Week 2 (Oct 31-Nov 4): Your Year in Nonfiction
with Katie at Doing Dewey
πππ
The last two years, I chose Tulip Fever and Afghanistan. Since this challenge was introduced to me via the classics club, I thought I might take some classic books this time and I have chosen slavery.
Most of the non-fiction books are over a hundred years old (written between 1853 and 1913) and they are mostly written by the slaves themselves:
Crafts, Hannah "The Bondwoman’s Narrative" - 1855-69
Douglass, Frederick "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" - 1845
Du Bois, W.E.B. "The Souls of Black Folk" - 1903
Jacobs,
Harriet Ann (Linda Brent) "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" - 1861
Morgan Dawson, Sarah "A Confederate Girl's Diary" - 1913
Northup, Solomon "Twelve Years a Slave" - 1853
The fictional books are a lot younger, though there is one that was written 170 years ago: Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" - 1852
Chevalier, Tracy "The Last Runaway" - 2013
Kidd, Sue Monk "The Invention of Wings" - 2014
Mitchell, Margaret "Gone With the Wind" - 1936
Morrison, Toni "Beloved" - 1987
Walker, Alice "The Color Purple" - 1982
Whitehead, Colson "Underground Railroad" - 2016
I do hope this instigates some people to read about slavery. And I am looking forward to the other book pairings.
I do have a list of more books like this: Anti-Racism.
I have 'The Last Runaway' in a stack of books all beginning with 'The Last...' that I've been meaning to schedule for a while now. I *think* I have 'The Underground Railway' too. Plus I have 'Amistad' by David Pesci which is about a series of trials following a revolt on a slave ship in 1839.
ReplyDeleteI know about Amistad (I think they even made it into a film though that doesn't say much nowadays) and should read it one day. But I can definitely recommend the two others you mentioned. Push them a bit higher on your TBR pile, Kitten.
DeleteGreat pairing. I have only read the one and only Gone With the Wind.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anon. That itself is already an achievement, quite a large book that many shy away from.
DeleteInvention of Wings is one of m6 favs to recommend! I also read The Thread Collectors this year which was quite good! ~Carol @ Reading Ladies
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carol. Invention of Wings is indeed a great book. I'll have to look for The Thread Collectors.
DeleteAnd thanks for adding your name. That's good when Google plays up.
Love your pairings. I read Twelve Years A Slave earlier this year and was blown away by his story.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Lark, what a story. And if we see how much one person can achieve even without a formal education, what would he and others have been able to do with it?
DeleteEssential readings for sure, thanks!
ReplyDeletehttps://wordsandpeace.com/2022/11/09/nonfiction-november-2022-book-pairings/
Thank you, Emma. It is a subject that we all should read more about so that it hopefully will stop one day.
DeleteGood idea to make a collection around a theme, rather than just single pairings. And we even shared one -- The Color Purple. Another I can recommend (fiction) is The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. And not about American slavery, but Roman, is the Wolf Den series by Elodie Harper.
ReplyDeleteOh, thanks, Lory. Yes, slavery was everywhere. Unfortunately. And it's important to read about it, so thanks for the recommendation.
DeleteI enjoyed your paring of The Color Purple with language instinct, how wonderful. That reminds me of another book that could go with that, These is My Words by Nancy Turner.
Thanks for your visit.
Slavery is such a hard topic to read about, but it's also a really important one. I've read a number of books on the subject, but few of these classics. I did read UNCLE TOM'S CABIN in school when I was a kid. BELOVED, THE COLOR PURPLE, and GONE WITH THE WIND are ones I read on my own as an adult. I need to get to several of these others as well. Great list!
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed, Susan. I also know a lot of people who don't want to read about the Holocaust but I think that is just as important. History is bound to repeat itself, especially if we forget about it.
Delete