February is a short month, added to that, it is Carnival season here in Trinidad and Tobago, which means, majority of my free time was spent in a party or getting ready for carnival. My goal is to read 10 books each month, this month I only read 8 books- yes, I am a failure ????. I am kidding, while I read less than my usual amount this month, I thoroughly enjoyed most of the books I read.
My stand out book for this month and only five stars read was Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson. Bryan Stevenson writes about a system so broken it will literally bring you to tears of frustration- I sure cried reading his account. Not only was I sad, I was f*cking enraged. After reading The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton (who is also mentioned in this book) I thought nothing could shock me but I was in for more surprises. This book sheds light on what it is like for a poor black person in the American Justice system. A very powerful read. This book should be read by anyone who cares about human rights.
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There were two books I read that were totally out of my comfort zone, they are Severance by Ling Ma and The Dreamers by Karen Walker Thompson. Both books are somewhat dystopian in genre and explores a virus that wipes out majority of a population- yes, it was a pretty dark month. I found that I enjoyed Severance a lot more than I thought I would, and of the two books I ranked Severance higher. This had a lot to do with how well the book was written and how clear and engaging the main character was. I liked that the author wrote from a millennial perspective and the fact that the book was set in New York was a nice touch for some reason. If you are a reader who doesn’t venture too much of your comfort zone, I recommend you picking up these two books to get your feet wet.
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My two Caribbean reads were Same Earth by Kei Miller and Golden Child by Claire Adam, see full review of Golden Child here. Same Earth is my second book by Kei Miller and I was not disappointed. Miller knows how to capture Jamaica and Jamaicans and I could not get enough of country life and the characters in this book. If you are look for a Caribbean read that explores country life and religion, this is a good place to start.
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My two most disappointing reads were Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown and Bad With Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Shit Together by Gaby Dunn. I will start with Bad With Money, as someone who is bad with money and is looking to really get a hold on my finances I decided to pick this book up but I was left confused and wanting. While Dunn does try giving advice and most of it wasn’t practical outside of the US or in general. Also, it was mostly a collection of stories of how the author was bad with money. I did enjoy most of the stories but I wanted to leave with practical tips on how to get my money right.
As a big Brene Brown fan, I have to say Braving the Wilderness might be her weakest work. As a reviewer said “Brene Brown called this one in” and you can tell from how repetitive the book is. A lot of things mentioned in this book I read in her previous work. It felt as if Brown had a deadline to meet and she rushed and cobbled things together, I think it is for this reason I gave this book just two stars- I am mad!
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Overall, February was a very even-keeled and I am fine with that. I do look forward to March being a better month. Below are the books in order of ratings.
5 Stars
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
4 Stars
Severance by Ling Ma
Same Earth by Kei Miller
Golden Child by Claire Adam
3 Stars
The Dreamers by Karen Walker Thompson
When Life Gives You Luluemons by Lauren Weisberger
2 Stars
Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown
Bad With Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Shit Together by Gaby Dunn
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