Bookwormish, 1st quarter of 2020

My favorite books from the first quarter of 2020:

VERY TOP BOOKS

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates – All the brilliance and all the empathy you would expect from Ta-Nehisi Coates’ first novel. When I read Toni Morrison’s Beloved, I said I felt like it brought home the trauma of slavery to me more than anything else I’d read or seen, even though I’ve learned about American slavery my whole life. The Water Dancer felt similar in how powerfully it made real to me just how much the separation of families was one of the most unthinkably cruel and traumatizing aspects of slavery.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds – Wow. Wow. Jason Reynolds is a master of the short-but-unforgettably-powerful form. The entire novel takes place in the time it takes the 15-year-old protagonist to ride the elevator down from his apartment, as he’s visited by memories of people from throughout his life and decides whether or not to find and kill the man who killed his brother. No description does the book justice. It’s slim (I listened to the audiobook, which is less than 2 hours total) but unforgettable.

( lots more good books! )

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