[READING CHALLENGE] January Reading Challenge: Memoirs!

So I’ve been asked before why I don’t start a book club.

My answer is usually “ugh, I hate book clubs,” which is not entirely true, but also not entirely untrue.

But I (obviously) do like talking about books and want to add a lil more community to this diverse reading on the internet life, so I thought I’d do a monthly reading challenge instead. I don’t want to tell folks what to read. I want to inspire you to go find diverse books you love, and this is the best way I can think to do it.

Here’s how it’ll work: every month I’ll give you three suggestions built around a theme. If you’re inspired, read something that fits and then let’s chat about it in a big wrap up post at the end of the month.

Or not. I can’t tell you what to do. I got this idea like 10 minutes ago(a lie meant to cover up my lack of graphic design expertise) so we’ll have to feel it out together. 😜

This month’s theme is memoirs. I feel like pandemic life has made it increasingly hard for us all to relate to the real stories of people very different to us and the internet echo chamber has made it easy to only read stories of people like us. So let’s challenge ourselves to read the true story of someone very unlike us, and see what we find there.

The prompts are:

A memoir by someone you’ve never heard of before.

OR

A memoir in translation

OR

A memoir by someone really different from you.

What are you thinking of reading? I’ll probably read either Cindy Wilson’s Too Much Soul or Misshna Wolf’s I’m Down. One is about a Korean transracial adoptee in a Black American family (a very different experience), the other is about a white woman who grew up in a Black community( very different to me AND I’ve never heard of her before).

If you’re really stuck for something to read I’ve made a booklist, but the usual disclosure applies; I have an affiliate relationship with Bookshop and if you purchase something from there using a link you got from here, I’ll be paid a commission.

Tell me what you’re reading in the comments!

(Beautiful people! I managed to work my usual P.S. notifications into the text of the blog this time so uh…peace! Go read something good!)