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Madhushree Ghosh's avatar

Good Talk by Mira Jacob is the best memoir yet! And The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri is spectacular also. Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur held me mesmerized.

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

LOVE good talk/mira jacob!! may have read it like 3 times already. still haven't read dina nayeri but plan to close out the year with the ungrateful refugee + the other americans. what's wild game about??

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Madhushree Ghosh's avatar

Wild Game is set in Cape Cod about how a 14-year old Adrienne was asked to be the go between/cover up for her mother who had a multiple-year affair with her husband's best friend--it reads like fiction. I had read her Modern Love essay and she has talked about it in jest many times. But how this affected a young girl in how she viewed the world is a fascinating story. Beautifully crafted memoir.

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

you just won me over. this sounds so. good.

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laura diaz's avatar

fiza, will good talk be part of a giveaway soon?:)

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Hieronymus Jackson's avatar

I'm really liking Nothing Ever Dies by Viet Thanh Nguyen! I find it uses the lens of memory to beautifully tie together the politics of remembering and unremembering, the SEA refugee experience, and visibility in the United States.

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

oh man, this is officially on my to-buy list. every viet thanh nguyen book at my library is ALWAYS checked out! have you read on earth we're briefly gorgeous? love how ocean vuong uses memory to take readers back and forth, too.

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Hieronymus Jackson's avatar

I have not! It sounds great though, I've gained a lot more interest in memory as social commentary and as a means of storytelling. I'll be sure to check it out!

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Alex Rodriguez's avatar

20 love poems and a song of despair-pablo neruda!

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

AHHHHHHHalex. <333

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NH's avatar

The Border Of Paradise was a good mix of mental health and migrant trauma, and some of the writing was absolutely arresting.

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

Ahhhhhhh I love Esmé Wang's work from Catapult and only JUST got The Collected Schizophrenias. Have a few people ahead of me on The Border of Paradise library waitlist.

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

btw have you read the Bassey Ikpi collection? lmk what you think if you do!

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NH's avatar

oooh I have not but am excited to check it out!

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Liz Shah's avatar

Both Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng and There, There by Tommy Orange we’re incredible personal reads. My middle/high school book clubs are reading Lisa Ramèe’s A Good Kind of Trouble and Angie Thomas’ On the Come Up. They’re enjoying them a lot, and we’re finding them to be both age appropriate and thought-provoking!

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

I'm listening to LFE right now!! Loving it. And yes, There There was fantastic! If you liked it, you might enjoy The Overstory (one of my all-time faves). I haven't read much YA tbh but really liked Angie Thomas' Hate U Give. Is the Lisa Ramée book inspired by John Lewis (#goodtrouble). and hi Liz! welcome <3

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Liz Shah's avatar

I hadn't delved super far into YA anytime recently but am sort of finding it to be a guilty pleasure now that I"m back reading it for the schools. Yes, Ramée's book is inspired by that movement. I will check out The Overstory! Glad to be here!

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Ashley Okwuosa's avatar

I just started reading A Particular Kind of Black Man by Tope Folarin. The book is about a young Nigerian boy who grows up in Utah but his mother has to leave to return to Nigeria because of her mental illness. It’s good so far.

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

Oh this sounds so good. Have you read Tope Folarin's short story "Miracle" yet? A friend *just* send me a link to it and I plan to indulge tonight: http://www.magunga.com/miracle-by-tope-folarin/

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Hannah Bae's avatar

Oh, one more: Right now, I’m reading ORDINARY GIRLS by Jaquira Diaz, and it’s astonishing. Diaz’s writing stays with you, and when I’m not reading, I can’t wait to get back to this book. It discusses mental illness quite a bit, too.

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

I requested a copy at my library last week!!

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Hannah Bae's avatar

My #1 recommendation comes out in January 2020! It's called ALMOST AMERICAN GIRL by Robin Ha. It's a graphic memoir published by an imprint of HarperCollins, and it made me laugh and cry and feel so much empathy. And the art is stunning!

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

i've been obsessed with graphic memoirs as of late. can't wait for this one!!

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Farahnaz Mohammed's avatar

I'm in the middle of 'Girl, Woman, Other' right now, which is fiction but sometimes is so painfully on-point I have to put it down (in a good way!) Traces the lives of a group of people (as this review describes it, "twelve very different people - mostly women, mostly black") over years as they adjust to life in Britain. Lot of heartbreak and loss and confusion and survival, I'm so impressed by it.

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

I've heard so many great things about girl woman other!! can't wait to read and follow up w/ you

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Aditi Juneja's avatar

I know I'm a few years late, but loved "One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter" by Scaachi Koul! Also, some poetry including If They Come For Us and Citizen Illegal!

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

I'm even later. It's on my shelf and I still haven't picked it up! What'd you love about One Day We'll All Be Dead? (ps, love fatimah asghar!)

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Aditi Juneja's avatar

It was funny! Usually memoirs like these are serious and sad but not this one!

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

always here for the funny memoirs. i need more comedy reads in my life!

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Becca Godwin's avatar

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins undid me.

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

oooh tell me more. i've never read jeanine cummins! are you reviewing it? (see a jan 2020 release date)

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laura diaz's avatar

in the dream house by carmen machacdo!!

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laura diaz's avatar

machado*** sorry lol!

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Fiza Pirani's avatar

omg yes! this book is on my secret santa wish list ;-)

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laura diaz's avatar

you will love it:)

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