Finally, finally, I found a (relatively) new novel I am totally losing myself in. I didn’t notice it when it came out in 2018 but it got a lot of attention and won prizes, telling stories of Native American lives in Oakland where the writer is from. As well as the history of the USA and how the Native Americans were dealt with by the colonizers. The Bertolt Brecht quote at the beginning of the prologue says it all. I already bought his second book as well.
I love Ozzy and he’s was also a massive advocate for getting sober and how it improved his life . I was devastated when he passed …anyway this is a really good book. I love auto biographies and true crime books .
To understand why America fears immigrants is to understand what is happening in our society. “El Paso” delivers a critique on the history of immigration and the political movement in our border with Mexico. This was truly an eye opener book for me.
I finished reading, “Kin” by Tayari Jones, I love her storytelling style. It is a very poignant story of mothers, (motherless) daughters, friendship, sisterhood ~ belonging. I had previously read, “An American Marriage” and it had a big impact ~ a heartbreaking novel that doesn’t shy away from hard truths. After finishing Kin, I looked for other books by Ms. Jones and found, “Silver Sparrow” at the library and am truly savoring it. She brings you right into the complicated lives of her characters.
I think fiction serves a really important function in that it explains and describes and takes us through emotional journeys, gives us perspectives we may not have been exposed to and makes us feel and understand emotional complexity and consequences and deep emotive reasoning.
I didn’t have an upbringing of emotional security or experience, books saved my life.
Glad you enjoyed it! It really does sound like a good read!
Reading fictional literature is building resilience. Reading about characters who face challenges and overcome it gives you mental “scripts” for handling your own difficulties. It also increases empathy and self-empathy,
Every story you read is like practice for your real life. That’s scientifically proven. So, that’s something you would miss if you only read Non-fiction.
