Read Caribbean
The month of June is celebrated as Caribbean Heritage Month and it is a month where we encourage people to Read Caribbean. In 2019 I started the calling June Read Caribbean month to tie in with the Heritage month celebrations. This initiative was started to create awareness for Caribbean Literature, Caribbean Authors and Authors from Caribbean Heritage. There needs to be a space for Caribbean Writers and Literature because our voice is so uniquely ours.
The aim of the Read Caribbean month is to encourage persons to:
- Read books by Caribbean Nationals/ persons of Caribbean heritage
- Books about the Caribbean
- Books set in the Caribbean
With 2022 being our fourth year, we want to make a bigger impact. Currently we have Caribbean Bookstagrammers who will be advocating for reading Caribbean all of June. 2022 promises to be an amazing year for #ReadCaribbean. Be sure to follow the hashtag #ReadCaribbean on Instagram to see all that we get up to!
Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein
Atmospheric, immersive, un-put-down-able, truly impressive storytelling from a Caribbean voice you will want to hear from again…and again…. Hungry Ghosts opens with four boys doing a blood pact that will make them brothers for the rest of their lives. Do they...
The Islands by Dionne Irving
Solid collection that explores Jamaicans living in Jamaica and around the world- well written and deeply insightful The Islands is a collection of ten short stories that explores immigration, classism, the effects of colonialism and Jamaicans trying to seek a...
The Island of Forgetting by Jasmine Sealy
Contemporary novel set in Barbados that centers a local family who owns a hotel… GIVE IT TO ME!The Island of Forgetting is Jasmine Sealy’s debut novel and what am stunning debut this is! The novel starts out in Barbados in the 1960s and goes until the early...
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
Fresh, biting, laugh out loud funny, chilling, relatable and brazen! A debut collection that you won’t soon forget! If I Survive You is a collection of interconnected short stories told from a Jamaican family living in Miami. While it is a collection of short...
Lest We Find Gold by Melanie Schwapp
BookOfCinz Book Club Pick Absolutely loved this book and of course I had to make it a book club pick! Lest We Find Gold is Melanie Schwapp’s sophomore novel. The book follows the life of Milly from her early years to her present life with her husband. Milly...
Bread The Devil Knead by Lisa Allen-Agostini
I decided to choose this book to kick start BookOfCinz Book Club for 2022. The first time I read it, I was a little underwhelmed but in re-reading it I was so moved by the themes explored- particularly that of friendship. Lisa Allen-Agostini writes a friendship like...