An undeniable aspect of who I am is my love of reading. My parents and family members would tell people “that girl always has her nose in a book”.
In fact, I may be that ONE child in a Jamaican household who was NEVER told “gwaan guh pick up a book”, (if ya know, ya know)!
Growing up I immersed myself in any and every genre from Carolyn Keene to Gloria Naylor to Judy Blume to Sidney Sheldon to Piers Anthony to Toni Morrison. I was as voracious a reader as my amazing mom. We were both known to start a book in the morning, and if it was good, we would finish the book by that evening!
I have allowed the technology age to change my reading habits over the last few years (in addition to other life stuff, like kids and whatnot lol). I was only exercising that reading muscle when on vacations or days off. However, my appetite for reading is growing again and in 2022 I set a goal to read 24 books. It may not seem like a lot to most but it’s a pretty awesome goal for me, it’s MY goal after all, no one else’s.
As part of my reading goal I signed up on Goodreads not only to keep myself accountable but also to interact with the reading community, and let me tell you it’s been wonderful! I’ve even started a fun casual reading group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1179205-have-books-will-read.
In addition to that, my focus for the first half of the year is to read books from Black authors only, whether bought or borrowed. How many amazing Black authors do not get the same exposure as their white counterparts? Many. I’ve played a role in that…..not anymore.
As a result, the first 4 books I purchased and plan to read this year are:
– Dawn by Octavia E Butler (almost done and I love it!)
– Act Your Age Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
– All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M Morris
– Out of The Sun by Eli Edugyan