It’s a new year, and that means a clean slate for our To Be Read lists. Looking for inspiration on what to read in 2022? This National Mentoring Month, check out these book recommendations from the mentors and mentees of Girls Write Now!
A LITTLE LIFE
by Hanya Yanagihara
Knopf
I read it recently and I just could not put it down. It’s a pretty dark book, but the language is beautiful, and it’s just one of those books where you’re jealous of every sentence because they’re all so well written.
Alex Berman
Writing 360 Mentee
Everything Inside
BY Edwidge Danticat
Penguin Random House
This collection of short stories by Edwidge Danticat will transport you from Haiti to Miami to Brooklyn. The writing is beautiful, the characters are nuanced, and the themes are universal. A must for anyone looking for short stories that stay with you for a long time.
Danielle Schlanger
Writing Works Mentor
My Sister the Serial Killer
by Oyinkann Braithwaite
Knopf
My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkann Braithwaite is special to me mainly because the author is an African. It’s not very common for to see African authors with books about crime, so when I read this, I knew I hit the jackpot. The book deals with the challenge of how deep loyalty goes within a family. And makes me question how far my loyalty runs within my family as well.
Emmanuella Agyemang
Writing 360 Mentee
ASSATA
by ASSATA SHAKUR AND ANGELA DAVIS
Chicago Review Press
As a Black woman, reading this book enlightened me on how the system of white supremacy works both blatantly and covertly and what it means to love yourself, stand firm and fight for liberation as a black woman. It is a book about pain and hope and every other emotion one can feel and how we can use these emotions, along with the help of education and community, to rise up against oppression and fight for the liberation of not only Black people, but other minorities as well.
Esther Omolola
Writing 360 Mentee
Never Let Me Go
BY Kazuo ishiguro
Knopf
Never Let Me Go is an edge-of-your-seat mystery that turns into a love story, then twists into a sickening smack of dystopian possibility. When I read this book, I laughed, I cried, I almost puked, and I realized I had so, so much to learn as both a writer and a human. Still my favorite book.
Faran Kentcil
Writing 360 Mentor
Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe
Penguin
Things Fall Apart is a fictional book I read for English class about a village in Africa before and during colonization. It was eye opening learning about these customs and roles within the clan, getting familiar with them, and then seeing how they are affected by this outside force suddenly appearing, and vise versa. You get a personal perspective through Okonkwo, a flawed main character, and a cultural perspective through the fellow villagers.
Freya Patel
Writing Works Mentee
Forge
by LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON
Simon & Schuster
It’s a great historical fiction with a lot of heart. Has the perfect mix of great action, great characters and emotion. It is definitely not your average American Revolution novel, and to this day is one of my very favorite books of all time.
Jamilah Araf
Writing 360 Mentee
Killers of the flower moon
by David grann
Knopf
This incredibly researched book delves into the systematic murders of wealthy Osage people that took place in Oklahoma in the 1920s over oil drilling profits. The book reads like a thriller but uncovers both the normalized mistreatment of Indigenous peoples in the United States as well as the dubious beginnings of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It also makes incredibly personal the intergenerational trauma of losing large swaths of an entire generation of Osage people with few perpetrators held accountable even today. I am amazed at the amount of research and digging for answers that went into this book.
Kelly Moffitt
Writing 360 Mentor
AN Unkindness of Ghosts
by Rivers solomon
Akashic Books
An Unkindness of Ghosts was the novel that made me fall in love with science fiction, and more specifically Black speculative fiction. It furthered my understanding of structural racism, classism, and the dangers of gender binarism in a way that I could grasp and connect it to myself and my own experiences. It was my introduction to Afrofuturism—an aesthetic, philosophy, and more—that evaluates the past to imagine and create a better future for Black people in the future. Truthfully, I think everyone can learn something from this read.
Lei Fagan
Publishing 360 Mentee
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
Harper Collins
When I first read Their Eyes Were Watching God, I was a senior in high school. At the time, much like Janie, the protagonist of the book, I too was in search of identity. The opening pages of the book is still something of intrigue to me and it’s hard to walk away from it after reading the opening line: “Ships at a distance…” The story is eloquently written with superb imagery in every scene. The engaging plot line truly affirms the importance of self-discovery, which according to the book, does not always have to be a linear journey.
Lucy Twimasi
Writing 360 Mentor
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
by ALEXANDER CHEE
HMH Books
It’s a really special moment when a book mirrors a deeply personal experience of yours back to you — for me, it’s when Chee talks about staring at his face in the mirror as a young child and imagining “it was either more white or more Asian,” something I secretly spent hours doing when I was growing up. How to Write an Autobiographical Novel gave me the language I didn’t have to think and talk about my mixed-race Asian identity, and offers a window into the edges and intersections of Chee’s identity as a son, a gay man, a Korean American, an artist, an activist, a lover, a friend, and more — all in a brilliant set of essays. It’s a book I wish I had when I was growing up.
Rachel Cantrell
Writing Works Mentor
In the Time of the Butterflies
by JULIA ALVAREZ
Algonquin
In the Time of the Butterflies is a historical fiction masterpiece taking place the Dominican Republic during Trujillo’s dictatorship. It’s the story of four revolutionary sisters whose activism is immortalized in this heartbreaking, inspiring novel which remains relevant as we navigate our work to upend the U.S. regime.
Rahat Huda
Publishing 360 Mentee
One for the Murphys
by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Penguin Random House
One for the Murphys is my all-time favorite book! The story follows a tough girl from Vegas who just landed in a foster home and her transition into a completely new life. It is touching, emotional, intense and beautifully written. Every chapter is an unexpected turn; the descriptions and dialogue really make the scenes three-dimensional. It is a must-read! 🙂
Ruby Faith Hentoff
Writing 360 Mentee
Autobiography of My Dead Brother
BY Walter dean myers
Harper Collins
Autobiography of My Dead Brother was the first library book I actually read in full. It’s also the first and only book that’s made me cry. I just love the story, the art, and I just love Walter Dean Myers’ writing in general.
Yaralee De La Cruz
Writing 360 Mentee
A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES
BY sarah j maas
Bloomsbury USA
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is a sublime masterpiece because it’s relatable in some ways and it shows how you can move on and try to keep on going and to heal even through your dark moments and traumas. It’s a story that is written as a fantasy, but a truly deep one. You can learn a lot of lessons and inspirations like how to keep on going when all hope seems lost. I loved the whole plot, the well-developed characters, the imagery, and the way Maas interlaces the beauty of the night, the dark, and the stars. It is an absolutely great read, in my opinion!
Megumi Jindo
Writing 360 Mentee
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“If not for me—brown skin, spike-studded leather gloves, combat boots and sculptural woolen coat—this place could be 1963, still.”
– MENTOR & MENTEE ALUM KAT JAGAI
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