Our Summer Reading List for the Beach
WOC COMMUNITY PICKS
Whether it’s a “cool” read at home on a scorching day or a beachy read on hot sands, summer is the time to catch up on those books you have in the corner of your room that you promised you’d get to one day.
But if you are all caught up or are looking for something to add to your library, these are a few selections picked by our WOC Literary Society Steering Committee for your summer enjoyment!
Afterlife
By Julia Alverez
The 66-year old Antonia cannot catch a break. When her husband Sam suddenly passes, she does not get a moment of rest when her warm-hearted but unstable sister leaves without warning. And then, to add to her problems, an undocumented pregnant girl finds herself on her doorstep.
Afterlife is a story about grief, privilege within Latin communities, mental illness, and sisterhood that tackles the complexities of when to choose self-care vs. aiding those who need it while having to say goodbye to someone you love. As Antonia puts it herself, what is the Afterlife but “an eternity of rememberings?”
On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker
By A’Leila Bundles
Written by the great-granddaughter of Madam CJ Walker, this biography illustrates the life of Sarah Breedlove as she becomes Madam CJ Walker we know today, who makes the nearly impossible climb from the cotton fields of the south to create her own business of manufacturing hair goods so profitable that at her death, she was known as the first American woman to have an estimated net worth of one million dollars. In her own words “I have built my own factory on my own ground.”
Rest is Resistance
By Tricia Hersey
What happens when a human’s worth is based on how much they are able to produce and how hard they are able to work? Rest is Resistance tackles the issues of capitalism, how it is rooted in white supremacy and systems that devalue and dehumanize people of color.
This deeply insightful manifesto uses Black liberation, womanism, somatics, and Afrofuturism to teach us all that the best way to fight back might be simply allowing yourself to reclaim the rest you deserve. “We are enough. The systems cannot have us.”
The Night Counter
By Alia Yunis
Fatima is 85 years old and knows within 9 days, she will die. This is because she has been visited by Scheherazade, the storyteller of the legendary 1001 Arabian nights. In the hopes of extending her life, she begins telling her own story with her family as the main characters.
As stated in the story bio: “She must find a wife for her openly gay grandson, teach Arabic (and birth control) to her 17-year-old great-granddaughter, make amends with her estranged husband, and decide which of her troublesome children should inherit her family's home in Lebanon—a house she herself has not seen in nearly 70 years. All this while under the surveillance of two bumbling FBI agents eager to uncover Al Qaeda in Los Angeles.”
A tale that pulls both current America and past Lebanon together over the course of the near century Fatima has been alive, The Night Counter weaves a tale of political and cultural experiences that tie the Arab American family together.
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Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy (WOC)® receives no commissions through our reading list.
