I’m not sure I’ve ever read two five-star books in one week – till now! This has been an interesting week of books and revisiting some great storylines, including a recent fascination I have with the Clotilda and Africatown, Alabama. After reading one account of the town’s creation back in January, I knew I wanted to read more for Juneteenth! I’ll have a larger discussion about books featuring slavery Wednesday this week on Juneteenth – there is so much our generation believes about this era that is a glossed over and inaccurate. Books are our window to other worlds and lives, and are important to inform readers about things they have not experienced themselves.
Here’s the books I’m looking forward to discussing with you this week. Grab your copies of these books by clicking the images below:
RWL Reading Challenge – Week 25: About Slavery
The Last Slave Ship
by Ben Raines
Posting on Monday, June 16th
I couldn’t stop talking about this book while I was reading it! Even having read about the foundation of Africatown earlier this year, I learned so much about the final slaving ship to land on American soil. This book also recounts the work to find the Clotilda and start to repair the rift created by ongoing bias and bigotry by leaders in the area.
Here’s some other great books that would work for this prompt in popular genres:
- Bestseller: The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd
- General Fiction: Gone With The Wind, Margaret Mitchell
- Romance: The House Girl, Tara Conklin
- Thriller: Enslaved, Sean Kingsley & Simcha Jacobovici
- Nonfiction: Twelve Years a Slave, Solomon Northup
- Kids: Chains, Laurie Halse Anderson
Books for Juneteenth
Posting on Wednesday, June 19th
On Juneteenth, I’ll be expanding on the list of books above to include other great novels and nonfiction reads featuring slavery.
US States Challenge – Week 25: Missouri
Enemy Women
by Paulette Jiles
Posting on Thursday, June 20th
This is an interesting take on the Civil War era for a few reasons – it’s set in a state we don’t typically think of as being involved, and it focuses on the brutality forced upon the families (specifically women) left behind when the men went off to war. In light of the recent wars in the Middle East and Europe, this really makes you consider how prevalent such violence towards non-combatants really is.
Here’s some other great books that would work for this prompt in popular genres:
- Bestseller: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
- General Fiction: The Revenant, Michael Punke
- Romance: White River Brides, Frances Devine
- Thriller: Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
- Nonfiction: Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography, William Anderson
- Kids: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain
Rotating Posts – Week 25: Sponsored
Bad River
by Marc Cameron
Posting on Saturday, June 22nd
If you’ve followed for long, you’ll know the Marc Cameron quickly became one of my favorite authors last year and this novel is no different! This latest installment in the Arliss Cutter series sees Arliss and his friends continuing on the quest to solve his brother’s murder…and that of a local girl found in the ice. By far the best of the Arliss Cutter books I’ve read!
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: Holiday Country, Inci Atrek
- Current audio book: Call Upon the Water, Stella Tillyard
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow
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