Homegoing

 

The challenge is back! Since I’m done with my graduate program, I miss the required and recommended reading lists from my classes. That also means I’ve been reading way too many Harlan Coben mysteries. To get my brain back on track, the plan is to read down the list in order  (no procrastinating on the poetry and penguins).

First up: read a book you’ve been intimated to read. If you are unfamiliar with Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge, they provide handy curated lists for each category to get you started. That’s how I landed on Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

Gyasi follows the lineage of two half-sisters from 1700s Africa to present day. Each chapter focuses on one generation, alternating between the lines.  She strikingly shows how the evils and trauma of slavery persist, no matter how many years have passed since its abolition. The stories are richly varied, yet each character faces similar challenges in how he or she relates to the divine, nature, and human power structures. And ultimately survives.