Who: Ruth Dusseault, California Local Reporting Fellow
Recommendation: “The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story Of War And What Comes After” by Clemantine Wamariya & Elizabeth Weil, 2018
Why it’s a good read: The narrative propels itself by oscillating between external details and internal reveries. It’s a pleasure to see this story. It reads like a list of sentences, quick breaths. You won’t get lost between flashbacks, scene changes, culture clashes or milestones in the protagonist’s life. A Rwandan refugee comes to America as a girl and becomes an American woman, consciously.
Check if the book is available to borrow from your local public library.
Who: Nibras Suliman, Bay City News intern
Recommendation: “Assata: An Autobiography” by Assata Shakur
Why it’s a good read: Assata Shakur is a revolutionary who writes of her experience with policing and incarceration in America. Her autobiography is both personal and political, and was one of the most eye-opening books I have ever read.
Check if the book is available to borrow from your local public library.
Who: Benjamin Coleman, Bay City News intern
Recommendation: “Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike” by Phil Knight
Why it’s a good read: This memoir by Nike founder Phil Knight tells both the highs and lows of Nike’s incredible story while offering something for everyone, even if you aren’t a sports fan.
Check if the book is available to borrow from your local public library.
Who: Janet Shepard, writer/editor
Recommendation: “Uncle Jack, Last of the Jewish Gangsters,” a family memoir by Liliane Gill
Why it’s a good read: Of all the gangster memoirs out there–and there seem to be quite a lot–this is a very personal, intimate book that looks at one family with a hidden gangster in its midst. Written in a meditative voice with humor and insight, Gill looks at the forces that shaped Uncle Jack himself and how they echo back on the whole family’s vulnerabilities and strength.
Find the book at amazon.com here.