflies, about her native Dominican Republic which came out in 1995. This new book covers many personal as well as collective themes: What happens when you are widowed after a lifetime of depending on someone else? What defines loyalty among sisters, among members of a community? How far-reaching and how strong can be the bonds of sisterhood, neighborhood, or community?

Almost Everything by Anne Lamotte - Listening to a book read by the author makes you feel like you are having a one-on-one conversation. Anne Lamotte doesn’t only give good writing advice. Her honest reflection on her own experiences serves up nuggets of wisdom on all aspects of life. She wrote this book for her grandson, to tell him almost everything she knows. Wouldn’t it be a treasure if all grandma’s did that?

Captain Superlative by J.S. Puller - I want to go back to the classroom so I can read this book to my students to inspire them to live a life outside of themselves and their own limitations and trials. 

Crazy For Birds by Misha Maynerick Blaise - A beautifully illustrated book with loads of interesting facts about birds that makes you fall in love with the universe and all its beauties.

Night Diaries by Veera Hiranandani - A historical fiction novel for upper elementary age about the partition of India, religious divides, torn families and forced relocation. 

La hija de la española (It Would be Night in Caracas) by Karina Sainz Borgo - I left Venezuela in 2001, before it descended into the nightmare that is depicted in this book. Only those who have lived through it can recognize this as realistic fiction and not an exaggeration.

Zahra’s Paradise by Amir - This graphic novel took me back to the land of my birth - Iran. The choice of this genre seemed like an act of rebellion when writing about the repression and persecution faced by those who speak out against totalitarianism. 

There is nothing like a good book to erase distance and isolation. I'm gratefull to all the authors who helped me get through this year!