Crack Open a Book: 2020 Reads
If you don’t know by now, I LOVE TO READ BOOKS! It’s like an adrenaline rush for me. Every time I complete a book, I feel very accomplished, especially this year! I typically share my reads on Instagram and sometimes with a brief synopsis (check my highlights @adivaswork - shameless plug lol). Anyway, I don’t make vision boards, but I do set goals. That said, being that I was due to turn 30 at the end of this year (December 25th to be exact), I started 2020 with a goal to read 30 books. #30by30challenge (30 books before turning 30). In truth, I did not complete the 30th book by the end of my birthday night, but I did complete it within the next 3 days. Also, one of my 30 books was an audiobook - I decided to try something new. Books that I choose myself and prefer most are biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, historical, and self-help. Fiction books that were read were suggested and mostly read in a book club I read with. So, check the list below!
1. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
2. A Song Flung Up to Heaven by Maya Angelou
3. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
4. Black Man in a White Coat by Damon Tweedy, M.D.
5. Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou
6. The Science of Happily Ever After by Ty Tashiro
7. Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
8. Small Doses (the first and only audiobook I have ever listened to) by Amanda Seales
9. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
10. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
11. Raising Black Boys by Jawanza
12. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
13. Awkward: The Science of Why We're Socially Awkward and Why That's Awesome by Ty Tashiro
14. Has Anyone Seen My Sex Life? by Kristen Bailey
15. Wounded Warrior with Invisible Scars by Mataya Wright Williams
16. The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health by Dr. Rheeda Walker
17. Conversations in Black: On Power, Politics, and Leadership by Ed Gordon
18. Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System by Cyntoia Brown
19. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
20. Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
21. Between the World & Me by Ta-Nahesi Coates
22. I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart
23. Spare the Kids: Why Whupping Kids Won’t Save Black America by Stacey Patton
24. The Game of Desire by Shan Boodram
25. Laid: Young People’s Experiences with Sex in an Easy-Access Culture by Shan Boodram
26. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
27. Don’t Go To Bed Angry, Stay Up and Fight by Deb DeArmond & Ron DeArmond
28. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
29. We Should All Be Feminist by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie1
30. The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
I’m proud of myself. “They” say if you want to hide something from black people, put it in a book. I know I cannot read every book there is out there, but I am going to read as many as I can in my lifetime, so “they” won’t be hiding anything from me! I read all of these books + became a new mom + started this blog among other things. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. I encourage all of us to pick up a book for a few minutes each day or each week at least. Make that a goal of yours next year! Stay woke.
Did you read any books this year? What are your 2021 goals?
