Our monthly Zoom meet ups to discuss what we’ve been reading are one of the ways our team of staff and volunteers have stayed connected through lockdown. We always enjoy hearing what others recommend and hope you will too!
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (novel)
A brilliant book about two families which descend from one woman. The story follows seven generations from the late 18th century to the present day. Pauline loves the fasscinting stories but warned that this is not a bedtime read because of some of the content.
Recommended by Pauline.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (novel)
Joint winner of the Man Booker Prize 2019, this book is about the interwoven lives of 12 women and one of the key themes is gender and deals with and celebrates women’s gender in all its forms. Pauline felt that the story developed and grew as she read it.
Recommended by Pauline.
Earthsea, the first Four Books by Ursula le Guin (novel)
Annie finds Le Guin to be a stunning writer who has been compared to Tolkien but is actually much better! She builds up an entire universe that her magical and mystical characters inhabit: witches, sorcerers and wizards. Themes include slavery and racism.
Recommended by Annie.
The Summer Book by Tove Jansen
A charming, delightful little book about the relationship between a girl and her grandmother who are spending the summer together on a small island in the Gulf of Finland.
Recommended by Annie.
Happiness by Aminatta Forna (novel)
The author was born in Scotland and raised in Sierra Leone and her worldliness come through in her book. It’s the story of a woman living in London, who is originally from the USA, doing a project about urban foxes, and a Ghanaian psychiatrist. This book highlight how nature inhabits urban landscape. Nature writing in a unexpected setting…
Recommended by Katie.
The Dutch House by Ann Pratchett (novel)
This book tells the story of a brother and sister over the course of five decades. The story of family, betrayal, love, responsibility and sacrifice. Anna liked that the author left lots to the imagination and was not overly over descriptive.
Recommended by Anna.
The Braid by Laetitia Colombani, translated from French by Louise Rodgers Lalaurie (novel)
A easy to read, quite short book, which tells the story of three main characters who live in Italy, India and Canada and who are connected by “the braid”…
Recommended by Elaine.
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo (novel)
Written from the point of view of a little girl called Darling who is growing up in a shantytown called Paradise in Zimbabwe. The actual historic events are never names, but we know that there is political unrest and the lives of this community are severely affected by the events unfolding around them. Darling and her friends dream of leaving to live in the USA and Darling’s dream does come eventually come true. But life in Detroit isn’t quite what she’d expected and we find out what life is really like for first generation immigrants to the West.
Recommended by Gabrielle.
And for anyone who doesn’t want to read a novel…
Why feminists should support the struggle for prison and police abolition by Amrit Wilson (online article)
Our volunteer said: “It is full of very interesting and at times shocking (such as the bit about Multi-agency risk assessment conference) insights and information that every feminist needs to be made aware of.
It is also a very timely article considering the BLM activities and the article’s information about the mistreatment of BAME women by many in the society.”
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