Books Via Ashley

This post is especially for white people. We need to educate ourselves on what it means to be black in the US. Beyond listening to my POC (that's People of Color) friends when they speak about the injustices and prejudices they face, and following more POC on social media to gain a broader perspective, I also read as much as I can. These are six books I think are very helpful to understanding the history and reality of black people in the United States. Fiction 1) The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Starr witnesses her unarmed friend get shot by a police officer and decides to speak out. I think this book should be required reading in all schools. 2) Americanah   by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Ifemelu moves to the US from Nigeria and learns for the first time what it means to be "black". 3) The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead In this book, the Underground Railroad is a literal thing that helps Cora escape from slavery in Georgia. But with a slave...

When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi Synopsis ( From Goodreads ) "At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor making a living treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live." Review The writing is beautiful . With the same delicacy as performing an intesive surgery, Kalanithi writes his thoughts and experiences surrounding his illness. The words and prose are exquisite, made even more so by the depth of what they convey. This is one of the most poignant, beautiful, heart-wrenching things I have ever read. In the introduction, written by Abraham Verghese, one of Kalanithi's colleagues, you as the reader are invited to read Kalanithi's words as a conversation between you and him, your thoughts and feelings being your half. When I read that, I was unsure of what he meant, but in reading this short ...