It’s the first Saturday of the month, so time once again for a Six Degrees post – hooray! Find out more about this meme over at host Kate’s blog.
This month we are starting with Sally Rooney’s Normal People. I have not read this book, but was glued to the TV series.
So what is normal? For my first link, I have chosen Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie. I really enjoyed reading this powerful book and learned so much from it too. This particular quote really struck home:
“The only reason you say that race was not an issue is because you wish it was not. We all wish it was not. But it’s a lie. I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America.”
I can’t imagine what it must be like just to bowl along being one’s normal self, only to find out that there is a whole different ‘you’ when you travel to a another community. As a white person, I am grateful to be able to read and learn about experiences such as these which, with my white privilege, I will never suffer myself.
From a well-established Nigerian author, I am linking to another Nigerian author who is right at the start of her career. Abi Daré has just been shortlisted for the 2020 Desmond Elliott Prize with her debut novel The Girl With The Louding Voice. This story centres around the lives of young girls in Nigeria and sounds absolutely excellent. I am looking forward to reading it.
Sticking with prize nominees for my next link, I have chosen Red At The Bone by Jacqueline Woodson. This was longlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction and explores the relationship between two families from different social backgrounds in Brooklyn. This sounds like a fantastic read.
A book which was longlisted for last year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction is Praise Song For The Butterflies by Bernice L McFadden. I have had this on my To Be Read pile for far too long, so I am looking forward to promoting it to the top with all the other books in this chain.
Taking butterflies for my next link, I am going with Butterfly Fish by Irenosen Okojie. This is described in the blurb as ‘a novel of epic proportions’ – just my cup of tea!
Butterfly Fish is also described as ‘unique and imaginative’ by Diana Evans. This allows me to choose for my final link her book Ordinary People – another book I have had on my To Be Read list for a while.
So my chain this month goes from normal people to ordinary people. But of course, these are not normal or ordinary times. I offer this post as a small and humble contribution to the importance of promoting the work of BAME female authors.
I realised, in preparing for this post, that I don’t really think about the ethnicity of an author when selecting a book. I enjoy reading widely and like to pick up titles by authors from all around the world. Prior to this past week I would have said that this is good because it is a ‘colour-blind’ approach. But I have come to understand that this passivity is totally insufficient. I need to be actively seeking out works by BAME authors to read, learn from and showcase. So this post is a start on that renewed journey. I’ll be reading all the books on this list in the coming weeks. I also plan to participate in the forthcoming #CaribAThon from June 11-20. This video by @cozycomfyup is a great place to start if you feel like joining in too:
I’ll be very interested in what you think of Ordinary People. I enjoyed Evans other work, but somehow I couldn’t get into this one. I hope you have better luck with it.
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Fingers crossed!
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Oh… nice chain… and a timely one as well!
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Thanks Davida! 😀
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Love what you’ve done there – so timely and such great books – Abi Dare is on my read soon pile already. I also liked the closure of your chain with ‘normal’ and ‘ordinary’.
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Thank you Annabel – really glad you enjoyed the post 😀
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Brilliant chain, Liz. I’m afraid I have to echo Ann about Ordinary People, though. I enjoyed 26a very much but this one didn’t quite work for me.
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Thanks Susan, and oh dear! Time will tell whether I make it three in a row with you and Ann, or end up being an outlier! 😀
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I love this chain! I’ve read many of the books and really enjoyed them!
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Thanks so much! 😀
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Great job! Girl With the Louding Voice is on my TBR already. Have you read the “other” Ordinary People novel by Judith Guest? It was an excellent movie long ago, as well.
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Thank you! And no, I hadn’t come across the Guest – will check it out. 😀
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Fantastic post and way to link your books! I’ve read three of Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie’s books and have throughly enjoyed them. I need to take note of some of the other books you mention. Thank for also bringing up CaribAThon. I just heard about that yesterday so hopefully I’ll find a book to add to my reading mix.
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Thank you Iliana, really pleased you enjoyed the post!
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A wonderful collection, Liz. We live in a world that offers so much diversity and joy. Have you ever read Mary Parker Follett, who was an extraordinary woman who understood the power of differences. The 100th anniversary of her book “The New State” was celebrated in 2018, which is one of the reasons we travelled to England in 2018 and visited York University. Here is her brilliant quote which asks all to go beyond the angst and find powerful outcomes for all: “There are three ways of dealing with difference: domination, compromise, and integration. By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish.” Always exciting to read your “Six Degrees of Separation” posts.
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Thank you Becky. You have added a marvellous and inspirational contribution to the conversation. Sending many hugs! xxx
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I love how you made this topic so timely. Like you I am guilty of not really thinking about the origins of authors when I pick my reads so I stick to a pretty narrow demographic a lot of the time and I am pretty sure I have never read any Carribean authors (wait I might have read one). While I don’t think I will get to read anything for #caribathon I will definitely be keeping an eye out for suggestions to add to my TBR!
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Thanks Marg!
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I think I’ve read very few Womens Prize for Fiction books, I’m not sure I have ever read any Caribbean authors, something I should look into correcting.
Thanks for sharing your chain
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I’m looking forward to reading authors from the Caribbean too. Having started to explore some titles it is clear that there are some exciting and beautiful reads ahead!
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What a powerful chain, Liz, with an important message. I do have my own chain ready, hopefully to be out before too long. My first link is to Ordinary People – the other one! I see one of your earlier commentators has mentioned it too.
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Thanks so much! I’ll have to read both OPs now….!
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Love the way you turned this chain into a circle 🙂
I’ll keep an eye on your Caribbean reviews – I’ve not read any books by Caribbean authors (I don’t think) but always keen for recommendations to guide my Around the World reading challenge.
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Thanks Kate. I am enjoying researching my reading list for the CaribaThon and beyond.
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An interesting six degrees, Liz and a very thoughtful post it is, too. So many books I would love to read and many more I feel I ought to read. But, can I read for longer than ten minutes? No! Have you been able to get the reading habit back, yet?
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Thanks Clare, and sorry to hear that your reading is still disrupted. I am able to do more these days, but it is still a bit up and down. I have found it useful to give myself reading goals as a bit of a focus, which is interesting because in the past the mere whiff of some kind of commitment used to be the kiss of death for any title!
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Yes! I know exactly what you mean! I am pleased these days if I am able to read a couple of pages!
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📚🤞🏻💕
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