Books I read in 2015 and 2014

I was thinking this week about how much I read. Someone was telling me that her perception was that I read a lot, and I was telling her about how I buy many more books than I finish. One friend once called me a reading giraffe (nibble on the high bits) as opposed to his reading blue whale (taking in everything he can get). I got curious and I tracked all the books that I could think of that I read in 2015, and then I tried to go further back to 2014. Here's what I came up with:

2015: At the time, I was not thinking that there was a theme, but I read quite a few books on race, systematic inequality, and survival.
The Burial at Thebes (2004) - Seamus Heaney's take on Antigone. She is the ultimate female resister!

Citizen (2014) by Claudia Rankine. The challenges of race, specifically blackness, in America told in poetic form.

Between the World and Me (2015) by Ta-Nehesi Coates. Blackness, particularly black maleness, shared intimately.

March Book One (2013) and Book Two (2015) - John Lewis tells the story of his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement in graphic form.

Just Mercy (2015) by Bryan Stevenson changed my life. It made it clear to me that real life superheroes exist. That we can impact change.

Yes Please (2014) helped me to fall in love with Amy Poehler. It is like a book-length "Stars - they're just like us!"

Handmaid's Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood was the recommendation of the Dystopian Literature teacher. It's a fascinating look on how misogyny can destroy us.

In the Body of the World (2014) by Eve Ensler compares the struggles of ovarian cancer to that women suffer in the Congo. It reflects on the strength it takes it be a survivor.

Hope (2015) by Cleveland kidnapping victims Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus (and writers Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan) is another reminder of how much we can survive with determination.

Shadow Children (2014) by Louise Ann Babirak was recommended to me by one of my students. It is young adult fiction that tells the story of domestic human trafficking of children.

The Price of Inequality (2013) by Joseph Stiglitz was my summer reading book for work. I learned a lot about how our economy is set up to benefit those on top.

Find the Good (2015) by Heather Lende is a collection of life lessons collected by an obituary written. They are bright reminders of the joys that life holds.

Breath, Boom (2002) by Kia Corthron is a play I saw in college about a woman's life growing in a gang. It addresses how hard it is to escape gang life. It is a cycle and a curse.

Red Rising (2014) by Pierce Brown is both dystopian (about caste oppression) and about resistance, a winning combination.

Mobilizing Hope (2009) by Adam Taylor is about how our faith can and should inspire our activism.

My Bright Abyss (2014) by Christian Wiman is a reflection on how faith can shape how we engage with the world and how our experiences in the world shape our faith.

2014: My unofficial theme for 2014 was about Israel/Palestine and more broadly about internal and external peace. One journal entry from August said "The more I read, the more clear it is that nothing happens in a vacuum - it is important to understand the full context of anything one dives into. Certainly this is true of service in all forms - both local and global."

Love Your Enemies (2013) by Sharon Salzberg - I went to the book talk for this. It forces important reflection on how we can be more generous with ourselves and others.

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace (2014) by Jeffrey Hobbs is an important but hard read about how hard it is to escape environments of drugs and poverty.

Help, Thanks, Wow (2012) by Anne Lamott was my summer read for work and is about appreciating God all around us.

Finding Me (2014) by Michelle Knight and Michelle Burford is about Michelle Knights methods for keeping herself going during her years in captivity.

Give Peace a Chance (2013) by David and Eric Hamburg was a book I picked up at Bethesda Friends Meeting. It had a very broad but thorough analysis of what it takes to craft and maintain peace globally.

Dawn (1961) by Elie Wiesel, which I also borrowed from Bethesda Friends Meeting, is a study on how violence, even out of desperation, kills both the victim and the perpetrator.

Khirbet Khizeh (1949) by S. Kizhar is very similar to Dawn. It is about the clearing out of Palestinians in Israel in 1948 from the perspective of desperate Israeli soldiers.

My Promised Land (2014) by Ari Shavit humanizes the creation and tensions of Israel. It speaks to the pain and desperation that have led to violence over the year without excusing it. After I read all three of these books I journaled, "Between Dawn, Khirbet Khizeh, and My Promised Land, the similarities between the Jewish experience and the Palestinian experience is haunting. It should be the grounds for powerful empathy."

The Hour of Sunlight (2011) by Sami al Jundi and Jen Marlowe tells the story of al Jundi's journey from a would-be terrorist to a peacebuilder in Palestine. I journaled, "Any experience can bring light or darkness - we need to be conscientious about the choices we're making, the messages we're sending, and the impact we're spreading. Keep hope alive! Sometimes 2% is all we need!"

On My Own Two Feet (2013) by Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar - I read this to try to feel in control of my finances. It's core lesson is to save money as early as possible.