With a pandemic still in swing, the opportunity to do much apart from eating, backyard/beach lounging, and reading hasn’t presented itself.

My life is still busy—work hasn’t slowed down at all, and our introduction to virtual schooling begins next week—but nothing is normal.

When things aren’t normal, I tend to crave an escape—and I’ve been finding that escape through reading.

I thought I had no chance in the world of meeting my “52 books in 52 weeks” goal for this year, but if I continue at my current rate, it just might happen.

I’ve made an effort to diversify the content I read—so you’ll see that a few of my recent reads are books by Black authors.

Each of these books had an impact on me—and I hope you’ll check at least one or two of them out for yourself.

5 Recent Reads: Summer 2020

1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas *****

I actually listened to the audio version of this one, and to be honest, I’m glad I did. It was transformative hearing such a gripping, gut-wrenching, and personal story told through a voice other than my own internal one.

This novel is extremely relevant to current events and the entire Black Lives Matter movement, because main character, Starr, is the sole witness to a deeply traumatic event: the shooting death of her longtime friend by a police officer.

Though the novel is serious as it touches on the topics of grief, belonging, standing up to injustice, and confronting one’s own biases, it had some heartwarming and funny moments, too. I enjoyed the banter among Starr, her parents, and her other loved ones, when I wasn’t being crushed by the heaviness of the subject matter and Starr’s internal battle with her traumas.

If you don’t understand the importance of the BLM movement and why our nation is focused on the conversation of white privilege and inequality, then I urge you to read this story. It’s not full of what some may call propaganda or shouts from the soapbox; moreover, it’s a deeply emotional experience that far too many people in our country can relate to. It’s so incredibly real that you feel the story in your bones.

I give it 5 stars and recommend the audiobook.

2. Heavy by Kiese Laymon ****

As the title implies, this memoir by college professor and writer, Kiese Laymon, is yet another weighty and emotional read.

Written like a letter to his mother, Heavy begins in Kiese’s Mississippi childhood and follows his journey through adolescence and adulthood.

Kiese’s heaviness is, on the surface, his weight, but it’s also the struggle of being a Black man in the Deep South, coping with years of violence and abuse, identifying and overcoming addiction, and discovering his own identity in spite of and because of his family.

Most of Kiese’s words cut like steel, but he also has a remarkable ability to turn the most heart-breaking and frustrating experience into something beautiful and near-poetic.

A very worthy 4 stars.

3. Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing by Allison Winn Scotch ***

This was a quick read I discovered on a whim through my Amazon Kindle. The writing wasn’t anything extraordinary or gripping, but it involved a strong, accomplished woman—Senator Cleo McDougal—and her journey to redemption after somebody from her past attempts to tarnish her reputation.

As Cleo gears up to run for president, overcome the burdens of her past, and learn to show some vulnerability every now and then, she discovers her true values, but not without some humorous and embarrassing missteps along the way.

The story is relevant to our digital “everybody and their cellphone camera” age, and it draws inspiration from the #MeToo movement when Cleo very visibly confronts a predator from her past.

I enjoyed the read and found value in its encouragement for women to support—not tear down—one another, and I give it 3 stars for its “fun summer read” appeal.

4. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid ****

This began a bit slow for me, but once the storyline became evident and the characters revealed their true colors and motivations, I couldn’t put it down.

Another contemporary novel drawing inspiration from the ubiquity of cellphone cameras and the power of viral snapshots of life, this novel alternates between the perspectives of 25-year-old Emira Tucker, a babysitter and somewhat recent college graduate, and Alix Chamberlain, a wealthy blogger, motivational speaker, and mother, who happens to employ Emira.

Early in the novel, Emira experiences a humiliating incident at a high end grocery store while babysitting Alix’s older daughter, Briar. A store security guard accuses her of kidnapping Briar, and a bystander films the entire scene on his cellphone.

This incident is the catalyst for much of the plot: Alix’s consuming desires to “protect” Emira and prove her “wokeness” to the world, Emira’s budding relationship with Kelley (the bystander, who interestingly has a tumultuous past with Alix—what are the odds?), and Emira’s eventual decisions regarding her future.

This impressive debut isn’t preachy, but it beautifully calls readers to question our own motivations and what it means to truly see somebody as they truly are. It earns 4 stars.

5. Inheritance by Dani Shapiro *****

Dani Shapiro has become my long-distance, human security blanket during the pandemic. But seriously, I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge fan of her podcast, Family Secrets, and also of her pandemic-inspired interview series, The Way We Live Now.

Since I’ve always found her interviews to be incredibly thoughtful and intriguing, I knew I would feel the same way about her written works.

Her memoir, Inheritance, does not disappoint.

Though I knew much of her story from her own telling of it on Family Secrets, I enjoyed the in-depth emotional play-by-play and stories about her past.

She writes in such a poetic and evocative way, and he is truly in tune with the experience of becoming deeply immersed in one’s feelings. Her experiences and words beg readers to reframe our own understanding of family and the bonds that shape us into being.

Through intimate moments of heartache, uncertainty, and joy, Dani never waivers from protecting the privacy of her “new” family and the legacy of her “old.” I wholeheartedly recommend this book (and look forward to reading some of her other memoirs) and emphatically give it 5 stars.